History WebVideo / TheParty

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Viola's thesis advisor is harsh, but no tougher than Viola than she deserves. He (correctly) calls out her original thesis idea as being blatantly elitist, (correctly) points out that she doesn't seem to be actually learning anything about conflict resolution from the Dn&D group even though that was the ostensible point of her new proposal, and (correctly) chews her out for her extremely unethical actions in engineering a conflict between Jean, his girlfriend, and Thistle.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Viola's thesis advisor is harsh, but no tougher than Viola than she deserves. He (correctly) calls out her original thesis idea as being blatantly elitist, (correctly) points out that she doesn't seem to be actually learning anything about conflict resolution from the DnD group even though that was the ostensible point of her new proposal, and (correctly) chews her out for her extremely unethical actions in engineering a conflict between Jean, his girlfriend, and Thistle.

* SnipeHunt: When Yorick [[MomentKiller gets in the way of DM and Ecstasy being able to spend some time together]] in episode 5, Ecstasy sends him off to buy more spray paint... specifically the non-existant "Jeffries Tube" brand spray paint. (Both DM and Jean recognize a "Jeffries Tube" as being a Franchise/StarTrek reference but Yorick is oblivious and apparently wastes the afternoon getting strange looks from art supply store employees.)

* OminousForeshadowing: When DM, angry about how things turned out with her ex, says she's making a new rule against IRL romance between members of the group.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Jean's girlfriend is angry about discovering he has an "in-game" girlfriend in the D&D campaign he's never told her about, she asks if women are just action figures he collects and plays with when he feels like it. Jean's response is to say he doesn't even collect action figures.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Jean's girlfriend is angry about discovering he has an "in-game" girlfriend in the D&D campaign, she asks if women are just action figures he collects and plays with when he feels like it. Jean's response is to say he doesn't even collect action figures.

* SnipeHunt: When Yorick [[MomentKiller gets in the way of DM and Ecstasy being able to spend some time together]] in episode 5, Ecstasy sends him off to buy more spray paint... specifically the non-existant "Jeffries Tube" brand spray paint. (Both DM and Jean recognize a "Jeffries Tube" as being a Franchise/StarTrek reference but Yorick is oblivious and apparently wastes the afternoon going from one art supply store to another.)

* TeachersPet: Viola half-jokingly says that since she likes school, is good at school, and her parents pay for everything as long as she's in school, she should stay in school for the rest of her life. She refers to negotiating for better grades after getting her report cards, and says that she's "a child of Montessori" (an education philosophy usually associated with exclusive private schools for children in the preschool and early elementary age range).

* ControlFreak: DM is openly called out for being one, although in her defense, it seems to be because she's insecure about her ability to run the game and desperately wants everyone to have fun.

* SpoiledBrat: Viola comes off as one in episode 5. She off-handedly reveals that her parents pay all her bills while Thistle is stressing about having her rent go up, then rambles defensively about it. In an effort to find some actual conflict to write about for her "conflict resolution" thesis project, she engineers a clash between Jean's in-game "love life" (his character and Thistle's character are in a relationship within the world of the campaign) and his IRL love life that leads to his IRL girlfriend dumping him. It never seems to occur to her that this is both totally unethical from a research standpoint and just a deeply shitty thing to do.

** Yorick calls Jean [[Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance "Barry Bluejeans."]]

* SnipeHunt: When Yorick [[MomentKiller gets in the way of DM and Ecstasy being able to spend some time together]] in episode 5, Ecstasy sends him off to buy more spray paint... specifically the non-existant "Jeffries Tube" brand spray paint. (Both DM and Jean recognize a "Jeffries Tube" as being a Franchise/StarTrek reference but Yorick is oblivious and apparently wastes the afternoon going from one art store to another.)

* ShipTease: Ecstasy insists on accompanying DM in her expedition to get her campaign notebook back from her ex in episode 2, and when he starts insulting DM, Ecstasy punches him in the face. Episode 5 sees the two of them getting noticeably physically close while painting miniatures, and Ecstasy quickly makes up a reason to get rid of [[MomentKiller Yorick]] when he interrupts them. Later, Ecstasy asks DM out for coffee.

* OffTheRails: Viola starts to win true acceptance from the group when she uses her Wizard powers to read the mind of the BigGood and discover that she was actually manipulating the heroes for nefarious ends. DM later tells Viola that having this [[TheReveal reveal]] happen early has forced her to completely alter the entire story of the campaign... and thanks her for making the campaign more interesting.

