#is she talking about killing saccharina?!

[waterisntreal]

There’s no way this goes well

[tomurakii]

I truly apologise but I've never found a character more irritating than Ruby Rocks. It is severely impacting my ability to watch a crown of candy because this bratty literally-the-embodiment-of-the-status-quo bitter bastard child won't stop sulking and being shitty to the only good surviving member of this royal bloodline (Saccharina).

The immediate Rocks family in general is so unsympathetic, I'm sorry but if you want me to feel bad over your personal growth journey you can't ALSO be a monarch who has absolute power over an entire nation-state. If you had literally the best education of everyone in your country and you're still an idiot I don't know what to tell you except that you're a resource hoarding pig who has not earned an iota of the power or luxury you have. They have SERVANTS and all they do is complain about going to class or doing their job. Hey if it sucks so bad demolish the state and redistribute your wealth <3 you won't <3

[chungledown-bimothy]

Top 5 character dynamics on d20? (Intrepid heroes seasons + side quests; so 10)

oh i love this and thank you for splitting it into the 2 groups, making it slightly more possible lol

point of clarification: the slashes are NOT being used as a shipping indication. it's just faster than using and a million times. in fact, the only one i ship is colin/deli/skarna.

Side Quests:

1- Colin/Deli/Skarna. I don't need to explain this one, I think. Everything is wrong with them and it's painful and wonderful.

2- Squing/Alexsandr. Squing ate over 2500 letters Sasha wrote. Sasha wants to play with his weirdly soft head like silly putty. Every single interaction has me in hysterics, really.

3- Evan/Jammer. EAT TRASH BEAT TRASH. FAMILY ON SIX. Jammer constantly being Evan's strongest hype man is just so great.

4- Chirp/Squak. Emily and Lou decided they wanted to be an iconic, chaotic duo, and my god they knocked it out of the park. The scene where she tells him about her wife and kids?? 100/10.

5- Lila/Jaysohn/Thorn. It was really hard to not say the whole damn party, honestly. But Thorn trying to cool-uncle parent these goddamn nightmares was incredible.

Intrepid Heroes:

1- Amethar/Caramelinda. I wrote a whole fic about their early relationship. I rotate them in my mind constantly. As complicated and painful what we know about them is, what's left unsaid is even more so. (if you just meant pc/pc dynamics, i'm sorry!)

2- Sofie/Kugrash. If I start talking about the million reasons I love them and their friendship, I'll start crying, so. Not gonna do that. But you understand.

3- Pete/Kingston. Pete seeing Kingston as an authority figure to rebel against -> father figure. Kingston not giving Epona Pete's information in the same day that he says that if it comes down to NYC or Pete, he'll pick NYC ten out of ten times. The Voxes, starting diametrically opposed and ending up family, really.

4- Saccharina/Ruby. You can be my queen or my sister, but not both. The prisoners' dilemma. Jet just died, Ruby can't let anyone else in vs Ruby representing everything Saccharina has ever wanted. 100/10 Siobhan and Emily killed me.

5- Pib/Pinocchio. Literally partners in crime. Just a pair of little dudes causing Big Chaos. Pinocchio holding Pib up to Baba Yaga and saying "where the white women at?" is canon to me.

That's a lot of Lou characters oop 😅

[operationslipperypuppet]

the thing about fig and ankarna, that seems to go unmentioned, is that emily is never going to play straight up and down worship.

fig isn’t concerned with bringing ankarna back - that’s not her bag, it never will be, and emily is so cognizant of wanting stories to feel different (to the point where she didn’t pursue a pc romance in naddpod’s campaign one, even when she knew both in and out of character that her character’s feelings were requited, because a romance story was already being told by the third pc) that she wouldn’t want fig to tell the same story kristen did in fhsy.

i think this lack of worship is best exemplified with how emily’s other pcs deal with and have relationships to gods, but this got incredibly long so the rest is under the cut.

to briefly talk about emily pcs and religion in general, there’s never a straight worship happening. alongside saccharina’s cleric status, emily has played 2 clerics and a paladin in naddpod, as well as a druid with deep religious ties. i’m going to talk about those since i’m the most familiar with them.

i’ll actually start with saccharina, since this arguably a post about dimension 20. her cleric levels aren’t at all about worship, certainly not of the whole of the sweetening path (she was the one who wanted to kill the sugar plum fairy, and would have, but essentially let ruby), they’re about defiance. defiance of the nuns who raised and abused her. defiance of the mother who left her behind. defiance of the father who never came to find her, who never knew she existed, who pushed her mother aside to become king of candia and join the concord. the sweetening path exists as a separate entity and act of defiance to the bulbian church, the thing at the center of the existence of the concord. her use of that magic and those abilities is about controlling and directing her innate magic, embracing the storm within. it’s not about worship of an entity.

the two other clerics were tied to actual gods, the trickster and the elder, but aren’t concerned with worship in the slightest. fia’s ties to the trickster are from being a blade (organization with ties to the god to protect people from undead and solve mysteries regarding fairies and pertaining to the gods), from being saved and partially raised by a blade, from being raised in a place that was essentially a cult of the reaper (the third god, much more concerned with death than the other two) and nearly being a sacrifice to the reaper before being rescued, and from seeing trickster magic in her girlhood friend. the actual power she gets is more about the ties she has to irina, and she actually ends the campaign quite angry at the gods and fixing their mistakes. tarragon is a little different, and the most tied to an actual god of any emily pc i’ve seen. she becomes a cleric to repent for being a soldier who was experimented on and used by people in power, to make up for the killing she did in her youth, the razing she did as a dragon warrior. at the end of her arc, she isn’t as tied to the ideals of repentance and order and peace. she’s devoted herself back to her friends. and realized that she can do these things without involvement in the cult-like following the elder has in town.

the we come to calliope, the paladin. she is not sworn to a god. she’s an oath of redemption paladin of the serpent queen (and a little bit oberon if you think about it). she’s using her power and position to attempt to help redeem her mother’s memory, but also to change the path oberon set for the world. a prophecy is coming true that was set before the world got complicated. she’s less concerned with swearing herself to the powers that be and more concerned with helping the serpents themselves, making sure they are not being used by the wrong people, keeping them from harm. she’s worshipping no one. she’s helping the helpless.

then, finally, moonshine. i could write thousands of words on moonshine cybin, so i’ll stick to one or two things. her ties to melora are important to her. she does, in fact, pray to her god, especially in times when she’s feeling conflicted. but she also gets angry at melora. she hates melora’s neutrality, she yells into the sky at melora on more than one occasion, and she all but loses her faith in shadowfell. but she comes back. and when melora needs her most, she reaches out a hand to heal her, brings melora’s long lost friend in to help, and saves the world by healing the heart. she lets this god be complicated. she recognizes the human nature of her. they’re allowed to be flawed, but she’s also allowed to call it out.

fig as a paladin is no different from all these other examples. if you look closely, you can absolutely feel how fig and moonshine were created by the same person around the same time, and callie’s recentering on her paladin self happened shortly before junior year was filmed, so you can look at those things as connected. fig decided to become a paladin to help kristen, to help cassandra. not because she believes simply in the power and clarity of doubt. (the point made there by porter and zara about that not feeling like fig was fine, but that’s not how they should have said it, especially to a student who just made this choice). she’s doing this to help her friends. she took healing word so they’d go down less. she moved from whispers to lore and made it so she could do more support (counterspell, cutting words, etc). hell, her being a hexblade is so there are more people capable of melee combat.

protecting ankarna’s domain doesn’t change how fig sees herself as a paladin. it isn’t going to make her (or emily) want to move to a straight up “i pray to this god and get my spells”, cut and dry, type of paladin. she’s not going to put herself on the line and be the first follower of ankarna. but she’ll see a hurt entity for what it is, recognize the humanity of that, and do what she feels will acknowledge it.

she’s not removing the restraints placed when this god died. but she’s opening a door 1000 miles from it, for if ankarna is ever ready or able to walk through.

