#source: in game commentary

[thegreataceattorneyost]

Kazuma's personal theme.

"'Something elegant but emotional...but also elegant...' was the request. This piece tries to capture Kazuma's inner strength and movingly gallant character. If you listen carefully, you may even feel the keen edge of Karuma perhaps...?"

- Maeba

[lightnersdream-archive]

i've been thinking about exactly why people portraying one of the other crew members successfully killing Jimmy as a "for what you did to Anya" kind of thing rubs me the wrong way a bit and it's because like..... this is just another form of taking agency away from Anya, in a way. it's kind of framing her as some meek, shivery woman-thing who's entirely at the mercy of the men around her, either to hurt her or save her.

(i understand these are mostly for wish fulfillment on the audience's behalf because everyone would like to see Jimmy pay for his crimes. whether or not this is the intention of the person writing it isn't really relevant, characterization happens with or without intent. i feel like it misses the point by portraying it as an 'ideal ending'.)

because... Anya is a capable person. she takes things into her own hands when she can. it was partially(?) her idea to get into the cargo,

(before he interrupts her.. remember when she interrupted Curly in the dead pixel segment?)

it was her idea to get the code scanner from the cockpit,

it was her idea to get the medication from behind the foam.

(the chance to do these things herself is not given to her.)

she'd been keeping Curly alive for months in a critical state somehow, her psych evaluations at the start are only so useless because Jimmy refuses to take it/her seriously and Curly is obviously biased when he puts it into his own hands. he's known him a long time, like he said. "I'll just put good for that one."

there's not a lot of material to work with because of how the game is framed, but it's there. we are working with two very biased perspectives and neither one lends Anya what she deserves

there's significant changes in how she speaks post- and pre- crash, and depending on who she happens to be talking to. i recommend re-reading her dialogue, because the difference is drastic

she acts the way she does around Jimmy because he has tangibly done horrible things to her, is actively hostile, and physically could not escape him by any means. she can't take away Curly's agency herself, in my eyes. you have to remember that Especially in the post-crash segments of the game, it's entirely from Jimmy's POV, and he obviously does not (and has never) thought very highly of her or treated her with a shred of respect

i've seen a general idea that she can't bear to hurt other people for any reason, but that doesn't really track to me. this is the real point of the post by the way

it seems based on the parts where she says she struggles to give Curly medication. "It just hurts him so much, I can't stand the noise." "It makes me nauseous."

it's not really the same thing as, say, hurting someone in self defense

this sounds like she did want the gun itself. this never felt worded like someone who would refuse to, at very least, threaten Jimmy with a gun, with violence. if she had been given the agency to make that decision on her own. she wasn't though

she still tries to reclaim some of it even as she's denied it

by the end she's still trying to keep that gun out of his hands

i think some people overly soften her, for similar reasons the game itself is trying to comment on. she's not a tender victim who couldn't cause pain to another out of the softness of her soul, she's a person who's had every last bit of agency ripped from her repeatedly until she couldn't take it anymore. that's the point. that's why framing her that way, "needing" someone to save her, is odd to me

she didn't need Curly to save her, she needed him to take responsibility

she didn't want to escalate things, but she's not an idiot. self defense was absolutely on her mind

but who knows im just saying shit *smiles serenely*

[disastergenius]

My bold take is that R.F. Kuang and Suzanne Collins are actually doing very similar things with their books/writing and both are doing it very well (but notably only one is getting criticized for it, for which there are many reasons, some fair and most not).

They are both making very specific and strategic points about the way that class, class consciousness and allyship, exploitative systems, propaganda, and rebellions work, just to name a few themes. And it’s far more interesting to examine their respective fictional worlds, both of which are heavily influenced by real-world events and history and hold it as a parallel to our own.

[It is also far more interesting to not boil their work down to shipping, “capitalism is the bad guy,” and oppression olympics for fictional characters with far too much projection into the real world.]

