#ask ka

this got me do to a redraw of an old au drawing in a fit of nostalgia Q<Q thank you so much!!

(original under cut)

I ended up writing a lot. tldr I am having a Great time. if you're worried about railroads know that the track was not exactly loose on this season's plot but boy did the players manage to shatter it in like 2 episodes (and Will's ability to keep the party together)

s2 definitely had a LOT going on (emotions run way higher I think mostly because the characters are teens and the stakes are the end of the world) but I don't think it's any more railroaded than s1. frankly these guys operate best with a clear set of instructions to follow and/or mcguffins to collect and then proceed to not follow those instructions but win anyway. which is (sort of??? lol) what's going on in s3

I'm liking season 3 a lot! life has made it harder for me to just sit and draw fanart for it, but Francis might be my favorite. (tied with Trudy) Anthony is super fun as a player. There's a kind of player balance that the daddies have (between silly and serious, sincere and irreverent) that makes them work as a group, and Anthony fits into Will's spot without being Will, if that makes sense? Like he's definitely a different flavor of player and Francis is no Henry/Normal/Hildy/etc, but he plays the heavy emotional hits with Beth, the I'll-die-before-I-break-character with Matt, and the This-is-a-game-and-I-intend-to-Win with Freddie. But instead of Will's hopepunk sincerity he brings a flavor of "no, I'm straight up gonna do a thing that's Wrong" that even Freddie didn't hit with Glenn. And then Will as DM, like Anthony, is more than willing to throw in real-life mechanics that somehow work on a podcast, as well as brutal, horrific, curve balls that make me question life.

s3 is also big on mystery! every s3 PC even has a Twist built in, and you find them all out within about... 5 episodes? but since this season is meant to be shorter honestly that's plenty of time for them to be uncovered and then pulled on for all their worth. Beth's twist for Trudy is a hecking profound take on the human condition (naturally), Anthony's plot for Francis is a sandbox one could sink their teeth into for days that is honestly a bold hecking swing (especially if you're a usamerican living in Now), Freddie's twist for Tony is--

...we don't have time to talk about Tony but take every Glenn antic, crank it up to a hundred, and then literally mad libs his backstory. Nothing I say could prepare you for this man.

;<;!!!! i have a BRAND?! heck yeah

also if you liked RvB I hard recommend Dungeons and Daddies. it's got a similar way of making you feel very complex things about very stupid characters

YES the balance of intent on this podcast is SO GOOD

Will and Beth are like: okay we're gonna make the coolest story, passing each other Moments like sports-ball pros. Figuring out those Character Beats

meanwhile Freddie and Matt are so deep in it (either because they are their character or because they simply Become the character for several hours every few weeks) that they're just: Character Moment? The heck are you talking about, we're trying to escape heaven and stick it to old people!! "Narrative Arc?" this is REAL LIFE. now JUMP THROUGH THE PISS HOLE

and this episode Matt swung so hard on the "this is real life" for Will's ball-pass to Beth that Will shot back with "you want method? I'll give you method." and apparently made silent eye-contact with them in the actual room as they go the silent treatment from Normal

from the live-listen:

I am sure you will take good care of my problematic officer children! I hope you love them so much, they are wonderful. also I have many fic recs once you're done.

YES! I've played Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Black Eagles, and I'm most of the way through the Church route I think (I only did the first 10ish months once for Black Eagles once, I just saved before The Choice). After i get through that, I'm gonna play the DLC, and then start another Golden Deer run on whatever hard mode is called. Blue Lions had a lot of great character story telling, but the Golden Deer route has been the most satisfying for me in terms of like. knowing wtheck is going on.

also, in my head I've been playing this as if Byleth is stuck in a timeloop and trying to figure out how to get out of it. whether it turns into a whole fic one day will depend on just how much my brain manages to fixate

seconded

personally crossing my fingers for design updates on the cast that have been in Vacuo, highlighted with a moment of Oscar helping Ruby to her feet only for her to never become taller than him as she stands to full height.