#new D20 season later this week

[alowqualitychild]

Every time a Dropout show premieres

[crepuscular-girlthing]

i mostly really enjoy the new season of d20, the cast is great, and the twinges of secondhand embarrassment inherent to the premise are mostly tolerable thanks to Brennan's self-aware NPC choices. but i get a little frustrated sometimes with the looseness of Never Stop Blowing Up. i know that's part of the fun, giving the cast lots of room to play, but it feels like there wasn't quite enough prep to have a solid baseline.

Ify obviously brought in a whole new mechanic in ep 2 that helps with the primary challenge of the game, finding the correct route through the plot, by having the movie character communicate directly with the PC. but nobody else has this, because nobody else seems to know their movie character well enough to do that. Rehka would have benefitted a lot from Usha being able to talk to G13 in their reflection on a screen while solving her puzzle, but it seems like she couldn't, because she doesn't actually know how to play G13. so she would have had to prompt Brennan to play G13 for her, and it feels like neither Rehka nor Brennan were prepared for that, so she had to just muddle through. this is more or less confirmed later when Izzy asks Brennan if she "has an Ify" in the mirror, and he throws it back to her. Rehka did a small version of it at the end of her scene, but it felt out of character and obviously didn't drive the scene like Vic Ethanol's assistance did for Wendell.

i love this cast and premise, i just wish they'd had one or two more seasion zeros to find these ideas and maybe another week for Brennan and production to prep so they could incorporate them into the structure.

[thisisnotthenerd]

in light of the new d20 season (burrow's end!!), i have updated the spreadsheet & will be updating it as class info comes out. by god i gave myself homework to do.

anyways, here's the updates:

brennan is now at 18/20 seasons, playing in 4, three of which were aabria's sidequests. i'm glad he got a break from gming for a bit. now he's just a wee stoat for a while.

siobhan, joining ally and zac with 9 total seasons! it's so fun to see her in the sidequests--i can't wait to see where she goes with this one. i'm also just giggling at the fact that in some of the clips she just has a leaf in her hair. just sticking out the top.

aabria, still at the top of the guest list now with 6 seasons under her belt, gming 3 of those. now, since we've been told that the next ih season will likely by starting late Q4/early Q1, murph will be up to eight. however, if they stick to a similar sidequest schedule and he doesn't join, aabria may well overtake him next year. she's already very close.

erika, up to 5 seasons now! she's back again folks! i'm excited to see if he sticks to the magic or if he takes a dip into martial this season. as noted previously they've had 2 druids, an emo disney princess mage, and a shadow sorcerer vampire before; where will they go from here?

izzy, joining the three cree ranks, with rekha shankar and matt mercer. they've put her 1) in the plothound seat next to aabria, 2) next to erika, and 3) across from brennan. oh boy get ready people. she's back.

and joining the dome for the first time we have jasper william cartwright and rashawn nadine scott! after the schedule was posted for this week i knew it was likely they were teasing rashawn for this season, but i could not have predicted jasper! from the trailer it seems they're both following the trend of intense makeup & hair--very fun to see.

class updates will come later--see you all on october 4th for the premiere of burrow's end!

[dauntlessdiva]

i wish my stranger things Huge hyperfix was still around :( i miss having brainrot over steddie and such yk? but it’s still lovely to see it on my dash depsite not participating as much anymore. and the fic idea is so good??? i think i’ll go and add some of your fics on ao3 to my read later list! :]

i have tried to watch d20 and specifically fantasy high… i think i got to, like, episode 2 or 3 of season 1. my brain can’t comprehend all of the talking and trying to keep up with story. i love dnd so much and i’d love to delve into d20 more and also critical roll. feel free to talk to me about it anytime! who’s your favorite fantasy high characters??

i also have never watched bridgerton! i’ve seen posts on here about it but i really have no clue what it’s about! i’m guessing it’s british but i’m not even sure about that lol. it’s lovely to watch something with your family like that, it’s really sweet

OH SAME!! i love minecraft and i love baking and i love watching crochet stuff but i don’t participate in the hobby. tell me some of your favorite things about minecraft, your favorite things to bake, your favorite crochet project possibly?

i love music so much AHHH!!! who’s your top 3 artists? or what are some of your favorite songs right now? personally, there’s a new album coming out soon that i’m really excited for! and new music actually released tonight for me as well, just has been a great music month for me ^w^

(hope this is okay, i mean, to send multiple asks as conversation!)

I love this, it's like getting letters but online.

(This is what email wishes it could be)

I also have a hard time concentrating on the words with d20, but also woth podcasts and audiobooks too, so I typically find another task to do to keep my ears engaged. Like I'll listen to Dimension 20 while I bake! Or I'll draw in my sketchbook while listening to an audiobook.

In terms of my favourite character from Fantasy High, it's a tie between Fig and Gorgug. My angry little sweethearts.

Bridgerton IS British! And if you like regency era romance vibes but don't care so much about the historical accuracy, then you'd probably like it. There's a lot of sex scenes though so do with that what you will.

My favourite Bridgerton character is Anthony Bridgerton. He's the eldest and he's so stubborn that I wanna box his ears sometimes, but he is also a sweetheart.

My dad likes to hog the tv for the majority of the week, and we have family movie nights all together on Saturday nights. But on Friday nights, my dad invites his buddies/our neighbours over to hang out in the garage for some beers and good conversation, and me, my mom, and my sister will all go watch something on Netflix together.

We've been doing it since Stranger Things season 4 part 2 came out, and we will just sit and binge entire shows a few episodes at a time.

I may be aging myself with this one, (and that feels so odd to say as someone who just turned 25 last month) but my favourite minceracft youtuber has got to be Vintagebeef. I started watching him when he was in his second season playing on the Mindcrack server (it was their 3rd season I believe), back when I was 12.

I love watching him on the Hermitcraft server these days, and it's nice to see him interacting and having fun with minecraft legends of old and new. I also love any Team Canada (Vintagebeef, Ethoslab, and PauseUnpause) videos. It's as fun as it is chaotic, and it's always very chaotic.

I found a recipe online to turn cake mix into cookies by modifying the wet ingredients, and I have been having so much fun getting creative with those on my days off work since I discovered it sometime last fall.

