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jq37 · 4 months

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The Report Card – Fantasy High Junior Year Ep 19/20

Blinded By Rage

Welcome back for a final time this year to Fantasy High where we’re covering both parts of the finale in one go!

Last we left off here, the Bad Kids had gotten control of the Hangman post dragon fight on election night and were flying back to a much changed Elmville, sky turned an angry red in the process of becoming the divine domain of rage.

When we return, they’re running out of clouds to ride on and need to pick a place to land. Fabian is concerned about just plopping a chunk of his house randomly in town but time is of the essence so they land at school on the Bloodrush field. It’s 10:20 PM, so they have less than two hours until the polls close at midnight. All the non-Bad Kid students get the hell out of Dodge because they’re useless in a crisis as always and all the brave and competent students (read: The Seven) have graduated.

Brennan rules that, despite how crazy it was, the K2 Divine Intervention was technically buttoned up and allows Kristen to choose a special effect. She wants K2 back to help with spellcasting which Brennan grants (and will live to regret).

Elmville is NOT doing well. It’s like 107 degrees and they can hear sirens and gunshots. There’s some real The Purge energy. Mazey has the duffel bag of votes but says she’s not allowed to count them until midnight so they all take a short rest to get their stuff back. They send Jawbone and Ragh to make sure Lydia is OK. They also strategize and throw on a bunch of buffs. Gorgug drinks his crazy strength potion he got as a present from Riz that takes him to a 25 Str. Adaine casts Rary’s Telepathic Bond so everyone can communicate telepathically plus Fly on Fabian, Gorgug, and herself. Kristen handcuffs the duffel bag of votes to Mazey for safekeeping. Perhaps, most crucially, Kristen has K2 cast Ice Feat which has ascended from a mistake to a bit to a homebrew spell with the following effects:

Every creature targeted by this spell takes a level of exhaustion and 1d12 cold damage.

The targets are cured of all disease and poison.

All creatures targeted by this spell make constitution saving throws with advantage and their hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 2d10.

The targets gain immunity to fire damage and the stunned condition.

Remember that last one for later.

Anyway, there’s a lot more that they do but I’ll mention stuff if they come up in a big way. For now, let’s bust into the gym where Porter plus Jace and the Rat Grinders are trying and failing to do the ritual because they never got the proper name (highlighted by Buddy who in his same blind earnestness from before he was rage star’d thinks Bakarath is the true name and they’re just not believing hard enough).

Porter is furious that he was tricked into using the wrong name and grows to an enormous size, doing the foot stomp stun thing from earlier in the season but Ice Feast gives immunity to the stun condition so with a successful “Loser says what?” from Gorgug, it’s time to roll for initiative!

To set the scene, the gym (and all of Elmville really) is breaking apart. Team Porter has invoked all this energy but can’t do anything with it so it’s kind of like a ticking time bomb ready to explode. The floor of the gym is cracking and there’s bubbling lava underneath–lava that is actually the carcass of Ankarna and the rage domain is spilling into the material plane.

I also want to mention that even though several people have abilities/spells active that allow them to see Invisibility, no one can see Kipperlilly. We learn later it’s because she’d never been truly invisible, she’s just that good at hiding.

As always, I’m gonna just hit highlights for the fight but ooh man, there are some highlights:

Riz on his first turn does a super clutch casting of Slow which gums up the works for the Rat Grinders for a big chunk of the fight.

Just as they planned earlier (both in game and as we learned during the AP, out of game) Oisin is the top priority to deal with. A tag team of Fig and Gorgug gets him off the board in the first round before he can even cast a single spell.

Ivy attacks the Hangman on her turn and Fabian returns the favor by brutally one-shotting her his next turn. Like, *extremely* brutally. He has low key had it out for her since she was mean about Mazey way back at the top of the season. But even Mazey (who is joining the fight because they can’t actually kill her, logistically speaking since she needs to count the votes) is like hmm, don’t know if I *love* that. (For the record, Ivy is killed first but Oisin is attacked first. That’s why I have them in this order).

After Ruben hits everyone with a 9th level spell (highest level a spell can be for anyone not familiar) Fig gives up on the dude. Once the 9th level spells get broken out, the time for talking is over. In disguise as Wanda, she rips a very confused Ruben a new one for not being receptive to any of her attempts to coax him onto a redemption arc. She eventually blasts him into hell which sounds brutal until you remember that it’s functionally just her office.

Because the Rat Grinders are clustered together in a very non-strategic way, Adaine is able to hit them all with Synaptic Static which not only does damage but also forces a bunch of their spellcasters to lose Concentration on spells. Everyone but Buddy I believe.

Kipperlilly gets Riz with 8 points of damage but he gets her with 21 damage on his Attack of Opportunity as she escapes which is almost triple. That’s crazy!

And I wanna pause here to make a quick point. The Rat Grinders are kind of bad at this. Like, they have all these high level abilities–and we know Brennan can be brutal in how he runs NPCs cause we’ve seen them in Neverafter and ACOC. But the Rat Grinders are just seriously dropping like flies. And that’s due to a combination of three things. One, the Intrepid Heroes and by extension the Bad Kids are just really good at this. They’ve had a lot of practice and they’ve had time to strategize. They read the rules. They’re making clutch decisions. Of course they’re good at what they’re doing. Secondly, they got some great rolls. For instance, initiative worked out that they had the opportunity to merc Oisin before he could start slinging 9th level wizard spells. And finally, as we learned in the AP, the Rat Grinders had level 20 abilities but they were still very squishy because they didn’t level up properly.

Anyway, back to the fight.

Jace splits himself into 4 copies and finally gets Ankarana’s name with a Detect Thoughts on Fig. That’s not the only road block for the Bad Kids. They’re doing really well considering but also taking some Ls. Fabian drops (as does Fig later) and Adaine gets caught with Flesh to Stone.

Riz tries to find Kipperlilly and, when he can’t, he goes under the gym floorboards, shoots at Porter, and introduces the last big element to this combat: with his last 5 feet of movement, he jumps into the lava to hide. Because, as Emily mouthed to him a few minutes earlier, because of Ice Feast, they’re all immune to Fire Damage. Brennan forgot to account for that. The lava is only a hazard for his NPCs. The Bad Kids are all immune. Kipperlilly is so baffled that she goes, “What the fuck?” and gives away her position.

From this point on, utilizing the combo of Fly and fire immunity to stay out of range of enemies–either in the sky or below the gym floorboards in/near the lava–becomes a major part of their strategy. For instance, Kristen goes under there to do some Mass Healing without being a target.

Porter in this fight is very fearsome. He has Legendary Actions and he can attack so hard that you get hit just from the air moving so fast before his weapon even hits you. Later on in the two-parter, he stops on Gorgug’s skull and gives him two death saves. It’s a whole world of hurt.

But, the Bad Kids also are no-selling him at every single turn. He insults them but they just say he was a shitty teacher. He tries to activate their rage crystals but, guess what? They all avoided taking a rage token all season so it has no effect. He even tries to give them a speech about how the school sucks and they should be on his side but they’re like, my brother in Ankarna, YOU’RE a big part of why the school has been sucking. Adaine and Fig have great back to back lines. Fig accuses him of having no principles, just pride. And Adaine says the school didn’t MAKE them waste their summer on the Night Yorb quest. That was their mistake and they fixed it. He seems a bit surprised and confused that they won’t engage with his philosophy but that’s really on him if he thought THIS would tempt the Bad Kids at all. They’re great at getting mad all on their own. All he’s offering is the destruction of their homes.

Riz on his next turn sets himself up in a purposefully clumsy hiding spot where he will be easily visible to anyone looking for him but they will have to get in melee range to hit him and he readies an action to catch a spell.

On Fig’s turn, she gets away from Porter to get in position but that earns her a nasty attack of opportunity from him that's so powerful it starts carbonizing her blood (which is what happened to Yolanda you'll remember so now we know for sure who killed her). But once she gets away from him, she is safe in the lava (which is also Ankarana’s body). She tells Ankarna that she needs to choose her own path and then does a huge Fireball (which is the actual killing blow on Ruben btw). The Fireball also breaks Buddy’s concentration on the spell he’s been holding all fight which was a Banishment on the ballot box. They now have a way to get the votes delivered!

This is where part 1 ends but we’re rolling this all together for the recap so let’s keep going!

(I also have to note that for part two, everyone but Brennan is dressed in emo gear. Do with that info what you will.)