[inverse-problem]

more ultrakill background practice. learning the hard way that the lighting in limbo is extremely flat lol

[egg-emperor]

learning about Eggman and understanding him is pretty easy, you just look at him in all the games and pay attention to what you see there and that's it right there. I think people make it a lot more complicated than it needs to be, Eggman is a static character with a simple set of characteristics, behavior, and motives and these are all shown very clearly in the games over the past 32 years and that's cool and great and fine and is all you need to know

[hidingoutbackstage]

copy pasting my dms w/ @jewishevelinebaker cuz i'm lazy

y’know re characters aren’t even storytelling mediums. they don’t have to be. but ppl act like they are lol

whether it’s leon’s alcoholism or chris’ inability to keep team members alive or how wesker was tooootally mischaracterized as a fascist in 5 i swear guys it isn’t really him, they’re not actually saying anything. leon’s not a glance into how being a pawn for the u.s. government can have harrowing effects on witnesses of war and forcing people to make difficult decisions that weigh heavily on their psyche, he’s just drinking alcohol in vendetta because it’s a character trait they gave him. chris’ repeated failures to keep teammates alive isn’t a commentary on how the “greater good” sacrifices the many small man with little remorse in order to keep things in line the way they see fit, the games just throw npcs at a meat grinder to emphasize the danger the protagonist is in. wesker being a nazi in 5 isn’t a way of showing the way that privileged men in power left unchecked and surrounded by yes men will do the most unethical things possible because it’s in their mind that they are correct and the only right way of thinking, it’s because the series needed wesker to be a big final boss and well umbrella is already kinda nazi affiliate so fuck it this will do

[twelvebooksstuff]

Yes!! Scrip often accompanied company towns, where everything in a town would be owned by a company who employed the majority of the residents! Ultimately, this is similar to how District 12 works (although under a government supported business versus a purely independent one). But this idea of company towns can be see in the real world and in our history!! Especially in Appalachia (where District 12 is canonically located)

Some links in case anyone is curious:

Oh, wow. For those who don't know, "scrip" is an old-fashioned form of credit used to control workers. Like, imagine if you worked for Walmart and were paid exclusively in Walmart gift cards. By limiting their pay to a form of currency only usable in company or government controlled outlets, there is no way for workers to ever save up or get a different job, sticking them in a loop of total economic domination.

[lexalovesbooks]

Okay no wait. Just spent a few minutes looking through my copy of catalyst and I am still 100% certifiably insane about those books

[constellationcrowned]

((I know it's in my blog commentary tag already but I'm going to (temporarily, obviously) link to the blog's outline as far as moving content and interactions, just in case people need a refresher on the game plan I have set up, have questions, etc.))

[thegreataceattorneyost]

Scrapped version of Kazuma's personal theme.

"Mr Takumi and Mr Nuri pointed out this version sounded like something you might hear at the public baths in a ryokan hotel. Come to think of it, it does sound kind of generic, like the mood music at a public baths chain. So it had to go!"

- Maeba

(listen to the final version of this track here!)

[nenoname]

Stan and Soos' sorta-Dad and Sonployee relationship

We of course have Soos assigning Stan as his father figure the moment he got hired

But Stan holds that moment dear too, with Soos becoming his main source of company after the Mystery Shack, his first big success, was starting to hit rock bottom. And he made sure to keep the screwdriver that led Soos to him for a decade which unfortunately gets stolen by a certain time traveler...

(Their meeting being a paradox of Soos' family leading him to them is super sweet too!)

Playing one game of catch with their dads still was a dream for both of them, even when it was clear that it'll never happen, even when Soos knows that the Pines are his family and he shouldn't care about that biological deadbeat, even when Filbrick threw Stan away like trash.

But both of them end up finding closure with each other anyway.

Along with Stan likely teaching him how to fix golf carts (to the point that Soos is pretty skilled at it now), he also taught him boxing and tried to do something about his birthday, which is another sore spot for the both of them.

