#adaine didn't solve that

[loading-excuses]

To add on to this, Brennan saying “Nulla Dies Umquam Memori Vos Eximet Aevo” to Ally as Pete and Siobhan just immediately replying with “No day will erase you from the memory of time?” during Unsleeping City Chapter 2

I still find it funny that one of the questions of The Last Stand exam was translating "Pedo Mellon a Minno" to "Speak friend and enter", something virtually impossible to do without outside knowledge of Lord of the Rings. Brennan was like, "I am entirely confident one of my nerd ass friends (Siobhan) will have this locked and loaded." And he was right.

[natjennie]

what's really cool about fantasy high is that you can tell the intrepid heroes are actually shocked and confused and betrayed by stuff. like, it would be easy for them to sort of pretend to not know things in order to keep the pace and brennan's planned battles and whatever but with the way he honors when they actually figure things out just makes me trust that it's genuine. his "no rolls necessary, you just said the exact thing" help to prove it's all real mystery solving. and especially the very end of the episode storm reveal like. it's not as if they were lazy or weren't paying attention, adaine has been receiving visions of fabian's birthday the whole time, she thought to text aelwyn to ward the house, they were told that the cloud-rider could lift the hangman earlier that episode! the clues were there. they just truly honestly didn't put them together until the last possible moment as riz figured it out. idk what I'm trying to say I just think brennan crafts incredibly clever mysteries and you can feel the investment in the players when they theorize and the genuine shock when things are revealed. I'm just really glad it feels real.

[crickit-song]

Just had a thought.

I love how at exactly ZERO points throughout the season the rat grinders were a priority for the Bad Kids. The Rat Grinders (or klck at least) have been HATING the Bad Kids for ages but the Bad Kids, even though they express anger and hatred as well, NEVER focus on it.

Riz solved mysteries about Ankarna and Porter and curses, and helped his friends get through their insane years. At no point did he actively try to interact with Kippy Copple more than getting clues via reaction. He wasnt even outwardly fussed about the shit in her file.

Kristen campaigned and studied and only interacted with buddy in an interest to connect, and she only did that once. She prioritized her friends and her god.

Fabian gave up on ivy immediately, and went all in on mazey and popularity. Zero interaction with the rat grinders after that.

Gorgug disliked Mary Ann but didn't do a thing about it in any way that would affect her, just worked his ass off being the world's first barbificer.

Adaine Oracled and worked and studied and solved. After the first and that insight check on Oisin, she gave no thoughts to the Rat grinders as people, only as clues, like Riz.

Fig interacted the most with the Rat Grinders, but only bc she was hoping for a Ruben redemption arc or more clues. She was being NICE and CLEVER.

None of them ever interacted with the Rat Grinders in the antagonistic way the Rat Grinders wanted. They were afterthoughts the whole time. KLCK must have been devastated when the BKs destroyed all her party in 3 turns bc they had better things to focus on.

[bloodyshadow1]

it must be crazy to think of Adaine and Riz from the persepective of any who was a freshmen or Sophomores they started at Aguefort who was at Rock the Boat/Fabian's birthday bash. All the bad kids changed a bit, but Adaine and Riz probably the most, (except for Kristen who needs her own essay)

Think about it, Adaine was a scared elven maiden with a 2 feet in diameter orb, wearing a hudol uniform, shaking like a leaf. Riz was a goblin dressed like a newsboy, with a briefcase who handed out business cards and asked a lot of questions about some mystery he was trying to solve. As an Aguefort student you know that the bad kids are the top adventurers in the school, but it's another thing seeing it.

Even if it's all a music video illusion, seeing the scared Elven maiden you saw as a freshman run up to a blue dragon and punch its head off in one blow. The square nerdy briefcase kid, he's fire two cannons faster than you could fire one and just finished off a massive ancient blue dragon. And he's smoking.

None of their peers have really seen the Bad Kids in action, most who were freshman and sophomores in their freshman year probably weren't at prom. Most who were at prom didn't stick around to watch or graduated already. Even if it's all fake, it's still probably incredible to see from the perspective of other students who are probably level 8 at most.

[dullgecko]

For some reason (probably magic) Riz is a kit again. He’s teeny tiny, the bad kids don’t know how much of a prey animal goblins. They turn around for a second and oops, there he goes, picked up by a hawk. Oh they leave him on the couch, they come back, he’s gone. Where’d he go? Nobody knows?

Riz is researching something in Aydas library, pulling books from her private collection in her living quarters and perusing them before putting them back. He has to hop up onto a workbench covered in experiments to put his current book back where he got it, accidentally knocking something over which shatters with a crash, and the book in his hands falls to the floor with a thud with a cloud of glittering smoke obscuring where he was standing previously.

If the loud crashing and thumping hadn't allerted anyone to his little accident the sudden ear piercing keening would have. Adaine poking her head into Aydas office to spot a very tiny, very confused, very scared goblin sitting among the broken bottle and other debris on Aydas desk.

Riz spotted Adaine and stopped crying, going completely still as if he was a prey animal in line of sight of a predator. Adaine blinked at Riz. The elf made one step towards the desk to check on him and find out what the fuck happened and Riz was /gone/. Scrambling up the bookshelf and out the window before she could react.

The party spent FOUR DAYS in Leviathan looking for him (they started 3 all out brawls, solved 2 mysteries and Gorgug got accidentally engaged to then broke his engagement to a dolphin, and watched Riz get carried off by a pelican at one point), finally tracking him down on a ship that was about to leave and paying a ridiculous amount of money to the exotic pets smuggler to get him back (though they didn't let him out of the large bird cage he was being carried around in until AFTER Ayda reversed the spell).

[tomurakii]

I kind of hate all the comparisons between kipperlily and like. Those fuckass "affirmative action fucks me over I wish I was [minority] so it would be easier" people because none of that. Is what she said. She said the bad kids already had more experience with adventuring before they got to augefort and it meant they had an advantage. Which is true. Yeah Riz was lower-class but his mum was a COP. Riz, Kristen and Fig had parents who were heroes (Sandra-Lynn is an active ranger, Kristen's parents are paladins, Sklonda is a rogue), Adaine's family was super rich and politically influential, Fabian had both. Gorgug's the only one who wasn't actively at an advantage [IN THE CONTEXT OF HAVING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HEROISM] and she didn't have shit to say about him. Kipperlily was the first person in her family to try heroism, the bad kids are largely legacy admissions.

Additionally to the people comparing it to the "anti-affirmative action" crowd: do you know what affirmative action is. The bad kids didn't receive special consideration on their admissions to aguefort or scholarships or additional financial support or extended assessment times or anything. How could she be mad about affirmative action if none of these people received affirmative action. What they DID have was knowledge about their classes that started much earlier than high school, which is what Kipperlily said in her file that she thought grading should be adjusted for because she did not have that.

To me it's less like affirmative action and more like augefort is like an IQ test. They pretend that it's fair and objective, but you can be taught how to do those things from a younger age, and if your parents took the time to teach you pattern recognition and shit then you'll do better on an IQ test than someone who wasn't trained for it and everyone will act like that makes you innately smarter when it doesn't. It just means someone taught you how to do that earlier.

