Hello! Thank you so much for posting the guys’ voicelines! If it’s not too much trouble, could I ask for Yuri’s and Ritsu’s? I’ve been especially curious about Yuri’s since reading his line at the beginning of the game if you choose him lol Again, thank you so much!!
(i posted ritsu's separately!)
no anon you may not study yuri. yuri studies you. how dare you. bad guinea pig! you get no experiment tonight!
the rest of you, however, may come appreciate the good doctor with me. You can come too studying anon i won't tell yuri
some of his lines really kinda subverted my expectations of his character? /affectionate) like i thought he would be quite different! not to say his profile is dishonest, but. . .idk lol i love him he's. . .he's special.
Hello: (the first time the game is opened after that character is set as home screen NPC. Only happens once per day, unless the character is switched out and back.)
"What are you dawdling for? Change out of those rags and report to my lab immediately!"
You've Got Mail: (whenever there's something in the inbox, usually Arena rewards)
"What madness is this? Why do you have unread messages!? Check them immediately! Research is a race against time!"
Default: (requires no affinity, has no time constraints)
"You should feel honored to be chosen as the test subject of Dr. Yuri Isami, genius and visionary!"
"Jiro! Jiro!! What on earth are you doing!?"
he calls for jiro the way a parent calls for their kid who's minding their business in another room--
"Lowbrow schools of thought with the gall to oppose my research will bear a mark of shame for generations to come. One day, the world will be forced to acknowledge me."
i realized this early on since i chose him in the pre-prologue so i always had access to him on the home screen but. since anomalies have to be kept secret from the world he kind of can't be acknowledged for what he does in the long run, can he? since he specifically works in anomalous medical sciences much of what he does and works with has to be kept only within the institute's understandings. . . .
"I always preserve the lives of my patients. I cannot make guarantees for any other parts of them, however."
sure you're a disembodied head in a jar but you are a living disembodied head in a jar! don't worry they'll get you a new body!!
"I ask their cooperation for the sake of the future of humanity, and this is what I get!?
Jiro, how much do we have left in our research budget!?"
Affinity 1: (between 5am and 11am)
"What a bracing morning. Jiro, prepare my wake-up tonic."
is 'wake-up tonic' a fancy way of saying coffee or do you have some mixture of herbs and spices that wakes you up
Affinity 2: (between 11am and 4pm)
"Are you injured or ill? Oh dear, how unfortunate. I shall begin the experi—
Ahem, the treatment, immediately."
the way he says this is so incredible but tumblr will not let me upload the video for some reason he is so hype to try putting strange things in you.
Affinity 3: (between 4pm and 8pm)
"Jiro's not feeling well, you say?
Very well. I shall test my latest formula on him."
Affinity 4: (between 8pm and 5am)
"Oh, it's you. And here I thought I had a patient.
I am currently reviewing today's lessons, so please leave unless you're here for treatment."
he's very studious for a genius. not a lot of the ghouls actually go to class.
Affinity 5: (between 8pm and 5am)
"Wha... Wh-Where did you come from!?
Th-Th-Th-This!? It is a medical journal! The Ace Doctor Wows Minds In Another World Thesis!"
MY GUY IS READING ISEKAI MANGA ABOUT DOCTORS AND PROJECTING do you think he reads like hentai about doctors and scientists too. probably not right he's too haughty to think about things like that before they happen
Affinity 6: (between 4pm and 8pm)
"The only blood I stain myself with is that atop the operating table. On missions, I have Jiro to fight in my stead."
it's okay to say you're just not much of a fighter lmao
Affinity 7: (between 11am and 4pm)
"Anomalous medical science is uncharted territory. Should I become its pioneer, all will bow before my intellect until the end of time...
Ha ha... Ah ha ha ha ha!"
Affinity 8: (between 4pm and 8pm)
"Hmph. We have no time to spare on your drivel. Hurry up, Jiro!"
Affinity 9: (between 8pm and 5am)
"It's about time for Jiro's check-up...
