#well I specifically love brennan playing her

[llycaons]

sofia and her mom are so funny

[mareastrorum]

I love villains, and I especially enjoy Brennan Lee Mulligan’s take on them. His version of Asmodeus in EXU Calamity and Downfall really highlights the reasons why.

A villain is the embodiment of the wrong conclusion. They aren’t always an antagonist; they aren’t necessarily meant to obstruct the protagonist of a story. Hell, they might even be helpful. Villains don’t even have to be evil, per se, they just have to be on the wrong path in the context of the story.

Asmodeus is a brilliant villain and as evil as it gets. He’s the Father of Lies, and he indulges in it deliciously. The lies are always half truths so that the protagonist fills in the blanks with assumptions and gets it wrong. He matches their energy to give them what they want to hear. He plays along with naivety and hope. He doesn’t take anything from people other than lives; they give the rest willingly because they want to believe him. Asmodeus finally reveals his deception when he has someone cornered because he wants them to know they did it to themselves. Asmodeus wants everyone he hurt to come to the realization that “I knew better and let this happen anyway.” He did it to Vespin Chloras, Zerxus Ilerez, and Sarenrae.

From EXU Calamity episode 4, after Zerxus realizes he’s been had:

Asmodeus is the embodiment of the desire to punish, and he’s the villain because he’s wrong. That mentality is rooted in hatred. He is convinced that everyone deserves eternal torment, and he wants everyone to agree with that conclusion.

The purpose of Asmodeus is that we shouldn’t inflict punishment based on some idea that the person deserved it. Yes, revenge and victory feel good. Yes, there are often valid reasons to be angry or defensive. Yes, we can come up with a reason to justify punishment. But hurting people because they deserve it is exactly what Asmodeus does. There is always a way to rationalize that someone deserves punishment—so the right answer is that this feeling cannot be a sufficient reason to do harm. That isn’t good enough.

It’s so easy to say “they deserve it” when we know the end result is that Aeor will be destroyed and the surviving legacy is ruins full of monsters. It feels good when we think people deserve to suffer and then we get to see it happen. It feels righteous.

Vespin Chloras deserved to be remembered as a traitor because he was arrogant enough to think he could replace Asmodeus—in an age where another mage already replaced the god of death and yet another mage created a machine that killed two primordials. Zerxus Ilerez deserved to be a thrall of Asmodeus because he chose to take up the mace and contributed to the problems that got him in that dilemma—because he so fervently believed that under all that hatred was a person who needed a chance to change his mind. Sarenrae deserved to lose her followers because she decided to trust the Father of Lies—because she loved her brother and offered him mercy.

It’s so easy to conclude that someone deserves pain. Asmodeus is here to remind us specifically that it’s not the right way to handle anything.

Asmodeus is also a rather effective villain because he is supposed to be irredeemable. Archetypal villains are wonderful tools for setting audience expectations. Whether Brennan plays that straight or decides to subvert it, there isn’t as much work needed to persuade us that Asmodeus is that evil or cruel. We already believe that he’s capable of doing the worst things imaginable. Toying with those expectations is a great storytelling exercise.

Asmodeus didn’t shock us in EXU Calamity because we didn’t expect him to be evil. He was shocking because he is such a skillful liar that we wanted to believe him. It would be such a satisfying story that a well-meaning paladin was the first person to show kindness to the Father of Lies and managed to atone him. Brennan’s portrayal made us want that subversion so badly even though we knew better. Asmodeus lured us into the same trap as the characters, and then we saw the outcome: punishment—because Asmodeus will use any reason to justify it and every opportunity to inflict it.

In Downfall, Brennan could have easily rationalized that the protagonists wouldn’t agree to the truce if Asmodeus was on the infiltration team. The audience would have absolutely found that plausible. He didn’t have to be here. The decision to include Asmodeus on the side of the protagonists gives us a heads up that the story will grapple with questions about punishment.

What do I need to see before I am justified in destroying a city with no survivors? Do I have to concern myself with bystanders? Do the fearful deserve to die for choosing to oppose me? Don’t they deserve it for creating such objectionable technology and magic? Don’t I deserve the chance to live without fear of those lesser than myself? Don’t they deserve to die for corrupting those I loved? Don’t they deserve it for being loved more than me?

Why isn’t hatred a good enough reason to hurt someone?

Again, villains are tools to highlight the wrong conclusions. Asmodeus is involved to highlight that the desire for punishment isn’t a sufficient reason to destroy Aeor. The other characters, villains or not, are here to show us what other justifications there might be. Their interactions are going to brush across these themes over and over again.

I fucking love villains, and no one plays a villain quite like Brennan does.

[jq37]

FH Junior Year Post-Season Thoughts

With another season of Fantasy High in the books and my recaps all finished, I wanted to do an overview of my thoughts on the season as a whole. Even though I feel generally positive about my experience with the season, there are a few things I think maybe could have been done differently narratively or mechanically. This isn't to criticize the way the season went down or to backseat DM/Play. More my combined ten years of college for textual analysis and storytelling bleeding through, haha. 

I first want to start with the things I thought worked really well.

Fantasy High has "High" right in its title but, in past seasons (and especially Sophomore Year), not as much time as you'd think was spent actually at school and even if it was spent at school, there wasn't much time spent in class or engaging with the realities of being a student. This season really dug into the academic consequences of skipping your classes all the time and the realities of needing to do a ton of extra stuff to try for a scholarship and I think that was a refreshing thing to highlight for a change. Being more scared at flunking out than the dragon that's trying to eat you feels very emotionally resonant. Real "High School Is Killing Me" vibes for anyone who's a fan of NPMD. 

Even though Fantasy High is a show that has some deep emotional beats and strong character arcs, it's first and foremost a comedy show. From the jump, everyone was generating bit after bit that had me cracking up as usual. "Little girly dog collar" is one of the funniest combinations of words I can think of. I think it was Siobhan who said that this was the goofy season and, having seen it, I'd have to agree with her. It never failed to make me laugh and it was always a highlight of my week.  The cast just has great table chemistry that I love to watch no matter what they're doing. 

Watching some of these high level combat encounters is as close as I'll get to understanding people watching sports. Even though combat is generally my least fave part of D&D, I think the cast really killed it this season with how cleverly they played and Brennan came up with some really great combat encounters. Special shout outs to Baron's Game and The Last Stand for their unique mechanics.  

This is going to be one that's on the other list as well because my feelings are mixed, but I genuinely do like the downtime mechanic and how it forces hard choices. I think it's an interesting way to connect a mechanic to the story and cultivate stressful atmosphere for the season.

I have problems with the execution but I love the Rat Grinders in concept. I think as early as season 1 I was hoping that we'd meet a party that was like the Bizarro Bad Kids and the idea of a party that's farming XP instead of going on crazy adventures is a strong concept. Likewise, I think a character that's jealous because of your "cool" (read: tragic) backstory is also a fun trait for an unhinged antagonist in this kind of setting.

This is me absolutely showing my bias but I adored the Abernant Sisters content this season. I dunno if Siobhan specifically asked Brennan to not put her on a bus with the other beloved NPCs or what but I'm so glad she stuck around and we got the development we did. It was almost entirely ancillary to the plot but there was this clear pattern of Aelwyn getting softer and sweeter towards Adaine over the course of the season, from the guarded, "Enjoy the nemesis ward," to, full I love you's and, "I'd take them to get you." It was way more focus than I expected considering that Aelwyn completed the bulk of her arc last season and a lot of the time, a redemption arc basically ends after the big gesture (in this case, Aelwyn taking a magic blast for Adaine in Sophomore Year). So the fact that we got to see all of these sweet moments of them reestablishing their relationship outside of do or die moments was such a pleasant surprise. Again, I fully admit I am extremely biased, but this was my top wishlist item and the season overdelivered so there's a baseline happy I'm always gonna be with Junior Year. 

OK, so moving on to things I things I think could have been tweaked.

Even though I liked the downtime system and the pressures it created, it also squeezed out the chance for more casual PC to NPC interactions that would usually be more common because they were semi-locked behind the relationship track and there wasn't an obvious benefit to roll for Relationships (as opposed to something like Academics which was crucial for not flunking out). Making the mechanical benefit more clear would have helped that (even if it meant Brennan didn't get his reveal--which he ended up just telling them anyway so might as well do it early). The other thing is that the consequence of a rage token was so bad that of course they spent all season avoiding getting one. Things might have gone differently if the consequences had been a bit more obscured, like in Neverafter. And it could have been a nice parallel to the Rat Grinders to take this unknown resource that makes things easier for you but is also having this negative effect. Then it could be like dang we did the same thing they did unknowingly. 

I mentioned this in my recap but I'll talk about it again. It is a little confusing to me that we did the Ankarna subplot right after we did the very similar Cassandra subplot. It took up so much time this season which I don't think is an issue in and of itself, it's just that we literally just went through some extremely similar beats last season. Why double up on this same storyline when there's so much new ground to cover? Or if we're going to raise a god, why not make it a different kind of god? One theory I had early on was that the Rat Grinders were trying to raise their own god to one-up the Bad Kids but instead of raising a chill, misunderstood Cass type, they accidentally raised a god who was erased for a good reason and got in over their heads. 

It's fun for there to be connections between seasons but sometimes it's like, OK that's a *lot* of coincidences. Like the god who your rivals is trying to raise *happens* to be the wife of your cleric's god and also *happens* to be the god of the fiend trapped in your friend's mom's chest and that fiend *happens* to be the relative on your bard's dad's side which is *also* the reason she is randomly cursed? That's a LOT of red string connecting plot points. As unhinged as Kipperlilly is about coveting Riz's backstory if I saw that go down I'd be like you have *got* to be kidding me.  

