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milliemuus · 4 months

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I think that during the fight between Ogerpon and Pecharunt, it was a tough fight, since Pecharunt had a type advantage and set up 3 nasty plots earlier, however, it ended leaving when the humans arrived. Moveset wise I think it would be (Nasty Plot, Recover, Shadow Ball and Malignant Chain).

Now, remember the whole soul absorption? Well, I believe that it can also release these souls with a chain attached to them like a hive-mind. The souls would look like the ghost sprites in the gen 1 games. Their main purpose is to manipulate their victims into killing themselves. However, if the victim was able to stand against it, it would change into the person it was before but ghostly, and would kill the victim by force instead.

Also, I feel that when a person is under Pecharunt’s control, all their Pokémon’s Tera type are poison. This is sort of confirmed when I went to Carmine and Kieran’s grandfather’s Bulbapedia page where his Pokémon all have the poison Tera type.

And if we’re still going by the fusion idea, I would say Pecharunt would just be the base form while Dokuwāro is the fusion between Pecharunt, Mega Rayquaza, Original Dragon Kyurem, Zygarde Complete Forme, Hoopa Unbound, Ultra Necrozma, Eternamax Eternatus and Stellar Form Terapogas. I may need to think how it absorbs them, but the idea sounds badass and legitimately makes Pecharunt look intimidating as hell.

Now, I would say Dokuwāro’s size is slightly bigger than Regidrago. Since it’s a fusion, I’d like to think its shell can split into 6 pieces referencing Hoopa, one arm is out of each segment which looks like Necrozma’s but textually like Eternatus. The tiny hands that Pecharunt has are now arms with claws at the end resembling Zygarde but Tera and Dynamax energy texturally around it and a knuckle claw in the middle that resembles Mega Rayquaza’s jaw or something. However, this fusion would be cohesive and not just a series of random mutations.

Now, since Pecharunt has a busted defense stat of 160, I think Dokuwāro’s defenses are through the roof. Its shell is impervious to any attack and the core is difficult to damage. Not to mention, now that is literally 8 legendaries fused, it can now block attacks by punching them.

Did I make it overpowered? Yes. Is it necessary? Yes. Is it possible for the protagonists to beat it? Maybe not.

Now, these abilities and Pecharunt in the PV Au actually have several inspirations:

The whole soul absorption is because of the third signboard, while the two signboards were answered, this one wasn’t. So, I believe that Pecharunt is behind if you were to look into what the signboard says.

The whole manipulating people to kill themselves, is inspired by the Mandela Catalogue, the Alternates specifically. These entities are shapeshifters who can take the form of their victim’s close members. They whisper things to their victims which cause them to have Metaphysical Awareness Disorder, which drives them insane and they kill themselves. Whereas, the soul killing the victim by force is a reference to the Corruption in a Friday Night Funkin mod. Basically, if the corrupted person fails to corrupt their victim, it mutates and resorts to killing them instead.

The whole absorbing legendaries is a direct reference to Aggregor in Ben 10, in the show, he absorbs 5 Andromeda Aliens to have enough energy to access a certain place and there he can become god. Pecharunt is sort of doing the same thing. Also, how the fusion is designed is inspired by how O.R.Ash (from The Ink Tank) designs his fusions, he’s not called ‘The Fusion Man’ for nothing.

Pecharunt wanting nothing but revenge is a loose reference to Aspheera from Lego Ninjago. In the show, it’s shown that Aspheera wants nothing but revenge on the person that betrayed her, that’s loosing summarizing what she did, but Pecharunt did something similar.

For the shell and punch blocking, it’s a direct reference to Bowser in ‘Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story’ where in order for him to block attacks, he can either hide under his shell, or punch the attack away.

Finally, for the taking over god part, it’s also inspired by the Mandela Catalogue, where an alternate (most likely Satan) replaced Gabriel and made humanity pray to it. It used religion is a weapon. Sounds awfully like how the story of Ogerpon and the Loyal Three is misinterpreted right? Each story was not the same as their originals and what really happened was a second party influenced the events. Specaking of god, Arceus and Pecharunt are the only two mythical pokemon to be trio masters, this sort of indirectly makes a reference to a phrase in the Mandela Catalogue called ‘There’s not enough room for the two of us’. Indirectly referencing Pecharunt thinking that there can only be one mythical trio master and one god of this timeline. Loose reference, but it’s there.

I’ve rambled on A LOT. But I just wanna express my thoughts, and I felt three need to include what Pecharunt’s inspired by and references I this Au so you get a better understanding. Next time, I’ll think of some quotes that it might say. But anyways, thanks for reading this! It really appreciate it.

I thought I'd never see someone else get inspired by Bowser's Inside Story like,,, ik for you it was different but I love these ideas! I never idealized the idea Dokutaro or Dokuwāro as you say possess the OTHER MYTHICALS AND LEGENDARIES!!! Maybe I could implement these ideas

Idk if I wanna take from like, concepts like Mandela catalogue but it is SO MUCH TO THINK ABT /POS

Also, I still know NOTHING abt Mochi Mayhem or nothin and hope to keep it that way since I want to be as accurate or as imaginative as can be but you mention Dokutaro would have Malignant Chain..that a move? NO SPOILS I BEG I BEG

Anyhoo, with bowsers inside story for inspiration, Idk why but that one feller that can stack on top of itself and is a boss and is just yellow eyes,,,its giving Pecharunt

Ive been listening to the BIS soubdtrack admittedly, mainly for nostalgia purposes but I also was inspired to make an au of "What if Project Venus Kieran got zip-zapped by Terapagos and sent to the canon story, or maybe Project Venus itself sent him" idk I have to be kinda vague WHICH SUCKS BUT

But Project Venus!Kieran is kinda cocky like Bowser, and possessed by Dokutaro it makes him moreso. Of he was ever isekai'd into the canon story it would most def be after Indigo Disk, and he'd deffo be looking for Ogerpon or go back to Blueberry Academy and try to regain control since he also lost it in his canon, I'm sure.

AHGWDHJDUX NOW IM RAMBLING AND MY WORDS ARE EVERYWHERE BUT YOURE GIVING ME A LOT OF INSPIRATION

Also I NEVER WATCHED THAT FAR INTO NINJAGO BUT BASED NINJAGO FAN!! THERES SO MUCH CHARACTER-BUILDING I COULD DO FOR DOKUTARO/PECHARUNT AND AUUUUGHHH I WISH I WAS AT THAT PART ALREADY HRRRGHHG

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mooselybased · 2 years

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Do you think the comics did a good job of portraying the balance boys?

This is kind of a nuanced topic, so it’s hard to give just a yes-or-no answer. The original podcast was essentially a long term improv scene in which only one of four people had a general idea of what direction things were heading. This made for a very funny and heartfelt story that means a lot to me, but if you separate the characters and their arcs from that context without changing anything else, I’m certain it wouldn’t come across right. The tres horny boys were very different characters at the start, and it was only the result of the boys spending time playing as them that they ended up as the characters we know them as by the end. So when adapting that for a new medium, in order for the characterization to actually be cohesive, the improv element of developing the characters had to be stripped away. Clint didn’t know who Merle really WAS until a good ways through the podcast. But for the comics, Merle needs to know who he is right from the start.

To another point, I do think personalities had to be changed slightly for plot reasons as well. The tres horny boys are, at their core, kind of assholes. And that’s great, it’s funny, it’s a good dynamic. But as characters living in this world with real stakes, rather than people playing a game, I think they had to give them a bit more empathy, change up some motivations and whatnot for it to actually make sense for these characters to be moving through this narrative, beyond Griffin saying “so here’s what’s next.”

So, ultimately? I think they did a pretty good job. Are there some things I would have done differently? Sure, but ultimately I think it’s a pretty big undertaking to successfully translate a largely improv’d podcast into a narrative graphic novel, so I’m pretty happy with them.

#moose answers stuff #wow I was not expecting to type that much #welp

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grapecaseschoices · 1 year

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I would love to hear some insight on what your oc creation process looks like. They're so detailed. I love all of the ones I've read about so far and they're all so fleshed out! I just use the same three ocs and slightly change their backstory lmao. You're so good at coming up with the character designs, theyre all chefs kiss. 🤩🤌

Ten days later and I still don't have a response for you anon. After I got over the SHOCK of this wonderfully beautiful compliment, I have been fluctuated between being stuck at work and pondering an answer to this. And I don't think I have a good enough answer for you. Nothing wise or cohesive.

