Neverafter: Down Came The Rain

This is something I need to get more into. During college and now after my mind is always thinking that any and all stories I read need to be in the mindset of possibly being published but sometimes you just need to write the mountain of the most plotless but chaotic amazingness that builds up.

i feel like all writers just need like....an oc story. and i dont mean like a story just with original characters. i mean like a piece of writing that simply makes your brain go wheeeeeeeeeee and its at the level of something your 13 year old self would write and post to deviantart. its liberating. its freeing. its comforting. my ocs are all gay and overpowered as fuck and there's really no plot to this but by god I'm having fun.

Had some thoughts about the themes emerging in Neverafter so far in another post’s notes that I may as else clarify in my own.

(BBEG is Capitalism truthers beware ig, there’s a lot of me talking about why I don’t like that theory and find it reductive.)

Ok. So. I guess I’d like to start saying that I get why people enjoy a good “haha bad guy is capitalism” joke, because everyone who plays dnd hates capitalism—especially right now, considering current controversies. BUT, I find the common posts of “OMG Neverafter’s bad guy has GOT to be capitalism/Disney” very irritating because it feels less like people picking up on the clues the narrative is putting down and more hammering their own biases of what they want the series to be about into the narrative.

Like, some people keep saying the moral is that Disney sanitizing everything is bad but like… literally nothing about the setting (aside from some fairy tales Disney used appearing) suggests that. The stories are getting worse, darker, closer to their older versions. And the characters don’t want that! Non-Disney versions of the stories aren’t framed as better like you’d think a “Disney Bad” narrative would—in fact, several characters would much prefer to be in their Disney versions right now, whether or not they should be. That kinder versions of the story—which would include the Disney movies—are vanishing due to the carelessness of a select few is presented as a bad thing.

If the theme of the story was that sanitation of fairy tales is bad, don’t you think we’d start off in more “Disney” style versions of the stories? You could easily make a horror story about the dread of being trapped in a “perfect” world. But that’s not what’s happening.

One of the horrors of the Neverafter, courtesy of Cinderella’s visit, is that bad things keep happening no matter what you do. Cinderella’s mother always dies. She always becomes a servant to her Stepmother. Over and over again. Why? What is making this so?

It’s the horror of predestination, of bad things happening to you because someone has decided they should no matter what you want. It’s a much bigger and baser concept than Historic Versions vs Disney Versions, or even Characters vs Disney.

As the conversation with the Librarians and Mother Goose’s encounter with the Inkwell seem to suggest, the conflict is moreso Characters vs Authors.

The question Brennan seems to be posing through Neverafter’s world and story isn’t “Isn’t Disney So Awful?”, it’s “In a reality where storybook characters are real people, is it moral or ethical to make those characters suffer for a good story?”

Or, removed from the trappings of the setting, the question is: “Is it moral or ethical to make real people suffer to make a good thing?”

Good children, good spouses, good futures, good ideals, good communities—and, in a Capitalist society, good profits. But what is good enough to sacrifice people for? And what is “Good” at all?

So what if Lucy frostblade wasn't possessed when she submitted to change her god but what if someone in the rat grinders is a changeling. And what if that's why Ivy wasn't surprised when she saw Lucy at the party because she assumed someone else was pretending to be her. And what if that someone is kipperlily and that's why she's such a good rogue

Moodboard

certified coolkid moment: finding the rotting corpse of your classmate in the woods

figueroth and sandra lynn faeth; daughter and mother // dimension 20: fantasy high

fantasy high: junior year - a very merry moonar yulenear // lady bird, 2017 // ijeoma umebinyuo - questions for ada // alexuma // wych elm - susan smith // joan tierney - the elektra complex // fantasy high: sophomore year - hellbound // imma_slytherin - fig the unfaithable and the summer sads // nora kasten // honeytuesday // fantasy high: junior year - untapped rage // ethel cain - family tree (intro) // lynn emanuel - single girl. one room flat.

The Unsleeping City: Chapter 2

I just finished this season last night and wow this was such a cool fucking season. The first season was the first campaign I watched for Dimension 20 before I got the dropout subscription and quickly fell in love with everyone.

This season was so heartwrenching and had so many wholesome moments. I'm so glad that all of the characters had such wonderful character arches that really fleshed them out even more than the first season did. Plus all of this insane worldbuilding of this world that both is a real place but also this underbelly of the city going into fantastical realms really just expanded so much this time around.

Also, all of the research that Brennan and the team went into for the sobriety roles that Pete and Sofie were having to do. It was a nice touch for that realism and a bit of a callback for Adaine in Fantasy High. I really love just how much they dive right into research for things like sobriety and it just shows how much they care about showing these realities that everyone faces.

I absolutely love how everything tied up in the end. Between decimating the hold that Gladiator was gaining on New York and banishing Null back to the deeper dreaming really encapsulated just how powerful believing in your community and believing in yourself really is. We always joke and note that Brennan somehow always is anti-capitalist and brings that into the campaigns he DMs, but I think it brings up the best point of it all. How so much stronger the common person is when they have that chance to grab their dreams and goals with the help of others like them doing the same thing than any corporate entity ever could think of doing.

It was a beautiful season and will stand in the spot with season 1 as one of my all-time favorite campaigns thus far.

Now, I am off in the world of mischief and magic with the beautiful Aabria. I can't wait to tell you all about my reaction to it.

A Starstruck Odyssey

This was such a funny campaign to watch. There was so much chaos and just fun little bits. I really loved it so much. Plus I love the sci-fi genre especially when it's fun and creative like this. And I think it was great that this was based on Brennan's mom's comics and universe she had built. Getting to hear little bits about the world outside of the context of their campaign really helped fill out the worlds even more.

I definitely think that Skip was one of my favorites. Him and Sundry Sidney. I loved everyone but I think their two stories I liked the most. One running away and finding himself since he lost all of that time to do so. The other redefining what she was thought to have been. Everything but turning into anything. It was so interesting watching their interactions with the NPCs that pertained to their stories.

I think my favorite scene was actually the Junkmother scene. The way Brennan portrayed this being that found beauty in the thrown side and outcasted bits and androids. Connecting with Sid on the want of bringing these thrown-out droids back into the light. And the art of her was really cool. Plus I always love when the editing has those multiple voices overlaying each other. It's such a small detail but I think that it really polishes off characters that are greater than average beings.

The sense of urgency stuck through the entire way through, mainly due to the credits but I think that really worked. It kept the story and the characters moving forward. I feel like sometimes there are lull moments, which aren't bad but depending on the campaign they may not work as well. Even during downtimes, the characters were working on things or banking in Margret's case. Which kept everything moving forward and I think it helped immensely.

Overall, I think this campaign is in my top favorites because of just how silly it all was. The giant "dog" and all the different factions coming after our spacers, just all of it tied up so beautifully. It was so much fun and I can't wait to watch more.

I'm not quite sure what campaign I'm gonna watch next. I started the first episode of Coffin Run but we will see. I have one more post about the last two episodes of Neverafter coming soon. I want to get that out before this upcoming Wednesday. So, until then, I'll talk to you guys later.

no one talk to me ever again I have died one hundred times over

i am begging you all to stop treating this site like instagram if you dont want it to be content free by next year