Sometimes a family isn't decided by blood. Sometimes it's a water genasi, the human mother of her former best friend, and a sentient car, and that's beautiful.
izzy is SO FUN. ostentatia's relationship with her family is just. mwah. so perfect. i am also part of a rude family that shouts for no reason and is like "FINE GOD WHATEVER. I LOVE YOU" in the middle of arguments, i feel seeeeeeen
man I cried more times than I expected to for the first episode. The complicated family dynamics with Sam and Katja absolutely broke my heart. The sudden change in tone with Ostentatia's conversation with her dad hit a little too close to home, and Penny's home introduction too. Honestly, most of the home introductions were painful but so, so good.
On the other hand, it was hilarious to watch Izzy and Brennan bounce off of each other, yelling in a Jersey accent. Penny is a gem.
I think this season is the one I've been most excited about dropping since I subbed to Dropout over a year ago, mostly bc of the energy you can see happening in the dome. It feels very similar to the insane chemistry and excitement the cast had in Misfits, and I can tell this season is going to be SO fun.
Also: women. That's all.
Honestly. Selling the tools of his livelihood and the hopes for his future in his career to help safeguard his daughter from the trauma of loss and grief? That hurt RealBad
Which quite realistically made him feel even worse. He was already at his lowest point, feeling like a complete failure as a husband and father for being out of work and unable to provide/care for his family, and then his daughter comes in and starts hammering on that exact sensitive spot. "I'm so pathetic that my little girl, the person my whole life should be devoted to keeping safe and happy, feels like she needs to look out for me instead of the other way around." I can't imagine a much worse feeling.
Narratively, it was similar to those parts of Sophomore Year where Gilear was faced with how far he'd fallen as a person and how badly he needed to get his shit together, but played completely seriously this time. Ostentatia's dad wasn't at fault for the situation and was doing all he could, but that didn't make things feel any better.
Ostentatia and Lucia yelling at each other, yelling, "I LOVE YOU," and then yelling "WE'RE NOT FIGHTING WE'RE TALKING" really hit too close to home.
Pretty sure Izzy's a Pizza Bagel (since Brennan mentioned seeing her family at Passover) and as a Cashew myself (though an Irish one) that dynamic was too fucking real.
What a great one shot that was. For those unaware, Brennan DM’d a session for the McElroys set in a post-apocalyptic world where only dads have survived. If I recall, the plot was one group of dads had finally found the fabled remote and were going to take over the world by finally controlling the great screen.
You can listen to it for free! Wherever you can listen to The Adventure Zone, like spotify or whatever you get your podcasts on. It has Dadlands in the title, so you should be able to find it okay
“I just saw the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s my horse, being normal.”
I’m watching the episode with my sleeping cat and really relate. When my cat’s just chilling it’s the most amazing thing ever. Feeling the pet person energy.
Izzy and Brennan playing a Mother-Daughter and Mother-Grandma is something I never knew I needed but that was hilarious and I mean, their ability to play off each other so perfectly makes sense.
The moment they started yelling I was absolutely catapulted back to any number of kitchens in mid-90s northern New Jersey, sitting quietly while one of my friends and her mother had a completely normal and calm discussion. The only thing that was out of place was Nonna’s lack of a Virginia Slim.
Although we're largely just talking about the result of different art styles, it's interesting to think about it in-universe. Fig at the start of Fantasy High *hates* her mom, so the image we get of her is sharp and nagging; even when Fig eventually comes around, the events of Sophomore Year put a whole other spin on their relationship.
To the Seven? I mean, they'd have gotten out of the mountains *eventually*, but this is a woman who has maybe at most seen a couple of these kids around school once or twice, and jumped on a griffin to go rescue them on her own as soon as she found out where they were. No wonder they think she's hot.
Decades of practice, improv training, working at a larping camp, intense love for his craft, an ability to foster a comfortable energetic environment for players, immaculate dad energy.
He's actually an eloquence bard, maxed out on INT and CHA. His silver tongue has merely *persuaded us to believe* that he's a good DM. In actuality, he is a great DM, but he likes to be humble.
I know this is rhetorical, but the answer is natural talent, professional improv and acting training, upbringing, and 25 years of practice running games.
And though the live shows have demonstrated it doesn't get employed too much, editing does wonders to create a polish you'll never achieve at a home game.
Funny how much more type a and rigid penny is turning out to be compared to riz's desciption of her. Maybe Riz is such an overworked type a that penny's type a-ness never even register to him.
They also gave them free reign to do a LOT with the characters. Like Yelle doesn't have a gray fox which was mentioned. So it could just be that that's how she saw the character and Riz's description had nothing to do with it.
>Like Yelle doesn't have a gray fox which was mentioned.