Fabian pulls out Bakur’s gem and throws him out like a Pokemon. He doesn’t break out right away but Brennan takes the opportunity to intro a new mechanic where portals open and on a high enough roll, the Bad Kids can call allies to help.

Fabian ALSO has the idea to push Jace (well, one of the 4 Jaces) into the lava which, surprise surprise, the fighter/dancer is stronger than the waifish sorcerer. And that’s 18d10 damage so yeah. This fight largely becomes the throwing people into lava challenge. And can you blame them? That’s so much damage!

We get a little bit of elucidation about how the rage crystals work. Porter is a kind of hive queen and he can exert influence over the people with crystals in their chest. We see him do it to Jace and we see crystals leave the chests of Oisin, Ivy, and Ruben (well not his chest cause he’s in hell but from where he was standing). The crystals are parasitic and jump ship to try and find new hosts.

Mazey gets rage star’d. Bad! K2 Banishes Buddy. Good! (Extra good bc K2 is Invisible and can’t be Counterspelled)

Porter chugs some devil’s honey and calls to Ankarna that he’s trying to rez her so he can worship her which we know is a lie cause his real goal is to usurp her. Fig and Kristen treat her like a friend who’s getting back with her shitty ex and are like girl he’s lying to you!

In one of my fave moments of the ep, Kipperlilly falls for the trap Riz laid in part one, going to attack him where he’s awkwardly positioned and not realizing that he was actually forcing her to jump over a pit of lava. The moment she does, he hits her with a Hold Person which stops her in her tracks and causes her to fall straight into the lava. Riz gets in the last word in this one-sided rivalry, “Very good on paper, but no practical application.”

She sinks into the lava and, as she does, we see she doesn’t have a visible rage crystal (only a symbol) because, unlike the others, she is a full willing participant. (Note: She DOES have a crystal to be clear, Brennan mentions that later, it’s just put in a different way).

Mary Ann fully jumps into the lava to attack Fig, tanking the damage and downing a very injured Fig in one hit.

Adaine gets a very clutch move next, whisking all her injured friends to safer parts of the battlefield and drawing a legendary action from Porter even though she’s one of the least tanky members of the group. But with her Mirror Images, she gets off scott free! Adaine, Battle Wizard!

Since Mazey is under rage control, Porter tries to make her disband the school but a Clippy style pop up of Arthur Aguefort shows up to say that mind controlling the class president to make them do stuff doesn’t count, you have to win fair and square. The things that this man plans for vs what he overlooks is baffling.

Not only that but with Kipperlilly dead (and no cleric to heal her since Buddy is banished) their plan is kind of screwed. Even if they can rig the vote, their candidate is dead.

When Jace and Porter are squabbling about plan logistics, Porter says, “Figure it out Stardiamond or I’ll kill you again,” which confirms that Jace got roped into the plan that way. Maybe Porter knew he needed someone with spells?

Gorgug gets a Nat 20 to pop up (from Porter downing him and giving him 2 death saves as I mentioned earlier) and then destroy another Jace clone, again with lava.

Gonna pause again to say that I am really skimming over a lot here. Battle episodes are just not conducive to straight up recaps when they’re this long and involved. I’m gonna steal a trick of Adaine and quickly reposition everyone so you know the state of the battlefield where I’m jumping back in with the plot-forward part of the fight. Bakur has busted out of his gem but isn’t sure which side to join at first. The Bad Kids eventually are able to roll high enough to get some allies on the field–Ragh/Lydia/Sandra Lynn/Jawbone/Gorthalax plus Squeem and Balthazar (but don’t worry too much about them. The most notable things there are Lydia does a sick wheelchair jump assistant by Ragh to get an attack in and Squeem heals everyone with cortados). Mary Ann goes down to lava. Fabian is able to break Mazey out of her rage with The Power Of Getting Your Kisses In and they make it official vis a vis boyfriend/girlfriend titles.

Fig and Kristen try to tag team to tell Ankarna that Porter is lying to her but they don’t make the Dispel Magic roll to get rid of the Devil’s Honey. You know who does though? With a crit? As she farts and days Blimey?

Yeah, I told you Brennan was going to live to regret letting her live. Zac takes over again and Brennan just says, “No,” and leaves for a bit while everyone else howls with laughter.

Brennan is so over it that he rules that, after this fight, K2 will be granted true life (Pinnochio style) and then banished to real life actual England. (Which seems dangerous considering Unsleeping City takes place irl but dig your own grave man).

ANYWAY, All Of That aside, the Dispel Magic does work and Bakur is able to see the lies despite the Devil’s Honey. He joins the fight on the BK’s side.

Also the bird cop shows up to shoot the last Jace. Don’t worry about it.

OK, so going into the endgame of this fight, All the Rat Grinders are dead except for Buddy who is Banished. Bakur is there, and fighting with our heroes. Some of their allies have arrived. Mazey and Fabian and both down. All but one Jace (the one who got shot) is fully off the board. And they still have to convince Ankarna that Porter is a big liar.

OK, pieces repositioned, let’s finish this fight up.

Having just been brought up by Sandra Lynn (like I said, I skimmed a LOT), it’s Adaine’s turn and she decides to do something uncharacteristic for a wizard. She takes a leap of faith. She uses her earworm present from Fabian to cast Detect Thoughts on all of her friends in range (Kristen and Fig) plus Bakur and Porter.

According to the wording of the card (which I assume has been partially homebrewed for the setting bc it’s a bit different than the one in the official book), using the earworm to cast Detect Thoughts sends the information gleaned to the nearest extraplanar creature. Which in this case is Ankarna.

The Devil’s Honey is dispelled now so it’s just up to if Porter makes his save or not (Adaine tells her friends to fail on purpose). He makes it, but Gorgug throws one of his inventions–a flashbang grenade–at him with another great line. He goes out of his rage and says, “Hey. Don’t be blinded by rage.” FLASH! The grenade goes off and he’s distracted enough to fail the save. His thoughts get broadcasted right to Ankarna.

Adaine says, "Is this justice? Is this a new dawn?"

In this moment, Brennan lets everyone roll as a cleric of Ankarna for Divine Intervention. I cannot BELIEVE he lets K2 roll but, thankfully, she doesn’t actually get it. It’s Fabian, unconscious and appropriately in a kind of liminal state that’s able to do it (Note: Mazey is supposed to be down at this point so I don’t know how this next thing happens–whether it’s just a continuity blip or in his head or whatever but I’m just reporting what happened at the table, OK?). In his unconscious state, Mazey is really emotional about Fabian going down. She says that he's a really great and caring person even outside all of the things that make him traditionally cool and she wishes they could have lost their V Cards together. Ankarna, goddess of justice, will NOT let such an injustice stand. That’s enough to make her emerge from the lava, fully formed (and Fig, who has the keys to her domain, of course lets her in). She pops up and immediately slices Porter in half with a huge ass god sword. Sayonara Porter! Maybe you can be a boat in hell with Goldenhoard.

Things start to calm, but it’s still all weird and liminal as Ankarna’s domain is being reestablished. Everyone is separated and Brennan asks them all for a moment of something unfair that they regret accepting. What follows is a bit similar to the American Dream sequence in Unsleeping City where Ankarna offers each of them a chance for vengeance/justice but is turned down.

Gorgug thinks of Porter unfairly writing him off. Kristen thinks of her bio family. Adaine sees her parents pitting her against her sister who she could have been loving this whole time. Riz sees how hard it was to connect with people but also how he pushed Fig and Kristen this year and sees a bit of Kipperlilly in himself. Fig sees all of her internal conflict from the past year from not being able to make a pact with herself to not being able to act for help. Fabian sees the burden of living up to his father's legacy. Ankarna heals everyone of their wounds but then sadly sends them to a Twilight Forest (presumably Cass’s domain) when they politely say that they appreciate the offer but don’t need vengeance.

Fabian does have a moment come from this however as Gorthalax and Bakur tag team to bring Bill in for a little heart to heart with Fabian where he says that he’d love his son even if he wasn’t a Maximum Legend and he’d give up his legacy for one more day to spend with Fabian.

(Also, Lydia and Bakur are cool now. They talked it out off screen.)

