#still one of my top seasons of D20

[stacy-fakename]

Rat Grinders:Don’t do anything to the Bad Kids until antagonized, and it’s later revealed that their bad actions were a result of being groomed by one of their teachers for years and then murdered and possessed.

Intrepid Heroes:Fuck you, sending you to hell and you can’t be revived.

[deelovesbooks]

Man the end of fuckin Lapin's Big Day is still so fucking crazy. First the fuckin Plumbeline with the Senator Ciabatta

Then Lapin's nat 20 on the book which then reveals the secrets of the bulb to him

And THEN the fucking bomb drop of "Who is your lawfully wedded wife?"

and the slow zooming in on Brennan's face as he just calmly and slowly lays down the dominos

Fuckin makin me stressed over here and I already know what happens next 😭😂

[thisisnotthenerd]

as the fhjy premiere is upon us, i'm back with another edition of thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats. it's just the updates that are relevant, since relationship tracking is taking so long to do and i got sidetracked by polls for a few months. this will be sorted by the categories i have data for--you can look at the spreadsheet to find data for all d20 seasons. or you can read it on ao3. anyway:

player data:

runtime and episode data:

before the start of junior year, we have spent 88 hours, 40 minutes, and 14 seconds with the bad kids on-screen, including in oneshots. this is about 3 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes, and 14 seconds.

that's 41/221 d20 episodes, 22 of which were battle episodes.

we've spent 125 hours, 37 minutes, and 32 seconds in spyre as a whole, or 5 days, 5 hours, 37 minutes, and 32 seconds.

that's 57/221 d20 episodes, 32 of which were battle episodes.

cast appearances:

brennan at the top of the list, with 19 d20 appearances, 15 of those as a gm/dm.

next is lou, with 11 seasons as a player; 8 intrepid heroes seasons, 3 sidequests.

followed by ally, zac and siobhan, each with 2 different sidequests under their belts

second to last is emily, with 9, with acofaf

and in last is murph, with only 8. if aabria is in 2 of the 2024 d20 seasons, she's in the running to beat him.

seating preferences:

junior year tipped a lot of the intrepid heroes into a distinct preference, simply by setting them on one side of the table.

emily axford: strong left side preference (6/8), most commonly in L1 and L2. paired next to zac 5/8 seasons, and across from murph 5/8 seasons. fig sits in L1.

zac oyama: strong left side preference (6/8), most commonly in L2 and L1. paired next to emily 5/8 seasons, and across from ally 7/8 seasons. gorgug sits in L2.

siobhan thompson: weak left side preference (5/8), most commonly in L3 and R3. paired next to lou 7/8 seasons [doubled across 5/8], and across from emily 3/8 seasons. adaine sits in L3

lou wilson: even split preference, most commonly in R3 and L3. paired next to siobhan 7/8 seasons [doubled across 5/8], and across from murph 2/8 seasons. fabian sits in R3.

ally beardsley: strong right side preference, most commonly in R2 and R1. paired next to murph 6/8 seasons, and across from zac 7/8 seasons. kristen sits in R2.

brian ‘murph’ murphy: strong right side preference (7/8), the strongest of the intrepid heroes, most commonly in R1 and R2. paired next to ally 6/8 seasons, and across from emily 5/8 seasons. riz sits in R1.

character data:

given what the bts's have shown, there might be some changes to these that i'll update during the premiere, but as of now, this is a quick summary of the bad kids' data, including dnd race, class, level, highest stat, feats, and age. you can go through the thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats tag for my previous commentary on this data, or check out the spreadsheet.

i'm putting them at level 9 for now because that's what we left off with, but more than likely they're starting at level 10 or higher. we know about riz's respec, but there may be others that crop up during the season.

fig faeth: tiefling. lore bard 8, hexblade warlock 1. CHA. actor, lucky. 17-18

gorgug thistlespring: half-orc. berserker barbarian 8, artificer 1. STR. orcish aggression/fury. 18

adaine abernant: high elf. divination wizard 9. INT. spell sniper, war caster. 16-17

fabian seacaster: half-elf. battlemaster fighter 6, swords bard 3. DEX. sentinel. 18-19

kristen applebees: variant human. twilight cleric 9. WIS. human determination, inspiring leader. 17-18

riz gukgak: goblin. arcane trickster rogue 9. DEX. healer. 17

all of the bad kids have some magic now--the ladies are all full casters, while fabian is a split multiclass, gorgug is a 1/2 caster multiclass, and riz re-subclassed into a 1/3rd casting progression. still an even split of multiclasses and pure classes, though that may change. riz's re-spec has bumped arcane trickster up to the most common rogue subclass, with 6 arcane trickster characters, 4 of whom sit in R1.

and that's it! all of the intrepid heroes/bad kids data that i have updates for! see you all at the premiere of fantasy high: junior year tomorrow!

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

You put a lot small visual elements and details in that I never seem to notice on my first read, and it always makes rereading exciting. What’s a detail from the comic that nobody ever seemed to notice? I’m sure there are things that nobody has mentioned, especially from the early chapters, that you’d want to talk about

Oh man.........that's a great question.

The thing is, there are a lot of details that people don't pick up, but there are definitely eagle-eyed readers that also do! There are also details which most didn't pick up until someone posted about it, and now everyone knows!

There are also details which are actually... yet to be revealed as relevant! That's a secret tool that'll help us later. :)

But most of it is plot relevant decisions I make which make the story more full, but are not necessarily NECESSARY for full enjoyment.

For example, in the very first comic, when Earl approaches Steven....

Her eye isn't white! That was a fully deliberate decision. She didn't actually approach Steven because he wanted her to. That was a decision she made on her own!

Most of the white eye shenanigans in Season 1 were deliberate, albeit not very explicit. I suppose that worked out okay, though. Plus, many people DID catch on!

Also, this part in the Kindergarten comic:

...which people assumed was a power separate from everything, is actually just the first instance of Steven's Command power. The thing is, I hadn't settled into how to portray it at the time, and also - the gem is Corrupted! It doesn't respond to Steven's commands the same way normal gems do. I planned to explore that earlier initially, but in the end, decided to tie it into much later plot.

In Season 1, EP 38, Steven asks Earl to write her name.... and she does! But in gem, not English, because she doesn't know how to write in English.

She designates herself as White Pearl, putting the dash over the top diamond. It was at the time when she was still anxious about making Steven - White Diamond - angry with her.

And to add to the eye thing - during the Season finale of Season 2, when Steven wondered if Earl only came to see him because he forced her to - the comic where she finds him in the water proves otherwise!

Immediately when she grabs him and swims up, her eyes aren't white! She's doing it of her own accord.

Also, in Season 3's opening, when Rose is angry at what she THINKS is White Diamond, she almost has a slip of the tongue when talking about the past.

There's a very pointed reason that panel of Earl is right there next to Rose's cut-off 'My...'

Also, when Rose leaves Steven in the Containment Sphere - the Baby Jail Bubble - she unlocks it to leave, and you can pretty clearly see an interesting detail.

(which Steven, of course, doesn't notice.)

There's also a bit of a narrative tongue in cheek line-up which is accidental on Steven's part but still rings true:

(TVTropes editors caught this one! Hey TVTrope editors!)

Also, this very famous Seaglass foreshadowing:

The first instance of Steven connecting to tech was in the beginning of this season!

When Steven has a bad dream after fusing with Earl and forming Bleached Coral, there's a hidden detail in this reflective text from Nightmare Rose:

(It might be easier to read if you mirror-flip it.)

Another fun thing I enjoyed doing before I got busy with other stuff is gem language! Earl writes Steven notes in it to help him learn, and now signs with her English name,

In the Cluster Experiments comic, if you look at the panels before stuff starts to Happen, you can find a few Experiments hiding in the background. :)

In Amethyst's room, there is a Japanese stopsign and a d20 in the background.