(My favourite ones so far would have to be the marbled cookies. They are to die for)

My favourite crochet projects, to date, are the baby blanket I made for my best friend's little boy, and the dice bags I recently made for my friend and I (she invited me to join my first ever dnd campaign with her)

My top three music artists right now would be Noah Kahan, Chappell Roan, and Hozier (with a shout out to Benson Boone)

But my all time faves? Marianas Trench, Fall Out Boy, and AC/DC

[pikmininaplane]

Hello dear mutual LB lanuel Bals third of its name, i do not know a SINGLE thing abt d20 i only rbed because a mutual drew that and i thus extend the official invite to feel free to info dump to me abt it (PLEASE !!! only if u want ofc peeposhy) and also where should i start if i were to try to get into it (asking for me)

thank u and have a great ballsy day <33 uwu

Oh em gee it’s Moo Peng my beloved tumblr dot com mutual haiii ^w^ And thank you SO much for giving me an opportunity to talk about this >:D This might get long tho

D20, aka Dimension 20, is a RPG (mostly D&D) show that you can watch on Dropout (smaller American streaming service, but it has really good content <3), though some seasons are on Youtube!

There are 21 seasons in total so far, but each one is its own campaign (well, except for the 3-4 sequel seasons), which means you can absolutely jump right into a later season and still get what’s going on :] Also the seasons range from 20 episodes to 4, so you don’t always need to find the emotional resolve to sit through 20 2-hours long episodes lol

The fanart you reblogged is of Ayda, a character from Fantasy High, which is basically the poster child of D20 – it was the first season, and it later got two sequel seasons, Sophomore Year (which is the exact one Ayda is from) and Junior Year, the most recent season, as well as two spin-off seasons with locations/characters from its world (Pirates of Leviathan and The Seven (it’s kinda funny actually because I know you’re a PJO fan and, well, I often see posts about it in that season’s tag because of the name X))) Mostly it’s about a bunch of teenagers in a fantasy 80s-esque high school trying to solve mysteries and going on adventures!

Fantasy High is not my personal favorite, however – the medal of honor goes to A Court of Fey and Flowers and Mentopolis, respectively the "fey regency/romance" season and the "Inside Out but as a film noir" season <3 But there’s plenty I love!! There’s a space opera season, a "Game of Thrones but with food" season, a heist season, a furry murder mystery season, a fairytale horror season… the list goes on! It even featured a bunch of drag queens on a season :D

There’s only four seasons available on Youtube, unfortunately, but they’re all really good so here they are:

Fantasy High

I’ve mentioned it before, so I won’t elaborate, but I’ll add that it’s 17 episodes long!

Fantasy High: Sophomore Year

Also mentioned before, but I’ll add that this season was recorded live on Twitch so while it’s a lot of people’s favorite, it has occasional problems (especially audio-wise). 20 episodes long

Escape from the Bloodkeep

Lord of the Rings parody – the villain lords find themselves scrambling when not-Sauron suddenly dies and they’re forced to work together to bring him back :3c 6 episodes long, features Matt Mercer of Critical Role fame

The Unsleeping City

Urban fantasy, turns out there’s a whole magical side of New York that regular people can’t see, and a group of unlikely heroes band together to face the bad parts of that magical side >:3c 17 episodes long, there’s also a second season of it but it isn’t out on Youtube unfortunately :(

The next season, Never Stop Blowing Up, is coming out in like a week and a half, based on the trailer, it’s going to be a Jumanji-like 80s action movies parody and I am!! Very excited!! :D

[ah0yh0y]

tagged by @ribcagelikepiano for the get to know you game!! thx friend !!!!!

questions: last song you listened to, currently watching, currently reading, current obsession

last song: Come Hang Out by AJR off the top of my head by my tabs say Providence by Poor Mans Poison . Come Hang Out feels so nostalgic to me even if i only listened to it recently reminds me of a graduation song (it came out 5 yrs ago so it makes sense. I just really love Poor Mans Poison's vibes generally great fuel for daydream and also matches well with the feeling of revolution (and seeing everything collapse i guess.) (ish) mentally listening to Your Love is All I Need by Sami Yusuf tho at all times lately, probs because i have been trying to wean myself off listening to music for like the 50th time. (its slow going but IM GONNA TRY inshaallah ill be able to do it) (he also took the old nasheed music video off his channel? sad its so good)

currently watching: does d20 mentopolis count? only watched one ep but its good. i havent watched anything regularly besides like school vids for a bit. tried watching the dragon prince s5 when it came out but buffering (the video player i mean) and dissatisfaction at the pacing and characterization kinda stopped me. ill back on it at the end of the yr when everything is settled. if we are talking about podcasts started relistening to wolf 359 and keeping up with the greater gatsby (the latter has SUBLIME noir vibes as it is a noir i bloody love shipwreck's work it scratches that itch in my brain so well) . i may have seen spoilers for wolf 359 so i am anxiously waiting to see if i am proved wrong but im on s4 so its soon prepare for a barrage of reblogs for it. watched s4 of malory towers it was very nice i cant wait for s5 - the pantomime hopefully we get new members for the older years next season i miss the larger cast

currently reading: not much really. fanfic alot. i guess. caught up to the end of the To Make a Legend series on ao3 (pjo) and other fics for a couple of other fandoms (in one false move by Kalidium is really good if your into murder most unladylike - spoilers for A Spoonful of Murder though) also been reading barbie 2023 fanfic? was bored and started hunting for good ones (slim picking at the moments but if you want character study and grief and some bloody good writing def read something in me in you by telm_393 i cant explain it its that good) also reread My Memories Came Back in the Form of Someone Else by Lucy_Luna yes its that really good spiderverse fanfic do check it out

BESIDES THAT THO in terms of actual books. have the audiobook saved for The Valley and The Flood so gonna listen to that later. Have to read The Hate Race for class (not my fave but i need for analysis ive read it like 3 times but I STILL DONT REMEMBER ANYTHING) .

started rereading The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes a couple of weeks ago ahead of the movie coming out at the end of this year but never got the chance to finish it so ill have to get on that too.

also dracula ive been reading as well but more on that the next section.

current obsession: re:dracula is the first that comes to mind im so bloody invested in jonathan's wellbeing and his relationship wiht mina and the whole story its insane . i should read more older books its good . re;dracula DOES SUCH A GOOD JOB AT SUCKING YOU INTO THE STORY THE VOICE ACTORS REALLY MADE IT FOR ME i just cant with ti it makes me so bloody happy!! Renfield's voice actor is a standout for me everytime he's there i just have to pause and stare at a wall. also jonathan's actor as well hes SO GOOD i was geniunly worried about jonathan not sending me voicemails into my phone i was THAT endeared to him

besides that PLAY IT BY EAR the musical improv show by dropout is also a obsession of mine i cannot with their talent. the MUSIC so good i want to play it all the bloody time . i am in absolute awe in the performers ability to create a story and TIE IT ALL TOGHETER SO WELL like every piece of information is used whether you expect it or not . DN THE BAND OH GOD I DONT KNOW HOW THEY SO IT THE MUSIC IS SO FUN AND CREATIVE AND FITS THE MOOD AND MADE UP ON THE SPOT???!!! HOW I DONT KNOW (if u ask me who my favourite guest star is at the moment its ross byant hes an absolute delight whenever he is on a d20 show- the improvised shakespear episode blew my mind)

anway THIS SI LONGGGGGGGG soz

no pressure tags: @filmloser04 @mistichallow @charlies-a-thief

@literallymahir @quotidian-oblivion @monochrome-anomaly @suksiili @miseria-fortes-viros and anyone else that wants to join!!!! (you dont have to do a brain dump like me i always go overboard)

[operationslipperypuppet]

for the d20 ask game - 5, 12, and 20? :)

5 - favorite quote

because it's the only thing that i can think of right now, i'll say "only thing that could take us out was a trip to the zoo" from barry. it lives in my head, i think about it once a week minimum. i would say that there are definitely other favorite quotes of mine that i will be able to think of later.

