State of the Muses: December 2012

[gorepasa]

character: Aang (savedtheworld) series: Avatar: The Last Airbender tagging priority: ■■■■□: Varies a little. Sometimes when there's a daunting amount of tags, I put them off in favor of one of the others; other times, it's easier to just chip away at his tags. muse strength: ■■■■□: Maybe four and a half? I don't know. I'm unsure if he's reflecting his Luceti development enough - with his Lucetiversary starting to loom on the horizon and all, but he still feels solid and often the easiest to brain. cast strength: ■■■■□: I know that everyone's been busy (and now there is change of further shrinking), but what we've had is still the best. And maybe getting a Zuko too, that's exciting! The Korra sub-cast is sadly still mostly empty. plotting capabilities: ■■■■□: He wound up not doing much in December, but it's still easy to throw him around and have fun. general fun level: ■■■■■: Often the funnest! likelihood of drop: □□□□□: As never as ever.

December turned out to be a bit of a chill month for Aang (puns intended) without much development, but that's a good thing I think. It's like a breather month after all the Aangst from the Moro draft and its fallout, as well as the aangst potentially to come in the near future. So it's nice to have just some time for Aang to be able to sit back and appreciate everything. I think I just have to put more thought into his development and direction for Luceti. March he'll have been here one year. That also means his Luceti birthday - his mental one at least, due to the update, should be sometime in January and February, so that'll be something to think over too. Overall, good stuff pretty much.

character: Rock Lee (niceguypose) series: Naruto tagging priority: ■■■■□: He's made a dramatic comeback. His tags now feel more fresh and fun, so I do them more often. muse strength: ■■■■□: My confidence in him is re-energized. Just sometimes uncertain if I'm overdoing his formality. cast strength: ■■■□□: Our numbers have shrunk but still awesome! And hopefully an incoming Sakura should be awesome. The latest chapters have also only made me want a Gai more. plotting capabilities: ■■■■□: They've become much, much better. It's becoming easier to think of things I want to do with him, as goofy as some of them are. general fun level: ■■■■■: So much fun now. likelihood of drop: □□□□□: He's safe.

Rock Lee was in a dangerous place. When AC had rolled around, I had been nearly certain that I would be letting him go. But then, a combination of Pideas and tumblr I think helped me to keep giving him another chance, and the Santa plot turned out to be just what I needed to get him going again. I've been able to tap into his heart again, and really? This month feels like the first time I've really been fully invested in him. And later things - like those heartbreaking Naruto chapters - have helped to reinforce this and give me some direction for him to develop in. The idea to give him a squirrel has also given me some more ways to play with his sensitive side, and he has interesting stuff going on with Rapunzel. Even watching Naruto SD gives me some fun, wacky ideas, just to be adjusted for the slightly more sane Canon!Lee. Now, he has the arrival of Sakura on the horizon, which could be awesome; and the eventual news of what happened back home, which will be a chance to explore true Lee angst. Also he has to throw Yuri Nakamura funeral sometime because that'll be hilarious.

character: Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (wildbluevagner) series: X-Men Evolution tagging priority: ■■■□□: I've been a bit lazy with him and his tags; and I really have to work on starting new threads for him. I've dropped the ball on a few things he probably could or should have tagged. But he should be getting a new post sometime in the next few days. muse strength: ■■■■□: Fairly strong, I think. I have to review an episode or two just for some voice refreshment, though. cast strength: ■■■■□: A very solid quartet amongst a gigantic overall Marvel cast. I am content with what we have, but of course welcoming of any applicants - Kitty in particular I need to play him off of sometime. plotting capabilities: ■■■□□: He does have a lot, but I haven't been exploiting them yet. general fun level: ■■■■□: Very fun! Playing someone who can snark and pun is all kinds of fun. likelihood of drop: □□□□□: Safe!

Kurt also hasn't been up to much this month. Instead of a post, I don't think I tagged around with him much, and on the Christmas Ball and actual Christmas logs he only got a few threads. But I should have a post worked out for him probably today or tomorrow after a voice refresher. I have to work a bit on his direction now that he should be fairly settled in. And try to explore comic stuff more to find more to draw from for him.

character: Wreck-It Ralph (gonnawreckit) series: Wreck-It Ralph tagging priority: ■■■□□: Ralph's a character who I don't feel obligated to tag out with that much. I do slouch on his tags sometimes, but when he has less going on, it's easier for me to endeavor to clear through them all quickly. muse strength: ■■■■□: I need to do some more review to refresh it, I think. But I'm primarily confident with him thus far. Lots of fun with his nicknames. cast strength: ■■■□□: Marbles' Vanellope, who is awesome. And Nuke is trying Calhoun, which could also be awesome. All we need is a Felix now for perfection. plotting capabilities: ■■■■□: They've proven to be surprisingly good! Well for most social events he has to be dragged out by Vanellope, but there's still a lot of fun and unique ideas for him, such as the show he put on with Oswald. And there's the possibility of Bad-Anon stuff. I should see if he should join the Brigade, too. general fun level: ■■■■■: Five stars just for how fun it was just to have him abuse elves throughout the Christmas event. He's my only character willing to do that, and that's one reason that likelihood of drop: □□□□□: he should be staying.