The mystery elements didn't feel like they clicked as well as they did in other seasons. I think that's partially because Porter's plan was so convoluted (seriously, I made another post about how haphazard his plan was) and had all these moving parts and we didn't get clear answers for a lot of mechanical things like how the rage crystals actually work and when they were implanted and stuff. You had stuff like Devil's Honey which I think is super cool as a thing that exists in the world but ended up being an element that just led the players down the wrong path and had a relatively small payoff (that Porter was using it to lie to Ankarna). I think it's plausible that a forgotten god would be willing to listen to anyone saying the right things without introducing this element. (As opposed to, for instance, Ambrosia which has a very clear connection to what's going on and is a solid clue that someone is flirting with aspirations of godhood.) 

The Porter reveal came so late in the season that even though it was a fun/challenging fight, there wasn't a lot of emotional weight behind killing him. It was basically just dunking on a teacher Fig has always hated who was also mean to Gorgug so screw him. Which, valid of course. But the Bad Kids were never going to react as strongly to Porter as they were to the Rat Grinders so putting Porter in the prime villain spot isn't necessarily what I would have done if I wanted the fight to be more than just a brawl--especially since we've done "School admin with student minions" already in S1. I don't mind the full circle callback but it would have been nice to pick something else for the sake of variety. We haven't had a child mastermind yet and I think Kipperlilly could have been a great candidate for that. My friend suggested that it would have been fun if Kipperlilly was trying to become a god instead of just being Porter's underling and I agree. "I'm not anyone's chosen one so I'll choose myself," is still within her established jealousy and Type A tendencies. If we want to keep Porter involved since that was Brennan's gift to Emily, maybe have it be that instead of Kipperlilly working for him, he's working for her. Like Artemis Fowl vibes! And the Rat Grinders can be varying levels of on board--from true believe to redeemable. I don't think Brennan planned for the Bad Kids to ever redeem her so might as well go full megalomaniacal mastermind with her and make her The Villain if she's not gonna be nuanced anyway. If My Little Pony can do it and send a literal child to Tartarus for pony treason (or whatever Cozy Glow did), Fantasy High can too. 

Continuing from the above, if we have the Porter fight in place of the Grix fight (a la Daybreak) and don't use Ankarna, that gives way more time for the Bad Kids to investigate the Rat Grinders throughout the season and it would mean that they would have their personalities developed a lot more. With the limited downtime, they Bad Kids didn't have a lot of time to spend on these kids who were just hating on them for no good reason (valid). But if you cleared their plate of the god hunt stuff, they'd have more time for this. And if they weren't all rage zombies to varying degrees, it would be easier to see them as characters. Besides Kipperlilly (and, funnily enough, Mary Ann) we don't really have a good read on what these kids are actually like. The little time we spent with them all season was kind of a wash if them breaking out of rage means their personalities got laundered too. Anyway, regardless of how their loyalties ended up shaking out, it would have been fun for them to be more than the minions that they were in canon. As funny as it is for them to just kinda be XP farming losers, they did have the potential to be more interesting in their own right if they weren't just Porter's minions. And again, we've done adults forcing or coercing children into being minions in Freshman and Sophomore Year already. Lemme see some self-created child maniacs! (Or, peer pressured child maniacs. That's cool too. The Lucy/Kipperlilly dynamic is way more interesting to me if it's like girl, I would take a bullet for you but I CANNOT walk this path with you any further in response to *I* will be a god and you can be *MY* champion.)

Anyway, those are my thoughts! Like I said, I have my points that I think could have been tightened, but overall an enjoyable season and I will be glued to my screen if they decide to close out with Senior Year! 

[dk-ghostmachines]

I gotta talk about FourDogs (again)

It's barely about her, though. I think "he's so lucky his dad was brutally murdered" and "people with trauma need a second handicap because they're too motivated" are such absolute-the-fuck-ly bonkers takes, they're not even worth the time it took me to get mad about them, which was immediately. This time around, I have way more to say about audience reception. I'll try to keep it civil.

It feels like a lot of us are responding from increasingly personal places because these are characters with which a lot of us identify, or we see traits in them that remind us of people from our real lives. And hey! Another performance and storytelling slay on the part of one Brennan Lee Mulligan. Who else can invent 50+ characters every year and play them to the point where any one of them can evoke both an "omg that's literally me!" and an "omg that's literally Dani, the girl that bullied me all of freshmen year until I punched out her front tooth in the student parking lot and got in-school suspension for a month!". And whether Kipperlily reminds you of Dani, or reflects your own anxieties about potential, ability, and trauma, an important thing to remember is this: she is not real!

Brennan made her up! Brennan made her up to tell a story, and when he made her up, he made her annoying, petty, antagonistic, and he gave her not just opposing goals to the the protagonists we know and love, but the explicit goal of ruining The Bad Kids' lives, specifically.

Now, I'm not saying she's fictional to be a dick, or dismiss any deeper readings on her or any of the Rat Grinders. I'm bringing it up because the way I'm seeing people talk to each other about these characters is starting to get a little wild and it's in danger of waking up The Olde Gods™ (i.e. the special brand of Tumblr Self-Righteousness that lives inside us all).

It's important to remember Kipperlilly is a character in a fictive work so that different interpretations of her don't get treated as stone law. Each reading of her is personal and valid, but none are gospel. The "Kipperlilly is but a victim" take is not the only correct one, nor is radical empathy for her as a character the only correct reaction. Also, even if I consider her sympathetic that is not incompatible with an opinion like "Kipperlilly needs to get roundhouse'd in the head by a lesbian in a tracksuit and/or a wizard in a jean jacket, posthaste". Sure, you can say that anyone who doesn't feel a deep and eclipsing empathy for Kipperlilly above all other emotions is immature at best and sociopathic at worst, but then I can just say anyone who demands solely empathy for Kipperlilly and excuses her literal crimes and bass-ackwards world view because she's insecure and has anger issues, is probably also someone who has a history of weaponizing whatever minority status they may or may not occupy to talk over, silence, or harass people of color.

They're both just opinions. And also, like. Y'know. A bit much.

To engage in the long and rich tradition of measuring character trajectories against those in the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon, let's compare Kipperlilly to Azula. Azula had an incredibly sympathetic backstory and untreated mental health issues. Azula was also a danger to herself and others, as well as profoundly manipulative and abusive (although, it was a children's show so Azula never killed anybody for whatever that's worth). Do I wish that fourteen-year-old girl had an Iroh-type in her life? Literally one adult who loved her genuinely and advocated for her best interests? Of course I do. I saw the Ember Island episode, I watched that one video essay! Does that mean it was any less satisfying to watch Zuko and Katara kick her absolute ass? No! And it was non-lethal anyway, children's show, duh.

That brings me to my other thing; Kipperlilly is a character in a fictive work that is not finished. And I know that point will age poorly, but I'm thinking it won't be the only one (hey-o). Remember the people that were calling The Bad Kids bullies? And then we learned that Kipperlilly hated Riz because his fucking dad fucking died?? And that was a full academic year before getting reanimated by a rage god?? I'll do a tame one; remember when Gilear wasn't cursed?? He was "just a guy"?? The show is serialized, gang, the world is still building! Clerickiller is not done yet, y'all need to let her cook! I'm sure we'll tune in next week to see her graduate from "unhinged" to "unaffiliated with the door frame or any frame-like structure". Reprimanding people on Tumblr will not change the trajectory of this character who, by the way, has not expressed remorse or any desire for a path other than violence. You look me in my black face after your blorbo slits a kid's throat and say "help her"?? Kipperlilly doesn't want get better right now, she wants one thing and that's for Kristen Applebees to go fuck herself and die!! You were there, you heard it!! When the fictional behavior changes, as it often does in stories, so will my opinion. There is no fore-forgiveness. Without an actual redemption arc I will continue to see the villain as a villain.

Speaking of, I think what some people have an issue with is the level of hate Kipperlilly's getting and how aggressive it is. But like.... isn't that allowed?? Because of all the stuff I said but also because like, mama said that it was okay! And by "mama" I mean Siobhan Thompson who said Kipperlilly belongs under the jail. Sure, in the real world, adults don't tell kids they belong in the ground that's crazy fucked up, but all these kids are played by adults and Emily as Fig joked that she was gonna smite the sixteen-year-old girl played by the thirty-something man. You're telling me the antagonist antagonizes the protagonists, and the protagonists go "boo, hiss" and then I, the audience, go "boo, hiss as well" but I'm wrong? I'm wrong, somehow, cool checks out.

"They're XP Levelling*punches a locker*!!"

"That girl is worse than Kalvaxus."

"Littledoggy Girlcollar"

Am I not engaging with the narrative on it's own terms if I say "i'd tell Clerickiller to die mad, but she clearly already did, Jojo Siwa head-ass, in reference to that fuck-ass ponytail and your toxic yuri" Do I need to draw a little caitmay-style OC to say it for me, would that be better?