Hm? Wake up, Jiro! I've discovered an abnormality already!"
Affinity 10: (between 10pm and midnight)
"Hmm, this case is somewhat complex...
No, there's no need for my expertise here. Jiro, prepare to operate immediately."
'this is too complicated for a human but not too complicated to be jiro's problem!' disregard that jiro may be smarter than him. . . .
Affinity 11: (between 5am and 11am)
"Prepare the new formula, Jiro. A specimen has arrived.
What? You're not here for treatment?"
listen sometimes you just wanna pay someone a visit! it's not my fault you live in a goddamn hospital.
Affinity 12: (between 11am and 4pm)
"I will soon be finished with today's lessons— then I shall return to the lab to confirm the status of my latest test subject."
this is between 11 and 4pm, so you're basically just hearing him talk about his plans for after school lmao just normal student things!!!
Affinity 13: (between 4pm and 8pm)
"Why yes, I attended every lesson today, as always.
All studies are linked, after all. Though it takes a mind such as mine to recognize that."
I DON'T THINK IT'S THAT HARD TO SEE THE LINK BETWEEN MEDICINE AND EVERYTHING. . .UNLESS YOU JUST DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ILLNESSES OR MEDICINE. . . .
Affinity 14: (between 5am and 11am)
"What is that slovenly visage, worm? Tell me, do you have an excuse for looking more emaciated than me when I spent all night researching? I didn't think so!"
would you like my laundry list of reasons i look tired yuri because i can get it
Affinity 15: (between 5am and 11am)
"I must personally administer Jiro's shots three times a day. The treatment is rather unique, you see."
'you see i use my peni--'
Affinity 16: (between 11am and 4pm)
"You have business with Jiro? Not before bringing it to me, you don't. He is merely my assistant—as house captain, it is I who possesses the authority."
no talking to his son assistant without going through him first! sorry anon who asked for an appointment with jiro yuri has to approve it
Affinity 17: (between 10pm and midnight)
"I'm busy with my experiments. Go back to your dorm and ready yourself for your next appointment. Jiro, see her home."
i feel like he doesn't want you to see what he does to his other test subjects. . .not because they die or anything, they always live, it's just a little gruesome to see. He's not as rough with you. And he needs to make sure you keep coming back. And he needs to make sure you get home safe, so he's sending Jiro with you.
Affinity 18: (between 8pm and 5am)
"Even harmful anomalies can have use as medicinal ingredients...
This is the sort of immeasurable value my work provides."
isn't that common knowledge in the medical world though. . .i mean obviously getting the right balance is crucial but that's not an entirely new concept, 'let's use the harmful thing for something good'--
Affinity 19: (between 10pm and midnight)
"Don't forget that body of yours is a vital specimen! Is it not common knowledge that lack of sleep is the root of all illness!?"
DON'T YOU AND JIRO REGULARLY PULL ALL NIGHTERS IF NOT FOR DAYS AT A TIME?????? maybe yuri is just immune to illness. . . .
Affinity 20: (between 5am and 11am)
"Good morning, M...
M... M... My, what an adequate morning it is, no!?
Hmph... Don't confuse me like that..."
IF YOU DIDN'T CHOOSE YURI IN THE PRE-PROLOGUE IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW. . .when Yuri jumps he says "goodbye, mama."
In Japanese it's somewhat more apparent that he's about to call you 'mama' in the voiceline. Maybe it's just my interpretation based on lines 23 and 24, but I think something happened to his mother where he failed to save her with surgery and at higher affinity he begins to project that need to save terminal/cursed patients' lives on you in particular. And he starts to think of you the way he thinks of his mother, but also as his favorite test subject. That or it's a loop/timeline thing and you're actually his mother--do you guys think he'd be able to be convinced into mommy kink shit he clearly has mommy issues it might help
Affinity 21: (between 11am and 4pm)
"Mark my words, I'll have those pompous, preening parasites at Frostheim kneeling before me..."
man they do not like frostheim here in mortkranken. the fact that this is so high up is like. . .i wonder if there's some serious beef here.
