#i think those are the most heavily focused on characters and dynamics in this arc

[aerithisms]

i think my problem with this dw season arc accusing the audience of fanbrain for theorising about ruby is that it both feels deceitful and isn't actually that compelling from a character perspective. the season goes out of its way to build up supernatural mystery around ruby and even invokes susan more heavily than ever before in a way that is deliberately trying to get the audience to make those connections. and then it turns around and says you stupid idiot why would you ever try to connect these dots i have deliberately tried to get you to connect.

building up a mystery only for the character to be ordinary is an impossible girl arc redux only this time accusing the viewer of failing to see the humanity of the companion, whereas the impossible girl arc was turning that accusation on the doctor. 7b didn't really blame the audience for viewing clara as a puzzle and in fact several times spells out the fact that clara is perfectly ordinary before the big reveal to give the audience a chance to catch on. as 7b goes on, instead of laying the mystery on thicker, the audience just gets more and more affirmations that clara is a normal human being (rings of akhaten, journey to the centre of the tardis, hide). i found this approach compelling because it was rooted in character, focusing on the doctor's disconnection from humanity/the gendered dynamic of a man treating a woman as his manic pixie mystery to pull him out of grief. s14's meta approach of accusing the viewer feels both unfair, given it has deliberately led the viewer towards theorising, and personally less compelling to me because it wasn't tied into character in any way.

the thing about rey's parentage in tlj is that the reason rian johnson chose to go for that reveal was that it was the only answer that was interesting. none of the theories - rey is a skywalker, rey is a kenobi, and even the eventually canonical rey is a palpatine - were interesting or satisfying because they brought nothing compelling to the table for the story being told. the only satisfaction to be gained from those answers was a fanbrained "omg rey is important because she's related to that guy from the other movie." on top of that, rey desperately wants her parents to have been important, to give her life and her abandonment some kind of significance. so them being ordinary provided the most compelling trajectory for her character because it was the thing she least wanted to hear. it forced her to do the most introspection and growth, as well as tying into the film's themes about the capacity of ordinary people to be special. it wasn't just a choice made to "gotcha" the viewer, it was rooted in character.

i don't think ruby's mother being ordinary accomplishes the same thing. by invoking susan, s14 is engaging with the most egregious example of the doctor's streak of abandonment, which has potential to be very compelling in relation to ruby (and now also the doctor's) own abandonment issues. theories that ruby might be susan, or be somehow related to susan, or somehow related to the doctor, weren't just fanbrained "omg she's related to that guy i know from the classic series." they were theories genuinely rooted in character and the potential to explore both the doctor and ruby's issues with abandonment. and this is something the show willingly led fans towards by invoking susan so much in the first place. so for the show to turn around and act like they were shallow out of nowhere ideas when they were not shallow and were based on potential character conflicts the show itself deliberately invoked, feels misguided.

as well as that, ruby's mother being ordinary does not require that same growth from ruby as it did for rey because it is exactly what ruby wanted to hear. she never wanted her mother to be important, she just wanted to know who her mother was and have a connection with her. so finding out she was a normal woman who still loves her and wants to be a part of her life is everything she's ever wanted. it doesn't introduce interesting conflict for her the way rey's parents being ordinary did for her, because they were written as different characters with different hangups over their abandonment.

tl;dr i don't necessarily dislike ruby's mother being ordinary as an idea but compared to the things it was inspired by - 7b and star wars - it is not nearly as compelling in terms of how it relates to the characters or themes. and the meta angle, while conceptually interesting, doesn't quite work for me because it feels a little manipulative of the audience.

[flightyalrighty]

What do you think about Shadow? What is your personal perception of him? I'm curious about your answer (I hope is spoiler free)

On his character profile, wikipedia etc... for a while he is describled in a strong negative way, like he has no positive traits, an anti-MarySue. But I remember that Shadow from SA2 to 2006, including Shadow 2005 (surprisling, watching the cut scene, I found his positive traits are still there), and then Prime Shadow, tMoStH (those two versions are a bit shy) and Archie Shadow has a good balance of positive and negative traits. In particular the first Shadow (Adventure 2) was enternaining, he seemed playful and mischievous at times, like he was sill a kid even if he was heavily burdened by his past, and there was something likeable in Shadow in Heroes, like he is nice to have around as friend although sometimes he may get difficult to deal with his stubborness, melancholy and pessimism.

Often people complain about Shadow being too expressive in Archie comics. I admit I complained too before rewatching SA2/Sheroes cutscenes, reading some old Sega description of the character, how Maekawa envisioned him (far different than what we have today and that's clear from SA2), I could see Archies' choices.

Also, Archie Shadow is still cold and gruff toward those he doesn't know/he didn't connect with (I lovd the part where he was answering to Relic's questions). He shows his softer side only to his closest friends and still has that hints of distrust, typical of those that were and are still abused and rejected in every possible way.

I like how you showed this in the early page of Infested. The Shadow in first pages is caring toward Rouge, but he is quiet, very focused, and stubborn (when he wanted to complete his mission despite the double concussion and the pain). I see the tick (the bug makes me think to a tick. I see them quite often bvecause the little b...s often attack my cats) is now neutralizing his mental shield, leaving him with his insecurities exposed and vulnerable, in order to make him panic more easily. Shadow's personality is still there for now but his defense is gone.

I think that different continuities have different takes on Shadow (as you mentioned with Archie and Prime). While I thought pretty long and hard about how to answer this, ultimately I'm not sure how. I'll try?

My personal perception of Shadow is simply how he was written before the series had its big tonal shift starting with Sonic Colors. This no-nonsense guy who strives to do the right thing in the most straightforward and efficient way possible. His character arc concluded with Sonic 06, and then he was slid backwards by a company that wanted so badly to twist the franchise to suit the whims of people who never had a real interest in Sonic to begin with. Shadow is so much more than the flat character he'd been hydraulic pressed into. He's more than

This.

I don't envy Ian Flynn's job. He started his career a lot more free to write Shadow how he wanted to, and then found himself struggling against more and more and more restraints -- To the point that he's said on record that he doesn't like writing Shadow anymore. That's sad, especially when my favorite take on all of Team Dark came from his pen. Ian Flynn, famously, was Archie Sonic's writer until its death.

Archie's Team Dark is how I love to see them written.

Archie Shadow, in particular, had a lot more going on than game!Shadow. He was far less likely to cause friction within the Team Dark dynamic -- Not to say friction is a bad thing in fiction, quite the opposite, but when that friction happens all the time it's exhausting. If Shadow was actually allowed more moments to be an actual teammate or collaborate with someone outside of Team Dark without making the whole situation way more needlessly difficult all on his own, that could solve a lot of the issues folks have been complaining about. Like, he doesn't even need to be written nicer, just more willing to work with allies when necessary. He used to do this. Now he barrels into every situation solo.

Anyway, kvetching about Shadow's current writing concluded (on top of the actual answer for this ask).

[crowroboros]

samuel ayers analimean analysis

I'm going to hold off on going too in-depth with Sam cause I really want to wait until TSR has a bit more content in all of its routes, just so I can really take a look at his whole character arc across the VN. I'm also not caught up with the most recent updates, so I'm not the most familiar with where his character stands currently in Nik's route (which the past few updates has been focused on from what I've heard). Spoilers for both The Smoke Room and Echo.

