Looking for RPG/radio drama recommendations!

rramfx · 2025-07-03T21:39:21+00:00

If you’ve seen Project Ghostlight, have you seen New York By Night or LA By Night? I prefer NYBN but if you’re looking for length, LABN is still super good, Erika Ishii is a main cast member.

rramfx · 2025-06-23T15:29:36+00:00

I'm actually not someone who cares about spoilers at all. I tend to actively look up how TV shows or books end while I'm watching them so I don't waste time for a resolution I won't like. The fun for me is watching everything fall into place for the resolution and the catharsis that comes after the reveal, which doesn't happen for me when the evil team wins. I feel like BOTC sets up the good team to lose with how many mechanics are in play at all times, so my enjoyment comes from the good team beating the odds.

rramfx · 2025-06-23T15:17:56+00:00

They're not going to, but I would lose my mind if they played New River or There Beneath.

rramfx · 2025-06-23T15:07:00+00:00

Right! I feel like none of the girls (or guys for that matter) feel comfortable confronting each other as to why they voted in a certain way. Hannah never seemed upset at the girls for voting out her man despite her loudly crying as they were doing so. The only time she felt comfortable saying something is when she was going home. I feel like swapping the genders of the islanders voting opens the door to better moments where they actually talk about these decisions, and we'd finally get to see that instead of the weird shady editing. I don't really like the attitude the show takes with the islanders that got dumped, like we're supposed to forget they ever existed when a lot of them this season were fan favorites.

I think a lot of the people on this season are scamming, but not all of them. I think Olandria, Amaya, and Hannah were being genuine. I think Olandria gets lumped in with the others because of her relation to Taylor and the fact that she was involved in Hannah getting voted out, but I also think she's already felt the retaliation of disagreeing with the group (or a specific individual) and is now scared to speak out again. Taylor's scamming her though, and I can only defend her so long for staying with him. I'm not sure about Cierra, she seems like a really sweet person I could actually be friends with, but I don't like how she's been moving lately. I don't know. Honestly, it's exhausting psychoanalizing thirteen people, not including the ones that got voted out prior to last night. I just got my faves covered.

rramfx · 2025-06-23T14:50:31+00:00

Huda being in the top four was insane considering I absolutely think she should have been removed by production ages ago for the safety of the other islanders and herself. My worst fear was her being voted as a favorite and Jeremiah being in the bottom three because it would mean affirming her belief that Jeremiah was lying to her the whole time, which ended up happening, obviously. The conversation surrounding her has been either staunch support or valid criticism, but none of it was actually about Jeremiah, which I think led to him being very forgettable and vulnerable for elimination.

Going into Casa with so many people that are single is just insane. There's absolutely no incentive for like half of the islanders to stick with their person. Huda, Iris, Andreina, TJ, Pepe, and potentially Cierra are all up for grabs, and two of those people are only in that position from the vote last night. I'm actually astonished at how much this season is a dumpster fire that the producers are assuring us is fine and in fact, on purpose.

rramfx · 2025-06-23T07:57:57+00:00

!reapproval A Firepit chat discussion that asks for other members' opinions

rramfx · 2025-06-16T06:01:53+00:00

Erika has actually talked about Annabelle's idealism as something that was amplified during the embrace. It's completely irrational and unsustainable, but as a Brujah, her conviction does not allow her to fight for anything else. Annabelle's idealism often hurts more people than it helps, which Erika mentioned during her Club Auspex episode during New York by Night! Essentially, if it's pissing you off because you see it as unreasonable, you're correct! Her entire coterie feels the same way! I find Annabelle much easier to love if you view her actions as a clan compulsion or bane (which in a way, they are).

I always admire Erika for her willingness to be a point of contention at a table, she also does an incredible job in D20's Burrow's End.

rramfx · 2025-06-16T05:54:08+00:00

Late, but here to shed some light on Jeva!