[jennegatron]

the parallel of ruby and saccharina being in lazuli's magical bloodline but because ruby rejects the opportunity to do anything more than have a familiar and do trapeze tricks with her magic (she literally tells theo she's not going to crack a book) that's something they don't explore at all. ruby being jealous or mad at saccharina for being a more powerful witch, more in tune with her magic? that makes sense to me. ruby deciding she wants to continue her aunt's work and being scooped by saccharina? that's a conflict that has real fuckin' meat to it to me. instead we get blatant and deliberate misunderstandings of saccharina's goals (that she won't want to get revenge on the church, that she'll let jet's death be in 'vain' because she'll just compromise with fascists and the church.) that's the conflict we get and ruby looks like a spoiled brat 10 times out of 10.

you should feel guilty ruby. you got your sister killed because you were reckless and refused to listen to the people trying to protect you. you talk about things you don't know about (saccharina's motives, history, and goals) because you're so wrapped up in your own bullshit that you won't ask this person who is trying to connect with you a single goddammed question. you spent all of your characterization rejecting your obligation to foster magic and your obligation to your people as a princess and now when someone who wants what you have, only as a tool to fulfill the goals of your dead sister, you suddenly care about who has the crown.

ruby rocks, you should have died on the sucrosi road, it's not fair that jet died and you didn't. i'm glad you run away to the circus.

a crown of candy, you're beautiful and perfect to me. nothing i like better than some tragic shit to sink my teeth into.

[zephsomething]

Also? Another thing? Fuckin little gingerbread asshole cherry picking what he tells Saccharina, absolutely implied that the Rock household was going to try and kill her, left out that Amethar shut Caramelinda down about them trying something (by saying ‘that’s my daughter you’re talking about’) and that Ruby said that even though she’s dangerous (which is true) she has the potential to be good. Little gingerjerk

[brainrockets]

Sib and I were talking the other day that if things had gone another way and Jet had somehow survived and Ruby had died and then Saccharina had showed up (or a version played by Siobhan given the logistics of being in two places at once lol) I feel like I know how Jet would have reacted. (I mean i can't quite imagine how Ruby dies and Jet doesn't also die due to heroic nonsense but maybe just say the first ambush killed her? Idk)

I think in the Jet survives scenario, upon learning that she has an older sister, one who is the legitimate heir, Jet doubles down on her goal to be Theo. She would deal with losing Ruby by self recrimination and doubling down on her German Shepherd tendencies and being like, I lost one sister, NEVER AGAIN. And this would cause different tension.

Growing up with her father's grief about losing all of his sisters probably fairly formative as well.

That said I fully love how lived in all of these characters are. Siobhan's grief rings so true to who Ruby is, and echoes her mother's grief and it just makes it all so gooooood.

Rewatching A Crown of Candy had reminded me how much I hate Saccharina. She is such a well done character. Her expectations are completely out of line with reality. The Rocks family lost Jet less than two weeks before meeting Saccharina, and they’ve had no time to process their grief. They’ve been running for their lives for even longer with out any idea that Saccharina existed, and have had no time to come to terms with everything. Calroy, someone they cared about and trusted, was directly responsible for the state of affairs, including Jet’s death. There’s been no time to process a betrayal that profound. Ruby, Jet, and Liam went from being rambunctious teens to war guys, and they haven’t been able to figure out what that means for them.

Despite all that, Saccharina expects them to play happy families immediately because she’s known of them her entire life. Then, because of her background, she takes every instance of tension as a personal slight. There’s no consideration for what the Rocks have been through because she’s experienced pain too. She is so focused on the distance she feels with Ruby and Amethar, she ignores that the rest of the party has been welcoming to her. Theo gave his loyalty to her within minutes of meeting her. Cumulus bonds with her over Lazuli. Liam is… well he’s Liam. He’s an awkward guy with everyone, but he is welcoming to her too. Amethar is doing his best but Saccharina doesn’t consider that his struggles to bond with her have nothing to do with her. He lost a daughter and now is being asked to accept another daughter he didn’t know about on the heels of that loss. Ruby didn’t just lose her twin, she lost her best friend, but Saccharina expects Ruby to put aside her grief to welcome a new sister with open arms. Just a couple episodes before, Ruby is “warging into Yak so I don’t have to be in my fucking body” and saying she felt like she died the day Jet did. Yet when she tries to explain all of the grief and trauma to Saccharina, Saccharina’s response was “I was born with nothing”.

What makes all this so brilliant (besides Emily Axford’s rp and character choices) is how if the tables were turned, we’d hate the Rocks family. As @anarchycox pointed out, if this was a YA novel where we had been following Saccharina’s point of view, we’d hate Amethar and Ruby for not accepting Saccharina. We’d be raging and saying things like “She’s your daughter! You’re meant to love her, you asshole!” After everything Saccharina has been through, we’d be pissed that she couldn’t get a happy reunion. There would be no question that we were on Saccharina’s side.

It is the only time I’ve experienced feeling guilty about hating a character. Normally, when I hate a character it feels good to hate them. They’re a bad guy and it’s fun to tell them to go fuck themselves. Saccharina isn’t a bad guy, or even an antagonist. She’s is an ally, and a deeply flawed and wounded character.

I still hate her.

It’s brilliant. Emily Axford you’ve done it again.

[d20brainrot]

I've been rewatching A Crown of Candy and even though I like Saccharina, I kind of hate how overpowered she is politically.

Everybody acts like she could stay queen after the war ends with or without the Rocks' support. I don't think so? I feel like Ruby could get away with killing Saccharina, but Saccharina wouldn't get away with killing Ruby. I don't think the nobles of Candia, especially House Jawbreaker and maybe Meringue (Queen Caramelinda's homeland which was small but significant enough that alliance with them was important), would just let a marauder be queen if the royal family was against her. And if she killed Ruby, Amethar, and Caramelinda all together, much like Cruller I feel like another count would try to take over, or the troops of House Rocks (not talking about the tart guard, talking about the royal family's troops) would perform a military coup, or something. She might have legal claim but nobody would trust her after the rest of the Rocks withdrew support/were slaughtered.

The alliance between Saccharina and the royals is not just for Saccharina to gain her father and sister's adoration, it is also political and it's kind of annoying that it isn't treated as such.

[thevalleyisjolly]

Some Dimension 20 main season class meetups and how they might go:

Barbarians: I mean, they try, but Amethar ditches after five minutes to go hang out with the Fighters (with Jet, really), and Gorgug (the greatest wizard of this age) gets pulled into the Wizard meeting by Adaine five minutes later.