In episode 25 of season 4, Steven is playing Moonlight Sonata!

In episode 33, the ship Steven connects to displays a bisection of the earth which showcases its lumpy core! Or rather, the megastructures that are hidden deep inside the mantle.

It also showcases a few geothermal coring sites made during the colonization.

And by the way, the drill Pearl built was actually a repurposed ship hull which was used for the Space Race ship in the original show!

And man there are actually... many more! But I had to skip over them because they are alluding to things which have not yet been explicitly revealed! :D

But even with this, I'm sure there are other ones I'm missing. If you think you have one that should be listed - throw it on a reblog or in the comments!

[deconstructthesoup]

The Hexsquad + Vee in different D20 seasons:

This was an idea I came up with in my brain. If I could draw it, I would, but I can't, so... settle for this massive fucking block of text. Have fun.

Fantasy High

Luz: A human wizard (Evocation) whose life goal is to be the greatest adventurer the world has ever seen, and that all starts with Aguefort Adventuring Academy. She was always considered the "weird kid" in middle school, but she's confident that she'll find her people at Aguefort, and she's ready to take the school by storm... or, at least, find some friends who she can connect with. Luz is definitely the type of person to get her magic-studying done ahead of time, so she's a little bit ahead a lot of her classmates---mostly due to the fact that she keeps on trying the more complicated spells instead of starting with the basics.

Vee: Luz's adopted sister and a changeling sorcerer (Aberrant Mind). She's less keen on the whole "adventuring" thing, preferring a more mundane life, but she and Luz are thick as thieves, and she knows that her sister is definitely still going to get bullied at Aguefort---better to be there so she can have her back. Vee doesn't really remember a lot of her life from before she got adopted by the Nocedas, though she does know that something happened in those lost years that gave her the powers of the Far Realm... powers that she still can't quite control.

Willow: A dwarven druid (Circle of Spores) and barbarian (Battlerager). She's a case study in what happens when the shy, awkward girl from middle school discovers roller derby over the summer and transforms into a confident, punk-rock powerhouse... who still has some of those old insecurities lingering underneath the surface. Not to mention, pretty explosive anger issues. Willow is more than ready to form a kickass adventuring party on top of starting a roller derby team at Aguefort, but so far, she's only got one member...

Gus: A halfling rogue (Arcane Trickster) who skipped two grades due to being a quote-unquote "prodigy," which is a nice way of saying that he's struggling with severe gifted kid syndrome. He and Willow have been best friends for years, to the point where ending up at Aguefort is kind of the best thing that happened to him, even though he's still pretty insecure about his rogue abilities. Since he's younger than almost everyone else, Gus doesn't have a lot of friends to start outside of Willow... so, of course, the best course of action is to join literally every extracurricular. Despite already having a packed schedule. Yeah, he's overworking himself.

Amity: A high elf artificer (Battlesmith) who's built up a reputation as a top student at Hudol---a reputation that, according to her mother, she's completely throwing away by not only choosing to be an artificer instead of a wizard, but purposefully failing the Hudol entrance exam so she could go to Aguefort Adventuring Academy instead. Amity's really just learning how to be rebellious, so she's taking small steps---different academic path, exploring her own passions, dyeing her hair a different color---before she can hopefully build up enough disrespect for authority that she can move out, or at least help her dad work up the courage to ask for divorce papers. She's trying.

Hunter: A tiefling bard (College of Valor) who, like Fig, has only recently discovered that he's a tiefling. Rather than going straight to the rebellious route, though, he's kind of at a loss as to what to do, to the point where he even drops being a paladin in favor of being a bard---though, of course, still within the standard-hero vein. He's been raised by his uncle his whole life, and while their relationship has been pretty positive up until now, it's become fairly strained due to Belos never telling Hunter that his mom was a devil ("I don't give a fuck about safety, Uncle B, the fact that I am literally a spawn of hell is something that I should know"). But he's got an outlet. He's learning guitar and some bard spells.

A Starstruck Odyssey

Captain Luz Noceda: The Amercadian girl who always dreamed of becoming a spacer, she's now the captain of her very own ship, The Selkie, at the age of twenty-six... and she's struggling. Sure, she's joined every union she can, got all the insurance, and has really been trying to keep the ship on the up-and-up, but every time she takes a risk and goes for a more dangerous job, things fail drastically. Luz loves her crew and her ship, and she really doesn't want to give any of it up, but she can't ignore the little voice in her head that's telling her that she might not be as cut out for the spacing life as she originally believed. As luck would have it, though, her new hire has some excellent skills up her sleeve...

Amity Blight-Deamonne: The youngest daughter of renowned inventor Alador Blight and high-society fashion designer Darius Deamonne, Amity's got money, mechanical skills, and a sense of style that's the envy of every femme in the galaxy. She was apprenticing under both of her fathers at the same time, but after hearing that her older siblings had apparently made quite a life for themselves as spacers, she decided that there was no way she was going to miss out on the fun and joined Luz's crew as a mechanic and a "crew diplomat." Of course, Amity isn't the most prepared for the combat that they wind up in more often than not, but she is prepared to do some handy repairs and a lot of smooth talking when necessary. Which is almost all the time. (Also, she lost a leg and an arm in a childhood accident, but her family could afford to have her get fitted for cybernetic replacements without going into massive debt. This has caused her to be a major advocate for cyborg rights.)

Deep-Sea Volcano Eroded By Time, human name "Vee": An Aguatunisian who set off on her Galivant several years ago, she's been exposed to how dishonest, selfish, and uncaring the world outside her home planet can be, which has led her to becoming quite the nervous wreck. True cynicism is something that's pretty much impossible for Vee to really achieve, due to being a psychic being who can tell when people are lying and being fortunate enough to land among folks who are pretty open with each other, but she's still wary of new people until she gets a chance to communicate. Because of this, being the comms officer was the perfect choice, and Vee's pretty comfortable on The Selkie. Still doesn't stop her from going into a panic attack every time the crew gets into combat, though.

Gus Porter (soon-to-be Dr. Porter): Youngest of the crew, Gus is a medical grad student who's interning on the ship for his thesis project---which basically translates to him being the ship's doctor. On paper, he doesn't mind doing the medical stuff, since his entire thesis is on how spacers can maintain a healthy lifestyle while in a fairly dangerous occupation, but more than half the time, he's stuck doing emergency surgery and trying his damnedest not to remind everyone that he's studying to be a doctor, not a surgeon. Despite everything, Gus is absolutely enamored with the spacing life, and he's probably gonna stay on The Selkie well after he finishes his degree.

Wondrous Willow: The beta version of a battle droid that eventually got remade and rebranded as an assistant, Willow has long since given up attempting to fulfill that function and has fully embraced herself as part of the crew of The Selkie. She's a gunner, a heavy-hitter, an extremely loyal friend, and is surprisingly good at cooking---all of which makes her a crew favorite. Of course, despite technically fulfilling what she was designed for, she's still trying to find herself beyond just claiming agency, and it's slow-going for our girl. But she's not called "Wondrous Willow" for nothing, and if there's anything she knows, it's how to tough it out in this galaxy.

Hunter "Lucky Number" Seven: A supersoldier clone turned rugged mercenary, Hunter was designed to save people with smarts as well as brawn, as part of the renowned Hunters For Hire. He and his fellow clones were incredibly adept heroes who helped out anyone in AnarchEra that were in need... until a mysterious individual slaughtered almost all of them, with Hunter Seven being the only one to escape. Currently, he believes that the culprit is his now-slain creator's brother, the elusive and infamous mad scientist known as Dr. Philip B. Wittebane, but that may be a red herring, and the real killer could still be out there. For now, Hunter's found a new squad in the crew of the Selkie, a sister figure in Luz, and a girlfriend in his fellow gunner---and until he gets his revenge on, he's happy for now.