With all of that, everyone is now together and Cass is holding Ankarna who is badly injured. Ankarna kind of has the attitude that Cass had at the end of last season where it was like, it doesn’t seem like anyone really needs me and all I’ve done is cause trouble so maybe I shouldn’t be here. The Bad Kids reassure her that she’s more than just her usefulness and that contrary to her declaration that she has no followers, she has at least six in the six of them. Ankarna cries happy tears.

Cass and Ankarna are about to leave to have a well deserved reunion but Kristen holds them up to ask about where the hell Kalina is. Ankarna gets all agitated because she’s NEVER trusted that cat and she’s damn near about to go on a crusade to find her as soon as Kristen brings up her suspicions. Before they leave, they have some business to attend to.

They raise Rat Grinders (sans Kipperlilly since she was a willing participant) and Ankarna takes her name off of Lucy and Yolanda’s bodies so they can be raised. Then, Cass takes a selfie with Kristen and Ankarna and drafts a social media post to send to Craig to post because Kristen may be great in a foxhole, but she’s not the most organized person in Spyre.

With this all wrapped up, Aguefort (and Ayda!) finally show up but the Bad Kids absolutely refuse to let him take credit for their victory. Mazey counts the votes. Adaine gets Aguefort to remove the bit in the bylaws about drugs being illegal (he calls it “narc shit).

Riz pulls Kristen aside to make sure she actually wants to be president and that she’s not just doing it for his sake and she says yeah, (though she later says she wants him to be VP with her which he is very down for).

Bobby Dawn tries to leave town (without even taking his grandkid!) but Fabian is chasing his ass down for all of his bullshit against his friends.

Lucy is brought back and confirms that her friends killed her but also says that Ruben was one of her best friends before this started, implying that he was fully personality changed by the rage stars (unlike Kipperlilly who was maybe made more extreme but was rageful from the start). We see this in action when Ruben is brought back, basically tabula rasa. He has no memories of his emo persona and is really stressed to have lost his puka shell necklace. Ivy and Oisin seem like they have more memories and are ashamed of what they did but there’s not an explanation given of why the difference in effect.

Mary Ann is basically the same and has a very abrupt conversation with Gorgug where she asks him if he has a girlfriend, much to everyone’s delight. Gorgug is so baffled and frustrated but finally lands on, “She’s so hot,” to everyone's further delight.

Time for epilogues y’all!

Kristen decides to be a cleric for not just Cass but Ankarna too. She even talks to Tracker (who is on a break from both Nara and Nara's money) about maybe poaching Galacaea from Sol’s pantheon. She also drops Gertie for the possibility of getting into a situationship with Tracker, earning herself a nemesis.

Riz decides to try and chill out a little and switch from coffee to tea. He still thinks change can be scary but he recognizes that without change, he never would have met his friends.

Aelwyn delivers a letter from the Court of Stars to Adaine which they open over ice cream sundaes at Basrar’s. Apparently, some wizard is starting shit in Sylvere–their mother. They’re both ready to plan a road trip to go kill that bitch, but before their sister murder quest (a normal thing for sisters to do) Aelwyn says that she hopes she and Adaine can eat ice cream and do magic together forever, and that if the price to have Adaine was suffering their shitty parents, it was a worthy trade. Adaine happily agrees.

Fabian gets the Tornado to put his house back and rolls for his first time with Mazey. The dice are not on his side but luckily Mazey likes him for his personality, lol. His mom and Gilear show up and announce that they’re expecting…a dog…to guard the new baby. Also Telemaine is moving in. Fabian is distraught, even moreso when he gets a ping on Nemesis Alert. The unborn baby has already declared themselves his nemesis. At least Cathilda is also back!

Like Riz, Gorgug also takes some time to relax since he's no longer taking 4 classes at once. He hangs with his parents and gets some presents for Fig since she was such a big help to him this year. He also makes things official with Mary Ann. Aguefort asks if he's considered being a teacher after he graduates and Ayda boasts that she always knew he was special. Aguefort also stops just short of saying he might be the bad guy next year and disappears into a flock of birds when questioned. Maddening as always.

Fig gets some time with Sandra Lynn who is very supportive of her (which is saying a lot considering Fig has Porter’s literal balls on a chain, do not even ask). She decides school isn’t for her and drops out which she is a little concerned Ayda might judge her for since she’s so studious but Ayda says that learning isn’t confined to a classroom and starts a spell to link Leviathan to her domain in hell. Ageufort is also OK with her dropping out personally, but he does warn her that attack robots WILL be tracking her down for dropping out. Insane, but she’s not too worried about that. She just wants some alone time with Ayda.

And finally, two bits of unfinished business. Unseen to the Bad Kids, Buddy pops out of his Banishment, still a true believer in Bakarath. He believes SO HARD that a baby god comes into existence. Then, out of the shadows KALINA appears and says, "Buddy, we gotta get the fuck out of here. They are coming for us. Your grandfather is not gonna fucking believe this."

And that’s it! End of season. Class dismissed!

Plot Post Mortem

OK y’all there was a LOT going on this season and not everything was neatly wrapped up but I’m gonna take a little bit of time to try and put together what we do know.

We know that Porter was the ultimate puppetmaster of his plot and everyone else was an underling of his to some degree. Jace had a visible rage star in him so it seems that he was forcibly drafted rather than being a fully willing participant.

The Rat Grinders formed a party (at that time called the High Five Heroes) Freshman Year. They went to the Mountains of Chaos for Spring Break. Near the end of Sophomore Year, all of her friends killed her.

The Rat Grinders are on record as just grinding rats which seems to be a half lie because we know from talking to rats that they WERE doing that for a time but eventually Porter recruited them and started farming XP for them.

And we know that Kipperlilly was a willing participant of the plan but the other Rat Grinders were forced.

So my best guess for the series of events here are as follows. In Freshman Year or so, Porter forced Jace into having a crystal so he can have a minion with spells (again, Porter does explicitly say he killed Jace). He spends the year scouting for a good candidate for his plan and finds an already naturally aggro Kipperlilly.

He starts showing an interest in her and lets her in on his plan. She’s super down because she’s already bitter about the perceived injustice of the system. He feeds her unhealthy thought processes. This is why she starts having more rage outburst in Sophomore Year.

Now it’s never made clear when the other Rat Grinders join the plan and how that goes down. The popular theory is that they all died in the Mountains of Chaos but that doesn’t quite make sense. The only way that works is if everyone died except for Lucy. Why would she leave Lucy alive though? Because she was the closest to her? Was it just happenstance? Another possibility is that once they got there, Kipperlilly was the only one willing to get rage star’d and everyone else got cold feet. So, once they got home, she started putting the pressure on everyone else and eventually started killing them one by one to forcibly recruit them, ending with the dogpile on Lucy. This is all speculation of course, I’m just trying to square the info we know to be true with the bits of lore we have. Kipperlilly expected Lucy to come back like the others and they didn’t. With her dead, they needed a new cleric for the plan which is why Buddy Dawn was drafted.

Kipperlilly DID have a rage star–it just wasn’t put into her by force. She chose to take it on. It’s not entirely clear how much it affected her–or anyone’s–actions or personality. Emo Ruben still spoke fondly of Lucy and seemed sad about her death. Kipperlilly was more unhinged in Junior Year but it’s not like she was super hinged before.

It’s also not clear how much autonomy you have when you’re rage star’d. It seems to me that the rage star doesn’t really mind control you so much as play up the rageful thoughts you already have–for instance Adaine when she almost gets rage star’d saying that if she was consumed by rage she’d destroy Falinel and Sylvaire looking for her mom. It CAN mind control you if Porter uses an action to control you but most of the time you’re just an angry version of yourself (though Ruben’s complete personality swap raises questions).

Anyway, that’s the best I can figure. No need to keep spinning wheels now that the season is done.

Honor Roll

Adaine Abernant for Some Unorthodox Wizardry

I am biased towards Adaine but I think she deserves her props this episode.

A Wizard putting themselves in a position where they have to tank damage is so risky, but she cares about her friends enough to Scatter them to safety and hope her Mirror Images do their job.

A Wizard getting in melee range with a Pally/Barb seems like a recipe for disaster but Adaine was able to parry Porter with her sword.

And having faith isn’t really in a Wizard’s wheelhouse but she has enough faith in her friends to try a big swing in reaching out to Ankarna.

(Big Honorable Mentions to Riz trapping KP and Gorgug using his grenade on Porter in the climax).

