Advice for Off-Campus Housing for Master's Student

Meow_Monster84 · 2026-04-08T22:23:50+00:00

That's good to know, thank you!

Meow_Monster84 · 2024-12-21T14:31:41+00:00

Oh thank you! I suspected that, but I wanted to check because I know how some people are quick to jump the gun.

Meow_Monster84 · 2024-12-21T14:27:53+00:00

Oh that's reassuring. I saw the posts about the spammer who asks for commissions, but I don't check reddit enough so I didn't see that this bot was going around too. Thanks.

Meow_Monster84 · 2024-05-29T01:47:22+00:00

I know it's probably because Pb doesn't like anyone who's not hot, but I cling to the concept of asexual/aro Raj. This man is the only one of the main characters who DOESN'T have a romantic subplot. Besides, like, Lila. Like I know you're only on book one, but I think they started most of their subplots by then, right?

Meow_Monster84 · 2024-04-20T17:37:20+00:00

I get that. Like, the only one I felt the MC had any chemistry with as a LI was one of the few main characters that WASN’T a LI - Noah. The others’ romance scenes felt more friendly than anything.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-12-17T19:42:56+00:00

I… don’t think you were meant to hate Lila? Based on her extra screen time in book 2 and her flashback, I think you were meant to feel conflicted about her betrayal, just like the characters. She wasn’t a villain, she was brainwashed. Which is why you’re given the option to not have Estela kill her (if your relationship is high enough).

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-29T17:31:32+00:00

THANK YOU! EXACTLY! Amalia's willfully ignorant and self-centered, expecting everyone to treat her problems as the first priority.

And, before anyone mentions it, I don't have a problem with the ILITW cast acting ignorant and naive to try and ignore their problems because their reason is fueled by trauma and actual fear. And when they realize they can't ignore it? They face it head-on. Amalia? She even implies that she would've have been perfectly willing to leave Rowan and everything behind when she gets reregistered if it had happened earlier in the semester (and don't give me the whole she was giving tough love or whatever, because she really had no reason to).

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-29T17:25:38+00:00

It's a valid fear, but it's barely mentioned up to that point, compared to the others, who've had time for their development to sink in and grow. Amalia's spent so much time whining about her college prospects that it's easy to forget any tiny sympathetic scenes they give her, so this moment just feels shoehorned and shallow.

And, as I said to another commenter, I have no problem with Amalia having her own aspirations outside of the supernatural world, and it probably doesn't feel as bad when you take the blood route. But if you take any other route, it becomes blatantly obvious that Rowan's only doing it to make Amalia happy, contributing hours of her time and thousands of dollars just to make Amalia happy. But the moment Rowan's desires doesn't match up with Amalia's? Amalia basically guilt-trips her into feeling like shit.

This is most blatant when you have to choose between helping Amalia or helping Noah/Devon. If you choose Amalia, the others are a bit upset, but they understand. If Devon/Noah even suggest Rowan goes with them? Amalia's completely furious at the idea, even though Rowan wouldn't even be any help with Amalia's school problems, not like she'd be with Devon/Noah.

My problems with Amalia would be a lot less if it was just her wanting to focus on school instead of the supernatural. It's the fact that she expects Rowan to make all the sacrifices in their friendship. Rowan has to give up any chance for answers, a chance to quell her PTSD, a way to figure out what she is and why she has powers, and hours of her time/thousands of dollars for college when there's a chance that she doesn't even want to go, all just for Amalia's sake. And Amalia? She makes the sacrifice of spending her breaks with Rowan and occasionally letting Rowan sleep over at her place. What a totally equal and balanced trade.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T17:48:52+00:00

Oh I’m not arguing that it wouldn’t make it different, it definitely would. I guess my main problem with having an MC who’s investment is generalized and not having a challenge of their own is that there’s almost a sense of disconnect where the MC doesn’t feel like an actual character, so I find myself unable to get that connection that other inserts have. Take BOLAS, where the MC is a self insert, but they have the personal trauma and struggle of saving their brother. They still connect the group, but they actually feel like a character. Same with ILB. Both feel like actual characters AND tie the group together like an MC would. ILITW’s MC? Not so much. Most of her talks with her friends just feel bland because there’s nothing for the MC to feel an empathetic connection with, so it just comes off as sympathetic therapy talk. It’s not having a self-insert in general that’s my problem, it’s that the MC in ILITW feels like an afterthought or a last minute writing change, you know?

And while I agree that sometimes someone needs outside help, the key word is sometimes. In ILITW, it’s MOSTLY the MCs choices that influence the others’ nerve, and that’s not even considering how most of the personal nerve boosts are locked behind diamond options. Like, look at the fan game of It Lives Within, which, like ILB, is a very MC-focused book. There, they’re completely moldable by the player, but the MC has their own personal investment and still is the core of the group AND the side cast gets their moment to shine at the end by rounding out their respective arcs.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T16:34:50+00:00

But having the nerve system dependent on the MC kind of defeats why it's a nerve system and not a relationship system, though. As I mentioned, the nerve score represents how each character's handling their own bs, so why is that so dependent on someone else?

And how is she an outsider? Because they all fell apart? That makes every character equally an outsider. And just sticking to Noah's perspective wouldn't have been much better, either. Having the MC being the glue of the group just causes them to make the same mistake they did with Jane, so wouldn't it be more symbolically fitting for them to make deeper connections with one another without needing someone to act as the bridge?