However, leaving that at that doesn't suffice. So, I'm going to try.

I think I've mentioned on here that in the past, I used to use things like zodiac, MBTI, and Enneagram as a baseline. Especially when I first started (actually when I first started, I created self-inserts and let them run wild but that was there early on), I would look at the traits of their Sun Sign (then I discovered moon and rising signs too and added those as well) then apply them to my OC. But it wasn't just from one website, I'd scourge different sites and read the summaries too. I started with the stereotypes and then began reading forums for the people who believed in zodiac but didn't fit fully what they were born under. I researched characters that were born under the sign as my own, and compared and contrasted. (I did the same when I was into MBTI and Enneagram, which allowed for more variation from the norm.)

I complied docs and lists. I took quizzes, etc. I was way too serious about it. But certainly opened me to a lot of adjectives for descriptors as well as the perspective of how people viewed themselves/viewed others, I think.

Another thing I did is I would take bits and pieces of my favorite (and not so favorite) characters and just .... cannabilize them. LOL. For a lack of better word. Make my Frankenstein. This tends to help me a lot when I struggle with 'voice'. Particularly if the character is one from a show or film or podcast. Because for me, at least, it helps me visualize cadence.

Once you have character traits, interests, etc knocked out, I also feel it's important to consider background and desire. Where are they from? Where is their family from? Where have they been? Where are they going? And, of course, what do they want? That last isn't always easy but even the most vague idea or simpliest of goals as well as themes can be helpful.

Kendis: To go to X-TOWN to find out what their brother is up to; to be independent, to become a doctor.

Mason: To head back home.

Andy: To protect and observe.

These are three (of a few) characters that I played in an RP. The details of the goal both specifically to them and the game helped in guiding which character I focused more on (lmao Kendis), but each character's desires gained them plot and gave me something something to fall back on when I felt stuck on what to do with them.

I'm sure there is more stuff but I'm tired. lol. The brain wanes.

I just wanted to say your characters are probably more fleshed out than you give yourself credit. Goodness knows I don't see my babies as "detailed" (so thanks again for continously making my day with that). But I think one of the best ways to make them grow - outside of tinkering on their personality - is to PUT THEM IN SITUATIONS! Whether it's in rp, an if, or headcanons. Challenge them -- see how they are when they're at ease, see how they when they're angry, see how the are when there are stakes, etc.

I bet you'll surprise yourself with what you come up with and what comes out on the other side! Hope this helps <3

#grapecase metas #grapecase answers #character building #anon #another thing outside of pondering your fave characters is ponder yourself and people you know #see how they contrast with how they view themselves and how they react. what makes them waver. etc #like dont freud your family up. just observe #also another thing i like to do is to push myself to try characters and traits outside of my comfort zone #tho i do fall back -- and i try to remind myself thats okay too #grapes chars #long post

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filthforfriends · 5 months

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Hello :) I am an avid reader and big admirer of your fics and I have a little question. I have noticed you mostly (maybe even exclusively) write from the reader’s pov. And I really like it that way. I’m curious if you would ever write a bonus chapter or a passage from Damiano’s pov - for example in GA. Maybe that might help you with your writer’s block with chapter 14? Also I’m generally interested if you ever considered something similar or what you think about it. I’d love learning more about the process and thought behind your writing.

Actually the reason I write in second person is because I noticed that was the most common perspective fan fiction is written from. It was actually difficult to get used to. I think a chapter in Alpha!Damiano's perspective could be cool, I think thats been suggested once before. tbh I'd probably do the chapter half in y/n's perspective and half in his. It's not gonna help my writers block though because I'd have to intentionally choose a plot that I feel sorta confident writing about in his perspective, which would mean scraping what I do have. Y/n is a character I make up all on my own, but Damiano, while a fictional character in my stories, does need to share enough traits with the real person for people to recognize him. Whatever they like about him, I want them to like that same thing in my character. So that means I can't just do what I feels right to the story and wing it

Winging it is always how I write here. I've never sat down and drawn a plot out before hand, but I spend a lot of time in my own head. When I imagine a story that feels so compelling I can't not write it, I force myself to stay there and flush it out. With smut I try to find something thats a little gross or weird or intense or not sexy and then make that sexy. Because all the times I've done that and been nervous about the how its received, those are the fics or chapters that do best. When you push things just slightly past the comfort zone its exciting and honest and raw in a way I believe people crave. I try to find a couple points where it isn't ideal but that humanness actually ends up making things more passionate, more intimate. My experience as a smut writer hasn't been that people desire an ideal portrayed in media or porn. Based on reactions I think that, at least in this little corner of the internet people desire sex and connections with other flawed, quirky, and real people.

Sometimes as soon as I come up with a story, I come up with another one based on that, and I really get into the idea of the characters. So without trying, I have a few ideas that are 4k-12k words long with those characters If I can find a thread that attaches them and flush it out, sometimes it turns into a series with those stories being the chapters. Of course, writing this way you have to lay seeds so theres plot points you can circle back to so the whole thing is cohesive. Eventually, like I'm doing right now, I have to go through a whole fic and all my notes on it to list all the possible plot points and make sure I'm coming back to those. Because I think in collections of stories like this, I write my chapters our of order.

honestly my writers block is a combination of can't focus, too depressed to do anything, and a fear of failure so poisonous that it makes me freeze up. Like right now I'm currently writing chapter 19 for TSITCOE which makes my brain go "No point in posting this fic if you can't even finish it. You're never gonna make it in time. Better just pause the upload schedule now." Meanwhile I have the next two week's worth of chapters totally done and another two weeks after that 90% done. My brain is just really fucking mean as hell and lol. My confidence in my own intellect was very much based in external validations and meeting criteria society told me I should be proud to achieve. Being disabled these past few years as really taken a toll and now I have a voice that always insists I'm going to fail.

anyways thank you for reading and being so supportive! I hope some of this was interesting writery inside scoop type stuff

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theladyelara · 1 year

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Could a tv show save the sequel trilogy?

After watching Clone Wars and Rebels and Clone Wars again and getting my heart absolutely wrecked every time, it brought me to two conclusions. One, Dave Filoni is a god and must be protected at all costs, and two, animated shows and tv shows in general have immense power

So there’s a fair share of prequel hate out there, a camp which I sort of understand but definitely don’t belong to, but it’s pretty much universally accepted that the clone wars is golden. For a lot of people it made the prequel trilogy so much more meaningful and impactful than it was before. Rebels only continued this trend, continuing to give depth to the world of star wars, tying in some of the EU and continuing stories of tcw characters while also simply telling a really good story of a new cast.

Which led me to the question I posed at the beginning. Could a tv show save the sequels? We’ve seen tcw ‘save’ the prequels, could a new show do the same for Disney?

Disclaimer, I have not watched Resistance, and I have watched Mandalorian.

In order to break down the question we’ll have to outline some things. First: Why did tcw ‘save’ the prequels. I think it comes down to these things. They... -- expanded upon and added depth to existing characters -- expanded the world building, and lore -- successfully introduced compelling new characters -- continued the thematic elements of the prequels and sw as a whole -- had really good storytelling overall -- none of these above things contradicted or disconnected from the existing world of the movies

Now, is there a show that could do that for the sequels? Explore the characters more, delve deeper into the world, and tell a compelling and cohesive story? (listen I really am asking, lmk your opinion!)

I am going, also, to posit some of the base ideas I have as well.

First: The year is before the Force Awakens, and after Ben genocides Luke’s temple. The show will center around one Jacen Syndulla and friends. Jacen is now a young Jedi who survived the temple razing, as he had been studying under Luke beforehand. Jacen is a quick tie in to the rest of the tv shows, being the child of Hera and Kanan from Rebels. He would travel the galaxy, perhaps trying to reach out to Ben, perhaps trying to stay the heck away from him. At some point he’ll find out about Something On Jakku and we’ll see him try to get there, always thwarted at exactly the wrong moment. Rey never meets him and it’s a tragedy. I could see him working with the resistance, and we could see other facets of the ST characters through him that way. The most potential I see with this idea is exploring Ben through a character like Jacen who grew up alongside him, and we could see more of exactly how Ben fell to the dark side, Snoke’s(and ig palpatine’s) influence and Luke’s teaching. It could also be used to salvage Luke as a character and give him better motivation for whatever happened in TLJ. Of course, if you haven’t noted it already, we come to the stumbling block with this plot thread that FA made possible. It’d be almost exactly like Rebels. And I choose to blame this entirely on the New Hope Awakens episode 4 7 and not on my elevator pitch!

