PHIZ KALIFA posted:

The True Fae in Lost can only exist in the context of stories told to them through the experiences of the mortals they keep. They need their mortals as a source of drama and conflict, because without constant distraction and engagement the True Fae weaken and perish. Despite being beings of sheer emotion and sensation, the Fae cannot feel anything, and must absorb the impact of the actions in the stories via their mortal proxies. The Fae might not even be the main characters in their stories, they just as often play supporting roles or even act as macguffans or the setting itself.
They can even assign different Titles to different aspects of themselves, thus playing multiple roles in their own story.
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A nurse steps from her car, and the world changes. Her neighbor's house has been replaced with an empty gravel pit. This pit is the Queen of Empty Hunger. There is a woman, a Blonde Government Busybody who wants to assist in this mission. Through the trials and tribulations of public governance, the Nurse is tested and changed. Her body shifts to accomodate the characters whirling around her, each one a different aspect of Government.
The nurse, being the only real one around, is pulled between competing aspects of the Fae. Her Nurturing is demanded of The Crippled Boy. Her Friendship is demanded by the Blonde Government Busybody. Her womb is claimed as sacrifice to The Supreme Manager, and afterwards, she is simply replaced with a new supporting cast of mortals.
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Johnny Karate is a Changeling, a human who found themselves transformed in the Durance but managed to somehow escape back into the mortal realm. Still, he dreams of the unearthly delights and profound torments of the Fae, and can only silence this lust by losing himself in music and the pornographic violence of mixed martial arts fights.
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The Stoic was her first, and still greatest success. He was also the simplest to crack, a simple palm strike to the foundation was enough to ruin him utterly, no matter how proudly he still stands. In fact, leaving his personality intact was her cruelest stroke of all, for now he knows he has made himself a lie, the strong and silent survivalist who knows, deep in his heart of hearts, that he loves his coworkers and yearns for an emotional closeness his rigid masculinity will never afford.

PHIZ KALIFA posted:

April is totally normal. In fact she isn't aware that any of this is happening at all, she spends most of her time in SoulSeek chatrooms doxxing Nazis.

Ben Wyatt is a huge goober and peaced out when he realized no one else wanted to play 2nd edition AD&D.

PHIZ KALIFA posted:

alexandriao posted:

That's a good analysis and something that in retrospect I'm surprised I didn't pick up on more. Like, I had bad vibes around her but, yeahhhh.

Incidentally I'm surprised more people don't 'get' Ron Swanson's character. Obviously it's aged a bit given all the Nazi doings since then. Maybe there's a better thread to put this in, but.

As a communist I don't really see why other communists hate Ron? He's a pragmatic, deeply honourable person, who doesn't let many people in, but respects his friends and co-workers. He dislikes the government and beauracracy because he sees it as unnecessary, but that's because he doesn't quite "get" why it exists. If everyone in the world was like Ron Swanson, a government wouldn't need to exist, because people would behave honourably and sensibly in business dealings and wouldn't gently caress each other over for the sake of it. He viscerally hates other people because he realises that other people aren't like him in this way, but I don't think he realises that on a conscious, societal level. Most of the beauracracy in the government, and the government as a whole exists not just for welfare, but to ensure that things get done, and that people don't mess things up. I disagree with his personal philosophy, but only because in practice it doesn't work.

I think he is, to be honest, the hero of the show. I could be misremembering here, but everyone in the show who spends time with him finds their lives improved. He teaches Anne how to fix things, pushes Andy to learn new skills, and more about the world and himself, rather than just rely on skills he has already, and he constantly pushes Knope to do the right thing and take responsibility. He does have huge flaws, like the typewriter letters scenes, and he does expect more of people emotionally and societally than they're capable of (the pig scene), but I don't think he's as bad as I've seen him to be made out.

Anyway that's my 2¢

pentyne posted:

He's a genuinely good person who unlike actual libertarians when confronted with a mistake or error he will acknowledge the problem and make amends towards fixing it.

The creators based him on an actual person they met who was a middle manager in a govt dept who was an outspoken and avowed libertarian.

Then they cast Nick Offerman, he read a few notes about the character and just decided to act like himself with a few extra bits for flair.

Sestze posted:

the only good libertarian is a fictional one that is conspicuously never exposed to underaged children. makes sense.

pentyne posted:

He's a genuinely good person who unlike actual libertarians when confronted with a mistake or error he will acknowledge the problem and make amends towards fixing it.

The creators based him on an actual person they met who was a middle manager in a govt dept who was an outspoken and avowed libertarian.