Detention

Kipperlilly for Being a Bad Rogue

I’m not even giving her this spot for being a bad guy. I’m giving her this spot for being a ROGUE and not HIDING when the plan hinged on her SURVIVING TO THE END. Girl, what were you doing in melee range??? You have a crossbow, bitch, use it! Frankly she shouldn’t have even been on the battlefield, but I know for story reasons she had to be. But if she had to be there she could have played it waaaaaay smarter.

Random Thoughts

Oisin was rage star’d but I have to assume his grandma wasn’t, right? I mean she was buddies with Kalvaxus so she probably just is OK with pillaging and evil. From her POV was it just like oh thank Helio my nerdy-ass grandson finally got cool.

The way that gods work in this world always kind of trips me up. Because gods have been established to not be autonomous individuals in the way that people are. Saying, “Choose your own path” is nice, but it doesn’t really make sense when your personality is literally decided by your followers. They’re more mirrors than they are people. Same thing with morality. If it’s not Ankarna’s fault that she was made into a rageful conqueror, it’s also not Helio’s fault that he’s a fratty college boy (allegedly, I still think that’s more what Kristen felt than what was textually there). Unless we’re saying that each god has a “true self” and anything that pulls them from that is anomalous, then it’s hard to have conversations about gods while viewing them as people with direct agency.

What was up with the vision Adaine kept having? Was that a trick to get them to have that party? Because they probably wouldn’t have done that without her visions. Who did that? Was it a Dream spell like Fig was doing to Ruben?

I didn’t mention it but it was very funny for Adaine to pull a Brer Rabbit: Ohhhh noooo. Please don’t throw me in the laaavaaaaaa.

Who was watching Fig/Wanda “die” in the window, Brennan????? You never told us!!!!

I thought it was sweet when Kristen was like I do wish I had a sister and Adaine was like, I’m your sister :)

I’ll prob make a longer post on this later but I really do not understand why the Ankarna plot is what was picked for this season when it’s so similar to the Cass plot from last season: Goddess of a concept that can be good but people find scary/are skeptical about is changed by the actions of their followers into something monstrous that is being manipulated by bad actors in the current day who the Bad Kids win over to their side and one of them becomes the prophet/champion of. It even has the beat of the goddess, post-rezzing, being like, “Idk if you really need me.” They’re even married! I don’t have a problem with Ankarna the character but she does feel a bit like a rehash of Cass’s storybeats, just in orange instead of purple.

I still have some thoughts but they’ll get answered over the next week as I go through the remaining asks in my ask box and I’ve been working on this for hours so I’m gonna cut this short. As a whole, I thought this season was so much fun! Plot-wise it was probably the muddiest of all the Spyre seasons and I would def have changed stuff but it didn’t hinder my week-to-week enjoyment and it’s always a good time hanging out with the Bad Kids. (Also you all know that the #1 thing I’m here for is Abernant Sisters content and I was extremely catered to in this regard, lol).

Thanks for following these recaps this season! I really appreciate everyone hopping into the tags or asks to talk and theorize and stuff.

If you wanna engage with more of my writing, you can check out my podcast: Absolutely No Adventures or my visual novels on itch.io. It would mean a lot!

#Dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #d20 #d20 spoilers #fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #spoilers #the report card #ahhhh my unpaid part time job is over!#lol nah I do enjoy doing these #they just are very time consuming #so I am very ready for a break #(though anyone hiring plz know that I will absolutely write you long recaps/media analysis that are better proofread than these lol)

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velvetvexations · 5 months

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- Still really not on Brennan’s side re: the framing of Kipperlilly solving rogue class. As minor as this is and as much as I know it’s a result of my severely out-of-wack parasocial relationship with him, it severely distresses me to disagree with Brennan on anything.

- I like K2 better.

- HAVING SAID THAT I’m really glad Ally made a point of saying Kristen was approaching Bobby in good faith even though Bobby is a total fucking asshole who I would not object to Kristen acting Edgy towards like she had Buddy and Tracker. Like, it’s weird, like she finally does what I’ve been wanting her to all season and gets a shot of character development and it’s the one guy I think she should have actually kept jackassing at.

- THAT USE OF THE SY CLIP IS SO KINOOOOOOOOOOOOO

- - I knew the Porter reveal was coming as soon as the warhammer was mentioned, but got a bit more reserved about that when he just kept being reasonable and heartfelt, and it seemed like the evaluations were a final send-off to the teachers with the end of the academic track.

- I feel so bad (in a hilarious way) for Gorgug concluding that maybe Porter wasn’t the worst teacher only to immediately have him feel stupid for that when it turns out he’s literally the champion of the evil demon god.

- I’ll admit I’m extremely surprised to have been wrong thinking (and arguing!) Brennan improvised Porter being a paladin on the spot just to not have to add to the already huge web of NPCs when Emily decided to multiclass paladin on a whim.

- I would be basically fine with Ankarna being redeemed even though it’s not what I was wanting/expecting, but I’m really worried now because the extremely heavy emphasis on how Sunkarna is a poor woobie lesbian and being Warkana was forcibly imposed on her by her followers makes it much less of a given she’ll take the Rat Grinders with her.

- Kipperlilly being so excited for Lucy being Warkarna’s Champion is heartbreaking in ways I can’t even begin to describe.

- Osin. lol. lmao even.

#dimension 20 #kipperlilly copperkettle #oisin hakinvar

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1moreoffkeyanthem · 6 months

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I'm starving. Please, tell me your faves SP long fics 🙇🏻‍♀️. Your recommendations are always the best.

Good morning here’s some breakfast! I’ve read a lottttt and I’ve definitely recommended a good chunk of these before, but there’s some more recent ones on this list too! Multiple pairings, some dark subjects, some fluffier stories, all fairly long and most of these are complete! Here we go!!!

The Thief Trilogy by Wintergrew! C’mon we know I’m gonna rec that one every chance I get lmao the lore and world building is absolutely phenomenal!!!

This House of Mine by OrcaTimes another one I’ve recommended a lot BECAUSE IT EATS OK?!? One of the first sp fics I read and it’s so incredibly well written and the character dynamics slay so hard and we know I’m a Kyle girlie I LOVE him in this! Creek centric too!

Ship In A Bottle by FayOfTheForest COMFORT FIC FRFR it got me hooked on style and it’s WONDERFUL

Painted in Shrouds by courtanie THE best kysterion out there I said what I said AINT NOBODY DOIN K2 LIKE COURTANIE the plot is so incredible dude holy shit I was on the edge of my seat

The Stag Prince by SynapticFirefly dude ok y’all know I’ll read anything w my beloved elf Kyle and I KID U NOT THIS IS THE BEST KYMAN IVE EVER READ!!! The characterization is PERFECT like THIS is kyman to me, plus sot au so ofc I’m down it is WONDERFUL the adults are iconic in it too and it’s really a The Gangs All Here story

Hunger Pains by bellwether I KNOW I DONT SHUT UP ABT THIS ONE BUT I DO NOT CARE it truly altered my brain chemistry god chapter 16(?) I believe in particular fuck dude kenny in the whole thing but there’s this moment… and STAN I love my son so much and this is EASILY one of my favorite Stans ever plus I LIVE for Cartman caring about the guys in his own way this fic dude I could write an essay on it

The Illegitimate Opportunity Structure by espyonz STENNY OH MY FUCK this one is PHENOMENAL so far

Behind The Wall by Jwink85 look man ngl this one has been on my rec lists before and that’s because it’s INCREDIBLE also we know I fuck w jwink for the most part. Such an incredible portrayal of abusive relationships and so, so good. The style girlies gettin fed too FUCK I love them. Also dude jwink in general has some incredible stuff just be prepared for some dead dove action in some

speaking of consuming super dead doves, BRUH fuckin To Have And To Hold by courtanie JESUS CHRIST I KNOW IVE RECED THIS ONE BEFORE TOO BUT THATS BECAUSE ITS OBJECTIVELY ONE OF THE BEST STORIES IVE EVER READ YALL want k2? Dark Cryle? Kenny and Stan teamup? The gang forming a plan? Kyle never losing his fire despite everything? Mannnn look no further! I wanna make this a movie so bad

Knives by SparrowGrim dudeeeeeee this is such a cool premise and it feels VERY southparkian in a dystopian kind of way!

South Park Confidential by FayOfTheForest Dude I love this one we got the holy trinity of sp ships with style bunny and creek! It’s such a thrilling crime story SO cool to see characters develop and overcome their own shit, like dude!!!