Affinity 22: (between 4pm and 8pm)
"Jiro's gone!?
...So be it, then. I grant you the privilege of being my assistant for the day. Be grateful, worm."
jiro will come back when he needs his medication, it's fine! woohoo! do we get a nurse outfit!?
Affinity 23: (between 8pm and 5am)
"There is no life I can't save... There can't be...
I am Yuri Isami...the genius visionary doctor..."
it sounds like he's downright scared to fail to save a life.
Affinity 24: (between 10pm and midnight)
"My next surgery must be a success...
I... I cannot afford another failure..."
i am once again assuming his mother died on the operating table while he was trying to save or otherwise help her and he's extremely traumatized by it. on the other hand would he say 'goodbye mama' if she weren't still alive? maybe she's alive but she's in a coma or hospice or critical condition or something. and he's studying anomalous medicine to figure out how to save her.
Affinity 25(max): (no time constraints)
"You belong to me. I will never hand you over to another researcher...
(gasp) N-N-N-No, you've misunderstood! I-I just...!"
i'm literally the doctor's favorite lab rat because i am so obedient and intelligent and-- he blushes in the second line--he meant it as a test subject/lab rat or assistant thing but he also accidentally said how he really felt at the same time. . . . But you're his, he will be the one to save you, when he stands atop the world as world renowned genius anomalous medical doctor yuri isami you will stand by him as his proudest subject who's helped him confirm many theories and save many others' lives and he will work so hard to keep you well you are his and he doesn't want anyone else to learn what he can learn from you--
Spring: (March-May)
(between 5am and 11am)
"Struggling with pollen allergies? I have a new formula here developed in Mortkranken, shall I test it on you?"
(between 11am and 4pm)
"Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm! Hmm hmm hmm! Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm! Pa rum!"
so i don't know enough classical music to be able to tell what the songs he hums are, but if anyone wants to give it a shot i can try uploading the audios of him lol just lmk
(between 4pm and 8pm)
"Which house's ghouls are out in the field at present?
Oh my, I do hope they come back with some exciting injuries."
i wonder who his favorites to fix up are. . .on the one hand, he hates frostheim. so he might wanna be rougher with them or subject them to more unique experiments and make them admit his intelligence and skill. on the other hand obscuary must be the most interesting ones to work on since they're so unique?
(between 8pm and 5am)
"When did the cherry blossoms bloom...? The changing of the seasons seems rather superfluous when I am engaged in my research."
Summer: (June-August)
(between 5am and 11am)
"Jiro, make a record of today's temperature. We need to take the changing climate into for illnesses particular to summer."
(between 11am and 4pm)
"Darkwick will provide me the materials I need for my research, provided they fall within our budget...
But that is simply insufficient."
have you tried selling organs? taiga says it's very lucative. surely you have some lying around?
(between 4pm and 8pm)
"Hmm...hmm...hmm...hmm...
hmm hmm hmm hmm, Pa pa pa pa pa pa rum!"
(between 8pm and 5am)
"Why do you look so distressed? If the heat is proving too much for you, I can prescribe you something to lower your body temperature."
Autumn: (September-November)
(between 5am and 11am)
"Why must a peerless genius such as myself be saddled with performing piddling health checks for the new students!? It's asinine!"
aren't you the only legitimate doctor in this place by your own admission!?
(between 11am and 4pm)
"A trip to admire the fall foliage? Why yes, I am interested. After all, I'm sure Jabberwock's mountains possess all sorts of undiscovered ingredients. Let's get going."
just make sure you ask towa before taking anything. . .he might not appreciate you messing with his plants. . . .
(between 4pm and 8pm)
"Sports...?
Hmph, such nonsense is entirely superfluous to my life. Why needlessly expend energy in such a manner?"
(between 8pm and 5am)
"Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm,
hmm hmm hmm hmm hmmmm!"