A Court of Fey and Flowers

Luz & Vee: The "twin" daughters of Trickster Court nobility, the two are a rare example of a human and a changeling who decide to remain in the Feywild rather than the Material Plane. While Vee fits in seamlessly in a court of shifters, pranksters, and folks who enjoy nothing more than mischief, Luz stands out in fey society due to her magic not coming naturally and the simple fact that she is a human---despite her parents having blessed her with an unusually long life. As such, she's in the rare position of being more nervous than her sister from the prospect of attending the Bloom, but while Vee has no other intentions than to just have a good time with members of other courts, Luz dreams of potentially finding a match at what some call the most romantic occasion the Feywild has to offer. Though it's uncommon for a fey to fall for a human, maybe Lady Luck is on her side...

Amity: She and her family are all that remains of the Court of Craft, and her father Darius disappeared some time ago. Having only recently come to the conclusion that his husband is dead, her other father, Alador, has agreed to form a marriage alliance with the lady Odalia of the Court of Wonder, something that Amity knows will destroy their court---and she believes wholeheartedly that Darius is still alive. She's at the Bloom for the sole purpose of finding out how to save her court and her father, and romance is the furthest thing from her mind... until she meets a kindhearted individual from the Trickster Court, who seems to not care about the pressures and expectations of fey society. And more than that, she wants to aid her in her cause.

Willow: The niece of Queen Titania and a duchess of the Seelie Court, Willow has attended many a Bloom, and she's used to the whole song-and-dance routine by now. However, her aunt has advised her that this year, the Bloom will be quite a different affair, and it would be in the Seelie Court's best interest for Willow to try and find a political match by the end of the celebration. Of course, Willow's a very free-spirited individual and is adamant about marrying only for love, so she's really just looking for a way to prove to her aunt that she's quite capable of being a high-society woman on her own... until she meets a certain individual.

Hunter: Heir to the Unseelie Court, Prince Hunter is attempting to put his past of just being the nerdy teen who talks about his interest to anyone who'll listen behind him, and in doing so, goes full Mr. Darcy---closed-off, socially awkward, and barely capable of making actual conversation. He fully intended to just spend the Bloom waiting for it to end so he doesn't have to keep on being "a shining example of the values of the Unseelie Court," but on his very first day, he meets the wisecracking and whip-smart Willow, and develops a big ol' crush on her almost instantly... though it takes him a while to figure out how to word it, because, y'know, zero social skills.

Gus: Pretty much the only person who's here for the social drama rather than the romance, Gus is an up-and-coming diplomat of the Goblin Court who's writing a book on the intricately woven fey society---he's intending it to be an anthropological study, but it's slowly starting to become a tell-all expose. Because of this, Gus always has his ear to the ground when it comes to secrets, and it's very rare for anyone to be able to tell him a successful lie... so, needless to say, when he catches wind of Amity's plan, he is one hundred percent on board. (Also, he and Vee become friends almost immediately. Chaos recognizes chaos.)

[remidyal]

Favorite D20 Villains

Just for some positivity on this, and because it's been a minute since I did a tier or ranking list, have my ten favorite Dimension 20 villains! I'm not going to include anyone from Junior Year since it's still running, and I'm going to go ahead and mention that I'm not including Ragh or Aelwyn who could both easily make this list otherwise because they've spent as much or more time on the Intrepid Hero's side as they did villains.

Obviously, there are potential spoilers in this list, so proceed at your own risk! I'm putting a read more link here just to save people who haven't seen a lot of seasons.

10. Galfast Hamhead, Escape from the Bloodkeep.

Okay I know this one is cheating because the party are the villains and Galfast is, like, the one actually good figure on the opposing side, but I'm still counting her. Just an absolute tour de force in the parts of the series she appears in, and gets away even though she technically loses to the party.

9. Natalia Cicero Connie Lee Carter Bajar, A Starstruck Odessey

She's not the most threatening villain in ASO, but there are really three fronts where villains can work for me: They can be hammy and fun, they can be actually threatening and scary, and they can be someone I desperately would love to see get taken down. Natalia scores all her points in the first and last of these categories; she's not scary, but her entire concept is just so stupid that it makes me laugh every time.

Bonus points for being the target of what I think is the best joke in ASO - high praise - the "My fiancee doesn't really do art" - "I agree" by Ally.

8. Robert Moses, The Unsleeping City.

I believe the only actual person to ever be a main villain in Dimension 20. Genuinely a monster of American history; I was familiar with him prior to watching The Unsleeping City but I would wager that I was in a fairly slim minority. There's some problems with the presentation here and the details of it - I am guessing they would have just made him a powerful vampire if this season was more recent, for one - but I can't say I wouldn't want Robert Moses' plan thwarted. Probably the closest we'll ever come to actually having a campaign fight Ronald Reagan directly.

7. The Stepmother, Never After

Never After for me has a structural problem in that there are too many ideas stuffed into too short a season, and so quite a lot of it feels extremely half-baked. The Stepmother isn't immune to this, but she's also an actual imposing figure for much of the series that feels like a true threat to the party even after they prove that a TPK isn't enough to stop them. The scene where Ylfa looks before they head to the Lines Between is maybe the best Never After has to offer, for me.

6. Madame Loathing, Mentopolis

Honestly, this feels like a more full version of the Stepmother in many ways even though there are only six episode. This is probably because she's not competing with like five other factions in her villainy. The moment where she turns is great, and there's something very satisfying about landing a twist where the villain was someone so obvious that they were dismissed by many as too obviously evil to actually be the main evil.

5. The First Stoats, Burrow's End

Here I'm referring to the four that remained at Last Bast; I think the series in some ways peaked with fighting them, though certainly there were some highlights still to come. I don't think Aabria necessarily meant for this fight to go down at the time and place that it did, but genuinely creepy designs with a creamy layer of fascism on top.

4. Tony Simos, Unsleeping City 2

Remember those three categories? Tony here scores real, real big in the "I wanna see him die" category. He's not the worst person on this list (that's honestly probably Robert Moses), but he's the one I most wanted to see get crushed, and ultimately was in an extremely satisfying way. TUC2's villain duo was overall incredible - we'll revisit that in a moment - but I cheered more when Tony dropped than any other villain D20's ever had.

It is what it could be, asshole.

3. Calroy Cruller, A Crown of Candy

Do you know what I've always hated about you, Amethar?

There's a lot of people who would have this guy at the top of their lists, and I really don't blame them; the main thing holding him back for me is that he really doesn't do very much after that crowning monologue until he goes out like a chump at the end of the steamroll that is ACoC's last battle. (Those of you calling JY's last fight easy should rewatch that one). It is, admittedly, the most satisfying of any of the villain deaths of that finale, especially with Liam's baffling last second resurrection of broccoli pope and captain carrot. Scores very well on all three fronts, and honestly if Amethar had actually died there or if he'd just been front and center at the end then he'd maybe be number two for me.

2. Null, Unsleeping City 2

A dip into real eldritch horror, and does it better than Never After in part because it stands out more against the backdrop of New York. Null scores great on the threatening front; a monstrosity of apathy and depression and lack of connection is a hell of a villain. The world where Pete doesn't roll that crazy banishment check and vanishes partway through the season would have maybe robbed us of some of the insight into this, so I'm glad we got the one that we did.

Kalina, Fantasy High Sophomore Year

This was never going to be anyone else. Kalina's getting points on all three fronts, but conceptually is just an incredible concept for a villain, feels like a real threat throughout the season until the moment they dispel her, and you can feel the amount the players both want to take her down and are in fact worried about her throughout the season. Because of her nature she's able to show up repeatedly without a fight without that not really making sense, which is kind of hard to pull off - most of the villains on this list aren't met much after their villainy is revealed. We'll see if she's back at the end of Junior Year and what kind of state Cass ends up in, but either way we'll always have spring break.

[utilitycaster]

Is there any class/subclass you’d like to see a D20 cast member play? One of the Intrepid Heroes or otherwise? (Also, I always love seeing the RQG love because that’s what got me into APs!)

