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Messages - Robochocobo

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A gambler's choice of game says a lot about their character.  A decisive individual may decide that Roulette is their favorite chance game because it provides an illusion of control through choice.  Poker's a game where the rules are somewhat complex, and tests your ability to form strategies, as well as read people.  This makes it perfect for a character like Maytag because it represents the way she flirts with danger while being so confident in her abilities.

On a side-note, I wonder if Baccarat exists in the Flipside universe?  It's long been considered the game for sophisticated types and thinkers.  Would a character like Maytag be familiar with it, or would they have trouble with it?

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and Bern replies "I'll support you however I can, May!" makes the whole May/Bern (Berntag?) shipping kind of cloying.
I think we're zeroing in on a big weakness in Bernadette's depictions in the comic so far.  I don't think she's ever been given enough isolated attention, aka story focus while apart from Maytag.  Maytag is such a strong personality that she steals scenes from other characters just by being present.  We know more about Bern as defined by her relationship with Maytag than we do about Bern as an individual, and most of Bern's plotpoints are entirely centric to her relationship.  In her weaker moments she feels almost defined by it.  This latest arc could solve this deficiency by giving Bern some time alone in the spotlight.  I'm not too hot on the magic ring plot device though because it still connects her to Maytag with a very intimate form of communication. 

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In contrast to that, I'm a big fan of Crestag shipping. Yes, I'm making up fandom terms. Brick me.
Don't let yourself get attached to shipping.  It's not good for your long term health as a fan.  It makes you less open and flexible to plotlines that don't match up with your biases, conscious or unconscious.  Brion has a story in mind and it'd be a shame if you couldn't enjoy it fully because you had your heart set on something that won't happen.

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Based on what we saw in the first few chapters, Crest has the capacity to be a very dynamic character. He's fairly neutral for the time being, and he seems like he can be more easily swayed to different (non-knight) viewpoints.

This is what really defines Crest to me as a character.  He has depth and moral conflict.  Crest seems to be a good person but he doesn't seem to be very fond of people in positions of power.  He's skeptical because he's seen their abuses, and understands what it means to be helpless.  Despite the layers of cynicism on his character, Crest is a very noble character filled with empathy and most importantly a conscience.  That's what makes his scenes such as his rejection to cheat with Maytag so powerful.  We're never quite sure what Crest is going to do, but his actions usually feel right for him.  I look forward to seeing him mature as the story goes on. (Primarily because I want to see what choices he makes, and how this contrasts or creates conflict with Maytag's rather laissez faire sensibilities.)

...!!!! Don't get me wrong, I look forward to more moments with Bern, and Maytag (or Suspiria even).  I feel like a jerk for analyzing stories this deeply.

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Flipside Discussion / Re: Time for a Maytag gear power up?
« on: May 24, 2011, 11:57:37 pm »
Anime style powerups are significantly overrated.  A character every so often acquiring a new knick-nack or trick over a very slow and gradual incline is much more reasonable.

That happens a lot in anime too.

Yes, but more often storytellers are drawn to the mid-season power up, or the time-skip powerup (which has become increasingly popular in shonen series as of late.  Even One Piece did it, and it seemed to be trying to avoid that kind of stuff for as long as possible.)  Whatever floats your boat as a creator, I'm sure you'll make it work.

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Flipside Discussion / Re: Time for a Maytag gear power up?
« on: May 24, 2011, 10:06:11 pm »
Anime style powerups are significantly overrated.  A character every so often acquiring a new knick-nack or trick over a very slow and gradual incline is much more reasonable.

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 I agree with the original poster.  I've been reading Flipside a long time, and I've enjoyed it but....

I honestly I liked Flipside better when Crest was the central character in those introductory chapters.  He gave the narrative focus.  He was a young and inexperienced character who was a good figure for the reader to relate to, as Crest is just as unfamiliar with the magic and cultures of Flipside as the readership is.  He's a foil to characters like Maytag and Bern who have already had a lively set of adventures and experiences before the narrative officially "began".  The sense of backstory and history that Maytag and Bern carry with them gives them depth as characters, but it also puts them at a distance to an audience who are entirely unfamiliar with the world around them.  Maytag and Bern's references and discussions don't make as much sense upon first glance and require extra time to explain and provide context for.  This context is usually provided or supplemented with the intermission/ explanation pages where things like magical items are explained.  This process however slows down the story because of the inability to introduce and explain those things within the context of the actual narrative.  Due to the protagonist bait-and-switch that occurred, the story lost out on a lot of good opportunities for May or Bern, or other characters to introduce things to Crest in a more natural fashion.  We're seeing a little of this in the way that the Soundstones were introduced so I'm sort of pleased our Author overlord has begun to refine his storytelling.  But I digress that there are still more problems caused by the change in focus...

Another side effect of the protagonist bait-and-switch that occurred is the way Crest has been repeatedly sidelined throughout the story in order to give more time to developing Maytag and Bern.  To hit upon a relatively recent example, was Crest's side adventure during the Ch. 21-25 arc really that important?  Most of what he and Suspiria accomplished on the staircase didn't actually amount to that much, and most of it was regurgitated in some form or another during Moss and Maytag's conversations.  He has mostly served as a wall flower ever since chapter 11 with only a few moments to stand out or make real contributions to the story.  I can't help but feel that it was a tad cheap to play with the reader's assumptions on who the central protagonist is.  It's sort of like if you spent the first 20 minutes of Star Wars watching Luke Skywalker, only for Obi-Wan or Han Solo to totally upstage him and become the focus of the story.

Maytag and Bern have been giving a sizable amount of development, however at times it feels a little misused.  Just how many pages of May and Bern reaffirming their love/ insecurities do we really need?  Those kinds of informal scenes are great ways to make them seem more human as characters, but there is a ceiling on how much repetition one can take before it begins to become boring and predictable.  A sense of logical progression is good, but predictable is bad.  Even Maytag is getting a little by the numbers with her "Put into a tough spot, reply with a shocking or novel answer/ action".  The problem is that as readers we've seen her do this at least a dozen times or more and so it is no longer all that surprising, shocking or novel.

All of the above aside, let me restate that I've enjoyed the comic and have read it for many years now.  I love the art, I love the supporting cast (though they really do need more development), and I love the sense of depth and history that the world and the story seems to convey.  It reminds me a lot of old manga like Berserk or Bastard!.  Occasionally my interest drops off due to the slow pace, yet I always remember Flipside and come back it.

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