Samuel Ayers I find very interesting. Compared to Chase or Cameron—both of whom express a dislike of religion and a distaste for letting it influence how they live their lives— Sam really does live and die by his beliefs. There are so many times where we hear Sam's monologue in which he talks down to himself as if he himself is "tarnished" or "sinful". I do think part of this is a result from him murdering Jack in the mines as one of the first things he convinces himself of is that Satan is with him in the mines and is ready to drag him to hell for killing the guy. Now, I'm not religious nor am I familiar with the Christian God so I cannot and will not comment on the objectiveness of Sam's views but it's clear that Sam sees the Christian God as something to be feared. It creates an interesting dynamic in which Sam often grapples with his actions and sexuality and other things deemed "sinful" while also being a very self-serving person. His motivations throughout TSR aren't tied to anyone but himself, and what he agrees to in every route is ultimately focused on getting himself far away from Echo. That's the whole reason he went into sex work in the first place, to get money to head further westward (after failing in the mines). And with being gay being heavily stigmatized and outright dangerous, especially in a very Christian area, it adds yet another layer of self-loathing to Sam. Though in terms of sexuality, he doesn't seem to dislike himself due to his same-sex attraction but rather due to his work. I don't ever remember him being ashamed of being into men or anything, though he often refers to himself "whore" in a derogatory way. Overall, in terms of religion, Sam seems so wary towards his own beliefs and the idea of a God. With him both wanting to achieve his own happiness and goals but being terrified—if not outright convinced—that what awaits him is eternal damnation.

Sort of related to that is the way Sam almost justifies the way he seems to be trapped in Echo as if it is something he deserves. He desperately wants to get the hell away from Echo and his old life, to the point of being openly bitter and melancholic when thinking about the town and his life up to that point, and yet he really does seem to think that it is just how things are meant to be for him. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy when taking Echo into consideration. In Echo's timeline, he doesn't leave the town and dies there slowly and painfully. And then the Samulation lives on in Echo for decades after that, continuing the town's cyclical nature. I think that this is in part due to Sam's aforementioned views on himself in the context of his religious beliefs. With how much he sees himself as "sinful" it makes sense that he'd justify the shitty things that happen to him as part of some "divine punishment". Speaking of the Samulation. I think it's a pretty good look into Sam's bitterness towards the world and the situation he finds himself in. Cause it does reflect a lot of Sam's personality—his sarcastic humor, his aloofness, the bitterness I mentioned—but it lacks a lot of what makes Sam nuanced. Sam is all those things, yes, but he is also rather accommodating and agreeable as well. Sam has this almost naive outlook and tends to romanticize things he hopes for. That's part of why he fell for Jack's scheme so easily and so quickly. But the Samulation lacks that. It has his memories, but it isn't very multi-faceted. This part is more of a theory than an analysis but I think it manifested like that due to the circumstances of Sam's death: Mangled and crushed under the weight of Mr. Bronson's van in a town that he hates. What a shitty way to die. If somehow, through the supernatural nature of the town, a simulation of Sam managed to live on after his death, it makes the most sense to me that it would mostly take the form of his mind in his last moments. All of the other aspects of Sam's personality wouldn't be present while he dies in such an agonizing way, but his anger and bitterness towards the world—towards Echo—probably would. Again though, just an idea. It isn't confirmed. I just wondered why the Samulation was both so similar to Sam yet much more aggressive and spiteful than the Sam we see. That could be why.

I'm going to stop this post here. Again, TSR isn't finished yet so I don't want to go too deep into Sam's character cause his development isn't done yet. So his relationship with other characters and the overall narrative and how it all shapes him will have to wait. I definitely will make a part 2 to this in the future cause this guy has a lot going for him.

[gffa]

I noticed that you're diving into Batman comics recently, and I decided to ask you: do you think that Batman's relationship with his Robins is his "redemption" story? I mean, even though this wasn't the case when Dick was first introduced, the modern Robins are very much pulling the Dark Knight out of the shadows. It's not the same as Luke Skywalker unmasking Darth Vader in Episode VI, but it's kinda the same situation - they're causing Bruce Wayne to wake up under the Batman mask...

Ask a dozen different comics writers, all who are just as foundational/not foundational as each other because there's no singular creator here, and you'll get a dozen different answers to this question, but! I would say that, yes, Batman's relationship with Robins is a "you saved me from the dark" story--not that Bruce needs a redemption in the same way a villain does, but he does need pulling back from the light. Modern versions of the first Robin almost always come back to this--Dick Grayson brought light and laughter to Wayne Manor, that Bruce was in a dark place and Dick brought him out of those shadows:

(Robin: Year One + Detective Comics #1000) That when he starts wandering back into the dark, Robin is there to go, "Nah, that's bullshit." It's not always necessarily something that Bruce easily accepts, sometimes he feels guilty about what that cost Dick, to be that for him--though, Dick usually points out that he chooses what he wants to do and that he gained so much when Bruce saved him, just as much as he gave back to Bruce. It's not just when he was a kid, but even as an adult, Dick is still the one that most often does so as an adult--where sometimes he does have to back off that, because Bruce relies on him so heavily for it (and then winds up calling Bruce to talk to him about it anyway 😂) and Dick often just naturally steps into that role, like in the recent Gotham War storyline. That's how deeply embedded the theme is in their dynamic--that it's not just that Dick pulls him out of the dark, it's such a common occurrence that sometimes the question has to be asked, "Does this have a cost on Dick, to be the light to Bruce's darkness?"

(Batman: Urban Legends, "The Murder Club") Because that often is the role Dick plays in Batman's life--he's not the only one that Bruce trusts with this, he has a whole roster of friends (he's brightened by his friendship with Clark, for example, or Alfred emotionally supports him constantly and helps stabilize him), but if you have to pick one heart of the family, of Bruce's family, it's absolutely Dick Grayson:

(Batman: Urban Legends, "The Murder Club") To the point, that when others can't do it, they call in Dick to be the Bruce Whisperer like Tim did in that Urban Legends story or like Alfred does when Bruce is spiraling over Damian's death:

("Robin Rises") But honestly, it's true of all of them:

(Batman 2016) I'm focusing most on Dick here because a) that's the majority of what I've read since I came back to comics and b) because he does tend to be the one that falls into that role the most often, but all of the Robins generally are there to remind Bruce to be a better person, all of his friendships with the other superheroes like Clark and Diana and Barry are there to help him be a better person:

(Batman: Knight Terrors) While they're all inextricably tied to their costumed identities, these are people who keep him grounded as Bruce Wayne rather than stripping him down to just Batman, they're the ones who remind him that they're not just soldiers in a war, they're his sons, they're family, and he doesn't keep them around because he needs fighters, he keeps them around because he loves them. That, while it's rarely commented on directly, it is woven into the themes of Batman that his character arc is: he lost his parents, he lost the stability that family would give him, but he gained a son, he grew to accept people into his heart again, to love them, to grow into a better person for them, to come out of the dark for them, to not let what happened to his parents happen to his son:

(Nightwing 2016 #84) There's a ton more examples that I can't overload this post with (and also I'm still catching up) but, yeah, it's very, very much a theme with many authors that the Robins bring Batman out of the dark, they're his salvation, they're the healing of a little boy who lost his parents growing up and healing through taking in children of his own. Children teach you how to love, they teach you compassion, they make you a better person. In that, the story of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker is very much a sibling theme to Batman and the Robins.

[spillingbeans]

It’s a shame that the “Hunting of the Baskervilles” arc wasn’t animated.

Although I do believe that they chose to not animate it due to the chapter being heavily graphic and disturbing and instead opted for a lighter version of the story in the form of the very first episode, “The Earl’s Crime”.

But even so I wouldn’t like to call “The Earl’s Crime” the anime adaptation of “The Hunting of Baskervilles” despite their similar themes (nobles kidnapping + murdering/hunting children) because the episode omitted a lot of the important points that “The Hunting of Baskervilles” presented.