In the Sooscast, we have Stan continuing with the podcast despite learning this horrifying truth/not understanding what the hell is going on.

Noticeably, we see that Stan is a lot more lenient on Soos in comparison to Dipper, mostly because Stan doesn't project most of his issues onto him. (Not that he's immune from chores or shitty tasks but that's the burden of being a sonployee...)

And in NWHS, Stan trusts him to guard the lab with no questions asked (even if that ended up being foiled by Soos loving Mabel and Dipper too)

The comic story is Soos helping Stan regain and continue one of his childhood dreams, with the website having Stan continuing to draw on the Stan o' War.

And while unfortunately most of their father-son relationship content is at the end or after the series, Alex still said a lot about them in the commentary and interviews!

Before they met, Soos was someone who appeared to only really have his Abuelita and cousin, while Stan had.... a baby goat. And a disappearing frilly lizard.

We have Stan claiming that the reason why he never had children was because of his own dad and that money is basically his child (which just loops around back to his money obsession being his desire to get back his family)

But even still, he passes down the Shack and fez to Soos with barely any pause, the fez in particular being tied up with a lot of complex emotions. But Soos getting his own suit fitted just for him and not being pressured to wear a girdle to hide his weight kinda symbolizes to me that the role of Mr Mystery is now free from that baggage.

And whenever we'd end up getting Stan o' War stories, I'm sure the two of them are gonna get way more father-son moments

(Filbrick's impact on Stan post, Stan projecting on Dipper post)

[kitkat-the-muffin]

The Four Horsemen of Minecraft Roleplays:

Stampy (Stampy’s Lovely World; Wonder Quest)

-Focuses on creativity and the mechanics of the game

-Simple stories for child audiences

-Antagonist is a metaphor for cyberbullying

-Occasionally educational

Aphmau (Minecraft Diaries; MyStreet)

-Focuses on cinematic narrative storytelling

-Fully scripted and voice acted roleplays

-Romance drama and angst

-Heavily based on shoujo anime

Evbo (Parkour Civilization; PVP Civilization)

-Social commentaries set in unique world-building

-Full of narration from the age of TikTok, works like a radio show sometimes

-Pre-scripted stories without much room for spontaneity

-Loosely based on shonen anime

Live Roleplays (DSMP; QSMP; Hermitcraft; etc.)

-Unscripted live performance content

-Based entirely on improvised storytelling and character building

-Multi-person project with different sources

-Half the content is normal Minecraft gameplay with plot occasionally thrown in whenever fitting

[rednightmare18]

arthur is rude to that one sex worker because the guys are fucking around as they oughtn't be and he actively wants the source of their distraction to go away. that is how he operates through the entire game: deliberate, utilitarian intimidation and strategic unpleasantness to achieve a goal. it is an early game commentary on arthur meant to position him as a big dog that barks. it is not a commentary on his views about women which are clarified many times afterward. you guys realize that right

[arcanistsanctum]

‎‎​‌‏‏. Reverse:1999 Resource Guide

These are links to some of the archives, lorecrafters and guidemakers that I follow and regard highly for their expertise, dedication, and contributions to the community. Making this list is also for my convenience.

If you know other sources, please share them! I will edit the post and add them here. Maybe one day I will also contribute to transcripts on a separate blog. We don't have enough of such precious records for a heavily lore and story-based game! Feel free to share your lorecrafting website/blog/channel too!

Archives

Websites/Blogsites

Huiji (CN) - CN Fanwiki, written in CN, with consistent updates. Really goated. Gamekee (CN) - Another CN Fanwiki, also written in CN. Some pages may not be updated. Arcanist Sanctum (Global) - That's us! R1999 Logs (Global) - Has some main, event and anecdote story transcripts. Reverse: 1999 Wiki (Global) - EN Fanwiki. They may be behind on working through some profiles, records and transcripts. UTTU Merui (Global and CN) - The website is also WIP. But it is shaping to contain news (including EN translations for CN updates), character profiles, story transcripts, music list, timeline, and I believe recorded CGs too.

