I cried at TBF and I don't understand the rage. It's not about the characters, it's about Doug. For what 4 and a half years he produced an episode every week, worked his ARSE off every December, knew during cons and on honeymoon that he'd have to come back to more work, and after almost 5 years he burned out and mistook that for needing to move on. Almost 5 years of constant work. 6 months on he realises he's made a mistake and wants to keep doing his work with the passion that kept him going for almost 5 years. He's given SO MUCH to us with such intensity and wants to go back to what he loves after he has his breath back. He mistook burnout for an ending and made sure it was the best damn ending we could have. Why does this warrant so much rage? Especially since there is plenty of room for more Demo Reel. They bought the studio, explicitly said there'll be more time between Critic episodes, and contracted the actors.
But like I kept telling you last night, after five episodes of getting to know the characters, getting invested in Donnie's backstory, we get damned with "Donnie was just Critic all along and has to say goodbye to his family". For something so touted to be new, that is a major fucking disservice. Critic got a great ending, let him go.
Critic got a great ending, let him go. Indeed. And if he couldn't be let go (let's face it, view counts and all) why not bring him back in a way that didn't read like a psychotic breakdown where a hallucination bullied Doug into letting him back, and said he never believed himself capable of that heroic sacrifice at all?
Exactly, I mean the blip picture is scary enough. But I guess it doesn't matter. 95% of facebook is cheering over Critic's return and patronizing him over Demo Reel's "failure", so we've got both a show and acting that's been thrown on the scrapheap.
Exactly, I mean the blip picture is scary enough. Everyone's going on about how awesome it is that the NC is back and how epic and well filmed the video was. Um ... yes it's well filmed, but it's also filmed in a very threatening, scary kind of way. That was not a triumphant return, that was Doug fighting with a hallucination, taking sedatives, frantically calling his friends, and finally breaking down and giving in to a psychotic specter/hallucination/thing. ... yaaaay, the NC is back?
95% of facebook is cheering over Critic's return and patronizing him over Demo Reel's "failure", so we've got both a show and acting that's been thrown on the scrapheap. I feel bad, he was so excited for Demo Reel and now everyone's all "Good for you dude, going back to the NC! That Demo Reel shit SUCKED, what were you thinking? So boring, I could never sit through an episode! Bring on the memes and the running gags!" I mean, wow, THOSE are the fans he listens to?
At Shadocon, he had to plead for a question that wasn't a meme request, and we all know how grudging he is about "Bat Credit Card". He also said he wanted to do more drama until people beg him to stop and I was so excited for him. Now it's like he's chaining himself back to the desk, and not even in a fun way.
Also, if Critic complains EVER AGAIN that he hates his job, I will stab him in his pretty eyes.
At Shadocon, he had to plead for a question that wasn't a meme request, and we all know how grudging he is about "Bat Credit Card". He also said he wanted to do more drama until people beg him to stop and I was so excited for him. Now it's like he's chaining himself back to the desk, and not even in a fun way. I hope he manages to make the Critic less shouting and ranting and joking and more introspection, but I don't know how that'll work. I hope it's not just a return to the status quo, that he did learn from being one with the universe ... somehow ... god, please don't just retcon that whole thing ...
Also, if Critic complains EVER AGAIN that he hates his job, I will stab him in his pretty eyes. I ... will get very angry at him, but I won't want to do that. Why do I get the sense that some of your fics are going to get even angstier?
This is why I loved his 2012 reviews so much. They were darker and smarter and involved tons of foreshadowing that he was feeling genuinely suicidal. Just look at "The Third Nostalgia Critic Fuck-Ups", where he looks so tired in the beginning and breaks down so hard in the end that even Douchey feels bad for him. What the fuck is his conflict going to be now? He's always been less villains like Linkara and more self-hate.
Kat and I used to plot Psycho!Rob gaslighting Doug into sex every night (well, that's the usual, gangbangs and hookers and plenty of slut shaming pop up too), I don't think I'll be in the right mindset to do that for a while without getting too vindictive.