Winter: (December-February)
(between 5am and 11am)
"Freude! Schöner! Götter! Funke! Tochter aus Elyyyyyyysium!"
HE IS SINGING ODE TO JOY IN THE ORIGINAL GERMAN.
(between 11am and 4pm)
"Eureka! A new formula utilizing an anomalous plant that only grows in subzero temperatures has been discovered,
by...! Jiro..."
c'mon yuri be proud of your vice captain!
(between 4pm and 8pm)
"Our research budget for the new year is nearly spent...
Come, Jiro! We're going to negotiate with the faculty!"
(between 8pm and 5am)
"I despise the snow. It brings nothing but revolting memories...
There, we're done with today's checkup. Any other questions?"
. . .what happened between Yuri and Jin. I NEED TO KNOW.
His birthday: (September 14th)
"You...remembered my birthday!?
Ahem... If you wish to give me a present, make it either a talented assistant or a useful test subject."
people don't remember his birthday much i assume. . .or they tend to stay away from him so much he just doesn't get much attention or appreciation.
Your birthday:
"I am here to celebrate your birthday. Do you feel honored?
I've prepared a new formula for you. Let's continue this in the lab, shall we?"
your birthday present is being part of more experiments! aren't you honored???
New Years: (January 1st)
"Happy New Year. I am on my way to make my first shrine visit. You didn't think me the type?
I-It's just a tradition!"
Valentine's Day: (February 14th)
"Hmm, my blood sugar was just starting to drop. I suppose you do have it in you to be considerate every now and then...
Pardon? Valentine's Day?
...(gasp)"
oh he has never gotten valentine's day chocolates before has he. or at least not recently.
White Day: (March 13th)
"I suppose I can concede you have proven yourself useful in the lab, worm.
...This is a token of my gratitude."
he didn't blush when he got the gift but he did blush giving you one so. . .i'm taking it this isn't obligation chocolate.
April Fool's Day: (April 1st)
"Hmph, did you honestly think you could fool me? I won't fall for your cheap tricks. I've already been fooled by Jiro seven times today!"
comically jiro's says he doesn't remember pulling any tricks on yuri at all. . .so yuri may be assuming anything he dislikes or is inconvenienced by is a trick lol
Halloween: (October 31st)
"Trick or treat! I have coordinated the ultimate matching costumes for Jiro and I... Yes, perfect."
the fact that he wanted to match costumes with jiro is so cute. . .like he really has this goofy side that doesn't come out much, but it seems like he enjoys celebrations and relaxed things, he's just too busy to engage in them. he likes isekai manga and holiday traditions and costumes. . .then again there's coordination and order involved in a matching halloween costume. so maybe he just likes the order and structure of it all.
Christmas: (December 25th)
"Merry Christmas. You can hand me my present at your earliest convenience.
You did prepare one for me, didn't you!?"
he's surprised you remembered his birthday and valentine's day but he expects a christmas gift???
Idle: (about 20 seconds without interacting with the game)
(below 13 affinity)
"I am a very busy man, so if you don't require examination, then we're done here."
(13 affinity and above)
"Hmph. You really think yourself important enough to make a genius like myself wait around!?"
Absent: (logging in for the first time in 2 or more days?)
"Where on earth have you been, worm!? Next time you plan on taking an extended leave of absence, I expect you to inform me in advance!"
THERE WE GO. after yesterday where tumblr decided to freak out on me and just fuckin delete it all i'm glad it's out of the way today lol. I REALLY LOVE YURI HE REALLY FEELS SO. . .PATHETIC. he's the self-reinforcing type who really feels the need to hype up his own greatness and reinforce his authority while, as you get closer to him, letting you see how vulnerable he is and how scared he is of failure. and at first you're a specimen and a lab rat but after getting close enough he shoos you away from his experiments and you can even be his assistant(in jiro's absence) instead. . .his profile makes him sound very in control and aggressive but he doesn't really seem that way in his voicelines i guess? and here and there he's goofy and caring. . .he's kind of a loser(affectionate)!
one of my favorite characters lolol i am so looking forward to the mortkranken chapter because that's going to be so dramatic i bet. . . .