Repositories

Myssal's Assets Repository (CN) - In-game assets. It has everything. Myssal just that goated. reverse 1999 png (CN) - PNGs/cutouts telegram. Russian language but you can use character tags by clicking on pinned message. They accept requests, but you probably will have to ask them in Russian. Their cutouts can be accessed and downloaded by going through post comments. Posts with arrows. reverserenders (Global) - official art renders tumblr blog. They accept requests!

Documents

Abyss_Idiot's links (Global) - Transcripts, archives and general lore. Actually lots of records done by several Discord members. May not be updated. As of making this list, I haven't seen anything from 2.0 onwards.

Youtube

八咫烏_Merui (CN & Global) - Event and main story playthroughs without commentary Reverse: 1999 Timekeeper (Global) - They have everything recorded. And I mean everything. Reverse 1999 Archive (Global) - On hiatus (?), they pretty much covered event and main stories up to Notes on Shuori.

Lorecrafting & Story Analysis

Youtube

Apeironite - Pretty chill format. Interesting in-depth analyses. As of now, I don't know any other YT content creator who tackles on game lore as much as he has. FructoseTolerant - While there have yet many Reverse:1999 character analysis content in her channel, once she does post one, it's really good. I recommend watching and listening to her thoughts!

Guidemakers

Websites/Blogsites

Prydwen (CN & Global) - Tierlists, psychube recs and character guides Gnomon (Global) - I am in-love with this website tbh. Has all character information, including sprites! Effect descriptions, material sources and descriptions, resonance build (up to R15), psychube recs, team recs, and very easy to follow guide on how to play each character + rotations! Also has information on series of dusks artefacts and mechanics, reveries in the rain guides, and tips for mane's bulletin! GAAAAAHHH!

Documents

Discord Community Tierlist (CN) - Tierlists, calculators, builds. Likely where most of the global theorycrafting started. bluforest's Scuffed Page for Recommended Resonance Layouts (CN) - Also has resonance codes! Spiritzhl's Unit Build Guide (CN) - Psychubes, resonance, portrays, reveries and euphoria info, critter rehabilitation guide. Arcalive Reverse 1999 (outdated) - Written in KR. Resonance and psychube recommendations, calculators.

Youtube

Jakazin (CN & Global) - Comprehensive character guides Devibul (CN) - Puzzle guides, character showcases Destroth (Global) - Comprehensive character guides, showcases

Useful Tools

Kornblume (CN & Global) - Character planning and summoning history Closure++ (CN) - Planning and calculations, and written in CN. Here's MaTeIriA's guide to using it if you can't understand CN like me. It does have a built-in EN language option but it doesn't work for me. I don't know if it works for you. Depending on your device, you may also have to zoom out to see the entire page. Timekeeper (Global) - Summon tracking

[strwbrryeyes]

Hiii, I'd like to request a Tsukishima fic with a rivals to lovers/mutual pining trope for your event!

༊·˚ Academically confused

⟡ featuring: tsukishima kei

⟡ cw: angst, lmk if i missed anything else

⟡ a/n: i love tsukki being an academic rival even if it is cheesy and has been written a million times so i hope you like it becaus ei enjoyed wwriting it <3

You met Tsukishima Kei during your first week of university, and it was less of a meet-cute and more of a mutual eye roll of annoyance with the class.

He was standing outside the lecture hall with his headphones around his neck, scrolling through something on his phone. You figured he was in the same literature class as it was the only one scheduled in this hall at this hour. You stood beside him, nervously scrolling through your schedule, worried you might miss a class or go to the wrong classroom,  your stomach a tight ball of nerves from first week anxiety. Meanwhile, Tsukishima’s  expression was bored like he had something better to do than stand in the hallway waiting for the professor to finally arrive

“Intro to Lit?” you asked, more to ground yourself than anything else.