God-forbid, we have fun? Must we discourse, always? FourDogs is tragic, FourDogs is compelling, FourDogs is Dani from 9th grade. She is Azula from Avatar and Clare from Fleabag and Brennan Lee Mulligan from my dreams and that is something that can be so personal. But no one else has to participate in your parasocial relationship. What's crazy is, I actually like Kipperlilly! As a character. I mean, the "trauma is privilege" obviously hit a nerve with me because of real life stuff, but the image of her over the rogue teacher's grave?? With a backhoe and a "gotcha, bitch" expression??? Come on, that is fresh-off-the-vine Cunt™. Even more so than I imagined that moment to be when we first heard about it. Her ending up in a Ragh or Aelwyn place would be way more satisfying than a Goldenrod or Penelope Everpetal place, BUT IT WILL ALSO be satisfying to see whatever Kipperlilly's version of the locked-in-a-chokehold-and-being-gaslit-into-thinking-you-shit-the-coach's-pants-scene is. In addition to the non-lethal ass-kicking that proceeds it.

Y'all can chuck the insinuation that something so clearly subjective is actually objective and has moral implications that make me bad, directly in the garbage. What is this, religion, hey-o.

[verosvault]

🚨SPOILERS FOR FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR EPISODE 8🚨

Dimension20 "Fantasy High Junior Year"

Episode 8 "Fracas at the Frostyfaire Folk Festival"

Timestamp: 39:40

Video Length: 4min. & 23sec.

Research into Cassandra and Ruvina + Learning about Oblivati Mori (Pt.1 | Pt.2 | ‣Pt.3)

Brennan: "But that would mean that if someone was able to write it, they would know it, but they would have to have a way of writing it without breaking Obliviati Mori. There's two pieces of information you guys can glean from that right away, the first of which is that belief and worship and the weird, tenuous alliances between gods where some of them are from the same region but have conflicting domains, and some gods have the same domain as other gods but are still ascendent in different areas or for different kinds of cultures or anything like that, all the gods have this agreement that is basically like, for lack of a better word, we're all playing the game, and if your fucking buddy or your pal or someone you love loses fair and square, you're not allowed to go to your mortal worshipers and say, "Hey, can we peel off a few followers to my buddy who's having a hard time right now?" It's basically like a law of, you are not allowed to root for each other. You are not allowed to pull for each other. You're not allowed to put a thumb on the scale in that way. If your flocks choose to have you work together, you can work together, but when a god dies, that's it. You're not allowed to cheat by reminding mortals that there was this other deity."

Siobhan: "But if we went and asked another deity about this god, would they then be able to tell us? Or would we have to specifically say their name?"

Brennan: "According to Obliviati Mori, they would not be able to tell you. But the law is a law, which immediately to you, Adaine, would tell you, well, any rule has ways of working around it."

Siobhan: "Ok, Great. So it's a law, but laws can be broken."

Brennan: "Yeah. And there might be enormous arcane penalties for so doing, but effectively, you know that there are dead gods. There are rules concerning how the other gods can refer to those dead gods to mortals, if they are even allowed to. And to a certain degree... But again, the second, biggest thing is, of course, this wouldn't be a thing unless gods could always remember dead gods."

Siobhan: "Mhmm."

Zac: "So do we have a sense of, when Lydia and her crew were on this mission, they never knew the name of this god, right? Or did they at one point know it?"

Brennan: "Lydia can confirm for you, she's like,"

Lydia: "We never knew the name of the god. We knew Bakur, the fiend, but-"

Fig: "Even though gods can't say the name, the name could still exist out there in texts."

Lydia: "Exactly, which is why a lot of, you know, if a god is trying to be crushed or scoured, you try to break their idols, erase their texts, burn the holy texts, all that kind of thing. But theoretically, if we had found the name written somewhere on text, that would have done it.

Fabian: "Then it makes sense why Cassandra said that thing about being like, I thought you were dead."

Fig: "I thought you were dead."

*multiple "yeah's" at the table* 😂🤣💀

Fabian: "Mm~."

Riz: "So if you had to get around it, maybe a way to do it would be to possess someone or something. Is it possible that Lucy..."

Fig: "Was possessed?"

Riz: "...was possessed?"

Fig: "All the Rat Grinders are suspiciously qui-. No one's grieving Lucy or anything like that."

Adaine: "Yeah, it's weird, right?"

Fig: "So the Rat Grinders are in on this, in some capacity. And I even think it's possible that, the way that Ivy reacted to me, either she saw through my disguise and so she was being cheeky, or Lucy's around somehow and they've just found another way to proselytize-"

Fabian: "Oh-! Maybe- Yes! 'Cause she did beckon to you, right? To be like-"

Fig: "Yeah, she was like, 'Oh- Okay, we're meeting up.'"

Fabian: "Ooo~ Yes, like a possession thing, where somebody's, the god is Lucy and- and-"

Murph: "What happened to that armor after Gilear had it?"

Emily: "What happened with the armor?"

Brennan: "He'd stolen it from Hell, and he just returned it to you when you guys got back from spring break."

Emily: "Where is it?"

Murph: "So, it just should be in Hell?"

Brennan: "Yeah, the Armor of Pride is back in the Hall of the Armors of Sin."

Murph: "Okay."

Brennan: "So the Armor of Pride is just down in Hell."

Emily: "And all the demons are archfey are fallen deities?"

Brennan: "Unclear. Some great celestials and fiends are created by gods in their status as celestials or fiends. Bakur was created by a god that he could no longer name, right, and so there's certain- But it looks like some divinities, some archfey or some celestials or some things like that, are gods who, their worship is waning and waning and waning or their divinity is waning and waning and waning, and they just make a decision to, rather than face death, become something that relies a little bit less on faith."

[iiitsnotbase]

Fantasy High and Love

Dimension 20 is no doubt one of the most popular D&D Actual Play shows releasing currently. It has, as of writing this, 14 completed seasons, and the 15th well underway. These seasons range from four-episode side quests, to full seasons, which range from small town mystery in season 1 (Fantasy High), to Regency-Era Romance in season 14 (A Court of Fey and Flowers) to Game Of Thrones inspired Candyland in season 6 (A Crown Of Candy). Dimension 20’s main cast (The Intrepid Heroes) consists of Sibbion Tompson, Lou Willson, Ally Beardsly, Zac Oyama, Emily Axford, and Brian Murphy ‘Murph’, and most games are Dougen Mastered by Brennan Lee Mulligan (Captain K.P Hob, A Court Of Fey and Flowers) or Aabriya Ingar (Antiope Jones, The Seven). Of course, there are always other players who guest star in the seasons and work at Dropout (the company that owns Dimension 20), but these are the main candidates for the show. 

Though the seasons do not always make it so obvious, one key theme underlies in all of them, and that is love. The show says, quite plainly, love is not always romantic. Love can be your friend, sacrificing herself to make sure you survive (Sibbion Tompson as Adaine Abbernant, Fantasy High Sophomore Year), love can be a King screaming at his head guard to “Take my daughters and run!” (Lou Willson as King Amethar Rocks, A Crown Of Candy),  love is saying “I don’t love you anymore,” and putting yourself first (Persephone Valentine as Sam Nightingale, The Seven), and to end with a more traditional sense of love, it is two people renouncing their families for each other, kissing under a raincloud and saying “We have so much to experience together.” (Surena Marie as BINX Choppley to Omar Najam as Andera, A Court Of Fey and Flowers). In this essay, I will specifically discuss Fantasy High and Love, platonic or romantic.

Fantasy High is set in a small town, in a highschool, so romance is bound to appear at some point. It also follows our Intrepid Heros (Kristen, Adaine, Fig, Gorgug, Fabian, and Riz, played by Beardsley, Tompson, Axford, Oyama, Willson, and Murphy respectively) as they learn and grow as people. It follows their mistakes, their feelings, their hearts, and discovering their own sexuality and relationship ideals and goals as they mature. Now, we cannot talk about Fantasy High without talking about religion, specifically the religion of Helio, the Corn god. One of our Heroes, Kristen Applebee’s, was raised in this church as ‘Helio’s Chosen One’,  and thus believed herself to be holy. 

The religion on Helio is quite clearly a commentary on corrupt christianity and religious issues, as Kristen’s parents are homophobic towards her, and there is a secret underground cult the ‘Bad Kids’ (Kristen, Adaine, Fig, Gorgug, Fabian and Riz) discover around halfway through the season. In the first battle, when Kristen literally dies and ascends up to heaven, she meet’s Helio, who is the stereotype of a teenage frat boy. All this to say, Kristen later renounces her faith in her religion and abandon’s her church and family for her new one. The person who helps her discover she is a lesbian (and is her girlfriend as of the end of Fantasy High Sophomore Year/ Dimension 20: LIVE) is Tracker O’Shaunessy. 

Tracker is everything Kristen (at their meeting) is not. She is calm, cool, collected, and has renounced her religion long before the season began, as she has lycanthropy, and is a werewolf, in direct opposition to the Church of Helio, worshiping the Moon Goddess Galacia. The exploration of losing your religion and growing into your ‘true’ self, whether that be a werewolf or anything else, is one of the most realistic I have ever seen, probably due to the fact that the show is written, or improvised, by people who went through it in real life. Tracker and Kristen are not without their flaws, but they have a very open and realistic relationship, including the fact that Kristen keeps telling everyone she is gay when she figures herself out for Season 1. It is interesting as well how a relatively small company can better display a lesbian teenage relationship than most streaming giants, and have more than one in the series. 

Fantasy High: Sophomore Year (FHSY, Dimension 20: Live) brings in a new character in Ayda Augefort, Mistress of the Compass Points Library, Daughter of Arthur Augefort, half Phoenix. Arthur Augefort is the principal of the academy most of The Bad Kids go to (Excluding Tracker, Alewyn, and as of Season 2’s ending, Ragh), and the principal of the academy his daughter's girlfriend, Fig Faeth. Ayda Augefort is explicitly autistic, and in a relationship and thriving in a relationship. Unlike most media, the focus during her and Fig’s relationship is not the fact that Ayda is autistic, it is the fact that she is from an entirely different nation than the rest of them, and sometime’s struggles with social cues, and that’s it. It is unbelievably refreshing to see an autistic character's arc not be entirely on autism, but be on her relationships.