I’ll be explaining more of these after the cut as well as a short summary of what happened in the chapter so if you don’t wish to be spoiled, do not proceed.

“The Hunting of Baskervilles” is a Fred centric arc. We first see Fred going about his usual liaison duties in the slums (collecting requests and looking out for potential cases) until he encounters a case that involves children in the slums being kidnapped and taken to Dartmoor, the now deceased Earl Enders’ (it takes place directly after “The Noahtic”) hunting grounds. At first he thinks of a way to solve this case on his own after thinking that William wouldn’t bother at all, but then Moran convinces him otherwise leading the gang (William, Moran, and Fred) to set foot for Dartmoor. Louis later on convinces William to let him join as well.

They learn later on that the hunting grounds is being operated by Charles Baskerville and his three other goons. In classic Lord of the Crime fashion, they end up killing all four hunters and successfully rescue all 6 children that were kidnapped that night.

A. More insight on Fred

As I said in the summary, “The Hunting of Baskervilles” mainly focused on Fred. We learn that Fred is a very caring person and is always willing to help those in need from the fact that he wanted to save every single child.

Moran even goes to say that out of everyone in the entire organization, Fred is the one most similar to William.

Moran also did point out that Fred has quite the reckless side to him, which is then further supported in the chapter when Fred immediately goes for one of the Baskerville goons upon seeing him and killing him in an instant.

B. More insight on Louis

Aside from Fred, Louis also plays a major role in this arc.

We learn that Louis and Fred are almost opposites when it comes to ideology. Fred being more emotional, and Louis being more rational. When they encountered a heavily wounded child, Louis suggested to leave him behind in favor of accomplishing their main goal (aka killing the hunters) as he thought that direction would lead them to saving more lives.

Later on we do see Louis being worried for both Fred and William as pointed out by Moran, telling us that his character may be rational but not heartless. Rational wherein he would like to take the most logical course of action to take care of those around him.

C. Louis & Fred’s dynamics

Louis and Fred are both protectors, although they have different ideologies they follow through

Louis is a more rational protector and opts to protect the people he loves more than others (most especially William)

Fred on the other hand is overly thoughtful and cares a lot about commoners

They even ended up in a tiny argument over what to do due to their differences

But despite these differences, they both follow William’s orders in a heartbeat and value his input and orders over anyone else’s

What unites the both of them is their will to serve William and do anything for him and his grand plan.

They just both have different methods of executing it (the aforementioned Fred being more thoughtful of the commoners involved and Louis really only keeping in mind the orders of his brother)

This makes their union to save William in the final plan a bit more special as it really goes to show how much impact William has on them. Like because they both have this common will to serve him, they both go out of their way to overcome their differences and save him.

D. How the others view William

This chapter outright confirmed that both Louis and Fred had unknowingly put William on such a high pedestal.

Fred thought that William wouldn’t appeal to his request to save the children at all considering it would be useless in the grander scheme of things and because they handled a job similar to this before.

Louis, who couldn’t even be honest with his own brother, because he feels he’s becoming too distant and sympathizes with how Fred’s feeling (even if that’s literally his own brother)

Both of them come to erase this high position they put William in after Moran talks them to realize that William isn’t really how they think he is

Moran tells Fred that William wouldn’t abandon a case no matter how similar it is to a crime they’ve exposed in the past if it meant that there were innocent people involved

He then tells Louis that he should be honest about his feelings to his brother because literally that’s his brother (this then seems to work because Louis is seen handling dirty work in their missions more often)

This chapter also shows us more of how Moran is like a big brother to them, from giving advice to both Fred and Louis and breaking up their fight, which I think is really neat

If you guys can’t tell, this mini arc is one of my favorites in the entire series because it gives us a break from talking about William to now talking about the other characters. I think that the information we got here would be interesting considering that the 2nd arc would be more focused on the Lord of Crime now taking on the role of MI6. It gives us more room to speculate how they operate considering we have a chapter that openly tells us about their personalities (specifically Moran, Louis, and especially Fred). I hope in the next part we get to learn more about Fred (specifically his backstory), and more of Louis as he’s taking the centerstage in operations as the leader of MI6.

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

So Doof in Milo Murphy's Law?

In general, I think Doof was as funny as he always was. He's just a disaster of a man with few social skills. He sometimes seems a bit more annoying or inconsiderate than he used to be, though I'm pretty sure the reason for this is Doof in Phineas and Ferb hardly interacts with anyone but Perry, who doesn't talk, mostly in his apartment where his behavior doesn't really bother anyone else. Doof DOES have a full fledged supporting cast so to speak (Vanessa, Norm, Charlene, Roger, OWCA, LOVE MUFFIN), but their interactions often just set up an episode or close out an episode. Not to say he doesn't have storylines where he interacts with other characters, and Norm is around often, but that's not where he spends his time. And those characters he does interact with are usually foiled to him in some notable way. I think the only human characters he interacts with for more than a few lines at a time with are Major Monogram (who is a "good" guy but a bit of an asshole, who has a natural chemistry than , Rodney, who often specifically riles Doof up, and Vanessa whose issues with her dad is central to many of her stories and has a lot of patience for him. And the kids on occasion, where I think we see many of the same problems of his Milo Murphy's Law presence. Where he's basically the kids peer and is often called out for his ridiculousness, and irritates a lot of people. There are characters Doof bounces off wonderfully and characters he just doesn't. Orton Mahson, yes. Sara, Not so much.

It's just that in MML, he's regularly interacting with people so his inability to function is affecting people beyond his immediate family. It's a bit less funny when he's actually interacting with people who don't deserve the problems he's causing. Or who aren't on some level, obligated to deal with it. His behavior is just constant Agent Doof/At2D behavior, but its now directed at characters who shouldn't have to put up with his nonsense. And it's also a little bit Doof is in a context different than the one we saw him than during PnF. He's not as certain about who he is. He's lacking a solid goal. Despite sounding like I'm complaining, I don't really mind all that so to speak. I mean, he was pretty good in the Phineas and Ferb effect in my opinion precisely because he had Orton Mahlson and Cavendish to bounce off of. Doof's still funny, he's still got heart. But I think it just makes the actual problem worse.

Which is that it split S2's focus. S1 heavily focused on Milo and friends, with the pistachio stuff mostly going on in the background until it became actually important. 2 plot lines (not unlike PnF). But Season 2 added a third arc in addition to the Alien arc that replaced the time travel arc, Doof's professor time arc. And while it paralleled Cavendish and Dakota's, it still took up time. I didn't really dislike any of it per se. But it was taking significant time away from Milo, and to a certain extent the dynamics we could have between Milo characters. I don't necessarily have a problem with the episodes, its just between Milo and Gang, Cavendish's escapades, Doof was just too much. We know (due to all the failed backdoor pilots in PnF S4), that they wanted to continue Doof's story. Between Doof 101 and the OWCA Files, they were clearly been thinking about a Doof who is figuring out how to be good for a while. And Doof, DID have room to grow. I do completely agree with giving Doof an arc. But ultimately Doof is a character who is far more funny when he's diluted by other shenanigans, or has good people to bounce off, and Milo's less erratic formula didn't dilute him too much. What I mean by that is we didn't have B (and C) plots the way we did in Phineas. I LOVE Doof, let me make that clear, he was always a delight, but I think I speak for most of us when I say I didn't love Doof enough to give up limited Milo time for him.

