#acofaf spoils

[mostgeckcellent]

The revelation that Rue called off the marriage and the subsequent argument/confession is so.. something.

There's so much being said about it and it's got me wanting to sort it out for myself instead of just reblogging other people's thoughts.

I don't think this is a rue vs hob, who was right, situation.

I think that Rue's actions in calling off the wedding were selfish and nearsighted; it had no effect on the court of wonder, but had a huge effect on the goblin court, and truly it was none of Rue's business. People marry for reasons other than love and that's okay!

HOWEVER

you also can't argue with their desire to tear down the courts because like. the goblin court does objectively treat Hob badly. The court of wonder does treat Rue badly. The unseelie treats Andhera badly. The courts have been shown to be petty and power-obsessed at the cost of their own people and of course they are.

I've seen Rue's choice compared to Wuvvy, both making decisions on what they think is best for others and taking their choices away. I think that's.. fair. I think they both have a blindspot.

Rue has had a very bad no good day, they're under a lot of pressure, they're experiencing A Lot, and there's miscommunications everywhere. I think they made a bad choice before they met Hob, before they really let themselves be known and to know others, and I think they might make a different choice, now, with the context.

I also think Hob has a right to be angry! Rue's actions undid something that came from his successes. It hurt him, even if the goblin court has also hurt him, even if that's complicated. He seems to genuinely care about Grabalba!

And he's been treated this way for so long, of course it's hard, nigh impossible, to unsee it. Of course it feels like Rue must have been using him too. Of course he can't fathom choosing himself, as Rue has been begging him to do - he doesn't know that choosing himself could mean choosing Rue, but he doesn't know how to exist outside of service, and I think this episode makes that especially clear.

Hob will go to unhealthy lengths for those he feels loyalty or duty to. He hurts himself to get evidence, he hurts himself to carry someone's bags when he's bleeding, who's to say he wouldn't wind up scarily similar to Wuvvy, existing only to be of service to Rue? Who we know for a fact doesn't want that?

I think most of all, this episode shows, explicitly, how they've been talking around each other for so long.

Hob loves in acts of service - sometimes to an unhealthy degree, but his love language isn't the problem, it's the depths to which he feels he has to go due to his own low self-worth.

Rue is learning self-worth and is currently valuing that above all else.

Of course that causes conflict! I think they can both learn from each other and temper each other, but right now, neither of them understands where the other is coming from - Hob interpreted Rue's motivation as service where it was love. Rue is interpreting all service as Bad now, which again, fair, given their circumstances, but not fair to Hob.

They're having a bunch of separate conversations and none of them are overlapping the way they think it is, and it's hurting them both. And there's only one episode left, so there's no way to fully, totally resolve these massive divides, but I do think they can start on the path. I think we can see them have a happy ending, in which it's clear they're Working On It - both of them.

[sparkystar26888]

It’s widely known that Evan kelmp is the epitome of autism, but let me tell you I saw one scene with K.P. Hob and felt instant tism vibes. I am currently episode two and those have not gone away

[sunflowermp4]

god lou wilson is a national treasure

[bitchwhoyoukiddin]

A Court of Fey and Flowers

I needed something lowkey and fun for the last little bit, so I'm doing an ACoFaF re-watch. It's reminded me how fun and absolutely odd-ball this series actually is. The performances are all deeply charming in their own ways, and I gotta say that @quiddie is probably the DM/GM that I like the most out of the crop of real play DM/GM's I've watched/listened to. It's a deeply close race, but the way she approaches storytelling just works a bit better for how my brain works.

I also remain so impressed with the chemistry the cast has. Lou Wilson and Emily Axford are such chaotic demons, they can't help but stand out as my faves. (Mind, them in any combination just kind of shoots up the joy for me. Kingston and Sophia were in my top fave interactions for Unseen City, and Jabari and Tarragon had me cackling through their Eldermourne episodes.)

And while Oscar Montoya's performance as Rue absolutely deserves the fan favorite status it has (SO GOOD!), I've been really, really digging Surena Marie's character and work in this rewatch. It's a deft performance and incredibly tricky. She and Omar Najam (Andhera) do some incredibly difficult lifting being the most... sincere? of the characters. Because while both of their characters have big lifts and personalities in their own ways, their stuff is a lot more earnest and sweet without the magentism of Rue and Hob, or the comfort and chaos of Chirp and Squak.