“Unfortunately,” he replied in a grumble, barely glancing at you.

Your eyebrows lifted. Rude.

With his attitude being your first impression of him, you decided to observe him more. He was tall, lanky, and had a mouth that just looked like it was made for snide remarks. The glasses perched on his nose gave him a false sense of kindness and soft mannerisms that didn’t match the bored, piercing look in his eyes. Something about him made your skin prickle.

You offered your name, trying to make small talk as you continued to wait because maybe he wasn’t so bad after all and you were just making assumptions?

He just nodded. “Tsukishima.” No first name. No smile.

You stood there, dumbfounded at his tone and right then and there, you decided immediately: you didn’t like him.

-

It didn’t take long for things to even more of a sour turn. 

As if the universe didn’t hate you enough, he was in so many of your other classes.

Tsukishima always had something to say. Always has something to argue,  Whether it was during lecture discussions, group debates, or casual commentary in the hallway— he had the annoying ability to make you feel like your ideas were isiotic even when you knew they weren’t.

You'd raise your hand in class, offering a passionate argument on a literary theme, and before you could even finish, his voice would cut in with a counterpoint all while in a calm, quiet, irritatingly confident tone of voice. 

The first time he challenged you outright during a discussion, it was in front of the packed lecture hall in your literature class. You’d barely finished your point about the topic when his voice cut in, quoting some stupid philosopher and immediately shifting the room's attention. A couple students murmured in agreement. Your professor nodded thoughtfully. Your face burned. Your blood boiled. He didn't raise his voice or get defensive. No, he just smirked and quoted some cheesy line like it was meant to start your downfall. And that smug look on his face? Infuriating.

“You know, not everything has to be a competition,” you muttered as you passed him after class.

He barely looked up from his phone. “I’m not competing. I’m just right.”

You stopped dead in your tracks, whipping around to glare at him.

He finally looked up, calm as ever, and added with a tilt of his head, “Unless you're admitting you lost?”

From that moment on, it was war.

The rivalry was public and relentless. Classmates groaned whenever your hands shot up at the same time. Your professors, amused and slightly exhausted, began using you two as examples for everything from "healthy debate" to "spirited academic disagreement."

You upped your game, citing more sources, editing your arguments to perfection. But no matter what you did, he met you move for move, like you were playing the world’s longest game of chess. Once, you caught him leaving the library at 3 a.m. the night before a major presentation. He smirked and said, "Just making sure I stay one step ahead of you."

You hated how good he was. Hated how much you wanted to beat him. Hated how thrilling it was every time he pushed you to be sharper, quicker, smarter.

And worse of all is how you hated how alive it made you feel.

-

It was like you had the worst luck. After break you walked into a class and there he was again, sitting front row.

You both ended up in the same science Gen Ed class and the professor, clearly having heard of you two, paired you together for the semester long project.

“This is going to be fantastic,” you said, voice flat with sarcasm.

Tsukishima didn’t look up from his laptop. “Can you manage to not be dramatic for these next few months?”

“Can you manage to not be an asshole?”

He smirked again. Of course he did.

Still, you met at the library that weekend, both too stubborn to back out and too competitive to risk a low grade. The air between you was filled with unspoken tension, but neither of you dared acknowledge it. You were both too proud to admit it mattered. An hour in, you were dividing the workload, building out the outline, arguing over methodology but either way  you were still working and efficiently at that.

And then something shifted.

“You’re not completely hopeless,” he said, glancing at your screen.

“Wow,” you deadpanned. “How very kind of you.”

You said it with a sneer, but your stomach fluttered anyway.

Over the next few weeks, the library became your routine. He brought drinks, you brought snacks. You debated over formatting, but shared surprising laughs during breaks. You found his dry sense of humor addictive. And he didn’t just tolerate your sarcasm— he matched it.

