I was talking to some friends about how much this campaign needs a tv show like Critical Role, and it would be amazing as a Roger Rabbit style hybrid show with any magic being animated, and hearing "i live in a fucking cartoon" again would make it SOOO much funnier!
“You can’t just be a *thing* that lies around *my* house” has got the be the most brutal thing to hear from your child, especially when you know they’re right.
@@bumblerbree Frankly I've always seen that as him treating his family's shared space as his, rather than as outright ownership. For the majority of the first season he does behave like his parents', or more specifically his father's achievements are partially his own, and he says "he is rich", despite apparently little or none of the fortune actually being his.
@@WhiteKnuckleRide512 well brennan has to play all of the characters that aren't players, so it's not like he's specifically doing it, but like... 1 in 4 campaigns or so? enough that it's a thing. Clearly it works.
"SHES A GODDAMN CENTAUR" was very serious in the moment, no one even laughed, but as an isolated statement, is one of the funniest ways to bring a yelling match to a grinding halt that i've ever heard, and I quote it all the time
To me it feels like a really cool Kingston moment that really underlines where their relationship went south. Where Liz sees herself as trapped in a world she never wanted and never knew, she trivializes the people and things that are most important to Kingston. When Liz abstracts Epona as a "horse lady", Kingston immediately pushes back. In addition, and in true D20/Lou style, is a fucking bonkers line that is extremely funny.
The way Lou and Brennan sink their teeth into the relationships between these characters is unparalleled. They commit so hard to loving each other, resenting each other, pleading with each other. It's beautiful and chilling. I love Dimension 20.
The fact that they’re best friends IRL lends everything they create together on D20 *so* much power. They build off each other so well. Just a privilege to experience, every time.
You should all listen to Worlds Beyond Number. Aabria, Brennan, Erika, Lou and their wicked talented producer Taylor making magic. Even the prologue to the first campaign made me cry many, many times. Making magic is not in any way an overstatement.
It's in New York but secretly magic. Also they're exes who got divorced because of his (lou's character's) commitment to the city being too much for him to maintain their relationship. It's SO emotional
It reveals a lot of their relationship. Especially since he begins with “I am faithful”. At least in his mind, for a moment, he considers himself to still be committed to her. Even if their relationship has ended the love is there.
Brennan as a wife would be loving and supportive and an absolute treasure. Brennan as a caramel lesbian who’s true love died and then had to marry their loved ones shithead little brother- would be brutal.
"you have to be some kind of person! you can't just be a thing that lies around my house!" is an INCREDIBLE line and sets off such a great arc for Hilariel
right like i remember listening to fantasy high while doing other things but when that line happened i had to give it my full attention, it's SO good?? lou can say so much with so little
it's especially amazing considering they hardly spent any time with her as a character in-game and it wasn't brought to attention often - lou really plays fabian as a real kid that goes home to that mother every day even when it isn't relevant or necessary for whatever the plot is actually doing. hell, fabian doesn't even express discomfort with his family until later in freshman year because his character is so devoted to his parents and doesn't want to admit his life isn't perfect.
@@bumblerbree I love when Lou and Fabian are clearly very different people, so much so that the obnoxious things Fabian says (tbh, mostly in sophomore year) break the other cast members
@@PotatoKing16 my favourite Lou line is basically the first one I ever heard His dad: what is the relationship between luck and talent Fabian: 500 gold pieces And when he says Papa. That whole thing caught me off guard and I’ve been binging all of D20 since then. It was so funny.
I've said it once and I'll say it again, "Please don't call me Mr. Brown" is one of if not the most heartbreaking line in D20 history, in no small part because of Lou's incredible delivery.
I'm sitting here math formula meme-ing in my head trying to figure out what kind of test such an accurate and relevant comment could be. I love your user name.
[1:28] “oh what, so you can do your magic hands?” let’s not forget that in addition to having 30 years of experience as a cleric, kingston has 30+ years of experience as an ER nurse. so liz was just being nasty with that line
Nasty, but also truthful… because relationship wounds can’t be healed with magic hands or medicine, and being married to the guy who everyone loved and who could fix just about everything besides his own marriage would be a uniquely painful experience.
@@jay-gf7lmI honestly wished they managed to repair their relationship by the end of the campaign. I felt like that was the only loose end that didn’t get tied off
@@brandonjones5879 I think the way their relationship ended up is really realistic. They lost a daughter. And they didn't actually love eachother. That they ended up as "we'll be polite and cooperate, separately" is very very reasonable in my eyes.
Lou Wilson (in my opinion) doesn’t get enough credit for how good at acting especially in tense or dramatic moments. These + the scene where he says he will choose NYC over Pete always impress me so much from the sheer quality of acting
Lou always knocks it out of the park. His characters are all so different and every one of them are roleplayed so naturally. I love all the dimension 20 cast, but I'm pretty confident in saying that Lou has had most of my favorite moments.
