Line #12 Heartwarming/VideoGameHighSchool


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_vghs-s02e03_2734.jpg]]
2
3	[[AC:Season 1]]
4	* Brian has wanted to play on a VGHS team since he was "[[HoldYourHippogriffs E For Everyone]]". And he gets invited to join the school. This little conversation, though rather simple, is extremely powerful given the context:
5	--> '''Brian's Mom''': (as Brian is heading out the door) Where are you going?
6	--> '''Brian''': ([[{{Beat}} slowly turns back towards his mother]]) ...I'm going to VGHS. (walks out)
7	* Brian gets [[ShutUpHannibal pissed at Games Dean]] and challenges him to a battle of ''Field of Fire'' in rage. While he's on the receiving end of a CurbStompBattle [[spoiler: which he is deliberately losing - or at least not trying to win - to get expelled]], Jenny enters the game and bails him out, giving him a RousingSpeech in the process.
8	* Before the guild tryouts in episode 9, Brian finds out that Ted and Ki dug his old mouse and keyboard out of the dumpster and repaired them, even though they had been destroyed by the Law. Brian decides to use his old gear for the battle instead of the standard issue VGHS equipment.
9	* In episode 9, Brian tries out for a spot on the VGHS team at last. Once in the game, a couple of players start picking on him. Then:
10	--> '''[[spoiler: Games Dean]]''': [[ShutUpHannibal Hey!]] I've seen these two cats meow, and it's about to be a fancy feast tonight. ''(to Brian)'' You plan on bringing the thunder?
11	--> '''Brian''': [[LetsGetDangerous You know it.]]
12	--> '''[[spoiler: Games Dean]]''': Good enough for me. ''([[HeelFaceTurn fistbumps]] [[DefeatMeansFriendship Brian]])''
13	** Before the game starts in episode 9, the aloof teacher Ace teases Brian for being late again, but genuinely wishes him luck before Brian sits down.
14
15	[[AC:Season 2]]
16	* Episode 3 deals with each character's (except Brian's) parents. Naturally, we already know by this point that Freddie is a ManipulativeBastard towards his son, and Mary Matrix would rather act like a harsh coach than anything like a mother. But then we meet Ki's dad, Ken. After the episode is done, this much is clear; He and his daughter love each other very much. He would like to see her reach her potential, and claims VGHS might not be good enough for her. He does not care who she dates. And they are so close, they play TabletopGame/{{Poker}}[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} mon]] with kisses and chores as wagers. It's just the most adorable thing ever.
17	* The end of episode 4. [[RunningGag Throughout the episode,]] Brian has been having difficulty defusing bombs in ''Field of Fire'', even though [[CentipedesDilemma he can normally handle it just fine]]. In the match at the end, when Brian is the only one left alive on the team, he has to disarm the bomb. He gets to the bomb and prepares to disarm it, looking nervous...when his pet cat, Cheeto, arrives on a RC car (ItMakesSenseInContext), crashes into a wall, flies off the car, and lands on Brian's face. Jenny looks ready to pull Cheeto off...when Brian holds up a finger, silently telling her to hold on. He then manages to successfully disarm the bomb; not ''despite'' having a cat blocking his view - ''because'' he has a cat blocking his view. He didn't feel right trying to play the game without Cheeto there.
18	** Even better; most viewers who remember the first season will recall that, constantly, Cheeto would attack and scratch Brian. They might think that when Cheeto is on Brian's face, he's just doing what he normally does - being a bother, possibly ready to scratch. Then, for a split second, Cheeto quietly mews and rests his head against Brian's headphones. ''He is hugging Brian.''
19	*** Even better when Ki then manages to get Cheeto to become the school's mascot, avoiding having to throw him out as the rules demand, as no pets are allowed.
20	* Episode five seems to be the episode dedicated for [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold jerks with hearts of gold]]. ''Calhoun'' of all people goes out of his way to give some encouraging words to Brian in episode 5 when he hits the DespairEventHorizon, and Law for quite possibly the first time in his life comes to genuinely care about someone after [[spoiler:Shot Bot performs a HeroicSacrifice to help clear the Law's name.]]
21	** This is followed by Jenny, Ki, and Ted coming to help Brian clean up the mess Calhoun is making him clean.