Bards: Misty and Rowan get along like two cats in the same house, but when they’re not lowkey bitching at each other, are very complimentary about Fabian’s sheet dancing.  They have excellent eyeliner tips, which Fabian pockets for later use, and bicker sharply over whose choreography advice is better.  (Fig, of course, has completely skipped the Bard meetup)

Clerics: Kristen is A Youth which, ok, Kingston is trying his best to understand these young people, he can make the effort.  All this philosophy that kids are apparently into nowadays isn’t that much more complicated than the kind of books that Pete talks about.  He does have some great advice about relationships and not taking people for granted.  A very calm and civilized meeting with absolutely no running around or acrobatics.

Druids: Can disembodied spirits still scam a drink out of a bar?  Gotta be worth a try, right?  Not like Kug’s got anything else to do right now.

Fighters: After wiggling out of Amethar’s twenty minute long hug, Jet has been solidly bugging Theo to teach her more killing blows.  Fabian pokes his head in at one point while Misty and Rowan are arguing about ballet steps, sees Theo very reluctantly demonstrating a couple of killing blows while Jet watches avidly and Amethar heckles -”Come on, Theo, I’ve seen you take off a guy’s head before!”- and decides that maybe he’ll stick with the dance crowd after all.

Monks: There are multiple emergency sirens going off, half the police force/city guards are on high alert, two suspects last seen leaping around the rooftops and beating up people (admittedly assholes) on the streets.  Eyewitness reports say that there’s a lady in leopard print, and some weird blue guy with a staff?

Paladins: Cody suggested playing Street Fighter, and is surprised but delighted at how quickly Ricky is picking it up.  Ricky is finding it surprisingly therapeutic to beat up Cody’s pixel guy, and thinks he should probably feel more guilty about this, but it’s a video game, right?  It isn’t like he actually wants to hit Cody in real life or anything.  Definitely not.

Rangers: Liam’s on his own for all of a minute before Ruby pulls him into the Rogue meeting.  Family has to stick together.

Rogues: To the uninitiated, it looks like a completely empty room.  To those in the know, the world’s most dangerous and ill-advised game of Assassins is currently in its fifth hour.  No one has stealthed out of hiding in at least three.  Liam vanished into his pocket rope dimension an hour ago, Ruby’s melted into the shadows, and Riz has been underneath the floorboards since the start of the game and is just waiting for the right creak of a footstep.

Sorcerers: Pete and Saccharina are having the time of their lives.  Look, someone else who understands about what it’s like to see the magic, the possibility, to feel it running under your skin, bending to your thoughts?  Pete is fascinated by the idea of candy people -”Look, I have a peppermint tooth!”- and Saccharina is fascinated by the strange type of Dreaming magic that Pete wields.  Luna settles on Cinnamon’s nose while he dozes and it’s too cute. 

Warlocks: Lapin and Iga are in the middle of commiserating over creaking joints and the necessity of deception when using magic, when Fig saunters in, having never once stepped foot inside the Bard meeting.  Well alright, she’s young and loud and energetic, but she’s got a rebellious spirit, and it’s good to see young people embrace their heritage.  Three hours later, Fig is cooing over Misiek and snacking on borscht bites while Iga teaches her tarot and Lapin monologues about the utility of a mysterious and enigmatic smile.

Wizards: Adaine is currently in a deep conversation with Esther about the merits of using a bat as an arcane focus, while Ayda tries to figure out what spells she can teach Gorgug that won’t involve him having to read a single word of wizardry.  Gorgug is not entirely sure he should be here -sure, the Barbarian meetup didn’t really work out, but shouldn’t he at least check if there are other Artificers?- but hey, Adaine says Artificers are close enough to Wizards, and that’s good enough for him.

+Bonus: Sofia Lee, Chosen One of the Order of the Concrete Fist, runs into Gilear Faeth, the Chosen One.  He has half a carton of yogurt spilled on his shirt, is limping (probably because of the tire tracks over his shoes) and is wearing a paint bucket (that evidently was not completely empty) over his head for some reason.  He slips on a bacon, egg and cheese bagel that was smushed into the sidewalk and lands flat on his face.  Miraculously, the paint bucket does not fall off.  Sofia decides not to ask.

[pricemarshfield]

and sisters

Written for Day 3 of @acocweek​; Hurt/Comfort + Favorite Scene + the Twins.

When Saccharina's eyes meet Ruby's from across the battlefield, it would be easier than anything to kill her. Her arrows aren't anything special; it's her bow that's distinctive. No one would know. But there's something in her expression--the way her fear fades into an acceptance, into a cautious hope, that makes her think of Jet. It's not an expression Jet carried or anything; Jet was all brash confidence and loyalty, would never look at Ruby with anything other than love.

But still.

They talk, Saccharina sitting on a monster and Ruby feeling like one. She lets her bow drop without nocking an arrow, walks through the ruins of her old home and sees the rest of her family alive and well. Frosting on her father's sword reassures her that Jet is well and truly avenged, and Theobald reminds them that Amethar can be Emperor instead of King and that Saccharina can be Queen without her dragon eating Ruby's--their father alive.

Everything's fine, basically. Ruby still feels like she needs to kill someone, if only to do something with her hands.

She wanders the halls with her bow over her shoulder, watches Liam and Primsy awkwardly flirt hanging from one of the windows, goes to the grove and thanks Lapin for everything he did. It'll be interesting to see how Liam's wish works out, anyway, from the capital city.

"I might spend some time here," she says to Amethar at dinner, a rushed affair with too many people and no table manners, like Saccharina's feast in the mountains. Caramelinda gently reminds Liam to keep his elbows off the table, but then there's a pissing contest out of one of the windows.

Ruby's starting to understand what Annabelle means about Candians.

"What, you mean, Candia?" Amethar asks. He's acting like everything's normal, other than making stilted conversation with Saccharina rather than avoiding her entirely. Saccharina seems thrilled, excitedly talking about her plans for bringing magic back.

"Your, um. Your sister Jet," Amethar says hesitantly, and Ruby stabs her fork into the food in front of her. She's not--angry, exactly. Not at Saccharina. She deserves to know about Jet, to hear about the sister she could've known.

But fuck, it's hard to hear it in the room she had dinner with her in thousands of times, where there's still a stain on the carpet from them trying to sneak some of their dad's cola, where a portrait of the two of them hangs on the wall, pinkie-in-pinkie, lockets faintly glowing.

"I'm heading to bed," she tells them with a small, forced smile. Her mother opens her mouth to say something, but she's already made her way past most of the crowd, marauders and Tartguard and Dairy Islander allies and all.

Ruby's room had always been Ruby and Jet's room. It's the first time she's been in it since the night of their Saint's Day, giggling about a trip to Comida to meet Thad and sneak away to join the circus.

If fucking only, right?

She uses magic to quickly light the sconces in the room, casting a shadow that she knows won't have the long braid she wants to see. She turns to look anyway.

Ruby's braids have been in for awhile, and suddenly she needs them out as soon as possible, is seconds from cutting them off far higher than she needs to with her blade just to not have to see them anymore. But--no. She thinks she might let it grow out, enough for a long braid like Jet's.

She sneaks out of the room--people are still busy at the feast, so she can probably find a room with a mirror so she can at least try to get them out without hurting herself or damaging her hair too much.

The first few rooms she tries have people in it--Annabelle and a young Candian soldier she doesn't know, Primsy and Liam holding hands, one of Saccharina's marauders passed out over the back of a chair, for some reason.