Phineas and Ferb had like 65 episodes in its first two seasons alone while Milo Murphy's Law had 40 episodes total. And Doof was a main character in at least 8 segments. Which may not sound like a lot, but half of those episodes didn't feature Milo. He also featured as a major character in several others. And unlike PnF where most segments were shared with the Flynn-Fletcher's escapades, when Doof gets a segment, he's often its sole focus. I genuinely think cutting down a few of the more repetitive Doof episodes or giving them Milo centric B-plots could have done a world of good. That said, I just don't care that much about Doof's middle aged drama compared to the kids shenanigans.

So ultimately I have extremely mixed feelings on it. I do love Doof. Him being professor time and Cavendish's hero, Cavenpuss, his role in helping the kids with the aliens. All great. But I admit. I don't watch the episodes featuring him nearly as much as I do the ones that are just about him and Perry's drama. I think it was something Dan and Swampy cared about. And I respect that. I get it. I could never hate it. But Milo and his friends are great characters who easily can carry half a show, and their extended cast are incredibly engaging. Between the rest of the Murphy family and the rest of the middle school there was plenty of story opportunities. Not to mention Melissa and Zack's families (we never meet Zack's younger siblings, despite their existence being confirmed). I think we all wanted to see something new.

I think none of the episodes featuring Doof were particularly bad but they all together did felt a bit repetitive when the unexplored potential of Milo was right there. I enjoyed Doof's presence in pretty much any episode where Milo and his friends also played a role, because his presence felt beneficial to the story. I liked Doof in the finale for example. But I also can't help but feel that I would have rather had characters like Amanda and Sara in it, characters who were a lot more relevant to Milo, even if Doof was a delight. But when Milo dipped out of an episode to focus on Doof that was a huge problem.

And usually I love episodes which let's us explore new dynamics. And let's make it clear, I like Adventure Buddies. But did we really need it. Maybe if Milo got another season. Because that seems like the exact kind of episode that would have come out of season 3 or 4 of Phineas and Ferb, when they had already worked through a lot of the more expected combinations and started experimenting with weirder stuff. That's when we started getting, all the AU versions of the gang, the episodes that shuffled up the cast and status quo in more unusual ways, and while those are some of my favorite episodes, I feel they only worked because of how much we already had.

There are definitely a few episodes I would cut, or at least would have demoted to B plots of some other episode. But ultimately, Doof's journey was clearly a story they so desperately wanted to tell, and he is, for the most part, a delight. I can't imagine cutting him out of Milo Season 2 altogether. It's such an important piece of Doof lore that I would hate to lose. But I mourn the loss of Milo (and Cavendish and Dakota) episodes even more. I really do have mixed feelings about it. And I can only hope that Milo & co make their way into the new PnF seasons.

[calico-heart]

10 fandoms, 10 characters, 10 tags

Basic rules: choose 10 fandoms that you are part of/support, and choose a favorite character from each of those. Then, tag ten folks!

Thanks for the tag @briar-ffxiv :3 idk how i'm supposed to pick a single favorite out of all these tho cries. Obvious fandoms are up top, but some (maybe. a little.) less common ones show up further down!

FFXIV // Alisaie Leveilluer

I think she's one of the most dynamic characters in the series, and I love love love seeing her come out of her shell as the expansions go on. Her personal arc focuses so heavily on surviving grief and learning to keep an open heart even when faced with loss over and over again, and I appreciate how well that ties into the main storyline, too.

Fallout 4 // Piper Wright

My wife <333 Piper's reckless go-gettem attitude and propensity for ruffling feathers on her quest to out the baddies really endeared me to her. Finding her soft heart under all the bravado and banter is really rewarding, and I love how committed she is to standing for her ideals, even if it means standing alone. Fo4 has such a cool setting to get immersed in overall, and I really do enjoy all the 50s/60s US tropes thrown into the mix with it.

Reth // Palia

The epitome of making objectively horrible choices for arguably noble reasons. I love this walking disaster. He made me soup. I like how most of the Palia characters have more to them than meets the eye at first meeting, and how many ways they can surprise you as you build relationships with them. But gaining the disgraced pariah Reth's trust? Becoming someone he's brave enough to ask for help from? I treasure it above all the others LOL

Gale Dekarios // Baldur's Gate 3

I'm NOT going to essay I'm NOT going to essay I'm not -- But seriously I do adore this guy's arc. I like how messy it is, even if in more subtle ways than, say, Astarion (ilu too boo.) Gale has so many "gifted kid" trademarks and strikes me as someone who's entire self worth has been based on how useful or interesting he is to others. It's hard to fault him for his ambition, when his magical prowess was the only avenue he had to make meaningful bonds up until the whole tadpole nonsense. BG3 exceeded my wildest expectations out of an RPG and continues to do so every time I pick it up.

Anders // Dragon Age II

I feel obligated to say I don't really consider myself part of the DA fandom because every time I've poked my head in I've found it to be a wretched hive of scum and villainy with the most inane batshit discourse I've ever seen in my life. But the game itself? Love the game. Love the characters. Anders broke my heart. I really enjoyed his internal turmoil and the very literal ideological battle between justice and vengeance he faced throughout the game. I'll eat that up.

Obi-Wan Kenobi // Star Wars

He's baby.

I definitely pick and choose which installations of the behemoth that is the Star Wars franchise to consider canon, and like Dragon Age I try not to actually get involved in fandom spaces. Ever. But I love Obi-Wan's story in the prequels especially, and if you've followed me very long I'm sure you know how much I like my hurt/comfort and angst, which he has in spades.

Halo 1-3, ODST, & Reach // The Arbiter

I grew up on Halo and even have a little poseable model of this guy decorating my bookshelf. Halo's a shooter game first, of course, and I spent a good chunk of my childhood rerunning levels, and playing ninjanaut with friends on splitscreen. But its lore also fell into that sort of early TES space for me, where you had enough of an idea of the world for it to capture your imagination and inspire you, without being overwhelming to keep track of. The angst. The mystique. The badass alien with a glowing sword. 10/10. My Spartan OC is called Artemis and my brother has one named Ares and yes we did slay in PvP as teenagers.

Firefly // Simon Tam

Choosing Firefly is predictable af but thats ok. It still makes me ache wishing we got to know more about the world, the characters - and maybe that unfinished homesick feeling is part of the appeal. I loved watching Simon be so out of his depth in the frontier of space, but willing to giving up everything for someone he cared about and learning to make a new place for himself with Firefly's motley crew.

Mizu // Blue Eye Samurai

I was not prepared for this show to WRECK me like it did. I thought it was going to be a run of the mill cheesy samurai anime and GOD. The thoughtful, clever storytelling and dynamic characters knocked me on my ass. I couldn't stop watching. The cast is incredible, the art style is gorgeous. Every single aspect of this show ties into this theme of being caught between two worlds, and Mizu's story is one I am not going to forget any time soon. If you haven't watched this, you're missing out.

Mal // The Dog Master

I'm not sure there's even really a FANDOM for this book. I haven't ever met anyone else who'd even heard of it, let alone read it. But a fandom can just be me, occasionally pitching it desperately to friends, right? XD The story follows several tribes, but the "main" character is Mal, who was kicked out of his tribe and survives partly by befriending a wolf and raising it. It's pretty cleverly written, with several timelines converging at unexpected moments to offer up plot twists and tie-ins that really wouldn't have been possible if it was written another way. I'm a little geeky about it just for the structural approach. But there's honestly not enough good caveman books out there, and this one has a wide cast of unique and interesting characters who feel very human.

--

I will tag @ronqueesha @bogglebabbles-main @sayonaramidnight @traveleorzea @orime-stories @silentletterwords @ellastara @rinka-fortemps @eriyu @jameswrites

And anyone else who wants to! I'd love to see your lists! But no pressure ofc <3

[dextixer]

V9 did not offer character progression for Ruby, it just continues to spin in place.