 It is also refreshing to see autism being portrayed as normal (literally Ayda stating “This is normal, this is normal.” as Jawbone O’Shaunessy, Tracker’s Uncle and Adaine’s adoptive Father), and not some big bad monster that is needed to be overcome by the character. She is treated as ordinary, not incapable, not babied, and as an equal by her fellow adventurers. So often in the media, autism is a monster, showing someone incapable and unnerving. Ayda is not.

Ayda is just Ayda, and many people would call her the most capable and logical one in the group.

On the complete other side of the Fantasy High Coin Of Romance, we have Riz Gukgak, a cannoncially aromantic, asesexual charcter. Riz, throughout season 1 of Fantasy high, makes fun of his friends and their general ‘horniness’ as teens. He is left feeling isolated and awkward when the topic of sex comes up, whereas the rest of his friends (with perhaps the exemption of Adaine; Though nothing has been confirmed by Tompson or Mulligan regarding her) embrace their teenage years and the conversations surrounding romance and sex with open arms, though sometimes they take a bit of prying to get open, whereas Riz actively rejects it. 

In fact, Riz rejects it so much it leads to the manifestation of Baron from the Baronise, Romance Partner, when the group’s worst fears manifest. To create Baron Riz did something many young, queer teens do, which is make up a lie of a boy/girlfriend or partner to appear perfect, to appear straight and cis and normal, because to many children, normal does exist, and it does for Riz Gukgak, who aspires to be normal in whatever way he can be, leading to Baron. 

Many people agree that Baron is the one of the most horrific elements across any D20 season, even ranking above the current horror season, as Mulligan describes them as having “A voice colder than the grave,” and the fact it’s mouth “Does not move when he talks.” 

Baron can be read as the metaphor for hiding who you are, that you are scared the real you will be ugly, be unattractive and horrific, backed up by the fact that Baron’s first appearance is in a mirror, they are a literal reflection of Riz’s worst fears. That he is unnatural. 

Terrifying.

That Riz Gukgak, aroace goblin (un)-licensed private investigator that he is, is wrong beyond words, a horror only a few unlucky people would comprehend. 

But how on earth could that be true about anyone? How can anybody, human or otherwise, be so horrible nobody wants to spend time with them? Baron says that “The years will go by, and everyone will find someone who matters more to them than you.” and Riz shuts it down. Riz “Seeks the truth so much (he) cuts his hands on the inside of crystals,” (Mulligan as Barron), and his friends love him, even if he is just “The little shrimp of this party.” (Murphy as Riz). 

As a warning, this next section will discuss heavy topics of abuse, torture, anxiety and neglect.

Romantic love is not the only kind of love out there, and it is not the only kind of love covered in Fantasy High. Another prevalent love is the love between sibling, the love Kristen Applebee’s shows her younger brothers when she drops off gold in the beginning of FHSY, but most prevalent is the now unshakeable love between Adaine and Aelwyn Abbernant, two sisters who were abused beyond belief falling apart and coming back together, but only under the most horrible of circumstances that no person, age not important, should ever have to go through. 

Adaine and Aelwyn, in different ways, were both abused by their parents, in a horrific mixture of neglect of Adaine’s needs and favoritism for Aelwyn. To quote BR Parents, “Usually the favorite is the oldest or the baby,” which is true here. Aelwyn is the elder sister, and Adaine is the younger. 

The abuse suffered is also represented by their types of magic, Aelwyn being an abjuration wizard, and Adaine being a divination wizard, specifically the Elven Oracle. Aelwyn’s abjuration magic is a protective force, a literal shield as she shields herself, her true self, from her parents to avoid disappointing them, she gives herself the protection she cannot offer Adaine. Adaine, on the other hand, is a divination wizard, she can see the future that her parents are going to give her, and know what they are going to say about her. In every way for the first season, they are opposites, a diviner who focuses on the future and an abjurer who focuses on the now, Aelwyn working for the ‘bad’ side throughout all of season one resulting in her kidnap and torture in Fallinel throughout most of season 2, Adaine actively fighting against that side to the best of her ability. The abuse also drove a rift between the two girls, with Adaine saying “I feel unsafe!” to withdraw Aelwyn’s diplomatic immunity when she is arrested. 

Terrifyingly, they have their softest sisterly moments between them when Aelwyn is a, to borrow a term from season 1, Palimpsest of a Person. She has been wiped and superimposed over by her country of birth, leaving nothing but a blank slate of a person, and how sad is it that someone who helped with the palimpsest’s in season 1 has now become a human equivalent of the thing she helped make. After this, they have a scene together where Aelwyn’s magic does what it has never done before, it reaches out and protects Adaine from danger directly, instead of watching her handle it herself. (It is important to note the magic here cannot entirely protect the girls, they are still in Flaniell, the danger is all around them, and there are ore elves working for Fallinel than people working with the bad kids.)

In the finale, their love comes to a head, when they end up in a quiet corner of the forest with their parents, alone, and with no other Bad Kids to help them. The importance of the quote “I don’t love our parents, but I do love you. Do you know that? I hope that you know that.” said by Adaine cannot be overstated, as it is finally offering Aelwyn something she has never had, unconditional love. Up until this point, Aelwyn has always believed she was only loved because she worked for people, loved by her parents because she worked for them, was at Hudol because they told her to be, ‘loved’ by Kalvaxous because she worked for him kidnapping the girls. 

Adaine offers her none of that, Adaine offers her something new, and she is uncomfortable with it. She is unsure whether she deserves love, after all she has done, and, before passing out (not dying) in her sister's arms, gives an affirmative response to “Will you be my big sister? I would really love to have you as a big sister.”. Aelwyn passing out here is another thing that can be read as her truly leaving her old self behind, her Father is dead and her Mother is missing. She is starting to accept she truly can be loved at the end of season 2, and in the “Boys Night” one-shot has even found a group of friends of her own with Zayn Darkshadow and Ragh Backrock. 

Another familial form of love is shown in Tracker and Jawbone O’Shaunessy, two lycanthropes assumed to be disgraced from their family due to their condition. Tracker is first met in The Black Pit, where her Uncle Jawbone is working security. At first, it is not said that the two werewolves are related in any way, but this is later discovered when Tracker comes to Augefort Academy to see “(My) Uncle Jawbone”.  Tracker states, in one of her first scenes, tells Kristen that she has been kicked out of her house by her parents because she doubted her religion, the same way Kristen did. Thus, Uncle Jawbone took her in, and they live together. 

Jawbone is not only shown to have parental affection for Tracker, as at the end of season 2 he asks permission to formally adopt Adaine, and also becomes a Father figure for Fig, Kristen, and Ragh when they all move into Mordred Manor, some at the start, some at the end, of season 2. However, none of this could have happened if Jawbone had not met our Intrepid Heroes themselves, and turned his life around from a drug-dealing werewolf to a licensed guidance counselor. 

Speaking of our intrepid heroes, and to close off the section on Fantasy high, it would be a shame not to discuss the group that the main cast play as a collective, The Bad Kids. If I described the Bad Kids, you would think something was wrong with them. As of the end of season 2, they contain an Arch-Devil of Rebellion, The Prophet of a Forgotten God, The Elven Oracle, a (now) licensed private investigator, A former champion bard who said the quote “Toxic masculinity is dead, I dance now,” and briefly had a fling with The Elven Oracle’s sister, and A half-orc adopted by gnomes. Their names, in order, are Fig Faeth, Kristen Applebee’s, Adaine Abbernant, Riz Gukgak, Fabian Aramais Seacaster, and Gorgug Thistlespring. 

Though their relationship started on rocky territory, with Fabian and Gorgug getting into a fight upon their first meeting, they quickly became friends after being forged in fire in the Clash of The Corn Cuties, and grow close to the point where they cannot live without each other. When Mulligan tries to force Willson (Fabian) to walk away from the group towards the end of Sophomore Year, he actively asks for Adaine, only for Mulligan to cut him off by saying “Sorry, no.” 

In the very first interaction they have all the way back in season 1, upon meeting Adaine for the first time, Fig’s (Axford) first instinct is to lie to protect her from Goldenhoard, and from getting in trouble on the first day. Fig reassures her that she is cool when she starts to have a panic attack, and helps her through many from that day forward. Fabian also instantly knew that Riz was in danger in the beginning of FHSY due to the fact he didn’t pick up his phone on the first ring. 

The girls start living with each other at the beginning of FHSY, moving into Mordred Manor with Tracker, Sandra Lynn (Fig’s Mother), and Jawbone. This shows how, finally, they have accepted each other into their lives and are ready to do anything together. It also gives Adaine the family she deserves. 

In conclusion, Fantasy High and Dimension 20’s portrayal of love is so unbelievably real and genuine, and one of the best ones out there currently. There is no complicated love triangle, there is little dramatics, and everyone is respectful.

[thespoonisvictory]

Okay, I need to know what your thoughts are on whether the Ratgrinders (and which members if it's not all of them) will be redeemed or not.

***** pre warning that brennan has bamboozled me thoroughly and I have few coherent thoughts on the mystery at hand other than looking at theories and going "well that's dumb" which I recognize is unhelpful.