You know I ain’t doin a rec list without shouting out to the homies!!! Song Of Broflovski by asteria7, pep and rm by boxwinebaddie, Entries From The Past by ViviBaby69420, A Ballad Of True Hearts by luckypoppies, ALL OF THESE KICK SO MUCH ASS!!!

Ok man that’s what I can think of as of rn, THANK U SO MUCH FOR ASKIN

#fic recs #I love being the sp fic librarian #south park #asks #hell yeah brother #style #k2 #Cryle #creek #I’m not the biggest kyman person but I’ve read some GOOD SHIT OK #I’m gonna rec sum for everyone #I hope these slau for u tho

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candyunicornsateme · 1 year

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Random k2 hcs I think about

Kyle is more of a morning person than Kenny is by a longshot and Morning Kenny is probably the most cranky Kyle sees him on any regular basis (and it's kinda cute too)

Shelia thinks Kenny needs some meat on him so she feeds him well and he doesn't complain and cleans his plate, which she loves

Kyle also loves seeing Kenny eat well, he's just way more subtle about it and is proud when Kenny's pants fit even better ("Do I have a booty now Kyle?" "...Yes")

Kyle is often a little awkward around Karen but Kenny's pretty chill around Ike. Sometimes Kenny's mischievous aura feeds into Ike's little brother mischievousness though and that's a fun time for Kyle (not really)

Kenny's the "sweats easily" and Kyle's the "why are your hands always so FUCKING cold Kyle jesus christ" (this is one of my personal favorites)

Kenny would like to be the big spoon more often but sometimes Kyle's so all over Kenny has to turn away to lessen the chances of a getting nocturnal smacks to the face

Kyle probably wouldn't admit it easily but Kenny's cuddling is so good, suffice to say, sometimes it's what he really needs when he exhausts himself of acting like he's got it all together

When they start living together Kyle quickly learns Kenny is very willing to smash or break anything if it's anywhere remotely appropriate to do so

Addendum: Kenny may be prone to injuries, this is not a surprise nor a unique interpretation and Kyle keeps bandages on hand and we love that

Many a time Kyle is either nearly rolling his eyes or simply giving an incredibly befuddled "what?" when Kenny's making some out of the blue innuendo or other nonsense, but when Kenny gets him... the little Kyle giggle would be worth a death for Kenny

Yeah 💚

#rimble ramble #my headcanons #k2 #sp k2 #south park #kenny mccormick #kyle broflovski #I want to write and talk #writing takes a long time and it'll be 84 yrs before i complete a fic #so here I AM K2 MAN #PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE #im vague about the breaking one in particular bc i wanna draw it #but couple these I'd like to do lil drawings for

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lilac-rose-writes · 8 months

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i've got @charismabee and i's reverse kindergarten au on the brain again so i'm gonna ramble about it <3

essentially, everyone's personality is the opposite of what it is in canon. for example, reverse-cindy is an absolute sweetheart with no interest in relationships; this carla is a goodie two shoes; applegate loves her job, etc. they're all trapped in a time loop, which everyone is aware of but the new kid.

this results in a lot of wacky hijinks as each of the k1 and later k2 students in turn go to kid for help with something. the time loop still ultimately ends whenever the principals' experiments are stopped, but a lot of elements are changed. take the first principal, for example, who still conducts illegal experiments but does it in the name of the "greater good". his son hates him, so he tries to bond with him through drugs (it doesn't work). monty wants to go unseen, so the principal secretly makes something to make him less noticeable, but it goes a little too far and now everyone keeps forgetting monty exists. nugget is being used as a test subject for the antidote. the mp kidnaps billy as an assistant to help with his experiments to avoid the truth getting out.

we planned out every one of the 150+ possible character dynamics in a separate doc. here, have some of the most chaotic lines from them-

Why is his arm broken? Danner blames science.

Billy doesn't care for the blond twins. He has more than enough twin in his life already.

Like it or not, Kid's a danger to the people around him even if Buggs is aware he's just being used, like a knife. And everyone knows bringing a knife to school is the worst idea ever.

Nugget has told Bob that Billy and Lily in particular are just The Worst, so Bob really doesn't like him, scoffing at the fact that Billy couldn't escape a basic kidnapping orchestrated by a mellow, middle-aged man.

Kid is so good at helping, he's gonna murder Felix so well. He loves being told what to do so much [:

Ozzy's like Cindy but dirtier. Lily is about ready to knock him out, only she's unwilling to touch him.

Ozzy doesn't like Bob. He's mean and rude and hits people with cleaning supplies and one time an axe.

Ridiculous! Cindy couldn't even be bullied right.

Monty is uncomfortable with all this love and validation.

the wip is 35000 words long, we have successfully traumatised and therapised everyone in succession, and things are going great :]

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number1rizgukgakstan · 5 months

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FHJY EPISODE 17 LIVEBLOG

Spoilers under the cut

Adaine trying to relax for her friends is so sweet I love her so much

ANKARNA FACE REVEAL??? ANKARNA FACE REVEAL!!!

Fig wrote a song so banging she managed to reach out to and touch her God. I love her so much.

The way she's trying to reach out to Ankarna is so sweet to her. The fact they're bonding over their girlfriends being out of town is insane.

"You have always known" GOES SO FUCKING HARD. BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN YOU HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!

What Fig does to Ruben is lowkey wild when you think about it. What are you doing to that poor guy. What did he do to deserve this.

BRITISH KRISTEN FUCKING GOT ME AGAIN holy shit. K2 you are in my head what is up with you???

WHY IS EVERYONE HELPING HER DO THIS? They're all absolutely deranged I love it.

EMILY AXFORD'S LUCK IS FUCKING WILD. I LOVE IT.

This whole scene is so crazy what the hell is happening

Jawbone is so fucking sweet I love that man so much. He's so great. I love how much Kristen is concerned for him and how close they are. Jawbone's amazing <3

Murph's face while Kristen talks to Bobby Dawn is SO FUNNY. They're great.

Brennan Lee Mulligan how dare you make me cry about Bucky Applebees right now.

AYDA LEFT FIG A TON OF ANCIENT MUSICS I'M CRYING SO HARD. INCREDIBLY SICK BASS FROM YOUR GIRLFRIEND MY BELOVED

Fig talking about her future made me so happy,,, the kids are alright.

DID AYDA LEAVE HER A METEOR SHOWER??? OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD HOLY FUCKING SHIT I LOVE LOVE. BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN I OWE YOU MY LIFE. I have NEVER in my ENTIRE LIFE HEARD ANYTHING AS ROMANTIC AS THAT MESSAGE. I AM OVERWHELMED WITH EMOTION. And the ending was just fucking great. "You are not going to believe how much my dad spent on this jet ski" absolute peak comedy.

The foreshadowing of Fig leaving the group is a little sad, but like. You know what? Fig's great. And wherever she goes I know the Bad Kids have her back :)

SHE WRITES AYDA A LETTER [sobs] These two ARE true love!

"A DOG RIDING A HORSE, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?" destroyed me.

PORTER IS EVIL!!! FIG IS VINDICATED!!!!!! FUCK YEAHHHH!

Ankarna and Cassandra's fascinating relationship will haunt me forever. And the fact that Ankarna fell before Cassandra also haunts me. holy hell

AHHHH THEY WANT TO KILL ANKARNA :(

FUCK. YES! Is coming back to fucking bite the party in the ass. Kristen Applebees you have to pull a nat 20 out of your fucking ass

Kristen's bid for president being the key to stopping the big bad evil guy is absurd to me. I love her so much

I love Emily Axford so much. She always swings to the fucking fences with her acting and I love her so much.

GOD I LOVE PORTER he's so fucking evil he's great.

Riz is so smart and Murph's luck has been INSANE. That whole scene had me WRACKED with emotion. His insane spy shit fucks so hard this is so cool.

"AYDA, AYDA MARRY YOU" FUCKING. I LOVE HER SO MUCH

BOBBY DAWN IS IN ON IT, FUCK YEAH

HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT! GOD OF WAR ANKARNA??? INSANE

BAKLAVA IS REAL??? BAKLAVA IS REAL!!!!!

PORTER WANTS TO BECOME GOD??? DUDE. THE FUCKING HUBRIS.

The final battle's going to be at Fabian's party isn't it??? I'm so excited

This group has such good chemistry and they're such good friends and I love them SO MUCH

Riz's ability to case a fucking joint is ABSURD. This man is BUILT for this shit and it's great to see him do the shit he's best at.