This is why I loved his 2012 reviews so much. They were darker and smarter and involved tons of foreshadowing that he was feeling genuinely suicidal. Just look at "The Third Nostalgia Critic Fuck-Ups", where he looks so tired in the beginning and breaks down so hard in the end that even Douchey feels bad for him. What the fuck is his conflict going to be now? He's always been less villains like Linkara and more self-hate.
Kat and I used to plot Psycho!Rob gaslighting Doug into sex every night *shudders* Good god ... just thinking about that makes me want to hide under the bed ... so good, but so terrifying ...
(well, that's the usual, gangbangs and hookers and plenty of slut shaming pop up too) Is it slut-shaming if we love him for his sluttiness? Or did you mean the other characters are slut-shaming him?
I don't think I'll be in the right mindset to do that for a while without getting too vindictive.Yeah, that's understandable
( ... )
I don't know if that was cathartic or horrifying. Leaning towards "horrifying."
Then again, last night I wrote Donnie getting tentacle-grabbed by the Plot Hole and joking about hentai and making out with Uncle Yo that one time ... so clearly I've got some issues to work through here.
Dammit, now I want to write actual Donnie/tentacle aliens fic. THIS IS WHAT YOU DO TO ME, EM! THIS IS WHAT YOU DO TO ME!
Donnie is the sacrifice to the planet's tentacled overlords. The gang has to save him, but Quinn and Carl get captured so Rebecca and Tacoma have to save the day. And they get to see the first part of the "ceremony" and get a little distracted because Donnie seems to be kinda into the whole thing ... and then they save him because he's their director and the aliens were gonna eat him afterwards or something.
He wanted slash!fic remember. Tentacles are phallic, it counts.
Actually, if the ending wasn't utter bullshit and Critic getting derailed into villain when just last month he was doing the best he could to help, I'd be amused that he was a Clingy Jealous Boy to even his creator. "You're mine, don't do that other thing!"
He wanted slash!fic remember. Tentacles are phallic, it counts. *nods* Oh yes.
Actually, if the ending wasn't utter bullshit and Critic getting derailed into villain when just last month he was doing the best he could to help Yeah, seriously, WTF?!?!??!!
I'd be amused that he was a Clingy Jealous Boy to even his creator. "You're mine, don't do that other thing!" *snerk* I know, right? Doesn't make sense after his meeting with The Writer at the end of TBF, but as a story idea, the character being clingy and jealous? *sporfles*
I don't get it. At all. You saw his smile when he merged with the plothole, he was happy to finally be at peace. And this analyzing from Doug - "That there might be something out there where finally all the stuff that's made him selfish, maybe that'll go away and he can be a good person somewhere else, maybe he can start over." - is now completely fucked over.
I was talking about it tonight at dinner with two of my friends. One hadn't seen The Review Must Go On and hasn't seen a lot of the NC stuff, the other had seen all of the stuff. We arrived at the conclusion that perhaps Doug fighting with Psychotic!Hallucination!Critic was in fact a personification of all the people who hated Demo Reel, and him trying to be "see, this is what you are to me, this is what you've done to me, made me crazy and tired and forced me back into the NC hat and coat" ... but nobody caught on and were all like "yay, Demo Reel sucked, the Critic is back!" and so it's a private joke the intended audience isn't getting. Hence people who liked Demo Reel, or were ok with the Critic's sendoff, feel the video was bitter and mean-spirited. It was supposed to be.
Maybe it's a Director Revolt instead of the usual Writer. Rob wrote it as a "fun farewell", and Doug directed and acted it like it was some kind of horror tragedy.
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Indeed.
And if he couldn't be let go (let's face it, view counts and all) why not bring him back in a way that didn't read like a psychotic breakdown where a hallucination bullied Doug into letting him back, and said he never believed himself capable of that heroic sacrifice at all?