@@graveholmes7814 Ally in earlier campaigns was definitely annoying at times but I love them in starstruck. Playing more serious and structured characters suits them a lot. But starstruck is my favourite d20 campaign anyways. Each character is different but they all just perfectly fit together.
“I AM faithful! I WAS faithful! I would have CONTINUED to be faithful!” Is such a powerhouse line and delivered so well. Brennan and Lou are such good actors and improvisers.
@@chrismanuel9768 I wouldn't say racist so much as hysterical and ignorant. Also, drinking half a bottle of whiskey every night will leave you almost permanently drunk/hungover.
God I ALWAYS cry when Caramelinda says "Lazuli not telling me hurts, because Lazuli I loved with all my heart, and this is just politics" while referring to her marriage TO HER HUSBAND'S FACE and Amethar just responding with "I'm gonna be better" looking like a f*cking kicked puppy on the street in the rain. IT'S SO BAD Y'ALL WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS TO ME SPECIFICALLY
This is still Lou's best delivered line. It's perfect. It's why I would love an Unsleeping City animated show. Just to have Lou absolutely knock scenes like this out of the park.
“you have to be a person, you can’t just be a thing that lays around my house” oh how i burst into tears. fabian might be a daddy’s boy but he still wants his mom in his life so much
i dont think you have it here but the part in the fantasy high fight where lou says "mama, just be a person, for once!" broke my fucking heart the first time i heard it. Fabian was my absolute favorite part of that last episode, Lou played the teenage-ness (that everyone the whole season did so magnificently) mixed with sudden trauma so perfectly!!
Ugh every Caramelinda and Amethar fight just filled me with gut-wrenching anxiety because of how real it felt. Candy ppl RP’d by some hilarious dudes and I had nausea inducing levels of anxiety over the drama. Loved every second of it!
Absolutely, horrible pit in my stomach every single time man. I can see why they’ve been so hesitant about a second season of ACOC I can only imagine how much of a toll it took on them mentally to inhabit these deeply flawed and hurt characters. But honestly? I think it’s maybe the most well acted campaign we’ve gotten so far.
One of my favorite Lou moments was in ACOC when Emily as Jet is begging not to be rescued and to stay with Amethar and Lou just completely ignores her while plotting how to get her out. Does not interact, talks to Brennan over her, and plans her rescue. Exactly as Amethar, as a dad trying to save his daughter, would do.
i love it. and you can see emily-as-jet panicking for real, i think partially because she knows there’s a real chance that amethar is trying to die for them and also because she knows jet is not gonna let that happen without dying herself
Duuuude......and his visible frustration when Jet was saying she wouldn't leave. He gets soooo imursed in his characters. He WAS a Dad in that moment. I legit thought he was gonna curse Emily out
The core of the argument between Caramalinda and Amethar hits so hard. Lou's patient delivery of the line "I'm gunna do better" seems so sincere, and then he's hit with the "what does that even mean." 🥺
That interaction is really emblematic of who Amethar was at that point: he *is* sincere in wanting to do better, but he just doesn't know *how* to do it. He was and continued to be surrounded by people more capable than him at his own role's requirements. And yet those same capable people needed to rely on him and were let down by him and suffered in ways he couldn't or didn't protect them from, so he's got all this *wishing* and *expectation* (external and internal) but none of the skills or experience. It's heartbreaking that he was in that role at all, when he truly was not suited to it and then, once in it, didn't feel safe or confident enough to ask to be taught about all the skills he lacked.
Yes! I started it thinking it was going to be the silliest campaign. While it had more than its fair share of silly moments, it was also heartwrenching. I was in tears so many times.
Brennan is so good at bringing these characters to life that he morphs into whoever he plays. I don't see him in the moment, just a disgruntled ex, a disappointed wife, and an alcoholic mother
You forgot Fantasy high episode 8. Fabian: Call of the beast! Torek: I would die before calling off- Fabian: THEN YOU WILL! *Drop* My respect for Lou as a RPer grew exponentially in about 7 seconds.
A highlight for me is the fight between Evan and Jammer in Misfits & Magic, when Jammer is desperately trying to convince Evan to have some self-worth. Absolutely gave me chills
lou commits to his characters so well he balances comedy with heartbreaking storytelling and its so amazing to watch especially between him and brennan
All of Lou's characters are pretty great in different ways, but I think the specific thing I love ablut how he makes them is he always makes them a product of their environment. The way they are is always a direct response to how they came up. Fabian, raised in wealth and heard tales of his father's greatness his whole life, being showered with praise by the man. Of course he'd become a confident (usually overly so) and spoiled little daddy's boy. Through that though, we see he really more has an idea of who his larents are than who they really are. He needs a reality check and to find who he wants to be away from them. Kingston grew up in a big community during civil rights era Harlem. He had 2 loving, old fashioned parents and neighbors he could rely on. Of course he'd grow up wanting to do his damndest to defend that community. They've gone through so much together. He wants to do more than just his part for them. What he learns throughout the series is that he shouldn't put everyone ahead of him all the time. They don't want that from him. Amethar was 5th in line for the throne. He lost his parents pretty young, but always had 4 reliable sisters who hardly needed him. Of course he wouldn't have needed to learn the intricacies of courtly workings. He had no shot at the throne and he knew that. What he learns painfully is that that isn't how his world works. He can't sit on the sidelines anymore. To make their sacrifices matter, he needs to be better. All of them are a direct response to how they were raised and how they view the world. They only change when their world-view is genuinely challenged and they're forced to re-examine it. I love that about his way of making characters and think it's worth examining for other characters we might want to run.