(TW: Suicide)

While not a controversial character, Ruby still has had a lot of discussions surrounding various aspects of her writing. Discussions about her actions, her character traits etc. The most often discussions that have occurred on this topic have been about her perceived lack of character progression, especially in comparison to the rest of her team who all received various arcs that contributed to their characters advancements.

Volume 9 seemed like it was going to buckle the trend. An entire volume mostly dedicated to the break-down of Ruby and the eventual character changes and progress that would follow. At least, that was what was expected... And yet that is not what we have received...

Static or Dynamic?

Before discussing V9 let us first cover the context of Ruby character discussions. Ruby has often been criticized for being too static, for not changing, for basically being a very boring character due to how little she changes from her adventures. In Volumes 1-3 this discussion was not prevalent because in those Volumes Ruby had a clear arc and one COULD see the changes to her character.

Over time she grows more into the leadership role, is more outgoing. She grows through conflict with Weiss. Through the teachings of people like Oobleck and eventually, through the tragedy of the fall of Beacon in which 2 of her friends lives were lost.

In Volume 4 however, she starts becoming different. Unsure of herself, not believing that she has what it takes to be a leader, partially due to the Fall of Beacon but then also partially due to getting her uncle stung by Tyrian. Until the end of the Volume where after a pep-talk from Jaune, she once again assumes her leadership position. And then the same thing happens in V5. V6. V7.V8.

I think most people have noticed that in every one of these volumes Ruby doubts her skills or position, only to end up once more becoming brave. Over, and over again. This caused people to start criticizing her character. Its not progressing. Its just the same character over and over again.

This has lead to defenders of RWBY writing to state that its fine, because Ruby is supposed to be a "Static" character. But quite frankly, i have never been convinced by this argument, because V1-V3 Ruby was not static, and showed to us that she can be dynamic, she can change, learn, grow, especially through conflict and even failure. Her being "Static" runs counter to that.

And yet that narrative/defense has never dissapeared.

Hope is the first step...

With Volume 9, we got a promising start. After the darkness of V7-8, after the fall of Atlas, we have our characters fall into a completely different world. A world based on the story "Alice in Wonderland". A world tailor made to deal with the consequences of the fall of Atlas to the main characters and see them change.

While the hope for other characters doing so dissapeared quite quickly, considering how Blake/Yang had almost nothing to do the entire Volume besides their romance, and Weiss becoming comedic relief. The hope for Ruby remained.

After all, Volume 9 focused very heavily on Ruby. From the very start it showed the dire state she was in, and with each episode that state only got worse and worse, seeing a reminder of a (dead again) friend, being confronted by the smoke version of herself, having to deal with Neo (Again). The entire volume was a reminder of her perceived "failures" as a hero, actual failures, the things she lost etc.

People were hoping and expecting a break-down to happen. Not because they wanted Ruby to suffer. But because such break-downs often lead to character development in many cases.

It all came to a head in episode 8, the darkest episode of the Volume, the episode where Ruby chooses to "ascend" after psychological torture by Neo. The ascencion being a very unsubtle reference to actual suicide in its framing. While the suicide brought its own share of controversy and discussions, Ruby breaking down itself was not a bad thing. This is what people were finally waiting for (The problems are the things surrounding it)

Episode 9 seemed to go along with this trend. In the tree, Ruby meets the Blacksmith, who explains a few things to her, but also is trying to help Ruby, help Ruby to choose who she wants to become. Many people did not wish for Ruby to become anything else, especially due to the previously mentioned suicide imagery. Neither did people want to see Ruby become perfectly okay after the experience, again, due to the suicide imagery.

But there was definitely a wish to see change. To see Ruby improved at least slightly in her condition, not healed, but at least starting on a journey of healing AND learning.

And then E10 happened....

On the road to dissapointment...

Do you know the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting things to change. There is no better quote to describe Rubys character progression from V4 onwards. Volume 9 included.

Me saying that Volume 9 is mostly filler due to Rubys story not mattering and being reset ruffled quite a few feathers in the fandom and out of all my takes that i have made in regards to Ruby, has resulted in the biggest fan backlash and harassment. Partially because of calling V9 filler, but people took a VERY large issue with me saying that Ruby has not progressed as a character.

They keep saying "This arc was about her learning that she doesnt have to be perfect or live up to her mother (who is also not perfect), its about her learning that she can make mistakes and its natural" Of course, they also keep saying that this is character progression. After all, Ruby did go down and up, right? There was a change, RIGHT?

That is not character progress. That is spinning wheels in the same place. Imagine that one of your cars wheels is stuck in a hole. Imagine constantly pressing the accelerator, getting to the edge of the hole, and then stopping, only to go back to the same position. Would you call that progress? I would doubt it.

So why are some people calling it progress when Ruby is doing the same thing?

To make it easier, i will give you two graphs.

This is how usually normal characters have development/progress. They are on some kind of baseline, then they fail, or something around them happens that forces them to change/grow up in some way, and thus their character now gains new traits, new relationships, new knowledge etc. There is Progress.

THIS is how Rubys "character progression" post V3 looks like. She starts on a baseline. Fails. Gets told that she is fine, becomes a leader again. Repeat ad nauseam. This SAME thing happens in V9. It is NOT progress. It is STAGNATION.

I can be proven wrong

I can be proven wrong of course. If Volume 10 releases and we see that Ruby still has many problems plaguing her, that she wasnt just fixed and is now fine. Then i will concede the point that Ruby in V9 did have character progression (I will complain about it not being shown in V9) but i will acknowledge that people were right in saying that V9 was NOT mostly filler and that Rubys story had a good reason to exist.

But until then, these are my views. I welcome disagreement of course, so by all means. Go for it. And keep in mind that this is all just my opinion.

[utilitycaster]

So I wanted to cover that bit about the "not everyone gets the same amount of Christmas presents" that I mentioned here. The original quote from the EXU Calamity Wrap-up is:

"I didn't want it to be like Christmas where it's like, 'Everyone gets the same amount of presents.' (...) There's some people in this Brass Ring that are up to an asymmetrical amount of shady shit and that's realistic and that's going to create fun dynamics."

I think with actual play, there can be this artificial expectation that every does get the exact same amount of presents - focus, plot, items, etc - that we don't have as much for scripted works. Some of that is that in D&D, a few of these things are objectively quantifiable and some aren't and people struggle to evaluate equivalence (my endless struggle to get people to understand that the fact that some sorcerers get more spells is not game-breaking or unfair is indicative of this). Some is also that I think people take their own experience of playing D&D, in which you are deeply attached to your character and often see them as the main character of their story, and struggle with their favorite PC not being obviously the main character of the story on screen.

Critical Role gets this more than other shows, and I think some of it is that most other shows either have significantly smaller (3-4 people) parties or in the case of D20 are often more heavily plot-driven. Critical Role is also alone among the more popular shows in its lack of editing, so if one player is in focus, there's no way to condense all the little hems and haws and backtracking that is typical in D&D and so the plot focus seems longer. Its particularly long runtime means that a ten-episode arc focused on a character you're less invested in will take 3-4 months in real-time and 40-ish hours to watch. And finally, I think Critical Role's fandom has groups of people with pronounced preferences for certain actors that at least to me have little to do with acting/d&d skill or recurrent themes explored, and I have not seen this phenomenon elsewhere.