Second: The other idea I had would be half about the sequel trilogy? It’d be more of a direct sequel to episode 6, basically following the OTs as they set up a new Jedi and a new Republic. But this may be bias talking, as that’s what I’d have wanted to see, and I also don’t know how well it’d work into the ST we actually got. The potential with this story thread again is Luke and Ben and Snoke, figuring out how Palpatine, one, survived, and two, has been pulling strings this whole time. The worldbuilding potential here is also huge, chances to explain what the first order is and why it exists. However, I don’t know how well this would make for a tv show, and does little to help the characters of the ST, as it’d largely be set slightly before their time.

Third: Somewhere between TLJ and ROS. This is the only time skip present between the mainline movies. It’s not like tcw, where the showrunners had something deliberate and fleshed out to talk about in their show. So they don’t have much low-hanging fruit to pick up for plot, and I think the time skip is pretty short. Still, this gives the most potential for the ST characters, and expounding upon them. We could see the trio actually work together, discover their relationships together as they go on missions. Rey is trying to learn how to be a Jedi, and is getting increasingly frustrated because she can’t get it. There could be darker hints as to her heritage. Also some proper bloody foreshadowing to the rise of palpatine and the Sith in the next movie. We should see her struggle and grow, go back to Jakku and deal with that, keep confronting Ben and Luke and Leia in more interesting ways. In my head the structure is pretty much like tcw or rebels, but maybe that’s just how I expect star wars shows to be structured at this point. A series of missions, exploring themes over arcs of a few episodes. And again we come to lovely originality problems, because this would be basically TCW with OT flavor and ST characters. But if it works it works, and I think this is really the best option to ‘save’ the ST. We need to get invested into these characters, and their best bet (as far as a tv show goes), is to do for Rey what TCW did for Anakin.

#TCW #Rebels #Star Wars #Sequel Trilogy #Prequel Trilogy #The Force Awakens #Rey #Rey Palpatine #obi-wan #Anakin Skywalker #tv shows

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adultswim2021 · 1 year

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NOTE: Eagle-eyed viewers might recognize this post from a couple nights ago. That’s because I fucked up and wrote up the wrong episode by mistake. So I’m reposting it as to not disgrace the continuity of my blog. Please scroll down for a brand new Ephemera Corner and a slightly larger-sized Mail Bag.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! #8: “Hamburger” | April 7, 2007 - 11:45PM | S01E08

A serious contender for favorite Awesome Show episode ever, a near-flawless show that is actually weirdly cohesive; almost “one thing”; like Ice Haven by Daniel Clowes or something like that.

The plot of this episode is basically that Tim & Eric haven’t turned the episode of the show in yet, and we’re watching a live feed of them trying to rush the episode to Adult Swim. This begins with a fake bumper. Not since Sealab 2021 have we been treated to the fake bumper shtick. I think. I don’t know how to check this. Sorry. The “live feed” is very obviously not actually live, because we see obvious edits and even a little bit of reversed footage of Neil Hamburger being disgusting.

Neil Hamburger! I love Neil Hamburger so much. I first got into Neil Hamburger… I forget how. I think one of the VERY VERY VERY few cool people in Redding, CA told me about him. I have two of his early albums, and a couple of DVDs of his. I have that first one where he’s not doing the voice. I got to see him live circa 2005 in San Francisco. He told a joke where he exhaustively described Ronald McDonald coming home and murdering his entire family, including his wife, his son, and his dog. Q. Why did Ronald McDonald murder his family [told in lengthy beat-by-beat detail]? A. Because he found some of the Colonel’s secret herbs and spices in his wife’s panties. A pathetic punchline, but the entire room was howling at the set-up for what felt like forever. Maybe the best comedy show I’ve ever been to?

Tim & Eric call a cab, and it’s Neil Hamburger, who is announced with an extended title card during the opening. They must rush to Adult Swim headquarters to deliver their tape. But Neil is surly and uses bad manners on them. There are lots of wonderful moments between them, like when Neil calls them rapists unprompted. When they protest to being called rapists he shoots back “then don’t rape.” I literally think about this maybe once a day in traffic. If I get mad at a fellow driver and I’m feeling jocular, I’ll shout “you rapist!” in a Neil Hamburger voice. But thaaaat’s my life.

There are typical Awesome Show skits and bits, but nearly all of them fold back into the ending or set something up that happens later. Example: a promo for the Uncle Muscles Grand Championships is very funny on it’s own (Channel 5 logo in flames with the subtitle “on Five’r” is so hilarious), and it also sets up the ending of the episode.

Tim and Eric wind up caught in a traffic jam, caused by a car crash. Two men argue with each other over who caused the accident, and decide to settle it by having their little pocket monsters fight each other; one has a Tim and one has an Eric, both in red jumpsuits. They have a dance off and Tim is declared the winner (the footage of them dancing in these red jumpsuits is repurposed for the opening of Awesome show). Eric’s male owner punishes Eric by squashing him to death with his foot. Tim is allowed to climb up into his owner’s breast pocket and do an insane dance while making disgusting noises.

Then we cut to Michael Q. Schmidt and his companion (an actor that I don’t think ever recurred on the show, even though he has a great look and voice). Michael Q. is looking through his yoo-hoo stick (or “telescope” to those of you who aren’t stateside) at Tim’s dance. We soon learn through dialogue Michael Q. is dancing in the Uncle Muscles Grand Championships, and may be underprepared. Michael Q. teases that he’s got an idea, heavily implied that he’s going to use Tim’s dance. This bit of set-up completely eluded me in the first few viewings of this episode. I remember exclaiming this revelation to my friend who was watching it with me, as he often did. He too never realized this, and we had ourselves a little mitzvah over it.

Finally Tim & Eric Make it to Adult Swim headquarters (with a very fun miniature or computer-generated building or some combination of) and toss the tape inside. As it slowly makes its way into the tape machine, they lament that they forgot to rewind it. So it plays the ending of the show: the tail end of Casey and his brother performing “Chop Suey” (using footage from an old promo they shot). Uncle Muscles (Weird Al) throws to Michael Q. Schmidt, completely nude, performing “Raise My Roof”, clearly inspired by Tim’s little goblin/pocket dance. Cut to Uncle Muscles, Casey, and his Brother, all speechless. CUE CREDITS: which is inexplicably the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme. I remember crying laughing at this when it happened. I’m a casual admirer of Curb and not quite a devotee, so the fact that they were using Curb-style music cues throughout the whole episode sorta eluded me.

Another great thing worth mentioning is that Tim & Eric’s stupid little songs in this are so fun. They love to take little moments to themselves to celebrate minor accomplishments and it’s very charming. A very good idea for a kind of guy to be. When in a hurry to make a flight or other appointment I’ve been known to keep my spirits up by singing the little “we’re gonna make it” song.

There are roughly three bits in the entire show that don’t really have to do with this throughline, and they are:

A quick “Where’s my Chippy” bit, set at a claw machine being operated by a small boy. This is my favorite one of these, I think. Doug Lussenhop plays the boy and he has a Chippy-esque pube-stache. He’s so weird-looking in this. It’s… unforgettable.

A prank phone call where Tim calls a tech support company because a uke fell on his laptop and now he can’t check his sites. There’s some very funny turns of phrase in this, and the cut away from the animated call to actual camera footage of Tim performing the call is so fun. It is, dare I say it? Irresistible. Tim notes on the commentary (recorded shortly after this season was completed, if memory serves) that this is probably the final prank phone call of the series. This is a good one to go out on. These can be funny, and have funny things in them, but making them be prank phone calls is pointless, because it’s almost never really about the reaction.

