#the adventure zone episode 29

[blupjeansweek]

[ID: A white banner with black text and a drawing of bluejeans with heart patches on either leg. The text reads “Blupjeans Week 2024″. End ID.]

Announcing Blupjeans Week 2024, a whole week dedicated to Barry and Lup from the Adventure Zone Podcast!

The week will run from Sunday May 26th to Saturday June 1st, honoring the anniversary of Episode 64. Any creative content is accepted, so feel free to share whatever you create! AI-generated content will not be accepted.

For Visual Artists: image descriptions are deeply appreciated! I'd like to make sure this event is as inclusive as possible, and not having to describe all the images myself allows me to run things much more efficiently!

Prompts Are:

May 26: Memory

May 27: Alternate Universe

May 28: Strings

May 29: Duet

May 30: Kiss

May 31: Loss

June 1: Reunion

Tag your posts #blupjeansweek2024 and @blupjeansweek to make sure I see it! If your post is not reblogged within a day or two please send me the post through message so I can reblog it here!

Happy Creating!

[ethersierra]

Nanofather Lore insanepost

Alright. We've seen my murderboard. It's incomprehensible. But for those who haven't, here it is:

It includes... a lot of everything. I couldn't begin to describe the journey I went on putting this together. Without further ado:

The Nanofather, also known as "The Weaver," "Creaky Man," and sometimes "Geltfrimpen" or briefly as "wily weaver," "dirty jeremy," "muck dweller," and "crusty man," is a recurring ominous character which appears most frequently in the opening segments of The Adventure Zone: Steeplechase. He says a lot of weird shit. And after 33 episodes, I believe I have a pretty good understanding of this shit. Take a walk with me, through this 8-part dive into what the Nanofather's deal is.

I will warn you, this is... insanely long. Turn back now.

1. The Foretelling [moments leading up to the weaver]

Back in episode 18 of Ethersea, Justin mentioned how he's the last of them who has yet to DM. Then, later in the episode, Griffin loses his train of thought and Justin prompts him with "Spin the... spin the yarn" and the riffing leads Clint to say, "weave," and Justin says, "step up to the loom... let the weaving begin at the loom."

In the next episode, as the intro song fades out, Justin interjects in a high falsetto song, singing "Weave another tapestry! McElroy Family and me," and the bit goes on for a minute or so. Later, in Ethersea 24, when trying to convince Griffin to reconsider what happened in the narrative, Justin asks him to "Check your loom, weaver!"

When Justin finally makes his Steeplechase debut, he initially struggles with starting the story. So, Griffin jumps in with,

Griffin: "Can I do what you usually do to me?" Justin: "Please." Griffin: "And be like [singing dramatically] 'The yarn-spinner takes the loom in his hands and weaves a magical tale. Take the wizard by his hands as he flies you around on his rug made of wings and a angel’s hair.'"

Every subsequent episode has the same opening. The recurrence of these instances have culminated in the persona of "The Weaver."

2. The Stew [in which the nanofather discusses various culinary topics]

The Nanofather routinely brings up the food of his world, in some way. This starts as early as episode 3, in which he says, "Perhaps a few more moments before the stew is prepared."

Other segments include advice about nano-nutmeg [12], clarifications about cilantro (called corriander in the UK)[29], and directing the addressee to search for pepperoni and green pepper in "the pyre" [19].

The other three instances of mentions of food directly address Shookles the cat. First, "Shoockles, your master calls. Where's the scum canteen? Fetch it from the shoof... my thirst is unslakable" [7]. Then, in the very next episode, says, "Please... the pollen broth. My throat became so dry... Fetch me the pollen broth, Shoockles" [8]. And most recently, he speaks rather dramatically, saying, "I believe I went… as far as I could… I don’t know if… it was far enough… I’m terrified to push it further… I believe this is the limit… Yes… no, that’s true… It’s true… The greater danger is hesitation, yes… I will add one more half-teaspoon of cumin, Shookles. Thank you, Shookles, I… should listen to your culinary acumen more" [22]. This is assumedly in reference to something he is cooking, perhaps the stew mentioned in episode 3. Perhaps all of these ingredients are being used in the stew.