Getting to the actual topic though: the fact is, different characters require different stories! I think a prime example is Fjord having a particularly cool sword; he is a hexblade, and having a sword is a fundamental part of that class and serves as a symbol of the source of his powers, and on top of that he grew up having very little and so the possession of a special material item is meaningful to him in a way it wouldn't be to (for example) Beau, whose story is much more about overcoming the self-hatred she learned from her father's abuse; finding a position in the world she loves and in which she can excel; and in finding family in the Mighty Nein, in the Cobalt Soul, and with Yasha. Percy's story is deeply tied to a particular location and enemy such that it belongs in a self-contained arc with largely background development afterwards; Vex's story is a highly internalized one of constant slow progress with notable and consistent beats but no specific clearly defined arc throughout the entire campaign; and Keyleth's arc is a mix of concrete trials and ongoing personal growth. Or, going back to Brennan's original statement, Patia, Nydas, and Laerryn have background information that isn't present for the rest of the party because that's the story being told! It doesn't mean that Zerxus, Loquatius, and Cerrit don't have compelling backstories; it means that they are differently positioned within the city and the story and have their own specialized knowledge. In fact, giving these characters the knowledge that Patia, Nydas, and Laerryn had would significantly change the intent of those characters from what the players had planned.

Which is in fact another part of this issue: overall, I think most characters get a decent number of "christmas presents", but sometimes the fandom response goes further not just to quantity but also a belief that everyone should get the exact same things, too. I still recall people asking me about TLOVM and whether Vex and Keyleth had comparable screentime with each other, or if they had comparable screentime with the men in the story. These remain among the more baffling questions I've gotten - and I've gotten some weird ones - because it's such a profound lack of understanding how stories work. One would hope that all D&D characters get the same amount of development overall, but that does not necessarily mean the same amount of screen time.

Anyway: the questions to ask are not "who gets the most presents" because most people aren't great at defining what a "present" is or which presents are equivalent in the first place; it's "is this character getting developed in the story in a way that makes sense, and is the plot compelling to other characters around them even if it is for the moment centered on them."

[agearinthevastklok]

Thoughts on AotD

I like that "it's about fear" very much announces the theme of Nathan's own fears of failing and self doubt, which stem from his constant perfectionism we've seen since s1. This is really emphasises in Nathan telling everyone he doesn't know how to write the Song of Salvation and subsequently crossing 'band' off - he is filled with self doubt and fear and is unable to find safety with that. This hits especially hard when you get that "is this the wrong song?" moment that hits so sudden and so hard. I think the "come back" line also really feels full of that fear - his fear is reinforced by loneliness and abandonment and grief and it's so, so powerful when he really becomes vulnerable in that moment.

The entire funeral scene is almost unbearable it felt like way too many things to deal with all at once made 100% more painful because they were ruining the funeral. I wish the bit with Nathan had happened back at their home because I had to keep stopping it just to cope with how much second hand cringe I was getting seeing that all happen in front of all those people at the funeral.

Skwisgaar using his own name/3rd person in speech feels new?

Charles' character seems to have changed quite a bit but I'm obsessed with literally all of his scenes because they pack so much punch. From his speech at the start to his return with the fans, his cool as fuck fight, his final smile - i literally cherish them. "Those are my spiritual savours you're fucking with" knocked the breath out of me.

The character arcs are so good! Nathan's "Life might actually be precious" at the start to realising how to write the Song of Salvation at the end. Murderface putting himself out there to help Charles after being convinced he had no value at the beginning. General Crozier's entire redemption arc.

Also character relationships really do so much here. Toki and Skwisgaar's dynamic becomes far more caring and close with Toki literally looking after Skwisgaar despite still bickering. The whole band getting emotionaly upfront with Murderface about needing him and that beautiful "but you always feel it" line is so so good. Pickles knowing Nathan's order perfectly, their "see you on stage" moment, hugging Toki, being so parental, honestly doing the Most for them all. Nathan's relationship with his parents being still loving and full of supportive words. Toki getting Deaddybear back and Nathan saying "you're one hell of a motherfucker" to Edgar in that fond voice. Murderface honouring Knubbler before the song. Nathan calling the band his family. Hell, even Nathan going from despising the fans to opening his hand to them and eventually thanking them, it's so good. And, yeah, his "relationship to music" bit with the visual metaphor penis, i thought that was good too!

Character confrontations are also really good! I LOVE the bit where Skwisgaar confronts Murderface in that really intense voice- probably my fav bit of voice acting in the whole film. Also Pickles cofnronting Nathan and making him realise why he'd failed his task (with that hilarious "this is weird" commentary from Murderface).

The animation is GORGEOUS - especially in scenes focused on Murderface. There are some very heavily anime-influenced moments which are sometimes beautiful and sometimes a little jarring. Nathan also somehow suffers from some off-model moments a few times.

The artwork is also gorgeous! Backgrounds, stained glass, graphic design, so much beautiful work! Similarly to the animation, there is some very anime-esque scenery I found jarring compared to what MTL usually looks like.

The humour is really great! Knubbler falling down those stairs had me wheezing and the gong breaking is funny both times. Murderface's "like us" funniest joke in the whole movie. "That was upsetting!" made me cackle. Nathan's conversation with Salacia was also very funny but I felt that was at the price of a less dramatic character confrontation.

The amount of 'men in female roles' is so good. Mother Pickles and Sister Toki are doing so much gender for me especially because of how much Pickles just COMMITS to that. "bring mommy his scotch" "you're the absolute best mother" both excellent for my heart. Also "you are the beast daughters of the apocalypse" offers so much gender feeling.

Nathans weird awkward moment during the "your role" bit is very endearing somehow and feels very similar to his sense of humour when he learned he could make a silly voice in the shower

There's some great one-off lines. "Sunshines rainbows marshmallows man" my beloved. "Good rock talk" love that. Nathan's entire realisation sequence at the end calling fans the army of the doomstar and that they're the great reuniting is just very fun final moment stuff. "It's about what we do when we fail" LOVE that as a line esp as they do in fact fail to prevent the metalocalypse and they have to pick up and regroup and try again.

Big whale god my beloved.

I really like how Nathan's voice becomes very breathy and weak compared to his usual growl. For a character who consistently has such presence and power it's such a choice to have his iconic voice be the signifier of his internal weakness. This feels especially interesting when we really see Nathan's raw physical strength when he rips himself from that metal wheel.

Seeing the retreat being destroyed scene by scene was actually very sad!!!! As well as all those Klokateers, especially after Doomstar Requiem

The character deaths hit harder this time around! Knubbler calmly sacrificing himself while Nathan desperately slammed against the barrier not wanting to see another person sacrifice themself for him, that hit hard! Edgar's sacrifice with that "my brother, my love, i'll be with you" was so heartwrenching especially after the "do it all for my brother" in Doomstar Requiem. Even Senator Stampingston has such a visually grotesque, dramatic death I enjoyed that too.