The RatGrinder's Plan as its laid out now is so scary, and I CANNOT WAIT to see how this all plays out. Aguefort picked the WORST time to go on fucking vacation.

FUCK SHE WROTE PORTER'S NAME ON THE TEACHER EVALUATION. FiG NOOOOO

THEY HAVE TO KILL THOSE FUCKERS. Maybe the RG's just need therapy but you just need to KILL THOSE FUCKING TEACHERS.

"WAIT, NON-STUDENTS CAN'T VOTE?" KRISTENNNNNNN

Fried Rice Dimension in the Garage, losing it.

"this is too easy" god Murph you're so right this is too fucking easy

FUCK THEY PUT THE CLOUDRIDER IN FABIAN'S FUCKING HOUSE.

THE BEER PONG GAME WAS A RITUAL? FUCK! OISIIN GOD DAMN IT I WANTED TO ROOT FOR YOUUUUUU

"Oh, My Mom's Gonna Kill Me" FABIAAAAAAAN THATS SO FUNNY.

#fhjy spoilers #fantasy high junior year #fhjy liveblog #fantasy high junior year spoilers

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gumnut-logic · 10 months

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Whump!Virgil alert.

-o-o-o-

“Hold still!”

“I’m trying!”

“Virgil-“

“You’re holding it wrong.”

Scott sighed. His heart was still beating in his ears. After watching Virgil slip over the edge, caught in a rockfall, his circulation system hadn’t yet recovered.

Or the rest of him, really.

So close.

Don’t think about it. Focus.

“Virgil! I’ve got it. You’re going to be okay.”

“Not if you don’t hold it correctly.”

This could easily have been an argument over fixing Two down in the hangars if it wasn’t for the gasp in his brother’s voice.

And the several thousand foot drop off to their left that could have brought so much to an end.

“Virgil, do you trust me?”

Even in the frostbitten air between them and the reflection off his helmet, Scott could see the honesty in his little brother’s eyes as he drew in an unsteady breath. “Of course.”

“Then trust me.”

And without further warning, he lifted his brother’s leg and set it.

The scream that came with it cut his heart to pieces. “It’s-it’s done.” He focussed on scanning and then further immobilizing the broken limb. At least now it was less fodder for a horror film.

His thoughts were interrupted by a roar as suddenly, on the far side of the valley, half a mountain of snow slid down onto the glacier below.

Goddamnit.

He found himself bodily covering his brother, hovering over him as if to protect him from the world collapsing.

Virgil hadn’t noticed. His eyes were screwed shut and he was panting, sweat beading on his brow.

God, he wished the man would take the pain medication when he was told to.

Scott hovered there a moment longer, as the valley below filled with an avalanche that could never reach them. For some reason he did not want to move back. Pushing all his weight onto one arm, he reached out and clasped Virgil’s shoulder. “You with me?”

Dark eyes opened, filled with pain. More an exhale than anything else, “Always.”

“Good.”

And with that, Scott shut down his emotions and got on with getting his brother off this damned mountain.

To think that Virgil had dragged him out on this ‘simple’ rescue to get him away from Dad’s desk.

Scott was ever so grateful he had come.

Firstly, rich and privileged idiots should not be allowed to climb a mountain like K2, or any mountain bigger than an anthill for that matter, without sufficient training and experience. The idiots who had them out today were poorly equipped and would have died come nightfall after having an argument with their guide and wandering off.

It was the guide who had called IR. His apologies were extensive and frustrated.

But he was right. Scott and Virgil had found them mired in deep snow and, despite their protests, completely lost.

They were damned lucky Virgil was there. Scott wanted to give them a piece of his mind, particularly when they initially refused to leave the mountain. It was only due to Virgil’s patience – that would likely at some point result in a violent painting or mess of a composition on the piano – and using the ‘fame’ element of flying a Thunderbird and coercing them into coming for a ride that got them moving.

Yet it was also Virgil’s kindness that had him fetching the woman’s pack. Or more likely, she put up so much of ruckus, Virgil preferred to shut her up rather than kill her on the way to New Delhi, no matter how short the journey.

That return to the snow led to Scott spinning just in time to see Virgil slide over the edge as the rockface gave way.

A call to John that had so little words but cried out for so much.

The rest was a blur of terror and fear as Scott scrambled down the mountain after his brother. He didn’t have his jetpack. They’d left One at home. It was supposed to be a quick rescue. A bit of brotherly time together.

But Scott was ever so grateful for the time they were given due to a snow-covered ledge that had caught his brother.

The alternative…

He was willing to thank any deity that watched over them.

A broken leg, bent in blatantly the wrong direction, halfway up K2.

“You held it wrong.” The words were little more than a gasp.

“It’s done.” Scott drew in a breath and fastened the last of the splint velcro. “Alan and Gordon will be here any moment and we’re getting you off this rock.”

Shifting the remains of Virgil’s right boot aside, he sat down next to Virgil and let out a breath. “You’re safe.”

A sigh and Virgil’s helmeted head dropped gently onto Scott’s shoulder.

As a familiar and beloved roar swelled at the other end of the valley, he draped his arm around his little brother’s shoulders.

“Safe.”

-o-o-o-

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #virgil tracy #scott tracy #nuttyfic reblog #thunderwhump #whump

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attonposting · 1 year

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The last time I played KotOR II, it really struck me how much Atton and Bao-Dur have in common. They don't especially get along, which is fair – almost nobody on the K2 crew likes anyone other than the Exile. It is not a friendship cruise. And neither of them want to talk about the past, so it's understandable that they never manage to cross the threshold where they realize the other is a kindred spirit. But think about it.

Both of them were young men that got swept up by the Mandalorian Wars, chewed up, and spat out as broken wrecks. And this is true of most of the cast of K2, and a big chunk of the galaxy as per the game's theme, but Atton and Bao-Dur might have closer stories than anyone else in the crew, because they share hatred as their driving force. The guilt that haunts them isn't what they did in the war, it's why they did it and how they felt during it. Bao-Dur saw the destruction of his people and came to hate the aggressors for the senseless violence - Atton saw the destruction of his comrades and came to hate the so-called protectors that could have changed everything but left them to die, and had the gall to claim moral superiority for it. That hate festered and led them to commit mega war crimes that finally collapsed at one focal atrocity. Obviously Atton's path was a lot darker than Bao-Dur's, and his crimes were far more visceral, cruel, and repeated until he met the Jedi that broke him right back, while Bao-Dur built one immensely, unimaginably terrible thing that only he was capable of, and left a bloody and inescapably personal handprint on the fate of the galaxy.

But either way, they had the same response – an inability to find peace, a lot of self-loathing with no outlet, and a ton of drifting until they found the Exile. And their demons aren't so much regret for their actions as it is horror at the people their hate made them into – which is a really important distinction to make, because blowing up a planet with tens of thousands of friendly forces on it and torturing Jedi sound like things that characters would regret at face value, and in a lesser piece of writing, that would probably be the end of it. Not so, in KotOR II. Bao-Dur still believes the war needed to end, and neither of them hates any less now than they did then (though in Atton's case, it's important to note that his hatred of the Jedi later expanded to encompass hate for the Sith as well. He wouldn't do his actions over again, assuming neutral/LS, but it's less out of regret and more out of “fuck you all, you weren't worth my life.” The only action he actually wishes he could take back is killing that last Jedi. Everything else is just disgust and fear at what he realized he had inside him - and like Bao-Dur, that's not something he can unlearn, no matter what he does now.)

They are also unique in that they are the only two crew members that joined the Exile with no ulterior motives. Kreia is an ulterior motive, T3-M4 wants to bring aid to Revan, Brianna joins as a proxy for Atris, Mical is a scout for Carth Onasi, Visas is there to stop Nihilus, Mira is there because nobody else is going to horn in on her bounty, Mandalore is there for the clans and to find news of Revan, Hanharr was forced into servitude, G0-T0 is there to dole out orders, and HK-47 wants to pin down his clones (as well as engage in some good old-fashioned bloodshed, which he'll surely get next to such a walking storm.) These two boys are just deeply in love with the Exile, be that romantically or just a pure, rare bond of shared understanding, and follow them because it's the clearest way to make up for their past, but also because nobody else could get them so deeply.

Just... geez. These boys would have a lot to talk about over a bottle of Corellian whiskey if they only had a reason to open up (and one of them wasn't violently allergic to emotional honesty.)

