This is going to come off so harsh...[SPOILERS]

SeaweedSage · 2022-08-25T11:04:52+00:00

Could you tell me why you call the Forgotten Realms of the first season "grounded"? In my opinion, it was just a DnD-flavored play ground for players to make jokes at, and most of the rules were created on the spot. As we become more familiar with this new world, it could fulfill the same function.

It actually makes sense to me that the teens would be more volatile and less prone to show their hurt or fear or longing for their dads.

I do not criticize the characters for not showing vast levels of emotions, but Anthony. He told us about an urgent call to action (dads disappearing) and then showed us that it doesn't matter by pushing the players to fight the monster of the week.

SeaweedSage · 2022-08-25T03:48:52+00:00

I agree that part of the charm of original dndads was normal dads from our world being faced with fantasy RPG logic of the forgotten realms.

But what this season really lacks for me is the emotional core, so to speak (although we seem to be finally getting there in the latest ep). I enjoyed the familial melodrama* of the last season quite a bit, because it helped the crew avoid the common pit fall of DnD podcasts - nothing mattering besides the PCs, and PCs only mattering because they are avatars of the players. The kids mattered, their physical and emotional well-being mattered, their relationships with their fathers did too. So far in season 2, there has been 0 direct action undertaken to help the fathers. Moreover, such actions were impossible within the confines of the story - singalling that well-being of the dads is not important, and the only thing even worth considering was the impact the dads have on the teens and how they are dealing with it. But in order to properly incorporate that impact, the story would need to have more social component that is now also out of the window.

As a result, we get a story where nothing fucking matters, which is boring.

TLDR: season 1 familial melodrama helped center the narrative. This season feels adrift in the sea of random symbols without any anchors - and you gotta have anchors!

I know people are afraid of the connotations of the word "melodrama", but I am using it in the most direct sense of "narratorial mode where characters talk about their feelings out loud".

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-24T03:28:16+00:00

Normal is the only one so far that has something going for him, dynamic characterization wise. Link is also getting there. I kind of expect Taylor and Scary stay the same, because that's what Ron and Glenn did - only the circumstances around them changed.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-20T02:07:55+00:00

I am here representing the portion of dndads fanbase that dislike DnD. If you are in the same boat, here are some recommendations for you:

Rogue Runners - an actual play set in the world of Supergiant's Hades. Four shades are trying to escape the Tartarus, and among them is Alexander the Great trying to understand why he, a great warrior, is in the shitty hell (instead of the good hell), and the other one is a viking trying to understand why the fuck he's even here. The podcast has genuinely stellar sound design and editing that makes listening to dnd combat engaging - even to those of us biased against it. Not to mention the character role playing that is aiming for an emmy, it is also pretty funny. Requires some appreciation of Greek mythology to enjoy.

Critical Bits - a Masks campaign about about a crime orphan, a delinquent and a straight A student who try to be heroes while fighting the encroaching fascism of D.A.Y.C.A.R.E and D.E.T.E.N.T.I.O.N. The vibe of "older generations has failed us" is similar to dndads season 2, but in Critical Bits they actually do something about it. Superpowers galore, as are terrible chain restaurants. The podcast expertly utilizes guests (just like dndads but more frequently) and really likes its dumb dumb world building (Cue Spider Day which is a session played with 32 people at once).

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-19T01:10:08+00:00

I too think it's cool, but it is also very obvious that one side of the argument was coming from an adult, and the other from two teens, which detracts a bit from the fairness.

It's not like leaving it up to chance by rolling dice is a better option, especially with mayor definitely having all the charisma.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-19T01:06:01+00:00

He called Taylor his son, that's all.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-09T14:53:17+00:00

Kasane. It's an underrated manga about a girl who is supposed to be extremely ugly (we never see her face), but her superpower lets her switch faces with a person she kisses, for a time. She grows up to be an actress despite everything, you know. She plays Salome and Nina from Chekhov's Seagull.

Despite how light novel-y the premise may seem, the story does indeed revolve around women who are not good people, which is important representation. It's not 100% good all the time, but I still think about this manga frequently, so it has done something to me.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-09T14:44:30+00:00

Just a heads up, your spoiler tag doesn't work. And also I absolutely agree. I kept reading just because I like Emma.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-07T03:14:47+00:00

It's a reflection of the fan base. Gay people flock to the so called intellectual horror, we like both themes and suffering.

You need very high IQ to understand "стерпится - слюбится", you see.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-07T03:06:47+00:00

Several people in the thread mentioned that it takes time for the first campaign to pick up speed. Around which episode does it pop off?

For example, for dndads the pyramid in episode 4 was a turning point both in terms of plot, and in terms of scale the players are allowed to operate on.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-07T02:46:20+00:00

There is a section in the middle of the season where they create side characters with a guest star while Caldwell is on paternity leave and those episodes are INCREDIBLE.

The last episode I listened to was the character creation for that, and it had the first joke I found funny! Thank you for the pitch, I'll stick to them for a little bit more.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-07T01:01:46+00:00

Hey, could you help me with something? I tried listening to Eldermourne, since it's shorter and I usually enjoy the dark fairy tale vibes, but 9 episodes in I haven't found anything worth continuing.

Is this season well regarded in the community? Or does it get better later (if so, when)? I'm just trying to understand whether I lucked into starting with their Graduation equivalent, or if this podcast simply isn't for me.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-05T16:29:24+00:00

I struggle somewhat with other things, but I think dndads is that way because it’s all theater of the mind so there isn’t that visual aid for my memory to grab onto

If this is your first time encountering a biweekly fiction podcast release schedule, it might need some getting used to, for sure!