Ralph is fairly settled, and yeah, I'm having fun with him. His refreshing quality is being a mix of a kind persona and a jerk, which makes for a lot of fun threads, especially in which he beats on Christmas elves. And the dynamic with Marbles' Vanellope is a very fun thing to play off of. He's someone I can move at a more steady pace with, and he's full of potential. I'm looking forward to developing him more within this year.

Potential apps:

So, yeah. Lee's survival leaves me in the position where any new character will bring me to the fifth character threshold. And I'm determining if that's a load I can handle. However, I'm not exactly considering anyone who's a real social butterfly at the moment, also (plus Alphonse kind of has an excuse not to be out and about so much). And one of them are really at the must-app feeling yet. So there's a chance I might not get anyone in this cycle. Really, I'm going to review and also toss Kurt out there to get a better gauge on how I can handle my tag load to see if I can get this in. So with that disclaimer in, here's the considerations:

character: Fergus (mybearhands) series: Brave desire to app: ■■■□□: Everything's pending another review of the movie, really. I'm not feeling it too strongly at the present, really, but I need to see the movie again to see what happens. muse strength: ■■■□□: Fairly strong! I think I've been doing okay with him? But I'll do another round of voice testing after I review the movie. I feel like a lot of the trickery is in mastering the Scottishisms. And adjusting to someone who is more war-minded (Ralph is a step in this direction, but aside from his rage issues he is kind of generally peaceful). cast strength: □□□□□: It's a question mark, really. We might have Elinor, which would be interesting, although I haven't put much thought into what things would be like with just the pair around (my scenarios thus far have only been him and Elinor living like total slobs, weapons always on the table). However, for the possibility of apping him, as I did with Ralph, I will be considering whether or not he could stand as a lone canon warrior. plotting capabilities: ■■■□□: Preliminary thoughts seem fairly strong? There are of course many interesting opportunities for a full-on warrior in Luceti who is also a father, and I can foresee interesting CR with the likes of Hiccup. general fun level: ■■■□□: I have had some fun in memes and the test drive with him so far! likelihood of app: ■■□□□: It could sway either way, and hopefully reviewing the movie will help.

character: Alphonse Elric (soulmeetbody) series: Fullmetal Alchemist desire to app: ■□□□□: Currently my desire is an all-time low. It's really a question of seeing if review can get me re-invested, but I doubt I'll have anything ready for this cycle (which may be a pity? I can't decide if Al arriving while Ed is Prided will be horribly awesome or horribly horrible). muse strength: ■■□□□: I've only really voice-tested him once, but he's felt shakey. It's a point of his voice not being unique enough from Aang for me. Sure, there are differences in their personality - Al is more consistently polite and tactful, he's less energetic and has a bit of a brash side. And that's part of the importance of review, I have to take in more of his speech patterns and mannerisms so I can test him without second guessing myself when I read his lines in Aang's voice or some such. cast strength: ■■■□□: Small but strong. But with Aang, strong CR overlap is a big concern. plotting capabilities: ■■■■□: That's the main enduring reason to consider him. Having a unique position for him; basically, he'll be from the end of The Promised Day, and I like the idea of working with him going through physical therapy and such, learning to use his body again and adjusting to being a whole person. general fun level: ■■□□□: Well the one voice testing thread was angst, but he's seemed potentially fun. likelihood of app: ■□□□□: His alchemy and his condition may be enough to give him a niche, but I'm still unsure if he's unique enough to be appable.

It's probably easiest to divide this between pros and cons:

Fergus - Pros: Unique and fun; gives the roster more balance; I've come to like playing loveable dad-ish figures; could be fairly low maitenance
Cons: Unsure if he could stand as lone canon warrior; still getting down details of voice and mentality

Alphonse - Pros: Unique ideas for him plotwise; it could be an interesting time to bring him in with Pride!Ed plus Hiccup recovering from automail surgery; and superficially, introing Aang and Kurt has taught me how much of a sucker I am for reunions.
Cons: Too much CR conflict with Aang, not a unique enough voice; unlikely to be able to finish reviewing and sufficiently voice test in time to app; while reviewing FMA, I am open to the possibility of being enabled for an alternate character.

Part of me also still wants to try Dia, but the primary pro there is playing out his dynamic with Platina. Otherwise, there's not that much making him unique from the rest of my roster (especially now that Kurt's here to be the pumeister) aside from him having Pokemon.

And finally second game thoughts are sometimes a thing that happens, and it could be likely if I get a good feel. Probably more likely if I stay at four, although I could always just play around in a slower game. Not exactly sure about who or where, though. Aang has often been the most tempting - although it actually was slightly more nagging when there seemed to be various casts out there separated from Aangs. Now most casts have depleted to the point where there are more Aangs out there than there are Kataras or Sokkas. Really, second games are just a vague thought since there's many to consider and various character possibilities - Aang, most likely if another castmate apps with? Old Aang, who should possibly wait until Book 2 and/or will need more voice testing? Lee or Ralph could also work at other games, but I don't think I feel like playing them outside Luceti. One of my various characters who are Aangblocked from here? Booster Gold or maybe some other YJ character if Pi brings Blue Beetle somewhere? Just shooting out possibilities I don't even know.

But as I enter this new year after the last one was spent mostly entering the world of DWRP, and I'm looking forward to all the possibilities in all the new year. Thank you all for the wonderful times so far, and here's to even more.