There are certain times of the day where the numbers align in perfect harmony and a familiar glow of magic illuminates the world for that singular minute.
It’s 7:21am and you’re running through the sweet spring fields, far away from home with the hand of your twin sister— your half soul held strong and confident in yours. Both of you dream of a life away from the responsibilities neither of you understand. You leave scarecrows in place of yourself in the classroom of your chocolate bunny teacher.
It’s 3:03pm and this is the first time you smell what you have only have heard stories of. The stink of bloodlust, of a tidal wave war, of screams and the clattering of iron, of a mother’s tears and the crackling fires of revenge. You and your people survive. An assassination attempt was made on your father. You feel rusted gears start cranking, slow and threatening, deep underneath the earth as the wails of the fallen fill your ears.
It’s 8:45am and forbidden confessions echo against the walls of the holy. Words you did not know were capable of escaping your father’s mouth, old and dusty secrets pouring out and you realise you do not know him. Your sister’s hand grip yours and your crowns spilt into two, simple metal clattering against god-forsaken grounds as everything you have known now lies at your feet. You narrowly escape the church. You witness the brutal murder of a friend. “The Bulb cares for no one.” You run.
It’s 10:05pm and you embrace your mother for the first time in weeks. You see the way she looks at your father. You see the way she scrambles to find some resemblance in him of an older lost one and fail to do so. Her soft and love swelled eyes that grace you and your sister does not land on your father and you wonder if she deserves the wordless losses she has dealt with. She demands that you and your friend go to rest but you, your father’s child, see too much, hear too much and you run away from the castle to explore as you did before all this.
It’s 12:01am and you draw your last breath. You feel yourself slip into the mist within the warm arms of your friend, your brother. “Tell Ruby that I love her, and tell her that she did the right thing.” You feel yourself loose the tight grip of your sister’s hand, your mother’s, your father’s.
Your dream of fighting for the world has been fulfilled. No longer princess, instead a warrior in war. And you remember the stories of the soldiers— you feel the warmth of your father’s arms around you, of your mother and sister’s tears soaking the earth above you and you sleep, knowing that you have protected what is most important to you and that they still have the breath to even mourn.
It’s 6:33am and you smile a little smile and sleep— a sister, a daughter, a princess and a warrior.
ive been thinking about this today and just feel the need to sing praises to it
the last stand fight is literally one of my favourites if not the favourite from D20
and, you know, its probably not the hardest or the most story important one, but god its just so good
like the fact that non of them dropped??? that they didnt even get that injured and yeah on some part it obviously was the dice as it often tends to be in dnd but it was also them showing how well they work together
i feel like they all play into their strengths very well it this fight and they even talk about it in the adventuring party like if it werent for spell casters with area of effect spell the fighters would stand no chance, but also noone else could probably tank all that shit from the purple worm like gorgug
and like the decision from emily axford to disguise herself as the proctor was so good and yeah again luck also played into that but if she didnt do it, there would be no chance at even having that luck
and also her spirit guardians (love that spell) delt so much damage, and adaine coming in with the scatter to move the proctor away, which leads to kristin coming closer to there, which allows her to see kipper whats her face and stop whatever she was about to do
and then theres the exams part which they fully blow out of the park, like im pretty sure there was at least one question from like freshman year like prompts to you for remembering, also them actually attempting the math and essay and the essay actually kind of making sense and being about something that the characters genuinely care about
even if we go back to the dice, fig is struggling it that fight (and honestly the whole season) but because of so many good strategical decisions that emily makes, the impact of the dice is not as big as it could have been, if she had done things differently
also everyones vibe is so good the entire fight, like this fight was not made to be easy, they were probably met to at least drop maybe even multiple times, but they are having fun with it, joking around about the rats and the jellies and honestly its a very on brand fight for the bad kids
i also just remember the amount of nat 20 zac rolled in that fight, like that was insane
karna and amangeaux's relationship absolutely ruins me. they both develop in opposite directions until they converge in the finale. amangeaux's struggle sharpening her until she's stone, keeping herself alive through connection in a literal sense. but karna's life post FDA has been better than anything she's ever known. she's been rotting for as long as she can remember, shes living on borrowed time with the people (mainly deli we're talking about deli here) that she loved. her time is softening her, in both an emotional and a literal sense. by the finale they've effectively gone through opposite arcs. even their designs are extremely similar at this point. by the end they've swapped spots. karna at the softest she's ever been. in a literal sense: her body fully rotting away before her death, and in an emotional sense: confessing her love to deli. trying her best to save the one she cares most about in the best way she knows how. amangeaux continues to harden even after the battle. she shifts into karna's place, slipping in and out of shadows and disguises, running on what she thinks is borrowed time.