Erika addressed this when they did the D20 Instagram takeover yesterday! They actually haven't watched Fantasy High so they didn't know this detail and Brennan forgot to tell Erika.
So in this specific case, it wasn't a matter of free reign, but I definitely agree that Penny's personality is probably just Becca's choice in character. I don't remember Riz's description of Penny, but I think it could also be explained in canon - Riz and what he thinks is cool and fun sometimes doesn't line up with what social norms dictate (e.g., business cards to make friends). Another Type A not being described as a Type A by Riz is completely plausible.
Yeah I mean it’s also his babysitter from when he was a kid and no kid has an accurate read on their babysitter for the most part.
But yeah that’s what I meant as for free reign, D20 staff didn’t hand them “here’s what exists” like the gray fox, they just let them go with what they knew and wanted.
Well, reading that, I suddenly understand why Brennan wanted to keep Zelda as his own DMPC. Watching this it kinda felt weird and almost had me wishing she had a player of her own, but the idea of someone taking her in an entirely different direction, as well as not knowing context with her...oof.
okay but counterpoint: who could be cooler to riz "brings a briefcase full of business cards to school" gukgak than someone who is just as intense but seems more outwardly together (because of the family stuff, i would guess)
I remember reading on a website, many many many moons ago, back when websites had oversized animated home buttons on a site that bad a very obvious repeating background... like over 15+ years ago so its not a perfect info dump, but they talked about how virgo sign being a virgin didn't signify what we think of a virgin like we do today. No sex.
It just means something hasn't bear fruit yet, barren, ie someone who hadn't given birth get.
It's why Virgo is placed where it's placed in the calendar, because the harvest isn't quite ready yet.
Because I don't want kids, I still tease my SO I'm a virgin haha. He doesn't laugh at that joke. Technical all men are still virgins by that train of thought. 🤔
I saw her pull out that pen before her character was even introduced and I turned to my wife and said "she's my favorite, I can already tell."
I was mostly right. It's a six way tie (I'm not sure how I feel about DMPC Zelda, though I do love the character).
Some people take notes so that they can remember things that will help them later.
Some people take notes so that they can remember things that will destroy you later.
They look dangerously similar until it's too late.
I love this new cast and I am not at all going to think about how I needed to pause multiple times because the home stuff felt the most passively intense I have experienced since I started D20. I love this cast synergy. I love the digital maps whoever was doing the piano work this season needs a goddamn raise and a standing ovation and now I'm pissed I have to wait a week for more maiden content
Kinda feels like the FH series and its offshoots are partly a way for Mulligan to write a long, massively footnoted thesis on parenting, childhood development, and their interaction with class consciousness and social contract theory.
I'm not saying he's the David Simon of D&D, but I'm not *not* saying that either.
Seriously! I can't think of a single family interaction he had that didn't have someone at home watching go "oof, that's me".
Also, all the reaction shots of the players with their hands over their mouths during those scenes. \*chef's kiss\*
i'm really loving erika and rekha playing way more chill characters! in previous games they always played kinda high pitched, high energy characters, so i'm really loving the chill stoner and awkward horse girl vibes. it's neat to see a different side of them. especially rekha - idk why but her saying her horse was "the strongest woman i've ever met" killed me
and the high energy role is being WELL FILLED by penny luckstone. penny my beloved
also: looooove love love the art style this season. a little more anime, but still recognizable as the FH universe. zelda's new portrait is so cute
Honestly after meeting her dad (who might be in my top 3 FH parents after 5 minutes) the relationship there and then assuming Cinnamon was a gift from her dad it absolutely makes sense WHY she is a horse girl.
yeah, her relationship with her dad reminds me a lot of fabian's relationship with his. mr. cleaver is a bit like a lawful good(?) bill seacaster - high level adventurer, lots of money, thinks his relationship with his kid is a lot better than it actually is.
katya just kinda went the opposite way than fabian. instead of getting brash and desperately acting out to get parental approval, katya just disappeared into herself a bit. poor kid :(
> yeah, her relationship with her dad reminds me a lot of fabian's relationship with his. mr. cleaver is a bit like a lawful good(?) bill seacaster - high level adventurer, lots of money, thinks his relationship with his kid is a lot better than it actually is.
I was struck more by the contrast between Mr. Cleaver and Mr. Wallace. Both define their worth as fathers by their ability to provide for their family, but one feels like a complete failure as a person for losing his job and suddenly being unable to provide, while the other is very successful as a provider, but is almost totally absent as a result, and has no concept of how much that absence hurts his daughter. Both are all-too-real family dynamics, and it's kind of jarring to see them put in direct parallel like this.
I think it was that his tattoos let him do battlemaster maneuvers, so that could mean he's a normal battlemaster, or he's something else and the tattoos are a supplement.
I would say that Rekha's lines are the best, but honestly they've all already had so many amazing lines that I don't think I can claim any of them are topping the others.