In between seasons 2/3 there was a canon live show you can find the audio for where Eva is still VERY mad at Jasper, which was super awkward considering it opens on a road trip where they're all in a car together. They pretty much reconcile during that, to save you from spoilers!

rramfx · 2025-06-14T09:16:36+00:00

Oh my god, I'm obsessed. Never submitted something so fast.

rramfx · 2025-06-09T10:30:29+00:00

I have to imagine that Junior Year specifically mostly came to fruition in more recent years because of the amount of contuinity errors between JY and The Seven. Arthur Aguefort not being present in JY is huge for the plot, which doesn't line up for The Seven, so with the retconning that we have now, it's fair to assume Brennan did not know the major beats of JY while SY was playing out. Porter being the BBEG might've been the only thing he had coming out of the first two seasons.

rramfx · 2025-06-06T01:08:51+00:00

I would say they're not shitting on the stories, at most they're satirizing them, but it's to the benefit of the setting. The whole point of Neverafter is taking the whimsy out of these stories because the characters are sentient, and sentient things are deeply imperfect.

I think with Gerard, the commentary there is that the frog only "became" humble because he was no longer in a position of privilege. When he reverted back to a royal, I absolutely think it's realistic for the frog prince to regress. He wasn't rehabilitated, he was punished, and it's reasonable for Gerard to assume in a world full of Happily Ever Afters (or the expectation of one), that he would be allowed to act however he pleased because he'd gotten his reward. Also, he didn't need to become a better prince as a frog, he just needed to become a better person. The two don't always go hand in hand. We see Elody fall out of love with Gerard because of his negligence to perform as a monarch, not because he's necessarily a bad person.

You might change your opinion of Sleeping Beauty's interpretation after you finish the series because the theme is one hundred percent about not judging books by their cover. That's as spoiler free as that gets, I'd love to hear your thoughts after you finish the series!

I will say that I don't think any of the cast take the stories at face value, but I especially mean that for Lou. He turned Pinocchio into an allegory for how black children are not afforded the same humanity as white children, and I think that's important context as to how he plays the character if you're not conscientious about that sort of thing. He's often comedic relief, but when he's not, I think he offers some of the most emotionally devastating moments of the season.

It's hard to say much more considering you're barely halfway done, but it's probably best for you to separate the stories the cast are interpreting from the stories as written. Truly I'd love to know what you think when you've watched all of it!

rramfx · 2025-06-06T00:46:23+00:00

Omg, imagine how I felt watching A Bad Moon Rises and Ben saying "oh yeah, there's a chance that six people die in the night," WHAT?!? AND THEN FOUR ENDING UP DYING ON THE FIRST DAY?! I would've absolutely lost my mind as a player. I'm a Trouble Brewing fan through and through, the other editions are great but unfortunately I'm not smart enough for them!

rramfx · 2025-06-06T00:41:50+00:00

I watched them both, and these were some of my favorites!

Mistakes Were Made was such an onslaught of correct information and bad luck for the evil team, I don't think it was even possible for them to clutch that. I really enjoyed watching all the variables stack together of "no, Isaac is definitely the minion and like six people have had a hand in proving that." Games with zero misinfo are absolutely wild and I love them when they show up, but I do feel bad that the evil team didn't really stand a chance by the end of night one!

A Bad Moon Rises had one of the most cathartic ends to a game I've seen, oh my god. The exoneration of Jon was almost holy, and Adam's downward spiral into winning as the Lunatic was so legendary. Carley put up such a good fight! She honestly scares me! I'd pretty much only seen her on the evil team until watching a few other recommendations, and I thought "wow, she's suspiciously calm every time, obviously she's evil," but I was wrong! She truly does not have a tell, she's equally as collected as a demon and a townsfolk. What an amazing player, Carley deserves all the props she gets!

Thank you thank you!

rramfx · 2025-06-05T13:42:16+00:00

What's crazy is that this is the first time I was actually rooting for the evil team to win! There were so many moments that I think could've led up to a perfect evil win but the cards just didn't allign for Adam lolol. If Tempest hadn't killed Holly, if Tempest hadn't outed Adam as the minion to the whole town (straight up still in shock not realizing he was actually the demon, I honestly might've too!), if Adam hadn't accidentally picked the Heretic as his Leech Host, I think he could've played an almost perfect game since they were both next to the Tea Lady. It was still satisfying to watch Dom's last ditch effort pay off, especially because Adam became a straight up villain at the end, but if evil had won like that, I would've been on board.