I used to have a wild-ass spreadsheet of all the AP characters I knew by class and I suppose I still do but haven't been updating it, which is to say, it took me a minute to think through what the Intrepid Heroes cast have done; it's also wild in that technically, they've only done 5 settings as the intrepid heroes and at most 6 characters (since Emily and Zac used their backup ACOC characters and Siobhan and Murph played new characters in TUC 2). And on top of that, there's sidequests, NADDPod, and guesting.

I would actually love to see Brennan play a wizard. With the exception of Raphaniel he tends to play martials as a player which is interesting because he does wizards so well.

I would also like to see Lou as a warlock in...not Neverafter. Lou is fantastic at the charisma casters so I'd like to see him give another run at it in a season I enjoyed more, to be totally honest.

Emily has only ever played cleric as a base class for a multiclass (for sorcerer, monk, and wizard) and I'd like to see straight-up cleric especially since she's talked about being a religion major while not being a religious person.

Zac is famously a fan of martial classes and did a great job as paladin so I'd love to see him take on ranger, since he's done most others at least in multiclass.

I actually most want to see Siobhan and Ally in more non-D&D systems. Siobhan was great as Imelda Pulse in Mentopolis and it felt like Ally's style is best in looser systems as well like Mythic and Monsterhearts - I'm excited to see them in a Kids on Bikes hack for Never Stop Blowing Up.

Murph is tough because I'm just like. Murph I know you are busy but could you do a sidequest PLEASE. Also, weirdly, with the exception of Kugrash and Cody, who have this script flipped, he tends to play full casters as super unhinged (see: naddpod) and most of his martials as at least somewhat more hinged (Riz, Barry, Theo). I would like to see him play an absolutely bonkers martial class character.

Finally: would love to them bring back a NUMBER of people but Surena Marie and Jasmine Bhullar are top of my list of not strictly Dropout people; I also didn't love Mice & Murder but I'd LOVE to see the Dropout folks who haven't been in anything else for D20 come back.

[thepringlesofblood]

The Ravening War Heroforges

so I’ve made over 100 guys in Heroforge, and dimension 20 uses Heroforge as a tool when making their minis. this means that I’ll be going along watching and see our boy Raphaniel and go “oh shit that’s my favorite Tunica Skirt from the ancient Roman update!”

i decided to put this weird talent to (good??) use for any folks out there looking to make their own minis/fanart/whatever, and made Heroforge builds of our PCs, using all the pieces I recognized, or their closest equivalent. where I couldn’t find footage of certain angles, I went off the character art.

disclaimer: dimension 20 uses a LOT of resources other than Heroforge to make their spectacular minis (e.g. paint!). this isn’t a ‘aha i’m bootlegging the minis 1:1’ situation - there’s a lot of cool stuff on these gorgeous lil guys that isn’t in Heroforge, which I’ll try to note next to each one. these are approximations of potential base models, not exact copies - all kudos and respect to Shane Brockaway and the other amazing miniature artists on dimension 20 for their exceptional work on the minis this season!

let’s rock n roll!

a few things that are different on every build

color (obvs) - I still colored in each guy, mostly based on character art, but obviously the minis are painted (beautifully!)

food stuff - generally, any sort of food-y features (Deli’s toasty Leia buns, Raphaniel’s big ol radish head) are going to not be in Heroforge, for obvious reasons - I still tried to approximate the vibe, but our radish man is simply not going to be as wrinkly as we want him to be

poses - I put each guy in what I think the base pose was, but advanced posing is not an exact science. also, it takes a really really long time. mad props to the crew for some of these excellent poses!

faces - it’s really really hard to tell what face base they might’ve used on the minis. I chose primarily based on vibes and my best guesses. this means sometimes the face changes b/w different versions of the same character. it is what it is baby! also obvs the minis don’t have specific eye color so I went off the art.

Let’s start with the first battle!

Bishop Raphaniel Charlock (link)

Main differences

his big wrinkly radish head. he’s rocking the zuko season 1 haircut for now, and I tried to give him some subtle decal wrinkles. I tried just making his head bigger, but it made the face bigger too - think bobblehead, not megamind - so not the look we’re going for.

his crozier (the only hoe on Heroforge is me *badum tssssh*)

whatever is going around his neck on his chest - it’s all round and pretty and I do not recognize it. used a cowl instead.

the end of his beard - it looks all like roots and is very cool. I put what I think the starting beard was, but I can’t recreate those spindly lil roots w/out some serious clipping

Skald Colin Provolone (link)

Main difference

I’m not 100% certain those are his gloves. the ones on the mini are so much thicker! hmmmmm

I’m sorry about the beard situation. the mini itself has painted-on scruff so I just did a decal, but I’m aware it is. not necessarily as good a look up close.

Thane Delissandro Katzon (link)

Main differences

those gorgeous slices of rye. the crown thing on top of em isn’t in HF either. I used some swirly horns to approximate, though i was considering earmuffs. they looked too silly for me tho lol.

the toothpick - Detriter, as we now know it is called. I used a javelin and put a lil blue decal at the end to represent the frillies.

the shield - couldn’t find one with those random spikes of bone (nice one d20 crew!), so I used a scutum, a Roman shield of about the same size and shape, bc hey, he’s also Ceresian, which is based on Rome.

Lady Amangeaux Epiceé du Peche (link)

Main differences

the d20 crew has hair magic that I do not. also some sort of cute flower behind her ear, which I approximated with a broken off horn posed weird to look like a rose.

Karna Solara (link)

Main differences

the chili pepper hood w stem. I finagled a horn up there but it just aint the same.

the hair. idk what the d20 crew does to make HF show hair after a hood has been equipped but they crushed it.

2nd battle!

Archdeacon Raphaniel Charlock (link)

(i have this pic on my computer named “poor little meow meow raphaniel”)

this pose is a work of art unto itself. I can only hope to get in the vague aura of it.

same as before mostly - the hoe, the beard, and the big ol radish head. you can’t really see the mystery chestpiece anymore.

his head got so much bigger and saggier I felt like I had to give him something, so I upped the head size a few notches and gave him a little flesh beret with a couple of limp “leaves” coming out of it

you don’t really see it from the front, but there’s a shot where you can see the back of the mini and he has a lil book on his shoulders. iconic.

Sir Colin Provolone (link)

Main differences

I probably could’ve made him grimier, but I prioritized face scars. I figure since becoming a knight maybe he’s cleaned up a bit

it is surprisingly hard to get a heroforge person to frown or look sad

shhhhh dont look at the shoulder pauldrons too closely they’re fine its fine

fun fact: the undershirt that looked most mini-accurate was the pajama shirt. colin out here wearing PJs under his armor, who is doing it like him?

update: relistening to ep 1, I forgot we actually get a description of the Fontina banner (”a dotted mountain atop an island”)! so for funsies I gave him a lil banner on his back and attempted to recreate it, using the Dairy Islands banner as a background. go thru the link to check it out, I don’t want to attach yet another image to this monster of a post.

Warlord Delissandro Katzon (link)

Main differences

still those toasty slices o rye.

that glove. folks, that glove dealt me psychic damage, because it was on the very edge of my memory but I couldn’t quite grasp it, until I realized they probably added the spikes afterwards. also, I used the ol’ robot hand trick to make it look like he has like a metal gauntlet attached to it. (you replace one hand with an artificial robot hand in the prosthetics/amputation menu)

the decals I used to give him rye bread arms continue onto his chest more that they should (which you couldn’t see when he was wearing a breastplate) c’est la vie.

I couldn’t embed spiky things on the frilly part of Detriter like Lou said in the episode :/ they weren’t on the mini anyway at least

this pose is wild. I think I found the original pose they based it on, but I could very well be wrong. applause to the d20 crew for the sick look!

