State of the Muses: July 2012
PEOPLE I PLAY
character: Aang ( ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small} savedtheworld)series: Avatar: The Last Airbender tagging priority: ■■■■■: Aang's still head of the class tagging-wise, especially with all the developments he's going through and keeping up with all the Korra arrivals. muse strength: ■■■■■: He feels stronger than ever. cast strength: ■■■■□: Our Avatar cast is as amazing as ever, and this cycle has managed to bring in awesome new additions such as Lucy's Ikki, which has helped for a big boost in activity. There's still always more, though. Any Avatar/Korra character who isn't here when the next app cycle comes around will be more than welcome. I'm hoping to have as much as the family as possible and at least Bolin for awesome brotimes. plotting capabilities: ■■■■□: Aang's pretty easy to get invested in things, although there's always more I can throw him at. And now he does have a reason to go on missions and stuff, due to taking up responsibility with protecting the precious granddaughters. Things are moving forward for him - it's getting to the point where even though his feelings on Luceti have become extremely mixed, for better or worse he's settled in there, and that means considering what kind of responsibilities he owes to this world as the Avatar. general fun level: ■■■■■: Always fun. likelihood of drop: □□□□□: In the words of Alfred Pennyworth, "Nevah." |
Development: This has been one month for Aang. While July was kind of a spiral into depression with the draft, this month wound up being more than a roller coaster. I wound up not being able to do much with his post-draft state of mind and chakra therapy, but instead there's been the journey of Aang discovering his future and dealing with everything that comes with it. From taking care of granddaughters to meeting a middle-aged son to looking at his relationship with Katara in a wholly new perspective. All of this is really complicated, especially considering all the threads still in motion, along with Aang's emotional state.
Aang's generally been much more accepting of this future than the rest of the Gaang. It must be part of the Airbender spirit to adjust so quickly to all kinds of sudden new things - like how he very quickly adjusted to being 100 years in the future, with the only exception being his breakdown when he found out the tragedy of his people. But really, Ikki's presence acted as an alternative to Aang clearing his chakras in that the future left him kind of high in a state of bliss. He gets his people back in some form, along with someone to really be a kid with. Knowing the future for Aang has really been a verification taht everything's going to be alright. He knows The Promise won't end with him killing Zuko, he knows he and Katara are really something special, and he knows that there will be a future of new Airbenders along with a city that expresses balance in a wholly new way. However, his family being present has also caused him to truly form an attachment with Luceti after all his time here. In a way, all this time he kind of has without realizing it through all of the new friends he has made. But now he has this family here, and he knows that his time in Luceti will be his only time with his grandchildren, so he is desperate to hold onto these memories - and to protect them.
And so of course as the month dragged on, Aang had to confront the more negative sides of the future through his conversations with others. That the grandchildren were a responsibility instead of just being kids that were fun to hang out with. That they would be better off back home. That Katara was heavily burdened with her knowledge of the future and with the task of protecting the grandkids. And Toph had enough doubts about whether they would ever get home that it temporarily broke Aang's resolve. Also, that Masaomi really is a complicated and potentially scary dude who genuinely loves Katara. Aang's beginning to face his own mortality, too, with the painful realization that Luceti will be his only time alive with his grandkids, that Katara will outlive him and that he'll be trapped in the Spirit World during the Equalist crisis. And through meeting Tenzin, he's also come to be nervous about not being as powerful an Avatar as his future self. Being the most advanced Avatar in Luceti, he is starting to feel a burden from still not being powerful enough to give back bending or control the Avatar State, or to think of a way to save them all. Some of this stuff has been progressed through, to an extent. Aang and Katara have grown closer and solidified their trust, to the point where they are both working together to try to protect their grandchildren from the possibility of Amon arriving, with Aang even accepting her use of bloodbending with their limited options. Now Aang is faced with the task of mastering the Avatar State, something which I'm not sure how to tackle due to the murkiness of the canon surrounding it, and with Book 2 of Korra looming to possibly complicate this further.