I think the Ratgrinders have a large sympathetic element to them as a group that is yet to be revealed. That could be a lot of things, but starting first with the fact that we don't have a clear motivation for why exactly they were xp grinders rather than truly adventuring, what's up with that? To me, it doesn't read as a malicious act against rats, lol. To me, it reads as the 11 year olds afraid to play Minecraft off of peaceful mode, OR the people who think that highschoolers risking their lives to get grades is unfair and scary, OR maybe people who just want to game the system to prove it's unbalanced. Either way, that feels to me like a pretty big piece of the puzzle we're missing, and would give us a better idea of the group.

Additionally, I think the Rat Grinders are, or at least were, friends the way the Bad Kids are, which is another big sympathetic element. Kipperlily points out that they are a parallel to them in the way that they are/were six very different people who found their way to each other. I think their friendship is going to be revealed to be in many ways Exactly like the Bad Kids, closeness and loyalty and all. Maybe Kipperlily isn't a part of that, or she's deceiving them, but how far would the Bad Kids let Riz go down a crazy plan? How much trouble would they have put up with from Kristen if she kept going down the path she was at the start of the year? How much would they do for each other?

All this to say, I don't think we've seen a full view of what the Rat Grinders look like yet. If Lucy was friends with them for almost two years after all, surely there's something more there. That makes all of them to me, again with the arguable exception of Kipperlily, plausible to be redeemed, or revealed to have had decent intentions and turning out to be an ally.

As for more specific, kind of meta-gamey guesses (minimal evidence just vibes):

Oisin feels like a potential good guy or absolutely irredeemable, leaning towards the former. Either he's a Hans, or he doesn't know quite what's going on as exemplified by Kipperlily keeping him out of the loop on the materials smuggling w Aewlyn. I just doubt Brennan would dangle a love interest like that as a villain for Adaine, when her character has had very little romance thus far. It feels both like he knew Siobhan was too smart of a player to take that as bait, and wouldn't want to punish socially anxious Adaine opening up to someone outside of the group. OR he's evil idk this most recent ep was pretty damning.

We've barely seen any of Ivy, but she gives me big "pulling away emotionally from the disaster that is this friend group and bracing for impact" energy. wild shot is that I bet she was one of the closer people to Lucy, and is detached from everything after her death, maybe just going along with KL's plans for the hell of it. Will maybe slink away unscathed but unredeemed.

Ruben is interesting, and I think after KL one of the more involved people in the plot given his involvement in the festival. Could see him being redeemed, think it's more likely he'll go out in a Wanda Childa themed blaze of glory.

Mary Ann I think just loves her friends and is loyal to them. Whether that means she's being manipulated or doesn't even need to be, unclear.

Buddy o7

Kipperlily? No fucking clue. I think we're missing a big piece of her and doubt that Brennan would this simply villify a 16 year old girl with so many clear issues. What we're missing? Simply not a clue. She's crazy to me and I love her

[miz-chase]

🥝🍇

🥝 What’s your favorite trope/AO3 tag to write?

First Time - Always fun to build AUs based on "What would happen if this was the episode they first hooked up in?" Both B&B and Rizzles have a ton of build up so it's always a fun game to figure out what, in that episode's context, would be the thing that pushes them over the edge.

Making Up - I love heart-achey angst with a happy ending. Starting off with unresolved fight/breakup/divorce is fun because, again, both couples spend so much time together that it's fun forcing them apart and having them cope with holding grudges and sustained separation. Also I am SUCH a sucker for who is the one brave enough to reinitiate contact and how awkward that can be

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one?

B&B: Obvious answer: 6x09 The Doctor in the Photo. Brennan confesses her feelings to Booth, what could happen next? Does she pretend nothing happened and go on with her life (canon)? Does she quit? Does she stop working with Booth? Do she and Booth cheat on Hannah? Does Booth leave Hannah? Does Booth never show up at all and she's hit by the car? The episode is such a good AU flashpoint in the timeline to play with!

Less obvious but same questions: 3x15 The Pain in the Heart: How does she cope with the emotional fallout from Booth's fake funeral? 11x2 The Brother in the Basement: How does she cope with the emotional fallout from the dumbfuck thing Booth did and the knowledge that he would abandon her & the kids for a lost cause?

Rizzles: Okay I don't know the show as well as I do Bones (let's be real, I haven't watched either show to completion, I have a Thing about that). Since I can't rattle off specific episodes, I'm gonna cheat here and actually say that one of my favorite things to do is borrow from other crime procedurals as plots to throw the ladies into. Favorites include Bones 3x05 The Mummy in the Maze where kidnapper drugs you up with drugs to make you panic and exposes you to your greatest fear. Jane rescues a panicking mute Maura who struggles to function, let alone trust her, etc etc. Another is The Closer 7x21 The Last Word: Big Bad of your choice gets away on a legal technicality, Jane beats the shit out of them in apparent frustration, and turns around to use their blood on her fists as DNA evidence to plant against the Big Bad. Jane's fired, but gets the job done. Meanwhile Maura is home alone, Big Bad sneaks in, Maura saves herself right as Jane shows up etc etc

[mysticmayhem1337]

I've started watching The X Files recently and I gotta say, I really like it. There's something about the specific genre of shows like Bones, Criminal Minds and also now The X Files that I just can't get enough of. Maybe it has something to do with the FBI? Who knows, the point is, they're very good, and I'd recommend all three.

Especially Bones. Criminal Minds is particularly well-known and The X Files is a cult classic with an instantly recognisable theme tune. But Bones, I fear, doesn't get the same love. The titular character, Dr Temperance Brennan (affectionately called "Bones" by her partner, Agent Seely Booth), is a forensic anthropologist and works for the FBI to identify bodies so decayed they've become skeletons. The nickname hopefully makes sense now. I've always identified with her and think she's a pretty fantastic female character.

Of course, Bones herself isn't the only interesting character, Booth is played by David Boreanaz who is most recognisable as Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The two often clash with their differing viewpoints but always seem to work together to save the day and catch the bad guy. Then there's Dr Hodgins, who really loves bugs and dirt, and Angela, who does facial reconstructions and Dr Saroyan who does all the fleshy bits Dr Brennan can't.

I could go on and on about Bones, but I wouldn't want to give away significant plot points and disway new viewers. You can stream it on Disney+ if you're interested.

[strugglingatart]

Jr year ep 2

This is me live blogging bc I need to get thoughts out also would love fandom friends full spoilers bellow the cut just so no one accidentally reads anything they don't want to this will be long

No shenanigans at the begining way lowkey sad I love our intrepid heroes being dumb

Siobhan and Zac kick it off with SUCH good turns straight away we love (also emily's cutting words? delicious)

Them all discussing more stuff mid battle is so nice I love but also not Ally forgetting they could try to heal lol

"playing with you all at level 10 has never convinced me more that this game is unplayable at level 20. fucking unplayable" Brennan the man who I 100% have seen play att level 20. But we HAVE to stan the complaing I love them so much Murph especially I always laugh so much

Siobhan please we cannot be confident before rolls they go bad then

we were doing so well like seconds ago and now everything feels terrible

ARMOR OF AYDA omg my loves

Kristen and Riz are me when my friends are being to sexual but also Kristen please remember you and tracker?

NOT FABIAN FALLING AGAIN, and his idea was real good as well, but Ally yeeting the dice also a big mood

Lou's sass was so good I love im so much

only one person saving out of everyone is brutal why do dice currenntly hate them

Murph loosing it at Ally's saving throws being empty is so funny, and poor them gatting so defensive (also have they been doing it wrong this whole time then? has it never been written down? was is just a mistake on their season prep?)

Zac and Lou killed that look at me bit I'm sorry they are geniuses

I truly thought Brennan was gonna make this fight SO much easier and in many ways I get why he didn't but I'm not over it

Listen Murph is looking SO GOOD this season it legit distracted me for a few seconds I had to go back to understand what Brenan said about the van flipping I am a disaster queer through and through

this is so intense all of a sudden omgggg

Poor hangvan ily and know Gorgug will fix you tho

Oh no Kristen, but also the die deadass turned on them, sad vibes (also I miss good rolling Murph I know we had him for one ep but I loved him)

once again yeeting the dice is a mood and then the whole if i hit anyone bit, art tbh

AHHHHH that nat 1 followed by a nat 20 was magical, also Em is wearing the naddpod live shirt 😍 I was 110% with her tho I wanted Gorgug to get it so bad so that deception roll was EVERYTHING TO ME, Ayda claming Gorgug as the greatest wizard is legit one of my favorite things whenever they bring it up and support that theory my heart is so happy

Brenan just being like yes these npcs i made up for the media res are just for that they will die even if they don't

Zac has what healing thing? again not knowing enough about DnD makes me bad at knowing who can do what

shoutout to the two crew

listen this theme of exaustion specifically with school will end me like i cannot it hits too close

Moggy the doggy! we stan Adaine the little guys guy(gal?)