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hiiiiiii bee
im so fucling curious what the backstory is behind deeby and lana omg. meant to send a more coherent ask but post work braincel decrease is hitting me hard. also the dutch petname thing scared tge fuck out of me the first time.
ps this is also thw first time ive anon named myself
love - 🌿🚫 anon
God, mood about the post-work braincells. Also, I mean this with so much love, but it means so much to me that I managed to scare the shit out of you with that lol. He gets. Just so much worse. Let's just say everyone in my discord servers I introduce him to universally hate him with a passion. Get ready.
ALSO technically parts of Declan and Lana's backstory are giant spoilers, including what will be one of the bigger plot twists, so I can't tell you just yet. HOWEVER, what I can do is reiterate and highlight things I've already said in-story, plus what's gonna be revealed soon when I actually upload her character profile lol. All that under the cut.
So the first time you really first start hearing about Lana is in Chapter 7, where we also meet Vaughn for the first time. In that, we learn that 1. Declan and Lana are ex boyfriend and girlfriend. As in they actually used to date. 2. Lana is Declan's boss now in some capacity (and was the one to order Stan's kidnapping), and 3, Declan fkn hates Lana. So much more than he hates Vaughn.
In Chapter 8, we learn that 4. Vaughn and Lana are currently dating. That's not really too relevant, but it's really funny to me because their relationship is... something. I'm sure you can imagine. It's very mutually manipulative and they both know it, its awesome.
Anyway, then in Ch. 9, through Stan and Deeby's yelling match, you learn that Declan and Lana's relationship is complicated and he refuses to talk about it, but 5. he's kinda obligated to do whatever Lana says or face unspecified consequences.
Skip to Chapters 11 and 12, the ones with Marcus at the convenience store getting harassed, where we first meet Lana in person. We learn a lot about her, mainly that she 6. acts pretty bubbly and ditzy but is actually pretty smart, 7. is completely fine with SA, 8. is manipulative as hell, 9. feels safe enough to fuck with Declan's plans because despite how much we know Deeby to exert his will over others, he wont do shit to stop her. and 10. The big one: she was the one to give Declan his burn scars (with acid btw. everyone in the story has a weapon of choice, bc superhero lol. Lana is injectable poisons, gasses, acids, etc.). This is mostly just something you could assume, but when she gave him that burn scar, that was the turning point when Lana started manipulating Deeby.
Chapter 15, it's mostly just more of the same, Lana telling Deeby to keep Stan for longer, and Deeby can't argue back, he hates Lana but he has to do what she says, whatever.
So, to put it all together for you: Lana has Deeby under her thumb for some reason. She acts fake, she's manipulative, she's relatively smart, and she dated Declan which means she would get to know some of the more intimate details about him that she could blackmail him with. Also something happened between them where she literally burned him with acid, and now she is his boss (she's the CEO of Supramed Corp. actually, which would be revealed whenever I get around to posting her character profile lol) and makes him do bounty hunting jobs as well as basically whatever she wants. That's what we know so far.
You'll learn more about Lana as a person as well as the nature of their relationship as time goes on, and a lot of Declan's behavior has been partially shaped because of her. There's a lot more to her that hasn't been uncovered yet, although the context clues are all there in the story. I just pointed out the specific ones that relate to Deccy.
Also, one last thing to leave you with. I focus a lot on eye color in this story, it's always very important, it tells you a lot. Lana has bright blue, sky blue type eyes. Can you maybe think of another time I've described a character with eyes like that?
(also if you have any questions feel free to ask in another ask or the comments lol, idk if any of this is even comprehensible)
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I love reading your asks, so I wanted to ask you if you had any favorite female characters from Rik and Ade projects?