Barring Gorgug, every one of the bad kids had access to information about heroism and their class at a younger age than Kipperlily did, which primed them for success in their classes. Every one of them got additional information about mysteries from their families (and even direct battle-tactics training from Bill), Riz especially with getting classified info out of his mum. Kipperlily does not have hero relatives. She's the first in her family line to attend a hero school. She knew nothing about it before her first day, meanwhile Kristen was already the chosen of Helio, Adaine had already been attending the best wizard school in the country, Fabian had already spent his whole life training with his father, and Riz was already involved in solving mysteries using info and tactics he got from his parents.

They aren't necessarily "privileged" (except Fabian and Adaine), but Kipperlily didn't say they were, she said that in the specific context of attending a hero school they had a prior-knowledge advantage. Saying they didn't is like comparing the grades of a kid who's academic career started with preschool with a kid who didn't attend until middle school and acting like one of them wasn't better prepared.

[magical-girl-coral]

I did the mistake of entering a blog that unironically reblogs confessional discourse posts and read a lot of stupid takes so here's me debunking them, I guess:

Why didn't the Bad Kids reach out to the Rat Grinders? - They did. Multiple times. The Rat Grinders were mean to them back so the Bad Kids dropped that plan. Ivy was racist about Mazey to hurt Fabian's feelings. Adaine called Oisin cool in one episode and then saw him murder Buddy the next. Fig and Kristen tried to recruit Mary Ann several times and she didn't give a fuck. Ruben fully tried to antagonize Fig when he first saw her because he could. They don't owe them to stick to people who were sucky to them.

From a mechanical standpoint, Brennan did this so they players won't waste time on them and move on to solve the mystery. From a story perspective, it was because the Rat Grinders refused to be saved. They were too brainwashed by rage and they refused to let it go. Even in the last fucking battle Fig tried to reach out as Wanda Childa and Ruben almost killed her with a ninth level spell. I'd say they were pretty fucking patient if you ask me.

The Bad Kids were too mean to the Rat Grinders in the final battle! - No, they were not. Oisin taunted Adaine about her greatest fears before trying to murder the entire student body. Ivy was racist in her last moments and called Mazey "objectively ugly." Ruben was an asshole to everyone he meets. Kipperlilly tried to get them all expelled since episode three. The Rat Grinders sucked as people when they were villains and the Bad Kids had every right to lose their shit.

Fig was too cruel to Ruben. Getting into his dreams was insane - One, Ruben was a villain NPC that won't stop threatening her party. She entered his dreams after he tried getting them kicked out of school by offering them drugs. Pete entered Kingston's dream palace after he threatened to take Pete if he gets out of line again. When PCs get threatened, they act out. Secondly, this is how the team finds out about devil's honey, one of the more important discoveries they've had yet. Her entering his dreams worked.

Thirdly, shatter star Ruben was a creep that dated his fans (an extremely uneven power dynamic) and then made songs out of being toxic in those relationships. Sandra Lynn, Fig's mother, had her life ruined by a man that tricked her into a toxic relationship with an uneven power dynamic. Insane that no one made this connection yet.

How could the Bad Kids kill them when they were forced into being Shatter Starred? - This one pisses me off the most because of how much this is based on hindsight. The Bad Kids didn't know the Rat Grinders were forced into the ritual. They canonically knew few things:

The Rat Grinders joined a rage ritual after their sophomore year spring break adventure

They almost definitely killed their cleric Lucy Frostblade

They famously hated the Bad Kids since forever.

They never went on real adventures and instead grind rats for their first year and then were power leveled by two teachers

Not once was it hinted none of them wanted to commit to the ritual. It was a popular fan theory but that's it. The only one who evidently didn't was Lucy and Yolanda and they found their bodies in the forest with runes written on their bones so they couldn't be brought back.

Isn't it weird how the Bad Kids did a 180 and asked the Rat Grinders to be brought back once the battle was done? - No. They only found out at the very last minute that the only one who did the ritual willingly was Kipperlilly after she died and her lack of a scar was revealed. This was at at the very end of the season finale. Of course the Bad Kids felt bad after they put 2 and 2 together and asked them to be brought back, they were the same way about Ragh and Awelyn when they found out more about their backstories.

It's so shitty of Brennan to not delve into any of the Rat Grinders' backstories - We still don't know if Jawbone is Tracker's biological uncle or not. We don't know if Sandra Lynn's family supported her after the scandal or not. We don't know the name of Ragh's father or any of the mothers' maiden names. A lot of NPCs in Fantasy High have a shit of information missing because only the plot relevant stuff comes up. Some NPCs are more relevant than others, that's just how it is.

I remember when people used to make forums to theorize about a character's past. We made OCs and new cities out of fun when the creators didn't. Where's the fucking joy, man? Where is the fucking whimsy?

I bid you all adieu with this:

Get in the fucking transcripts, for the love of god.

[velvetvexations]

The fact that Junior Year didn't at all challenge the way ANY system is set up is insane to me.

In the first half of the season I kept telling people the solution to Adaine's money problems wouldn't be Fabian buying her shit for her, because Brennan - DECOLONIAL PHILOSOPHER THAT HE IS - would never construct a scenario in which the solution to a ruinous lack of funds would be to get your rich friend to pay it off for you. This was just the foundation of my argument that Fabian literally, in-universe, did not have access to enough money to do that, because BLeeM usually plugs those holes and that seemed to be essentially the point of kicking Hilarial and Gilear off-screen for most of the season, but put that aside. The point is, it was clearly a critique of the system.

Right?

Because I assumed the solution would in some way be either changing the system or breaking free of it. Part of Adaine's problem is capitalism in general, but most immediately it's the financial demands the school system makes of her.

And then...the solution is not that. The solution is that she yells at her bosses to start paying her for being the Oracle, and Fabian beats someone in a dance contest so they do it. Problem solved. It's fine that Aguefort, which prides itself to an insane degree about what an anarchic madhouse it is for all the real freaks who want to just reach out and take life by the horns, requires you buy literal barrels of diamonds to be a wizard. That's fine.

The problem was that Adaine didn't have a fortune, not that she needed a fortune in the first place.

And it's wild because exactly that's something I liked about A Starstruck Odyssey. Obviously, Starstruck is an existing IP, and there wasn't a lot of room to just revolutionize galactic society overnight, but thematically it only enhanced the season's thrust to have everyone's problems be tied to money and for them to get past them by inventively striking a fortune. It was essentially taking this mildly grimdark capitalist hellhole and being like "okay, we'll play by your rules, assholes" and by the end it felt like there was a heavy tone of irony to the celebration of The Ball Rolling Up. Like you were meant to notice and be aware that the crew of the Wurst basking in their newfound riches was good for them personally but also a fucked-up reflection on how the setting operates.

And there was little tiny baby steps towards acknowledgement of systemic issues in JY that seemed promising, but all ultimately fizzled out.

Fig being overwhelmed by her responsibilities as a working musician and owner of a part of Hell? She orders her demonic underlings and indentured souls to help her put on a hella sweet concert and she goes quintuple platinum and her old agent is totally seething.