its about sisterly love to me. its about looking out for the other in the only way you know how. amangeaux WANTS karna to be soft! she encourages her endeavors with deli! she wants her to build relationships and let down her walls. and the opposite is the same for karna. karna wants amangeaux to toughen up. she wants her to be stronger and more secretive and tougher because thats how she knows she won't get hurt. she wants her to be safe. they both care for one another so much but neither of them understand the depths of the other until the end, when they've experienced it for themselves.
When Aesop told the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf to Pinocchio, it really got to me how everyone immediately became protective of him and started snapping at Aesop, defending this abused little boy's right to lie and make mistakes. Those things that are so universally punished in the morals of stories like that. Those things that any person should have a right to do, especially a kid, and especially a kid in a really bad situation.
It really brought home for me how much of Neverafter is about kids misbehaving or disobeying their elders, as kids tend to do, and getting disproportionately punished for it with cruelty. Pinocchio, Red, and even Gerard and Rosamund. Jack, in Timothy's story. And I think it's really heartwarming to see those ideas rejected. No, actually, sometimes you need to lie in order to save someone. No, sometimes, your elders don't know what the hell they're talking about. Sometimes they don't have your best interest at heart. And really, you should be given grace and allowed to make mistakes and learn and grow either way, without being horrifically punished and traumatized for it. Especially as a child.
Idk, something about how viscerally angry it made everyone at the table to see this story preached to a little boy who has suffered more than enough for things that he should've had the right to do in the first place. It felt very beautiful and comforting. What a loving and kind story that is
i love you minecraft youtube, i love you minecraft storytelling, i love you improvised minecraft roleplay, i love you non traditional media, i love you block men who have literally made me shed tears, i love you medium that allows for use of imagination, i love you incredible and devastating plots delivered via silly mc mechanics
The best thing Dimension 20 has done for me personally is that it proved that creating interesting, realistic and authentic queer and diverse characters *is* possible and not an impossibly difficult challenge so many different pieces of media make it out to be
Every dropout subscriber loves comedy, and beneath that we love psychological horror. And beneath that? Comedy again, but weirder and gay.
Amethar, a little prince of the House of Rocks, so far away from the throne. Lover and loved. He makes choices as a human, before his position as prince. He has never understood the necessity and restraints of royalty. He marries his lover, a commoner. He is young and innocent, and he does it unabashedly, without hesitation and fear.
Caramelinda, Duchess of Merenge falls in love with the blinding brilliance that is Lazuli Rocks, the powerful Archmage of Candia. She knows power, she knows politics, and she knows the importance of unity of Candia. She marries her lover. She cares and loves with more than her entire existence and she achieves peace for her home too.
The Ravening War. Caramelinda finds the lifeless body of her wife scattered amongst the heroes of the war. The sound of her heartbreak deafens amid the devastation of the field. She cradles the body of her lover close to her heart, thumping and thumping yet Lazuli’s eyes remain vacant. The tragedy of our heroes. Caramelinda watches the Rocks sisters fall at the hands of this hungry, bloody war. She watches the line of crowned dominoes crumble and fall at the feet of young Amethar, warrior and sole survivor of The Ravening War.
Orphaned Amethar, Heartbroken Caramelinda wed, both hearts aligned to another. They wed, hearts broken and lost to a war, torn apart and left to a quiet, empty castle.
“Lazuli I loved with all my heart. And this (pointing at Amethar) is just politics.”
Two children are gifted to this loveless couple and they find solace in it. Twins with the beauty and brilliance of their mother and the determination and bravery of their father. Ruby and Jet hear the quiet arguments between their parents, “Amethar, the delay of conversation has been perhaps your most cardinal sin.” They see that their parents do not share the love-filled eyes they shine onto the sisters.
Caramelinda lost her heart years ago on the battlefield and Amethar, his, even before it.
Emily Axford <3
And the little flower in Brennan’s hair!!
(I started A Court of Frey and Flowers)
Ayda Aguefort 🐦🔥