A very strong, very funny Steve Brule segment where he presents his investigative report about diarrhea. He has a chart showing every day he got the runs, and really says nothing of use about the topic. When Jan and Wayne notice a different color square on one of the days that month, Steve sheepishly admits that it was his birthday. Jan and Wayne rib him for not letting them know it was his birthday and go into a spirited birthday song while steve basks in the love with a dumb little smile. The sketch ends with what’s assumed to be a stock photo that in-universe Channel 5 graphics department scrambled to find: Jan and Wayne holding a birthday cake that has Wayne’s name on it. It’s such a hilarious detail, making this maybe my favorite Awesome Show Brule bit of all time.

I’m almost certain this is my favorite episode of season one. For Goddamn sure.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

youtube

Poolside Chats with Neil Hamburger (Interview with Tim & Eric, January 15, 2007)

You remember Tom Green? Ottawa public-access host turned Canadian basic cable host turned MTV host turned filmmaker turned internet television pioneer? His online show was a nightly talk show that broadcast live out of his house, where he’d built a swanky late night set. There we some seriously wonderful and experimental moments on that show, as well as some very memorable trainwrecks. I was really into it for a short period of time, but would check in from time to time after that. Tom would have Neil Hamburger on frequently and eventually gave him his own spin-off show. The first episode, if I remember correctly, was an unmitigated disaster, with Neil breaking character several times.

This episode features Tim & Eric taking calls from racist teens. This is also the first appearance of rascals anywhere, which we’ll see next episode. Great fucking internet television. Needs to be in a museum.

MAIL BAG

Okay, to make up for the fact that by mixing up Tim & Eric episodes I’ve basically weaseled my way into *sorta* taking a night off, I’m gonna just answer every mail I have in my bag. Which may or may not result in a super-sized Mail Bag. I don’t wanna advertise that I’m doing this to the three people who are clearly my friends anonymously sending me stuff to mock me for doing a thing “for readers”, because they might go TOO nuts and make a point to send a lot to punish me.

You wrote Simpsons Night, right? Great blog, sad to see it end so abruptly because you had a fight with Disney+. Anywhoozle, how does your favorite Tim and Eric bit stack up against your favorite Simpsons bit (which I believe from reading the blog you said it was the Robotic Richard Simmons).

Thanks Nick. Anyway: That blog is not quite dead (lol Monty Python so funny... a bit UN-PC THOUGH!!!! AM I RIGHT?????). How dare you. Lotta Christmases have been happening lately so I’ve not had time to luxuriate in my various blogs. I’ll do another Simpsons soon.

I think the sad truth is that The Simpsons’ effects are waning on me, and I tend to see those great, incredible, ingenious jokes as a soothing balm. Tim & Eric are sorta the same way, but I’ve watched these episodes a fraction of the amount of time I’ve watched The Simpsons. But I’ve already begun thinking up more inane “watching the Simpsons” projects. I can’t get enough of those funny families.

I think Tim & Eric taps into a vein of humor that I ultimately prefer, which is stuff that is funny for reasons you can’t fully comprehend at first. You know what I mean? Anyway, my idea is that this time I watch the episodes by production code, but I alphabetize the production codes, so I actually start with season 10

neil hamburger must have freaked some people out in 2007

Okay: see, I already talked about the episode mix-up, otherwise I would have not used this Mail Bag on this post. If I were being truty deceitful, I would have pretended this Mail Bag came in later, and attach it to tomorrow’s post instead. Anyway: I cherish Neil Hamburger and we all should cherish him. Let’s get all his television appearances together in a bittorrent, stat!

Which Jackass parody do you like better: Tim and Eric's Dumbellz or PodcastAboutList's Prankass?

I’m assuming you left out Kenny Rogers’ Jackass because it’s too clear of a winner. Anyway, I know nothing about Prankass and am in fact a very casual fan of those guys. I’ve only heard a couple episodes of that show and watched the Jollibee video a few times. I gotta get with it. Prankass is probably much better.

You couldn't do the jokes Neil Hamburger did today

Yeah you can

What do you think of this: cheese sticks coated in italian breadcrumbs, fried until they are hot and melty on the inside, dunked into your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce. It's an appetizer. Interested?

The idea of dipping these guys in marinara has never appealed to me. I have a weird thing against mixing tomato and cheese. Something about it seems sinful. I avoid pizza for this reason. Denny’s cheese sticks are perfect, and their chicken fingers used to be perfect, but then they changed them, and they are merely “alright”. I can’t find anything that compares.

Will we ever have another funny comedy duo like Tim and Eric again? Hayes and Sean? Those two guys who fucked off to work for Jimmy Fallon? Jeremy and Rajat? Daniels? Please don't say Daniels I hate that fucking movie.

I remember one time, Jimmy Kimmel had on a duo named like Ant and Dek, and I was like “huh, okay, who are theeeeeese guys” (getting ready to laugh because duos are tried and true) and then they get to talkin’, right, and it turns out they were just like normal-ass British television presenters that are hugely famous in England but not here, and Jimmy kept having to remind the audience that they were big stars, and they didn’t say anything funny because they weren’t really comedians at all. (not sure what my point was so...) anyway, all that stuff I said should be illegal.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #tim and eric awesome show great job

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sebastianshaw · 2 years

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there’s always a bunch of half-formed self-indulgent fic ideas that are always bouncing around my head and that don’t really have any actual plot, just, like, mental images of my current faves in situations and the current one that I have deemed worthy to share is about Haven, Shaw, Sprite, Ajak, and Exodus (sometimes with more characters like Fabian, Shinobi, Kurt, and/or Manon and Maxime, sometimes not) in plainclothes, all of them depowered, and on some kind of road trip that is also actually an escape/on the run situation, presumably from Krakoa and/or other Eternals, probably both. They’re in a big RV, Shaw drives because I think he’s the only one who knows how. Ok Haven probably knows how too but I doubt Sprite, Ajak, and Exodus can. Exy definitely can’t, I’d say. and it’s set primarily to Tori Amos’s “Scarlet’s Walk” album And I have zero details other than this and there’s probably not going to be more it’s just a thing rattling around in my head that is only slightly more cohesive than the others.

#out of shirt

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enigmaticexplorer · 6 months

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When you're writing your longer fics, do you outline your stories a certain way or jot down notes to keep track of plot details? I always love the attention to details your fics have, so I was wondering how you keep track of it all.

Ask Game: Anonymously Ask Me Anything about My Fics

Hi Iris—thank you so much for this ask (seriously, this was such a fun thing to respond to!)

I am a Type A person so I have to outline before I even think about writing a story. One of my biggest fears writing is that my story won’t feel cohesive, and I’m also a perfectionist, so I easily beat myself up if things aren’t connecting, are repetitive, etc. That being said, each of my longer fics have slightly differed in their outlines.

For A New Tomorrow, I used the seven-point story structure to outline the major plot points. [Originally the fic was supposed to be one single story, but when I reached the Midpoint (chapter 16 of Fate’s Twisted Humor), I decided to create a new fic because it was already so long. A mistake I now regret, but oh well.] So I started with seven chapters that correlated to each plot point [and each plot point was broken into major developments in both the romantic relationship and the plot against the villain (I cannot remember his name lol)], and then I filled in chapters between with what I thought should happen to lead to the next plot point. I had all of the major details—because that fic was dependent on pieces connecting—written in a Word doc that I constantly referenced.

I also wrote two drafts of that story before I started publishing chapters (what would become the third and final “manuscript”). I think, because I wrote two drafts initially, lots of the important details stuck with me so it was easier to fill them in for the final version.

For Moth to Flame, I wrote the first 4 chapters, realized it was actually a story I wanted to flesh out (because Wolffe’s character resonated with me—control-issue representation 😌) and then I outlined the first 15 chapters with what I wanted to happen along with a general idea of the last few chapters. For that fic I didn’t follow a plot structure, and I’ve always been afraid that the lack of overall structure shows and hinders the story. But similar to ANT, I had a single doc with all important details outlined so I didn’t forget, and I also wrote 2 drafts of each chapter before I felt comfortable enough publishing each chapter.

I’m also currently writing a long fic and I feel like I’ve finally found my rhythm. I used the four-act structure as guidance, and then I outlined this fic extensively (I literally spent a month just outlining it) and then wrote the first draft. I realized what worked and what didn’t in that draft, and so I rewrote the outline and then wrote a second draft. I’m now starting the third version—what will be the final—and I’m really excited about it!

