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🖤carlin, the acct owner and host: she/he, mostly jrwi and hermitcraft. 17
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-M: he/him, miiight post batman stuff from time to time, or politics. has his own acct @morelikefaceonorsumt (16 with fluctuations -🖤)
-🐛 charlie: they/he, slimecicle posting including genloss and playthroughs. adult
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Here are my thoughts now that UPP Empty Graves is DONE!
obviously, spoilers below the cut
First of all, incredible job on part of all the cast, crew, editors, etc for all the work that went into this mini-series. I genuinely believe that UPP is one of the coolest things to come out of JRWI, and this finale is no different. This finale was undoubtedly worth the wait.
Another thing I want to say before I get into specifics is that I appreciate that themes this heavy were dealt with so much care both by Bizzly as a GM, and the rest of JRWI as players. That is not easy to do with a horror/comedy series, but the comedy never felt like it was poking fun at the subject matter, which felt important given just how dark things got especially in the finale.
Admittedly, my favorite part of this finale is that we still have so few answers. We don’t know how William dies, or if Lui survives, or the fates of Mr Abrahams, Eliza, Lui’s Grandma, Bella, Isaac’s dad, Norah’s dad, the list goes on. Actually for a while I thought some of the PC’s might already be dead and that could still be true. My guess is that all of these things will be left up to interpretation, but I’m happy regardless.
That being said here’s my theories: William was not planned to die here, and that route only would’ve been taken if things went severely wrong. I do think Lui is alive, since he would mathematically still have 1HP (which is insanely clutch btw) I still think Lui will have permanent consequences to casting a spell that took so much MP. Whether its permanent scarring, damage to his occult relationship, or maybe he’s more an easier target for the occult. I think if they wanted to kill Lui it would’ve been shown on screen. Alternatively though, I could see Bizzly doing that as a way to let Grizzly decide. If that’s the case, I think Lui saying he thinks he’s gonna die might be all the confirmation we need. I REALLY like the idea of everyone having different interpretations though, and I’m excited to see what people do with that. Personally, I’m sticking with the theory that Lui is alive because im a sucker for happy(ish) endings.
This all being said I really wish there was a UPP rolled. Not necessarily for answers, but I would’ve loved to hear the players thoughts and theories, along with bits about Bizzly’s approach, if things changed, what his goals were etc. There’s still a chance the crew talks about it here and there, so i am holding out hope lmao.
Again on the technical side, the use of props this series was next level. Making the players do the rituals is genius. Actually tying Condi up and hanging dead animals is genius. Getting Milo ice cream is genius and also hilarious. The scene-based lighting gave me chills and then the audio editing. dont get me started. its masterful. i have no words.
As for whats next. I swear I heard somewhere that this will be the last UPP thing they do. I love UPP and would love to see these characters again, but I do also feel satisfied with what we got and would understand if they want to end things here THAT BEING SAID. This finale made me so much more excited for the potential of a season 3 of Prime Defenders. For one we would get a new Milo PC. Or we’d get Norah which I would really REALLY fucking love if they found a way for it to make sense. Another thing, Knowing this much about Williams backstory makes me so desperate to see him confront it post-trickster. We have so much more context as to why he is the way he is that like. shit man. Also, leaving William’s cause of death unanswered GIVES us the potential to explore that in Prime Defenders. It also gives us the potential to, again, talk to his old friends. Personally, I think the thing I’m itching to understand the most is how so much distance grew between William and his old friends. It makes sense don’t get me wrong, but I wish we could see more of it, or the aftermath.
This also made me think about how much UPP helped me understand William as a character. His motives, his fears, and his flaws were all on full display right off the bat. I love how much it contextualizes his actions in Prime Defenders, especially the grayscale arc. The moment that really made it hit for me was that bout of madness near the end. Even though his senseless anger and desire to kill was a result of insanity, it felt like it was still a real feeling, and one that had been building up all episode, and tbh all series. Its so evident how much thought Charlie put into what William is thinking at any given moment (especially in moments like the start of the episode where William is dead silent. Ironically I think these give as much if not more insight towards William as a character)
But enough about William I want to talk about the others.
Starting with Lui, I was surprised both by the way Grizzly played him (which was fucking fascinating) as well as how well integrated into the story he was. I like that Empty Graves started and ended with Lui, in multiple ways. Our first visual was Lui asleep in this dark, almost void like cold, and our last visual was Lui on the brink of death. The parallels there are crazy. There’s also the parallels with the hook being Lui’s dead grandma, and Lui being the one to cast the ritual to end everything. Regardless of how you define it this story started and ended with Lui. I like that a lot, it was a great way to make a character who wasn’t originally there feel important, connected, and essential. And it worked because without Lui I genuinely have no idea how they pulled this off.
Next off Isaac. Condi really fucking surprised me across all of UPP. I think UPP is the clearest at showing, in my opinion, how Condi treats his characters. He puts so much care and detail into how his characters, Isaac especially, respond to the experiences they live through, and I think Condi is fantastic in showing this in subtle, but really on point, realistic, and gut wrenching ways. His characters lives, and challenges are all rooted in themes that come up a lot in the real world. They never feel otherworldly and that can be so hard to play, but it also makes those stories hit twice as hard. Isaac is such an endearing character and his story is so fucking sad, and he is faced with one challenge after another, but at the end of the day, he is still a good kid, and there’s something so incredible about that.
Finally Norah. UPP was my first JRWI campaign and I was going in with zero context. I didn’t even know what Prime Defenders was lmao. But Norah as a character was what first endeared me to the stories the JRWI crew tells. Milo’s acting immediately got me hooked, and there was not one episode where I wasn’t so hooked on everything regarding Norah’s story. The way Norah approached every single situation stood out to me, it made me invested in her, and I’ve never rooted for a character more than I did than at the end of Empty Graves case file 3. I love everything about how she developed and the challenges she faced, especially with how much she had to face alone. With Norah though, and this a good thing, I dont at all feel like her story is finished. The shift in her character during this final episode is so severe that it truly makes me question what kind of person she’ll become after the events of Empty Graves. Its clear that she will never be the person we met at the start of diseased residents, but after today I feel like we don’t know who she is at all anymore. I think thats the coolest shit ever, even if we never get the chance to explore that further.
All this to say, I couldn’t be happier with how UPP turned out. This mini-campaign will always be so special to me, and I really hope everyone who helped make UPP a reality knows what an incredible story it they made. I’ll definitely have more thoughts the more times I rewatch this, but I’m excited to see what other people have to say as well. Good shit jrwi
the power in my house went out for 20 hours so I listened to Worth the Cost by Milo Mumbles 1 billion times bc I had it saved, and now I cannot stop thinking about Norah Fleetwood