Gorgug is being failed by an educational structure that won't allow and doesn't even want him to succeed in the way he aspires to? Zac rolls insanely well so no he isn't, he's doing great, everyone should take four times the coursework.

Riz has to do a ton of shit to get into college because as a poor person he has to run to where others walk? Jokes are occasionally made about him being in a lot of clubs but that's never once examined or otherwise touched on between the the third and final episode, with the resolution in the epilogue being his mom going "hey kiddo wherever you end up you'll do great, just as long as you get enough sleep and take regular breaks to eat ice cream!".

Fabian trying to live up to the pressure of his legacy and maintaining his social status at school? Bill has a genuinely moving conversation with Fabian in the finale, indisputably one of the highlights of the season and a moment that in spite of everything I found incredibly powerful, where he tells him that he would love him even if he weren't a Maximum Legend, but it ends on "maybe we can have both" because as Brennan himself noted Lou was rolling so well that it was actively strangling the theme of his arc so that it ended up just being Fabian occasionally feeling a bit frustrated about the pressure while effortlessly succeeding to the point that not even Fig's catastrophic bardic put a dent in his popularity could have been an interesting exploration of tragic imposter syndrome, but it felt more like they were trying to stick to an expected "Fabian has to struggle with fluctuating popularity" plotline without really examining the contradiction.

Kristen failing cleric class? Kristen deserved to fail cleric class.

The issues with Fabian and Gorgug's arc was just luck and a flaw in the downtime mechanic. The others went deeper and man I really wish more had been done there.

[aerialflight]

fic rec list

I am into such random fandoms at the moment and I NEED to spread the word on how fantastic these fics are so people would get into those fandoms too. Join me in my rabbit holes!

-

[Dimension 20: Fantasy High]

serendipities of the mundane kind by fangirl_squee

Ships: Figueroth Faeth/Ayda Aguefort, Riz Gukgak/Fabian Aramais Seacaster, Kristen Applebees/Tracker O'Shaughnessey

The Bad Kid's lives wind through the world a little differently, but some friendships are just meant to be.

(ships aside, this is a fic about friendship! and it's absolutely beautiful!! i loved how all the relationships formed and how all of them meet under different yet plausible circumstances. they meet in pairs and then in groups, all of them introduced to each other slowly yet organically. i'm so in love with each character's journey and how meant-to-be the bad kids are. absolutely recommend this!)

thwick thwack by graeskies

Ship: Riz Gukgak/Fabian Aramais Seacaster

Eyes narrowed, slitted pupils so thin they could pick a lock. Wide, fin-like ears pressed flat back against his head—'airship ears', Adaine had said once, and it made Riz laugh so hard he had forgotten what he had been reacting to in the first place. Tail thrashing back and forth, making a rhythmic thwick thwack against his legs, or his briefcase, or both. Extra-sharp teeth bared wide, hissing with a confidence he didn't have in freshman year. Riz's threat displays were hypnotizing. Fabian almost forgot the punchline of his own joke.

(riz acting on his instincts and fabian Vibing with it so hard is a trope i never knew i wanted until this fic fnieowfnpewa.)

not by design (again, again) by jackpack

Ship: Riz Gukgak/Fabian Aramais Seacaster

To his knowledge, the world is right when Riz gets home, right as he falls into bed and curls up with a grin on his face, right as he closes his eyes and passes sometime in the wee hours of the morning, content that tomorrow was going to be even better. And, then, he wakes up to an alarm set for school. -- It's freshman year, and Riz has a found family to find. Again.

(time travel time travel time travel!!! the bad kids all struggling to find each other and solve the mystery! ugh, these kids have my whole heart and i loved every minute of this.)

Light My Fire by Anonymous (locked, need account to read)

Ship: Riz Gukgak/Fabian Aramais Seacaster

The sheet is too short to reach Riz. Fabian fully unfurls it, stretches both his arms as far as he can, thinks about fully letting go and grabbing The Ball midair, trying to tuck and roll and maybe take some of the damage for him. Despite his efforts, he's just a few feet shy of Riz, limp and unconscious and hurtling downwards, just like he was at the Row and the Ruction. Fabian, once again, is too slow and weak and incompetent to help him. Fabian screws his eye shut, half because he can't stand to watch Riz's body hit the ground and half because he feels like if he just believes hard enough, he can somehow save him. - I thought too hard about the time Fabian summoned a fire elemental that saved Riz's life and also kissed him and then nobody ever mentioned it again. This is the result.

(i caught FEELINGS when reading about this moment in the sophomore campaign, embellished and seen through the eyes of a desperate fabian. there's something about fabian being sincere and brave that always hits me in the chest like a hammer.)

meet me in the woods by macaronidoodles

A thought comes to him, and he pulls out the little rock he’d artificed out of his pocket. It’s probably stupid, he thinks, looking at it, so small in his hands. But there’s no one around to make fun of him, and if even one of his friends could hear… It’s Gorgug, he whispers. Keep going. * (in the forest of the nightmare king, gorgug gives everyone a chance to catch their breath)

(i will never be over that fucking line and all that it does. the hope, the love, the determination to keep moving forward, knowing that you are not alone. fnewifoewpa GOD.)

An Abjurative Wizard's Guide to Entrapment and Matchmaking, by Aelwyn Abernant by AgentStannerShipper

Ship: Riz Gukgak/Fabian Aramais Seacaster

“I cannot be in love with Riz Gukgak,” Fabian says. “I cannot be in love with The Ball. Under no circumstances can that be a thing that is happening.” Across the room, sitting in Riz’s chair, her feet up on Riz’s desk, ninety percent of her attention on one of Riz’s case files open in her lap, Aelwyn does the incredibly helpful thing of saying, “Uh-huh.”

(this is THE fic that got me into the ship. fabian's feelings of admiration and love for riz shines through and i'm so in love with how in love fabian is. seeing it from his point of view made me realize just how good of a person and character riz gukgak is. love this fic so much!)

Ring a Bell by Tangerine_Blast

“You are drunk,” Adaine accused. “I’m not-” Aelwyn protested but stopped herself mid word and pinched the bridge of her nose, “I don’t mean to alarm you, little sister, but I think you may be suffering from some severe memory loss.” Adaine was about to snap back at her but froze as the words sunk in. Memory loss. Yes. That would certainly explain why she was in a different outfit then she remembered. “What did you do?” *** The Bad Kids wake up on the first day of their freshman year. Or… no, it’s almost two years later and everything is so vastly different. Where are they? Who are all these people claiming to be their family and friends?

(*SCREAMS* god, it hit me so hard how all the bad kids grew up so much from freshman year?? they're such different people in sophomore year compared to the beginning. every single character, including the side characters, are going Through It and i wanted to hug all of them so. bad. nfewiofpewa absolutely a must read, i love every single character here so so much!!)

-

[Naruto]

Into the Wide Blue Yonder by OneEyedRaven

Ship: Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Sasuke

“Take off your mask,” the clan head demanded. He might as well have ordered Kakashi to strip naked – to reveal his face to all these strangers felt as vulnerable as baring his neck to a sword. “You will not be allowed to hide your face here, Sharingan-thief.” - Kakashi gets misplaced in time and taken in by the Uchiha clan during the warring era, thanks to the mysterious one-armed man, Sasuke.