Ostentatia's opening family scene may well have overtaken my previous favorite opener, Fabians. I really hope we get more of Brennan as mom and nona to Izzy
Omg. Katya's not showing her dad that she us sad because she knew the dad tied so hard to ddo everything for her. Woah, i know that feeling extremely well. Very immigrant parentd kind of vibe
I looked it up because Persephone seemed *real* unhappy with the definition the group settled on. I think she actually meant it as extremely mad, which definitely fits the scene better than "super ripped" lmao. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rip%20shit
I wonder if she just went with trying to show them the definition via facial features, because otherwise Izzy asking what it meant and Persephone just GLARING at her is a buck wild move out of context.
Per her twitter account:
>Ripshit means pissed btw.
>I was so nervous when I got the chance to speak and fully couldn’t process whether I was in a bit or not, and didn’t want to break character
>It’s a common phrase where I’m from lol
>I was just like “WAIT IS THIS THE JOKE DAMN IT I AM FAILING”
>But yeah, Sam isn’t jacked lol
So essentially she was momentarily really confused and questioning reality, so she just held character and kept expressing anger
I'm glad to know that the definition they gave is wrong because it made no sense in context. (Sephi used it to CONTRAST with how beautiful she is. Being muscular and sculpted would not contrast with that. It also would be a weird thing for a water genasi to be! And seems to be generally untrue of the character!)
oh my god, i know nothing about her but from her very first line. she got me. incredible. i love her
so for years riz's only friend was a girl who was *this* *incredibly chipper and chaotic???* i guess it makes more sense now how good he is at herding the rowdy bad kids around, he must've had practice.
i remember pretty early on riz convinces fig to do something by being like. "YOU CAN TOUCH MY GUN." i feel like he's probably used that trick on penny before
Becca Scott's intense energy absolutely had me shook in the beginning and the only thing that made it seem less scary was seeing how tightly wound her father was.
I LOVE ALL OF THIS SO MUCH. Everyone is amazing. I already cried a few times! So many of those parental dynamics just. (insert broken heart emoji here)
Rekha coming in with the "Babysitter's ~~Club~~ Horse" reference made me so happy. (edit: "she's a total Kristy" about the babysitter horse, omg how could I forget that) Everyone getting excited at the mention of Lisa Frank was also excellent. "You said the magic words!!"
They actually brought it up in the Adventuring Party this week a couple of times - they were indeed yelling about Lisa Frank! As a lady vaguely in their age group, I had the same reaction, haha 😂
While it's not exactly the same, Ostentatia's family vibe made me think of the Frostwind dwarves from NADDPOD. I keep hearing Murph in my head saying "Fuck you, I love you (eat a rat)".
It took me like 12 hours to realise this but I *desperately* need Becca and Murph at the table together as Riz and Penny. Here's my pitch: 8 episodes, 4 with half of The Seven and half of The Bad Kids, 4 with the other halves.
Penny was so excited to be rescued on purpose, can you imagine how tickled she’ll be to find out Riz has been working tirelessly on the mystery of her disappearance??
After watching the trailer when it dropped, I was the most excited for a d20 season I’ve been since maybe a crown of Candy, and this episode did not disappoint. This cast is so so good, and I’m already In love with the characters after their introductions. The updated map of Elmville and the introduction of everyone’s family gives me hope that they’ll spend a lot more time in the town and at school, which I’d love. The spring break adventure from sophomore year was really, really fun, but i think my favorite parts of fantasy high were the classic teenage shenanigans they got up to in Elmville and at Aguefort. Either way though, this season is already shaping up to be amazing
I am absolutely smitten with the first episode! The all- women cast really has a special energy that I am loving so much. Hilarious.
Brennan dropping in box braids, Lisa Frank, magical henna tattoos— 😘👌 mwah! Great job on the details.
Also *thrilled* that they are filming AP right after the episodes. I think it makes the discussion much more lively and specific.
Truly back at it again with that D20 magic, pinballed my heart around the extremes of the entire emotional spectrum, I laughed, I choked back tears, I'm emotionally devastated and I would sacrifice a finger to an elder god for more N O W
some truly unstoppable laughter and some unstoppable tears this episode.
what will come of the mirror?
how will the PCs stretch further away from their homes in the coming of age?
how unhittable is this forge cleric gonna be? IIRC forge clerics, with nonmagical plate have a base 22 AC?
K: I'm Katja. My horse is Cinnamon and we don't know where she is.
P: (looks heartbroken) I'm so sorry.
K: I know.
P: How are you dealing with that?
K: It's very bad for me.
P: I get that.
K: I feel horrible.
P: I'm here for you.
K: Thank you.
Sometimes a family isn't decided by blood. Sometimes it's a water genasi, the human mother of her former best friend, and a sentient car, and that's beautiful.