Sometimes, you caught him looking at you like he was trying to solve a puzzle, eyes flicking to your lips, lingering on your hands as you gestured, taking in your every move like there was something deeper underneath he couldn’t quite put his finger on. And sometimes, you looked back, wondering how someone so infuriating could start to feel like a comfort.

One night, you left the library late. The air was cold, and you’d forgotten your jacket. Without a word, he shrugged off his hoodie and handed it to you.

You wore it for three days before giving it back. He never askedabout it.

-

It hit you on a Thursday night.

He was sitting across from you, eyes squinting slightly behind his glasses as he read over your notes. His hair was a mess. He looked exhausted but determined. Your knees brushed under the table but neither of you pulled away.

Suddenly, it wasn’t just friendship. It wasn’t rivalry. It was him. Everything about him. The way he furrowed his brows in concentration, the way he remembered throughout the weeks that you liked matcha more than coffee, the way he made space for you at the table like it was second nature at this point.

You were in trouble.

You told yourself it was just circumstance. That it would pass once the project was done with. But it only got worse.

He started texting you just to ask you about your day or just send you random articles about topics you both talked about the day prior. He dragged you to a science museum for your project but ended up wandering the exhibits with you like it was a date. He brushed your shoulder, lingered when he handed you notes, stared at your mouth a little too long when you talked or smiled.

“You’re not what I expected,” he said one night on your walk home.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I don’t hate this.”

Your heart clenched painfully. Because you didn’t hate it either. And that’s what terrified you.

But it was also everything else.

You noticed the little things. How his fingers would tap when he was trying not to say something. How he sat closer to you every week, until your bags touched. How he rolled his eyes at you in class, but smiled when you laughed at something dumb. He didn’t flirt but that is only because he didn’t know how. But his affection was in the details.

You found yourself rereading your text threads just to feel close to him whenever you wouldn’t meet up. You looked for him first in every room. You caught yourself doodling his name in the margins of your notes and hated that you’d become that person.

Then one night, he handed you a USB drive, silent and unreadable.

“What’s this?” you asked.

“The photos from the museum. You said you wanted to use them in the presentation.”

You opened the files later that night, expecting exhibit photos.

Half of them were of you.

Candid, focused, smiling. You hadn’t even known he was taking them.

And that’s when you knew,

You were in love with him.

And maybe he felt it too.

But that maybe is what drove you away.

-

You panicked. Every instinct screamed at you to retreat, to put up your walls before you fell any deeper. So you skipped your next meeting. Left his texts on read. Started arriving to class late and leaving early. You convinced yourself it was necessary to keep things from getting complicated, from becoming real. But it already was

You started skipping study sessions. Delayed your replies to his texts. Avoided eye contact in lectures. Told yourself you were just keeping things in check, keeping things safe.

Except it wasn’t safe. It was lonely.

Every second you spent apart from him felt like you were being punished for wanting something you didn’t deserve. Your chest ached with words you couldn't say, and your throat burned with the effort of pretending you didn’t care. You told yourself it was better this way and that the line between rivals and something more was too blurry, too risky. That Tsukishima Kei would never look at you that way.

But when you saw him across the room, laughing with someone else, you felt hollow. And when you heard his name but not his voice, it was a reminder of everything you were pushing away.

Tsukishima noticed. Of course he did.

He caught you outside lecture one day, voice sharper than anything you’ve heard from him before.

“You’re avoiding me.”

You didn’t answer. Just shifted your weight awkwardly.

“Why?” he pressed.

“I’m just… busy.”

“Bullshit.”

You flinched. His eyes burned into your own.

“Why does it matter?” you snapped.

He looked like you’d slapped him.

“Because I thought we were… something,” he said, voice low, almost hoarse. “I don’t know what, but… not just rivals anymore.”

You couldn’t answer. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t bear to see that hurt look in his eyes. So you turned and walked away.

But with every step, it felt like something inside you was unraveling.