Amangeaux (link)

Main differences

she still has the flower in her mini, but now it’s on top of her bun - a good look! Alas, no hat options matched, and my mediocre posing-a-horn-weird-until-it-clips-through-the-head skills were not up to the task, so for the moment this HF build remains flowerless.

In her opening shot of the battle (which I included) you can see a big ol’ crossbow on her back, but it is removed in other shots (presumably, it is a separate piece they moved out of the way when she wasn’t using it). so, I did not include it.

fun fact: the rapier the mini is using is much thicker that how the rapier looks on HF. why? Bc most of the older HF sword designs are thicker, so I think they spliced the basket handle of the new rapier with the blade of an older sword, to make it more sturdy for play. or maybe I’m just misjudging blade-to-handle ratio - I’ve never actually 3d-printed any of my HF guys ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Skald Karna Solara (link)

Main differences

the scar - in the character art it’s one straight streak, but on the mini it looks like there might be more (it’s hard to get zoomed in enough to tell). I compromised with one main dark one, and then a lighter, more subtle one going the other way.

the way her burning hand is blackened as the fire rages around it...poetic cinema. transcendent. I used a splatter decal to approximate but seriously it looks so dope on the mini - look!

that’s all for now, lmk if any of the links dont work or anything. can’t wait for the finale this week!

[ragingclaw]

The Usual Routine (Harvey x OC)

Summary: Another day, another season. Harvey takes his time and mulls over things.

Word Count: 1,255

AN: Fluff. Just fluff. Also, I thought about focusing on my fic. I rolled a d20 and got a nat 1. Guess I'll dilly-dally.

The warmth of the morning sun hit Harvey’s face, something he had been experiencing ever since he moved into the farmhouse with Hiraya. Sensing that the right side of the bed was empty, Harvey instinctively reached out for his glasses and made his way to the kitchen, only to find it empty except for the plate and a cup on the table.

Sitting, Harvey hummed to himself as he marveled at the fact that he had found himself living in this peaceful house. Three years after he’d married Hiraya, he still couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have been the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Remembering the quiet mornings that he would wake up to make him feel warm as he took a spoonful of the complete breakfast in front of him.

In the distance, he could hear Gregory and Flora already at their usual shenanigans. He knew that those two are shouting at each other as they clear up debris scattered around their farm, it is the start of a new season after all. A perfect time to spend time with Aya and Danny, he thought to himself, placing the now-empty plate on the sink and drinking the remaining coffee in his cup.

As he officially started his day, Harvey heard footsteps coming from their son’s room. “What do you want for breakfast?” turning around, he saw Hiraya carrying Daniel whose arms are tightly wrapped around his mother’s neck. A smile appeared on his face when he heard their son mumble something to Hiraya. He looks and sounds just like you, Harvey recalled his mother saying to him one time when his family visited him on his birthday.

After setting the plate aside to dry, Harvey watched Hiraya put Daniel in the chair before ruffling his hair, earning her a giggle. For Harvey, moments like these made his longing for a domestic life for many years worth it. It did not take Daniel long to notice him, as he was immediately bombarded with questions if they are going to help Hiraya on the farm or not.

“Good morning, dear. How’s the breakfast?” Hiraya greeted him with a small smile, finally completing his morning with a kiss from her. He then sat down beside Daniel, who demanded a hug as soon as he was seated. “Honey, it’s fantastic, and all of the dishes that you make are something that I always look forward to.”

He could see a blush form on Hiraya’s cheek and her attempts at hiding it, causing himself in getting flustered at her reaction in return. Announcing that she’ll prepare Daniel’s food, Harvey stood up and volunteered to do it, only for him to almost knock the both of them down. Noticing how close their faces are, Harvey’s breath hitched with how firm yet gentle Hiraya’s grip on his arm was.

It took Hiraya some time when she realized what was happening, and when she did, she couldn’t help but laugh at how silly they are. “Harvey,” she chuckled as she buried her face in his chest, “We are not teenagers anymore.”

“I can’t help it, honey. Your love makes me feel as if this is the first time I have fallen in love with someone.”

Hiraya looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Are you also this much of a flirt 20 years ago?”

“No,” he kissed the top of her head, “I’m just comfortable in expressing my emotions to you.”

The world seemed to slow down for Harvey as he gazed into his wife’s eyes. Uttering a quiet “I’ll cook” to her, he then started preparing their son’s food as his thoughts drifted to the very first day that he met Hiraya. If someone had told him 6 years ago that he would fall in love with one of the new people that moved into Pelican Town, he would laugh at them.

Harvey had been in two failed relationships before Hiraya. The first one was when he was just a sophomore at the university; a charming girl, but tried to control him too much, so much that he forced himself to push his nervousness around people and be a social butterfly after they fought when he declined her invitation one time.

Those five years with his ex drained him emotionally and mentally. Some of his friends advised him to try having one-night stands with other women after his first heartbreak, though he immediately knew that setup wasn’t for him the morning after he woke up with his head throbbing due to hangover, only to find his bed empty with a note from a friend’s friend. Up to this day, Harvey wondered how he was able to do those back then despite how shy he was around people.

If it wasn’t for his second relationship, if he could even call ‘two friends meeting after work to have sex and talk after that’ a relationship, he might’ve been content being alone and married his profession. He had talked with that friend of his after they’d done their routine to try and upgrade their relationship, although after three dates they both knew that neither of them wanted a serious commitment at that time, especially when they both spend most of their days at their jobs. At least you had someone help you sort out what you want, Hiraya said to him when she asked him about his past relationships.

A small hand pinching his cheek pulled Harvey out of his thoughts, seeing his son happily put his hand on his face repeatedly. Seconds later, a small chirping sound coming from the door caught their attention. “They’re looking for you, honey. Odd that they like being around you considering you can’t even understand what they are saying,” said Hiraya as she walked through the doorway.

Daniel’s face lit up as he saw the junimos following his mother, while a handful was clinging to her. “Any news from your friend, the wizard, about why I can see them?”

“No,” Hiraya sighed, placing a green junimo on Harvey’s shoulder, “though he strongly believes it’s because you’ve been exposed to magic the longest. He also mentioned that Grandpa’s place is one of the places that is potent with magic.”

A small “huh” was all that Harvey could manage. The green junimo, who was quietly sitting on his shoulder, used his mustache to cling over to his right shoulder. Surprisingly, the junimo seemed to weigh like a feather, though he still grabbed the clinging junimo and placed it on top of his head. Hiraya, who was watching all of this unfold, tried to stifle a laugh while Daniel giggled at his father’s predicament. “You stay there, and please hold still,” he mumbled.

For a moment, the subtle ruckus happening outside of their house suddenly sounded pleasant. The sounds of their animals, the rustling of the leaves, splashes of water caused by the fish in their pond. All of it made Harvey flustered, his heart swelled with joy. This is all I ever wanted, Harvey mused. This is what I waited for all my life. To create my own family with the one I love. Finally, I’m home.

“I guess this will be our usual routine, don’t you think honey?” Harvey asked with a smile, breaking the silence that surrounded them. 

Looking at his wife, he noticed that Hiraya seemed to be thinking the same thing as him, as he was met with a gentle smile from her. “I guess it is.”

[dauntlessdiva]

i wish my stranger things Huge hyperfix was still around :( i miss having brainrot over steddie and such yk? but it’s still lovely to see it on my dash depsite not participating as much anymore. and the fic idea is so good??? i think i’ll go and add some of your fics on ao3 to my read later list! :]

i have tried to watch d20 and specifically fantasy high… i think i got to, like, episode 2 or 3 of season 1. my brain can’t comprehend all of the talking and trying to keep up with story. i love dnd so much and i’d love to delve into d20 more and also critical roll. feel free to talk to me about it anytime! who’s your favorite fantasy high characters??

i also have never watched bridgerton! i’ve seen posts on here about it but i really have no clue what it’s about! i’m guessing it’s british but i’m not even sure about that lol. it’s lovely to watch something with your family like that, it’s really sweet

OH SAME!! i love minecraft and i love baking and i love watching crochet stuff but i don’t participate in the hobby. tell me some of your favorite things about minecraft, your favorite things to bake, your favorite crochet project possibly?

i love music so much AHHH!!! who’s your top 3 artists? or what are some of your favorite songs right now? personally, there’s a new album coming out soon that i’m really excited for! and new music actually released tonight for me as well, just has been a great music month for me ^w^

(hope this is okay, i mean, to send multiple asks as conversation!)