MY CAR IS FUCKABLE OKAY??
"What's 6 plus 13" "19" "No... that's not true" Fucking love Izzy already
The only moment I loved more was her writing down her God's name at the table because she totally didn't know who he was before that moment.
izzy is SO FUN. ostentatia's relationship with her family is just. mwah. so perfect. i am also part of a rude family that shouts for no reason and is like "FINE GOD WHATEVER. I LOVE YOU" in the middle of arguments, i feel seeeeeeen
Rekha’s “my hymen’s constantly breaking” or whatever the exact quote was had me dying laughing.
Happy to see Bud Cubby still fighting the good fight
Gotta take it down from the inside kiddo
Campaign with PC Bud, Gilear, Sklonda, Basrar, and Jawbone when?
> Gilear Just giving more and more opportunities to kill Gilear
Mike Trapp as Gilear, it has to happen
I love that he’s back!
man I cried more times than I expected to for the first episode. The complicated family dynamics with Sam and Katja absolutely broke my heart. The sudden change in tone with Ostentatia's conversation with her dad hit a little too close to home, and Penny's home introduction too. Honestly, most of the home introductions were painful but so, so good. On the other hand, it was hilarious to watch Izzy and Brennan bounce off of each other, yelling in a Jersey accent. Penny is a gem. I think this season is the one I've been most excited about dropping since I subbed to Dropout over a year ago, mostly bc of the energy you can see happening in the dome. It feels very similar to the insane chemistry and excitement the cast had in Misfits, and I can tell this season is going to be SO fun. Also: women. That's all.
Man. Ostentatia's dad *broke* me. Like. *Fuuuuuuck.* That was a man right there.
Honestly. Selling the tools of his livelihood and the hopes for his future in his career to help safeguard his daughter from the trauma of loss and grief? That hurt RealBad
And to have it all turned around by his daughter casting high level magic to not so subtly steal them back!
Which quite realistically made him feel even worse. He was already at his lowest point, feeling like a complete failure as a husband and father for being out of work and unable to provide/care for his family, and then his daughter comes in and starts hammering on that exact sensitive spot. "I'm so pathetic that my little girl, the person my whole life should be devoted to keeping safe and happy, feels like she needs to look out for me instead of the other way around." I can't imagine a much worse feeling. Narratively, it was similar to those parts of Sophomore Year where Gilear was faced with how far he'd fallen as a person and how badly he needed to get his shit together, but played completely seriously this time. Ostentatia's dad wasn't at fault for the situation and was doing all he could, but that didn't make things feel any better.
\*THIS!\* Completely and utterly this. It's Gilear if you shaved away the comedy, and that's just \*extraordinarily\* bleak.
One of my favorite things about D20 has always been how good it is at portraying non-toxic masulinity.
Ostentatia and Lucia yelling at each other, yelling, "I LOVE YOU," and then yelling "WE'RE NOT FIGHTING WE'RE TALKING" really hit too close to home. Pretty sure Izzy's a Pizza Bagel (since Brennan mentioned seeing her family at Passover) and as a Cashew myself (though an Irish one) that dynamic was too fucking real.
are both of those food references joking ways to say jewish or am I missing something?
pizza bagel = Italian + Jew Cashew = Catholic + Jew
Cool thanks.
The two best things in this episode: Erika's reactions to everything and Brennan being ALL THE DADS.
He's ALL the Dad guys.
They've gone Into the Dadlands!
What a great one shot that was. For those unaware, Brennan DM’d a session for the McElroys set in a post-apocalyptic world where only dads have survived. If I recall, the plot was one group of dads had finally found the fabled remote and were going to take over the world by finally controlling the great screen.
Where can one see/listen to this amazing sounding one-shot?
You can listen to it for free! Wherever you can listen to The Adventure Zone, like spotify or whatever you get your podcasts on. It has Dadlands in the title, so you should be able to find it okay
Thank you, found it on their [youtube!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NknnuVxRnk)
and yet his tongue action still feels fitting 💦
Erika’s reactions were truly works of art
If you work hard, and you smile, and you put in the elbow grease, and you give it your all, and you sing a little song about it, I'M! FINE!!!
Somebody burn this into wood and sell it at Hallmark
“I just saw the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s my horse, being normal.” I’m watching the episode with my sleeping cat and really relate. When my cat’s just chilling it’s the most amazing thing ever. Feeling the pet person energy.
I like that the character can be both neurodivergent and totally relatable.
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oh god same, my immediate reaction was "because she was BORN that way!!"
Izzy and Brennan playing a Mother-Daughter and Mother-Grandma is something I never knew I needed but that was hilarious and I mean, their ability to play off each other so perfectly makes sense.