Idk if this answered your question lol, but thank you for asking :)

#ask game

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nocompromise-noregrets · 1 year

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Maybe a bit of a weird WIP question, but I'm curious how much One of a Kind has changed in your head during the 15 years it's been simmering. Has it changed? If so, is it only the as-yet-unwritten stuff, or would you, in hindsight, also retcon some of the already existing stuff? Some of my oldest unwritten story ideas have undergone such metamorphoses over the years that I find it quite impossible to pin them down into one coherent narrative anymore, and I'd be curious to hear your thoughts and experiences on this. Thanks! :-*

aaaaa, thank you! :D :D :D I am delighted to be able to ramble about this ridiculous story (I've posted a bit of the main novel and a bunch of ficlets to AO3) XDDDD

It has changed a bit - it began as three interconnected fanfics, which I then decided to originalify, so I strung them all together, moved the setting somewhat arbitrarily to Manchester, changed the characters' names, filed off the serial numbers, and wrote a lot more stuff. I physically rewrote most of it in the process - I copied and pasted some bits, but retyped a lot of it, and added in a lot of stuff (there was a lot of cohesive stuff that needed adding because it wasn't a fanwork any more so there was all manner of background that needed to go in, for starters). I also changed the order of some of it - going on some advice you gave me, actually, when you very kindly read it over about four years or so ago :D - although that then left me with other issues which I still haven't solved, mostly connecting scenes that I haven't written because I can't work out how/what needs to happen. Rewriting/redrafting is not something I usually do, and I don't really know what I'm doing with it (really I think I need a beta reader with a lot of time and patience who can read it over for me and tell me what needs to happen in the gaps XD ).

I did de-drama-ify a few parts of it - some of the early stuff was cowritten with someone else and they were much more of a one for dramatic pronouncements and traumatic backstories (I think that's where Jack's backstory originated, and now I'm having to retcon and handwave it a bit because some of it is administratively impossible or at the very least implausible - my main excuse is that Jack is not at all a reliable narrator, but I'm still not entirely sure how he's managed to get this far in life without a birth certificate, for example, or without social services knowing he existed...)

The background characters have also come into their own somewhat - not so much Nicky and Lawrie, who still occupy the first bit of the plot because it's based off the first of the three fics, and who then almost vanish from the story as Hal and Jack get more established (I still need to figure out what to do about that XD ), but people like Andy (Hal's bassist), Simon (Hal's brother) and Anita (Hal's ex and the mother of his daughter Natalie), not to mention Hal's grandmother and her crochet club - they definitely have a lot more to say now, and there's also a new background character called Tillie, who I haven't quite worked out what to do with (she's another one who appears briefly and then disappears again).

I've also written various ficlets set in the same 'verse, although after the timeline of the novel (such as it is *hollow laughter*), mostly as part of Writers' Month, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with those, either. The main timeline begins more or less where it always did in the fics, follows the thread more or less through and finishes slightly after the final fic did (mainly because I wanted to write Jack attempting to shop for barbecue supplies, although now it doesn't really finish properly and I should probably just call it quits, split it into about three novels and a set of short stories and have done with it). The main story is about 180k so it's nowhere near appropriate-novel-length, but it also doesn't split conveniently into three 60k sections, so it's not three novels, it's more like two, but they're totally different lengths, and...uh. It's a mess, basically, and every time I look at it thinking I might have another go at it, my brain shorts out and I end up not getting it making any more sense than it did before. I definitely need a hand with it XD It doesn't help that I'm no good with plot, so as soon as I go off-piste into stuff that wasn't in the original fics, I don't quite know what to do with it and it ends up feeling very forced and stilted. As for the as-yet-unwritten stuff, I have no idea what it even is - I don't/can't plan, so although I know I need X scene between Y scene and Z scene, I don't really know what needs to happen, whether it needs to be one scene or two, or five, or three chapters, or...well. Or what. There's a couple of huge gaps that I have no idea how to fill.

Part of me wants to get on and sort it out. And part of me feels like it's far too much like hard work and maybe it's best left where it is. XD

I don't know if that was any help at all?! I am a very unstructured writer, which really doesn't help - outlining and planning are totally outside my capabilities, so when it comes to trying to hammer this monster into shape, I'm totally out of my depth.

And if anyone out there wants to help me wrangle this ridiculous tale of two ex-street-kid musicians with assortedly traumatic backstories and no small amount of baggage into shape...oh god. Please. Let me know. I'm floundering over here. XDDDD

Thank you so much for asking! <33333333 If anyone else wants to ask me about any of my WIPs, the list is here.

#ask game #go on #ask me stuff!#my writing

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titoist · 2 years

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just came back from the theatre. i was, personally, not as crazy about this one in comparison to the last. but there certainly are a lot of things one could poke at, strengths that one could(should, maybe) focus on. i have actually remarkably little to say about the play itself... but i will venture onward with what comes to mind. what is worth noting immediately: the play is not technically original - it is a modification of a vintage script, touched up and slightly remodeled so as to fit in a modern setting. which is not a thought that personally inspires much confidence in me, for sure... the play revolves around the lives and rhythms of 8 servants, and 1 rich(i would perhaps even venture so far as to label her a libertine) heiress to her fathers aristocratic fortune, "living" together in a giant castle-upon-a-hill in Slovenia. and though they are all shown and given a tad bit of characterization each, the two big players - the main protagonists - are the heiress, and one of her servants... the former neurotically alone, listless, suffocated by her fathers' fortune & feeling as if she has no emotions and thoughts of her own. the latter a sleazy womanizer and unabashed con-man, born to poverty, who secretly completely loathes the heiress and her father with all of his might, constantly dreaming of superseding their wealth and rising in social status, he sees the heiress and her family as living proof of the thought that he will never be able to escape the circle of hell that he was born into - a raskolnikov-esque figure, who is just snarling and waiting with bated breath for any woman to make a mistake in his presence so he can immediately verbally & physically deride them. the upshot: this is a running theme - i would label the main theme, even. every single character is deeply unhappy with their lot in life, but is unable to do anything about it... which, now that i think about it, is cleverly reflected in the fact that the entire play takes place in the kitchen of the castle, never once changing scenery. all of the servants are poor students from the poverty-stricken areas of the balkans, - rural macedonia, bosnia, serbia, romania... - graduated from dead-end small-town universities and seeking to get enough money to finally escape and move on from...all of this. even the heiress, who loathes her (obscenely, unimaginably rich) father and her mother for their excesses, feels a peaked degree of this sentiment... she has nowhere to go, and yet she can't stay in the castle. a tense situation. the plot, generally: the aristocratic father is on a business trip. the heiress and the servants are left alone in the castle. the heiress and raskolnikov-esque servant enter a heated... heated period of mutual physical and psychological torture - she loves him & he wants to use her to get rich. just about. sniffs. the play was okay. the technical aspects of it were certainly the most engaging part - the way the expensive stagelights masterfully twirled from stage prop to stage prop, the masterful cohesiveness of the actors as they practically flowed through eachother's movements like liquid during the musical parts, etc. ...but, in spite of that, it just felt.... it just felt.......... a little impotent. there are so many ideas that it feels like it's trying to get across, that it's trying convey - a hand underwater desperately grasping for the surface... but it just doesn't, in my opinion. that's the simplest explanation i can give. but it certainly fights, it tries. - thought: my mother has fairly thorough connections with a fairly large amount of the theatrical community. as a side effect of this, most of the staff & the actors tend to be able to recognize me, from when they saw me as a young child. they are really gracious and kind, really. but when i take their hand in mine and look in their eyes, i can tell that the tone with which they say that i've "really grown over the years" is more with an anxious discomfort, more than anything.

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blackjack-15 · 3 years

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O, The Tangled Webs We Counterfeit — Thoughts on: Labyrinth of Lies (LIE)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK, TRN, DAN, CRE, ICE, CRY, VEN, HAU, RAN, WAC, TOT, SAW, CAP, ASH, TMB, DED, GTH, SPY

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with my list of previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: LIE; DAN; mention of VEN; mention of TRN; mention of CUR; mention of SAW; Nancy Drew #60 The Greek Symbol Mystery.

The Intro:

Welcome to the final meta! Sorry it ended up taking so long.