I love this, it's like getting letters but online.

(This is what email wishes it could be)

I also have a hard time concentrating on the words with d20, but also woth podcasts and audiobooks too, so I typically find another task to do to keep my ears engaged. Like I'll listen to Dimension 20 while I bake! Or I'll draw in my sketchbook while listening to an audiobook.

In terms of my favourite character from Fantasy High, it's a tie between Fig and Gorgug. My angry little sweethearts.

Bridgerton IS British! And if you like regency era romance vibes but don't care so much about the historical accuracy, then you'd probably like it. There's a lot of sex scenes though so do with that what you will.

My favourite Bridgerton character is Anthony Bridgerton. He's the eldest and he's so stubborn that I wanna box his ears sometimes, but he is also a sweetheart.

My dad likes to hog the tv for the majority of the week, and we have family movie nights all together on Saturday nights. But on Friday nights, my dad invites his buddies/our neighbours over to hang out in the garage for some beers and good conversation, and me, my mom, and my sister will all go watch something on Netflix together.

We've been doing it since Stranger Things season 4 part 2 came out, and we will just sit and binge entire shows a few episodes at a time.

I may be aging myself with this one, (and that feels so odd to say as someone who just turned 25 last month) but my favourite minceracft youtuber has got to be Vintagebeef. I started watching him when he was in his second season playing on the Mindcrack server (it was their 3rd season I believe), back when I was 12.

I love watching him on the Hermitcraft server these days, and it's nice to see him interacting and having fun with minecraft legends of old and new. I also love any Team Canada (Vintagebeef, Ethoslab, and PauseUnpause) videos. It's as fun as it is chaotic, and it's always very chaotic.

I found a recipe online to turn cake mix into cookies by modifying the wet ingredients, and I have been having so much fun getting creative with those on my days off work since I discovered it sometime last fall.

(My favourite ones so far would have to be the marbled cookies. They are to die for)

My favourite crochet projects, to date, are the baby blanket I made for my best friend's little boy, and the dice bags I recently made for my friend and I (she invited me to join my first ever dnd campaign with her)

My top three music artists right now would be Noah Kahan, Chappell Roan, and Hozier (with a shout out to Benson Boone)

But my all time faves? Marianas Trench, Fall Out Boy, and AC/DC

[potatoesandsunshine]

MARKLAND?! 4 the ship ask

These two are very sweet—I know that it’s kind of The Joke of eftbk that it’s the mundanities of normal characters played against this epic setting where they’re all evil but I kinda... wish they were Worse about everything. I would be more into them if they were more complicated or had more space/time together. This pairing is responsible for what is by far my most popular fic on ao3 but there’s a reason I never went back and wrote any more for them—I think this ship is kind of calling out for the sort of modern/coffee shop fluffy au where the conflict is like, a basic miscommunication, and that’s just not what I’m really into writing or reading if that makes sense. Maybe this is a crazy take but because bloodkeep is a shorter season there were times I think more extended character arcs/emotional beats could’ve really drawn me deeper (the gasp when Leiland sees Markus for the first time is so good but I want it to be either Worse or More).

All that being said I love eftbk and Ify is easily one of my top ten cast members d20 has ever had so I still have a lot of fond memories for markland 💖

[thisisnotthenerd]

active stat tracking for never stop blowing up: episode 7

systems of die types in spreadsheets, oh my

another incredible episode folks. we saw all of their new group abilities come into play, had some fantastic character progression, and some truly absurd scenes. quick note: ally said they only had 2d20, but by my count they have 3, so there may be some discrepancies. as always i am one person, watching and trying to catch as many rolls as i can.

everyone is up to a d20, so the final ability, dark night of the soul, will be unlocked. can't wait to see what that is. on that note, we saw some crazy progression this episode, notably, jennifer drips going from a d4 in stunts to a d20 in a single progression, and benefiting from the double explosion twice to end up with 24 tokens. absolutely crazy.

at this point average progressions are out the window, given that they're working their way up so quickly. everyone still has at least 1d4. jennifer, g13, and greg all have multiple d20s. we're at the 70% mark and things are looking crazy, people. everyone progressed at least one skill, with vic only getting 1 (d12 in hot), and jennifer getting 4 (d20 in stunts, d20 in brawl, d12 in tough, d20 in wits)

we saw two impossible dc skill checks: dang farting people into unconsciousness, and liv crushing usha back into g13's body. insane asks turning into insane moments. this season is a distillation of ostentatia's divine intervention, markus' fog of war, kristen's ribbon dancing, daisy shitting out a window, conrad's appeal to spirit, and jacob wysocki, all chucked into a centrifuge and then distributed into every single moment.

we've now gotten our final interface, with jennifer and russell, and russell finally understanding feminine rage.

no big mechanical changes, save mentions of the wildcard strength, which rekha is allowed to use once in the season. i don't know what it will do, and i'm afraid to ask.

also, we got confirmation that the system combines kids on bikes and murph's increasing dice game, with tokens to make it a little more reliable.

paula donvalson / jack manhattan

abilities: duelist, relentless, studied (brawl), quick healing, protector

stunts: d8

brawl: d4

tough: d10

tech: d4

weapons: d20

drive: d8

sneak: d6

wits: d10

hot: d8

liv skyler / kingskin

abilities: wealthy, trouble maker, demolitions, quick healing

stunts: d6

brawl: d20

tough: d12

tech: d10

weapons: d8

drive: d10

sneak: d4

wits: d10

hot: d10

andy 'dang' litefoot / greg stocks

abilities: trained (brawl), mastery (weapons), smokin', quick healing

stunts: d12

brawl: d0

tough: d20

tech: d8

weapons: d6

drive: d12

sneak: d4

wits: d8

hot: d20

wendell morris / vic ethanol

abilities: transporter, protector, trouble maker, quick healing, resilient

stunts: d10

brawl: d12

tough: d12

tech: d6

weapons: d6

drive: d20

sneak: d4

wits: d6

hot: d12

russell feeld / jennifer drips

abilities: trained (hot), neck snapper, quick healing, inspiring

stunts: d20

brawl: d20

tough: d12

tech: d4

weapons: d6

drive: d4

sneak: d12

wits: d20

hot: d8

usha rao / g13

abilities: wildcard, hacker, stealth, quick healing

stunts: d20

brawl: d4

tough: d10

tech: d20

weapons: d4

drive: d20

sneak: d6

wits: d20

hot: d6

group abilities:

la familia (stepping in for a tough roll, lending tokens at a 1:1, sharing skill dice for optimization)

diesel circus (doubling number of tokens on a double explosion, roll 2x on first roll after injury, successful drive check allows a second skill check on top)

alpha squad (gaining 2 tokens when the group suits up, reduce explosion range by 1, two characters roll and add the result)

the ones (reroll a nat one with a different skill, take a nat one as a max roll and blow up, accept a nat one and get 1/2 the tokens of the die value)

[asw4ng]

NEVERAFTER SPOILERS

OKAY JUST FINISHED NEVERAFTER SPITTING MY THOUGHTS HERE

i really loved this season. i think it was one (if not the most) strongest story and character wise