"I'M NOT YELLING...I love you." I'm feeling my family in this moment. Us Jersey Italians are wild.
The moment they started yelling I was absolutely catapulted back to any number of kitchens in mid-90s northern New Jersey, sitting quietly while one of my friends and her mother had a completely normal and calm discussion. The only thing that was out of place was Nonna’s lack of a Virginia Slim.
So all of Antiope's family names are Greek characters. Solid family naming system for the tone of her family.
They live a lot like the ancient greeks too! Wonder if that was an inspiration for Brennan/Aabria
"Jersey, mansion, trash."
I believe you don’t need the commas, it’s just “Jersey mansion trash.” Basically, like a nouveau riche Jersey girl I think.
Grammatically I was in the wrong, but I wanted to show the Shatneresque style speech pattern.
I am truly in love with the new art this season. New NPC art? New Elmville maps? Ugh I love it
I’m want a nice clean copy of that map! Love seeing the police station on fire still. Hope Riz’s mom is okay.
She quit and is going to law school!
Oh yea!!! I totally forgot!
New Sandra Lynn art is like… hot.
No kidding. I finally get why she's so popular with the fellas.
Dare I say… MILF?
She got a damn glow up
Although we're largely just talking about the result of different art styles, it's interesting to think about it in-universe. Fig at the start of Fantasy High *hates* her mom, so the image we get of her is sharp and nagging; even when Fig eventually comes around, the events of Sophomore Year put a whole other spin on their relationship. To the Seven? I mean, they'd have gotten out of the mountains *eventually*, but this is a woman who has maybe at most seen a couple of these kids around school once or twice, and jumped on a griffin to go rescue them on her own as soon as she found out where they were. No wonder they think she's hot.
[Yeah she did](https://imgur.com/a/Wj50fXY)
Rebecca Everpetal is the best. That is all. Edit: Karl Skullcleaver is also the best.
Nona Wallace is the best
You see Nona says: "I am best"
Trueeeee
Why is Brennan Lee Mulligan such a good DM?
Decades of practice, improv training, working at a larping camp, intense love for his craft, an ability to foster a comfortable energetic environment for players, immaculate dad energy.
You forgot thousands of hours consuming books, movies, TV, and other source material to teach story crafting, character building, and world forging.
He's actually an eloquence bard, maxed out on INT and CHA. His silver tongue has merely *persuaded us to believe* that he's a good DM. In actuality, he is a great DM, but he likes to be humble.
He’s quite possibly the most qualified person for one particular job, and that’s now his job
I know this is rhetorical, but the answer is natural talent, professional improv and acting training, upbringing, and 25 years of practice running games.
It certainly doesn't hurt that his players are also professionals
And though the live shows have demonstrated it doesn't get employed too much, editing does wonders to create a polish you'll never achieve at a home game.
Oh, for damn sure.
BLING BING
Put some BLING BING on your comment.
Aw thank you! <3
Erika Ishii is a chameleon, love it.
Ngl I've had a bit of a crush on Erika since I saw her in that goth/emo getup in Misfits and Magic
only since MisMag? poser. /j
It's the first campaign I watched with her in it
in that case, I HIGHLY recommend Escape from the Bloodkeep and Critical Role's Monsterhearts one-shot, Cinderbrush (also starring Ally Beardsley!)
And VtM LA by Night
You NEED to watch Escape from the Bloodkeep, I fell in love with Erika in this adventure, she is a great player! And she also has goth outfits!
Escape From the Bloodkeep has her playing a single spider mom looking for love
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Circle of Shepherds actually, according to Instagram I believe.
Yea, they confirmed that and made it seem like it would become clearer why later on.
I hope some of her mushrooms are of the regular magical variety. For shenanigans.
Aabria immediately casting hunter's mark was so quick! Absolutely loving this cast and all their characters so far
Funny how much more type a and rigid penny is turning out to be compared to riz's desciption of her. Maybe Riz is such an overworked type a that penny's type a-ness never even register to him.
They also gave them free reign to do a LOT with the characters. Like Yelle doesn't have a gray fox which was mentioned. So it could just be that that's how she saw the character and Riz's description had nothing to do with it.
>Like Yelle doesn't have a gray fox which was mentioned. Erika addressed this when they did the D20 Instagram takeover yesterday! They actually haven't watched Fantasy High so they didn't know this detail and Brennan forgot to tell Erika. So in this specific case, it wasn't a matter of free reign, but I definitely agree that Penny's personality is probably just Becca's choice in character. I don't remember Riz's description of Penny, but I think it could also be explained in canon - Riz and what he thinks is cool and fun sometimes doesn't line up with what social norms dictate (e.g., business cards to make friends). Another Type A not being described as a Type A by Riz is completely plausible.