Either way, these interactions tell us that the Nanofather has an interest in cooking, and that Shookles acts as an assistant to him.

3. Direct Interactions [in-character conversations]

There are several instances where the Nanofather speaks with our player characters, or appears within their world.

This first happens in episode 20, when the crew enters the lair of Geltfrimpen and hears a voice familiar to the players coming from the dragon. He says, "Excuse me for this, but I have to keep up appearances." He continues to speak with the boys throughout the scene as they fight the animatronic. He says, "I’m having trouble staying here," and within the scene, Justin describes that, "The sound seems to be coming from like... the entirety of Geltfrimpen. It’s emanating from him, not localized to any one point in the dragon’s body." Beef asks the Weaver if he could come out of the dragon, to which he responds, "Would that I could." When Montrose begins refering to him as Geltfrimpen, he says, "I am not Geltfrimpen. I am here. But I am not Geltfrimpen." Emerich asks for his name, which is met with "Would that I know," but because Beef had called him creaky man earlier, the voice says "Creaky Man will suffice for now, I suppose. A good amount of christening."

He goes on to explain his situation at their behest:

"I will do my best to tell you what I know. It takes quite a bit for me to be as here as I am. But I will try. Part of me is in Geltfrimpen. But I am many places throughout the world. Part of me is here. Part of me is imprisoned here, I think. And through this act, I am no longer... trapped here, this part of me. I’m able to be more concentrated, if that—if that is the correct word, else... elsewhere... I will not be here long, and then I will vacate Geltfrimpen for good. And I will be a little bit more myself, elsewhere."

The implications within this one paragraph are that he does not have much of a physical form, and is potentially some sort of spirit, but he can manifest part of himself at will in some places. Montrose asks if he has a home base, but he says, "I’m... scattered. More accurately, I think... shattered."

He follows with even more interesting information,

"I’ve seen you elsewhere, I was... in one of the vans, as you made the thrilling escape. I was there. I called out, but it was so loud. I have watched you from the porch of Ustaben. In the... the whittling I sat, a rocking chair... I couldn’t summon up enough voice to reach you, but I called out. I called out to anyone who would listen, honestly. But you three are the first who seem to... be looking hard enough to hear."

There have been two heists with van escapes. The first is in episode 3, when Gravel pulled up in a stolen truck/van (it is important to note that they use them interchangably). The four of them were the only ones in the vehicle. However, this escape was not very thrilling, so we are going to refer to the Gutter City heist.

Sticky Finger(s) Paul Pantry asks the three of them to steal a truck called the Clean, and notes that it is made of Hardlight. When the time comes, Emerich has attuned with the hardlight Short Doug and drives in one of the trucks with him [9].

The second thing the Nanofather mentions is an obvious reference to the Ustaben attraction, Whittle Around. In the setup episode, Whittle Around is established as having a porch where "grandpa" sits and whittles wood-- grandpa, of course, being a hardlight construct who was initially Eustace but has since been replaced [0].

The combiantion of these two implies that the Nanofather exists for moments within, or as, these constructs. His spirit seems to be able to travel between them-- to what extent this is under his control remains questionable. Perhaps he is living within the park itself, haunting it. This is given further support at the end of episode 27, when an arcade machine in the back of Poppy's Place crackles with static and we hear the Nanofather say, "act... quickly." Emerich however is unable to make further contact, and this is the last time he seems to interact with them. Montrose says that they "have a ghost in the machine"[28].

4. The World He Inhabits [what we know about the environment, the character, and allusions to mechanisms of communication]

In his first appearance, the Nanofather says to the audience (which may be moreso to the players/player characters? uncertain), "welcome travelers," establishing that we are not from the same place he is.

The world he lives in is fleshed out through each episode. Highlights include "quite a long day tending to the muck fields" [5], "I've missed the meeting with the rust council"[13], and the afformentioned scum canteen. He also says, in episode 6, "I have a new tale for you. Of a muck-dweller turned hero to his- to his people… I seem to have lost it in the last rust storm." This sets him in a sort of wasteland. He also says, or rather, sings, "I'm a neutron guy, you're my nega-girl, I'll sweep you through the ash waste as we make our way through the,"[10] before he cuts himself off.