The seventh room she checks is empty and has a mirror without a bunch of cracks in it, and she's about to head inside when she hears someone call her name.

Ruby twirls around, already nocking an arrow and drawing her bowstring back when she sees Saccharina, hands raised with a shield sparking between her fingertips. She drops the bow. "Sorry! I didn't--realize it was you."

"Forgiven," Saccharina says, and Ruby's not sure if the twist in her stomach is humor or annoyance. "It's been a long day. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Is everything fine?" Ruby asks. "You should be celebrating."

"I wanted to check on you," Saccharina says, and when Ruby can't quite bite back her expression of disbelief, she continues, "That's part of compromise. Which is part of being family. I'm told."

The awkwardly formality has Ruby's shoulders tensing, but she's not wrong, and Ruby doesn't miss the way that Saccharina seems unsure about it even as she says it.

"I'm okay," Ruby lies, and Saccharina nods with a little frown. "I wanted to take my braids out. You could, uh. Help?"

"Certainly easier than taking them out yourself," Saccharina says, and Ruby exhales a little huff of annoyance. "I can."

The mirror in the room is against a wall, but Saccharina uses some magic Ruby hasn't seen before to levitate it next to one of the chairs, so Ruby can sit on the floor and Saccharina can reach her braids without either needing to contort themselves to make it work.

When Ruby needed to take care of her hair during their travels through Calorum and on the Dairy Sea, Jet would help her. After Jet--after, her dad had been surprisingly good at it, only managing a gruff helped Sapphria a lot as explanation.

Saccharina's fingers are quick and she manages to comb through Ruby's curls to untangle them without yanking her head back. It's clear it's not the first time she's done this, and if Ruby were a little kinder, she'd ask about that.

Instead, Ruby keeps herself occupied by practicing a few cantrips. It's Saccharina who breaks the silence when she's about halfway through Ruby's hair, asking, "Was it because Amethar told me about Jet?"

"Don't--" Ruby says, makes herself stop and take a deep breath. "I--it's not easy, to talk about her."

"I'm sorry," Saccharina says. "I can't imagine."

"It's..." Ruby sighs. She's not generous enough to say something like you lost her, too, even if you didn't know her or feeling venomous enough to say no, you can't, since you never had anyone, did you? even if she is enough of a bitch to think it.

"You don't have to tell me about Jet," Saccharina says. "But if you ever do, I'd like to hear about her."

There's so much Ruby could say, half about Jet and half punishing Saccharina for daring to ask, especially when Ruby's hair is still barely half done.

"I think she would've liked you," Ruby says, and pretends not to notice the way Saccharina's hands still.

"Amethar was telling me that she liked to fight," Saccharina says, and Ruby laughs before she can stop herself.

"She always said she was meant for the battlefield," Ruby says. "She--really loved it. The idea of it, anyway. Flickerish was hers before it was mine. She--"

It wasn't the battlefield that killed her, though. It was Calroy, setting a trap. It was Ciabatta, with the dagger. It was Ruby, daring her to sneak around when they both knew they shouldn't.

"Another time?" Saccharina asks.

Ruby nods, winces when the comb in Saccharina's hand tugs at her hair painfully. Saccharina takes out the rest of Ruby's braids in silence, and they don't say goodbye. But when she goes to sleep in her old room, Ruby's calm enough to fall asleep there.

Progress.

[tinygalaxykid]

Bad Kids!ACOC AU

Ok so if you haven't seen my recent ACOC!Riz sketch, go check it out. My hope is that I’ll be able to draw all of the bad kids before the finale but we’ll see. This is long bc it’s my general setup for this AU but I’ll be making small posts about backstories, magic items, etc. Feel free to jump on this HC, just tag me.

This definitely takes place post-acoc but maybe in an alt timeline just because I don’t know what the political and religious situation of the post-campaign will be.

Riz is made out of sweet & sour hard candy. He has sugar freckles and is sour-apple flavored. He’s still a rouge, having learned his tricks being a poor villager in a crime-filled village of Southern Candia. His mom, Skolanda is jolly-rancher like candy and Pok was actually a fructerian apple person. After being turned away from the Candian military for his small stature he decides to clean up his crime-ridden village, fancying himself a detective and a vigilante. His non-offical tagline is “Sour, sweet, then gone.”

Fabian Aramais Seacaster is made of tiramisu as his father Bill Seacaster, an infamous, curdled pirate of the Dairy Sea, met and married Hillariel from a small peninsula of Fructera where everyone is made of creamed coffee. They settled down in Port Syrup and live very comfortably. 

Kristen is actually Fructerian and living in a religious city just past the border of Candia. She’s made of honey roasted apple pie (apple-bees?) and is in Candia as a bulbian missionary hoping to spread the faith to these non-believers. It’s her first time out of her home and she is READY to spread the gospel!

Adiane is made of icing and whipped cream. She’s from a highborn family close to Ceresia and her parents happen to be close to one Lord and Lady Cruller. While still being shitty, awful, usurping people, her family still practices magic from a private library of historical Candian tomes they refuse to share with the public. 

Gorgug, adopted by two candy heart parents in Dulcington, is a vegetainan pumpkin boy! Somedays he’s not sure what sets him apart more, him being over 6 ft tall or the fact that he’s the first plant-based person most of the townfolk have ever seen. He works as a stable-boy (for meeps!) in Castle Candy.

Fig (not actually a fig, I know), is red-hot tamale candy! After realizing that her yogurt father, Gilear, may not be her real dad, she is trying to break away from her Mother, Sandralynn, who works under the Queen’s Guard, Sir Amanda Maylard, so that she can go find her real family in the great stone candy mountains.

They all meet during the official post-war coronation of Queen Saccharina Frostwhip of House Rocks. Riz goes there searching for the legendary Sir Amanda Maylard whose expertise in tracking have proven her invaluable to Candia. Seeking to become her apprentice, he sneaks his way into the coronation to find a moment to talk with her.

Fabian is there with both his parents (officially invited as his father had a few friendly encounters with one Amethar Rocks during the Ravening War) and sits with their family friend, Manta-Ray Jack.

Kristen in there with a few other bulb officials. They’re not technically invited but they were hoping that their presence could steer some of the Candian heathens in the right direction.

Seeing as no one can prove the the Abernants involvement with Lord Cruller’s coup (even if they were exceptionally compliant with his reign), the whole family attends with young Adiane in tow who is feeling EXTREMELY uncomfortable attending the festivals and parties being thrown in the queen’s honor.

Gorgug and his parents take place in the festivities as does the rest of Dulcington and somehow gets lost and sort of makes his way into the castle?

Lastly, Fig is there because her boring-ass mom has to attend the coronation and so she going to drag fig over there in a stupid dress and a stupid hairdo even though Fig told her a thousand times that she didn’t want to go. Honestly, Fig is just hoping she can steal a meep from the stables and make her way towards the candy mountains.

They all meet after the coronation when the Seacasters and the Abernants are receiving tours of Castle Candy. Fabian peer pressures Adiane into sneaking away so that they can explore the Castle on their own (Adine only agreed because Aelwyn was being particularly unbearable and Fabian only asked so her as recon for flirting with her sister). It’s just when they stumble upon the training grounds when they find one Sir Amanda Maylard escorting a (small?) trespasser out of the grounds. Riz is trying to explain his value as a squire and apprentice but to no avail. As luck would have it, Sir Amanda doesn’t finish escorting him out of the grounds because all havoc breaks loose when some candian villager breaks into the stables to steal a meep and some vegetainian boy has to wrestle her off of it???