Helloooo! Thank you, that's so sweet. ❤️ Let's see... I'm going to single out some TYO characters specifically and then talk more generally. This post is absolutely going to become a big, incoherent mess. 😂
Sue from Sociology is my favourite minor TYO character. Don't get me wrong, I love Helen the Murderess too, but there's something that draws me to Sue. To be fair, I'm just seriously weak for Jennifer Saunders in general, and she's basically done up as a female Rick here, if Rick was actually cool. I like inserting her into fanfic sometimes (okay, once... but I have plans). She's very much a background character for the majority of Interesting, but Interesting itself is one of the first (and only, possibly the only?) time there are lots of women in a TYO scene at once, even if they're not getting to do much. Shout out to Dawn's Christian who gets crushed by the gigantic sandwich too, of course! (As an aside, I find it funny that both Jennifer and Dawn got to strangle/smother Mike on the sofa on different occasions.)
Vyvyan's mum. Pauline Melville pops up a couple of other times in TYO as well, and she's just very good whenever she does. I believe she gave French & Saunders a bit of guidance when they were all on the standup circuit. Vyv's mum is a great character because she's just SO awful. Let female characters be awful! She's so spiky and sharp in every way, and she's probably the only semi-developed female character who appears on the show. I think letting the audience meet her gives Vyvyan a bit of texture and depth - sure, we could imagine any family background for any of them, but we're being told THIS HERE is Vyvyan's. Poor Vyv. Pauline Melville herself, of course, is a prize-winning writer now! The dream.
The devil and her condemned soul is one of my favourite TYO cutaway segments. The condemned soul is Helen Atkinson-Wood, who is most well-known for playing Mrs Miggins in Blackadder the Third. She also has a small role in the Comic Strip episode Consuela (and possibly others, but I looked up the cast list to that one yonks ago because it's my favourite). I wonder if Lise wrote this sketch, considering the subject matter. Either way, Dawn and Helen's delivery is great, especially the faux discrete way Dawn says "period pains". I hope it put stuffy men's heckles up.
Aside from TYO, Jen and Dawn were often the only female presence in the Comic Strip episodes, particularly the earlier ones. Of the first two series, Dawn wrote Summer School and Jen wrote Slags - neither were standout episodes of their series, the kind often recalled today, but with Slags especially, the female characters within them were given more agency and stake in the plot than usual. Jen played five different characters in Happy Families in 1985 - a little gem written by Ben and also starring Ade.
I'd like to give a little shout out to Helen Lederer, who popped up a lot in Rik and Ade's - and French & Saunders' - comic output, while never really being given her own opportunity to shine on TV. Oh, and I'd also like to give a shout out to Marsha Fitzalan, who played Sarah B'Stard in The New Statesman - she did such a good job of playing an intensely flawed, funny female character. There are countless male characters who are basically terrible people - I mean, Alan B'Stard for one - and it's vital women are also allowed to be that awful in comedy.
Comedy has always been a pretty male sphere. Even these days, there are definitely still men Ricky Gervais who believe women can't be funny. Misogyny is still massively prevalent in society. Male comics attract female attention; female comics attract male abuse. That's a simplification and generalisation, of course, but it's broadly true. And I don't see younger generations of men getting better with this, to be honest. Actually, I see them getting worse (thanks, Andrew Tate). Sorry to be all doom and gloom!
When Rik and Ade started out in comedy, women getting to play characters other than wives or the like - that is, straight characters and caricatures there largely for the male characters to bounce off of for their laughs - was still uncommon. Despite the existence of successful female comics across the pond like Lucille Ball, and beloved 1970s sitcom The Good Life having a main cast split evenly gender-wise (I know Richard Briers technically had first credit, but Penelope Keith as Margo Leadbetter was absolutely the funniest of the four of them), there was a genuine belief that women couldn't (and maybe shouldn't) be doing comedy.