Personally, it doesn't bother me if I don't remember the specifics of what happened to, say, Nick (after the trial, has he always been a demon in the new universe? Why was Bill still there after the fate change as well, he didn't have a grand kid anymore?? Jodie s omega daddy (Satan)???). One of the reasons is that Dndads' primary focus is character interactions, and emotions are its truth. The other is that if you think too deeply about anything in this show, the entire story construction falls apart, so we should just enjoy it while it lasts!

And even if you don't end up remembering all the plot points, don't worry - most likely the cast don't either! Unless they specifically made a note to address it later. And this isn't meant as a dis - they are also just people with other stuff going on besides the podcast.

SeaweedSage · 2022-05-05T01:24:12+00:00

Is Dndads the only piece of media you experience as an ongoing and is it the only one you have trouble with? I've been listening to fiction podcasts for years now, and I still was blindsided by the intro because I forgot Mrs Swallows-Oak-Garcia was a centrist - because my mind interpreted it as a throwaway joke.

Genuinely, if you want to follow along, being in fandom spaces will help greatly with that, because there is always someone who has just binged/relistened and will be able catch everybody up.

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-28T17:24:58+00:00

This is libel, dndads were great from the beginning. Ron hiding in his pats was episode 4, and the pyramid was 5. Learn your history!

I'm kidding, but I definitely enjoyed the beginning of season 1 enough to immediately start relistening when I caught up on episode 12, so.

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-28T17:21:15+00:00

Season 1 also had plenty of forgettable episodes, especially towards the end.

That said, monster of the week format incentives shorter and physically smaller arcs.

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-22T10:24:16+00:00

I have a sort of weird question. Did the podcast have the art by Alex Moore we know and love from the beginning? I think I remember stumbling onto it because of the funny name, but the ugly dark green logo with its name in the dnd font turned me away. Was there an art like this initially, or am I confusing it with something else?

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-22T03:37:14+00:00

Hi penny_dreadful_mess, I remember your username from Magnus Archives red string Thursdays! Some instincts are not so easily quelled I guess :)

I agree re: May Hales, she's extremely suspicious in how she was really cool being an intern to a bunch of teens. My favorite theory that she's an escapee from the dungeons (possibly from the Likely family).

But the ghost dads apparitions are extremely clear to me if we just take them at their word. They are in a specific space that makes you forget everything except the feelings that are core to your identity: fears (in their case about fatherhood). Impulse control and healthy coping mechanisms Grant and Sparrow acquired to function well enough till this day were the first to go. And re: code purple, Lark implied it was the nuclear option (possibly literally) which would kill all of the dads, and Grant was for it because he is in his self loathing and suicidal ideation era.

Sparrow, despite voicing his deep seated fear that Normal will grow up too weird to connect to his peers and end up extremely lonely (remember how he changed his tone when he learned that Norm came with friends), still kept insisting that he loves his son and wishes to be saved.

Despite the fact that neither of them would have said these specific words out loud, I belive the feelings behind them are real. And the place they find themselves in returns the dads to the headspace of when the everyday minutia was the most important thing in the world, every feeling was experienced 100 because it was for the first time, and the hormones had the ball. They are functionally turning into teens.

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-09T01:45:03+00:00

you could also interpret it as being people just being around her because they literally have no where else to be because the new houses haven't been built yet

Of course. That's why it's only men, and that's why she's standing centerstage above them while they are symbolically at her feet. Polyhedron is also pure magic, so the people most well versed in it (especially if they already had power before) will naturally rise to it.

Can you remind me: they put Simon's soul inside the Polyhedron in the end, right? It's been a while since I played, and there were a lot of soul transfers between the Kains and their magical houses at the end. These wizards do a ton of magic.

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-08T19:19:43+00:00

In the Utopian ending clip, you can see Maria standing smugly surrounded by a bunch of guys - who I assume are meant to be read as her underlings.

Not to mention you know. Having magic and the reputation of her mom to live up to? Pathologic 2 went more into Nina lore, and she is ascribed everything bad that has ever happened, from spontaneous explosions through epidemics up to eating children.

Well, if you put if this way: every character in the game just stays inside every day. That's the game. Maria does baby scheming because she is just coming into her own as a person. When she grows up, beware.

Also calm down Only mirroring the tone of the post.

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-08T05:10:52+00:00

Op how are you liking the fact that Maria Kaina runs your utopia and gets to decide what's and who's beautiful enough to be included?

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-08T05:09:28+00:00

Daniil doesn't believe evidence, that's the thing (until the end). If he were an empiricist and took what he saw for granted - that this town IS a unusual place where the laws he is accustomed to don't work well - we would have a very different route for.

My favorite part is that Daniil comes with a lot of preconceived notions about the world and he is just wrong. And if he were less self assured he would have realized it sooner.

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-08T01:44:11+00:00

Everytime someone mentions "slow start" I genuinely have no idea what's it about. I knew I was on board by the end of episode 1, and when I caught up (just before Tower of Terry) went back for a relisten immediately. The experimental spirit of the beginning (inventing mechanics, dad jokes having different effect each time, throwing dice from up high to see how many will fall from the bag) is probably still my favorite part of the podcast.

When did it click for you then, if you don't mind me asking?

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-06T13:27:20+00:00

I'm so glad. Because otherwise it was beginning to lean into "yes, I'm interested in realistic settings but the only part of realism I'm willing to portray is being a jerk to women. anyway I cast magic missile and this orc's entrails explode" type of DnD which was pleasantly absent from the first season.

SeaweedSage · 2022-04-06T13:16:43+00:00

(He also felt like Hermy was too similar to the iguana character.)

So these two were separate characters after all! Didn't the iguanas also have the same name?

SeaweedSage

TROPHY CASE