(i've never been into this ship but my god they make it work here in the most delightful slowburn i've read in a long while. i am rooting for them so hard, they're trying to change the world and make it better and i am so here for it! yes! disestablish the corrupt power structures of konoha from the very beginning! hell yeah!!!)(also kakashi's growth and characterization makes me want to cry he's doing so well considering all the bullshit he's lived through fnewfew)

fluffy clouds and a tinge of wonder by TheOneKrafter

In a world obsessed with killing and dying, Seiko is mostly concerned with chasing off her boredom. The Academy wasn’t exactly intellectually stimulating, but dying in the second shinobi war sounded like a long walk off a short pier. Everyone is always so stressed about avoiding attention, or min-maxing skills in situations like this. Seiko is of the opinion that those people need to chill the hell out. Maybe play a little shogi. Death comes for them all anyways. Better to enjoy this all while it lasts. (genius self insert stumbles into disrupting a timeline with the intentionality of an elephant trampling a very fancy tea shop.) (updates weekly-ish.)

(*cackles* i love how built the world and relationships are in this fic. the SI is not overpowered, actually intelligent but not omnipresent, and has actual social skills instead of being an oblivious airhead. i appreciate the time and care that's taken to build the friendships the SI has and am eager to see how the plot turns out in the future!)

How to Redeem Your Past Mistakes, Commit Mild Treason, and Accidentally Build a Family by themidnightguardian

If Kakashi hadn’t seen Naruto living in squalor and Sasuke’s personal trauma shrine and whatever civilian fuckery was happening at Sakura’s house, he’d have at least tried to fail them even if logic told him the Elder Council would never let it fly. Screw the Hokage for that. * * * * * * * * * * When the Sandaime showed him Naruto’s apartment, he didn’t think that was going to be the tip of the iceberg that was the shitshow of his soon-to-be team. But as it turned out, Naruto wasn't the only one with a less-than-optimal home life. And as it turned out, Kakashi was apparently the only person in Konoha who cared.

(*hugs all of team 7* they are family and it's the council's mistake in thinking this wouldn't happen. kakashi is Doing His Best and doing Well and i want to pat him on the head in appreciation for his efforts.)

-

[Diamond no Ace]

Lay Sunflowers at My Grave by Kinryuuki

Ship: Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun

"If you could go back, and do it over. What would you do?"

(literally the best time travel fic since trajectory of laughter, i am OBSESSED.)

Aromantic Way to Propose by blue_flowers_bouquets (cianderia)

Ship: Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun

Miyuki Kazuya doesn't get romance, and he's painfully aware of it. Sawamura Eijun is a hopeless romantic to boot, but he insists that they should date. Their relationship goes as smooth as you could expect.

(so sweet and fluffy! exploring how an aromantic and romantic person can work, yet the characters stay in character! i really like how this was managed and written, absolutely give it a read!)

-

[Bridgerton]

a thousand cuts by wall_e_nelson

Ship: Anthony Bridgerton/Kate Sharma

Every single day, Anthony tries very hard not to walk directly into the ocean. A collection of non-linear one-shots, headcanons, AUs, and missing scenes for Anthony Bridgerton. (this story was written in the year between s1 and s2. the character is based in the little we knew of s1 show!Anthony, pulling the rest of him and the world needed from the books.)

(it feels insane to me now that this was the first fic i read in this fandom. this isn't even my fucking fandom, i never even watched the show or read the books but god, god, this made me cry more than 10 fucking times. i can't remember the last time my heart ached so badly for a character, and anthony bridgerton is a phenomenal character indeed.)

Unspooled Thread by happilyinsane13, itakethewords (Itakethewords)

Ship: Benedict Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington

Benedict's life changed the moment Lady Danbury commanded, “Follow that Featherington.” The year is 1813 and Benedict's sister Daphne has just made her debut. He thought he knew how this season would go. Little did he suspect he would stumble on the youngest Featherington daughter's biggest secret. -- A complete, Benelope canon re-write, starting from S1, Ep1 all the way through season 3.

(this fic has RUINED me, i can't unsee the potential this ship holds. they're artists who bond over art! they admire and protect and care about one another! it's the slowest of slow burns that immediately catches fire before running around in panic! it's a proper friends to lovers fic done incredibly well!)(i started reading this author's other benedict/penelope fics and GOD IT'S SO GOOD FNEWIFOEW.)(i'm ruined! this rare pair has ruined me!!)(i have no regrets.)

-

[Jujutsu Kaisen]

The Phantom Guardian by MissingN000

Ships: Getou Suguru/Gojo Satoru, Kugisaki Nobara/Zenin Maki, Fushiguro Megumi/Itadori Yuuji, Inumaki Toge/Okkotsu Yuuta

There's something about this girl, like looking in a funhouse mirror a third of his size. “Oi, kid,” Toji says. “It’s you, isn’t it?” The girl glares daggers at him from behind a pair of red-rimmed glasses too big for her tiny face. She’s looking at him like he’s totally crazy, which isn’t entirely untrue. “Huh? Who the heck are you?” In lieu of answering, he asks, “What’s your name?” The girl scowls. “Maki.” “Maki,” he repeats, and it’s like a missing piece of his soul falls back into place. The record of his life before he fought the Six-Eyes brat is a long, impossibly white scroll of nothing -- but written on it in faint letters is the name of a child, a child with a delicate name that brushed the heavens, spun a prayer into letters; a name that began with an M, and it ended in i, too. “Maki,” he says again. “I think you’re my daughter.” -------- Toji makes a mistake. It changes everything.

(*running around throwing glitter like a sparkling system* and you get found a found family! and you get a found family! and you-)(but seriously, this is the one and only fic i'll read from this fandom, i legit don't care about anything else except these fuckers in this fucking fic. they are all disasters and i love that every single character here is traumatized and still somehow ruining themselves while thriving?? it's amazing.)

-

[Star Wars]

You and I (drink the poison from the same vine) by northpeach, wolfsrainrules

When one wakes up from death into a universe many of us have dreamed of, truthfully Kiyo can say it was both easier and harder then she thought it would be. Yes, she's gonna get a lightsaber. Yes, she's gonna bite someone to get a bes'bev. No, she's not forgetting where she's come from but she cannot grieve for a lifetime. Not when this life has so much potential. Has so much to offer. Not when she knows exactly how well Mandalorian and Jedi cultures fit together. Absolutely not, especially since she knows Jaster Mereel has a 700 page love letter written to his people to publish. She's going to get her hands on it and read it if it's the last thing she does.

(*breathes* i need this to update so bad. i usually hate SI fics in star wars, but this fic is amazing?? again, i NEED TO KNOW where this is going, my impatience is clawing my brain.)