12 - campaign you'd like another season of

i did just answer this, but i'll give another one instead of just referring to that. bloodkeep. i love them. it's so chaotic. it was also the second d20 campaign i watched and it's so much fun. plus as a leiland/markus stan i need more interactions with them.

20 - recommend some d20 mutuals

this is hard and i'm going to forget people but off the top of my head:

@hi-intrepid-heroes

@queen-caramilflinda

@figsbass

@chungledown-bimothy

if you are a mutual of mine and we haven't talked feel free i like making new friends

thanks for the ask!

d20 ask game - asks

[kalinaapologist]

oh do not even worry abt it!!! we are like perfect balance bc i consistently rewatch the big moments and endings for the closure in my heart until it all starts again!!!! everytime you leave it for later just know someone else is treasuring it in the same breath! <3

i hope u know i might hangout here when the new season arrives bc ur thoughts have been incredible i love ur input (even if i don’t get input for the last episode)

omfg please you are so sweet 😭😭 PLEASE i will be going absolutely fucking crazy when jr year comes out. i've only been into d20 for a bit and burrows end was the first thing i've watched live so i deadass don't know how im going to survive only an episode a WEEK😭

im so excited to enjoy it and consume it with everyone tho!!!!!!!!!

[retrokid616]

Critical Role Episode 50 pre-game

so here we are episode 50 so how do i feel knowing its the solstice well an old 80s movie said it best THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

and by that i mean holly shit please for the love of the dice gods there is not a TPK tonight anyway in other news matt's guest GM'ing a season D20 later this year.

so yeah

all that and more this week so until then see y'all in the live blogs tonight.

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

OH MY GOD YES! Okay, so the entire first season is online for free. It's also for free on Spotify as a podcast. It's genuinely... so good. Like... Genuinely.

Dimension 20 is the name of the show and each season is a different Dungeons and Dragons-esque campaign, some seasons are better than others but genuinely all of 'em are amazing.

My personal favorite is Fantasy High, which is like Breakfast Club meets Lord of the Rings meets DnD? It's fantastic and also the first season of D20 (so on YouTube for free). The production quality is.. not bad? But definitely nowhere near the later seasons because they've improved with each season but the star of the show is the amazing comedians behind the characters and the energy and the story. It's truly something else.

The other seasons are all on Dropout, which is a streaming service. I think you get the first month free if you sign up? I've been signed up for a while and the content on there has never let me down.

There are 21 seasons of D20 and my top recommendations would be this:

1. Fantasy High Season 1, Season 2 (keep in mind, during pandemic) and Season 3 (currently airing new episodes every week)

2. A Starstruck Odyssey (Unparalleled. Transcendent. Just the MOST fucked up guys and a very competent office worker in space. The funniest shit you will EVER watch. Would've been #1 if not for the nostalgia factor)

3. A Crown of Candy and then the prequel, The Ravening War (Game of Thrones meets Candyland. Warning: You WILL cry)

4. A Court of Fey and Flowers (Shakespeare and political intrigue but in the funniest fucking way possible)

5. Mentopolis (Osmosis Jones meets the Noir genre feat. Hank Green)

6. Misfits and Magic (FUCK WHAT EVERYONE ELSE SAYS THIS SEASON WAS HILARIOUS! Genuinely, D20 spent an entire season just relentlessly mocking Harry Potter lore and I AM HERE FOR IT. EVAN KELMP HAS THE BEST MOMENTS OKAY?!)

7. Burrow's End (.... do you know what Watership Down is? What about Chernobyl? ... Keep those in mind...)

There's also a ton of others that people really like (Unsleeping City S1&S2, wasn't my thing personally but other people really vibed with it) and seasons that I haven't watched yet but that are on my list (Dungeons and Drag Queens looks amazing, as does Tiny Heist featuring the McElroy family from My Brother, My Brother and Me)

Anyway, if you like great stories, great characters, comedy, improv and DnD I HIGHLY recommend this series!!!

does anyone know where to watch dimension 20? or play/read it, if it's a game/book/comic. i've been finding sm stuff about it and it looks interesting BUT IDK WHERE TO WATCH IT AAA

[dimension-20-every-introduction]

Everyone Introduced in Dimension 20′s Shriek Week episode 2

[captainsspnanon]

C2E59 - Perspective

Sorry for delay, I gave The Unsleeping City a go and had to finish it.  I personally prefer CR over D20, because I love the CR cast all RPing with each other, whereas in D20 it’s so heavily story focused, and RP seems to just be between PC and NPC, not PC and PC, but I’m going to give Fantasy High another shot, and then did get Dropout for some of the other campaigns.  All in all, I did enjoy it, and if you are someone who really wants more good story than lots of RP, I’d recommend D20.  (also a lot more comedy, just by the nature of the stories created and the settings leaning more into the absurd than the classic)

BUT BACK INTO CR, PLSKTHX

(and of course today’s a Thursday, so unless I finish this episode tonight, which is unlikely, I won’t finish it until after I watch the new one.)

….FUCK matt looks hot

nooooooooooo top camera is lower quality :(

(it is now several days after starting! XD  My focus is SHOT right now, I keep jumping from one thing to another to another.  PLUS I’m really wanting to start my Leverage rewatch, and then there’s this, and then there’s giving Fantasy High another go [on the third episode now] and then just all the cooking videos that I watch, not including actually reading and doing shit……...my brain needs to calm down!)

Let’s see how far I can get today before my brain nopes out.

YASHA CHARGING FORWARDS!!!!  (not at ALL influenced by Travis getting super hype in the corner, no sir)

Oh hey!  Is this the first Dwarven Forge sponsor for combat section?

“this will be a trick I learned from Brennan” re: the blue tack.  I had NO CLUE who Brennan was the first time I heard this, so this is super cool! Escape from the Bloodkeep looks like it aired on Dropout around Feb 2019, and this episode is from April 2019, so only a relative few months between (even including that I don’t know when the D20 stuff was actually filmed, because I think? that they have the entire season filmed before posting?)