It seems to be a world where things are rough-- he says, "to make it 37 years is quite a blessing"[13]. That implies his age is 37, or that he has survived 37 years in the conditions that he is in. Additionally, he says, "you will find it in the pyre"[19], a pyre being defined as "a combustible heap for burning a dead body as a funeral rite," implying that they either have to make their own fires or 'bury' their dead.

Notably, there seems to be a recurring theme surrounding weather and time.

"It's gotten so quiet, lately... in the nights... and in the mornings... and the cyber night, the time between the night and the mornings..."[14] "It seems the storms have come early this evening"[4] "The last rust storm"[6]

This implies that time is somewhat technologically controlled, and weather is on a cycle. The building of Steeplechase, or what we are to assume is, is like holographically augmented[31], and so are the inside skies of the park. It is plausible to say the environment wherever the Nanofather is could also be simulated.

5. Wall Breaks [speaking to the players]

These indicate communication from the nanofather directly to the players. They imply to us more about the world, but more importantly, the means of communication and lore surrounding it.

In episode 9, we open the episode hearing a different voice. They say, "Hello? …Hello, spirits?" and begin to knock. "Nanofather says the spirits can hear you through the wall. Spirits… are you there?" But they are interupted by a familiar voice-- "Kavecca!," the nanofather says. "Just another of his stories, I suppose," Kavecca amends. "Kavecca, away from that! You dabble with powers you do not understand!" This raises a lot of questions from the players, about who Kavecca is, why there is another person speaking to them, and what the fuck the 'nanofather' means. What interests me is the referral to their audience as "spirits"-- and what implications does that have? Are they between the world the players inhabit and Steeplechase? Are the players spirits? Also factoring in Blades in the Dark, which has ghosts in it, which have been altered into hardlight for Steeplechase-- maybe the hardlight kept some of that original intent. Maybe that's how the nanofather is able to inhabit hardlight.

In the following episode, we find the nanofather singing a song. What follows is pretty strange.

ohh… I’m a neutron guy… and you’re my nega-girl… I’ll sweep you through the ash waste as we make our way through the…. [click] …do you hear me, Travis? Travis: What? I’m sorry… I didn’t realize I’d left the horn on. Travis: Are you speaking, are you- talking to me? Fare thee well. [10]

First, in "I didn't realize I'd left the horn on," a horn is primarily UK slang for telephone. That could be interpretted here as a literal telephone or whatever line of communication they seem to share. Next-- he directly addresses Travis. This is the first conversation the players have with this character, and so far the only. But it isn't the only time he addresses them:

Clinton? Travis? Gribby? My three… my three favourite micro-nephews. Here to visit me. What a wonderful treat this is… Come. Let me see if I can’t find you a new tale… Griffin: Gribby! Gribby can only say his own name. Justin: Oh? Griffin: Yeah, that’s sort of his thing. Justin: Do you… how do you… I’m surprised you have insight into these three new characters… already. Travis: I’m trying harder and harder to just pretend like we are not on the call when he records that part. Griffin: It’s the only way to not be... ensorcelled by the tapestry he weaves. Clint: Not me. Not me. Did you say Clinton? Clinton… Travis: It sounded like Clinton. Clint: I wonder who that is. Justin: Clinton, Travis and Gribby are apparently, I’ve just found this out with you guys, is— did he say— Griffin: The micro nephews. [15]

This is interesting because Travis is the only one whose name is not altered, and he was specifically addressed before. What we also glean from this is that the nanofather views them as micronephews, so he has an alleged relation to them. Previously, he has called them children but it wasn't apparent until now that he was addressing them specifically.

In the intro with Kavecca, it is important to note that they are the first person to call the weaver "the nanofather." We know from his time as Geltfrimpen that the nanofather has no proper name. Nanofather is more likely to be a title, or rather, a signifier of Kavecca's relationship to him, such as being his child or grandchild. This would put Kavecca on the same family tree as Clinton, Travis, and Gribby, if they really are his "micronephews."