Did Cassandra text you? Nonstop

this flourish lacks flourish (me giving the finishing touches to art projects for university)

LISTEN Fig asking about first day of school outfit was literally Emily choosing violence omg I felt that deeply

I still have jump and i haven't used it so I'm just gonna... I love Zac

They all LOOSE IT at two more guys and I know it was mostly the players but honestly having an absolute laughing fit out of exaustion is another big mood and I felt both seen and called out (I have STROIES about this) and like it just fit the theme so well

there's two nat 1's, Lou's full discociated, Murph's loosing it, it's pure chaos for a bit but whoever did the closed captions? A+++ job

Kristen taking ths ice cream sandwich out and going to the hangman is gold (also I remember the pouch of ice cream sandwiches existing like I fully remeber Kristen usinf it before but i don't remeber when/where she gets it despite having just rewatched both freshman and sophomore years and it's bothering me)

I want the so tactical so late t-shirt

Fabian passed so I legit thought that was gonna work but you know what? it's funnier that it didn't

"I was a turncoat the whole time" is so funny for no reason, also Fabian babe, ily but like why do you wanna kiss a mirror it will not be enjoyable (also at this point Lou is either feeding into all the comp-het queer theories or is like the queer whisperer)

The father the son and the balthazar made me cackle

I have said this before in a post somewhere but while I get where Kristen is coming from so much like truly I'm right there with her but also I kinda hate how she's avoiding Cassandra but also I get it baby but also pls do better (or at least change tactics in odrer to to it lowkey unhealthily)

Fabian I promise you you can do better LMAO Riz, you are correct

Again to me Fig's hypothetical is like fighting words I'd be pissed and depressed

But also high school me would have loved a dance camp tbh (also to be able to dance in general rip my dancing dreams, taken away by a chronic issue and over protective parents)

"I think I do a really half hearted prayer of healling just because I don't.. trust you" I love Ally so much

ah yes the silliness is back but they are so tired

wanna stay at our place? we have so many beds

The entire ecaf bit was so good i cannot deal

Hallariel is saying Fabian's name more like the elves or am I tripping?

Gillear is slightly less pathetic! he won a cruise! oh and they are engaged, full step sibblings Fig and Fabian

also poor Fabian like he needs his parental figures here... Cathilda better stay or I'm personally gonna have words with Brennan, stop making them suffer they fuck up things alone

ALSOOO there is no way Gillear would not want to talk to Fig omg I'm fighting brennan again

Gillear luck... did Fig uncurse him by taking that deal and is she about to get his bad luck?

SKLONDA we stan

Brennan I swear to god this tiny goblin has saved the world three times what do you mean he cannot go to college I will fight you, this scene hit me so hard omg we were promised silliness not heart wrenching reality in my fantasy

I think Zac legitimately forgot the mirror didn't run away for like a second which makes it funnier but Fig IS just that good. 32 decepetion fool the character and the player

BRENAN what do you mean Zelda gave back his stuff this is DURING the seven where they are still TOGETHER I swear I will riot

Frosty fair mentioned twice it's connected to or the big thing this season

The Thistlespring are SO PRECIOUS

Jawbone and Sandra Lynn made a cake I can't deal, and it's belated birthdays omg the way I would cry

THE RAGH AND LYDIA ART IS SO GOOD

the justaposition of Emily's cackle and Ally's face to the dangers Fig and Kristen are dangerously and/or wildly close to being expell is so good

Lou choking on water at "we're allowed to fail a certain number of classes each semester" also real good treiler editing bc I thought that was 10000% connected to the you let your god die line that comes right before it on there

Fig's been multiclass since start of sophmore year, does she do warlock classes sometimes I wonder

I like that Jawbone is not judging here he's just like facts: you are failing and this is why, now we can see what we do about it

ouch that whole im swimming my head is liquid kristen thing felt dangerously close to me... I usually relate to gorgug and riz like i adore kristen but she's never me what is happening (this is not bad just me having like my 10th identity mini crisis this year)

THE AYDA ART she looks so bummed but so pretty.. but also Brenan I feel like I said I'll fight you a couple of times here but if we get no ayda I will fly to LA and fight you

I reached text limit will do a part two

[loveofmyknife]

Live Blogging the Burrow’s end finale but it’s all in one post because I can’t be bothered to reblog the same post 10 times. So like… pre-recorded blogging I guess

Spoilers. Obviously.

- loving the finale outfits! Especially the caution tape accessories!

- hey girl hey! Poor Teedles is taking all of this very well and we love them for it. I too would rather face possible death than have to babysit my boss’s children

- someone really should go check on Simon

- love how Tula is advocating for a nonviolent solution and ends it with “and we should definitely track down and murder Phoebe”. It’s nonviolent except for one specific person (being?)

- Lucas is just doing his best as a congested little boy. Somebody get him some mint! (Bint)

- “oh, mommy has so much bloodlust!” is an excellent line

- again, Brennan is unhinged, and also maybe wearing pink lipstick, which I think adds to the vibe

- Thorn being concerned for Dr Steel is so indicative of his character. He just wants to protect his people, and even though they’ve only known this human for a few hours, she is one of his people

- I DID NOT KNOW HE COULD DO THAT

- love a good title drop, but this plan seems very hastily put together. I am concerned

- persuasion- “-OR ELSE!” … ok intimidation

- gasoline lasts for however long is narratively relevant

- how many stoats does it take to drive a truck? Apparently at least 5

- I mean as far at Nat 1s go operating a gear shift as a rodent makes sense

- viola is holding this group together by sheer force of will

-oh fuck human magic!

- new map! New map!

- Oh fuck “human” NECROMANCY!

-kinda sad that Carlos isn’t playing Wennabocker on the board in some way but it obviously makes sense from a practical standpoint

- the minis!!! So cool!

-“grandma casts sounding” oh no…

- box of doom strikes again

- 40 points of damage is insane

- Lucas no! I love his little hat but no!

- hate when the BBEG rolls a Nat 20

- 69 hp…nice

- not Lucas!!

- oh Tula is never going to forgive herself for this and I have Thoughts about it

- Phoebe really is just a situation at this point

- That is exactly what a 12 year old would say when beating up an eldritch horror

- yeah I’d say hitting the ground really hard is a reckless attack, Ava

-109 damage! Jesus fucking Christ

- oh it’s some eugenics shit, okay

- Dr Steel coming to the rescue!

- I love using a bunch of skills and mechanics to get the desired outcome. Casting a spell, moving out of range of counterspell, and disengaging an opportunity attack all at the same time just to be able to fireball this meat suit

- I also would not recommend hitting a nuclear reactor with fire

- “no that’s okay” was such a power move

- “I DEBONE THAT MOTHERFUCKER” yes you do, and somehow that invents cooking! I love it

- Nat 20! “THATS! MY! WIFE!!!” Viola has taken out 4 giants in a single round. She is a badass. She is a warrior. She is my hero.

- oh yeah, Dr Steel was just standing there for all that

- We may be experiencing a tragedy but at least they’ve also invented ice cream

- LUCAS NO!

- ok yeah i might be sobbing a little, what of it?

- I like that Ava can have a little magic as a treat

- I personally welcome our new stoat overlords

- babies!

-Get it, Tula! But seriously I like that she really got to process life without being just a widow and a mother before moving on

-baby’s first word: viscera. This is cannon

-Ava’s doing great, and her life is in her own hands. She’s completely overhauling the local law enforcement and creating triple A

- Dr Lila! She’s a nuclear physicist now!

- Did not expect Jaysohn to go for an Airbud plot line but I’m not mad at it

Closing thoughts: I loved it! I think the ending was pretty abrupt but taking out the BBEG in like 2 rounds will do that so I can’t fault them for it. I would have loved for at least one of the party to take over Education, and I think Tula was kind of set up for it but I’m glad she gets to just enjoy life now instead. I can’t wait to see tomorrow’s Adventuring Party and I’m super excited about next season!

[hannahhasafact]

Things the fucking slap about the non Intrepid Heroes Dimension 20 seasons in order of release:

Escape from the Bloodkeep

Absolutely stellar party with Amy Vorpahl, Erika Ishii, Ify Nwadiwe, Matthew Mercer, Mike Trapp and Rekha Shankar

Includes the one familiar the Brennan refuses to harm, and it’s the most horrible creature you’ve ever met.

Speaking of J’er’em’ih, I don’t think Trapp gets as much appreciation for Sokhbarr as I think he deserves because when Trapp commits he fucking COMMITS. And that one very specific investigation check? Ooh baby it was so good

Speaking of boss ass moves, Rekha’s balloon ass fuckery was such a good move. And Ify being like “can we be bros with the eagles?” ending up being one of the best moves to do? Absolutely fantastic

Honestly one of the funniest seasons of D20 tbh imo. Like I do not like LOTR, so I didn’t think I’d like this season. But it’s such a hilarious season, no wonder it’s one of the side quests I feel like folks recommend the most

Tiny Heist

The McElroy fam? Even if you don’t listen to TAZ (like me) you know they’re a good time

The Rick Diggins speech is just so fucking bananas it’s so good. Rick Diggins is also just the most batshit character

Personally, I love heist stuff. It’s so fun! And I really found the heist itself to be so fun! (Griffin’s part it in is my favorite, Bean is adorable and I love him)

Also there’s always something so fun about the mechanics of tiny universes within our universe? The way they explain toys and stuff coming to life is really interesting and fun imo

Lily Du’s first time at the table and Jess Ross at the table! Speaking of I love how Jess completed her arch, she knew what was going down with her character and made a complete story. It was great!

Pirates of Leviathan

Personally I love this season, and our first time having Aabria at the table ahhhhhh (also my first encounter of “please have the camera focus on Aabria, she makes the absolute best expressions”) Plus, it’s back in the Fantasy High Universe which is always fun to explore more about the universes (and get some NPC cameos/appearances!)

Also tbh I love all of the PCs in this series? Like they’re all so interesting and unique, and are such full characters.