Aang still wants to bring them all home above all, but the situation has become much more complicated now that he has a family and some sort of responsibility beyond just generally looking out for his family's wellbeing. But he's keeping together through maintaining this faith in his friends and by having as many positive experiences as possible with them as well as his family, his future self and the rest of those future people.
plan: Well as many threads as can be managed. There's a lot that can be done with the future group and with the present group reacting to them. Plus there's lots of training there to be explored. I'm not exactly sure of Aang's current emotional state, but his spirits seem to be restored enough as of now in his most recent emotional conversation with Toph that he can continue living through Luceti life. Aside from the canon group, he'll be continuing to try to build on the other friendships he's made in Luceti and seek out new friends. I might also try bringing back the chakra thing at some point, but it may be shelved for now until I'm sure of how to execute it. He will also be exploring different potential ways of controlling the Avatar State.
overall: Aang will probably always be my primary character, which is good since he has increasingly so much to deal with. There's been a lot of feels and a lot of fun, and hopefully plenty of more where that came from - but hopefully the characters can start putting themselves back together to work towards happier feels.
character: Greed ( moremoremore)series: Fullmetal Alchemist tagging priority: ■■□□□: It depends. He doesn't have much important stuff going on, so that either makes it easier for me to just whip up tags for him or it gives me a reason to sit on them longer. muse strength: ■■■□□: In the last week my interest in him as been kinda reborn, and I'm having a lot more fun with him. There's just still some shakiness with his voice, I think. cast strength: ■■■■□: The cast is pretty strong for Greed right now, since the last drop has left Xing in power. Plus there's Ed and Winry, who are fun to bounce him off of. There's still always more, as Greed would say, such as the chimeras, Hohenheim, other homunculi or Alphonse who could be helpful castmates. plotting capabilities: ■■□□□: One hard thing is thinking of things for him to do, aside from just throwing him at various characters. He's been building up some good CR, but the main ongoing thing I really have going for him is him trying to hook up Ling and Ran Fan. My only other idea would be him trying to start some sort of gang. I am also considering putting him on missions too, to help. general fun level: ■■■□□: I had felt pretty burned out on, but that's been getting better over the last week, and I feel like it can continue to improve. likelihood of drop: ■□□□□: I'm at a better place with him than I was last month. I was going to give him this cycle to try to decide whether or not I should keep him. I've had enough fun with him so far that I think I will hold onto him for the foreseeable future, but there's still at least a little room for doubt. |
development: Not much has really been developing with him - he's pretty much just leading a casual Luceti existence. The main thing has been in relation to Ling and Ran Fan, with their bonds deepening. Even though they've shared a body for so long, the Dream Shift has brought Greed to realize that Ling's aspirations may be humbler than he thought. And he's also come to respect Ran Fan more, especially because of how much her devotion reminds him of his old Devil's Nest gang.
plans: Not exactly much aside from his meddling in Ling and Ran Fan's love life. As I said above, one possible idea would be having him try to start his own gang, akin to the old Devil's Nest gang. And maybe I'll also have him ponder world domination.
overall: Greed has been in danger, and sometimes I've pondered switching him out for Armstrong (even though the current cast is balanced in Greed's favor), but for now I'm having enough fun that he's safe, and I'm going to try to do more with him. I guess the key has been focusing on Greed casually confronting other characters. Having him wax philosophical about the nature of desire all the time had worn on me, especially since that wound up being a strong point of his first post.