Travis is SO EXCITED that the Charm Monster worked.  And for good reason!  This definitely was a big turning point of the encounter!  Actually, I wonder how the entire section of these few episodes would have gone had the Nein just killed the giants.  Never find out about their home, never find out about the rift machine, never get the scrap of fabric for scrying……. Unless Matt was going to have the giants start talking during the combat regardless to try to stop it from being one-sided, this is a case where a whole chunk of the campaign could have turned out very differently.

Yasha succeeded on a wisdom saving throw????  what is this out of character nonsense??!!! oh wait, it was for Hold Person.  Alright, proceed.

Yeah, Cat’s Ire! I want to see the cat claw mini next to the Bigby’s Hand mini from C1.  For whatever reason, it always feels to me like the cat claw is smaller, despite knowing that it’s big enough for Caleb to ride it in the cathedral fight.  I’m assuming this is just due to the perspective with the minis.

I actually got a decent chunk into the fight before I noped out from focus issues, but just didn’t have much to say because, yanno, combat.

A week later, let’s keep going!

POLYMORPH LET’S GOOOOOO!!!  Yes, I will likely be this excited every time someone casts Polymorph.  It was THE spell of this campaign, had incredible use both in and out of combat, and ranged for serious to humorous as needed. (Runner up iconic spells for C2?  Sending, Bless/Bane, and Spiritual Weapon are the three that come to mind)

A wild Foster appears!  Foster uses Refill Drinks!  It’s super effective!

Travis, while he gets all the credit he deserves for being an amazing RPer, does NOT get enough credit for his physical portrayals.  He mostly sits outside of his PC while at the table, but when he DOES do it, it’s fucking fantastic.  The ‘UH UH UH, DOWN’ head waggle and heavily downturned mouth??  Completely in character, and completely hysterical.  I love Fjord so much

Okay, the giant telling Caduceus that they were attacked by creatures with wings and long faces?  Ominous and also exciting.  Hearing it again now knowing what the creatures look like??  Absurd and humorous.  It’s SUCH an ugly mini, omg, it’s forever tainted my reaction to it.  And to be fair, it’s a strong creature with some terrifying abilities!  But it’s so GOOFY LOOKING.

“watched his life wither” it’s so cool to see how much Matt actually tells the group ahead of time, but because they don’t have the knowledge of what’s to come, even though he shares it all, it’s in such a way that they can’t predict.  He did the same with the information with the Beacon, and I’m sure much more that I’ve forgotten.

WAIT WHAT what is this shit with Soorna’s brother being killed by the creatures and then being undead? and possessed or shit I DON’T REMEMBER THIS AT ALL

I really appreciate how in C2, pretty much every PC aside from Yasha all had multiple instances of them taking the lead and handling big conversations.  If it’s more serious/analytical, usually Beau or Caleb take the lead. More demanding or bluster or submission?  Fjord (with a wonderful show of flipping between his dynamics).  Humorous or unexpectedly influential?  Jester and Nott.  And while part of it is just Ashley not having the opportunity to, it also makes sense that Yasha mostly sat back and let the others do the talking.  There’s no one set leader, no one style of voice, no one player who made sure to play the face.  After I’d finished watching and watching C1 (so therefore having the opportunity to forget a whole lot of C2), my remembrance was of Caleb, Beau, and Jester being the big talkers. This rewatch is really letting me appreciate Fjord, Nott, and Caduceus’ contributions even more.  They don’t have just ‘one off’ moments, nor do they just have their ‘big’ moments.  All are a steady contribution throughout the campaign.  (and, no hate here, but honestly?  I’m glad we didn’t have Molly throughout, because I really am unable to imagine his conversations and how he may handle things – especially considering Tal wanted to play him as fairly static in terms of character growth, so imagining early!Molly with his harshness and abrasiveness, unsoftened in the way Beau and Caleb are, is just jarring in my mind)

Oh, investigation checks.  I kinda feel bad that Beau got a 25 but basically just found junk, where Fjord got a 26 and got the humiliation material.  I know that technically they were searching different areas, but it’s just one of those things that feels a little bad.  I’d have thought that maybe it required the nat20, but Matt specifically asked “for a total of?”, implying that it did have a specific DC.

Jester pestering Caleb while he’s casting Comprehend Languages definitely gives me twinnie vibes, but also in a completely different way.  Full props to Laura and Liam – the three dynamics that they’ve presented in each of the campaigns is so different but feels so true.  I’m still early on in C3 (episode 30 airs tonight…..episode 29 is the one that I mentioned earlier XD) that they haven’t fully established how they will work in this one, but I’m SO looking forwards to it, SO SO SO MUCH.  Or even finding out if in C3 they end up having a very MINIMAL dynamic – like how Caleb and Caduceus, despite having a few good conversations, had much more of a minimal dynamic than the other C2 friendships.  It’s early enough in C3 that I don’t know! And what’s already been established can change!

Re: moorbounders “if they get killed, I’m going to kill you” “no you won’t, you love me” can I just mention how much I love Laura and Travis’s relationship with how they portray it when they’re streaming?  It’s so fucking adorable

I am pretty sure that I haven’t forgotten a moment, so I am gonna say FIRST INSTANCE OF YASHA EATING BUGS (yes spiders count as bugs shut up).  You can tell that she had this in her mind early on, Matt was describing the flesh and she was sitting there smiling and nodding while the other players/PCs were getting grossed out expressions.  She had the rat to eat before, but this is a step further.  (side note, yes I’m aware that insects are eaten in non-US cultures.  But I admit that it’s a hellova NOPE for me, especially with my phobia of bugs crawling inside my body).  I wonder how much of this was improv-ed in the moment and how much of it was something she’d already determined for Yasha’s backstory.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE!!!!!!!!!!!  First appearance!!!!!  I’m shocked that so many of them jumped on it instantly.  It made me think that it must have happened earlier, but I can’t find any earlier instance of it.

Sam making good use of travel time to have a conversation with Caleb about Nott’s feelings, and it’s so good.  It might not get touched on in depth at this point, but it brings up basically all of her worries.  Is she a bad person for immediately going out on an adventure again?  For WANTING to go out on the adventure again?  Will Yeza like who she is now?  He’s accepted her skin for the moment, but what about her mind?  Does SHE want to go back to being who she was?  So quickly laying out everything there, for an emotional journey that will take the rest of the campaign for her to go through.  And Caleb!  Being so supportive of her and her choices, but also fully reassuring her that Yeza will support her, disagreeing when she thinks it’s just for now.  Also – let’s give fucking full credit to Liam Oberon in this moment.  They’ve already had the Nott/Veth conversation when Nott first shared her story.  But then they also all understood the switch to Veth while Yeza was around.  And now, Caleb takes a moment to clarify even further ‘what would you like me to call you when we are not with Yeza’ and it’s BEAUTIFUL.  This is just a small aspect of it, but it’s a moment where a viewer can really take this and use it in their own lives for people that they may know, to ensure the comfort of those who struggle with their identity or how they present it.