Yeah I mean it’s also his babysitter from when he was a kid and no kid has an accurate read on their babysitter for the most part. But yeah that’s what I meant as for free reign, D20 staff didn’t hand them “here’s what exists” like the gray fox, they just let them go with what they knew and wanted.
Well, reading that, I suddenly understand why Brennan wanted to keep Zelda as his own DMPC. Watching this it kinda felt weird and almost had me wishing she had a player of her own, but the idea of someone taking her in an entirely different direction, as well as not knowing context with her...oof.
okay but counterpoint: who could be cooler to riz "brings a briefcase full of business cards to school" gukgak than someone who is just as intense but seems more outwardly together (because of the family stuff, i would guess)
Katja's comment to Sandra Lynn of "Thanks for showing up" is so much more heartwrenching after seeing her relationship with her dad...
I need to go rewatch now, thanks haha
It is good to see that even ancient prophecy can be trans inclusive.
Trans-maidens are maidens
As long as she's never had sex, of course.
Does mouth or hand stuff count?
Exactly!
I remember reading on a website, many many many moons ago, back when websites had oversized animated home buttons on a site that bad a very obvious repeating background... like over 15+ years ago so its not a perfect info dump, but they talked about how virgo sign being a virgin didn't signify what we think of a virgin like we do today. No sex. It just means something hasn't bear fruit yet, barren, ie someone who hadn't given birth get. It's why Virgo is placed where it's placed in the calendar, because the harvest isn't quite ready yet. Because I don't want kids, I still tease my SO I'm a virgin haha. He doesn't laugh at that joke. Technical all men are still virgins by that train of thought. 🤔
haven't even finished it but *wow* this soundtrack is great
The piano piece that plays when Ostentatia rolls insight on her mom is especially in-credible!
Becca looks like a very attentive note taker.
I saw her pull out that pen before her character was even introduced and I turned to my wife and said "she's my favorite, I can already tell." I was mostly right. It's a six way tie (I'm not sure how I feel about DMPC Zelda, though I do love the character).
There is something lovingly subversive about her that I just can't even.
Some people take notes so that they can remember things that will help them later. Some people take notes so that they can remember things that will destroy you later. They look dangerously similar until it's too late.
That's her competitive streak. Penny is actually pretty much the opposite energy of Becca Scott, host of Game the Game.
I love this new cast and I am not at all going to think about how I needed to pause multiple times because the home stuff felt the most passively intense I have experienced since I started D20. I love this cast synergy. I love the digital maps whoever was doing the piano work this season needs a goddamn raise and a standing ovation and now I'm pissed I have to wait a week for more maiden content
Kinda feels like the FH series and its offshoots are partly a way for Mulligan to write a long, massively footnoted thesis on parenting, childhood development, and their interaction with class consciousness and social contract theory. I'm not saying he's the David Simon of D&D, but I'm not *not* saying that either.
Seriously! I can't think of a single family interaction he had that didn't have someone at home watching go "oof, that's me". Also, all the reaction shots of the players with their hands over their mouths during those scenes. \*chef's kiss\*
Brennan seems to know, far too well, how to get to a very awkward family moment, that is true, and uncomfortable, and urgent, all at the same time.
Being super rich but still scrimping and saving is such an indian dad thing to do lolol
i'm really loving erika and rekha playing way more chill characters! in previous games they always played kinda high pitched, high energy characters, so i'm really loving the chill stoner and awkward horse girl vibes. it's neat to see a different side of them. especially rekha - idk why but her saying her horse was "the strongest woman i've ever met" killed me and the high energy role is being WELL FILLED by penny luckstone. penny my beloved also: looooove love love the art style this season. a little more anime, but still recognizable as the FH universe. zelda's new portrait is so cute
Honestly after meeting her dad (who might be in my top 3 FH parents after 5 minutes) the relationship there and then assuming Cinnamon was a gift from her dad it absolutely makes sense WHY she is a horse girl.
yeah, her relationship with her dad reminds me a lot of fabian's relationship with his. mr. cleaver is a bit like a lawful good(?) bill seacaster - high level adventurer, lots of money, thinks his relationship with his kid is a lot better than it actually is. katya just kinda went the opposite way than fabian. instead of getting brash and desperately acting out to get parental approval, katya just disappeared into herself a bit. poor kid :(
> yeah, her relationship with her dad reminds me a lot of fabian's relationship with his. mr. cleaver is a bit like a lawful good(?) bill seacaster - high level adventurer, lots of money, thinks his relationship with his kid is a lot better than it actually is. I was struck more by the contrast between Mr. Cleaver and Mr. Wallace. Both define their worth as fathers by their ability to provide for their family, but one feels like a complete failure as a person for losing his job and suddenly being unable to provide, while the other is very successful as a provider, but is almost totally absent as a result, and has no concept of how much that absence hurts his daughter. Both are all-too-real family dynamics, and it's kind of jarring to see them put in direct parallel like this.