(They Were) Made For Us by Echuta (setoboo)

Ship: Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Kaminoan tilts his head with a small smile. As if he’s trying to be indulgent for the Jedi’s sake. “Well yes, you and your fellow Jedi, Master Kenobi. They were made for the Jedi - and since the Jedi serve the Republic. It was implied they would do so too.” ‘They were made for the Jedi.’ Obi-Wan thinks in a daze. Clinging to that one sentence and grappling with all the implications buried within it as the Force around him pulses with tension. ‘For...for us? For me?’ What can that possibly mean? ---------------- Or; the Clones are really, and truly, perfectly made for the Jedi. The real issue is that it seems the Jedi are just as perfectly made for the Clones. This throws a major wrench in the works for the Darkside when the Jedi aren't very willing to let their men die. Not even on the senate's orders.

(i keep rereading this, i'm so obsessed with this kind of trope where people can read others' souls and just know who they are. this is the Shit for me, i was doomed from the start fnewifoewaef)

-

[Top Gun] (the most unexpected fandom to get into, watched it 2 months ago and it's completely taken over my life HELP ME-)

Where Are You Going by adiduck (book_people)

Ship: Tom Iceman Kazansky/Pete Maverick Mitchell

They’ve both heard all the philosophical bullshit, of course. Poems about your soul forever seeking its other half, impassioned treatises they were supposed to read in high school English about how you know where your own limbs are, quotes from long-dead guys about physical distance but hearts taking up the same space--that kind of bullshit. Maverick never put much stock in that kind of thing--he’d hated school. It probably shouldn’t have been surprising that Ice also really did not care about the science or philosophy--they were supposed to be perfect for each other, after all. (Or: There’s a handshake in the O Club the first night of Top Gun, and the very bearing of “magnetic North” shifts permanently under Ice and Mav’s feet)

(soulmate fic!! it's done so well and the relationship negotiations and trying to make it work is so up my alley. it's not an instant love soulmate fic, which i appreciate a lot, and i just love this author's characterization of of ice and maverick. definitely recommend this author's other works too, i just love the way they write in general, in whatever fandom they are in XD)

A Higher Fidelity by sintra

Ship: Tom Iceman Kazansky/Pete Maverick Mitchell

“C’mon.” Tori nudges him with an elbow. “C’mon. He’s cute. You can admit that one thing but you can’t admit this?” Gritting his teeth, Ice thinks very carefully about his next words. “He’s…” he trails off. “Some would say that…Mitchell is not. Unpleasant. To look at.” (Alternatively: the one where Ice and Mav learn to park bad, eat good, and love even better.)

(i want to kiss the author, ice's characterization here made me laugh so many times, omfg. absolute treasure of a fic! the narration and ice's thoughts were so fucking funny and maverick is just perfectly maverick in this haha! absolutely recommend for a good laugh with some extra sweetness.)

Precipice by V_Evergreen

Ship: Tom Iceman Kazansky/Pete Maverick Mitchell

Dating, it turns out, does not get easier with age. Alternately: [“Ice,” Maverick said slowly, “do you have a crush on me?” Ice flushed. “Shut up.” Maverick grinned. “How embarrassing.”]

(middle aged people going on first dates!! it's so sweet and snappy, i love how well-worn yet new this fic feels when it comes to their relationship. it feels both fresh yet comfortable and i felt warm reading this. <3)

Flowers for Sale by Owner by aelibia

Ship: Tom Iceman Kazansky/Pete Maverick Mitchell

Most people would do anything to stop the flowers from coming. Maverick is not most people.

(THE FUNNIEST FREAKING HANAHAKI FIC I'VE EVER READ HOLY SHIT! PLEASE READ, I CRIED FROM LAUGHING SO HARD FNEIWOFEWA)(never in a MILLION YEARS did i think about this aspect of the hanahaki curse, INCREDIBLE.)

I Need You to Live by PurpleArrowzandLeather

When Bradley finishes playing his dad's song at the Hard Deck, he sees a familiar figure collapse on the beach. Thinking the worst, he does everything in his power to make sure he doesn't lose him.

(i am so weak for fics that involve bradley and maverick re-conciliating. really great what if scenario done right and i definitely recommend this author's other top gun fics, they do gen fics for top gun really well!)

lost fight, grip tight on a heavy rope by writteninwaves

Bradley Bradshaw does not do regrets. Until he does. But in his fifteen years of self-imposed exile, there comes a time when even his stubborn will breaks. When Bradley overhears devastating news about his dad, he realizes just how much he lost and wonders if anything was worth it in the first place. Part 1 of revival

(mav is presumed dead and bradley comes back home because of it. the exploration of grief and how much maverick mattered to so many people is *chefs kiss* done fantastic here. there's a part 2 to this series when mav shows up and let me tell you, it's so good and i absolutely recommend that as well haha!)

What's In A Name? by maverickazansky

Ship: Tom Iceman Kazansky/Pete Maverick Mitchell

Maverick had never put any thought into Bradley not knowing the difference in surnames between the people in his family, nor his own. Nor had his put any thought into the fact that Bradley was a child. He probably should have.

(it's so cute!! it's so so so cute!!! i both laughed and cooed at little bradley, this is so ridiculously fluffy hahaha!)

With the Stars in the Darkness, and Love in the Light by flyingfightingfishy for LadyLanera

Ship: Tom Iceman Kazansky/Pete Maverick Mitchell

Ice cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I was calling about Wood and Wolf's wedding." "Oh yeah! I was sort of wondering about that. When I talked to Wolf a couple weeks ago he said the invitations would be out soon but I haven't gotten one.” Ice cleared his throat again, not quite sure how to address the situation. "Yes. Well. That's because it's with mine. Which is why I called.” Mav made a noise of mild confusion from the other end of the phone. ”They sent them together?" "Ah, no,” Ice said, taking a deep breath. “They invited us. Together. As a couple. Same invitation." OR Ice and Mav get invited to Hollywood and Wolfman's wedding together. They're not a couple. They decide not to correct the assumption.

(i wanted to smash these two idiots together, ice's anxiety was so palpable and real and i wanted to shake the man the entire time omg.)

-

[Crossovers]

Jokers to the Right by adiduck (book_people) for Serie11

Fandoms: The Saint (1997), Mission Impossible

Ship: Ethan Hunt/Simon Templar

It was supposed to be an easy one. (Or: Ethan Hunt is trying to save the world. Simon Templar is trying to rob an asshole blind. They work it out.) Part 1 of if you ever leave, i'm coming with you

(my goddamn gateway drug into this crack ship that i'm now absolutely OBSESSED with. truly and sincerely, this ship has overrun my life and i can't stop listening to lupin the third ost because it gives off spy vibes SO HARD.)(this ship is just, so much fun?? the banter, the fact they're both hyper competent people in the same field of work, whether that means working against or with each other. simon is fascinating and ethan is so inherently good and they circle around each other flirting SO MUCH LIKE NFEWNIFWE.)(the rest of the series is so good too and i absolutely recommend reading Serie11 too, they both herald this ship and god, GOD, i need more of this ship with their dynamics, it's AMAZING!! Please please give it a go and read!)

believe in you by Serie11

Fandoms: The Saint (1997), Mission Impossible

Ship: Ethan Hunt/Simon Templar

“I’ve sort of been wondering why you kept asking me out,” Julia confesses. “When it was pretty obvious that you weren’t going to make a move.” “Obvious,” Ethan echoes. He doesn’t like to think that he’s obvious about anything that he isn’t doing incredibly on purpose. He doesn’t like to think that even after all these years of only showing what he wants to show, there are still things that people can see about him that he would prefer them not to know. “This is date five, Ethan,” Julia says, lifting her eyebrows. “And you haven’t tried to kiss me once.” - Ethan's trying to escape from his past – but that's not exactly easy when he doesn't really want to run.