The drowning/near death moment was SO strong, however the jarring animation was particularly notable then and the "or all will die" line seemed ? weirdly unfitting given all dying anyway seemed to be the plan. I LOVE that eerily quiet way they handled nathan doing cpr for so long though

"gear in the wheel of the klok" "go into the water" those song references rock so much i love that.

probably a bad take but I sorta wish the resulting Song of Salvation had been....more??? i guess after the musical diversity of Doomstar Requiem i was expecting something completely next level. it's a good song dont get me wrong and i LOVE the lyrics! i guess i just expected some sort of 10 minute genre-mixing thing to really shake up stuff

I love the final scene I think it really tied off the series in a very strong way

Remember when this was a comedy etc etc

[cowsandcrows]

dsmp theatee production braainrot

no but like. c!dream actually just wandering through the crowd, monologueing- better, SINGING THE LMANBERG ANTHEM AFTER DOOMSDAY

i am so happy for this

and just all the characters with different amount of armour

wilbur with none obviously but most of dreams costume would be his armour, aside from the mask, and techno would have a lot but it would be embellished and detailed and golden to fit his aesthetic

philza would have just enough to give him some protection but not too much because he doesnt care enough and hes not regularly on the offensive or fighting short-range

so hed have again, armour that fits his aesthetic but mainly like plates on his boots and arms, and maybe a vest that like just covers his chest a bit

OH MY GOSH WAIT. PHILZAS COSTUME DESIGN. WITH HIS WINGS. WOULD BE SO COOL. OH MY GOSHHHHHHHHHH AA

I would kill people to create that costume

ANYWAY characters like tommy or jack would have a lot less armour, just basic stuff

and then when its an actual war like doomsday people will wear change their amount of armour, and it will be so noticeable how much they cover up in that situation

ranboo puts on a full set

techno keeps it easy to maneuvere

tommy doesnt have much, and what he does have would be visibly scuffed and not entirely durable

tubbo has an okay set only because hes the president

dream takes off some of his armour as a power move, unnoticed in the midst of it all

also i just want to. discuss ghostbur. because ohhh my gosh thats such a good focus.

id probably have part 2 focus a lot on techno, though i wouldnt want there to be a clear main character in any of it- like wilburs story would be the focus in part 1, but he dies and that would throw off the audiences understandinf of who the protagonists are supposed to be! MORALLY GREY CHARACTERS HOORAY! CONFUSE THE AUDIENCE AND ANYONE WHO EXPEXTS STORIES TO HAVE A CLEAR GOOD VS BAD DYNAMIC!!!!!

focusing on techno in the second part of the play would be amazing because his interactions with the audience are so unique to other ccs

he talks constantly during lore, breaking 4th wall liberally, hes way less performative in the way he does it too, whereas wilbur and dream would do it with the idea of performance

and like that other person said, techno could actually spend his retirement arc IN THE AUDIENCE AREA

all od this is makinf me think the stage should have a thrust section that is level eith the audience, and maybe even multiple clearings throughout where characters can move to when needed, like with dreams wandering, and where characters that gradually move on-stage will start out? not like for the audience to see, but if youre near them you do see it. different perspectives and stuff

and Tommy might actuallt pick on members of the audience for comic relief, joking around and shit, which would contrast so heavily to exile where he would just sit on the edge of rhe stage and talk to them quietly

and ranboo could be constantly ramblinf to the audience withour a clewr understanding of what they are, and then one person in the audience could actually reply to him, and he could kind of jist stop and go 'wait what, thats not supposed to happen' almost like they did in wandavision if anyone knows what im on about. like that whole interview section? that

AUGHHHH MY BRAIN IS DECAYING schlatt should die in one of those sections in the middle of the audience. im just sayinf. he should.

becayse there are so many different povs to the dsmp i think it would be cool if the stage was set so that different sides of the audience would have a completely different idea of the story

like characters that can be seen wandering around in the background might only be see by the left audience, or the right side might get a different impression of the lighting

or the spotlights could be angled on some characters so that one side of them is obscured by shadow and another side is brightly lit (could work so well with Wilbur or schlatt to communicate how different people hate or idolise them)

please send help

[daisylikesmedia]

Series 8 Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express

Heyy everyone today we’re going to be checking out the 2nd Agatha Christie story-based Doctor Who episode, Mummy on the Orient Express! Is it going to hit the same S tier heights as Unicorn on the Wasp did on my rankings? Let’s find out!

So the first thing to look at when reviewing pretty much any murder mystery, is whether or not the mystery is any good. Good news, it is! Well, it’s decent, and serves the episode well. There’s a mummy going about killing someone every 66 seconds (they’re called the Foretold). Other people can’t see the mummy when these murders are happening, and it’s down to the Doctor and the other experts shipped in to figure out how to stop it. Like any good mystery, it does have layers and every time one peels back it’s very satisfying. Learning that the Mummy was shipped on board, that the orient express was rigged to investigate the creature, etc etc. is a lot of fun. The only issue I have with it is that there isn’t as much clever foreshadowing compared to other mysteries. Maybe I spoiled myself by back-to-back watching Knives Out and Glass Onion, but the way those movies click so much more once you know what’s going on really adds to the experience, whereas with Mummy on the Orient Express a rewatch doesn’t reveal any cool little things you could have noticed that might have helped you figure things out quicker. That’s a nitpick though, it’s very well paced and thought out, and most importantly a lot of fun.

I don’t feel like I need to say this anymore but this is also Series 8 character work and once again, it doesn’t miss. Clara and the Doctor’s “last hurrah” dynamic works so well with the characters at play. Twelve has clearly started to soften up a little in this story, and you can see him starting to try and approach the relationship from a slightly different, more empathetic angle, and this is an important step for him and Clara. Clara’s change of heart during this episode is also super earned. She sees in this story the justification behind a lot of 12’s callousness during this series, and alongside a great little scene on the phone with Danny, this makes her change of heart at the end of the episode click. Series 8 retains it’s form here.

Also I wanna take a moment to shoutout Perkins. He’s a lot of fun, and I really enjoy his dynamic with this Doctor as a more distrusting yet humorous companion. If this wasn’t a story happening within the heavily character focused Series 8, I’d have loved the idea of him staying with the TARDIS crew and being a mainstay companion, but I feel like trying to force another character into Series 8’s arcs would have been a mess, so sadly he was one that got away. 🙁

TL:DR/Overview: Yea this episode just nails it. Good character work, good mystery, good fun. There could be an argument made that because this episode doesn't do anything particularly to stand out, it doesn't deserve an S tier, but I think if an episode is getting pretty much everything right it deserves that spot. S tier gang :3

[ryker-writes]

I guess it’s different finding ships for a Yuusona vs an original character since the canon story still applies to Yuu. There are always spots to fill in with more detailed relationships though, like Yuli not having as great of a relationship with Riddle, Kalim, Octavinelle, etc. than canon Yuu does. Not many stories delve into how the students' actions affect Yuu themselves so I added a little bit of that in Yuli's character arc.

In terms of dynamics, there are a few choices I think work well with Yuli. Of course, Ace and Yuli are already good friends and either one of them developing romantic feelings for the other isn’t out of the question. It doesn’t do much for storytelling, though, since the friends-to-lovers story would be more of a slice of life type thing than a character development one.

On the complete opposite side, Yuli and Riddle is all character development. They don’t clash that well when it comes to personality since Yuli is practical and focused on just scraping by in Twisted Wonderland while Riddle is trying to be the best. I do like the story elements of it though, where Riddle realizes he’s said some things that really hurt her and Yuli learns to eventually forgive and loosen up on her grudge.

Deuce is right in the middle, he and Yuli are good friends and have common goals of learning to get by with disadvantages. I think they’d be super cute, but Yuli might break his heart if she falls for Ace first HELP.

Ruggie is another dynamic one since they’re both practical and resourceful and share a common goal that way. I see them more as good friends than anything though.

I honestly can't imagine her with anyone in Octavinelle, she definitely would throttle Azul and vice-versa if they were dating.

Kalim,,, I'm wayyyy too biased towards sunshine-stupid types. Hinata from Haikyuu was one of my biggest childhood crushes and it shows lol. As much as I love him, he and Yuli would be a very precarious relationship, she’d get impatient with his constant energy if he didn’t learn to be more considerate. Jamil and Yuli might start as a rivals type relationship and develop from there. It could work for both dynamics and storytelling, but again, precarious.