character: Rock Lee ( niceguypose)series: tagging priority: ■■■□□: Pretty average I guess. He's probably usually next up after I clear at least the important Aang stuff, although sometimes I'm in more of a Greed mood. muse strength: ■■■□□: I've done some fun stuff with him so far, but I feel like I'm still dancing around his voice sometimes. I need to go through/rego through some episodes to make sure I handle him right. It's also difficult in that there's not much material except for some fillers to judge how Lee interacts with the rest of the Konoha 11 beyond his own team and Naruto's team. cast strength: ■■■■□: I'm glad to be part of the awesome Naruto cast, and both of his teammates are already there to play off of. Of course, it would be perfect to have a full Konoha 11. Lee particularly could use Sakura, Gai and Gaara to play off of at some point. plotting capabilities: ■■■□□: I haven't thrown him around so much yet since he's still settling, but Lee's someone who's great for plots. He has the potential to volunteer or get involved in anything, and I do already have him on a mission too. general fun level: ■■■■□: When I feel like I'm doing him right, things feel really really fun and awesome. His reunion with Naruto is so far an amazing highlight. likelihood of drop: □□□□□: Not in the near future. I'm still settling into the character, but I'm also sure that I can work it out and he could be a mainstay. |
development: Not much yet. Lee' mostly just gotten settled into Luceti and gone on a mission. There isn't much emotional stuff to go through, especially since the only real emotional baggage he's bringing is general worries about how Gai and company will fare against
plans: Not much in specific, but I want to do what I can to develop his character and have him reach out to plenty of others. He'll probably also be my character who I use for my more action-y things, so lots of training stuff in mind and he'll probably be the most often sent on missions.
overall: I'm still getting into the Rock Lee groove and could use some more canon review, but I see this kid going places. He's a contender.
Potential Apps:
-Troy "Buttsoup" Barnes (Community): This is dependent on whether or not Bayley shall Abed. It would also help to have the foundations of a whole Community cast. Plus I need to canon review and see if I can play a character who has some association with sports.
-A Spectacular Spider-Man character: I've recently began rewatching this series after seeing The Amazing Spider-Man, along with the presence of Zane's Spec!Spidey in Luceti, put me in the mood for it. It's my favorite Marvel cartoon and favorite Spider-Man incarnation, and with the tragic fate the show befell, I feel urged to try apping from it at some point. It's something I'll consider as I watch through the series. And it will be interesting since Spidey's pretty much the only hero in the show, so there are plenty of civilians and villains to contemplate. Some possibilities include:
*J. Jonah Jameson - It would be wonderful if I could capture his voice. He'll be a "heart of gold" jerk character, and it could be interesting to have him set up a type of news team in Luceti (complete with demands of PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN). The main flaw is that this version wouldn't be familiar with the Marvel universe beyond Spider-Man, although that could lead to fun stuff as well. Additionally, as I rewatch the series I just now realize how much his design bugs me, mainly with his mustache. It looks like a line drawn onto his face while he was asleep instead of any facial hair! It's pretty bothersome.
*Norman Osborn - Here comes Stormin' Norman. This would be my attempt at a villain character. I had fun with Tarrlok being a slimy figure, and there's another chance of that with Norman here. I'll avoid spoilers because I want you all to watch every episode, but uh yeah, could be interesting stuff.
*Gwen Stacy - She could be a cool attempt at a female character and a "normal" person. Also could lead to horrible sadness if any characters know what happened to her mainstream universe counterpart. Playing her just might require me to be sciencey. Her comics counterpart is also tempting.
*Flash Thompson - A good old-fashioned Redeemable Bully. If I remember correctly, he has some interesting development throughout the series, along with a hilariously annoying laugh. I'll see how I feel as I progress through the series, because y'know... sports.
*Harry Osborn - Once again avoiding spoilers, Harry's pretty fascinating and flawed as well. Could be good to explore etc. I'll have to watch and remember where he is at the end of the series.
-A Blue Exorcist character: No promises yet, I'm still making my way through the manga. Some characters have kind of pinged me, but no one I definitely want to play yet. The primary possibilities are Izumo and Shima.
-Dia (Pokemon Special): Once I catch up on Blue Exorcist, I want to try finishing the Plantinum arc and possibly rereading Diamond/Pearl to think of whether or not I want to pursue him. As I remember, he's a pretty chill character, and it's the perfect excuse to make up horrible Pokemon puns all the time.
-Other: Video game-wise, I sometimes consider reprising one of my Subspace characters. Most likely Hector (from Fire Emblem), this time as his younger self to make things easier and possibly more fun. I do still want to bring a number of them over to DW for memes and such.