(a rewrite of mission impossible 3 with saintspy (this ship's name) in it. everything fits! the movie somehow has even MORE stakes and i got so hooked into the relationship drama between our mains and julia is so great here?? this fic is angsty and is in the break up era of their relationship, it's so juicy!! uggh, i love how this author writes, they really dig into ethan's psyche and i'm utterly enamored by it! even if you're not into saintspy, this fic's exploration of ethan still makes it compelling, so i definitely recommend you to check it out!)

run in the shadows by Serie11 for adiduck (book_people)

Fandoms: The Saint (1997), Mission Impossible, Top Gun

Ship: Ethan Hunt/Simon Templar

The changing soulmark on his wrist is a secret that Ethan has kept for as long as he can remember - one that he never thought he would have to explain to anybody, until a man with Peter Mitchell written on his skin appears to upend his entire life.

(*screams* soulmate fic! soulmate fic! this fic is separate from the two fics above, but man, it dives so hard into Ethan and his backstory on, "what if ethan hunt and pete mitchell are the same person". it's handled so well and the exploration on identity and what it means for both ethan and simon is so great!! a must read that will definitely win you over to this ship, i will die on this hill!)

Give and Take by GreenGlassMountain

Fandoms: The Saint (1997), Mission Impossible

Ship: Ethan Hunt/Simon Templar

When Max hires Ethan to steal the NOC list, she gives him free reign over his team members, with one exception. For such a massive heist, he must recruit the best thief in the business: a man known only as The Saint.

(i recommended this before and i need to recommend this again! seriously, it's a delightful first meeting fic between ethan and simon and the author did it so right! the dynamics, the cautious back and forth, and the fact this fic is set in the first mission impossible movie is all kinds of intriguing!! i'm so happy that this small ship is growing bit by bit and i'm so excited to see what comes next with this fic XD)

[deconstructthesoup]

First thoughts on a Fantasy High Dead Boy Detectives AU:

Ayda is in Edwin's role as the brains of the agency and the ghost from 1916 who escaped Hell. Her father was wealthy enough that she was able to go to a private all-girl's boarding school, but as the only Black girl at the school---who was also visibly queer and neurodivergent to boot---she was treated as an outcast, right up until she got sacrificed in a prank gone wrong. Now that she's escaped, Ayda uses the skills she's picked up and her love of mysteries to help out her fellow ghosts, though she's... not exactly the best at processing her feelings. Especially when those feelings involve her partner in solving crime.

Fig is in Charles's role, because there's no better fit for our lovely, heart-on-her-sleeve punk than the lovely, heart-on-his-sleeve punk---and let's be real, Fig is the most 80's Bad Kid. She attended the same boarding school as Ayda (just, y'know, seventy decades in the future), and while she fell in with the popular girls easily, it didn't take long for them to turn on her once she stood up for someone they were bullying... and, well, that led to her death. While Fig acts carefree and wisecracking, she carries a lot of guilt with her over the fact that she'd written off her family once she found out that Gilear wasn't her real dad, and not only did she never get to reconnect with them, but the experience was jarring enough that she made a lot of bad decisions, which led to equally bad relationships.

Adaine is in Crystal's role as our favorite psychic that is full of rage and anxiety. Her "David" is Penelope, who posed as a cool, older girl who gave Adaine the attention that she was lacking at home---and eventually became her first girlfriend, though that relationship was... not great. Now without a lot of her memories, Adaine's stuck with the Dead Girl Detectives, much to Fig's delight---and Ayda's, eventually. She gets over her jealousy way quicker than Edwin did. While Adaine wasn't a "make someone walk into traffic" kind of person pre-amnesia, she did carry over a lot of bitterness that curdled into something worse when she got swept up into the popular crowd, so... yeah, Fig and Ayda are kind of a blessing for her.

Figuring out the Niko equivalent was a bit harder, but I eventually settled on making her Lucy. She kind of fits the bill of someone who has a lot of sadness but is still unflinchingly kind, and between the pale hair and being dead-but-not-really-dead... yeah, Lucy's wonderful, and it means if I ever write this, I get to figure out who she is as I write her. Also, her dandelion sprites are Kipperlilly and Ruben, because I thought that'd be hilarious.

Thinking more into that, I decided that Sam would be a pretty good Jenny, seeing as she's got the bitchy-yet-loving energy that we all need. She's tired yet protective, closed off yet oddly kind... it works. Even though her style's more of a, uh "mermaid academia" type than goth, I think she'd make a really good Jenny.

And here's where you're gonna have to hear me out... Kristen is the Cat King, or rather, the Cat Queen. As tempting as it is to make her the church girl lesbian who's just come out and is struggling in a small town, I really wanted to hone in on her energy in Junior Year---a confident, easygoing, and hella flirtatious butch who's still a total mess underneath her swagger. I like to think that she was a human girl living in a religious family once (say, when settlers first arrived in Port Townsend), but she got really into witchcraft and wound up devoting herself to the cats, becoming an otherworldly being with nine lives as a result. As it stands, Kristen is hella fun, even if most of what she does is cause trouble.

With that in mind, Kalina was really the only character who I felt matched up with Ester's energy---except for Aelwyn, of course, but seeing as she's Adaine's sister and all, it didn't feel quite right. It could also tie in with Kristen's backstory---say, maybe Kalina was the person who taught Kristen about witchcraft, Kristen wound up getting the better end of the deal, and Kalina's still burnt out about two hundred years later. And in an irony of ironies, that resentment led Kalina to have a wolf familiar instead of a cat... who is, of course, our lovely girl Tracker. (Yes, Tracker has been turned into a girl before, and yes, she and Kristen are exes.)

I'm not quite sure who I want the Night Nurse to be, and you can tell that I'm saving roles for Gorgug, Fabian, Riz, and Ragh in case we meet characters like them in season 2---though, I have been fiddling around with the idea of Riz being an angel and a former agent of Heaven who Ayda and Fig have basically adopted into the agency. This is a first draft, so... yep!

[to-be-a-dreamer]

Hey, so given the Events of the last episode is now a good time to talk about that one scene in Sophomore Year where Fabian gets possessed by the Nightmare Forest and tries to kill Gorgug? Like, in the episode it was played for bits because they were able to stop any of the attacks from hitting so he was totally fine and also they solved the problem in an objectively funny way but I have legitimately been kept up at night thinking about what would have happened if Fabian had actually hurt Gorgug.

Like I know he has an insane number of hit points and it's unlikely he would have been close to death or anything but Fabian is one of the strongest fighters, damage-wise, in the party and I'm assuming it would have been a similar amount of damage that he did on Adaine this past episode so like. More than Kristen can easily heal and beyond the mechanics of it all the emotional damage it would have caused at the very least me even if the characters got over it quickly like what do you mean this is the second time Fabian has been possessed and given the lone objective of murdering one of his best friends that's bonkers.

