#i'm curious to see how far are they going to go with molly's storyline

[mikimeiko]

Loot | Season 2 (2024), Matt Hubbard and Alan Yang

[zemnian-newcomer]

It's late in the evening, I'm tired, I have work early tomorrow, this will not be coherent, but I have Thoughts about the beginnings of C2 and C3 and how they differ structurally that will not be contained so here I go.

(This got long so I'm putting it under a read more)

Obligatory disclaimer that this is not a judgement of the quality of either campaign in any way, I absolutely loved the Mighty Nein and am liking Bell's Hells a lot so far (I'm up to episode 30, so no spoilers past that please)

So right from the start, C3 felt much more fast-paced and more... densely plotted, I guess, than C2.

The Mighty Nein in their early days travelled together, but felt like they could have fallen apart at any time. It took until around the 20 episode mark for me to feel like they had grown together enough for it to hold. (Ironically, that was immediately put to the test with the Iron Shepherds arc.) Contrast that with Bell's Hells, who felt like a much more cohesive group from the single digits.

A lot of it, of course, comes down to the characters. While Bell's Hells as a group are a bunch of weirdos, there aren't actually that many "strong" personalities among them, which the Mighty Nein were full of. Think about Beau clashing with both Molly and Caleb, Nott/Veth stealing from Fjord, Fjord holding a sword to Caleb's throat, Caleb acting without communicating, Molly generally being more of a shit-stirrer - with Yasha not being there most of the time, one of the best team players they had was Jester. Meanwhile Bell's Hells generally get along pretty well. The closest thing to actual conflict within the party so far was probably Chetney not liking Dorian, and even that got better within a few episodes.

On the other hand, the plot (as far as I can see it) of C3 involves the characters a lot more than the starting plot of C2. The early Mighty Nein took quests/assignments, but they didn't have much to do with them personally until the Iron Shepherds (and, well, the guy they got some of the assignments from turned out to be Jester's father, but they didn't know that at the time). What eventually turned into one of the bigger plots was nearly just one encounter in the sewers of Zadash. It didn't involve them, they involved themselves. The plot of C3 so far (and from what spoilers I've seen, also going forward) involves several of the characters on a very personal level.

There is also a very big difference in character drives and motivations. Several of Bell's Hells have a mystery or problem they're either curious about or actively trying to figure out, which means they're very likely to bite on plot hooks that seem to be related to that mystery or problem. Meanwhile most of the Mighty Nein were actually running away from their shit, and it took months of in game time for them to grow enough to face it. (Molly being the exception in that he, in a way, successfully ran away from his shit and left everyone else to deal with it.)

Which is what leads me to why I actually made this post, the way different characters' backstories and motivations get weaved together and into the bigger picture. As of episode 30, Orym, Imogen, and Fearne all have an immediate connection to the Ruidus storyline, with Orym and Imogen having followed this thread together for a long time since figuring out that their individual quests led them on the same path.

I don't really have a point to this, it's just cool to see the different ways a story can be built in DND, with C3 so far being a really elegant way of tying character motivations together and using them to further the plot, while C2 was more of a lesson in having the characters lead the way and building the story off of their actions.

[seddm]

Have you watched “the ghost and Molly McGee”? If not, I think you should watch it, just to give it a try. The reason that I bring this show up to you it’s because lately, there have been people hating the “ relationship” between the main character, Molly and her “love interest”, Ollie. Some people have been hating the hell out of the character of Ollie, and the reasons people give are ridiculous to say the least. Most of the people are just mad that their personal ships sink after the character of Ollie debuted on season 2 which premiered not too long ago, or they claim that the character of Ollie hasn’t been developed properly “which I disagree completely I think he’s development has been great. This reminds me of all the svtfoe shipping battles back in the old days and made me remember your deep analysis of the show back then, and I thought “huh I wonder how Seddm would analyze this how”. I’m just so curious as to what your opinion would be on all of this. It would be great if you would check it out, I WILL say tho that the show it’s pretty different from STVFOE . It’s mainly “episodic” rather than following an actual storyline but I will say that in season 2, the show does start following a storyline, at least much more than in season1 season it’s still pretty good, just that season 2 it’s a bit better. A little bit more “deep” regarding storyline. You’ll understand what I mean if you see it yourself. Anyways, thank you for reading this. I hope I explained my self well. It’s fine if you don’t like it too. I personally find it very wholesome haha. And again, I find the direction they’re taking with the show in the new season pretty interesting. 😄