Fig, Adaine, Fabian, Gorgug, and Riz meet when they are all adequately being punished for their respective crimes. While Sir Amanda holds them, waiting for their parents to give them even more berating, Kristen Applebees tries to make her introduction, hoping that her good influence can show them the light of the bulb.

Even MORE shenanigans ensue thanks to Fabian’s peer pressuring as they all escape Sir Amanda Maylard and manage to make it out of the castle with some fancy new magic relics retrieved from the Ice Cream temple by Queen Saccharina just months ago.

The all quickly become great friends after running into a man who claims himself to an arch-mage of the sweetening path and a lover to Joren Rocks, a man named Arthur Augefort. He tells them of untold fortunes that lie in the Great Stone Candy mountains and seeing as they all have vested interests in magic, escaping their shitty family, adventure, and Gorgug just kinda agreeing, they head north on the Sucrosi Road.

The go on adventures, blah, blah, blah. After discovering new magics  in north Candia, the bad kids sail across the dairy sea to a pirate island called Leviathan, somehow make into the Meatlands where they meet some friendly people named Jawbone and Tracker, then they head to Vegetainia where they fight off an extremist group of Bulbians callled the Harvestmen, and somewhere along the way kill Adiane’s dad.

[jq37]

The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 12 Rescue at Buzzybrook

The Peppermint Knight Rises

Welcome to an extremely wild two minutes in the lives of the Rocks family and all those assembled to witness the insanity about to take place.

The gang (along w/ Cara, Manta Ray Jack, and Rina’s crew) have poofed into Buzzybrook where Liam’s dad--Joren Jawbreaker--is about to be executed. They’re able to stay relatively stealthy on their group stealth check (despite Rina’s Nat 1) and, peeking outside, the group sees Bulbian priests, Imperial soldiers, and Ceresian soldiers (like, Ciabatta’s men, not Imperials). Their flags are stationed outside of various cottages in the area (which Ruby uses Mage Hand, her rogue skills, and a grudgingly accepted help action from Rina to unlock). Rina also helps Cara with her concentration checks on the teleportation spell by casting Wall of Ice (the special ability of her staff, Winterscoop) to give her a protected area which Cara just lets happen because sure, why not? 

Just to set the scene a little more, it’s dark outside except for some lit braziers, the village has been largely burned down except for the cottages I mentioned before, and the citizens are being forced to march to the gallows to watch the execution, though Joren hasn’t been brought out yet. With all the banners of the different factions gathered together, it seems almost celebratory. They’re within the standing stones which is in what’s called a sugar hut--basically, just a kind of house built over the standing stones so they can claim it’s a Candian cultural thing and not witchcraft if Bulbian missionaries show up.

Liam and Ruby decide to check out the cottages to get a better idea of what’s going on. Liam, in his cottage, finds Oliver Onionpatch (the Bulbian Archbishop) speedily transcribing information into his book including pictures/schematics of monsters, Ceresian constructs, war engines like Lazuli was working on, and liquid daggers. It seems like Ciabatta gave Alfredi’s notes to the church and they are expanding on them. He’s being guarded by Bonathan Flashfry (fry guy from Jet’s fight). Liam casts Hunter’s Mark on Onionpatch. In her cottage, Ruby sees Grissini speaking to Spearia Mentha (Liam’s mom) who is chained up. Ruby tells Liam who tells her what he found and then Ruby fills in Theo.

While they’re working on a plan, Jawbreaker is led to the noose and they start to read his crimes. Liam casts Disguise Self to look like Onionpatch. They pull the lever and Jawbreaker begins to hang and the gang rolls for initiative!

Because of the circumstances the party gets a surprise round.

Jawbreaker succeeds on his first death save but, even if he hadn’t, he would have been in good hands because Theo Misty Steps to the gallows, and cuts him down before running for cover.

Liam, on a Nat 1, shatters the glass while trying to attack Onionpatch fully giving away his position. That single mistake out of his system, Liam once again goes full Peppermint Batman and hits Onionpatch (and, judging by his reaction, Brennan by proxy) with two more attacks--one of them being a Nat 20--for a total of *84 points of damage*. He uses his movement to hide in the next house over where he has great line of sight for another attack (and he hides with a Nat 20 plus his natural plus 10 plus Pass Without a Trace for a total of 40 which is the DC for things that are nigh impossible).

Ruby casts Jump to help with her movement and gets into position to help break Spearia out. Grissini who was snapped out of his surprise when Theo did his thing starts yelling orders to his men outside.

Reap the Whirlwind

And then it’s Saccharina’s turn.

Yeah, I know I said her full name was annoying to type out every time but she deserves to get her full name for what she’s about to do.

Rina runs through the crowd, uses her Storm Sorcerer ability to Fly (which she can do before she casts a 1st level spell or higher which is such cool flavor and good for utility as well--in this case it means she doesn’t take opportunity attacks). She casts Thunderstep at 4th level (which is like Misty Step but you can take someone with you and it does AoE damage when you poof away) and uses her Channel Divinity from her Tempest Domain Cleric levels to auto do max damage (40 or half if they save) and they also get another plus three because it’s lightning damage (she has some kind of aura that does that) *and* she uses Quicken Spell (a Sorc thing that lets you cast a spell that takes an action as a bonus action) to cast Spare the Dying on Jawbreaker as she brings him to safety. 

If Liam is Batman then Rina is Storm, for sure. 

Brennan is ruined but everyone else is *loving it*--me included. She takes out a bunch of weakling enemies even at without seeing if they save and the few (I think 4) who are left are not doing great. She hands over Jawbreaker to Amethar and has Gooey and Swifty go to Theo and help him out.     

Cumulous rushes in, finishes off two more of the injured guards, and dives into the hole under the gallows for cover. 

Amethar starts herding the civilians into the sugar hut so they can all escape together, tells Jack to help start cleaning up these soldiers, and goes to work himself, going into a rage and killing two Ceresians. Jack kills one too and the citizens start running to safety.

Theo sees that the house he’s hiding behind is full of sick ass weapons so he kills the single guard and Gooey and Swifty (Swifty very gleefully) help him with some looting. 

Grissini leaves his cottage to order around his men which Ruby is very happy about as it makes the sneaking she’s about to do a lot easier.

Back in John Wick, staring Liam Wilhelmina, he does another 23 points of damage to Onionpatch and yells at him in Bulbosi (while disguised as him mind you), “You have made a big mistake.”

Ruby springs Spearia and casts Invisibility on her so she can safely make her way to the others. 

Grissini whistles and a soldier lights a signal fire. Some bread guys crowd Amethar but he doesn’t take much damage and actually kills one with a Riposte reaction--one of Jet’s old tricks. 

Saccharina--I gotta give her her full name again--clocks a very convenient straight line of enemies and casts Lightning Bolt at 4th Level (using another Sorc trick, Empower Spell, to reroll her low damage dice) for 39 damage + 3 for her aura. Even without rolling saves for half damage, this fully kills everyone but Grissini who is badly injured. And just to make things worse, she uses Grissini to conduct the lightning and has it set his banner on fire. 

Cumulous whiffs a couple of attacks, jumps on a roof and then (along with Liam) fails a Perception check, which is always fun as a player.