You couldn’t sleep that night. Every sarcastic comment, every stolen glance, every near-confession played on a loop in your mind like a movie you couldn’t pause. You kept telling yourself it was better this way, clean lines, no blurred boundaries but all it felt like was losing.

Because for the first time, you didn’t want to win anything.

You just wanted him.

-

A few days passed since you walked away from him.

You didn’t see him in the library. You didn’t get a single message. Your matcha tasted worse. Everything felt heavier…weirder.

You saw him sitting on the library steps one evening, framed by golden light from the tall windows behind him. The campus was quiet, wispy pink clouds scattered the sky, and he looked so still, so unlike his usual collected self. He looked up as you approached, headphones around his neck, a question in his eyes that he didn’t voice. You didn’t need him to. You already knew.

“I miss you,” you said, voice trembling.

He blinked slowly, like he was trying to make sense of your presence.

“I was scared,” you admitted. “Of you. Of me. Of what this was turning into. It was easier to pretend it didn’t matter.”

“But it does,” he said softly.

You nodded. “It really, really does.”

Silence settled between you like snow.

Then, “I thought I was the only one,” he confessed. “Thought I was misreading everything. That I ruined it.”

“No,” you breathed, and reached for his hand. “You didn’t ruin anything. I did. And I want to fix it.”

He looked down at your joined hands, then up at you, something unreadable in his expression.

“I didn’t know how to stop needing you,” he said, voice low. “Even when you pulled away.”

You leaned your forehead against his. “Then don’t stop.”

And when he kissed you, it was like everything you’d been running from caught up to you all at once. The longing, the fear, the electricity of what had always been there. It was messy, and warm, and real.

You laughed against his lips.

“What?” he murmured.

“I still kind of hate you,” you whispered.

“Good,” he said. “Because I love you.”

[thisisnotthenerd]

putting the tl;dr at the top as a poll and the commentary under the cut because it’s quite rambly and it’s also late and i’m tired.

*whether dorian is one of these is up for debate

there’s some discussion of bell’s hells not having the “it” factor for a lot of people. even though it’s my first campaign and the only one i’ve mostly watched live, i kind of have to agree.

there’s a distinctive lack of investment in backstory for the group in terms of what they’ve spent time on in campaign. i think fearne is the only one who’s been done justice, even though we’ve seen other exploration, because they’ve been to her home multiple times, and while her backstory isn’t central to the main plot, it is close. it’s enough distance for her to be able to develop as a character but also for us to see where she came from.

imogen’s is tied directly to the main moon plot, so she’s had screen time aplenty, but less time to develop quietly, as laura does really well. i might argue for orym, but that’s because his is kept simple but with depth. his backstory comes through in the acting because he’s put up against his family members occasionally, but he’s a little guy at root.

for everyone else it’s been short detours. sometimes not even that. the spotlight oscillates between moon plot and god arguments with indecisive wandering in between.

while not everyone in vox machina inherently had a deep personal connection to the big bads of their campaigns, they didn’t need to. they did it for their friends, because they loved and trusted one another deeply. they made decisions about what they were facing and stuck to it, even when it meant sacrifice. they made multiple levels of friendship around and across the table.

at this point bell’s hells has been told a bunch of different things to do. and honestly i don’t know if they ever decided on one.

that’s not the point of this though.

there’s some archetypes or dnd players out there: roleplayers and power gamers. people who are all in it for the story and people who are all in it for the game. and it reflects in the characters they build.

somehow bell’s hells (collectively) is neither.

they don’t have strong investment in the plot collectively. the character concepts range from simple to deeply complex, and i have to say that i think the simpler has worked better for a plot-heavy campaign, because the characters that started simpler had a chance to develop over the campaign rather than competing for time between the plot and their own stories hanging over their heads.

take dorian. he was a humble bard, a former noble, who’s trying to make his way in the world. he refused great power from an evil source and paid the price in the loss of his brother. he fell in love as the world ended, and is still trying to sing the songs of the people he loves because he wants to bring people joy and bring them together. he’s invested in stopping predathos because of his friends, but also to avenge loss, and to protect the people of his homeland and take up his responsibility as heir to the silken squall.