#atton rand #bao-dur #kotor #kotor ii #kotor 2

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ivyembracertifiedbitch · 4 months

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FHJY Finale Thoughts: Episode 19

Disclaimer: I know I've been really negative about the last two episodes but I do actually have real criticisms, and I will try my best to not be just 'I hate this' about everything. No promises though. Also, none of this is hating the IH or Bleem. I respect that they're very fucking tired when shooting this and don't have a week in between episodes to think, and so these criticisms are made with that in mind. Also feel free to debate and discuss, I just wanted to share my opinions and try to pinpoint where the narrative went wrong, or where BLeeM could've made a better DM choice, but I love hearing other people's thoughts!

Bringing back K2: Bringing her back to have a second healer is really smart, but saying that Kristen liked having a sister around doesn't make sense. There was never any moment where Kristen and K2 seemed to get along, and honestly, I think K2 got along more with Fabian and Fig. Show don't tell is actually really good advice.

The short rest (and Ice Feast): Just nope. Nope. Not a fan, solidly don't like it. This is the big finale, and I felt more concern during the dragon fight than here. That's the problem with playing level 14 characters, I'm aware, but like. Not letting them take the short rest, actually having The Rat Grinders be skilled at fighting (If Brennan was lying about them grinding rats, you don't think he was lying about them only doing the killing blow on monsters? Plus, do you really think Porter would have his first worshippers and warriors only know how to do a killing blow?), having Kipperlilly steal the votes, anything man. Ice Feast played a big part in giving them the advantage, and I wasn't cool with that too. Taking away fire damage, making them unable to be stunned, all of that took away like the biggest threats of the fight. (I do think it's really cute that Brennan actually made Ice Feast for his friends, but allowing them to use it before the final battle, on top of the short rest was too much)

Strategy: Rewatching, it's actually fun to see them strategize because they're so good at it! It just sucks that they feel nothing but hate for these kids and we know that doesn't change after everything they've seen. And the narrative's going to reward them for it.

Squeem: Honestly? Also, not my favorite. Like, to have a short rest, and Ice Feast, and several allies on their way? What's the point of even fighting? Just skip to the victory dance. (Was so funny to have the return of hot chocolate with a shot of cortado, and lemonade cortado)

Battle Set: Once again, the art department has fucking slayed. Truly, such a work of art. 10/10, no notes.

Mary Ann: Not getting into it a lot with this episode, but see here for my general thoughts. Also, not happy with the cast's reactions to Mary Ann freaking out over getting her strawberry burned, as that's most likely her having a meltdown.

Ivy: I do appreciate Brennan trying to get the Bad Kids to be nice through the Hangman. Also, if Ivy truly does like looking good, great for her, but the only things we know about her at this time are that she's besties with Oisin, she was into Fabian, she's kinda bitchy, and some of her class stats. So the idea that just because she's a "mean girl" she'd take offense to getting called ugly feels misogynistic, especially coming from a complete stranger/someone literally not in her universe of existence. As for what Fabian said and did to Ivy, in my opinion, part of it is because he rejected Mazey at the party to impress her and feels bad, part of it is because she rejected him, and part of it is because he feels bad that he 'yes and-ed' the racist remark she made about Mazey. Also, the close proximity to the rage stars. I think he was wrong for what he said, and I'm not going to get into the virginity comment now because I still have a whole 'nother episode to get through, but I do want to say this is when Fabian/Mazey stopped being cute to me. Also, Brennan using Ivy's last moments to have her make a mean comment really feels like he's trying to cast her as the mean girl, which again, it's fine if she is. You can't convince me she's not just a kid scared for her life.

Oisin: Smart to get him somewhere he can't counterspell Adaine, and to take him out of the fight first, but why didn't we have anything directed at him? Like, I know that he never really got close enough to Adaine for episode 18 to be a full betrayal, but everything with Ivy and Ruben was so intense, I'd expect something. On behalf of Ivy and Ruben, I'm offended he was mostly left alone. As a general Rat Grinders enjoyer, this does count as a (small) w.

Buddy: So sad that Ally's insight roll on him failed, and I will not tolerate anyone calling him stupid or naive about the plan: see here. I get annoyed that Buddy was played up as a joke villain, but whatever! He's just a dumb southern hick, right?

Ruben: Saying there's no loyalty from Ruben is soo arrogant. They never emotionally connected so who would he be loyal to? The friends he's had for three years, or some random girl who had one real conversation with him? Tumblr user @rubenhopclap says it best. Fig's speech to Ruben is just *argh*. Girlie you don't know anything about him! (I do understand Emily's annoyance, because she did spend like at least one roll per downtime session on Ruben! But also... it was Wanda Childa talking to him, not Fig. He didn't have a real person to connect with, so why would he bother?) Like, out of all The Rat Grinders, we have explicit information that he is scared despite all of the rage and yet she just yells in his face? Thought the theme of the season was doubt beats anger, not war conquers rage. I'm also uncomfortable with Fig, who earlier in the season explicitly states that she think she's a monster for ruining one person's stay in hell as opposed to punishing all of them, deciding that just because Ruben was annoying and a waste of time he should be going to hell to be punished.

Kipperlilly: No notes. Literally, girlie was getting w's the entire episode.

Jace and Porter: No notes. Honestly? Their fucked up dynamic carried me through the finale.

The Lava: Just another solid no. With the amount of advantages we already have, it makes no sense to let their 'being immune to fire' translate to 'being immune to magma.' Bringing in some science, magma is literally a fourth state of matter, different from water. That's not going to feel like taking a swim, it's going to feel like getting crushed by cold lava. (Yes, I understand different DM's would allow that and different DM's wouldn't allow that, but with the advantages they already have, I feel like making them roll even for just half damage would be fine. Plus, fucking common sense says 'don't jump in lava, even if you have fire immunity.')

Making fun of Porter: I adore a group of teenagers just absolutely clowning on a 40 year old teacher, but I do wish they had engaged with the themes. We know it's really fucking likely The Rat Grinders have rage stars, and yet they just completely skip the part that Porter can control anyone with a rage star. And it's not like the Academy hasn't failed them before. It's not like Aguefort himself hasn't failed them before. They should be angry about that! Just, the refusal to engage with the themes in a story is irritating.

See Episode 20 thoughts here

#and this is just episode 19 guys #fhjy #the bad kids #the rat grinders #mazey phaedra #porter cliffbreaker #jace stardiamond #kristen applebees simulacrum #mine

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athenaholmesartistsguild · 1 year

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Sometimes I wonder how intentional the neurodivergent coding of certain Yakuza characters is.

With Kiryu I don't think it was intentional at first. I think he started as a stone-faced guy who was also just a little clueless (Because that's a pretty silly juxtaposition, writing-wise), but I've noticed as the series progresses there's little quirks or jokes that seem to intentionally code him as autistic-- and not in a mean way (which I love).

Like. When you're talking to one of the hostesses in the cabaret minigame in K2, she mentions wanting to be a mangaka, and Kiryu offers to help.

If you select the 'be an expression model' option Kiryu 'auditions' by making little noises for the different emotions he's trying to do and it's really obvious that he's not really changing his face much. Because he's just not an expressive guy. Because he's autistic!!!

There's the pizza substory from 0 which if you know, you know (and if you don't know, here you go).

If you select all the wrong answers in the producer substory (also in 0), the entire scene feels like an autistic person trying to understand obtuse industry lingo and everyone else getting angry at him for not speaking this hidden language (a reality for many autistic people).

And there's countless other examples that I can't name off the top of my head, but trust me, they're there.

And then there's Ichiban who is so ADHD it brings me joy. And I would just chalk his behaviors to just being a juxtaposition to Kiryu (Ichi's big, loud, and intense while Kiryu's quiet, reserved, and keeps to himself), but there are so many little things that are way too specific for me to ignore.

Firstly, when Ichi wants something he wants it NOW. The Peking Duck scene with Arakawa comes to mind, but also, when he's trying to get Masato’s 'girlfriend' to come to their table, and he resorts to like. Shouting at the guy after her client's like. "Nah. I'm talking to her for a bit." He's feelin' his feelings and good god are those feelings intense.

He seems to struggle with working memory issues such as the scene where he's talking about being Masato's caretaker and then Jo calls him like, immediately after, goes 'hey, you were supposed to take the young master out tonight' and Ichi's like 'oh my god? It completely slipped my mind!'