The only one of the “New Games” (MED, LIE, SEA, MID) that I’m going to be writing about in this series, Labyrinth of Lies is a great note for me to end the series on. It has it all — secret plots, a gorgeous museum, a distant-but-not-too-distant location, a mix of indoor and outdoor locations, fabulous suspects, and a nail-biting finale.

And the Hardy Boys. I never forget about them.

Before we really begin, I do want to preface this by saying that, as I began this meta series before MID came out, I won’t be referencing MID’s actual “storyline” or the events of that game within this meta. Because the Hardy Boys do reference Salem and such throughout the game, obviously leading into the next game, I won’t ignore the plans for MID that are laid out in LIE, but the game itself, to be frank, doesn’t deserve the screen-ink I’d waste writing about it. Just a heads up.

The usual thing for a ND game to do is to take a sort of spooky atmosphere and subvert it just slightly; a Haunted Train is only occupied by a friendly, peaceful spirit; the Haunted Manor is really just home to a bunch of dead try-hards and their immortal parrot; the Haunted Inn is shadowed by both intense feelings of guilt and an entirely mortal and mechanical presence. And while LIE has a lot of the pieces of these Haunted games — secret passages, old legends, a malevolent presence — it takes those pieces and spins them about to feel entirely different.

At its core, LIE is a subversive game, both texturally and meta-texturally. It delights in taking the player’s — not to mention Nancy’s — expectations and twisting them on their head. The game really telegraphs that in the first moment; Nancy walks in on what she thinks is an assault, but it’s really just a scene from a play. From that scene on, the player has a sense — especially if they’re paying attention — that nothing is as it seems to be on the surface.

We even see this subversion in our suspect list. In a sort of Orient Express nod, all four of our culprits are guilty (to some degree) of the same crime, and it produces a sort of cohesion in their backstories and alibis that we haven’t had before in a Nancy Drew game. When everyone is covering for everyone, it makes it much harder to sniff out contradictions and lies.

One of the greatest strengths in LIE is the constancy of seeing what Nancy is not meant to see. This is best exemplified in the audio tapes of the practices; seeing (or hearing, rather) the “theater group” in practice lets both Nancy and the player see what they’re really like (and we’ll talk a little bit more about that in the character section) when they’re not being actively observed and how their dynamic is actually much more tenuous than Xenia would like it to seem. Like the audio tracks of Niko in DED, these not only give us some great voice acting and characterization, but they’re also key in ferreting out exactly who these suspects are to each other.

LIE is, as with all of the games, based on a Nancy Drew book (no matter how loosely), and here it’s The Greek Symbol Mystery (book #60, for those playing along at home). Pretty much the only thing that the game and book have in common is that there’s an art theft ring, as the book focuses more on missing money – charity donations and an inheritance, in case you needed proof that the culprits are Very Bad Men indeed.

Along the way, Nancy, Bess, George, and their respective boyfriends (this book goes with the Nancy/Ned, Bess/Dave, George/Burt that is nauseatingly common among books of That Era) come across a Byzantine mask, a basket of apples with a poisonous snake (which, yes, is more Cleopatra than Athens, but Cleopatra was Greek so I’ll let them get away with it) and the titular Greek Symbol.

I’ll touch on this briefly below, but one of the most remarkable things about LIE is that it cements a rather disarming (for 60s Yellow Cover diehards) truth in the Nancy Drew game universe: Nancy is no Wonder Woman, and she is usually on the back foot when it comes to her mysteries.

The 60s rewrites, the Girl Detective series, and, yes, the early games in HER’s Nancy Drew games kind of build Nancy up as this all-powerful yet modest detective. Nancy can do anything, knows everything, can take down anyone in a fight, and fixes every problem — big or small — that she comes across, like some red-headed Mary Poppins in a tweed skirt and sensible shoes.

Danger By Design is a perfect example of what I mean; not only does Nancy find the treasure that no one has found for 60/70 years (though it was hidden pretty poorly, honestly), but she also helps along a budding fashion designer, “clears” a woman’s name, and stops an international sabotage/espionage plan from ever coming to fruition. Never, however, do you feel that she really works for any of this — she even takes down a martial artist after having read a book on it once.

I know I harp on how much I love the games headed by Nik Blahunka and Cathy Roiter a lot in these metas, but this is why I do it: together, those two almost without exception create games and stories that humanize Nancy without ever degrading her skill. Instead of upstaging the French Historians or the Italian Secret Police in the span of 48 hours, from WAC/TOT on, Nancy is no longer the smartest person in the room — she’s simply a girl with a knack for observation, no fear of appearing rude, whose best quality isn’t her Encyclopedia-like Knowledge, but rather her dogged determination (which is very much true of Nancy’s original 30s incarnation).

It’s hard to root for an omniscient hero who surpasses everyone else just because they’re special and the protagonist. But it is so, so easy to like and support a rather bullheaded hero who looks around, who asks for help, and most importantly hammers at a problem until she cracks it. And in my opinion, that’s the Nancy that LIE so well portrays.

The Title:

As a title, Labyrinth of Lies is…well, it’s pretty much perfect. You have the nod to Greek mythology with the word “labyrinth”, the sense that no one is telling the truth, the idea of navigating through those lies in order to arrive at the conclusion, and — most importantly — the hint that this mystery is manmade.

Labyrinths don’t just spring up out of nowhere; the origin of the word was the (supposed) structure built by Daedalus to contain the Minotaur. Interestingly enough, labyrinths in their traditional form are unicursal — they only have one path, they’re just confusingly laid out. We see that reflected from the title through the mystery in LIE — though the twists and turns of the game are many and varied, there is still only one path through it.

And speaking of the mystery itself…

The Mystery:

We begin with Melina Rosi offering a job to Nancy — to help the Phidias Cultural Center in Greece to prepare and pull off its big exhibition: a play entitled Persephone in Winter, designed to create buzz around the new Life in Ancient Greece exhibit. Some work has even recently been done on the museum to provide an interactive, exploratory section for the exhibit to show what life really might have been like in the mythical Underworld.

All is not well, however, as artifacts have been disappearing and staff have been quitting by the dozens. Leaning on her experience as both a museum intern and as a detective, Nancy needs to figure out who’s responsible for these setbacks, where the artifacts are going, and if this is all part of a larger, grander plan — one with potentially deadly consequences…

LIE has a mystery that really shines more the more effort the player puts into it — a hallmark of Nik’s games, but one that is especially true here. If you play through with half-attention, skipping dialogue and clicking through papers and files just to check them off, you’re probably going to be a little bit confused and think that the museum and such make little sense.

If, on the other hand, you’re willing to do some actual detective work — snoop and read carefully, pay attention to what the suspects say, make use of all of Nancy’s resources — then you’re rewarded with a mystery that takes everything into consideration.

Note that I’m not saying that if you don’t like LIE, you didn’t pay attention — liking or not liking a game is purely a matter of opinion, honestly. But LIE, like any good Greek myth, has more too it than it looks on the surface, and you have to pay attention to the different versions (aka the different stories told by our suspects, the files in Melina’s office, the Hardy Boys, and the tangible evidence) in order to get an actual sense of what’s going on.

The big thing I love about the mystery is that the game telegraphs from the very beginning that it’s not so much “who is the baddie” as it is “how will this play out, and how can Nancy stop it”. The crime is, rather than forthcoming or already past, in process when Nancy arrives, and her arrival doesn’t really do anything to mess with the Troupe’s plans.

The tagline for “Persephone in Winter” is “what evil sleeps in four red seeds?”, which — as we see the poster at the beginning of the game — is a pretty early sign that all four of our suspects are, to some extent, involved in the crime. Adding to that, the title pretty much telegraphs what the final showdown will be — “Persephone in Winter” is a nice, moody title for a retelling of the Persephone myth, sure, but it does subtly ask the player to consider: who is Persephone during the winter?

The answer is, of course, the Queen of the Dead. And speaking of Her Highness…

The Suspects:

Let’s look at the leader of the “troupe” and the play’s director — as well as our mastermind — Xenia Doukas. For someone whose name refers to friendship, she’s pretty two-faced. Which is awesome, given her place as Persephone on stage.

Xenia is our crime-syndicate-backed mastermind and is, quite frankly, pretty darn good at her job. She wrangles in extra help, keeps everyone in line, writes and directs a mostly-functioning play, and plans an elaborate heist all at the same time — and does it while dealing with a nosy detective yapping at her heels.