I suppose if Yuli is technically Yuu, then Malleus is the obvious option. I can see him being fascinated with the way she solves problems without the aid of magic. I don’t know anything about Diasomnia chapter yet though.

I have so many thoughts on this haha.

I think that Yuusona's have a good opportunity to interact with pretty much any of the characters. Throughout the story Yuu get's to interact with everyone and eventually grows to get along decently with most of them.

But it also depends heavily on their personality and how well each individual gets along with the characters. Each Yuusona also has their own hobbies and activities that may work better with a partner that understands better or goes better with them.

I do think you bring up a good point about the chapters not mentioning how they affect Yuu. I think that would be something that greatly impacts how each Yuusona would feel about the characters

I get what you mean about sunshine boy tho, and each of those dynamics seems like fun and interesting options! Whatever you choose, I'm sure it will be great

[sevnthhart-a]

[ META ] + Aerith

hoo boy ,  is this one lengthy ✋ (  prompt  )

           i have many thoughts on aerith's character in general. in my honest opinion, se does a pretty subpar job at giving her & tifa the same depth as they do for cloud  ( while understandable ,  because he is the main protag ,  it's very ashdskjsk yk ). which is where i come in 💪 i'll be honest & say i was going to go in such great depth about this one, because their dynamic is one that i find so fascinating — it holds so much more potential than people give it credit for. however, there was no way i could've worded this in a way that would have done it justice. so i'll bullet some of my thoughts & hope it makes sense.  ( side note :  the remake heavily fleshed out their relationship .  i'm going in this with the impression of both in mind )

in my interpretation, i truly believe tifa mourns aerith as both a friend & a religious figure. not necessarily one that she worships, but one nonetheless. 

i. we're all well aware of the fact that aerith has very strong religious ties, but it's in her death that she's truly able to wield the power she holds to its greatest extent. she is the last & strongest tie to the planet, untainted by jenova ... but she is so very human. up till her death, i have no doubt she wanted nothing more than to live out her days as a normal girl with her newfound friends. tifa had to have known / sensed this. she's a very perceptive individual, despite what people may or may not believe. not only that, but they're often seen together when entering a new area in the og! i doubt their conversations were only centered around sephiroth or cloud. they made plans for the future. 

ii. onto tifa's reaction to aerith's death :  it isn't very loud. with sephiroth still an issue at large, she knew very well mourning would have to wait. i think it's because of this that tifa allows herself the chance to fully understand that aerith was more than just a regular human being. she was born special & died the very same — with no intentions on sacrificing herself  ( those plans they made were still in play ). the concept of the promised land & aerith being the only one who really had a shot at stopping the meteor finally began to feel real. not to say that it didn't before, but i've noticed she tends to block out the severity of issues at times  ( she very much suffers from a mild version of a one track mind ). it's at that point she begins to see her in a different, grander light. she was not just a flower peddler, but a being capable of so much. 

iii. she's very much conflicted about how to go about mourning her with this realization, but it didn't change the fact that tifa understands her better than most. she goes through an underrated character arc  ( primarily focused on maturing through loss )  by the end of the og storyline, which is when i feel she settles on accepting her death as more than what she initially thought. the planet lost it's last tangible tie to humanity & that should not be watered down, but she also lost her friend. both sentiments can coexist. in the kids are alright :  a turks side story, tifa is asked if aerith was a friend of hers  (   ❛  was she a friend of yours ?  ❜   )  to which she replies   ❛  yes .  wait ,  no .  friend doesn't do her justice .  ❜

[masterash]

Link

Just finished the last chapter of the first arc for the Remberance Series! It's called Memento and it's about Prime Boys. Please check it out if you're interested, it's close to 200 Kudos and 300 hits away from 4k!!!

[luckthebard]

I'm gonna say something potentially controversial here, but I've been thinking a lot about some of the complaints regarding the final story arc of campaign 2. And I think it would really benefit a lot of the fandom to consider how much of that disappointment came from the tension between expectations of written narrative story beats that need to be resolved, and the reality that what we're all watching is not a traditionally crafted narrative, but a D&D game.

To get a bit more specific: The idea that the Cerberus Assembly was "abandoned" as a plot point or final arc is the one I see most often. But let's imagine what that would have looked like. Going after Ludinus and Trent would not have involved direct confrontation. It would have been of high importance to two characters (Beau and Caleb) far more than others, and utilized their skillsets more. It would have had quite a few moments of stalled momentum and downtime, because it's not a situation that lent itself to epic battle, but rather a politically delicate one requiring patience. Furthermore, for all that some people love to accuse some of the players of "main character syndrome," ending the campaign with an arc like that would absolutely have prioritized some characters over others, and given other players relatively little to do. And that's something important to consider, as a DM.

And that's sort of the crux of it. I'm far from belonging to the twitter ttrpg crowd that hates on D&D as a system every chance it gets, but the fact is D&D is a system that is better at supporting some kinds of narratives over others - just on the level of making sure everyone at a table can participate equally and have fun! And while D&D could support a slow-burn espionage arc, if you really wanted it to, that is not the kind of story I would run as a DM for 7 players, particularly if it's the kind of story that would lead to several of the characters best positioned sitting around and doing nothing. (As an aside, I could totally see a CA arc like that working far better at a smaller table. The effectiveness of the system is also related to the dynamics at the table and the number of players.) As a DM, one of the first priorities is to make sure all of your players feel engaged, involved, and that they can be active participants in the narrative, and feel heroic. The Somnovum arc was not only something that called and tied back to a lot of the themes of the whole campaign, it was also connected emotionally to every character through Lucien/Molly. That is absolutely not true of the Cerberus Assembly, which is why I'm of the opinion that, had the CA been the final arc of the campaign, it would have fallen flat.

This is the same issue around "why didn't they do a full game session resolving Zeenoth and Beau's dad?" - because while as a narrative that trial would have been interesting for Beau, what would the other players have been doing in such a scenario of several gaming sessions besides just sort of sitting around or getting into trouble and "derailing" the main focus? (And this is almost another point entirely, but I think this is at least some of the problem some people had watching the episode where Caduceus reunites with his family - that was very heavily RP focused on one character, and so when other players at the table were asked what they were doing in order to keep them engaged, they took actions that viewers perceived as taking away from what would have, in a traditional narrative, been the sole focus of the whole 4 hours - Caduceus RPing with his family. Tension, again, between traditional narrative expectations and storytelling through a gaming system.) At the end of the day, Critical Role is a D&D game, and as a game it is going to shift toward and support some narrative pathways more than others simply because that is the best way to keep all of the players involved and playing a game.

And here's the final thing: neither of those two storylines I pointed to actually got "dropped" - they were just RPed and addressed in the epilogue, which largely operated outside of the confines of the game system and focused more on pure, individualized RP. Matt even said something to this effect in the wrap-up -- the Cerberus Assembly take-down would probably work better as a story outside of the confines of D&D. It's, frankly, a little weird to me how often I still see people claiming these things "weren't addressed" when the epilogue clearly spent time making sure they were. I would read the hell out of a "Caleb and Beau take down corrupt government officials" book. Likewise, I think "Beau and Yasha wander the wastes of Xhorhas" would make a brilliant comic book. If the D&D game is the structure for the story, then yeah, some individual character narrative beats might not get resolved in the game itself. That's what the epilogue was for! And the reason I think this happened in C2 in a way it didn't in C1 was, the C2 characters were created differently and just individually had more complicated narratives and problems. C2 pushed a little more against the confines of what D&D is able to accomplish in supporting a narrative, which was both fascinating to watch and just exposed the difference between traditional narratives and gameplay narratives all the more.