But also in SY it was established that Fabian was fully aware the entire time he was trying to attack Gorgug, he just didn't have control over his body whereas in JY he just blacks out while he's possessed and I can't decide which is worse. The discord has already gotten some brainrot about the SY scene before but I have so much more left to give they make me insane.

[stripedgrace]

chapter 6 sneak peek: Fig's plan

so I'm late to update. hoping to post soon, aiming for the end of august but yeah. this will is be late again. a few of the scenes are giving me a really hard time, scenes that need to happen to keep the chapter on track. so woohooo.

anyway, because of the delay, I figured I post a small sneak peek of what is to come, just to give all something to naw at while chipped away at the remaining parts.

enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of all the adjectives Fig could use to describe herself, trusting was not one of them.

Oh sure, once someone earned that trust, she’d do just about anything for them. But for most people? Unlike her friends, Fig was always suspicious first and loyal later.

Which made it very frustrating when she had a feeling she couldn't prove.

Sure, sure, Fig could admit that sometimes her aim was faulty. Kathilda and Ragh were proof enough. But most of the time, she was right on the money. Goldenrod, Penelope, and even Porter. Her instincts didn’t lie.

And while most of these strangers were perfectly fine, Fig knew a bad apple when she saw one. And that fucking gnome was nothing but rotten. Scanlan could pretend all he wanted, could convince everyone else otherwise, it didn't matter. Fig knew without a doubt that he’s bitter and cruel. An angry man who would kill Riz the moment he could get away with it. Her friends could think she was crazy, try to tell her “Oh it’s about the gun! They didn’t mean to attack us Fig! Don’t worry about it,” bullshit. Bullshit.

Fig knows better. She sees his intentions as clear as day. But she also knows how clever he is. How convincing he could be. If the only thing she had was her word, he would surely win. He already gained the upper hand, preemptively twisting the narrative to serve as his shield, leaving Fig scrambling to catch up.

The writing was already on the wall, nothing she did could change that. So, the only thing left to do is wait.

Because if they were really as alike as Fig thought they were, it was only a matter of time before Scanlan slipped up. And when he did, she’d be ready.

But for now, there were other matters at hand. Problems bigger than a racist gnome with a silver tongue.

Like how they were universes away from home, unsure of the possibility of ever returning. Like how they vanished in the middle of nowhere, trapped in a collapsing cave system, unable to reach out. Like how right before the circle activated, Fig swore she heard Ayda screaming her name. Ayda who might be trapped down there right now, looking for her, thinking Fig to be dead, becoming more and more stuck as she refuses to leave behind-

Fig digs her nails into her arm. Nope. She isn’t gonna think about that right now. Not when they’re in the midst of hunting basilisks, mentally arguing over strategy. She needed to focus.

Ayda would be fine. She had to be.

Stretching out her arms, Fig fakes a yawn, taking a careful look at adults behind them. As she thought, their expressions hadn’t changed, each intently watching. Vax, his look-alike, and the white man were all muttering quietly to each other, likely making alternate plans. Keyleth walked quietly alongside the Tall-guy and the two gnomes lagged at the very back. Occasionally, a comment would get just loud enough for her to make out.

“-ier not talkin-“

“-dy have a plan?”

“-bad feeling-“

She smirked and looked away. They really didn’t have a clue, did they?

Good. If they wanted to pull this off, they needed every advantage they could get.

Stealing her nerves, Fig flings herself back into the link, catching the tail end of Fabian’s thought.

‘-d then, they’ll charge Adaine’s illusion, and while their distracted, we will jump down, kill them an-.’

‘For last time, I didn’t prepare Major Image today, that’s not gonna work.’

‘And that’s still not gonna solve the problem of having to look at the basilisks.’ Gorgug adds. 

Riz sighs. ‘No matter which way we slice it, I think we're gonna need to look at them. If we want to get this done fast, we need to see where we're hitting.’

‘Yeah but turning into stone will do us no favors.’ Adaine argues.

‘Well Kristen has her staff. That'll do it.’ says Fabian.

Kristen groans. ‘That trick could only work twice, otherwise it's just me actually casting Greater Restoration, and I only have two 5th level slots.’

‘Unless we get help.’ states Gorgug.

Fig could hear Adaine roll her eyes. ‘We're not getting their help,’ she replies, ‘We can't. If we insinuate that we need help, all of this planning would be worthless. They would rub it in our faces and this ploy to show them that we’re capable would fall apart in an instant.’ 

Theres a pause before Riz sums it up best. ‘Okay then. We get four mistakes. Anymore and we're screwed.’

‘If I throw down Faerie Fire, it'll be easier to hit them.’ Fabian comments.

‘And some of my spells don't require direct sight.’ Adaine adds, ‘I could throw a Lightning Bolt and not have to worry about becoming stone.’

‘And you could incorrectly aim and hit one of us.’ retorts Kristen.

‘I mean maybe.’

‘I don't know.’ says Riz, ‘It's a solid start but it's not a guarantee. The best-case scenario would be to look at them and not have to worry about the effect at all.’

‘Could we blind them maybe?’ Gorgug asks. ‘You could do that right?’

‘I could,’ says Kristen, ‘But that's not gonna do much. It's not a problem if they see us, it's if we see them.’

Finally, Fig speaks, an idea growing in her mind, ‘I think Riz is right. If we don't look at them, we won't have to worry about the paralysis. But we're not going for the most optimal strategy right? We're trying to show off.

‘Yes?’ replies Riz.

Adaine lights up, ‘Oh do you have a plan. You sound like you have a plan. Please tell me you have a plan.’

‘Maybe?’ Fig lets her smile show as she pulls a small coin-like item from her bag. Flashing it at her friends, she asks, ‘Who here feels like putting on a performance?’

[jq37]

I'm so obsessed with this whole lore drop. You get merc'd on you Sophmore year mission and to be revived you have to worship a nameless god of rage. Metal.

Also like I understand via narrative conceit how having a tragic backstory leads to better adventuring but IN UNIVERSE I want to hear Kipperlilly explain how having dead parents gives you an unfair advantage at school. Riz can't even afford college, KP.

Yeah man. I've seen people debating about Kipperlilly and if she's valid or not valid, a victim of the system or an exploiter of the system. But ignoring all of that, at the end of the day, being jealous that someone else's dad died--someone who's living in poverty no less--is just, on its face, deeply unsympathetic.

Like it would be one thing if she was jealous of Chosen One Kristen or Rich Kid Pirate's Son Fabian or Elven Oracle Adaine (though I'm not sure how much of being the best diviner alive is skill versus innate potential). She'd still be missing a lot of context about how they weren't exactly living on easy street but at least there's actual positive stuff to be jealous of there.

To say, "I'm jealous your life is insanely hard because it gives you easy plot hooks," is such a wild stance to take. Like girl, opportunity is everywhere wrt adventuring. It's not like insane shit only happens to the Bad Kids at Aguefort. There was a dragon at the prom that *everyone* was invited to and no one stayed except for the Bad Kids (and max legend Gem Peppercorn). And I've said this so many times but Riz didn't solve the mystery because it was connected to his dad. He solved it because it was connected to Penny and it ended up being extra cool because it was related to his dad. If you want to be a dramatic orphan so bad, run away from home and move to Leviathan or something. Don't get mad at the kid who's barely scraping by while ALSO getting screwed by the system. Yeesh.