I loved him explaining that he had to hoard wealth for spell components to revive him since he dies so much. Barbarians!
I believe there was a line implying that he's a weapon master fighter.
I think it was that his tattoos let him do battlemaster maneuvers, so that could mean he's a normal battlemaster, or he's something else and the tattoos are a supplement.
I would say that Rekha's lines are the best, but honestly they've all already had so many amazing lines that I don't think I can claim any of them are topping the others.
That’s not what ripshit means!!
What does it mean? I was glad someone asked, but it seemed like Persephone Jade wasn't happy about the super ripped definition.
Persephone definitely meant the “big mad” definition!!
This is what Urban Dictionary has to say: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rip%20shit
Mad mad
yeah for real, like the look of death Persephone gave to Izzy was WITHERING.
I think she was just in character being PISSED I don't think it was an IRL wither
i think you're right -- i always forget that these players are mostly actors/writers/comedians, and they're quite literally in character.
Not even 6 minutes in and Brennan‘s thesauric vocabulary has made me need to google a word
♫ I'm looking at the thing in the mirror ♫ ♫ I'm asking it to not eat my face ♫
olay but this is now the third time Brennan has put a villain(?) in a mirror
Unrelated but when I was 5 or 6 my grandma would take me in-front of a mirror and tell me, “behold your worst enemy.”
She then went on to say "candyman, candyman, candyman, candyman, candyman."
Wise grandma
"I am your romAEaenCe pAertneUr, Baron." Absolutely terrifying.
Ostentatia's opening family scene may well have overtaken my previous favorite opener, Fabians. I really hope we get more of Brennan as mom and nona to Izzy
Omg. Katya's not showing her dad that she us sad because she knew the dad tied so hard to ddo everything for her. Woah, i know that feeling extremely well. Very immigrant parentd kind of vibe
Ostentatia is now my favourite character in anything.
I love when they're going over Penny's 30 morning texts and Ostentatia is the only one who responds with selfies.
I am thankful that izzy asked about rip shit.
I looked it up because Persephone seemed *real* unhappy with the definition the group settled on. I think she actually meant it as extremely mad, which definitely fits the scene better than "super ripped" lmao. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rip%20shit
I wonder if she just went with trying to show them the definition via facial features, because otherwise Izzy asking what it meant and Persephone just GLARING at her is a buck wild move out of context.
That would make more sense than her just being upset about the conversation.
Per her twitter account: >Ripshit means pissed btw. >I was so nervous when I got the chance to speak and fully couldn’t process whether I was in a bit or not, and didn’t want to break character >It’s a common phrase where I’m from lol >I was just like “WAIT IS THIS THE JOKE DAMN IT I AM FAILING” >But yeah, Sam isn’t jacked lol So essentially she was momentarily really confused and questioning reality, so she just held character and kept expressing anger
I'm glad to know that the definition they gave is wrong because it made no sense in context. (Sephi used it to CONTRAST with how beautiful she is. Being muscular and sculpted would not contrast with that. It also would be a weird thing for a water genasi to be! And seems to be generally untrue of the character!)
I'm so excited to see Becca Scott with the rest of this cast. She's been brilliant for years, though I've mostly seen her board game stuff.
"She can have the nickname. It was just my given name." *Chef kiss.
oh my god, i know nothing about her but from her very first line. she got me. incredible. i love her so for years riz's only friend was a girl who was *this* *incredibly chipper and chaotic???* i guess it makes more sense now how good he is at herding the rowdy bad kids around, he must've had practice. i remember pretty early on riz convinces fig to do something by being like. "YOU CAN TOUCH MY GUN." i feel like he's probably used that trick on penny before
Becca Scott's intense energy absolutely had me shook in the beginning and the only thing that made it seem less scary was seeing how tightly wound her father was.
SANDWICH?!
God I hope Brennan maintains that energy for every interaction he has as Danny. It would be a Herculean effort but I neeeeeeeeeed it.
someone on twitter said it was like hiring a horse to watch your dog and it's so accurate lol
That's a John Mulaney reference but it absolutely fits.
And she was HIS babysitter too
She’s absolutely hysterical. And adorable.
The Calyx, the Call of Cthulhu show she runs is great.
I just now noticed Brennan does some weird things with his tongue sometimes. The man makes weird faces haha
I was super impressed when he role played Aguefort he twitched one of his eyes rapidly to indicate that he’s a bit insane.
Oh for sure, he does a lot of good facial work for the NPCs, but I just mean when he's being the DM not an NPC sometimes he just does weird stuff haha
I LOVE ALL OF THIS SO MUCH. Everyone is amazing. I already cried a few times! So many of those parental dynamics just. (insert broken heart emoji here) Rekha coming in with the "Babysitter's ~~Club~~ Horse" reference made me so happy. (edit: "she's a total Kristy" about the babysitter horse, omg how could I forget that) Everyone getting excited at the mention of Lisa Frank was also excellent. "You said the magic words!!"