HENRY CAMEO!

Okay first of all, Laura doing sad!Jester destroys me every single fucking time omg. Secondly, I’m actually not quite sure where she was leaving the possibility of the RP going.  I’m a bit disappointed that Travis didn’t engage with it.  While the moment ended up being silly kinda flirty kinda teasy, it feels like there was something big under the surface that got missed.  And because of my shitty memory, I can’t remember if it comes up again later or not!  (to be fair, Laura could have just been RPing Jester as low from being poisoned the night before, but let me read into things)

I appreciate Travis noping out as Matt is describing all the spiders that they’re seeing.  At this EXACT MOMENT, there is a decent sized spider RIGHT ABOVE my bed where the wall meets the ceiling.  It’s too high up for me to kill it, even if I stand on the bed.  As long as it STAYS there, or moves somewhere else, I’m...well, not fine, but ignoring it.  (I had to sleep with it there last night T.T) but if it comes down the wall?  It diiies.

...I just realized that everyone is individually mic-ed.  When did this happen????  I thought they had mics above them?  They’ve certainly hit them enough times.  Maybe because Ashley is back so they’re not seated properly under them?  Or maybe they’ve had the individual mics for a while and I’ve just completely failed to notice?  *starts checking things*  oh, they didn’t have them before break.  I’m guessing it’s for the kickstarter celebration after the show then, and they just decided to get it done during the break to reduce the amount of time they needed to get set up.

I still have mixed feelings with Frumpkin exploring everything ahead of time.  It’s great that the map gets cleared and the party has a vague idea of what they’re heading in to, but it takes the agency away from other players to discover it on their own.  I don’t remember how much Vax did this as well, I think it was frequently?  Or at least at the beginning.  Just glad that Orym doesn’t do it.  Yet.  It’s different when it’s different players doing it each time, but when it’s the same player each time, in multiple campaigns?  I’d hope that Liam checked in with the other players to make sure that they were cool with it.  It’s hard to argue with, because tactically it makes absolute sense to send Frumpkin, but that doesn’t always translate to fun.

Oh good, this was only a quick little exploration.  And once again the ‘does Frumpkin have darkvision’ question.  Matt should have just given Caleb a magic collar or something that let him have darkvision as a cat only. Dumbest 5e ruling.

Beau boosted with Holy Weapon is SO fucking badass, I wish it happened more often.  I actually only remember it one other time….CR stats has it a total of 8 times.  Episodes 59, 60, 69, 82, 95,105, 133, 139.

I….forgot about all these con saves.  Fuck we is in trouble

I hear a lot online about how Matt pulls his punches once Molly died.  Except Fjord nearly straight up died during this combat from having his hit point max reduced to 0 (thanks Cad for canceling the crit!), being targeted as an unconscious creature while an aggressive target was in range but ignored.  I disagree with this statement fully, for what it’s worth.  I also don’t get the argument of people who are desperate to see the party fall and PCs constantly die.  I get that it happened a lot in C1, but you know what also happened in C1?  The players got tired of it.  They talk about it in one of the Talks (have no clue which one, whether it was at the end of C1 or during C2) but they were resurrectioned out because of how emotionally taxing it was, especially to keep having it happen.  So much of the ‘waaaah’ online is that the people thing Matt is being too gentle.  IF he is (which I don’t agree with), then it’s likely something he decided after talking with the players.  Considering they shared their feelings online through Talks, it’s VERY likely that they would have talked with Matt and explained how they felt and what they would like going forwards.  And there is nothing wrong with having a more or less deadly game!  But this is where there’s a lot of preference that it taken from the point of the viewer basically ignoring what is likely preference on the parts of the players.

I forgot that the NPC got the kill!!  I guess ‘cause it wasn’t as hyped up for the “How Do I Want To Do This” moment with Obann – Matt even still says the normal HDYWTDT.

LOL Liam is never going to let anyone forget what happened with Kynan.  STILL SALTY.

I don’t think I’m going to watch their kickstarter wrapup.  I watched it the first time, and I’d rather go to the Talks, or jump back into Fantasy High (still not vibing with this one as much as I did for The Unsleeping City, but they do two of it so I feel like I have to)

@suicidallyreckless

[supercantaloupe]

hello! would you be willing to talk about the flaws in d20? what did you mean by structural/cultural flaws?

sure. disclaimer up front that these are just my own opinions and that i don't want them being taken as fact or being taken up with the creators of d20 directly by anyone on my behalf.

i found that the longer d20 went on/the more seasons they produce that the structure and (some of) the content get less and less appealing to me. content wise this is really very subjective; for example i'm not interested in dating sim-type stories, so Shriek Week was never going to be my thing. but even seasons with premises/gimmicks that i like on paper (like anthro characters in Mice & Murder and space sci fi in Starstruck Odyssey) i found to lose my attention as they went on. love the concepts, but the execution was lacking a little bit for me.

but i think my issues with the show structurally are my larger criticisms, and i don't think my personal taste issues with the content are entirely divorced from the structural elements. anyway, what initially hooked me to d20 with fantasy high is the fact that, unlike any other actual play show i'd come across at that point, it had several structural elements in place that grabbed my attention and held it: 1. the episodes were relatively short (between 1-2 hours); 2. the seasons were relatively short (18 episodes or fewer); and 3. the visual aspects of sets and minis were engaging and helped sort out the action but were not NECESSARY to following along. i don't have the free time or attention span to get invested in an audio-only 100-episode campaign where every episode is like 4 hours long; d20's earliest seasons were very attractive to me for this reason (plus the inventive-for-the-actual-play-genre settings and plots, but this is one thing at least that i do not think d20 has faltered in with its later seasons. the creativity and originality is still great in this regard).

so it became an issue for me, starting around Crown of Candy, when episodes started creeping longer and longer. and then seasons crept longer and longer, like The Seven (sidequests used to be an easily digestible 6 episodes and i liked that). even worse than episodes consistently being over 2.5 hours long i think was that episodes were not a consistent length: the last two episodes of Starstruck Odyssey are under 1.5 and over 3 hours respectively. i understand that a lot of this has to do with the loose and unscripted nature of the storytelling medium, and the cast/editors don't want to break up the flow of the show in inconvenient places. but from my perspective as a viewer, it's kind of exhausting not knowing week to week how much time and energy in advance i'm going to need to dedicate to a new episode of my favorite dnd show to relax and rewind. i'm someone who just does not have the patience to dedicate to anything that long without forewarning, nor do i have the schedule to accommodate that without advanced budgeting of my time and workload. and since one of d20's existing strengths imo is its serialized weekly episode release (increasingly rare in this age of streaming and bingewatching), part of the fun of d20 is watching the brand new episode when it drops every week and reacting to it with everyone else doing the same thing at the same time. when a 3 hour episode drops on a wedesnday night and i have too much shit to do to watch it, and thus i have to wait til the weekend or later to catch up, i can see exactly what i'm missing out on when i watch all my friends on discord or tumblr or whatever watching and reacting to it without me.

