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ROUND 2 — Match 131 of 143

Thomas Barrow (Downton Abbey)

Identity: Gay, explicit Notes: Directly referred to as gay on-screen, and has multiple romantic relationships with other men. Propaganda: 1. "thomas is such an annoying character to love because he’ll do something genuinely kind and then immediately ruin it by being petty on purpose. like he’s constantly fighting himself. he wants security and respect and to not be disposable, and the only way he knows how to protect that is by staying sharp and defensive and sometimes just plain cruel first so nobody can get there before him. but that’s also why he works. he’s not written as “the villain servant” forever - you can see the loneliness under it, and the way being gay in that world boxes him into constant fear and self-protection. he’s observant, he’s intelligent, he’s capable, and half the time he’s the only one in the room who’s actually clocking what’s going on, but he can’t just be open about wanting connection the way other characters can. so he lashes out. he schemes. he self-sabotages. and then you get these moments where he’s trying, actually trying, and it hits harder because it’s not easy for him. also: rob james-collier plays him like a real person, not a cartoon, which helps a lot. i don’t excuse half the stuff he does, but i get why he is the way he is, and when he finally gets a bit of peace it feels deserved." 2. "Thinking about that scene after Thomas has spent the ENTIRE series struggling with internalised homophobia (and everyone ELSE'S homophobia), and how cathartic it felt when Mr. Carson found out he was gay and called him foul and Thomas straightened up and said "I am not foul, Mr. Carson. I'm not the same as you, but I am not foul."

vs. Asra Alnazar (The Arcana)

Identity: Bisexual, explicit; Nonbinary, Word of God Notes: Is in love with the protagonist and can enter a relationship with them regardless of gender, and can also end up in a relationship with Muriel or Julian (both men) in certain routes. Explicitly referred to as bisexual by the developers, as well as nonbinary, and described as using he/they pronouns. Propaganda: 1. "Asra’s route works because he’s consistently protective and consistently evasive, and the story doesn’t pretend those traits don’t clash. He clearly cares a lot, he shows up when it matters, and he’s good at reading what you need in the moment - but he also keeps information back, deflects when things get too personal, and tries to handle problems alone. I like that the game lets him be affectionate without making him emotionally simple. If you want a love interest who feels like he has an actual pattern of behavior (good and bad), he’s one of the best-written in the cast." 2. "he’s gentle, mysterious, a little evasive, deeply devoted, and has that whole soft-spoken magical sadness thing going on that the arcana absolutely knows people go crazy for. there’s always this sense with him that he feels everything very deeply and just doesn’t say all of it out loud. a lot of what makes him stick, too, is how central love is to his character without it making him feel flat or one-note. he’s romantic in this very sincere, aching way, and it gives him a lot of emotional weight. he feels intimate as a character - like someone built around longing, care, memory, and the fear of losing people. that makes him really hard not to care about."

HERE IT IS. THIS IS THE BREAKING ABBEY SKIT FROM THE COLBERT REPORT

Yes, it was recorded from clips with BANDICAM don't @ me-

and his speech has taken on eridian habits from years of only really communicating in eridian: he drops and raises octaves to show emotion, he's speaks melodically and with a rythmn that pings as music when you first hear it. his creaky old man voice is that of somebody who has spent their whole life singing, somebody who speaks for a living, because he's both of those things. his syntax is strange and his sentences are structured oddly. he looks around at everything with the delight and wonder of somebody who thought he'd never see any of this again.

he watches a sunset. he watches the rain fall. he watches a spider spin a web. he watches a waterfall. he smells and tastes and feels and sees and hears all of the things he left behind. he misses his home on erid. he's never been happier to be anywhere in his life. it's strange. rocky, it's strange. this isn't home, anymore. but it's still part of me. rocky, it's strange.

there's a statue of him in every major city he visits. he stands in front of the school he used to teach at, which was named after a dead president when he was here. now it's called ryland grace memorial middle school. it was named for him as the sun got brighter and the earth mourned his sacrifice yet again, but praised him for saving them. the lab he used to teach in, on the days he got to lead practical experiments, is named after rocky. rocky, it's for you! they love you, too! rocky, this sign is for you, it says your name!

eva stratt is an old woman, now. she was pardoned, in the end, in the wave of relief that followed the beatles' arrival with the taumeba. she's lived out the rest of her life quietly, ambition tamped down in the wake of it all. she's still sharp. harsh. she greets grace with an, "I told you so," but even after so many years, grace can see that she's glad to see him. glad he survived. glad he doesn't seem angry with her.

and it's not that grace has forgive her. he explains this to her over a cup of strong, black coffee. rocky explores the forest to give them time to speak. it's not that he forgives her. what she did, the decision she made for him, it wasn't right. it wasn't good. it saved the world, yes, but it wasn't fair. but. but, he says. i have a good life. i have friends. i have a classroom. i know now that you were wrong about me, back then. i am not a coward, and i am not selfish. i was afraid. i was terrified. i was lost. and now i am none of those things. i do not forgive you, but i am not angry with you, either. it is what it is. rocky and i, we saved two worlds. i can live with that, even if i don't forgive you. and eva stratt nods and understands. and they finish their coffee.

a handful of grace's students, the last class he taught before being wrapped up in the end of the world, they ask to see him. not all of them. some of them didn't make it through the disasters that came with the years long dimming. some of them never really believed that grace was the one who saved the world, falling into the rhetoric of those who say the whole thing was a hoax, and the weather patterns fixing themselves is just proof of it. but the ones who do come are surprised when grace remembers each of their names. remembers where they sat in his classroom, and the jokes they thought were funny and the jokes they thought were lame. they talk to him and he remembers throwing them beanbags in the end of the world and trying to make them laugh. when grace laughs at something rocky sings into the world, he's laughing through more than a few tears. he tells his students, the kids he saved the world for, that they've just been called leaky blobs by the other savior of the world.

when his students leave, grace sits in the setting sun, strong and warm, and looks out over the ocean. rocky, isn't it beautiful? rocky, don't you see? we made this possible, rocky. we saved them. we saved this. rocky, we did it.