To be quite honest, Xenia has her place as one of my favorite culprits, and not just for the killer lava dress at the end of the game. She’s adaptable in a way that few other culprits are, constantly changing and evolving to take advantage of new openings in the museum’s atmosphere and security, and does it all while playing the Beleaguered Director in charge of Hopeless Amateurs.

Sure, Xenia is taken into custody by the end of the game, but the results of her trial are still unknown by the time of Nancy’s letter, and if Thanos’ example means anything, Kronos will probably be able to get her out of this one. She’s an able actress and even better mastermind, and someone with her skills will go quite far in underworld dealings.

She is the Queen of the Dead, after all.

Standing alongside Xenia as her muscle and enforcer Thanos Ganas, a man with a dark voice and even darker contacts in the real-life underworld. Like Xenia, he’s a part of Kronos, and his job is basically enforcement and stark threats, along with hydraulics (which not only makes him seem Important to an acting troupe, but also helps control who goes down into the underworld).

He’s also one of the few Nancy Drew suspects with a confirmed body count, so that’s lovely as well.

As one of our culprits, Thanos is refreshing in that he is exactly what he presents himself to be. He’s not there to play a part, nor is he trying to convince Nancy that he’s harmless; he’s a bad guy, and he’s comfortable with that to an extent that we rarely see in these games, making him a breath of fresh air. Xenia plays a part in order to make herself more terrifying when she shucks it off, but Thanos — a confirmed killer and the only one of the troupe to escape justice — doesn’t need to.

Niobe Papadaki is the art expert of the group, along with the very shy Demeter in Persephone in Winter. Her role in the crime syndicate is the most important but also the most tenuous: she’s in charge of creating the forgeries, which she does with both great skill and trepidation.

Niobe is great in that she exemplifies what seems to be a favorite Nik trope: the person who was damned by a good deed in their past. Like Kate, like Alexei, and even like Nancy herself sometimes (to name just a few), Niobe tried to do something nice — to help her friend break into the art world — and instead paid for it a thousand times over, from losing her place as an artist to being dragged down into the criminal underworld of art forgery.

As someone threatened into cooperating, it’s understandable that Niobe is the one that gets off the easiest at the close of the game with a sentence of probation. In the end, her arc comes full circle; she was someone who took a fall for a friend in order to help them and ended up (metaphorically) imprisoned — and she ends the game set free and back on her way to the art world due to someone taking the fall for her, as her friend.

The fan favorite in LIE has to be Grigor Karakinos, who does everything from lights and sound to the vast bulk of the actual stage-time as Hermes, narrator and scoundrel extraordinaire. In our criminal troupe, he’s the transporter for the forged replicas, along with being the designated fall guy should the plan go wrong.

It’s Grigor’s knowledge that he’s living on a knife’s edge that makes his sacrifice(s) throughout the game mean so much more. He looks out for Niobe — note in the recorded practices Niobe insists on having him there while Thanos is present as protection — while attempting to help Nancy and still keeping Thanos and Xenia relatively in the dark.

In the end, Grigor does end up taking quite a bit of the fall — specifically for Niobe — and he does end up at least for a time in prison, but he chooses it with his eyes wide open, rather than having it dropped on him by Thanos and Xenia, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Our phone contact is Nancy’s employer and phone contact Melina Rosi, who works as the curator at the Phidias Cultural Center. By the time she brings Nancy in, Melina is facing disaster; most of her crew has quit, items are going missing, and the opening of the “Life in Ancient Greece” exhibit looks like it might not happen at all.

Melina’s one of the more interesting employers that Nancy’s had over the course of the games, not the least of which because she does end up firing Nancy in a non-second-chance setting — purely out of concern for Nancy’s safety, yes, but she fires her all the same, behaving responsibly in the job of someone responsible for a young detective.

I mean, Nancy doesn’t let a little thing like being fired stop her from continuing to work the case, but it’s the thought that counts.

Finally, just because I love and care for them — and because they rock in this game — let’s talk about the Hardy Boys. Frank and Joe are in top form this game, and between Joe being fired up about ATAC’s name change and “baseless accusations” of witchcraft and Frank playing the beleaguered older brother role and digging deep into the modern Greek underworld, the Hardy Boys are a joy to call. JVS and Rob Jones do some of their best work in LIE, and really feel like the siblings and not-so-amateur detectives that they are.

Obviously, the whole witchcraft (and planning something with the Hardy Boys that involved kidnapping Ned) angle(s) was to set up a future game in Salem…but since MID bears little to no resemblance to the game that’s hinted at in LIE, it doesn’t end up mattering in the end.

I will say that one of the best parts of the Hardy Boys in this game is their redesign for their phone contact — they look both distinct and polished but still echo their designs from TRN. It’s a bit of wonderfully classic character design, and I shall never be over it.

The Favorite:

There’s a lot of things in LIE that I really truly love, so let’s go over just a few.

First things first, I love the use of Greek mythology and the setting of Greece in general for a Nancy Drew game. It’s perfect for the mixture of legend, fact, and history that games like SSH and TMB (two of the more thematically similar games to LIE) really excelled at, and LIE is no slouch in that department.

Another thing that I’m fond of is that these characters are actually someone to each other. Lots of times in pre-TOT games we get a random assortment of people with no connection to each other and nothing in common besides happening to be in the same physical place, and it’s really lovely to have the sort of post-TOT shift towards an interconnected cast whose actions really have an effect on the other suspects.

As a very vocal fan of Nik’s writing style, it should come as no surprise that the play’s script is one of my favorite things within the game. It’s witty, quotable, poetic, and hinges on the absurd, making it really feel like a play that was kind of written – and rewritten – on the fly to suit the troupe’s needs. Hermes’ strong narrative style, Demeter’s flowery speeches, the use of the chorus as a mix between judgmental oopma-loompas and Siri — it’s all honestly great stuff, and more than worth a read and a reread over the course of the game.

My favorite puzzle to play through — shock upon shock, I’m sure — is the seating logic puzzle towards the beginning of the game. I used to play (and replay, and replay) the potions puzzle at the end of the old GameBoy Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone a lot when I was little, so any puzzle that even remotely involves logic and whittling down correct choices already has me in its grasp.

That being said, I’m also extremely fond of the overarching puzzles for navigating the underworld in LIE. The coin for Charon, the unlocking of the gates, etc. etc. — it feels like a constantly expanding world without stretching the limits of believability (yes, good museums often have areas like this for ‘hands on exploration’) and it makes for a stunning backdrop for not only sleuthing but also for the last-minute dash at the very end of the game.

It also has secret passages, and honestly there’s nothing better than secret passages in a Nancy Drew game.

My favorite moment in the game would have to be the moment that Niobe steps through the secret passageway under the arch in the main hall of the museum. Not only does it align with my previously mentioned love of secret passages, but it’s also a moment that really cements that at no point does Nancy have the upper hand in this game.

She’s up against people who are more organized, better connected, better informed, and who have the home-court advantage in a very physical way. Nancy’s routes are constantly changed, cut off, shifted, or destroyed throughout the game, forcing her to find another way to do something as basic as walk around, and this secret passageway reveal is one of the strongest moments that reveals how underpowered Nancy by herself is.

Finally, as a shipper, I have to point to the “fake conversation” that Frank and Nancy have while he’s giving her information about Thanos and she’s pretending to make small talk. It’s a perfect example of multi-sided tension; not only is he giving her rather frightening information, but it’s happening in an environment itself that is rather threatening, with the added romantic tension coming from (at least) his side.

It’s a great example of how conversations in fiction should do multiple things at the same time, while at the same time really increasing the tension that the player feels — not just in that moment, but around Thanos and the underworld for the rest of the game.

The Un-Favorite:

There are a few things that aren’t quite my favorite in this game though, so I’ll briefly touch on those.

I’m first gonna mention Grigor’s arms. I don’t know why they look like that, I don’t know who thought it was a good idea, I don’t know why his arms are so much worse than Thanos’ — I just have no idea what was going on there, and I don’t like it.