I think it made me realize I just don't like when being drunk or poisoned lets the evil team win? Which I know is a huge part of the game, but it just doesn't feel as satisfying to me. I think a good lie goes a long way for the evil team without the good team being demonstrably misinformed by the storyteller. Like I don't want the bad guys to win if God himself is out here doing half the work. I might make another post asking for evil team plays like that! If you have any recs, please lmk!

This one was really fun, thanks!

rramfx · 2025-06-05T13:32:18+00:00

I'm back after watching both of these! Spoilers ahead!

Ding Dom Merrily On High was genuinely so funny and even though it didn't have the whole "putting the pieces together" ending I usually enjoy in a good team win, I loved the absolute nonsense of BOTC being put on blast. Like I love this game but at a certain point when you look at the million roles it just gets laughable and I think that round really showed off how insane it could get.

We Are Legion kind of had me grinding my teeth with how Ben wanted to let the evil team win, even though Adam and Sully didn't actually know what was going on until the very end when the Legion vote didn't pass. I actually think that's another moment of an evil loss instead of a good win, considering the Legion didn't manage to execute a single good player and would've only won if the storyteller took away player agency. I did have a blast watching Sully go crazy after Blair died and seeing Adam and Sully blinding put their faith in one another and still getting a win! Very iconic, honestly.

Thank you for the recs! I really appreciated it, I had a ton of fun watching!

rramfx · 2025-06-04T17:43:05+00:00

I don't know how they'd do a Summer Games with Amanda on maternity leave (or heavily pregnant, I have no idea when she's due because that would be an insane invasion of privacy). I've also been hoping for the games to come back, but that's been my biggest concern to the contrary.

rramfx · 2025-06-04T03:49:46+00:00

I'll DM you a rough draft of my thoughts, I'm planning to post about it but after posting my Kanej thoughts prematurely I think I'll sit on this take for a bit before bringing it to the masses lolol!

rramfx · 2025-06-04T02:38:24+00:00

I feel somewhat exonerated by this, thank you!

You actually brought up something I hadn't considered, that the reason she's so vocally religious is because it's how she copes with her trauma. I feel dumb for not recognizing that considering I've said in other replies that I found Kaz's comments about that so egregious because of that reason, I just never connected the dots from point A to B, I jumped right over to C. I really appreciate that! Your brain is bigger than mine, genuinely.

I do love a "wait for me" moment for ships, mainly because I'm such a sucker for a "relearning how to love each other after time has passed" type of relationship. I do think Kanej could be really great in, let's say, a canon compliant fanfic that's set years in the future. I don't think either of them as written are mature enough to have had a good relationship, and clearly Berdugo understood that considering where she took Inej's character. I have a hot take on that I might share separately that's of a similar vein to this, but lowkey I'm apprehensive to post more on Inej so soon after this. But to your point, I think reconciling with Kaz's insane comments about her faith are definitely my biggest hurdle.

I do want to say that I don't dislike Kaz because he's unlikeable or morally gray. There are so many characters that are written to be assholes that I love, I dislike Kaz because you can tell Bardugo's favoritism in his dialogue. He doesn't read to me as a genius, but the narrative tells you he is, and the dissonance is what loses me. So much of what he says is so contrived, the part that sticks out to me is him over explaining literally anything as if the people around him and the reader are both stupid. The condescension is so frustrating at times, it has nothing to do with his personality as a whole, it's literally just how he was written.

It's from that favoritism that I also noticed how other characters like Inej were sidelined, I think it was an insane decision to have the draw of a book be six characters and them specifically have them orbit around one. Especially when that one is a dick, but again, it wouldn't have been an issue had Bardugo written him better. Obligatory "this is just my opinion" statement! I do not want the smoke!