Amethar runs over to Grissini, attacks of opportunity be damned, and says, “Do you remember my daughter?” Grissini who has just been electrocuted, is a little out of it but Amethar says that Jet might be dead but he just met his new daughter (except, in the heat of the moment, he says it less coherently) and attacks him. Rina (or really Emily who knows exactly what she is doing) calls it a daddy-daughter special. Grissini is F’d up but not near death.

But speaking of people who are near death, Onionpatch yells, “Bulb protect me!” in Liam’s general direction, causing the house he’s in to catch on fire. Liam takes 18 points of fire damage.

Jack kills another baddie and the rest of the civilians run into the sugar hut.

Mom Said We’re Leaving! 

And then, suddenly, these huge, terrifying, bread constructs arrive on the scene (along with a giant corn monster that everyone immediately insists is cute because Brennan will never win this one and should really stop trying unless he’s a fan of futility). Amethar takes some hits and then has to make Con Saving throws. He fails one of them which reduces his HP max by the damage of the first hit he took from this thing (4 pts). One goes for Rina but she Shields and takes nothing. One goes for Jack (doesn’t hit) and one goes for the Standing Stones. Theo casts Compelled Duel on one of the constructs to draw fire but can’t hit (2 Nat 1s in a row!)  

Grissini does a bunch of damage to Amethar and then grants an attack to the nearest bread monster who crits on Rina for 31 points of damage, bringing her down to 18, but she passes her Con saving throw (she only has to do one for some reason).

Liam busts into the house with Onionpatch and demands to know who’s in the military tent with a Nat 20 Intimidation check. Onionpatch, who’s basically pissing himself, says that it’s Kerradin’s tent but he’s not in there at the moment because he’s tracking down escaped prisoners. Onionpatch blubbers that all the different factions are there on behalf of the Pontifex and are in talks with Plumbeline to create a new Concord. There are tons of letters and maps and information in the tent and he can tell them everything. Guess what idiot? You already did. Liam ices him with another Nat 20 and takes his book. As he does so, he basically speedruns the entire rest of puberty and sheds his teenage awkwardness (I mean, allegedly. I’ll believe it if he can talk to Annabelle without getting slapped). The pages that have ripped from the book are effortlessly placed back in with shadow magic. He also fires an arrow at Bonathan as he exits because why not? He lets Ruby know about the info in the tent so, on her turn she sends Spearia away, and goes for it.

Cara basically yells at everyone and they have one round to get into the car because the meter’s about to run out and she’s gotta go. 

Ruby takes 34 points of damage from archers. Rina gets Amethar to safety with Fly plus another Thunderstep and sends Swifty to help Ruby if necessary. Cumulous gets to safety as well (killing one more guy for the road). The constructs try to crack the standing stones but fail.

Amether, channeling Jet yet again, does some Maneuvering Attacks to give Ruby some instant movement to get into the tent and grab the map with all the Imperial/Ceresian military troop movement info and start to run back. Jack gets to safety.  

The constructs try and fail to crack the stones again. One of them attacks Theo for 45 points of damage and then he fails one of his saves, dropping his HP max by 30. Theo holds his turn until Liam and Ruby make it to safety. Gooey and Swifty make it in. 

Kerradin suddenly shows up and Liam has to summon all of his self control to not go after him. He instead taunts him by showing him the book he got from Onionpatch, and (taking damage as he does so) slides into the sugar hut. His mom, invisible, places a hand on his cheek and says, “Oh no. They took my sweet baby and made him a war guy.” 

Grissini Nat 20’s to attack on Amethar but Theo takes the 38 points of damage which drops him dangerously low for Theo standards (like low 20s or the teens). Theo runs in. One of the archers Nat 20 on Ruby who’s hit for 4 points after she Uncanny Dodges (she’s at 21).

Like Liam, Ruby very reluctantly does the smart thing and, instead of going for Grissini so she can get at least one kill this fight, dives into the hut. Cara let’s the spell go off right as Grisini tells the constructs to charge and Jawbreaker regains consciousness, looking proudly into the face of his son, Preston. No wait, that’s not right. 

Medal of Honor

EMILY AXFORD LET’S GOOOOOO

Saccharina really said, “First impressions? Don’t know her. SECOND impressions are where it’s at.” Like, dare I say, instant legend? First fight of the game and she instantly fulfills the win condition, frying a bunch of dudes just, incidentally (but w/ surgical precision from an out of game point of view with all that deft use of action economy and sorcerer mojo). What and ENTRANCE. And then that Lightning? Brennan said it best on Adventuring Party. If you saw her do that, you would have no choice but to follow her.

But honestly, she lowkey deserves a medal just for joining the party with two levels of cleric. That alone is damn near heroic at this point. 

I can’t believe Brennan let *Emily Axford* have spell cards in his gritty, low magic setting. My guy really served himself his own dice. Bon Appetit dude and, again, welcome back Emily! 

Things I’m Concerned About

I mean, I can’t say that I’m surprised about the collusion going on but I don’t love it. I really hope the group gets to talk to Plumbeline again before the end of this. Just to see what she has to say to Amethar and visa-versa. It was an interesting dynamic before she decided to turn traitor and it’s even more interesting now. 

Since when can Bulbian priests do magic? Miracle working is supposed to be super rare, right? Like the Pontifex could heal herself but that was the only thing we knew of that was real Bulb magic (along with Citrina’s book I guess but she’s dead). But Onionpatch used magic against Liam and a different priest did some abjuration on Theo. Are they using Bulbian magic or faking like Lapin was? Or is this something new?

Really don’t love that those bread constructs were making people roll Con Saves. I instantly thought it was a water dagger thing (since they did have those plans too) but then he said 2 saves and not 3. Not sure what the other save was since I think we only saw the “drop max HP” effect. And I don’t know why Rina only had to roll 1 and not 2. Either way, I hope Liam stealing that book at least slowed them down because this is Bad Info for them to have.  

Five More Things

Just so you know, Rina’s build is 6 levels Storm Sorc, 2 levels Tempest Domain Cleric.

The dynamic of Swifty and Theo is low-key the funniest thing. I want them to team up always. Also funny was Brennan’s straight-faced “Correct” to being asked if what Onionpatch just saw was himself pull a crossbow on him.

Listen, I need to know if Grissini has enough information to know that he’s working for the bad guys. Like, if he has the information and he chooses to be complacent then cool kill him, that’s fine. I’ve seen The Sound of Music and we all hate Rolf. But I gotta know. What are the odds that Amethar invoking Jet will pay dividends later? (Again, it did not work in The Sound of Music. And now I kinda wanna watch Sound of Music). 

Grissini knows Jet is dead. Has the news fully spread? Does Primsy know? If so, sad! If not, even sadder but on a time delayed fuse!

I already mentioned this earlier and when the episode aired but the absolute DUNKING of Brennan this episode by Emily and Ally. Man oh man the LOOK on the dude’s face? The glee from everyone else? All those dice Ally rolled? All the people Emily iced without even having to roll dice? The gang sorely needed a win and, folks, this was it.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT! 