i also really miss the structure of the rp-battle-rp-battle episode format, particularly for the mainquest seasons. i think this was an even bigger loss for the show due to covid than the physical minis and sets (which i missed, certainly, during the pandemic seasons, but i think they worked around their absence well enough that it didn't bother me). i'm sure also the more freeform nature of Sophomore Year contributed to this change too but since that was the only full season thus far that was ACTUALLY improvised live to an audience as opposed to being completely shot and edited prior to release, i don't hold it to the same standards of scrutiny as i do the other seasons. anyway, i once again think it comes down largely to a predictability thing for me: you knew, when there was such a pattern to the episodes, exactly what you were getting into in any given week, whether it'd be battle or roleplay. moreover, you knew that each episode was going to wrap itself up in a satisfying way (not necessarily a complete way, but in a satisfying way) that prepped for the next week's episode, which also promised to have a different tone and goal. that variety was important to me, and the predictability. battles and roleplay both get exhausting and difficult to follow (or worse, boring) after too long without the other to break it up. i miss the structure of this pattern (i think started to depart from this format with TUC2 iirc, which is also the first season i watched as it was airing and got the feeling that it was becoming a bit of a slog to watch all the way through).

all of this is criticism, of course, pretty ironic considering that Sophomore Year is still probably my favorite season. but again, livestreamed. they still (mostly) kept their episode length consistent around 2-2.5 hours (finales notwithstanding lol), there was more internal variety within episodes (one 2.5 hour episode wasn't necessarily 2.5 hours straight of just rp or just battle), the gang got split up a lot more which allowed for more variety in storytelling within an episode or an arc, etc. and on top of it, i think that plotwise, they followed up Fantasy High extremely well, introducing/continuing/expanding lore without it feeling out-of-place or retcon-y. i think it having been made still mostly pre-pandemic before a lot of these changes i've been complaining about were fully implemented does link it more closely still with the style of the early seasons i liked so much, but regardless i think Sophomore Year does demonstrate that some of these traits that i don't like about newer seasons, on their own, are not bad. i just don't think they're implemented very well in recent seasons, or at least not well enough to hold my attention and excitement anymore. long episodes aren't inherently bad, but inconsistently long episodes are hard to work around in my life. a lack of a regular rp-battle episode pattern isn't inherently bad, but there needs to be more internal variety to each episode and a satisfying wrap-up to each episode (which may mean simply wrapping up each episode sooner, or it may not).

none of this is even to get into the execution of content in each season. obviously ymmv with personal taste for whether you like any given season's premise or plot beats or whatever, but i remember the many (valid) criticisms emerging surrounding unbalanced character focus and especially racial insensitivity (from the show and from the fans) with certain seasons like TUC2 and Misfits & Magic. not even to mention my own problems with the inclusion of judaism (or lack thereof)/antisemitism in the show, but i have to get to class soon, and don't have time to elaborate on that right now. this post is long enough already, and my issues with the structural elements of the show are just as strong as my criticisms of its representation issues or whatever, plus i think structural elements are easier to understand if you haven't watched every single season because they apply broadly to many seasons, while issues of representation or bad plot/character balance or whatever are only relevant to specific seasons.

[th3b4dk1dzz]

First Campain: Tiny Heist (I was a TAZ convert)

Number of campaigns watched: 21 (Couldn't behind Shriek Week. The dating sim thing just wasn't doing it for me)

Currently Watching: NSBU

Favourite IH Season: Either Junior Year (though the length of it is hard to rewatch) or ACOC (The emotional damage makes it hard to rewatch)

Favourite Side Quest: There might be a recency bias, but Burrow's End is a standout. Though I could see this current season being a new favourite down the road. I still love the Seven though.

Favourite Players: Emily Axford, Brian Murphy, Danielle Radford, Erika Ishii, Lou Wilson, Izzy Roland, Ify Nwadiwe, Ally Beardsley

Favourite Intrepid Heroes PCs: (1 per cast member): Riz Gukgak, Liam Wilhelmina, Saccharina Frostwhip, Adaine Abernant, Kingston Brown, Lapin Cadbury

Favourite Side Quest PCs (1 per season): Sokhbarr, Rick Diggns, Myrtle, Sylvester Cross, Evan Kelmp, Sam Nightingale, Seven, Aleksandr Astrovsky, Andhera, Colin Provolone, Twyla, The Fix, Tula, Andy Litefoot

Favourite NPCs: Kalina, Calroy Cruller, Elody, Mira, Garthy O'Brien, Sandra Lynn-Faeth, Esther Sinclair, Peppermint Preston, Ayda Aguefort Aelwyn Abernant, Zortch, Sybil, Cinderella, Annabelle Cheddar, Primsy Coldbottle, Jawbone O'Shaugnessey

(How many more complicated women does D20 have?)

Favourite Canon Ships: Sandra-Lynn/Jawbone, BINXhera, Rickesther, Figayda, Fabiazie, Evan/K, Thorn/Viola, Tula/Bennet, Myrtle/Marcid, Ruehob, Liam/Primsy (MintMilk?)

Favourite Non-Cannon Ships: Glassbriars, Max/Buddy, Theopin, Zelda/Sam, Saccharina/Annabelle, Margret/Annabelle, Billpok

Favourite Headcannons: Liam becomes druid in later life. Lydia becomes the new barbarian teacher. Gertie, Moleman, Sprak, and Max are all on an adventuring party together. La Bete becomes a librarian of the lines between. Theo is half Carnish (since he's made of gelatin). The carrot knight Karna almost killed but didn't was Keradin's dad.

Tags are open for anyone to participate.