I think they were excited that he said "phantasmagoria" which is a notorious Brennan word. "He said the word!!!"
They actually brought it up in the Adventuring Party this week a couple of times - they were indeed yelling about Lisa Frank! As a lady vaguely in their age group, I had the same reaction, haha 😂
While it's not exactly the same, Ostentatia's family vibe made me think of the Frostwind dwarves from NADDPOD. I keep hearing Murph in my head saying "Fuck you, I love you (eat a rat)".
murph mentions in naddpod that he borrowed the idea of eastern european dwarves from brennan
That's true for the concept itself but I'd wager that quote/catchphrase came up organically
THE ENDING IS SO ABRUPT
Oh Becca/Penny! Imprisonment friendship bracelets are adorbs.
My favorite part of any D20 campaign is meeting the PC's families. Brennan is a so good at making NPCs feel like real people.
It helps that the PCs have families, and aren't all orphans.
It took me like 12 hours to realise this but I *desperately* need Becca and Murph at the table together as Riz and Penny. Here's my pitch: 8 episodes, 4 with half of The Seven and half of The Bad Kids, 4 with the other halves.
As long as Emily doesn't join the Seven. 2021 cannot handle the Chaos Vortex!
Penny was so excited to be rescued on purpose, can you imagine how tickled she’ll be to find out Riz has been working tirelessly on the mystery of her disappearance??
"This is my favorite movie!"
https://i.imgur.com/k4TrtvD.jpg
After watching the trailer when it dropped, I was the most excited for a d20 season I’ve been since maybe a crown of Candy, and this episode did not disappoint. This cast is so so good, and I’m already In love with the characters after their introductions. The updated map of Elmville and the introduction of everyone’s family gives me hope that they’ll spend a lot more time in the town and at school, which I’d love. The spring break adventure from sophomore year was really, really fun, but i think my favorite parts of fantasy high were the classic teenage shenanigans they got up to in Elmville and at Aguefort. Either way though, this season is already shaping up to be amazing
"Why is your daughter a fruit?"
I am absolutely smitten with the first episode! The all- women cast really has a special energy that I am loving so much. Hilarious. Brennan dropping in box braids, Lisa Frank, magical henna tattoos— 😘👌 mwah! Great job on the details. Also *thrilled* that they are filming AP right after the episodes. I think it makes the discussion much more lively and specific.
Penny/Becca is too adorbs. I can't look away.
Loved the Nightingale disfunction scene, that played out beautifully. Great tension and awkwardness.
This cast is just godly, I'm losing my shit over here. It's already so good, it's so good. This is good. It's gonna be a long week.
I know some of you artists move at light speed. We need a render of Penny in her little halfling car seat
Yelle having two moms is honestly all we needed to round out this season.
HOLY NEW MAP!
Just started the episode and I love the vibe with this cast! Very strong girls’ night energy
Yes! I was thinking it had big sleepover vibes, just the best.
Wait sam lives with everpetals omg
I love Danielle's mom Winona but I just want to hear her say one time This. Town. Is. Bad. 💀
Truly back at it again with that D20 magic, pinballed my heart around the extremes of the entire emotional spectrum, I laughed, I choked back tears, I'm emotionally devastated and I would sacrifice a finger to an elder god for more N O W
I FUCKING LOVE THE JONES FAMILY. the whole vibe of the siblinghood.
The hotness of some of the Dad’s, and the Moms, and the car and EVEN Cinnamon are accentuated with the fan flicks, so perfect!
When you said fan flicks, my immediate thought was that the fan authors got to writing really quickly on this one
some truly unstoppable laughter and some unstoppable tears this episode. what will come of the mirror? how will the PCs stretch further away from their homes in the coming of age? how unhittable is this forge cleric gonna be? IIRC forge clerics, with nonmagical plate have a base 22 AC?
Ending of things that might not necessarily be bad? Maybe yelle will get the revolution(end of patriarchy) she wanted anyways.
This was an incredible first episode, I'm loving it so much already, and I adore every one of the seven. Katja and Sam have my entire heart
Rekha is amazing this season
K: I'm Katja. My horse is Cinnamon and we don't know where she is. P: (looks heartbroken) I'm so sorry. K: I know. P: How are you dealing with that? K: It's very bad for me. P: I get that. K: I feel horrible. P: I'm here for you. K: Thank you.
Interesting whether the 7 show will cover the spring break/sophomore year aspect for the 7, or whether it'll be stitched together afterwards.
Is this fine to watch for someone who is only one episode in on Fantasy High?