Listen, we all know Wednesdays are for D20. And, for a lot of y’all, I’m sure Thursdays are for CritRole and/or Naddpod. But what are you doing Tuesdays (or at least every other Tuesday)? Well, I’m gonna tell you what. @drinkingdeadpeopletea (who you’ve probably seen around as she’s active in all three of the aforementioned fandoms) is launching a D&D podcast called Ship of Fools and it drops TOMORROW with a two episode premiere. It’s D&D! It’s nautical! And it’s being DM’d by her so I can confidently say that it’s gonna be hilarious and a super fun time! So if you want even more D&D in your life (rhetorical question, all of us do) check it out!

[titanias-stolen-shoes]

I have time now. A day before the last episode. Anyway this is long as hell sorry.

I’m gonna start with Swifty because fuck that little gingerbread man.

Swifty had been tasked to follow Ruby and heard the entire conversation that the immediate Rocks Family had. He heard how Ruby thought Saccharina had the capacity for good and Amethar immediately recoiled at the mere mention of Saccharina having an ‘accident’ (“that’s my daughter!”) on the battlefield. Swifty intentionally left those bits out likely because of the chaos it would cause. He knows Saccharina is very emotional around these people and even since they came into the picture, she’s been changing. Less murdery and more restrained. That gels with literally nothing we know about Swifty.

As for the conversation they had, I’m really happy with how Ruby handled it. She got what she wanted with Caramelinda finally treating her like an adult and she behaved that way. She didn’t jump to conclusions and she thought about Caramelinda’s question. She probably thought about their interactions with Saccharina carefully before saying that she could be good if she was surrounded by better people. And that’s honestly just it! Saccharina clearly amassed followers and kept them somehow without them all killing each other and has done it for years, which means that she is both charismatic enough to solve problems amicably and powerful enough to keep them together. She thinks about what she does before doing them and looks to others to make sure she isn’t going overboard or being risky. Ruby can see that Saccharina is doing these things, but her problem is that she has murdering marauders as her council. That interaction also didn’t completely put her on level with her parents despite what Caramelinda said. Ruby could voice her opinion and they would take them into consideration, but at that end of the day Ruby would still defer to her parents because they’re more experience than she is.

Amethar, like most things, decided it was best not to talk about it at the moment while they were about to go into battle. While there’s a method to his madness, Caramelinda said it best with “The delay of conversation has been, perhaps, your most cardinal sin,” though not quite in the context I’m talking about. And it’s understandable. Amethar is a war guy and delicate conversations never came easy to him. It’s better to just do what needs to be done right at the moment (storming Castle Candy) and leaving it until after. When Saccharina would fully expect to take the throne. And when she would figure out that they knew and didn’t tell her right away when it clearly involved her.

With Caramlinda, I have to admit while I have been the number one advocate of Caramelinda (and, believe me, I still love and understand her), I can’t even fathom what she was thinking suggesting Saccharina have an accident was really going to solve. Caramelinda has lost everything she ever worked for along with her daughter and Lapin and is frantically trying to regain her footing after the one thing she’d been making sure didn’t happen, happens all around her without ever once slowing down. However, just because Saccharina is dangerous doesn’t mean she’s a threat. Saccharina, as far as they had interacted with her, has been very amicable. She’s nice and lends her time and power and energy very generously. Saccharina can be very good, but Caramelinda can’t see that past her own idea of what is best for Candia.

Saccharina’s reaction to what Swifty said is incredicly understandable. From her perspective, Amethar, Caramelinda, and Ruby had found out that Amethar was still rightfully king and plan to kill her so the throne never goes to her. There wasn’t much else she could get from that. And still—still!—she wanted to please them and give them the benefit of the doubt because Swifty is the one who told her. She wanted to make sure that that was their intentions because if not then a fight could be avoided.

And Theo (whose heartfelt agreement with Saccharina about trying so hard and giving so much to people who just don’t appreciate them killed me on the spot!), was coming to their defense at first because he knows these people. He’s known Amethar for a long time and fought together with him and Ruby’s been under his protection literally since she was born. He knows them. At least he thought he did. He thought he knew that Amethar wouldn’t hurt her because family is everything to him. He thought he knew that Ruby was too kind to suggest something so cruel. But when he sees Saccharina standing in front of him, telling her entire truth to him, he has to rethink that. He has to come to terms with that while he serves them, maybe he doesn’t actually know them. Maybe he can’t be sure that family is everything to Amethar because look at how he treats Saccharina. Look at how dismissive and distant he is to her. Maybe he can’t be sure that Ruby isn’t capable of something like that because look at how she seemed to agree with taking out Saccharina. Look at how she kept secrets from the one who protected her through everything. And as he thinks that, he has to come to terms with these facts now laid out before him—a woman telling him nothing but her entire truth and his resurfacing feelings of resentment and Lazuli’s first order to him—and pick a side. And so, he picked a side.

[kitschy-starlight]

Hey so I’ve been thinking about it...

And I think Saccharina Ghee embodies “In Sweetness There Is Strength” so very much. At least she already is the one I see it the most in.

Here is a young woman who was, if not born, at least conceived in the dying years of a war. Its been implied that her mother did not leave her many good memories at all before leaving her behind an orphan either by no choice or just to be rid of her. 

She must have been so very young and talkative and always sweet about the visions she was getting about her Auntie Lazuli. That she was magical. That she was royalty of the house of rocks. Chattering on the way small, sweet children do. 

But as she said- She was not treated kindly or sweetly in her ramblings or magical abilities. 

She escaped that life and god...The WORK she had to put in. The truth she knew of herself that anyone else would call her a liar. Or crazy. She did not have the protection of royalty her half-sisters would get. 

She had to forge herself in hard work and heart ache and reclaiming every little bit of magic and knowledge she was owed because it runs through her veins. It was born in her and others tried to rip it out of her. But she held tight to it. She had no tutor like Ruby and Jet got to have.

She probably had to find every scrap of knowledge and literature on magic and politics she could because she understood, probably at half the age her sisters she knew how vital that all was. 

She would have done anything for a tutor like Lapain to teach her the history of their land and she would have even killed to listen to Caramelinda’s lectures on royal society.

She got none of that though. She got none of that formal education and surely no love children deserve to have. She had to work herself to the bone to fight for every piece of her she could have been just been given to her at birth had she been born known as the King’s child.

That hurts so much. But she is still kind.

Her hospitality with the Rocks and the way she acts is no farce. 

She is that kind and that welcoming and that brave and strong.

Saccharina’s brilliance and charm and intelligence and magical ability were forged in a life time of hurt and heartache that was her daily reality. 

Despite the injustice Saccharina truly carries the spirit of house rocks.

She puts out a feast for the family she knows will never see her as one of them.

She shares her love of magic and desire to have power to accomplish great things with those of the party who have been waiting for somebody like her all this time.

She calls a war council with pastries and asks them what THEY want to do first.

She is strong and formidable and powerful and so very very sweet.

[d20trashcan]

Lost of a Rabbit

Writer Note: This fic was written before the introduction of Saccharina so there were some creative liberties. Enjoy and hurt.

So when the war is said and done, when the campaign ends and the party can return home, imagine the emotional GUILT. Yeah, they saved their kingdom, and yeah maybe everyone can live in happy ever after.

Or do they?

It starts with Amethar. Sometimes, he finds himself mentioning Lapin’s name and his body tenses up, ready for the rabbit to creep his head over the king’s shoulder. But then reality comes back and makes everything much worse.

The tenseness of his body will go from relief but then to guilt, reminded of his inability to help Lapin in those Church walls. What if he was smarter? What if he was quicker? Could he had stopped that carrot from killing Lapin? Could Lapin still stand today as his most closest advisor?