Get to Know Me (D20 Edition)

First Campaign Watched: Fantasy High FY

#Campaigns Watched: All but NSBU

Currently Watching: Rewatching ACOFAF (and slowly watching NSBU)

Favorite IH Campaign(s): Starstruck Odyssey, Fantasy High FY

Favorite Side Quest(s): Burrow's End, A Court of Fey & Flowers

Favorite Player(s)/DM(s): Siobhan Thompson, Aabria Iyengar, Erika Ishii, Emily Axford, Izzy Roland, Brennan Lee Mulligan

Favorite IH Campaign PC(s): Adaine, Ylfa, Skip, Margaret, Riz, Kingston

Favorite non-IH PC(s): Rue, Jaysohn & Lila, Antiope, Ava

Favorite NPC(s): Aelwyn, Wuvvy, Ayda

Favorite Canon Character Relationship(s) (Romantic or Otherwise): Fig/Ayda, Rue & Wuvvy, Rue/Hob, Adaine & Aelwyn, all Burrow's End inter-PC relationships, the Seven

Favorite Non-Canon Relationship(s): Rue/Wuvvy, Antiope/Danielle

Favorite Headcanon or Tidbit(s): Disabled Aelwyn

[asimovsideburns]

While I appreciate the speed with which college humor is putting out new episodes of dimension 20, I also feel like… I wish they would slow down? Is that a weird take?

Like, first of all, they’re consistently down to the wire with editing. The trailer for the newest season wasn’t finished in time, so they had to push it back and release just the title reveal portion instead. Adventuring Party episodes consistently come out without captions, which are them added later as soon as they’re completed. Editing on seasons happens as they’re airing at least some of the time, if I understand correctly.

So, just from a standpoint of “I don’t think it’s great for the crew to be always racing the deadline” I would be more than willing to wait a bit longer between seasons, or between episodes.

Second, the fact that they’re releasing 2+ hours of episode AND 1+ hour of talkback every single week is just. SO much content. Especially when I’m also trying to keep up with other shows in addition to like. Life. And the fact that they come out so fast means that if you fall behind, it feels impossible to catch up, at least for me. I’ve watched two episodes of A Crown of Candy, less than half an episode of Pirates of Leviathan, 5.5 episodes of TUC2, and the first episode of Mice and Murder comes out in two weeks. It’s going to release full length episodes every week. I don’t know if it’s going to have talkback episodes or not, and while I would absolutely love to see them I find myself hoping it doesn’t just because I feel so overwhelmed with content.

I can’t even keep up with the, for the amount of content, honestly frenetic pace of new releases, let alone watch/finish older seasons. People talk about doing rewatches and I think, how do they have the time?

Plus, I think that the show would benefit from 1) giving fans more time to theorize and discuss between episodes, 2) more time to process the finales and analyze seasons before new premieres, and 3) a bigger window for people to submit Adventuring Party questions. I mean, for that last one, Adventuring Party is sometimes recorded the night the episode goes up, or the next day, just so that there’s time to edit it. That’s not a lot of time to submit! If I don’t watch when it drops at 7pm eastern, without pausing, I feel like I’m not going to be able to get my question in before they record.

AND, all of that is not even considering the OTHER content that college humor produces! I know that d20 is the biggest draw but the fact that it’s so nonstop means that people who want to keep up with it naturally have less time to check out other shows like game changer or um, actually. There’s years of shows on dropout and I feel like I can’t take the time to give any of them a try if I want to even attempt to stay current with d20.

tl;dr: I think that college humor could benefit in a lot of ways by slowing down their release schedule.

[loreofthekidults]

fruit snacks & wonder bread | lee chan

focus: dino

words: 1.7k

genre: stranger things au / high school au / dnd au? / fall themes

description: More stranger things au for the beautiful fall season! This is a continuation/addition to the fic with Jeonghan from week one, but can be read independently. Just piling onto this svt x stranger things universe hoping things make sense. Anyways made it in the nick of time for week two of #caratrevival, whew! This week’s themes were Dino and the lyric « Here’s the baton, man ». Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

(Quick note, I went a bit ham with the dnd game at first because I miss playing, but I tried to edit the scene to be as simple as possible so hopefully it’s not too confusing for non-dnd players. To all dnd players, BSS are all bards and that’s canon.)

____________________

“Don’t forget to say your thank you-s and excuse me-s!” 

“Yup!”

“And remember to wash your hands and clean up after yourself!”

“Yup!”

“And also share your snacks with everyone!”

“I know, I know,” Dino swept an armful of fruit snacks off the kitchen counter into his backpack as his mother stood beside him with hands on her hips. “And I know, don’t be too mean to Seungkwan, yup, got to go now!” 

Dino rushed out of the kitchen to the back yard and tugged on the door handle to the shed. His bike was leaning against the wall in its usual dusty corner beside the rakes. After retrieving his bike, Dino hurriedly waved to his mother seeing him off through the parlor window. As he reached the line where the grass met the asphalt of the driveway, the garage door grumbled open to his test.

The dingy Ford Station Wagon thrummed to life and slowly backed out into the sunlight. The windows rolled down, and the scream of the electric guitar paired with the bass and snare heartbeat of Prince’s When Doves Cry flew out into the air. Dino’s older brother Jihoon glanced at him in passing as he reversed down the driveway. His friend Wonwoo sat in the passenger seat and nodded at Dino in greeting. 

“Where you headed?” Jihoon asked him nonchalantly while twisting around to see if he was going to hit any trees.

“To Seokmin’s. We’re starting up a new campaign.” Dino kept pace next to the car as it crawled down the driveway.

“You guys still play Dungeons and Dragons?” Wonwoo pushed his glasses up. Dino could feel the gentle mockery in Wonwoo’s piercing gaze. 

“Yeah, we do. What bingo session are you senior citizens off to join?” 

Jihoon snickered and shook a finger at his younger sibling. “What a smartass. Who’s DMing this time? Your campaign sucked last time, hope it’s not you again.”

“You have poor taste in adventure. And Seokmin is.”

“Good. Well have fun, then. Remind Soonyoung that we’re meeting later. And tell him not to be late again.”

“Where are you guys meeting?”

“He’ll know.”

“Come on. Tell me.” 

“Bye Channie.” Jihoon gave Dino a curt look before changing gears and turning onto the road. Dino bugged his eyes out at him in retribution. 

“See ya, Dino.” Wonwoo raised a hand in goodbye. 

They think they’re so cool. Dino smirked internally as the two drove away in the ugly wood-paneled car. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out his headphones, attached it to his walkman, and pressed play. The falsetto of Michael Jackson’s Beat It filled his ears. Hopping onto his bike, Dino pedaled furiously in the opposite direction.

Seokmin’s house, only a short 15 minute ride away, was located in a general northern direction from Dino’s home. In between were lengths of forest and hills, and driveways dotted here and there. The schools and hubs of Plediestown were on the other side of town, so this part of the woods was quiet, with only families and farms going about their lives like happy smurfs.

The autumn air had chilled the air and shriveled leaves were sprinkled across the grounds. Another, more attentive person would have better appreciated the gradients of red, burgundy, pumpkin orange, and mustard yellow foliage of the forests around them. The neighborhood contained snapshots comparable to Bob Ross landscapes. But to Dino, this was nothing new to admire, it was just home. 

