#ally beardsley

THIS IS OUR OMAHA!

➡️ Watch the season finale of Dimension 20: City Council of Darkness on Dropout!

Do I think it's good storytelling? No, absolutely not. It was all over the place, introducing plot points that would have been better left alone and failing to tie up dangling threads that should have been addressed.

Do I think it was the most entertaining two and a half hours I've had in ages? Hell, yeah! The absurdity was half the fun for me, even though the storytelling was unsatisfying.

At the end of the day, this was a popcorn season to me (similar to a popcorn flick: you watch it because it's wildly entertaining, not because it's great cinema). This was a guy and his friends having the the best time RPing a system they weren't familiar with and just doing whatever felt funnest in the moment, and that made it so much fun. Breannan and the Intrepid Heroes laughed so much through the entire season, they were clearly having an absolute blast.

As someone who very much enjoyed this season AND the finale, I do agree with a lot of the criticisms people have! I do think that the finale was rushed, I do think that it devolved into bits pretty much immediately and that a lot of characters and plot points were negatively impacted because of it, and I do think there were a few moments that we could have done without especially towards the end.

That being said, I have been deeply disturbed by how brave some of the D20 fans have been in their criticism lol, specifically in the way ppl are talking about these real life people with real life flaws and feelings. Yes, Brennan could have done a better job rounding up the players and tying plots together, I don’t think that gave anyone the right to say he single handedly sabotaged the season. Yes, Emily’s character got significantly more screen time than anyone else’s in the finale; in my opinion, not only was it fucking hilarious and genuinely heartwarming at certain points, but Emily often gets more screen time because she’s willing to take risks that no one else is! Of course Vesper was willing to sacrifice herself, of course Emily played her character exactly the way she would have acted in real life, she’s an incredible actress and role player! Also there’s something to be said about the way people talk about Ally and Emily compared to everyone else, but I’ll let talk about that in a second.

Speaking of Ally, I don’t even really want to touch this conversation because it’s so ridiculous but I can’t believe that way some people are talking about them. I think it’s warranted to discuss how their bits can interrupt the plot at times, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to call their bits “attention-seeking behavior” or claim their ruining the entire show when this has been the program since forever! Ally is going to go on a wild side quest in the middle of the game and we are all going to watch it crash and burn. It’s going to get retconned anyway so why does it matter. Imagine if they had filmed the entire insane clown sex fiasco and just. Didn’t keep it in the Final Cut lol. I guess some people would have been happy about that but personally I find it very mean-spirited to take out your frustrations with the season on one specific player when in reality it’s a product of the entire process.

I also think it’s very telling how everyone is very quick to discuss Ally’s bits and Emily’s play style but no one ever talks about the numerous times Lou let a scene sizzle out and die because of a joke or how Zac will sometimes go 30 full minutes without adding anything to an episode. And I’m saying this as someone who loves both of those cast members! But it’s something to talk about.

There are so many other things I could talk about honestly- no HJ and Lavonte’s relationship was not queer-baiting what are you even talking about, no I don’t think this entire season was an insult to vampire: the masquerade, etc etc, but that’s a post for another day.

In conclusion, I do think a lot of criticism about this season is valid, I just think some people should be a little more careful how they discuss real life people who have full access to the internet. Personally I realized that this season was going to be full of insane bullshit and go absolutely off the rails by episode 6 but I understand being disappointed by the finale and the way the season ended up going. That being said, watch ur tone lol!! The internet is not a vacuum.