Literally the absolute best PC introduction that exists in d20, Bob I love you so goddamn much

There’s a goddamn Queer Eye joke in this season and at first it’s played for laughs but honestly becomes like… the softest thing? And it warms your soul? And it also features Matt Mercer as a tall ass rat man (this season also has a rare pair I ship and I think no one else does lol but I love it so)

Pirate T-Rex. Just feel like that alone needs its own bullet point lol

Mice and Murder

The mystery!!! Is so fun!!! It’s cool at the end of the season to see how everything was connected, and it’s fun to go on the journey with the party

Katie Marovitch rolling the first nat 20 of the season and not understanding the implications of a natural 20 for a good couple of minutes will always be funny

This season is pretty much all classic College Humor cast mates, so if you’ve been watching College Humor stuff for over a decade like me you’re sure to find some joy in it

Sam Reich has some of the most killer one liners in this season and he’s just such a fun character. Honestly, this season is just so goofy and everyone is just trying to make each other laugh. It’s delightful

The texting element!!! Is so dang interesting!!! And it works so well for the mystery

Misfits and Magic

The first season with a new GM!!!! Aabria!!! When that trailer came out we were all SHOOK, truly began a new era of d20 and we love it

And first time PC Brennan??? Listen he’s such a fun PC we love the strange lil guys he plays

Sam Black deserves so much more love, she’s such a fun PC. Like Danielle would just say one liners that would knock me the fuck out, she’s so dang funny

Listen one of the funniest moments to me will always be Lou and Brennan as their actual selves being like “Mukbang? That’s not a real thing right? No… no it’s not”

The fact that one of the animal companions is straight up just a basketball is hilarious and ridiculous

The Seven

If you love the Fantasy High universe and want to know more about some of the side NPCS, ooh baby they’re PCs now and they’re all played by hilarious cool folks (including our first time having Izzy Roland, Persephone Valentine and Becca Scott in the dome!)

This season absolutely feels like a sleepover with friends. Everyone is giggly and having so much fun, and it’s so fun to watch (and also emotional when you least expect it lol)

I’m having a hard time describing funny moments because it’s just one of those things where you have to experience it to get it? Like this season had me cry laughing but I will never be able to describe the sexy duck outfit as hilariously as Becca does it’s just so good

Oooh before we got killer costume descriptions from ACOFAF you better believe we got it during this season. And if you’re a big costume nerd like me you’ll just be like heart eyes mother fucker

On an interesting note, Brennan is kind of playing both an NPC and PC? Technically he’s still just playing an NPC but Zelda is like… part of the party (obviously part of The Seven). And it’s a fun change!

Shriek Week

Gabe Hicks is a delight as the GM! I am constantly thinking about the line “You may be yolked but this man is a straight up omelette” because it slaps and tbh I would love to see him in the dome again

I think this is canonically the only season where characters FUCK

Another season with a very fun cast, like all of the cast has big horny energy and it’s so silly! If you’ve watched this season you understand Lily’s energy in Dirty Laundry a lot more lollll

Also this season canonically has Mothman and The Count from Sesame Street as characters and it makes me giggle every time

Tbh I really wish this season had more time but if you’re looking for a super short series, it’s only four episodes long!

Coffin Run

Jasmine Bhullar is SO fun as the GM and I feel like really plays off the PC energy well? She was so much fun

This season is another one that is just goofy fun! And you know I love me some goofy fun (the whole eating letters thing is so stupid and so fun)

Personally think the sets for this series are SO cool like oh my god?? The trainnnnnnn ahhh

This is kind of a bigger spoiler but I will never be over the wine glass props for that one combat? When she pulls them out I DIE

This cast REALLY goes in on their characters and plays them so big, it’s delightful

A Court of Fey & Flowers

Do I really need to get into why this season fucking slaps? I’m pretty sure it’s one of the most popular side campaigns because it fucking SLAPS

Aabria is back as GM, bringing poetry and grace to the dome and ahhhh (like she literally recites poetry but also the episode introductions are just straight up poetic

This is the season of romance and brought me to the horrible realization that I like DND actual plays because mostly I like the role playing apparently lolllll

Outfits outfits outfits outfits ahhhhh we love some fantastic outfitsssss

The whole Green Hunter bit is so fucking funny

Anyways moral of the story is D20 side campaigns are fun and you should watch/listen to them

[takaraphoenix]

There is something both poetic and ironic about the first Dimension 20 campaign I watched being Misfits and Magic and the last one I now had left to watch (until the next one airs) being A Court of Fey and Flowers.

Poetic because both are Aabria DMing season, ironic also for that reason, considering this is the Brennan Lee Mulligan show.

There were two reasons why I picked Misfits and Magic as my entry to Dimension 20, and to DnD in general actually. One was the obvious length - this was only one of two seasons that are four episodes long and as someone with no knowledge or experience with DnD, the thought of kicking it off with 20 episodes which each were like 2 hours was absolutely mortifying. This felt more... doable. Even if I don't entirely vibe with it, it's just 4 episodes, I will finish it. The other reason was Danielle Radford, actually, because I adore her and seeing her on this was really ?!?! to me.

Six months and 18 campaigns later, you could say that I got very hooked, on both Dimension 20 specifically and DnD in general.

The funny thing is that I saw Brennan as a player first, before I met him as a DM. And I loved him playing. I love him as a DM even more, but looking at how many campaigns I would get to see him DM vs how few D20 campaigns he is a player on, made me quickly put A Court of Fey and Flowers back.

I had a whacky and random ranking system by which I watched them, it started out by length (well, more or less; the second campaign I watched was Mice and Murder for the all College Humor cast, since College Humor was what introduced me to Brennan and why I came to Dimension 20 to begin with), but after the first four campaigns, I knew I was hooked on this style of storytelling, so it became more like "this premise sounds particularly promising, I want to save that for later", so I saved what I hoped would be the best for last.

(And I more or less did; A Starstruck Odyssey and A Court of Fey and Flowers were the last two left and they absolutely will make it into my top three.)

And A Court of Fey and Flowers is genuinely such a good place to "end" (it's not really an ending, the next campaign literally dropped a trailer last week), I am enjoying this so much.

And that is partially due to loving Brennan's player energy, it is also very very much my growing love for Aabria's storytelling and world building, it's the incredibly dynamic that Lou and Emily chose for their characters, it's the incredible Rue/Hob romance because I didn't think I'd ever be invested in a PC/PC romance, it's the whole setting and fairy theme that is something I love already, and it's also the lack of fighting.

I know DnD is a lot about fighting. But I think I prefer it when it's more roleplay and less fighting (and it doesn't have to be no fighting, I just think 50/50 is too much fighting, and with many fight heavy campaigns, this was very refreshing and delightful to watch).

The point, to get back on track, is that A Court of Fey and Flowers really hits all of the right spots. I am deeply in love with this campaign and I know I will be revisiting this a lot and I'm grateful for the beautiful world Aabria crafted, and for the talented lineup of players she invited to take part in it. And I'm grateful to her for being my introduction to DnD, to begin with.

[certifiedwerewolf]

Something that is interesting to me about Lou and Zac and how they play Fabian and Gorgug's relationship to their parents is like.

So I would argue that, at least during Freshman Year, Fabian, Gorgug, and Riz have the best relationship with their parents out of the party. Kristen and Adain's parents just flat out suck and even though Fig's parents do love her, the circumstances have strained her relationships with them to the breaking point.

So Riz's relationship with his mom is one where his mom is very attentive and loving, and she and Riz are very much on the same page, even in matters that they disagree. Riz sort of forces Sklonda to treat him as an adult, even if she's constantly pulling him back into childhood and making sure he doesn't grow up too fast, as much as she's able.

But this ain't about them. Anyway.

So Fabian and Gorgug both have very loving and devoted relationships with their parents, albeit in different ways: Fabian does his best to emulate his father until it becomes apparent that he mustn't, that he has to let go of his father's legacy and acquire his own, and Gorgug struggles to connect to his parents despite the fact that it's clear that he does love them devotedly- they don't understand each other as well as they'd like, but that doesn't change his feelings or their closeness. It feels like the most normal teenager-parent relationship out of the group.

And I think Lou and Zac make some really interesting choices in how they play their characters' relationship to their parents.

Now, I don't know how much input they had into the development of their characters' parents- obviously some, but I don't know the ratios that came into play when they and Brennan were concepting them. So I don't know how much of their choices are genuine improv and how much is them leaning into their character regardless of what they themselves are aware of.

So, when Lou is playing off of or talking about Bill, as Fabian, he is very confident. Lou makes choices relating to what Bill would want or think or feel in a way that it's clear that he, Lou, is intimately acquainted with this character to the point that it definitely feels like he and Brennan are writing this character together, and are in perfect sync with his creation. This makes it a lot of fun, and this confidence gives Lou a lot of freedom to characterize Bill as much as Brennan does, which if he lacked, could potentially slow down the flow of the story. Not that not having this intimacy is a bad thing, but it lends itself extremely well to specifically Fabian- and it may just be an extension of Fabian's confidence, that Lou feels carte blanche to just say whatever about Bill Seacaster and know that it will ring true.

And on the flipside, Zac plays Gorgug talking to or about his parents in a way that implies he knows next to nothing about them. Like they're total strangers, except in specific situations where he takes Brennan's lead and plays off of his tone. And conversely, this works just as well as Lou's confident assertions about Bill Seacaster do. Because Gorgug, especially during Freshman year, is not very confident. He's struggling to relate to his parents, he's struggling to understand who he is, he's uncomfortable having a lot of attention paid to him, and often second-guesses himself about everything. Even if there was something Gorgug knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, I think it would still make perfect sense for Zac to play Gorgug as though Brennan created his parents with no input from him and then sprang them on him day one.

I can't think of a single moment where Gorgug confidently asserted something about his parents that hadn't already been established, whereas Fabian was so confident in his understanding of his father that he knew to kill him when he was making death saves. And these are improv choices being made by their players, and I don't know how deliberate this choice was but it works so well with the characters they're playing. It all comes together so seamlessly.

