Since Bdubs said he only wants to be an "actor" in this life series as opposed to a "director" as well do you think that will impact how he plays? The director comment made me think of how he likes to craft a story and narrative with his actions in the series, but by not directing this season I'm like stupidly paranoid we wont get any good story. Ofc I know that with it being improv its not like there was much control of narrative to begin with but still. Just curious if you had any thoughts

I expect it to impact how he plays a lot! Whether that leads to different outcomes for him, who knows, but it will absolutely change things.

I'd say improv is defined largely by being in control of the narrative compared to scripted stuff, but that control is collectively owned by the scene participants as it is beijg done. of course recorded and edited improv cede back control of framing to the person doing the editing over their own version of events, going up against everyone else's slices. so we have two axes here: control over action (high degree of agency, collectively owned) and control over framing (degree of agency contingent on footage, individually owned).

bdubs is giving up control over framing in return for what is arguably a higher degree of agency over action than other players - it will at least be qualitatively different. he specifically calls out the external self-imposed pressure to split from the group you're with to keep povs distinct or give space to yourself or another player for the episode and wanting to see what it's like when that's removed; he says he's gonna stay with people the entire time, something no one else can afford to do without significant trade-offs.

most enticingly to me this means he can essentially attach himself to others (and conversely to them, almost has to commit to never being alone which increases risk with boogeymen mechanics) whether they want him to be or not. there will be no compelling metagame reason not to let him, only reasons within the game's own bounds. there is so much potential there for a different playstyle, one that fits bdubs' tendencies extremely well.

bdubs lately has been really pushing his editing/directing capacities, having already very intentionally developed his acting and building skills. but it's experimental and varied rather than stable building up on a foundation like his growing texturing theory. he clearly cares a lot about craft as much as he genuinely enjoys playing the game and it does actually make perfect sense in a time where he's putting out videos for 3 series relatively slowly compared to years prior that he might make an experiment like this. I do not think he's done this without a hypothesis or angle to work, and so I expect him to at least give working the angle his damnedest.

and like... there's never one narrative. imo reconciling mcyt perspectives is sometimes like trying to make every beheading game story fit in the same coherent universe - it's the same story and maybe even contemporaneous but it's not a compatible framework to talk about them in. bdubs point about wanting to work on his "acting" and then self-correcting to "playing a character" is also tbh kind of validating bc the line btwn ccs and the characters they play is not solid. I'm not defined as a while person by the asshole I am playing game of thrones the board game but it's still me in a way a ttrpg character is not, you know? and framing a story out of gameplay is an entirely different third thing, with its own set of implicit demands. I would love to hear more of his reflection during and after this season abt things that he discovers changed for him, even if it was not expressed outwardly.

now I'm just going on abt how interesting I always find bdubs' clear dedication to improving his various crafts and how insane it is that he's so breezy in videos. It makes sense bc he seems to build mountains as a kind of joyful compulsion, but I think his director/editor hat has been chafing lately in a way that doesn't make his videos bad but is like. you can tell, right? it's compounded by how long he was sick etc. and missing the king (+ empires) plot HE helped start but I hope this clarifies or illuminates something for me. and whether or not it does I am excited and optimistic about piecing his whole deal together from povs where he now has free reign like no one else to insinuate himself into folks' business

HEY! is Tilly is the god of respawn then how about Froggy is a being of time? (I love the idea of Tilly and godlyness)

THAT IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA!!! I LOVE THAT!!

I kinda Imagine that idea as like, Froggy, God of Time, Saw the Watchers messing with Time in their new death game and decided to go check it out and then just, got stuck and decided to stick it out with Pearl and BigB.

Ima ramble abit about my au eee :3 (I take any chance I get to ramble about this lol)

In my AU Tilly is the God of Respawn(and They're able to transform into different animals - Humans/Humanoids because Animals don't really have Respawns and stuff so It's like an Outsiders Point of View, idk lol) and for me I see 'tilly' in double life as this normal ass dog that Tilly(the God) decided to Possess after Pearl got abandoned since she and tilly already knew each other before hand and Tilly's just like "Pearl doesn't really do good alone, uh oh" and so when that first dog dies Tilly is still able to just possess another Dog(Which is why, in my au, Pearl says that Tilly is on her 2nd life despite being technically dead on the server.)

I'm just now realizing that none of this stuff probably makes sense to others, It's been in my head for so long, oh my stars asjlfhsghdfjghsh... anyways :'3

And In my AU Froggy... is Also Tilly LOL Froggy is Tilly(The God) deciding that just incase they were going to possess the Cat the Pearl tamed and not really tell Pearl unless something bad happened to her. Tilly's all paranoid about Pearl being alone(I've been explaining the paranoia of Pearl being alone as Tilly both knowing that Pearl doesn't deal with being alone(and Abandoned) well and that Tilly wasn't able to get into the Last Life server so They were separated and stuff :P lol) So Froggy just Chills the entire game basically watching over Pearl(and BigB since they're Teamed up). Pearl probably realizes at some point that Froggy is Tilly but She probably doesn't care that much since Tilly is her friend and all... ALSO!! Bdubs is the God of Time in my AU, I kinda took that idea from other people cause I think it's fun. Probably none of this Au stuff makes sense but Oh my Stars, I love it <3 lol