Riz has been strangely quiet about this revelation and I really hope we get a direct confrontation cause I wanna know if she's got enough guts (or rage) to say that to his face and I wanna know what his reaction would be.

[rrat-king]

Smart Bricker is so important to me! Especially because my thing with the Applebees siblings is they all have at least some level of ADHD in different ways. His thoughts truly run a mile a minute there is always at least 5 things ticking around in his head. Helio gave him ADHD because he knew if he didn't Bricker would lock in so hard he'd ascend to godhood /lh. He also made Bricker grow up in a racist church because he knew if he ever linked up with Adaine and Riz nothing would ever have stakes ever because they'd have it solved like that. Give king like one Fantasy Adderall and he's so focused you're not hearing from him for days.

And like, his siblings know he's fiercely smart as well like he's on Kristen's list of the smartest people she knows. Like she fully believes (though she'd never say this to him because that's embarrassing) no matter what he wants to do with life he can do it because he has the brains for it.

The converse is that if he has no interest in something he does not even pretend to GAF. Like everyone thinks he's bad at like, math because he doesn't try at it but its like he helps C with his homework a lot and he's fine. He just doesn't like math so he sees no reason to bother. Like yknow that kid in the back of the classroom who says ''Miss when are we ever gonna need this in life??'' That's him but 1. He keeps that to himself and 2. He thinks that about math in general. He completely genuinely sees no practical application for math in life.

Arguably him being smart is what enables him to be such a smartass. He's truly that one Mulaney bit that's like ''13 year olds are the meanest people in the world because 13 year olds will make fun of you but in an accurate way, they will get to the thing you don't like about you without even looking at you for long.''

And also as a fun tidbit. I agree he's definitely gay and you'll hate me for this one but his awakening was definitely Ricky Martin. I know he watched the Livin La Vida Loca music video on loop, because he ''liked the song''. Pre-Aguefort Kristen who didn't yet know what a gay person was thought it was just because he appreciated Ricky as an artist. It was not. She figured it out a few months after starting Aguefort but decided to let him realise it first and come to her.

the ricky martin thing is killig me so so much. literally he is obsessed with him but does not get it until he Gets It and. slightly life shattering what do you mean he just likes ricky martin the average amount (no one has had to guts to tell him the average amount is so low)

he has so little interest in the things he has qualified as unimportant. literally what do you mean he is going to use the quadratic formula? magic exists that is dumb and he doesn't care (does he know the whole formula and how to do it but just refuses to cuz it's boring? absolutly). he's one of those kids that is really good at getting the class off topic but the teachers are too charmed by him to stop it which is also. so annoying to his siblings cuz by god do adults like bricker and he doesn't get in trouble for anything cuz of it.

also dude. ur so absolutely right if him and adaine and riz all got together they would truly be such an unstoppable force it's just the issue that he's still dealing with how to be normal around other races cuz he has been so programmed with fucked up info and adiane and riz both have such a low tolerence of tweens. aelwyn can take the scathing jabs cuz she can she come right back at him but riz and adaine are morally conflicted over being mean to a 13 year old which. skill issue on thier part.

sorry yeah the ricky martin thing is going to haunt me and the only thing i can think to add is that it would translate bricker having a crush on ragh if he ever met him

[perksofbeingalittletwat]

I love FHSY with my whole heart but what makes me upset about it is I think Brennan over-emphasized the PCs relationships with NPCs in a way that made sense in-game, but didn't make sense from a player perspective. Not even to his fault, just a misstep I don't think any other season has had a chance to really correct.

So there's a couple of layers here, there's the in-universe reality, there's the Dome and the people in the Dome, and there's also the meta-reality of the people in the Dome creating a unified Product or Season together.

So from the top down, Brennan is making sure that the story happens at a fairly regular pace to keep with the number of episodes he's been allotted, pacing things to keep within the time period he gets for each stream, and most importantly for this I think, crafting ways to have cliff hangers at the end of episodes so that people are excited to come back. This is also influenced by the taped season convention of RP-Combat-RP-Combat episodes.

In the middle is the real conditions of the Dome, in which the six players+Brennan are the most obvious people in the room. The PCs have a lot to juggle here, they have to be in character, they are in character solving a mystery, they have to be attentive to how Brennan is crafting episodes and seasons which plays a lot into how they react to things, and they also have to be funny. And to be funny is to be in contact with the people around you especially in an improve setting.

So these two meta-layers are in conflict, the Intrepid Heroes are fulfilling their roles of being in character and being in the room, and Brennan is fulfilling his role of being in the room and being above the game, but in order to do that Brennan CANT play Tracker or Zelda with the level to detail that the IHs do their characters. That's just how the game works. He has to be everyone so in some ways Tracker and Zelda or Sandra Lynn or Gilear don't exist with the same level of durability and reality as the Bad Kids at any given moment.

And so when Gorgug doesn't tell Zelda he's leaving town (because it had been over an hour since Zelda was last mentioned, and because Riz and Fig had disappeared (people who were in the room)) it wasn't because Gorgug the 'person' didn't care about Zelda, it was because Zac the Player had his three other jobs to do.

The same way when Kristen didn't tell Tracker about Sandra Lynn and Garthy (it might have related to the mystery, there were tons of bits during that time, Fabians Bad Day occurs, etc) it wasn't because Kristen hadn't told Tracker, it was cause Ally the Player was busy. Ally even says "Wait was there another reason?!" When Tracker/Brennan asks them why they didn't tell Tracker.

Again it's not anyone's fault it's just a hard game to play, especially as a cohesive media product, especially as a cohesive media COMEDY product, but it also feels so jarring as a viewer to have Tracker and Zelda get pissed by PC inattention but not have Cathilda or Ragh do the same. Or even Adaine, who's name her fellow players can't even remember half the time. It feels like punishing the players for being focused on the mystery and plot being set before them and not the radial emotional consequences.

Its some great teen angst though. Like it works for story beats. I just don't think it was like. Agreed upon as part of the story and so I'm uncomfortable.

[adaines-furious-feast]

While, yes, the whole point of the Academy is to make heroes I'd also say it is kind of fricked up this level infinity wizard sent a bunch of teenagers to get the crown of this nightmare entity when they couldn't even leave the country for half a year.

Auegefort could have easily found Adaine's mother and gotten the crown back or stopped time long enough for them to catch up so they didn't have to go through extremely traumatising stuff for 60% of their grade.

And yes I know all YA fiction is built on "adults can't solve the problem because reasons" and the Academy is supposed to be preparing heroes for this stuff but if I was given the option between literally living my worse nightmare and, idk, go stab a bunch of rats, I'd ask if there was an in between and if not I'd stab a bunch of rats.

Anyway, my student government campaign wouldn't be about loopholes or following the rules, but that extreme mental trauma should not be an option until at least Junior Year. And afterwards compulsory cooldown and counselling.