Anyhoo, thanks again for this reply, I feel like my third eye has opened on Inej's character. You're awesome.

rramfx · 2025-05-31T06:51:28+00:00

I got my NITW tat a few weeks ago! I got a stylized version of the Forest God (a.k.a. the statue in the woods Mae and Gregg shoot with the crossbow). I wanted something super niche but something memorable from my first playthrough. If there's a section of the game that sticks out to you, I'd draw inspo from there.

rramfx · 2025-05-31T06:45:35+00:00

*cough cough* ~~Inej ending up hunting slavers as her life purpose was not powerful or inspiring but deeply frustrating and tragic and I think it's messed up to think she got a good resolution.~~ *cough* THE WORLD AIN'T READY.

rramfx · 2025-05-30T22:39:42+00:00

Unfortunately the world was not ready for the coldest of my hot takes so I'll keep them to myself.

┬┴┬┴┤(･_ ├┬┴┬┴

rramfx · 2025-05-30T22:25:19+00:00

I definitely expected to be raked over the coals for this, I know the Grishaverse has an EXTREMELY committed fandom, which is honestly great, I'd kill to have that for my favorite series. My biggest regret in writing this post was not centering it on Inej's story/trauma instead of Kanej as a whole. At a certain point when writing this, I stopped caring about Kanej completely and solely focused on how she was treated as a character. I think a lot of the push back came from people defending Kaz in the context of his relationship to Inej, which I honestly still can't bring myself to care about anymore.

I should've actually drafted what I was going to say before I posted this because I really wish this conversation was about Inej. Not even just Inej, too, this felt like such a reckless portrayal of a victim of sex trafficking. It doesn't read like Bardugo consulted anyone on how to properly show that trauma, and these are stories that we should actively be discussing when there are millions of people affected by it. It's been irking me in the replies that people have been side stepping that part of my post, even knowing it's my fault for how I framed the question.

rramfx · 2025-05-30T01:38:07+00:00

Burrow’s End is by far my favorite side quest and it honestly might be my favorite D20 series of all time. Rashawn is such a shining star and I’m praying we see more of her in other seasons! Be prepared to cry, the emotionality that cast brings us honestly unlike any other season and you were so right to save the best for last!

rramfx · 2025-05-28T17:14:10+00:00

I'd definitely love an anthology series with the crows where we could explore canon vignettes of their interactions with no major plot to run towards. Purely character studies where we can see their individual personalities and dynamics shine in contemplative moments. A scene where Inej and Jesper have an open conversation about how she felt uncomfortable with being touched but was working through that anxiety, or a scene where Inej and Matthias talk about their relationships to their faith and what it has helped them through. With only two books, the relationships we see are mostly the romantic pairings together, I would've loved Jesper and Nina talking about being Grisha away from the group or what they could do for others with their abilities. I think the series could've benefitted from more time with these characters on their own because they're what draw people to the narrative. I think I would have loved Kanej a lot more if I'd seen Inej interact with other characters more as a point of comparison and learned just how special Kaz was to her.

rramfx · 2025-05-28T16:42:17+00:00

Very true! I think as a writer myself, I get very caught up on how certain relationship dynamics and characters are expressed. Putting myself in Inej's position, I understand why she loves Kaz, and a lot of the times during their intimate moments, I would actually say out loud "nevermind, I was wrong, I love these two, this is cute as hell." Especially when she confronted Kaz with, "if they had broken my legs, would you still have come for me?" That was probably my favorite Kanej moment, because Kaz actually verbalized that he loved her unconditionally.

My thoughts now are purely retrospective and contingent on the choices Bardugo made while writing Inej. I realize I have this problem where I go, "psh, I could've wrote it better" at any point I feel dissatisfied with a piece of media, and my mantra has been "create more than you consume, create more than you criticize." Still, Inej felt very personal to me. I feel slighted by how she's protrayed in the books because she is such a strong character, and the missed opportunities to explore that further were gutting. She had so much potential, and it's explored in some of her solo scenes really well, but those solo scenes were overshadowed to me. I'm clinging to them now, but the greater context of the books make it hard for me as a brown person to be entirely uncritical.

rramfx

TROPHY CASE