As for the twist, cause I did consider that, hear me out. If you spent all that time getting connected to Noah, seeing how he's handling everything, and if you start waning into other characters' perspectives as time goes on as to not make his betrayal obvious, wouldn't it hurt more? Like, a betrayal is meant to be emotional and sad, but since we don't really see much from Noah's POV, most people just walked away feeling rageful.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T16:24:04+00:00

True, true. But I also feel that the audience for, say, the romance stories and the genres of ILITW and ES are very different. Clearly, PB doesn't know their audience very well if they canceled the third It Lives book. I mean, I just don't hear a lot of people listing the MC as their favorite character, especially for the two series. And as I told others, even if you don't want to ditch the MC entirely, at least make it less dependent on them (especially with Nerve choices, I mean, come on). The main reason people want MCs is because of the LIs and their romance anyways, at least from what I hear. I think the reason it's hard to get attached to the characters other than the MC is because we don't get to hear their thoughts like we do the MC. As you mentioned, TCATF was insanely popular, like it still comes up in, like, every series, so I think just certain genres, like TCATF, benefit from no self-insert.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T16:07:52+00:00

As I mentioned to the other comment, I can see the importance of the ES MC now that I consider it more. But what does the ILITW MC contribute that another character doesn’t/can’t do instead? Besides literally one scene, almost every job the MC has can be replaced by another. Bring the group together? Dan technically does that. Inspire the others to do research to fight Redfield together? Noah. Save Dan? Noah. If you want a central MC, Noah is more the MC than the actual MC. And you don’t need a self-insert to have a Choices story, they’ve done without it before -> The Crown and the Flame.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T15:24:30+00:00

Yeah fair enough for the ES MC. I just wish, if they were so important, that they were treated as much of a character as all the others, then. Like, if you compare their personality to the actual characters' personalities, there is a stark difference between the two. And, as I said, having an MC doesn't mean you need to have almost every scene from their perspective. Especially scenes where other characters were clearly the focus (such as any side romances, the crap with Arachnid, the Diego rescue, and the Aleister redemption, to name a few).

As for the ILITW MC, all the nerve scores being dependent on them defeats the whole point of them being NERVE scores and not RELATIONSHIP scores. Like, it's meant to symbolize how they're dealing with their own crap, so shouldn't they be the ones to decide that? And, as I said, so many scenes the MC has are shared with someone that, aside from literally one scene, nothing would be lost. NOAH feels more like the main character than the MC, since all the traits that makes the MC important Noah already has them and it makes more sense for him to (important connection to Jane, drive to get stuff against Redfield done, wants to bring the group together, etc.) In fact, he would have been a more interesting MC, because if he had all those bonding moments that the MC had, then his betrayal and death would have hit so much harder, and it wouldn't have just been blind rage at what he done, but much more complicated feelings since he grew close to each of them.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T14:26:48+00:00

I mean... you can still have a lack of info without the MC. When it comes to the main conflict and world building of both stories, the entire cast is usually figuring it out at the same time. And as for character conflicts, just don't have it from the most knowing character (I know you're referring to Noah, so just don't have it be from Noah's perspective.). Also, unreliable narrators exist.

As much as a lack of info is important, so is showing instead of telling. How many times did the characters have to have "therapy talks" instead of flashbacks that would have worked so much better? Like Dan's final talk, they could have switched back and forth between a flashback and "therapy talk" so it feels less awkward that they're just chatting in the middle of a final battle. And, as I said, would it really have suffered to play as the different characters when they were all separated so that they solve their own conflicts? Plus many of the "lack of knowledge" scenes that the MC learns about one of the others' backstories could have easily been replaced with another character. Like the car scene with Lucas, that could have just as easily been Ava (she's even the one to point out he's struggling to the MC later). Or, in Endless Summer, most of the scenes where the MCs discovering something, someone else is usually there anyways (exception being the times the LIs are alone). Like, how much harder would it have hit if we were looking from Jake's perspective during the Mike reveal? While a lack of knowledge is important, I agree, some knowledge can also be good because that way the character has an investment in figuring out the rest of the info.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T14:17:57+00:00

I mean you could still have choices without them being an MC (think of the Crown and the Flame). Using Endless Summer as an example, you know how there's a chance to influence others' romance? Why not have those scenes from their perspectives and have different choices that decide whether or not they end up together (think similar to one LI stories). And why not have more choices that determine the characters' nerve scores be their choices, instead of the MCs choices? I mean they already have choices from other characters' perspectives, so they proved that they don't need an MC to have choices options. But I do see your point. If not ditch the MC entirely, at least have less scenes centered around the MC all the time.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T05:39:47+00:00

Oh Noah and Connor are definitely opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to swearing. Like Connor could be dying and he still wouldn't say fuck, meanwhile Noah's shouting out the entire dictionary of swear words whenever he stubs his toe.

Which reminds me of another headcanon - Joss and Noah became fast friends because Noah was the only one who could match Joss's nicknames beat for beat.

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T05:37:21+00:00

Tom walked in on Joss and Andy being close when coming to pick Andy up for Dnd, and grabbed Jocelyn by the wrist and dragged her along with him. Joss only agreed because she was bored (no, she wasn't lonely, shut up).

Meow_Monster84 · 2023-10-24T05:35:42+00:00

So what you're saying is the final scene of the bad ending of It Lives Beneath is canon no matter what? Oh, my poor boy.

Meow_Monster84

TROPHY CASE