it took a paragraph. but at the table, even when he was with the crown keepers for a few months, he fits right in. he’s had growth while keeping true to his core.

i’m not going to get into the rest now but there’s a definite element of throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks.

anyways, beyond the difficulties of backstory, they’re not super optimized. i’m of the belief that optimization works in tandem with roleplay—the characters are growing and changing over the course of the story, and having the mechanics trace that and make choices impactful is a big part of the appeal of the game.

watching vox machina and the mighty nein fight is a treat because not only are they level 20 and therefore godlike in power, their mechanics support interesting combat where failure hits hard because they’re built to succeed. when someone fails a save or misses it means something. they have options in their wheelhouse but they’ve found their niches and know how to play to their strengths.

bell’s hells is playing high level combat right now, but they have middling stats: lots of dump stats, 10-14s in the middle and some attacks/spell saves that aren’t as high as you’d expect of level 15 characters. they have several characters with perhaps too many options, and have made some weird strategic decisions. they’re indecisive. in combination with fluctuating luck from the dice, there’s times where they can wreck house, but also times of them failing saves, missing on full turns, losing resources, and overall failing more than they succeed.

also bell’s hells don’t make big decisions in combat unless they’re absolutely forced to. in the last arc pre-final battle, the big battles were otohan on ruidus, dominox and ludinus in aeor (+delilah), zathuda and the unseelie in the feywild. with otohan, they were dying all around until fcg’s sacrifice. literally end of the line. then in aeor, they fought to end dominox, got whammied with downfall, and then had the delilah fight, but then her sealing came later. they fought in the arch heart’s temple, but the big revelations came on the heels of that, between the arch heart themself and then zathuda being strung up on the loom.

but of a tangent: i don’t think naddpod and critical role can be fairly compared, because they’re different in tone and telling very different stories. i relistened to naddpod c1 recently along with the last few episodes of c3 as we approach the finale, and while they have gotten more creative on the character building side, the story is still well done and combat is fun to listen to. they have had moments of deep tragedy on naddpod. they’ve had cameos of old characters, and even had one of them as a pc for a full arc mid-campaign 3. they’ve explored the future of the world of bahumia after the events of c1.

and while the story is satisfying and fun, the combat is also satisfying and fun. not just because murph is really good at building combats that are interesting in theater of the mind, but because the characters are built to be good at what they do. and when they go down, when they miss, when they fail, it hits harder. but they bounce back and keep going even when the circumstances suck. and they make narratively important decisions during combat.

with bell’s hells, i have often noted a split between their combat and roleplay. i like matt’s combats. i think they’re fun and make good use of a variety of enemies, terrain, and complicating factors. with vm and mn, it makes for really engaging episodes of combat, where they make use of the environment tactically and get to discover elements of how the field is set up as they go. i’m using the recent examples, which are not entirely inclusive but generally reflective of their combat trends.

vox machina fought their way off an airship, onto a chaotic battlefield, and then stealthed up to the malleus key, where they proceeded to defeat ozo cruth, break the bloody bridge, and get vax out of imprisonment. the mighty nein stealthed around kreviris, met with the volition, zip lined to and blew up the arx creonum, and then snuck through to meet the weave mind in combat. i can recall fun details and clutch moves, big risks including characters dying, and overall, battles that had character interaction.

as i’ve talked about before, bell’s hells gets whomped. they swing for the fences on some things, but when it doesn’t pay off it’s not just a missed opportunity, it’s often an active barrier or a loss of valuable resources that drive them closer to crisis.

imogen’s whirlwind, laudna’s disintegrate, and dorian’s forcecage were all great moves this episode. it also means they’re down some of their highest level spells before they actually face ludinus and/or predathos. granted they have the orb. but whether they can use it will be variable.