it seems like we're kind of going in a timeloop direction this season? there's a lot of callbacks to the first season but beyond that there's a big thing with time falling out of their hands, ayda and arthur being sent into the past and not able to come back to the present, all the other characters growing and changing while the bad kids just stay the same

also kipperlily is doing some time shit...... she found the rogue teacher on day one.

it's also interesting because she's clearly meant to be a callback to penelope in that she's seeking out power over the school after aguefort has been defanged and prevented from actually taking charge. also in the seven, arthur said that he would never allow for any student leadership so that's another prom king and queen situation i'd say.

but the callbacks kind of feel like it fits into the whole Time Break aspect of whatever the season's main case is.

i do really like the more mundane approach that the season is taking. like, fantasy high has always been what if john hughes ran a dnd game so it's blending dnd with classic high school tropes but it feels a bit like the tropey archetypes are fading a little after the characters have sort of slowly outgrown them

I feel, in terms of world building, season one introduced us to the very basics of school, the same way a new freshman would learn the basics. Then the second season asked itself, okay, I have the basics of Elmville down, what about outside of that.

and now season three is like, okay, we understand the very basics of how things work, but what if we go deeper

yeah so far it's reminding me of The Seven which was so heavily about REFUSING to break up your friend group even if people are graduating, which is so so real lmao

anyway Kinderegg Cottonnettle was like designed in a fucking lab to be the high school antagonist, we need to take her and study her.

it's funny because she's apparently one of brennan's old pcs, which is a vibe i've gotten from a few pcs (it is a dungeon master staple) but i wouldn't have guessed that about her.

i do feel like immediately they (kristen) kind of lost any moral high ground by just immediately attempting to bully her.

also her poor name

i haven't gotten to her yet but her name being kinderegg oh my god

oh no, her name is Kipperlilly Copperkettle. But the subreddit has immediately jumped on naming her everything but that in a Benedict Cumberbatch kinda way

MAN, STILL THO

"are you like four separate dogs?"

i will say the emphasis on going deeper into how the school works is really making my brain happy since i sure have written fics in this setting

kristen when her god's life is hanging on a thread (the thread being kristen's lackluster dwindling faith): you know i just wanna see what else is available.

girl

this is how she became the nightmare king in the first place!!!!!!!!!!

TJE BITCH IS BACK

i am curious to see what kipperlilly's beef is because i don't think we can really guess where she's coming from. given the way that this season is so clearly about dragging the bad kids back down to earth after their massive heroic highs, i doubt whatever her beef is with them is like... as simple as her being Objectively Wrong.

oh my god her name literally means red herring

They seem to hint at favourtism but... that is going to be a hard sell for me.

I really wouldn’t call the bad kids Agueforts favourite considering... well kalvaxus they did all on their own. And spring break was essentially cleaning up Arthur’s messes which, uh, not favouritism.

mmmm i'd say that the bad kids (and to a lesser extent the seven) are his favorites based on like, the fact that fig is dating his daughter and that aguefort has personally intervened on their behalf multiple times but that hasn't really necessarily been a benefit to them per se? they get the really important quests but that also involves. fighting

the nightmare king.

but given how important quests are for grades i GUESS i can see how that would wrap around to being a favor?

i think to some extent the vibe i got was that kipperlily resented them for being the main characters (little did she know that they are the main characters because. they're the main characters.)

but idk i'm willing to let brennan cook.

we also don't necessarily know how it is for the other adventuring parties. we've only really interacted with two of them.

and like there are avenues for why someone might see aguefort as giving the bad kids special treatment. he did grant aelwyn a full official pardon as a favor to adaine for an attempted coup, mass murder, treason, kidnapping and specifically her part in the plot to poison him specifically - as well as giving the vice principal job to gilear because fig asked.