I'm having a hard time explaining this without spoiling anything. The first time I watched the series, I think I kind of bounced off of both Gwyn and Andhera and their stories because they felt a little untethered. Both the characters and the performances felt like trying to tread water. Which, on rewatch, is absolutely incorrect. The choices the players made on behalf of the built characters were absolutely correct (to me!) and the deft way both actors approached them is more apparent to me in retrospect. I feel like I'm talking around what I want to say at this point, but Surena Marie and Omar Najam absolutely deserve their flowers and I really need to dig up more of their stuff. I always did, but I REALLY need to now.

And I don't know. I absolutely love Brennan Lee Mulligan and Oscar Montoya's work on this season! They both pulled such little threads and blazed their own trails and I am so glad it means so much to so many. I just. Man. Sometimes being ace/aro is just standing in the back of an adored narrative feeding frenzy and holding up a sign that says "HAVE FUN, GLAD YOU FOUND THE THING YOU ADORE!" And I never know what's going to do that specific thing for me! Still, it's fun to watch how much fun both of the players have with Rue and Hob.

Overall, this show is exactly what my brain needs and wants right now. It's such a delight. I'm also drawing it out and only watching an episode every other night or so. That way, my brain can just savor the previous episode for a bit.

[heliza24]

I'm rewatching A Court of Fey and Flowers with @bluedalahorse and it's so fun to be picking up on all the details I didn't the first time, since the season was the first actual play I watched, and I now understand the format and the game much better. It's also really fun to introduce Blue to the world of D20. She really likes it which makes me so happy. We're both having a really great time!

I know everyone loves Rue/Hobb (how could you not) but I love Andhera/Binx even more. From the very beginning, even when she's disguised as Gwen, Andhera and Binx vibrate on the same frequency. They're both of the darkness, their magic matches, they're both clearly neurodivergent in a way that compliments each other, and the way they bring much needed recognition and compassion into each other's lives... I just love it. We just finished watching the Hedge Maze ep, and the moment when Andhera recognizes Binx's eyes in their true form for the first time and their hands touch...Magic. (Also I deserve a medal for not spoiling this pairing to Blue before this episode, I wanted to talk about them SO BADLY). I also appreciated the layers that Omar and Surena put into their characters even more this time. Omar plays with the social suaveness of Andhera in such an interesting way. Sometimes he leans into Andhera as simply bumbling, but sometimes he uses it in a meta way to reveal real feelings, and sometimes he uses it as a character weapon, like when he fools Suntar in the maze. And Surena creates all these little physical differences in the way she plays Binx and Gwen, dropping her voice and changing her mannerisms.

Blue and I are of agreement that most fantasy things don't get the fae right; they're more capricious and funny and scary than most things makes them seem. (And more than simply sexy, which is how most modern things seem to portray them). But ACOFAF gets it. Chirp and Squawk are so funny (and I'm enjoying them even more now that I know Lou and Emily as players better) and I cannot wait for Blue to see Chirp's big reveal (another thing I have not spoiled please clap!) And I just love the way that Aabria creates a magical atmosphere, and hones in on emotions and pushes them to the forefront of a scene. Like simply asking if Binx and Andhera's hands touch when he passes her the heart; the entire second half of the season is shaped by the connection that is forged in that moment. I love the way she uses the rule of cool to help pull emotions and interesting scene flavor forward, which works because I have absolute confidence she knows the rules and is breaking them with careful intention.

This is a disorganized rant more than it is an analysis but I just needed to say **chef's kiss** about all of it, I love it so much. and I'm so excited to bring @bluedalahorse into the magic with me.

[chungledown-bimothy]

god fucking damn it it is so hard for me to talk about acofaf avoiding spoilers.

i'm so glad he's more interested in chirp and squak than, say, gwyndolin. i don't think i could say anything about her that wouldn't spoil their whole deal lol

[loosebaron]

FUCK IT blog overhaul:

‼️ block ‘dimension 20 live spoilers’ if you don’t want to be spoiled for tonight‼️

eaves peeping - talking/original post tag

toxic masculinity is dead I queue now - queue tag

Rolling up the hill - favourite posts tag

fanart - fan art/creations

meta - meta/analysis posts

fic - fanfiction

rb - reblogs

gc - Game Changer

fh - Fantasy High (all seasons)

tuc - the Unsleeping City (all seasons)

acoc - A Crown of Candy

mismag- Misfits and Magic

aso - A Startstruck Odyssey

acofaf - A Court of Fey and Flowers

na - Neverafter

dndq- Dungeons and Drag Queens

trw - The Ravaging War

time quangle - the live show(s) Time Quangle ❤️

[lovecolibri]

ACOFAF is probably the season I was most spoiled for, because I saw stuff as it was airing and since I hadn't started watching D20 yet, I wasn't concerned about avoiding spoilers. All this to say, I have been *waiting* for the Rue true form reveal and it did NOT disappoint!

