a lot of the criticism directed at Beardsley and even Emily should be directed at Brennan. I agree that Beardsley's hijinks are starting to be a bit of a detriment to the show (sometimes at least), and I think Emily's characters have gotten preferential treatment narratively as of late (although most of that criticism was on Reddit/from a while ago, I believe?). but I don't think either of those is entirely the player's fault? maybe Ally should tone it down but shouldn't Brennan, the GM and executive producer of the series, have that convo with them off camera? and Emily mostly just roleplays her heart out, isn't it Brennan's job to make sure that doesn't take over the table? even though she's really good at it! she could be a tad more aware of it at times (the "it's my birthday" throwaway was funny, but it derailed the episode and centred bat-child in an unnecessary way, IMO), but again, isn't it Brennan's job to balance it all out? I'm just not fond of Ally getting the brunt of the criticisms for the CCOD finale when Dimension 20 is series with an entire production team behind it! there are loads of off camera solutions that either aren't being used or aren't working. it's certainly easier to blame individual players than acknowledge that Brennan, who's undoubtedly one of the best GMs in the whole world and an excellent storyteller, perhaps isn't doing the best job at solving the problems at his table/on his series. maybe he doesn't see them, I can't say, but it's telling to me that he's received so little of the hate compared to Ally and Emily. Dropout's audience might be progressive, but it's difficult to not see it as misogynistic and potentially transphobic! perhaps not intentionally, but really it's a GM's job to manage a table and a producer's job to manage a cast, and no matter how you cut it, that's Brennan. I think people ought to analyse why they're directing their frustration over a TV SERIES at individual actors and not the people or person who's in charge of making it. there's fair criticism of individual players to be had, certainly, but isn't it awfully convenient that it's rarely levelled at the men of the table?
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