[satinoflowers]

Okay so in the original "sleeping beauty", there were actually seven fairies as well as the eighth evil one who cursed her AFTER the other fairies blessed her... i wonder what the reason was behind Brennan making it so that the evil fairy wasn't the last one? Was it it just to make it more intense in addition to raising the stakes to immediately show the threat of death to the players?

I'm also curious as to how the others in Rosamund's kingdom (not counting the princes, since they were obviously killed by the bramble) died and how she was preserved? I'm thinking two things, either:

1) The blessing the 3rd fairy (good fairy who attempted to mitigate the damage of the evil fairy's curse) bestowed upon her was ONLY upon her, therefore killing everyone but her. However he did mention that the bodies were in various states of decomposition, though it's unclear wether he's referring to the princes or to everyone else. One more point after reading the wikia: it does say specifically that the blessing to make everyone asleep instead of dead applies to the whole kingdom. Although, what if the "good" 3rd fairy perhaps didn't have Rosamund's best interests in mind..? It does seem a bit weird that they mitigated the curse instead of getting rid of entirely.

2) The brambles protected her, specifically her, but why just her? The weird voices and "sixth sense" especially are very intriguing to me, this sort of hivebrain that is fixtated on protecting her.

All that just to say that the briars are the most likely culprits (although the fairy theory is a bit intriguing), uncaring about the rest of the kingdom and loving Rosamund in their own sick freaky way... just as Pinocchio's stepmother is. Why is she also fixtated on saving and protecting Rosamund? What part does the princess play that she must be kept alive?

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

small things on my second (third?) unsleeping city rewatch, pt 1

truly nothing compares to that first episode. I've never seen characters and a world so deftly introduced in such a perfect tone, setting up so much of the reveals down the line in everyone's first goddamn scene

I ADORE Margaret Encino, I really do. I still think that TUC1's Pete is my favourite Ally character of all time. Watching him stubbornly refuse to accept that this is not just a bad trip is so good, and honestly good on them for introducing their character with a fake name to half the party and keeping that going literally until Brennan forced them to drop it. They're playing the trust issues so well and it bringes such a fantastic crunchy tension to the group dynamic, bless them for going so hard on this character

the dynamics on the right side of the table have my entire heart:

Ally still being occasionally overwhelmed and Murph hovering at their shoulder like an excited dad teaching his kid to drive

the brutal and beautiful clash between Misty's and Kug's vibes at all times

whenever Pete is doing anything blatantly illegal and Kug the character is taken over fully by Brian 'Lawful Good' Murphy the person. It'll always be Ally doing their scene and Murph being So Scandalised beside them

Siobhan and Murph low-key egging each other on whenever it's about playing the Party Elders

"Do you want me to roll for you?" "Yes, I do, actually! I might make Siobhan my designated roller."

Siobhan and Ally just absolutely shattering at the Wally reveal

honestly so in love with how endlessly polite Ally and Murph are about trading their dice back and forth, every combat there's just a pleasant background chatter of "here you go" "oh thank you" "you're welcome", it's a very small thing but it's so pleasant to see

all three of them being SO nosy and sympathetic about each other's rolls

.

god I love the Pixie wedding so much. The atmosphere, the endless Godfather references, the massively creepy intro to Robert and co, the silly dancing, poor Sofia struggling hard (and Murph and Ally commiserating even harder), "It's my special day so, if you're gonna cry, you should leave", Ally's face when Robert mentions the bubbles, the absolute perfect suspense move of casually going "Kugrash you know this guy" when even Misty didn't, it's all SO good

honestly the perfect episode maybe?

Zac, Murph and Emily's reaction to La Gran Gata is so funny. They're truly The Most Cat People

also Murph's long-suffering but extremely fond "...always needs a familiar"

Emily and Murph are SO tuned specifically into each other all season (can't help but suspect this is a natural consequence of the seating arrangement tbh), but narratively it makes so much sense! Kug was Sofia's intro to the Unsleeping City so she turns to him for everything, and he knew exactly how miserably she was doing and how new this is for her so he's looking out for her and trying to cheer her up in his trashfire ways (and also probably feels some kinda way about seeing someone so shattered by their husband's abandonment). This friendship forever and always

I'm outspoken absolute trash for Sofia and Kug, but the first Dream Team's party dynamic overall is probably my favourite ever party dynamic. There's so much respect and admiration and history and mistrust and fondness and protectiveness and perfectly calibrated power imbalances in terms of knowledge of the word vs. actual magical power, every two characters together have individual conflicts and connections and dynamics, it's just. Perfect.

"Hey Pete, I... bless you with the blessings of um, uh... some pidgeons who died... near a church..."

coming from Twilight Sanctorum where Murph was on an unreal lucky streak for his standards, seeing Kug and his abysmal rolls is truly so funny

given that this is the season that spawned "I'm all the bad guys", I always forget how benevolent a DM Brennan is in TUC. Like, Zac is rolling badly in Ricky's first real talk with Esther? No dude you were funny, take some inspiration (is this literally the only time Brennan gives inspiration on D20???). Emily is disappointed when she doesn't find cool shit in the Bodega? No, you just saved the cat, it's giving you advantage!

the whole weird sexual energy happening between Sofia and La Gran Gata, special shout-out to Murph's face when Sofia says "I'll be waiting, but not in an impatient, desperate way" and "You are not the first woman to turn to a cat when her marriage has fallen apart"

Ricky, Ox and Kug the busted mutt having a jogging sesh will never not be funny, "It's fine, fuck me, go! You stupid kid! You goddamn beautiful boy, you fucker! You absolute asshole!"

"Animal control has decended on you"

Ricky being canonically too hot to stealth

"Just another perfect day for the luckiest, hottest man in New York"

Ricky's selfies and texts to Esther, my beloved

"Misty goes in, word-perfect, note-perfect-" "Please roll low, please roll low..." and Murph's absolute delight at someone else rolling a nat three

Misty and Alyssa tho. Siobhan is ice-cold. "No, I know you're sorry." "This will never happen again -" "No, it won't."

Kug in David's home, just. That whole scene. Crushing. The letter?? Everyone around the table bracing for impact before Kug even opens it. "I leave the letter... because I'll remember it."

we all know this, but Kingston and Liz's talk at the precinct is ICONIC. "Because of you I live in a fucking cartoon now!" lives rent-free in my head

Sofia's tiny meltdown in the drugstore is so funny. Also, her reaction to a random man getting all up in her business is an immediate "Okay! I fight him!" I love her so much

Spaghetti's Bakery, my beloved

The Cry Booth (and half the table cracking up at Pete’s incredibly quick “oh yeah he mistimed the pour over” excuse)

God I love how hateable Priya is. I love nuanced characters a lot but occasionally. You need a villain. Who is just a raging manipulative bitch. For the catharsis

The Talk About Pete?? Incredible. Kingston's devotion gaining such a dangerous edge, like damn, Lou, out the gate with "if things get out of hand, we put him down. Straight up." Kug, searching for a way to explain why he hates this whole situation and landing on just interrupting this extremely serious discussion by yelling "I have kids! I have kids! I fucked up raising my kids!". Misty wanting to lock everyone that bothers her in a cave (it can be a nice cave!). Ricky, the goodest of good beans, pointing out that if they're protecting all of New York, that also means protecting Pete.

All Hail Kug's rat swarms, I love them so much! "Our lives suck anyways!" "We prefer death!" Truly just a LotR girly gifting another some sewer Rohirrim (aka, "sorry i made you play superheroes buddy, can i interest you in some tiny high fantasy dynamic to make it better?")

Brennan revelling in his players outrage will never not be funny

Kingston continues to go so hard, casting heat metal and taking equal damage himself, "What do you say to her?" "Nothing."

the idea of some poor train driver hitting a mounted cop in a subway tunnel

"Live like a rat, die like a rat." !!!

The LOVE for the city radiating off of Brennan and Siobhan in particular is so so sweet

Pete opening the mind link and then just being silent on the line, ultimate power move

god I fucking LOVE this fraught dynamic so much. Always give me groups that have secrets!!!

WALLY AND KUG

just a reminder that Sofia has pictures of Kugrash hugging his son :(

Nod is so fun. The talking cherry tomatoes, the mobsters literally sleeping on the bottom of the river, the dreamworld literally receeding from Kingston, Brennan's mind is just incomprehensible to me

"Ricky, you're gonna get a clue one of these days!" "I know, I think I'm close!"

Siobhan reading The New Colossus!! Also, Emma Lazarus as a Vox Phantasma!

"She's gonna kill you." "Only if she can get here, and I have her goddamn shoes!" God, I love Misty so much, what a pompous little old savage

The Hell scene is SO GOOD though, with the coked-up rat men all scrambling for a finite amount of money!! Murph's "Oh no, this isn't subtle at all!" will always make me crack up. Also can I hear a hell no on the concept of "you weren't so much transformed as made to take the form of your soul"?

Ricky being complimented by the Statue of Liberty

"the danger, of course, is losing the dream in the pursuit of your ability to obtain the dream"

Sofia's (and Emily's tbh) RAGE at the Dale revelation, GOD

also "He's got a job to do on earth! He has deer in the backyard to watch!" Emily!! She cannot keep getting away with this

I really love Pete's evolved wild magic mechanic so much

The Kingston Brown biographical exhibit :(

Goddd Sophie and her brother!! The most tense of scenes!! My love for Sofia knows no bounds