[soap-stains]

I haven't watched past Chapter 6 of ACOFAF yet so don't spoil me but slight AU where Andhera tells Binx everything he noticed between Rue and Hob during that meeting and the two of them pull some fuckin shenaniganary

[chungledownresponsibly]

it’s been over two weeks since i last spent time on tumblr because i got behind on acofaf and didn’t want to be spoiled, but i think this is the longest i’ve gone without chronically being on tumblr in years and IT WAS WEIRD

[mongeese]

I have been spoiled for most of acofaf so the drama is all just really funny. Wuvvy is challenging Hobb to a duel over his horse. Like girl. Lmao

[deelovesbooks]

so i only started watching d20 this year and i started with Neverafter man what a ride! I loved it so much and I'll be back to watch it again sometime I love little red and my frog man so much lmao

and then once that was finished, I decided hmm let's do A Crown of Candy that seems fun! And this was of course while I'm in the middle of 3rd year so I don't have A Lot of time and honestly just added to my extremely high stress levels already. (I haven't actually finished the campaign yet 😬 classes ramped up and it much stress abounded lmao I think there's like 4 eps left? After the betrayal and jet dying and meeting Frostwhip and rescuing Jawbreaker I believe I've seen the episode after jawbreaker is rescued and that's the last. I will come back eventually when I'm less stressed and farther from metal breakdown lol)

And then I watched the first and I think second? episode of dungeons and drag queens. And I truly enjoyed it! I will return to watching it and finish it for sure I just got very deep into school and had no time and then breakdown era lmao

Then I watched Mentopolis! My friend and I both watched and talked theories and honestly I loved it. Just so good, I believe made me cry. Will likely rewatch.

And now I am Obsessed with Burrow's End. Like, I don't even know how to put it in words. (Is it probably because Im mentally unwell right now and under vast stress and strain and have been since September? Lmao probably a small contributing factor) but like I have rewatched episodes already in this season it's that fucking good.

And now while waiting for the weekly episode to drop rather than doing any of my truly enormous list of Extremely important and Critical things to do, I decided I haven't had enough of d20 and I needed more Aabria DM in my life rn. So now I am honestly plowing my way through a court of fey and flowers and I'm in love. Ok Chirp and Squawk are truly marvelous and play off eachother so damn well I am in love with these birds and all the bird puns and references they make endlessly bring me joy. And fucking K P Hob omg 😭 truly going to make me cry this fucking goblin man. I don't really know much about this campaign or what happens but I stg if Hob and Rue don't end up together I will be heartbroken. I just finished the hedge maze EP and honestly up to this point just fucking heartbreaking. But like Holy shit honestly the whole cast is killing it and Aabria bringing the fucking thunder and not even like just A game the fucking A+ extra credit graduate early with honors game holy shit. Like I'm not big into regency, I've never read p&p or seen Downton Abbey or Bridgeton but I've read a few books set in that era and have knowledge of the media and like the cadence and tropes of the genre, so like when I say I'm invested so much I'm like sooo invested. I love all the mechanics with the tokens and the letters and the rumors especially it's amazing. Truly revolutionary and groundbreaking and in the least creepy way possible I would give Aabria a kidney her work is just so amazing.

Anyways! The point I started making this with was that I can't wait until I finish acofaf so that way I can actually go through the tags without getting spoiled!

[knoxprox]

Work stuff has been happening which has made me too exhausted to be able to watch acofaf so im 2 eps behind and im so mad… hopefully i get to catch up this week cause i’m basically having to avoid most of the internet i actually use in order to not get spoiled -_-

[confusedhandbag]

I'm so glad that the person who knows the most amount of sensitive information is Andhera, the person with the least amount of tact

[apple-scrumper]

hehehe i love them

[howlbear]

Me, innocently opening Tumblr during the rumor section

My entire dash further along in the episode: