#a smaller cast

[mikkeneko]

PSA to fan creators who don't have a lot of regular contact with children: They are almost always bigger than you think. A 1-year-old baby may already be walking. A toddler is likely already hip-high. A 10-year-old may already be taller than at least one of their parents. A 14/15 year old may already have reached their adult height.

[divorcedfiddleford]

hold shifty gentle like hamburger

[blorbologist]

Y'know, I think I figured out why the Hells still feel like a new low-level party to me, even though they're level 13 and almost 100 episodes in.

I don't quite think it's the lack of conversations, or the fact half the party's plot hooks are big ties to past campaigns - though that definitely plays a part.

... Bell's Hells still primarily rely on quest givers.

Most of their goals are given to them and do not feel organic to the party, and constantly remind us that the Hells are pretty much never the most powerful people in the room. Which is usually something you see with a low-level party.

NPCs offering jobs is not a bad thing; it's a very common plot hook. Matt has been extremely skilled with using NPC quest givers in those two campaigns. Not only do they provide an obvious plot thread, but they can put the party in the path of others (say, the Nein running into the Iron Shepherds while doing a job for the Gentleman and everything that came of that). And the Hells had a solid start with it too - Eshteross was an excellent quest giver!

The problem is that Bell's Hells have never really not had a quest giver.

Maybe it's a byproduct of the more plot-heavy structure of this campaign? But while prior parties have felt like they decided on their course of action and what they prioritized, Bell's Hells feels less like level 13 (13! Level 13!) experienced adventurers and more like an MMO group clicking on the exclamation point over an NPC's head. Where does the plot demand we go next? Who do we report back to?

They're level 13.

At level 13, Vox Machina had just defeated a necromantic city-state to clear their name and Percy's conscience. And, you know, the Conclave just destroyed Emon. No one was explicitly telling the group to gather Vestiges and save the world (though Matt guided them there), and they were usually among the most powerful people in the room. They chose which Vestiges to prioritize, which dragons to tackle when, even if the over-all plot was pretty clear.

At level 13, the Mighty Nein were celebrating Traveler Con (another PC goal, I'll note) after brokering peace between two nations, accidentally becoming pirates and heroes of the Dynasty. The Nein regularly chose what to do based on personal goals, not grand ones. Though definitely smaller fish than Vox Machina at this level, they were very independent and gaining solid political clout.

While we're at it: level 13 is one level lower than the Ring of Brass, who had a huge amount of sway over Avalir. They ended the world, and also saved it, while in the grand scheme of things being only a smidge more powerful than Bell's Hells are now.

Can you really see the Hells wielding that amount of influence, when they're constantly being told what to do next?

The god-eater might be unleashed, so Bell's Hells have no time to do anything but what is asked of them. No time for therapy unless stolen from Feywild time, no travel on foot and late-night watches. They haven't even had time to grieve FCG. Percy was grieved in the middle of the Conclave arc. Molly was grieved when half the party was still in irons.

Matt is in the very unfortunate spot of not being able to give the Hells the same agency as the other two parties. Not only because of the world-ending plot introduced so early on; they are surrounded by characters they know (and the cast knows) are stronger and wiser than them - the familiarity of the past PCs and NPCs is to their disadvantage.

Why would the party reasonably ignore Keyleth's task that will help save the world and go off on a romp? Why would the cast when they know well Keyleth has to be sensible and with the best intentions in mind? The stakes are just too high.

It means that the Hells still feel like they're running errands instead of pursuing their own destiny. Their accomplishments are diminished as just being parts of a to-do list, and any stakes feel padded by several level 20 PCs/NPCs standing 5 steps away ready to catch them.

This isn't Bell's Hell's fault, nor is it Matt's. It could be amended, I think, if the Hells are really left to their own devices for a long period of time without support and shortcuts (like during the party split)... which would be really tricky to pull off at this point in the campaign.

They're level 13. They're big fish, but they're stuck in a pond full of friendly sharks, so they don't feel big at all.

[shakingparadigm]

Another ALNST friday i forgot about because I was too busy *raking fingers down my face*

ANYWAY FUCK MY LIFE

[xysible]

oh no. new brainrot.

(yes this is a personal/headcanon redesign shhhhh)

AW FUCK SHE'S IN THE THIRD DIMENSION NOW

[grayisblogging]

they’re adapting the hangman bit!!!! oh we are going to be eating so good

[lenreli]

[gracebethartacc]

EXTREMELY extremely rushed doodles but I’ve been thinking abt rewrite au Ashas friends and by that I mean I killed all of them off and only kept Dahlia and Simon bc they are the only ones I remembered that advance the plot and also because I like them so yayyy :3👍

[smoshpostiing]

Since I see no-one else talking about it, I wanna bring up the fact that Shayne straight up SHIELDS HIS FACE from Courtney at 49:06 when Amanda starts reading her bit in the doctor's note about Courtney's boobs being unevenly sized.

Shayne hears the sentence, "Courtney, your right boob is just as awesome as your left boob," and immediately starts dying laughing(without needing further context, I might add👀) and then turns away from Courtney and covers his face almost as if to say "If she sees me laughing a little too hard at this I might be in trouble later".

his reaction to this entire bit killed me

the whole episode was full of little moments ill be posting, just clipping the more noticeable ones rn 🤭🫶

[perfectday1972]

lupita nyong'o via instagram

[midnightdemonhunter]

Read @whats-those's Scream timeloop fic recently and had a wonderful time! Very good character voices, and some entertaining alternate deaths! Definitely check it out if you like Scream, Stu and a no good very bad day for him! (x4)

[jumioxox]

drdttober day three - vampires/werewolves

[bobababygirl]

[wainwrightjakobshammerlock]

Chances of old man yaoi in bl4 have dropped quite a bit unfortunately