The Liz and Kingston fight is still some of the best roleplay I have ever seen. It is so good. It is what got me to start watching The Unsleeping City series. I saw a clip of it somewhere online and knew I had to watch it.
Same here. I just feel like it recontextualized everything about Fabian's life all at once. It's confirmed in the freshman year finale that Hallariel has been on a bender for 14-15 years. Fabians only memories of his mom are of her being wasted and disconnected from reality, and him realizing that this is completely unacceptable after meeting his friends' moms all season really stuck with me.
Love these moments and I haven't seen any of them elsewhere on yt, thanks for sharing them. Their chemistry together may be my favorite thing on the entirety of dropout.
It’s been 2 years since this video was uploaded and I still come back to it. I think Lou’s ability to fully inhabit the characters he plays is so masterful, even though it’s often to the detriment of his own character (like losing all his abilities as Fabian in FHSY). What a man.
the savagery of caramallinda (no clue how to spell that) is honestly unprecedented. Like GOD DAMN I felt hurt and that shit wasn't even directed towards me.
That last fight always hits hard because Amethar being told he “just waited for the problem to go away and fix itself and you forgot about it” is something I have been told before. And it is one of the biggest insults I could ever imagine.
What's crazy to me is how foreign dnd was to Lou before D20 but he plays like he's had years upon years of experience, I know he's got the bases covered in terms of acting and improv but it takes skill to immerse yourself in DnD like this, to stop thinking about the game and the imaginary numbers it provides to your imaginary character that lives in a sheet of paper and instead, become someone, in an universe that someone else made for you, to be part of. It's amazing to watch.
Ironically, a Crown of Candy is the most brutal Dimension 20 season to date. It wrecked me, made me weep and gasp out loud in surprise and shock and horror. A must watch, but watch at your hearts own risk
Dimension 20 is so good its 100% worth the subscription, all other dropout content is nice but it doesn't even begin to factor into paying for the service
I don't think people talk about enough how intense the characters from a Crown of Candy were. That interaction was just the culmination of this tenuous marriage and it was amazing
I may have watched the first scene so much that I'm seeing things, but I can imagine Brennan's improve brain going "I was on track to *be somebody*" shit, this is a comedy show "I had to watch them fingerprint a pile of shit" and the juxtaposition between those two gears is why Unsleeping City will hold a place in my heart for a LONG while.
God I love them SOOO much, everyone is fantasy high is so talented and I especially LOVEEE the chemistry woth all of them and Brennan, the character interactiosn are like none I've ever seen
Brennen has a amazing way of narrating the world as they go through it to not only make it enjoying to watch but also impactful. The perfect example of this I think is when he acts as Galeer in fantasy high season 1, he’s hilarious but when he does the bit inside of shellberts head, it’s so depressing and takes a deep turn into how people like shellbert must think
No idea what is happening, but what I do know is that I need to watch these people, because holy shit was I engaged in the first clip and I don't even know the context of the situation.
For enough context to begin to appreciate how amazing these people are, the first clip is the Unsleeping City set against the background of a magical New York city and its inhabitants, most of whom are unaware of the true nature of reality. The second is Fantasy High, which is like id John Hughes' coming-of-age teen movies were in a fantasy world. The third is if you took Game of Thrones and smashed it full force into Candyland. There's all the savagery and heartbreak one would expect and as one can see from this clip, it is in no way diminished by the fact that Lou is a hulking Pop Rocks king, speaking to his queen, who is made of caramel toffee. (Or the twin royal princesses who are, respectively, red and black liquorice)
Lou yelling "I am faithful, I was faithful, I would have continued to be faithful" honestly love ves in my mind rent free. It's been at least a year since I first watched this and I still think about his character Kingston, and the way those two fought in that scene.
The best Lou v Brennan fight in D20 imo is the prison fight between Fabian and Bill. I know that Lou's series of bad rolls in Sophomore year is the real kicker for the "I am my own man" arc, but I think that fight is what really started that arc for Fabian. He finally gained the courage to be BETTER than his father, not just a shadow. That is the perfect fight to me.
That first clip gets me every time. It's a masterful performance from both of them, but Lou's delivery on his last line is incredible. He makes it damn near impossible not to sympathize with his character.
the amethar - caramelinda - lazuli storyline was sooooo heartbreaking to me. the way lou and brennan both played their roles just constantly broke my heart.
I love these, but one thats on my top 5 is Brennan playing Evan Kelmp when he says "look at this! This is whats on the inside & it takes alot of effort to keep it down!"