I saw complaints of too much rp not enough rolling but I didn't mind it, I think it was clear from the jump that this was more rp focused than other seasons, and the times where they did roll (like in battle episodes but also in rp episodes) it all felt incredibly high stakes

i also saw complaints of it felt convoluted or too much going on but personally i was able to follow it pretty well

for being the horror season I loved what they did, but I would've loved even more horror in general like from descriptions

but that's just me being a horror fanatic

I wish we got to see more of the authors and their presence

I think it would've been REALLY interesting to see what woulve happened if they lost, but I found all of the endings really sweet

one of my fave finales ever for sure

omg my favorite episodes in general was the one with all the backstories pretty much purely for ylfas, that was some of the best rp and writing I've ever seen out of them, and the concept was incredible and perfectly executed by emily and brennan

THE ACTING this season was phenomenal from everyone, special shoutouts to emily, lou, and zach

zach perfectly embodied a cat

god the seating this campaign was so perfect as well

fave character overall was def ylfa, one of my favorite emily pcs ever. her acting, story, and total embodiment of this preteen girlbeast version of death who ATE DEATH AND IT WANTED HER TO LIVE. HELLO

god I could make a whole post gushing about her

oh wait I did

anyway amazing season, I don't think it beats some of my other top d20 campaigns, but that's not saying a lot bc I adore all of them

as a whole season not that high but for individual pcs and performances, at the top

love you emily axford keep ruining my psyche /pos

oh and lou looked SO good this season

goodbye

still have a lot more to say but I will not these are my surface thoughts as I finish

[ah0yh0y]

tagged by @ribcagelikepiano for the get to know you game!! thx friend !!!!!

questions: last song you listened to, currently watching, currently reading, current obsession

last song: Come Hang Out by AJR off the top of my head by my tabs say Providence by Poor Mans Poison . Come Hang Out feels so nostalgic to me even if i only listened to it recently reminds me of a graduation song (it came out 5 yrs ago so it makes sense. I just really love Poor Mans Poison's vibes generally great fuel for daydream and also matches well with the feeling of revolution (and seeing everything collapse i guess.) (ish) mentally listening to Your Love is All I Need by Sami Yusuf tho at all times lately, probs because i have been trying to wean myself off listening to music for like the 50th time. (its slow going but IM GONNA TRY inshaallah ill be able to do it) (he also took the old nasheed music video off his channel? sad its so good)

currently watching: does d20 mentopolis count? only watched one ep but its good. i havent watched anything regularly besides like school vids for a bit. tried watching the dragon prince s5 when it came out but buffering (the video player i mean) and dissatisfaction at the pacing and characterization kinda stopped me. ill back on it at the end of the yr when everything is settled. if we are talking about podcasts started relistening to wolf 359 and keeping up with the greater gatsby (the latter has SUBLIME noir vibes as it is a noir i bloody love shipwreck's work it scratches that itch in my brain so well) . i may have seen spoilers for wolf 359 so i am anxiously waiting to see if i am proved wrong but im on s4 so its soon prepare for a barrage of reblogs for it. watched s4 of malory towers it was very nice i cant wait for s5 - the pantomime hopefully we get new members for the older years next season i miss the larger cast

currently reading: not much really. fanfic alot. i guess. caught up to the end of the To Make a Legend series on ao3 (pjo) and other fics for a couple of other fandoms (in one false move by Kalidium is really good if your into murder most unladylike - spoilers for A Spoonful of Murder though) also been reading barbie 2023 fanfic? was bored and started hunting for good ones (slim picking at the moments but if you want character study and grief and some bloody good writing def read something in me in you by telm_393 i cant explain it its that good) also reread My Memories Came Back in the Form of Someone Else by Lucy_Luna yes its that really good spiderverse fanfic do check it out

BESIDES THAT THO in terms of actual books. have the audiobook saved for The Valley and The Flood so gonna listen to that later. Have to read The Hate Race for class (not my fave but i need for analysis ive read it like 3 times but I STILL DONT REMEMBER ANYTHING) .

started rereading The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes a couple of weeks ago ahead of the movie coming out at the end of this year but never got the chance to finish it so ill have to get on that too.

also dracula ive been reading as well but more on that the next section.

current obsession: re:dracula is the first that comes to mind im so bloody invested in jonathan's wellbeing and his relationship wiht mina and the whole story its insane . i should read more older books its good . re;dracula DOES SUCH A GOOD JOB AT SUCKING YOU INTO THE STORY THE VOICE ACTORS REALLY MADE IT FOR ME i just cant with ti it makes me so bloody happy!! Renfield's voice actor is a standout for me everytime he's there i just have to pause and stare at a wall. also jonathan's actor as well hes SO GOOD i was geniunly worried about jonathan not sending me voicemails into my phone i was THAT endeared to him

besides that PLAY IT BY EAR the musical improv show by dropout is also a obsession of mine i cannot with their talent. the MUSIC so good i want to play it all the bloody time . i am in absolute awe in the performers ability to create a story and TIE IT ALL TOGHETER SO WELL like every piece of information is used whether you expect it or not . DN THE BAND OH GOD I DONT KNOW HOW THEY SO IT THE MUSIC IS SO FUN AND CREATIVE AND FITS THE MOOD AND MADE UP ON THE SPOT???!!! HOW I DONT KNOW (if u ask me who my favourite guest star is at the moment its ross byant hes an absolute delight whenever he is on a d20 show- the improvised shakespear episode blew my mind)

anway THIS SI LONGGGGGGGG soz

no pressure tags: @filmloser04 @mistichallow @charlies-a-thief

@literallymahir @quotidian-oblivion @monochrome-anomaly @suksiili @miseria-fortes-viros and anyone else that wants to join!!!! (you dont have to do a brain dump like me i always go overboard)

[ezrisdax-archive]

i wanna know YOUR top 5 d20 seasons now 👀 but also top 5 trek femslash pairongs so i can pay attention to them when i eventually have crawled through the original series

dimension 20:

Fantasy High - cause I'm basic and @counterspelling got me into it that way. "you've gotta watch it beej, it's so funny" and now because of that the two of us watch the shows as they premiere together. but yeah I love these bad kids and cycle through my own faves of them but c'mon the set up is just so fun and such a cool idea and then you hit that second episode and jfc, this is a little fucked up actually and you're hooked! you're just hooked!

Mice & Murder - I need this to have a sequel cause it was just so funny and I'm a sucker for a murder mystery type deal and grant and rekha are pure fucking chaos together and I miss raph, bring this cast back pls

A Court of Fey and Flowers - I honestly wasn't sold on this one at first cause regency stuff isn't my thing but holy shit, this one goes hard and I fucking loved it.

The Seven - for exactly the same reasons as you, I mean how can you not love this one, I will take twenty seasons of their quests now thank you

Unsleeping City - this one also took a bit for me to warm up to it but I find it a comfort one to watch now, I love Lou and Ally's characters and how they bounce off of each other and the way their relationship grew in the second season too. also Zac playing a one brain cell firefighter is just so fucking funny

trek femslash, okay so you know most of these aren't gonna be from TOS right? like TOS doesn't even have enough you can really make a top five really. also this one is not in a specific order at all unlike the other lists because it changes as I change. anyway here it is also in a specific order because I'm a liar.

B'Elanna/Seven - at least once a week I text @trillscienceofficer a thing about B7 because the two of us are so fucked up on it. it's about how they mirror each other....it's about how similar they are and can't and can see that and hate that in each other but admire each other. it's about how Seven is out here awkwardly flirting with B'Elanna like c'mon. I wrote a whole fucking essay about it! an essay!!!! (basically if you wanna know more please read that essay least I turn this into another essay about them)

Tasha/Deanna - I always think of this pairing in the sense of what could have been and what we did have still. Like in season one they were always reaching out to each other when the other was hurt or under the influence and then Tasha dies! she just dies! on a mission that was meant to save Deanna! I'm just supposed to go on with my life after that???? Like god, I can only imagine the episode when Deanna loses her powers and Tasha being there for her in that one or when Tasha's sister comes on the ship and Deanna being there for her in confronting the past and what she had to do to survive. I love them for what we got in s1 but I'm forever haunted but what else could have been there.