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Everyone's going on about how awesome it is that the NC is back and how epic and well filmed the video was. Um ... yes it's well filmed, but it's also filmed in a very threatening, scary kind of way. That was not a triumphant return, that was Doug fighting with a hallucination, taking sedatives, frantically calling his friends, and finally breaking down and giving in to a psychotic specter/hallucination/thing.
... yaaaay, the NC is back?
95% of facebook is cheering over Critic's return and patronizing him over Demo Reel's "failure", so we've got both a show and acting that's been thrown on the scrapheap.
I feel bad, he was so excited for Demo Reel and now everyone's all "Good for you dude, going back to the NC! That Demo Reel shit SUCKED, what were you thinking? So boring, I could never sit through an episode! Bring on the memes and the running gags!"
I mean, wow, THOSE are the fans he listens to?
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Also, if Critic complains EVER AGAIN that he hates his job, I will stab him in his pretty eyes.
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I hope he manages to make the Critic less shouting and ranting and joking and more introspection, but I don't know how that'll work. I hope it's not just a return to the status quo, that he did learn from being one with the universe ... somehow ... god, please don't just retcon that whole thing ...
Also, if Critic complains EVER AGAIN that he hates his job, I will stab him in his pretty eyes.
I ... will get very angry at him, but I won't want to do that.
Why do I get the sense that some of your fics are going to get even angstier?
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Kat and I used to plot Psycho!Rob gaslighting Doug into sex every night (well, that's the usual, gangbangs and hookers and plenty of slut shaming pop up too), I don't think I'll be in the right mindset to do that for a while without getting too vindictive.
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Kat and I used to plot Psycho!Rob gaslighting Doug into sex every night
*shudders* Good god ... just thinking about that makes me want to hide under the bed ... so good, but so terrifying ...
(well, that's the usual, gangbangs and hookers and plenty of slut shaming pop up too)
Is it slut-shaming if we love him for his sluttiness? Or did you mean the other characters are slut-shaming him?
I don't think I'll be in the right mindset to do that for a while without getting too vindictive.Yeah, that's understandable ( ... )
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I don't know if that was cathartic or horrifying. Leaning towards "horrifying."
Then again, last night I wrote Donnie getting tentacle-grabbed by the Plot Hole and joking about hentai and making out with Uncle Yo that one time ... so clearly I've got some issues to work through here.
Dammit, now I want to write actual Donnie/tentacle aliens fic. THIS IS WHAT YOU DO TO ME, EM! THIS IS WHAT YOU DO TO ME!
Donnie is the sacrifice to the planet's tentacled overlords. The gang has to save him, but Quinn and Carl get captured so Rebecca and Tacoma have to save the day. And they get to see the first part of the "ceremony" and get a little distracted because Donnie seems to be kinda into the whole thing ... and then they save him because he's their director and the aliens were gonna eat him afterwards or something.
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Actually, if the ending wasn't utter bullshit and Critic getting derailed into villain when just last month he was doing the best he could to help, I'd be amused that he was a Clingy Jealous Boy to even his creator. "You're mine, don't do that other thing!"
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*nods* Oh yes.
Actually, if the ending wasn't utter bullshit and Critic getting derailed into villain when just last month he was doing the best he could to help
Yeah, seriously, WTF?!?!??!!
I'd be amused that he was a Clingy Jealous Boy to even his creator. "You're mine, don't do that other thing!"
*snerk* I know, right? Doesn't make sense after his meeting with The Writer at the end of TBF, but as a story idea, the character being clingy and jealous? *sporfles*
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We arrived at the conclusion that perhaps Doug fighting with Psychotic!Hallucination!Critic was in fact a personification of all the people who hated Demo Reel, and him trying to be "see, this is what you are to me, this is what you've done to me, made me crazy and tired and forced me back into the NC hat and coat" ... but nobody caught on and were all like "yay, Demo Reel sucked, the Critic is back!" and so it's a private joke the intended audience isn't getting. Hence people who liked Demo Reel, or were ok with the Critic's sendoff, feel the video was bitter and mean-spirited. It was supposed to be.
... maybe that's what's going on? Maybe?
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