6. Descent Into Weirdness [tonally different moments and their implications]

Everything The Nanofather says is weird, but these are the moments that absolutely baffle me, or upon which he is commenting on the story somehow.

The first time he seems to comment on the events of Steeplechase is in Episode 16, in response to a plot twist at the end of the previous episode (in which the Barrister arrived to kick Emerich's ass but they got him stuck in a machine). He says, "Oh, that’s not right… [rustling paper] …Oh, but this doesn’t make any sense, it was… The story wasn’t like this …. Or… I-Is it changing?" He then follows this in the next episode by... just... breathe-whistling menacingly? Note that this episode takes place when they are travelling between layers, on the start of their Ephemera quest.

Episode 18 starts with, "Oh… Oh, they haven’t… even begun to fathom it… But you…. You swore, we both swore? You know they’re not ready!" I wonder who the "you"/"we" is in this. Is it us as the audience, the players, or perhaps Kavecca? Eighteen is the beginning of the time they spend in Ephemera, and at the beginning of the episode Krystal has an encounter with someone in the Gallspire. This adds on to the commentary in 16 and implies that there is something bigger at play...

Episode 20 presents us with a poem of sorts:

Ever faster, ever closer, ever never slowing down… Ever nearer, ever clearer, ever nipping at the gown... Ever spinning, ever grinning, ever hearing what they please. Ever growing, ever knowing, that they are the disease…

There is no direct indication of what this is talking about, but I think it's about Dentonic. They never slow down, they don't know when to stop dreaming! They will warp whatever they must to fit their narrative and they don't care what the casualties are.

When the Weaver makes his entrance into the world of Steeplechase, at the end of 20 and speaking through Geltfrimpen, these occurences get more frequent:

"Oh, I… I’m mostly… mostly… with them now… [chuckles] ah… ah… smaller than I… assumed…" [21] "Mostly… echoes… yet to be… I’m sorry, I know that doesn’t… answer your question…" [23] "Yes… yes, I was surprised too, Shookles. What? Oh… Oh, they didn’t hear…"[25]

25 ends with Gravel being arrested for Sticky Finger Paul Pantry's murder. 26 opens with, "…yes, but I’d assumed it was… consigned to legend! I never would’ve expected- i guess… my understanding is not… what I’d thought it was. Terrifying, in a way, but also… quite wonderful." I can't even begin to parse what he's talking about.

Then of course, there is 27: "No, no, not to the boat... Only one... one node per layer... I tried to maintain hopping... but it’s too taxing... too many...noises..." What fucking boat? And he tries to hop between layers- maybe the nodes are in the things he is inhabiting. Geltfrimpen, the arcade box, hard doug, eustace... The arcade machine and Geltfrimpen aren't made of hardlight, and these are the methods through which he has actually been able to speak (he could only see through hardlight)... maybe these are the "nodes?" I wonder what the noises refer to.

When things start looking down for the crew as they try to piece together what the fuck is happening, The Nanofather opens episode 28 with, "I’m not sure yet… I’m hopeful… Ah, Shookles… optimistic…or perhaps… perhaps optimism is just the last refuge of those… with nothing left to lose..." The Nanofather is referring to himself in this line, and the fact that he considers himself to have "nothing left to lose" implies that he has a strong connection to the events in Steeplechase, particularly to the crew-- which makes sense given their previous interactions. But what is at stake for him is unclear.

In episode 30 he says, "The thought had crossed my mind… But it can’t be long now…" I must say this is particularly ominous because I have no idea what the "thought" is or what he is waiting for. His salvation?

Finally, we have episode 31. His last appearance.

"It feels… like something… has frayed…"

In this episode, Kenchal Denton speaks to the crew a lot about cutting loose ends. And then he drops them out of a hovercraft into a desert that seems to be entirely disconnected from the electrical grid Steeplechase is on. And we don't hear from The Nanofather again.

7. Ties to Clint McElroy. [the ways in which this comes back to him.]

[post-discussion following the moment in episode 10 when the nanofather asks, "do you hear me Travis?"] Travis: Is that guy my real dad? Justin: You wish Griffin: Legally, you have to tell Travis, if the muckdweller is his real dad Justin: Not the muck dweller. The nanofather. Please- Travis: Oh, it's right there in the name! I should have seen it a mile away it's so obvious now!