I watched S1 of the show, and eventually I'll probably check out S2 as well, and while it was entertaining - I especially enjoy how over the top the facial expressions are, I'm going to be brutally honest: it didn't catch my attention and interest enough for me to form any kind of "analysis" opinion beyond a very surface level entertainment. Might change once I start S2, but as things are right now, I don't have the drive to look at it with the kind of fandom-eye needed to form opinions. Sorry! But I did see something of what was going around the internet when the first leak involving Ollie appeared, and I thing I can understand what you mean. Shippers are gonna ship, after all. Had I been a, don't know, Molly x Libby shipper, I too would have been miffed at sudden competition appearing. Even more since, in this specific case, the former had (so far?) absolutely no romantic undertones, while the latter was presented as a crush from the get go.

[freeuselandonorris]

https://www.tumblr.com/freeuselandonorris/755194539848941568/httpswwwtumblrcomfreeuselandonorris753285320?source=share

hi again!! i have not played pl yet, but i’m planning on getting the dlc when i replay, it sounds very fun!! im glad johnny is still very involved, the moments where he was actually there as a hologram were my favorite. its such a fun little thing to have a guy only you can see. i liked the sun ending! im gonna do the pl liberty ending and then go for the secret one, i fucked up dialogue options on my first playthrough and was locked out of it so hopefully i'll get it right this time.

i think it would make sense if he was trying to avoid giving them a typical happy ending, and i probably would have enjoyed it more if i didn't like molly so much. there are ways to end their relationship to avoid that without ending her storyline!! the part where riviera throws up the holograms was insane!! i replayed that part of the audiobook so many times. cannot wait to read it over and over again.

yes PLEASE steal away!! would love to read any ideas you have about that. honestly, i was trying to decide between trying male v or playing girl v again but im definitely doing male v this time because i did not get to jack off with panam and i need to see that. also, i'm so sorry you are sick with covid, covid brain is the worst.

stardew!! i think i did recommend the wiki, it's so useful. i have some questions if you don't mind. are there any townspeople you like? are you romancing anyone? have you finished the community center yet? what festival is your favorite? how is the fishing going, now that you've played more?

keebs!! that's such a cute term i haven't heard before. i got a logitech g pro with gx blue switches, so it has a loud, crisp clicky sound when typing. logitech has a page on their website where you can play the keystrokes if you would like to hear. the F75 is beautiful!! i really like the glaciel blue one. i almost got a similar one when i was searching but i went for all black with lights

haaaa i was curious about the secret ending but then i read about the conditions for it (you only get one chance) and i was just like...nah i don't trust my own skills enough for that lmao.

ohhh ofc i forgot you played as female v so you won't have had the panam romance options! oh man. it's pretty late on in the romance with her but it's in the queen of the highway side job 🫡

stardew!! okay so my favourite townspeople so far are: robin, emily and linus. i'm not great at remembering to give gifts to the villagers but i think if i get to the point of relationships then i will probablyyyy try to marry emily! i also quite like eliott bc he is a writer and i like his beach shack but i think the pretension is going to start annoying me soon lmao.

i'm sooo close to being done w the community centre but annoyingly i forgot to save my quality melons last summer so now i have to play all the way back through the year for that lmao, and also i have some fish left to catch (but i have been buying some of them from the cart in the woods bc who's got the time honestly). i am getting slightly better at fishing though, i have a decent rod now which helps SO much!! i also have lots of animals now and i hatched my first void chicken yesterday 🥰

ooooh nice! i went for crescent switches on mine which are super creamy and poppy but at some point i would love to get a crispy one too, or at least swap the switches out (although it doesn't seem THAT much cheaper to do it that way round lmao).