Then they cast Nick Offerman, he read a few notes about the character and just decided to act like himself with a few extra bits for flair.

alexandriao posted:

That's a good analysis and something that in retrospect I'm surprised I didn't pick up on more. Like, I had bad vibes around her but, yeahhhh.

Incidentally I'm surprised more people don't 'get' Ron Swanson's character. Obviously it's aged a bit given all the Nazi doings since then. Maybe there's a better thread to put this in, but.

As a communist I don't really see why other communists hate Ron? He's a pragmatic, deeply honourable person, who doesn't let many people in, but respects his friends and co-workers. He dislikes the government and beauracracy because he sees it as unnecessary, but that's because he doesn't quite "get" why it exists. If everyone in the world was like Ron Swanson, a government wouldn't need to exist, because people would behave honourably and sensibly in business dealings and wouldn't gently caress each other over for the sake of it. He viscerally hates other people because he realises that other people aren't like him in this way, but I don't think he realises that on a conscious, societal level. Most of the beauracracy in the government, and the government as a whole exists not just for welfare, but to ensure that things get done, and that people don't mess things up. I disagree with his personal philosophy, but only because in practice it doesn't work.

I think he is, to be honest, the hero of the show. I could be misremembering here, but everyone in the show who spends time with him finds their lives improved. He teaches Anne how to fix things, pushes Andy to learn new skills, and more about the world and himself, rather than just rely on skills he has already, and he constantly pushes Knope to do the right thing and take responsibility. He does have huge flaws, like the typewriter letters scenes, and he does expect more of people emotionally and societally than they're capable of (the pig scene), but I don't think he's as bad as I've seen him to be made out.

Anyway that's my 2¢

Ghost Leviathan posted:

And there's a lot of ways in which Hank doesn't live up to even his own standards. Things like his inability to show affection are often pointed out as major flaws, while Dale is a much, MUCH better father because he unashamedly does.

BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:

It's funny that Hank and Dale are both surrogate fathers and probably both know that about each other but not themselves. Dale is better as you say because his subconscious mind is already pretty busy and Hank probably has some unformed resentment about Dauterive's relative Holland Tunnel of a urethra.

BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:

It's funny that Hank and Dale are both surrogate fathers and probably both know that about each other but not themselves. Dale is better as you say because his subconscious mind is already pretty busy and Hank probably has some unformed resentment about Dauterive's relative Holland Tunnel of a urethra.

mind the walrus posted:

I thought the "Bill is Bobby's Dad" thing was debunked. Even then Bobby is pretty detestable in his own right, and I say that as someone who was way more like him as a kid than anyone else on KotH.

Ghost Leviathan posted:

Was mostly thinking the bit where Dale hears Joseph screaming and immediately bursts into his room dual wielding pistols, and then when it turns out Joseph was just having a nightmare, Dale immediately pivots to offering to read him a story.

Ghost Leviathan posted:

I thought Bobby is meant to visually resemble his grandfather Cotton. Hank is the odd one out in the family. There's not really much visual resemblance to Bill aside from being fat. (and I don't think Bill was fat at Bobby's age, he's specifically a guy who seriously let himself go)

somepartsareme posted:

Bobby bears a much stronger resemblance to Cotton and GH than Bill, and saying that Bobby is really Bill's son is a dumb Game Theory level theory. I have strong feelings about this

somepartsareme posted:

I take umbrage with the idea that Peggy can't simply dislike Bill for the advances we see along with how pathetic of a person he is. Peggy isn't really the only woman he comes on to in weird ways, he dug potholes in the alley to try and get a jogger to trip so he could help her, and he allegedly waits outside of the women's prison to meet ladies regularly.

somepartsareme posted:

I take umbrage with the idea that Peggy can't simply dislike Bill for the advances we see along with how pathetic of a person he is. Peggy isn't really the only woman he comes on to in weird ways, he dug potholes in the alley to try and get a jogger to trip so he could help her, and he allegedly waits outside of the women's prison to meet ladies regularly.

Ghost Leviathan posted:

I thought Bobby is meant to visually resemble his grandfather Cotton. Hank is the odd one out in the family. There's not really much visual resemblance to Bill aside from being fat. (and I don't think Bill was fat at Bobby's age, he's specifically a guy who seriously let himself go)

BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:

e: basically why out of all the women in the neighborhood does Bill continually creep on Peggy even though Hank is his best friend in the world?

Ghost Leviathan posted:

And there's a lot of ways in which Hank doesn't live up to even his own standards. Things like his inability to show affection are often pointed out as major flaws, while Dale is a much, MUCH better father because he unashamedly does.