* SpoiledBrat: Viola shows shades of being one in episode 5. She off-handedly reveals that her parents pay all her bills while Thistle is stressing about having her rent go up, then rambles defensively about it. In an effort to find some actual conflict to write about for her "conflict resolution" thesis project, she engineers a clash between Jean's in-game "love life" (his character and Thistle's character are in a relationship within the world of the campaign) and his IRL love life that leads to his IRL girlfriend dumping him. It never seems to occur to her that this is both totally unethical from a research standpoint and just a deeply shitty thing to do.

* [[ThroughHisStomach Through Their Stomachs]]: Viola prepares a spread of snacks for the other players before making her pitch to join the D&D group and says what she brings to the table is that she can cook. This is enough to win over Thistle and by extension Jean.

* ShipTease: Ecstasy insists on accompanying DM in her expedition to get her campaign notebook back from her ex in episode 2, and when he starts insulting DM, Ecstasy punches him in the face. Episode 5 sees the two of them getting noticeably physically close while painting miniatures, and Ecstasy quickly makes up a reason to get rid of [[MomentKiller Yorick]] when he interrupts them.

* FriendshipDenial: Ecstasy is usually standoffish and snarky with the rest of the group, and refers to them as "strangers" despite gaming with them for over a year. However, she's clearly ride or die when it counts, at least for DM; she insists on accompanying DM as "backup" on her mission to recover her campaign notebook from her ex, and when he starts to insult DM she punches him in the face.

** Within the remaining members of the party, Yorick is the most strident and rude about not wanting to let Viola join the group and openly disdains styles of play that don't meet his standards (such as Thistle's "cliché" druid character). Viola's research notes concede that his story-first philosophy does enrich the group's experience, but observe that he's nevertheless "still an asshole."

* StarvingArtist: Thistle is a freelance storyboard artist who has to subsist mainly on instant ramen, and agrees to let Viola join the D&D group because Viola can cook. Thistle seems to also be the one who paints the group's miniatures.

* LineOfSightName: Viola's inspiration for her research project basically happens like this after her professor shoots down her initial idea. A dragon plush toy he got as a gift for his nephew reminds her of her annoyance at the noisy D&D group the day before, and this combined with noticing a book on his desk about conflict resolution helps her make up a backup plan on the spot.

The problem is that Viola has zero knowledge of tabletop RPG's or any prior interest in them, and she has to try to fit in with a group who've been playing together for years who are initially wary of accepting a newcomer. Viola has to take a crash course in subjects like spell slots and ability scores, weigh her new comrades' sometimes-conflicting ideas of the "right" way to play, and try to stop them from finding out that they're all unwittingly being used as research subjects. Will playing the game become more to her than a means to an end?

* YouAllMeetInAnInn: Viola interrupting the D&D group mid-session in the first episode is depicted as her walking into a classic medieval tavern where the rest of the group are already present (in costume and makeup as their characters). In episode 2 when the party talks about what character class Viola could play, the scene changes to the inn with the party members in costume again, and additional costumed extras representing various classes scattered around the room are seen as each class is discussed.

* ShoutOut: Yorick calls Jean [[Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance "Barry Bluejeans."]]

* LineOfSightName: Viola's inspiration for her research project basically happens like this. When her professor shoots down her initial idea, she notices the dragon plush toy he got as a gift for his nephew and a book on his desk about conflict resolution, and this combines with remembering her annoyance at the noisy D&D group the day before to help her improvise a backup plan on the spot.

* YouAllMeetInAnInn: When the party is discussing what character class Viola should play in episode 2, the scene changes to a classic medieval tavern setting with all of the party members present in costume, and additional costumed extras representing various classes scattered around the room are seen as each class is discussed.

[=The Party=] is a Website/YouTube scripted comedy web series.

The series centers on protagonist Viola, who joins her roommate's ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' group so that she can (unbeknownst to them) observe their interactions as part of a grad school thesis project about conflict resolution. The problem is that Viola has zero knowledge of tabletop RPG's or any prior interest in them, and she has to try to fit in with a group who've been playing together for years who are initially wary of accepting a newcomer. Viola has to take a crash course in subjects like spell slots and ability scores, weigh her new comrades' sometimes-conflicting ideas of the "right" way to play, and try to stop them from finding out that they're all unwittingly being used as research subjects. Will playing the game become more to her than a means to an end?