Uhura/T'Pring - they had one scene. one. where Uhura is out here like "hey Spock your fiance is beautiful" and damn if she a) wasn't right and b) on her way to steal Spock's fiance. that's all it took for me okay, I'm easy! sure this ship requires a lot of extrapolation and we don't know anything about T'Pring really (SNW don't interact) but I know in my heart I can fix that.

Jadzia/Lenara - the big canon femslash ship of 90s cause they got to kiss on screen and do you have any idea how that rewired my brain, like sure I took way too long to figure out I liked girls too but that episode lived in my head rent free. and it was about how they couldn't be together! there were too many external factors! and they missed their chance! they missed their chance!!!!!!!!!! the scene where they pull away from each other realizing this isn't going to happen.....god.....just end me and bury me with that scene thanks.

Beckett/T'Lyn - this one is new and currently at the top because of the newness to me and the season just ended so it's my head. like I went in the season expecting to really like T'Lyn/Tendi and I did! but I came out liking these two more, there's just something about that episode where they really bonded and understood each other. I really need more of them in the future.

[remidyal]

D20 Seasons, Ranked

Well someone else did this so now I have to do this, ranking (almost) all the seasons of D20. I have not watched Pirates of Leviathan still, I will get to it sometime.

Fantasy High Sophomore Year

In part this is a time and place thing, and as you'll see on this list sequal seasons tend to do a lot for me. Adaine and Aelwyn alone would get this into the top three, and it's not alone; to me, Fearful Symmetry might be the single best episode D20's done still. Even with all the production issues of a live show, this is firmly at the top for me.

The Unsleeping City Part 2

Solidly in second place, The Unsleeping City part 2. I love to hate Cody, I find Iga's family plotline great, and there are great villains throughout this season. Kalina's still my single favorite D20 villain, but Tony and Null might be second and third. I need to rewatch this season, but it's unlikely to drop too far on this list.

A Starstruck Odyssey

The next two flip back and forth in my mind constantly; today, this one gets the edge for third. There's not really a weakness here (though Gunnie is my least favorite Lou character, he's still pretty good), and I think it's easily the FUNNIEST intrepid heroes season; I just find the emotional hits stronger in the two seasons above.

A Court of Fae and Flowers

This is an absolute force of a season, highlighted in particular for me by Lou and Emily playing their most absolutely chaotic and hilarious characters as well as incredible performances from Surena as Binx and Omar as Andhera. More roleplay, less combat suits my own interests for certain as well. Aabria should get at least one ten episode season to GM a year as far as I'm concerned.

Fantasy High

There's a lot of learning curve here in their first season for certain - I'm not sure they get concentration right once in the entire season, the timeline at points is an absolute trainwreck, and all of them are kind of feeling their way into the level of roleplaying they eventually settle into - but the season is great and has some absolutely incredible moments, especially as they do settle into it.

The Seven

A completely wild season, and easily and by far the horniest season of D20 even though there are at least two seasons where that is explicitly a part of the theme (ACoFaF and Shriek Week.) Almost every cast is great; this one is top notch. I don't really have anything bad to say about it.

Mentopolis

The newest season, this one might move up or down still quite a lot on a rewatch and with time to settle in my own personal library of memories. The characters are by design slightly one-note but it's done in a way that's incredible. Maybe the single season with the smallest gap between my favorite character and my least favorite; I'd be hard pressed to even settle on one for either end.

Never After

I wanted to love this season even more than I did, and I do like it quite a bit, but it has some missing potential. I don't need a horror season from D20 to be crazy hardcore or anything, but this one wound up being more of a weird metastory season than horror; I would argue that FHSY and TUC2 both are more of horror seasons in the end than Never After ended up as. I think this one needed a single villain to land a bit more, or maybe another ten episodes for some of the concepts to breath a little; there were just so many elements packed in and then at the end we hadn't even met large chunks of those present at the final fight. That said, it's this high because I more or less love all the things it's hitting on and there are some GREAT moments.

The Unsleeping City

To me this is the season that suffers the most from the early season RP episode - combat episode pacing, even more than Fantasy High. It's got some really nice highs, like the Titania fight or the moment when Ricky swims across to Staten Island, but it also has some real lows: The wall street fight may be the single most miserable to watch drag of a fight in the entire series, with the villain behind a globe of invulnerability, every minion in the fight having THREE legendary resistances, and a pretty dull set, and this is the penultimate encounter! Great characters, of course, but (somewhat uniquely) I enjoy watching Cody more than Kugrash and find the dynamics in TUC2 much more fun.

A Crown of Candy

This starts breaking the mold on the RP/Combat episode thing but still mostly sticks to it. The front half is GREAT, and would be much higher on this list. My complaint with the back half is not Saccharina related, but simply that I find the last three encounter designs pretty bland and unchallenging, a complete romp for the players. Some people actually do blame that on Saccharina, but I think it's mostly just a product of being higher level and Brennan not particularly balancing the fights around level - that made the early fights incredibly hard, but by the time people are level nine it's a different world than a fight where they are 1-3.

Also how do you go from giving your next to last fight 15 legendary resistances in TUC to 0 here? C'mon.

Mice and Murder

Maybe the most unique season of the show, I need to rewatch this one but remember really enjoying it, if for nothing else then just for Sam and Grant pelting Brennan with heckling from over the zoom call throughout the season.

Escape from the Bloodkeep

The first side quest, I'm NOT a big Lord of the Rings fan but this is a thoroughly fun season anyway. There's still some early installment weirdness, but I think there's a lot to love here; Trapp and Ify give performances I find particularly fun.

Ravening War

This one's a little controversial, and for the record we're still in seasons I like well enough. I think this was my favorite bit of Matt Mercer GMing I've ever seen; I also still do not particularly care for his style as a GM (though I quite enjoyed him as a player in Bloodkeep.) I wish this hadn't veered off into the underground at the end; something more tied directly within the events of the Ravening War would have fulfilled the promise more to me. I DID quite like the concept of characters going through a longer period of time between episodes, with this covering something like eight or ten years, and I hope that's a thing they revisit in the future.

Honestly, just watching how delighted Brennan is to get to play in a world of his creation is what led me to bump it up over Coffin Run.

Coffin Run

Honestly this one was fine but I do like the longer seasons and the larger tables; Jasmine did a solid job as a DM and all four players were good, but I do kind of wish they'd ended up going with WoD instead of 5E for this one. I don't dislike anything here that much, it just isn't a standout for me.

Shriek Week

This more or less plotless season does basically what it says; the cast is great and I like Gabe as a GM, but it's four episodes and four players and honestly my aroaceness might be showing here but it's largely a very small appetizer when I'm looking for a main course in a D20 season.

Dungeons and Drag Queens

This one's gonna be really controversial, but this is a season I would (and will) rewatch and it might move up. I think I wasn't really the target audience, and I'm glad it seems to have found people who were.

A worthwhile season just for how great the players and Brennan looked alone, though.

Misfits and Magic

So. This is the first season I won't ever rewatch again, and it's not really the fault of anyone who was involved. At this point, I just can't give even the slightest bit of cultural power to the property that this season is parodying. I'm glad that, at this point, everyone involved has been in other seasons because they all do incredible jobs, and I respect people who make different choices about engaging with it, but I just can't anymore. I think the season is good - probably good enough to go several slots above this - but here it is for me. Consider this kind of an N/A.

Tiny Heist

Oh boy. The only season I actively recommend against to people who ask my opinion, there'd be a country mile between this and Dungeons and Drag Queens (which I still liked) and it's entirely from the cast. I really hope we get Jess Ross in another season; Lily too even though she's quite good in Shriek Week. As for the elephants in the room, the oldest brother and the dad seem fine and fun, but the middle and youngest made this a miserable watch for me. For people who like them, I'm sure this is near the top of their lists; for me, it's an F-.