Title: Gladlands
GM: Brennan Lee Mulligan
Players: Ally Beardsley (they/them) as Quinn Wedbush (she/her); Zac Oyama (he/him) as Connor Kawasaki (he/him); Oscar Montoya (he/him) as Poppy Persona (she/her); Jacob Wysocki (he/him) as Kokomo (he/all); Vic Michaelis (they/she) as Hugi (All Pronouns), and Kimia Behpoornia (she/her) as Tess Tube5 (he/him).
Streaming Service: Dropout

As the Carer Van prepares to leave, they say their final goodbyes to the good people of Rotglob, lovers and friends alike. They each receive a gift. From a baby’s chainsaw to the last chicken nugget, they all have long-term effects which may playout later in the campaign. When Kokomo receives a historic artifact originally meant for the History Heap, his Determination increases to the next level (his D8) due to the beach-themed summer vibes.

The group continues on, arriving at Dr. Knife’s hospital to drop off the blood from the drive. Dr. Knife is extremely literal. She brings up a relative of Hugi who immediately gets uncomfortable. Desperate to distract, Hugi fakes a fall. That luckily shifts attention, and it gives Quinn an opportunity to ask if they have the resources to send additional medical staff to Rotglob. Though Dr. Knife confirms they have extra staff, she is highly reluctant until Quinn shares some roach jam.

While at the hospital, Poppy Persona learns there’s been a trove of texts found in a sunken city. A group of kids recovered a complete works of Spear Shaker (a.k.a. Shakespeare). Meanwhile, Dr. Knife drops the name “Muni” which connects with Huginn and Muninn, Odin’s ravens in Norse Mythology, suggesting that Hugi is part of a paired set, so to speak. This fits with the raven motif as well as Hugi’s position as a traveler around the Gladlands, bringing messages and information around. Even more than this, the implication is that she is a tool of a more powerful force – perhaps the aunt with whom she seems to have fallen out perhaps around the time of Muni’s death.

The group heads to the History Heap, and while you’d think this would be a joy for Poppy, she’s clearly stressed, seeking comfort in Kokomo. Poppy and Parcel head up the Heap. Meanwhile, Tess and Ash bond as the young insect human hybrid sees stars for the first time. Her sweet enchantment absolutely strikes the table in the heart. Of course, we also get the horrifying introduction of Hugi’s one living relative who she desperately wanted to avoid, Aunt Freaky. Absolute stretch that makes me think Hugi’s father, but one of Odin’s names was Fráríði (“The One Who Rides Forth”), which sounds the most like Freaky of any of them I know, and by that, I mean it sounds almost nothing like Freaky, but we work with what we have, so if you know more or want to try connecting this in, please write your guess out in the comments.

When Freaky asks about a “Herby”, dread absolutely sank my stomach. The colorful Poppy Persona conformed herself into the uniform of the History Heap. Out of drag, Poppy goes by Herby Miggs, who is clearly uncomfortable like this transformation which she does every time she arrives at the History Heap. Hugi and Kokomo attempt to comfort Poppy and fail. She gives Freaky the sign. It seems so strange that someone who stretches her limbs and calls herself ‘Freaky’ would demand Poppy be less than she is. Then again, that happens more often in reality than we’d like to admit.

As Poppy argues to stay with the Carer Van, she notices that someone has made a request to look up information about Uncle Pus. At the same time, Tess’s senses pick up bug activity that sends him to fight or flight. We end the episode with our beloved shredded bug in danger.

Highlights

You may think that Quinn’s compulsive proclamations signal a chaos gremlin Ally season, but their most reasonable by-the-book analytical character, Margaret Encino, had the same sort of romantic hang-ups. Frankly, outside of Liam, almost all of Ally’s characters seem to fumble love no matter how chaotic or not they are. Ally coordinated the re-planning during this episode. They brought in Poppy’s potential interest outside Glidertown, route to the Canlands for the leeches, and drop stuff off at the History Heap. While everyone eagerly moves to leave, Ally also checks in to ensure they’re considering the emotional needs of those around them.

However, the highlight of this episode might just have been the Good Boy leeches. I can’t wait to see the fanimators go wild with that scene.

Final Score (5 out of 5 Stars)

Every character had me tethered this week. Between the sweetness of Ash and Tess to the agony of Poppy’s formed conformity, this episode had it all. Hugi’s grief and the awkward gap between the joyfulness of Aunt Freaky before and after Muni’s death makes the whole relationship a rollercoaster of emotion as Vic’s strained smile underlined an all too familiar family tension. Even though we had a bit of victory at the end with Quinn’s CD success, the appearance of the horned beetle man left us on a ledge of emotion with no guard rails.

Though both Hugi and Poppy were under pressure this episode, their grief both came from such interesting sources even if they were both technically pushed through Aunt Freaky. I’m really curious on how the History Heap handles Poppy, but I’m also a bit worried, considering a lot of material that gets burned first in a Mad Max situation are items which normalize the other, and if fiction is considered a lie and undesirable, then I can only imagine the complexities of philosophy and psychology may also not be welcomed by a blunt, absolutist approach based on bits and pieces of out of context information.

Let us know in comments below or go over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Dimension 20

The Boss Rush Podcast: The Flagship Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network

The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord. 

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