Ichiban's super creative and clever, but that out-of-the-box thinking is occasionally hampered by him missing little details. Like when he just takes a civilian's wallet, instead of the money they owed because 'Jo only said to bring back the wallet'. But then when he tries to use the money Masato gave him, it doesn't occur to him to take off the band indicating that the money came from Masato’s bank.

He's also pretty impulsive!! The scene where he jumps right into the Korean Mafia's line of fire is a big standout. He literally thought of the first thing that came to mind and did it.

There's also him gameifying his entire life. This example could be argued to be more of an autistic trait (especially the turn-based combat aspect), but ADHDers can also have those super intense interests that you never quite let go of. And gamification of certain tasks is often recommended for ADHDers.

and then there's so many small things that I can't quite explain that just stand out as ADHD behavior.

I honestly don't think Ichiban was ever written to be neurotypical. His character just feels so, authentically ADHD in such a kind way that just can't be accidental.

Although there could've been a writer who was just 'basing Ichiban off their own experiences' and 'their own experiences' just happened to be ADHD. I wouldn't know anything about that.

One more character before I go: Majima's actions in 0 (specifically throwing away the bag of murder goodies Lee gave him) makes way more sense if he has ADHD. He's got this bag of shit he does not want and he needs to get rid of it now. He was feelin' his feelings, okay?!

#yakuza 0 spoilers #yakuza 7 spoilers #yakuza like a dragon spoilers #Kiryu Kazuma #Kasuga Ichiban #Majima Goro

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revnah1406 · 4 months

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🌸 Tell me about your OC(s) - with pictures if you want !Pick some facts you want to share about them & let us gush about them together! Then send to other creators to do the same ✨

Sparrow and Amara? If you already answered. Is it ok if I get the link? Want to know about these two!

Hiii my dear!! 🥰🥰🧡

YEEEY let's do it!! If it's ok with you I'm gonna answer for Sparrow, Amara and Abby 🧡🧡

Abby:

Abby is based on Abby Anderson and Ellie Williams (Ellie is her face claim, but she has Abby's nose) from The Last of Us. Two of my favourite characters! They are so complex and an incredible source of inspiration!

(this is not Cannon, it's from a Roleplay that maybe we turn into a fic or something 👁️👁️) Abby is from 2030 but she accidentally time traveled to 1981. Aleks (@alypink) and Mila (@efingart) try to help her get back to her time. IT'S FULL OF DRAMA, I live for that RP I hope we can bring something soon hahaha!

Abby is a really nervous kid. Always has to have her hands occupied playing with things. She has an old lighter and she's always playing with it (Like a good Black Ops Introduction yeaah🕯️). And she also has a butterfly knife, she's still learning how to use it but she's getting better every time.

Abby plays the classic guitar, whenever she can. It's like her comfort hobby. Her mother taught her how to play it, and the sound of the instrument always brings her home. She almost feels like her mother is with her when she plays.

When she was a kid she found a picture of her grandfather Mason talking with a Woman. She didn't recognise that woman, Woods never talked about her, and when she asked Frank avoided the question, like that woman wasn't important or relevant, but she could see a storm of emotions in those old eyes, emotions too complicated for a 13 year old. "Just a long story Kid." But Abby was still curious, even after all those years Abby still wonders who that woman is. Spoiler: That Woman was Mila (@efingart) 🫢 Here's the comic!!👀

Abby has green eyes as a reference of Mason from Black ops 1, (in black ops 2 and cold war he has brown eyes)

Abby has one of Woods tattoos, to honour his memory. Maybe I'll add more (not from Woods)

Sparrow:

Sparrow's closest friends are Alyssa Martinez (@alypink) and Damien Whitlock (@kaitaiga) but before Damien, there was Daniel Greenhill. The three of them met in a rescue mission in Russia, they spent several weeks together and they forged an amazing friendship.

After her accident in K2, Sparrow didn't want to see anyone. Not even her family or friends. She thought her cuts and wounds would scare them, also she's always in a terrible mood when it comes to recovery. But Aly kicked the door of her house and stayed with her during all her healing process, physical and emotional. Daniel joined not long after, when He got news that Sparrow was out of the Hospital he took a plane and went to help her too. As a medic Daniel helped her a lot with the stitches, pills, and recovery. Always scolding her for doing something that she shouldn't do in her state. Like working out, or going to work as a mechanic in her garage. Daniel and Aly saved Sparrow in so many aspects and she'll always be in debt with them.

The way she met Damien is a little bit curious. The 2CO did an emergency stop at the Armed Swiss forces HQ. As soon as Daniel found out that Sparrow was there he rushed to see her. Of course his inseparable friend Damien followed him, curious to know about this "Sparrow" that Daniel talks about sometimes. They didn't get along in the beginning, forced to go to a mission together but in the end they found out that they have more things in common and a great friendship started. After all, after Daniel's death they only had each other as comfort. Aly and Sparrow had to help Damien to get through that pain, no matter how much it hurts for the two of them too.

Sparrow HATES Shadow Company, after all that happened in Las Almas and the betrayal, she can't stand Graves. She never liked him, not even when they were allies. So you can imagine her reaction when she had to work with Shadow Company again in MW3. She was willing to rip out Grave's guts as soon as she saw him. But out of love and respect to Anna (@applbottmjeens), she didn't do it. She took it very personal when she found out what he did to her Gremlin. But she respected Anna's decision and managed to tolerate Graves, just enough to not kill him at first sight. So yeah, her friendship with your oc Squirrel would take time, but I'm sure they'll be good friends in the end heheheh.

Sparrow has a dog. A female Argentine doggo. That Aly (@alypink) rescued it from illegal dog fights. When Alyssa saw her she immediately knew that Sparrow would love her. And she did! As soon as she saw that dog, she took it home with her. Her name is Tora, she has scars like Sparrow, and she's also missing an eye from the dog fights.

Now, about her relationship with Amara, I don't want to give a lot of details, because I'm working on the next chapter of her love story. But what I can say is that Sparrow fell hard, really hard. She wasn't the kind of woman who falls in love so easily. She was more of enjoying a one night stand. It had been so long since her last serious relationship that in the beginning she didn't know what to really do. "Well I have a girlfriend.... Now What?"

But soon she found out what she was capable of doing for Amara. Literally everything. All she wanted to do is make her happy.

Amara:

Amara hates the military and everything related to it. Her father was a S.A.S soldier, and he wasn't a very present father in her life, even though he loved her with all her heart. And after all those years, and a well deserved retirement, he got killed by S.A.S soldiers, when he was heavily injured in a terrorist attack, because for the soldiers it was better to end his life quickly than extend his suffering. All of that in front of a really young Amara who was begging for his father's life.

So yeah, she has strong opinions on the military. But life had other plans for her and brought Sparrow to her life hahaha!

Amara had a toxic relationship before Sparrow, so it took her time to get used to being treated like the Queen she deserves to be. Having mixed feelings, trying to understand why Sparrow was so nice and good for her without wanting anything in return.

Amara is a stripper, her job is not a secret. She started because she needed the money, but in the end she enjoyed it, she loved to dance. But when she started her relationship with she got a little bit insecure about Sparrow's opinion on her job. Obviously Sparrow didn't mind, it was a job after all, and she was her supportive girlfriend #1.

Amara has an old black Sphynx Cat called Kuro. It was her mother's cat and when she passed away, Amara adopted him, and he has followed her in every step of her life.

I love Amara's fashion style. It's so different from mine! I swear this woman always takes my breath (and Sparrow's) away. (She's team all black hahaha)

I like to say that Amara is a little bit like a witch. She knows how to read tarot cards, how to clean a house with Lignum Vitae... So every time Sparrow has to go on a mission, she secretly shuffles the tarot cards, and checks how the mission will go. If the cards aren't good, she usually gives a protective stone like white quartz to Sparrow. Sparrow always listens to her even though she doesn't really understand how it works.

"Keep this close to you all the time."

"I like this one. What's it for love?"

"just... Keep it close to you"

AAAND THAT ALL! Omg it's so long hahahaha! Anyway thank you for the ask! I have so many facts about my ocs hahaha, I hope it wasn't too boring. Anyway! Thank you again!

MWAH 🧡🧡

#ask game #oc ask game #my ocs #abby mason #amara thompson #hannah “sparrow” clayton #amara x sparrow #sparrow x amara

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