Even if it was unnerving, Lapin always stood behind him, supporting him. He had the King’s back and always thought of doing right by Amethar, even when he seemed bothered by Amether’s physical tendencies.

The king has been in war before, was just done with another, lost so many people, so many lives.

“That’s what happens in war, sacrifices are necessary,” Lapin would say. Amethar imagines the reprimand that the chancellor would give if he saw the king like this.

So Amethar stands taller, his voice much stronger. He doesn’t falter like he used to. He won’t make the same mistake, he cannot afford it.

Then there is Liam, who has subsided his anger and vengeance after he killed the murderers of his dear friend, but it all gets replaces by remorse. He finds himself wondering about the castle, the forest, trying to find answers. Even if he had became a man of war, he still feels alone, confused, forgotten. So many rules, so much etiquette, so many people. He wishes Lapin was there. Even if the old man seems so begrudging about it, he was always willing to explain things to the peppermint boy. The world was much easier to understand when the chocolate rabbit was there. He knew so much, even when he shared so little. Maybe had they had more time, maybe the old rabbit could learn to like Liam.

'Did he die still hating me?' Liam will always wonder.

Even when his dear lone friend laid along with the chancellor in his last moments, did the rabbit hold hatred in his heart.

But as that question crosses his mind, a whiff of chocolate and sugar flows around him and Liam finds himself back in the clearing of stones, the broken teacup still placed at the middle of the circle. As Liam walks closer, the smell gets stronger and something wells inside of him. As he stand right before the cup, the wind picks up and for a small moment, the boy can feel a warm hand on his shoulder and as quick it came, the feeling disappears. Liam turns to see nothing and when he turns back, the broken cup is gone.

As he walks back to the castle, Liam doesn’t exactly know why, but something told him that he will be fine.

Then there is alone Ruby. When it becomes the usual time for her former daily lessons, she will find herself walking to class and finding an empty room, Lapin’s belongings sent back to his remaining family.

As she looks at the dusty floor and at the light that shined through the same windows that she would always tried to escape from, a small part of her wonders. Yes she said even if she knew the names of the kings, queen, politicians and more, she would still not have been able to avoid the war, the deaths. That last thought lingers longer as the image of her sister clouds her mind.

Ruby notices the small bits of leftover hay on the ground and wonders what if they had not tried to skip out on Lapin’s lessons, could they have been more prepared of the political dangers?

What if he had already warned them of world, given them the necessary information for the then future events that would occur. She tries to feel for any arcane magic in the room and yet not even a whiff of sugar plum, only dust that tickled her nose. She wonders what if she had paid more attention to the old rabbit, instead of sleeping on her desk. Would she had discovered her powers earlier? Be able to train so she could be stronger? Could Lapin and Jet lived?

The thoughts ran through her head even as she slumped down to her knees, hand clutched on her head as tears stained the dusty floor.

Something catches her eye, a glimmer of light shines through a crack in the wall. As she approaches it, Ruby realizes that there was something wedging between a large crack that would always be behind Lapin's desk. As she reaches in and pulls the book from the crack, the light that had emitted from the book dissipates. Flipping through the the pages, Ruby reads the research, notes, and instructions of the different spells, cantrips, rituals that Lapin had developed. Something about the handwriting warms Ruby's chest.

By the end of the day, Ruby had already moved most of her stuff into the empty room and started learning from her old mentor's notes. At the corner her eyes, she can barely see two figures, a brown one and blue one. A small smile forms on her lips and she continues her studies.

Lastly, there is Theobald. It affects him the most, being closest to Lapin and yet not at all. Who knew the castle would be so quiet, the corridors so empty without the Chancellor with the secrets. It was haunting how empty his side was without the rabbit. Whenever Theo would make a note of something, a comment, he would always pause for the retort or a sarcastic quip from the familiar rabbit but it never reaches his ears. Whenever he bows to the King and Queen, he would wait for the glimpse of brown ears along side him, usually provoking him to bow even deeper. But all the bear can see now are the palace floors.

Sometimes, his eyes would see flashes of brown splatters so similar to the ones that were on those Church windows. He would always find himself falling over during those flashes. Unable to maintain himself.

The king and queen never fault him. They have seen the effects of the bear's deceased companion. Theo's eyes were always covered with dark bags, his face a bit hollow, his suit seems even ill fitted on him, even if his body has not changed. They told him to take some time off, to talk to someone, anyone. Theo refuses, of course. There was too much work to do, especially with one less person.

However, he sometimes find himself standing outside of the tallest castle tower, looking up at the sky and wonders. What if he has been quicker? What if he had more faith in the Rocks Family and went to help Lapin escape from the zealot of a carrot?

What if he could have trusted Lapin more? Would the rabbit still be standing by his side? Would Lapin be right next to him, sharing the same night sky, looking at the stars. There were always quiet words shared between them, did it mean anything to the Chancellor or was it all just simple talk to the old bunny.

Theo can't help but feel a small hollow thump in his chest. So many unsaid words and confessions of thoughts. Lapin never knew and will never know Theo's true thoughts and opinions of the rabbit. As Theo looks out over the castle grounds, he sees a tiny figure walk up to the castle gates and then just stands there. Like lightning, Theo rushes to the gate to meet the figure. Lo and behold, it is young brown rabbit, wrapped in a familiar blue cloak, their ears barely went past Theo's knees. In their hands was a small chocolate covered pretzel staff and a large tome with the name Lapin Cadbury signed at the bottom. Theo stands there, unable to process what he sees. What did this child want, Theo asks.

To learn, they reply. Uncle Lapin's magic, they wanted to learn as well. The young rabbit ignores him and walks pass the gates and into the castle. Theo was left there, look back, stunned. H

Theo just shakes his head and sighs. Walking back into the castle with a smile, Theo could not help but think wonder if the rabbit was laughing, where ever he was.

[charmingdragon]

ACOC Ep. 14 Rant (spoilers)

I’m so frustrated with Saccharina at the end of A Crown of Candy Ep. 14 and I have to talk about it.

Okay so I want to start by saying that I have completely sympathized with Saccharina pretty much the whole time we’ve known her. She came from nothing, worked her whole life to get where she is, and just wants a basic relationship with her family. And now that she’s with them, Amethar and Ruby treat her as an inconvenience, or, at best, a means to an end.

But in Ep. 14 at 1:39:58 she picks a fight with Ruby which I think is totally out of nowhere, talking about how Ruby couldn’t have done this big final move to kill the SPF without her. But Ruby wasn’t even gloating or claiming that she did it on her own! Ruby felt good about getting revenge for her sister, but she wasn’t being showy at all. (It was clearly Siobhan making jokes about all the dice and damage, not Ruby herself.)

In that moment it made more sense for them to bond over the fact that their common enemy is finally dead, through their combined efforts. I truly was so shocked when Saccharina started arguing that I had to rewatch that whole scene several times to make sure I didn’t miss Ruby saying something that could have set Saccharina off like that.

I’ve even rewatched the whole episode, and the overall tension between the two feels even less than in was in previous episodes. Sure, they’re still short and snide with each other, but they’re collaborating better than they have in any previous battle or RP episode.

I seriously don’t understand what got into her in that moment that made her feel like starting a fight, and it is really bumming me out that one of my favorite characters would do something so combative in what should have been a moment of unity.