My biggest complaint also ties in with my least favorite puzzle — which is the temple/vases puzzles at the beginning. Like TMB, LIE is a wonderful, history-focused game — but also like TMB, LIE is also a bit undirected at the beginning, and it can be a little difficult to figure out what you need to do and what information you have to know to do it. Once that bit’s done, the game flows along smoothly, but the beginning, puzzle-wise, does stutter a bit (especially on replays, where you know you should be Doing Something but can’t remember how to get Nancy to do it).

It’s a mark of how (other than the complaint directly above) seamless LIE is that I don’t really have a least favorite moment in the game. LIE is dedicated to keeping up a sense of tension in every location (apart from perhaps Melina’s office) and to making the setting feel a little larger than life, and it succeeds pretty exactingly on both fronts.

The Fix:

So how would I fix Labyrinth of Lies?

Beyond smoothing the beginning puzzles better into the game timeline, I’m not sure that there’s anything else that I would do. Yes, LIE ends without a happy ending for everyone, but given the subject matter, the crime, and above all the theme — that there is a stark difference between villains, who sacrifice others, and good guys, who sacrifice themselves for the sake of others — is better borne out by an ending that’s a mixed bag for our players.

LIE would be a good game just based on the sum of its fun, imaginative, thrilling parts; LIE is a great game, instead, because the sum of those parts adds up to give the sleuth — and the player — a proper view of who Nancy Drew is, what her job is like, and how she tackles the world around her.

#nancy drew #nancy drew games #clue crew #nancy drew meta #labyrinth of lies #LIE #my meta #long post

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bookofmirth · 3 years

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after rereading the series and finally finishing silver flames ( which i truly enjoyed, even when there were points which felt disappointing and a little incoherent ) i feel like i can finally pinpoint what is so jarring to me regarding this series. It just seems so disjointed, which becomes especially apparent after reading MaF and the immediately reading WaR.

We move from the first two novels of the series, which are coherent and clean, to WaR - which is hoenstly just a mess, something which was so blatant to me on the reread. during this time, it’s clear that sjm made several massive changes to link this book to the future spin offs, and also obviously changes her original plan to pair mor and azriel - which monumentally changes the way that the previous book is read, and the perception of their characters.

Even with FaS - setting up for cassian and nestas story, sjm completely changes direction between this release and silver flames. And all of that lead up with the Illyrian rebellions and cassians not being respected as a bastard, and his mission fighting for Illyrian female rights - amounts to absolutely nothing.

Don’t get me wrong, I really really enjoyed silver flames, and perhaps some of these ideas will crop up in azriels book and therefore won’t be wasted. But it just makes the series feel disjointed and leaves me at least, feeling unfulfilled.

Sjm is such a good author, in ToG the plot was expertly executed and when you reread the series, you can see hints and foreshadowing even back to book one. She knew exactly where she was going almost from the beginning, and each decision and plot point was used to create impact and build up to the ending. I don’t get that with acotar.

There is so so so much build, and almost no pay off - and I really got that sense in acosf, I loved it as a stand alone - but when we look at it through the perspective of the entire series, there were things which grated and a lot of things which I felt were built up to and nothing happened... Tomas, Cassians mother ( was so sure we would learn where she was buried at least ) the Illyrian rebellions and the Illyrians hatred and disrespect towards Cassian, Mor and Nestas relationship, CASSIAN AND MORS RELATIONSHIP ( I understand that the mor situation will be something which is focused upon primarily in azriels book, or hopefully her own, however their relationship involves Cassian as much as them both and I really wish Cassian had actually confronted the part he played in that whole situation - a part he played for 500 (!!!!) years. It’s a role which he was unable to relinquish in ACOWAR, and actively rejects Nesta to act as a buffer multiple times, seeing it as an obligation almost - and then in SF, pays it no attention at all. Feyre and Nestas relationship also isn’t really touched upon, as if that final act healed everything - what about that interrupted conversation in the library, when Nesta was cut off ? Why Nesta always favoured Elain, even Amren and Nesta - we still don’t really know what happened there... argh there’s just so much potential and so much set up, and it just seems forgotten about ? It makes the book seem disjointed and a bit of a let down.

Yesss I totally get what you mean here. ToG is honestly the superior series, and it’s because it has the cohesion that acotar doesn’t. Everything feels like it’s meant to be there, each character, each worldbuilding detail, their histories, everything just comes together in a wonderful way that just wrecked me when EoS came out and then was resolved perfectly in KoA.

Compared to that, acotar feels like sjm is figuring things out along the way and it is seriously driving me nuts. I’ve had multiple conversations with other people in Discords and they’ve said similar things. acotar at this point feels like sjm is just coming up with random ass ideas and throwing them in. No book in the series feels more like that than acowar. And it was that point where we knew that there would be more books, right? So combined with the fact that she pounded that book out and it got rather half-assed editing, you’re probably right that a lot of things were changed in order to set up the other books, even though it didn’t make sense with what she’d written before.

I agree with you re: Mor and Az, and I feel like I’ve been seeing more people say that lately? That there is a feeling that they actually were supposed to be together and she changed her mind? I wrote a bunch of fics for them back in the day and they’ve gotten a bit more attention lately. But once acowar came out I was like, I’m gonna reread, and I’m gonna find all the clues, I’m gonna see where all this build-up was, and.... considering how often people say that sjm is so “good” at foreshadowing, I’m sorry, but not in this series. In ToG, yes, because she had a clear goal at the end! She knew where she was going and she stayed on that path. In acotar, idfk. Anyway my point is that I’ve reread the series a couple of times through since acowar came out and I’m still over here shrugging because up until that point, Mor and Az could be read in completely opposite ways. (Maybe it’s an Azriel thing, given the current discourse, idk.)

I will say, however, that we had clues that there was tension between them and I had noted that Az is quiet troubled and even pre-acomaf, I would not have been surprised by his extra in acosf. But all of that could have been addressed with Mor and Az still being together? We all had plenty of explanations at the time for the tension, and Mor being queer was like 1 of 100 of those explanations.

If we look at Mor’s character through the books we have so far, I still see almost zero signs that she’s queer except for her literally saying “I like women and Rita’s has a lot of women and here’s my gay story”. Other than that, there is like..... nothing that feels organically queer about her!!! And I love her and I want her to be gay af!!!! But I wonder if my forgiveness of how acowar went down was more about my personal reaction than how well the story was actually done.

And the fact that, like you said, there is still no resolution to the fact that Cassian is supposedly a buffer between Mor and Azriel? Like???? We were all sitting here after acowar thinking “okay, well if she’s gay then someone knows. Someone has to know. She can’t just be gay and NO ONE WHO LOVES HER KNOWS.”

Then in comes acosf with a big “fuck you, y’all thought” which just.... to me, it signals that her queerness was an afterthought. It’s still an afterthought because her queerness is limited to Mor and women blushing at her and Mor has her corner of the world in which she can be gay, but that gay never spills out into any other aspect of her life. It’s just conveniently isolated so that it doesn’t touch or affect other characters.

In terms of continuity, acowar was such a huge shifting point in the series that people left in droves. It was a huge mess in the fandom. And then acofas was just fluff with no real point in pushing the story forward - even the Nesta stuff was a sneak peek, it had nothing to do with acofas itself. And now acosf comes in ignoring things she had set up previously, with almost zero nuanced discussion of the Cassian/Azriel/Mor thing, which means she still (?) doesn’t know what’s going on there. And I think that we did get some answers with Nesta’s reflection on her relationship with her mother, but the deal with the Illyrian rebellion was just in the way so let’s nix that, and then let’s focus on Eris (🤮) just because she feels like it even though she’s set up all these other characters whose stories need more. (Much like acowar, this paragraph is a MESS LOL)

And yes I KNOW that the series isn’t over, clearly, but she keeps setting things up and then letting them go nowhere, or making them seem important and then resolving them off-page, or changing character relationships (Mor and Az) but then having the characters involved act exactly the same, as if nothing had changed (by having the “buffer” situation still exist as a real thing).

I did enjoy the book, a lot, it was a fun read. But tbh we have so many arguments and disagreements within the fandom rn because things have been so left open to interpretation that we it’s not even a matter of “oh I saw this slightly differently”, it’s “WHAT book did these people even read???” That’s kinda weird, to me. There is reader response, and then there is what we have now, which is people having absolute opposite reactions to what they think happened in acosf.

#acosf #acosf spoilers #spoilers #sjm critical #ask #acotar #wow you got me started lol #anon

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