Women like Victoria Wood were pushing boundaries in important ways around the time of the alternative comedy boom by writing specifically about women (and, quite often, northern women - which I personally think is important, since Last of the Summer Wine had such a chokehold on portraying almost all of its female characters as ostensibly the same). Her sitcom dinnerladies was both melancholic and hilarious. Her sketch shows and other comic output, quite often featuring Julie Walters (her friend and muse), Celia Imrie, and many others, were all written entirely by her. She was also a gifted pianist and wrote several comic songs.
All of this is to say, Victoria Wood definitely helped pave the way for French & Saunders. She even referred to herself as an alternative comedian in her material. But honestly, I don't think it was until much later that women stopped being regularly restricted to straight roles in comedies created by men (which, of course, most comedies were). This was part of why Absolutely Fabulous, written by Jen, was such a breath of fresh air in the 1990s. For once, every single major character was a woman - men were the scarcity! And Jen has mentioned before that producers would constantly pressure her to write more roles for men. Meanwhile, we can observe that Girls on Top (dubbed the female TYO, which is... sort of true and sort of not), which Dawn and Jen starred in with Ruby Wax and Tracey Ullman in the 1980s, isn't very well-known today. I'm not 100% sure how well it was received at the time, but clearly it wasn't as popular as TYO had been before it. Ruby Wax and Tracey Ullman have both also had successful careers in comedy, but I'd argue that's mainly thanks (particularly in Tracy's case) to opportunities in America.
So I'm not saying women never got to be the funny (also I'm just talking about the UK), but the fact is: if your comedy has a completely/majority male cast, with women only popping up in supporting roles or in guest appearances, it's obvious which characters are going to be better developed, more beloved, and just funnier. I mean, even the Vicar of Dibley, which was obviously written for Dawn and showcases her comic prowess, features a supporting cast of funny men (there was also Emma Chambers as Alice and Liz Smith as Leticia - before she was killed off - but the women were outnumbered by the men). I get that this perhaps fits with the idea of a tiny, slightly backwards village in Oxfordshire - and the fact Geraldine was a female vicar shocking these men was very important to the premise - but still.
We know certain men just REALLY struggle at writing women, too, so they've either done a really bad job or just avoided trying altogether. I do have an example for this, but I don't want to name them since I do love the show they created - it's just, y'know, writing women is definitely not their strong suit! And I'm really not trying to poo poo any shows here by pointing this out. I'm just making observations. All of these comedies I'm referencing here are very old now.
So! To get back to where I started with this!
I love that Lise Mayer was one of the writers of The Young Ones. In some ways, the fact one of the writers was a woman feels pretty incredible for 1982. At the same time, though, it's not surprising that she's often the forgotten one when people talk about who wrote TYO.
Rik and Ade were/are feminists, and it obviously wasn't their fault as individuals that comedy was so male - comedy was also restrictive in other ways before them. In terms of social class and political attitudes, they were definitely something refreshing and new. That said, it wouldn't be until later, with people like Caroline Aherne (who really changed the fundamentals of the sitcom genre with The Royle Family), that working class voices who weren't fucking Bernard Manning actually got some notice in comedy. And I've not even mentioned race in this ramble. If comedy was male, it was even more pale. There were comedies starring black and Asian comics in the 1980s and 1990s that started to break through - The Lenny Henry Show, Chef!, Desmond's, The Real McCoy, Goodness Gracious Me - but there's no denying BAME people, BAME women especially, have had to struggle a lot for a voice in comedy. Comedy is more diverse today than it was 40 years ago. There has been progress. But it's absolutely still male dominated, and still very white, at the top.
Rik was pegged as the golden boy of the alternative comedy movement, and he was and is undoubtedly remembered for so many different comedies. But in terms of pure success and fame? Actually, I think Dawn and Jen have been the standouts of their cohort. I don't think anyone would've predicted this 40 odd years ago - I mean, Christ, Rik had to speak up just to ensure they got equal pay at The Comic Strip. The boys were given their chance to shine first, there's no doubt about that. But it was Dawn and Jen who were the subjects of a BBC documentary last Christmas.
...Maybe there is hope for funny women, after all.
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