Like Nuest Court, where the houses of the cul-de-sac were clustered together at the bottom of a large hill with the massively old oak tree. It wasn’t just a scenic view, it was where all the kids in the neighborhood went sledding in the winter and played manhunt amongst the fireflies until the summer sun disappeared. 

Dino zoomed past the hill, the oak tree standing majestically as ever. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the movement of a figure strolling under the tree.

Is that Minki?? What was he doing here? 

Dino blinked furiously. It had been years since the boys of Nuest Court had left town together to follow their dreams in the city. If one of them had returned home, it would have been the buzz of the town. Turning his head, Dino squinted at the lean figure . He had shoulder length black hair, loose-fitting white shirt, thin—honk. HONK.

Whoa. 

Dino screeched to a halt and twisted his bike sharply towards the curb. A car drove around Dino, and he saw Seungcheol giving him a happy wave in his sky-blue marching band uniform through the driver’s window. Even with the windows closed, Dino could hear the guy giggle his ridiculous giggle as he passed.

Dino turned his gaze back towards the oak tree atop the Nuest Court hill, but the figure was no longer there. 

Oh well. Dino merely shrugged and went along his way. He’d hear about any new visitors sooner or later in this small town. 

By the time Dino was pedaling up the driveway to Seokmin’s house, he had all but forgotten about the possible Minki appearance. The garage door rose as he neared the house, and Jeonghan appeared, donning the same ridiculous blue uniform as Seungcheol. Dino threw his bike onto the grass beside their perennial bushes and rushed into the garage, swinging his backpack at Jeonghan.

“Hey Jeonghan. Nice outfit.”

The older boy dodged his attack and called after him, but Dino was already two steps in the house and purposely ignoring him—he hated being babied by Jeonghan. The warmth of the house tickled his cheeks, and he lightly plodded down the familiar stairs into the even toastier basement. 

“Eyy Dino!” Hoshi yelled, jumping up from his chair. Vernon raised a hand in greeting. Mingyu and Seungkwan were in the midst of an argument over who’s dice were prettier, so Dino plopped down next to Seokmin, who gave him his trademark sunshine smile and high-fived him.

It wasn’t long before the group huddled seriously around the small table and quickly descended into the magical realm of Seokmin’s imagination.

“The party leaves the inn well stuffed and equipped with shiny new weapons.” Seokmin’s eyes widened dramatically as he narrated the story and built the world up around them. “You all head towards the edge of the forest where the old wizard said the gate to the Noir dimension is located. There is no sign of any life, but there is a stream of gurgling water and trees lined the shoreline. In the shadows of the woods, three—”

“Can I attack the stream?” Hoshi interrupted. 

“Why in the world do you want to attack the stream, Soonyoung? It’s not going to do anything,” Seungkwan rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration. 

Hoshi stood with one foot on his stool, his chest puffed out, and his imaginary sword in his right hand pointed towards the ceiling. “Because I can!” he laughed mightily.

Mingyu groaned and swiped his hand through his hair impatiently. “We’re not even going to get to start the quest today,” he muttered. 

Vernon smiled and shook his head, used to Hoshi’s goofy antics. Seokmin laughed heartily, clearly enjoying this turn of events. 

“Ok! Roll to attack!” Seokmin declared.

Hoshi took his d20 and dropped it into the center of the table. “Oyyyy, Nat 20!!!”

“You successfully attack the river!” Seokmin screamed. “Hoshi slices at the water, and you can hear a soft gurgling sound eerily similar to the word ‘ouch’.” Hoshi religiously followed the words of the Dungeon Master and mimed poking his sword at an imaginary river.

Mingyu doubled over cackling and managed to fall off his chair. Vernon was shaking Seungkwan’s shoulder in glee as they both guffawed incredulously.

“What a waste of a nat 20!” Dino exclaimed, but he was struggling to breath from his own shrieks of laughter, too. 

Seokmin suddenly slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone into silence. His face grew serious and he looked at everyone with a sinister glare. “Little did you know, the water began to shine and part. A glowing ring with a dark center appeared out of the water and a freezing wind blew out of the circle. Roll for investigation check.”

They each rolled in turn and Hoshi—and only Hoshi—failed the check.

“Alright,” Seokmin rubbed his hands together mischievously. “Everyone but Soonyoung realizes this is a portal to another world. You know, probably the portal you guys were looking for. Soonyoung, on the other hand, thinks it’s a really cool blow dryer and sticks his face through the glowing portal.”

“What do you see in there, Soonyoung?” Dino asked, only half serious. 

“I don’t know. It’s really dark, hahaha.” 

“Do we have a torch or something?” Mingyu asked.

“I got one. Here’s the baton, man,” Vernon pretends to hand Hoshi the imaginary light source. 

“Suddenly, you hear a terrifying ROAR!!!” Seokmin howled at the top of his lungs. Seungkwan hugged Dino in fright.

“And with that, Soonyoung is pulled into the other dimension and the portal closes.” Seokmin sits back down and smiles sweetly at the party, waiting for them to react. They all just stared back at him in shock.

“Dude!” Hoshi broke the silence. “Am I dead?”

“Nope!” Seokmin stated simply and chuckled a bit embarrassedly. “I just didn’t plan for you guys to discover the portal this early, so I needed to get you guys back on track first.”

“But I’m stuck in the other dimension now? Separated from the party???” Hoshi squished his cheeks in despair. 

“Don’t worry. You’re fine.” Seokmin laughed and patted his friend’s back reassuringly. “You guys wanna take a quick snack break?”

“Yes please.” Mingyu stood up immediately. Dino peeled Seungkwan off of him and poured his hoard of fruit snacks onto the table. 

Hoshi slumped into the sofa dejectedly. “Guess I’ll just sit here and watch you guys play then.”

“Oh right, Soonyoung!” Dino called out as he climbed the stairs to get some more food. “Jihoon said to not forget to meet him and Wonwoo for something. He didn’t tell me where, though. Just make sure to be very late.”

Dino reached the top of the stairs and turned towards the kitchen.

What the—”HEY!” Dino shouted. The rest of the boys clambered up the stairs and peered into the doorway behind him. 

An unfamiliar boy stood beside the counter stuffing his face with wonder bread and the leftover chili. He was dressed in a wrinkled white hospital gown that reached mid-thigh and thin pajama pants with dirt smudges all over. His long jet-black hair hung limply, and as he reached his hand out to grab another piece of bread, the kitchen light shined down onto his thin forearm. Along the inside of his wrist, the inky numbers stood out against his pale skin: 008.

Dino gasped.

“You’re the Minki impersonator!”