22	** Calhoun's reaction is especially heartwarming because of all the crap he's put Brian through from the beginning and constantly muttering how he hates him. His first response wasn't anger but understanding that Brian has had a lot of responsibilities put on him that anyone would have trouble keeping up with and just simply couldn't rise to the occasion this time.
23
24	[[AC:Season 3]]
25	* When Ki's having a debate against Shane for student president, she declares that she will use the funds to help get better computers for the social gamers that she met earlier, who run on very primitive equipment (to the crowd's chagrin). Later in the episode, the social gamers give Ki their thanks by becoming her new campaign team.
26	** This was also after Ki had accidentally insulted them by saying that they weren't playing "real games".
27	* Jenny referring to Brian as "the only person that's ever really loved [her]".
28	* In episode 4, [[spoiler:Ki breaks down crying late at night and admits to her parents that the reason why she's at home is because she left the school out of guilt from cheating in the election.]] Ki's dad replies saying that he and her mother are extremely proud of Ki, and there is nothing in the world that could ever make them stop loving her.
29	* The heartfelt moment that Jenny and Mary share in episode 5.
30	** Especially powerful since it's practically the first time Mary has ever actually done any form of true parenting to her daughter.
31	** The [[SentimentalMusicCue piano BGM]] doesn't hurt, either.
32	* In the same episode, Brian talks about how [[spoiler:before VGHS, he had to take care of himself, since he never really had a dad and his mom was an addict.]] As a result, [[TearJerker he got used to being alone]], but after going to VGHS and meeting Ted, Ki, and Jenny, he didn't feel lonely for the first time in his whole life. When he heard that [[spoiler:Jenny would be leaving to join her dream FPS team in France]], he acted impulsively out of fear of losing her, which he does regret.
33	-->'''Brian''': I'm so sorry that I hurt you, Jenny.
34	** After Ki had spent the whole episode acting [[TheEeyore moody and nihilistic]] after [[spoiler:giving up the election]], much to Wendell's chagrin, she hosts a 24-hour game jam where she makes a very simplistic game: when you press the space-bar, your avatar walks down a dark path in a forest until you let go of the button, at which point the avatar will collapse and die. There is no objective or end-point, nor any way to avoid dying. However, Wendell refuses to accept the idea of a game that was so nihilistic, keeping his finger on the space-bar for so long that he eventually falls asleep while still playing. Seeing this helps Ki find herself and she steals the game out from his hand and adds a happy ending to the game, before sneaking the game back under his hand. Wendell's avatar reaches a banner. Wendell seems pleased at first, then finds out that you die even if you kept pressing the space-bar. But then the avatar appears to become an angel and takes to the sky. The screen lightens to a sky blue, then the avatar dodges falling meteors, then the sky turns black but covered in stars before the avatar explodes into a very bright star itself, turning into the words "the end" made of a constellation. When Wendell sees it, his expression of joy is just too adorable. You could see the happiness in Ki's eyes, watching him. Hell, she was starting to [[TearsOfJoy tear up]].
35	* At the end of episode 6, [[spoiler:the students are celebrating that the school is saved. Calhoun then gives Brian a broom, telling him that there's going to a big mess that needs to be cleaned up, giving you the impression Calhoun is going to palm off all the work to him as always. However, as the camera pans out, it shows Calhoun holding a broom as well, and he cleans up the school alongside Brian.]]
36	** [[spoiler:At the end of the FPS team training (to go up against Napalm), Jenny gives a little speech about how she knows the team will probably lose and that the school will be gone by the next day, but that she doesn't want to leave the school and is at least grateful to spend her last day playing with the team.]]
37	** After training, the team has a huge party. It's a cute moment, and it's followed by Ki and Ted leaving to make out. Jenny and Brian also head off, and it's implied they have their first time [[spoiler:since they know they won't be able to be together much longer]].
38	** [[spoiler:"Thank you...for everything."]]
39	** [[spoiler:In the final battle, when Ted is driving for his friends, he looks out the window and imagines Freddie racing baby Ted down the aisle in a shopping cart. What's special about this is that [[ThrowTheDogABone Freddie's actually being nice to his son for once]].]]
40	* From the blooper reel, Ted reaching below the counter of the hot dog stand he's working at, ''and pulling out a whole birthday cake for Josh Blaylock'' as the cast sings "Happy Birthday" to him.

Context Heartwarming / VideoGameHighSchool