Now, this may be a stretch. And it started out to me as a joke, but guys. The further I get the further I am convinced. The Nanofather is connected to, if not is, Clint McElroy the Planeswalking Janitor.

Evidence A: He calls them "children" when he goes to tell them stories. Counterpoint: Clint can't be his own son. Counter-counterpoint: Clint's full name, according to Griffin on an episode of Wonderful, is Clinton Emil McElroy Jr. Meaning, he has a father named Clint.

Evidence B: When the Nanofather refers to Travis, Clinton, and Gribby, Justin later describes them as "these new characters," in the same way he insists that Clint McElroy his father and Clint McElroy the Planeswalking Janitor are separate things [Spiritbreakers Live in San Jose].

Evidence C: The Nanofather hops between layers, in a similar way to how Clint hops between planes. And the Nanofather seems to be fractured, scattered, not his whole self. He is powerful but weak. He is able to speak to players, characters, and potentially the audience? It transcends the boundaries between the two worlds...

Evidence D: Justin is a big fan of the TAZiverse. He has shown this multiple times but the ones I remember most are of course, when he introduces "Taako from Television" in Ephemera (and other Balance things, implies it was a legend passed down, etc), and when Griffin introduced that he would be playing Indrid in Dust 2. Like of fuckin course he'd be excited to bring things together more in small ways.

Evidence E: There has been increased Clint McElroy the Planeswalking Janitor activity, the most since before Ethersea. In April, Justin played the character Clint McElroy the Planeswalking Janitor in a liveshow in San Jose (I was there hi!!!), which had initially been planned for November but was rescheduled. Both of these, though, fall under the time in which Steeplechase was active, so he was thinking about this character during that time. Additionally, the merch of the month for August is a sticker of Planeswalking Janitor Clint McElroy. And he was mentioned in Steeplechase Episode 26, when there was debate over whether something was said by Emerich or his player.

Travis: I think that was Dad. Justin: Oh. Well, I mean... yeah, I guess dad could be in it too, Trav. Is that what you’re saying? Travis: No, I’m just saying, I think Dad was making the observation— Clint: Oh my God! Is this an appearance by Clint McElroy, the planes-walking janitor? Griffin: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Clint: Okay— Travis: No, no, not yet. Justin: No, we can’t, we can’t. Travis: Don’t force it, don’t force it.

Evidence F: I didn't expect to find this one. Honestly I think it shows that I have gone too far as a person. But... guys this one drives me crazy. So. We meet Shoockles in Episode 4, when The Nanofather introduces him as "Cat bart... he's my cat. Bart Shoockles." And guys I was like haha that's funny there is no way this is related... But then I was on Clint's Instagram trying to figure out if maybe he had a cat, since I know Justin has one. And I came across a photo he took of a white dog, which I wasn't sure was his until I got confirmation from an old post on one of the boys' Instagrams. But... in the caption of the post with his dog, he calls him Homer. Clint McElroy has a dog named Homer. Let me just, direct you to the Simpsons family tree:

Finally, Evidence G: Justin would go really far for a bit. He likes to have fun and get silly with his family and he knows Clint would get a huge laugh out of this. And he would also do anything to get a good age joke on his dad.

8. Conclusion [how it all comes together]

The moment you've been waiting for. What does it all mean?

The Nanofather seems to play no real importance to the main plot in Steeplechase at this point, but he has huge potential to. More importantly, looking at the Nanofather gives us some insight into the state of the park and where the player characters find themselves. He works as both a narrative framing device and as a part of the story. He talks to the players, the characters, and the audience, truly bringing a special flavor to Steeplechase.

With everything we've seen and heard, there is sufficient evidence to say that the Nanofather lives within the walls of the park, travelling using its energy grid. He has only been able to manifest to the characters through the electronics and hardlight creations. When they arrived in Kidadelphia in episode 32, it was apparent they were not connected to the same electrical grid, and there was no hardlight. The fact that he was completely silent in both 32 and 33 supports this theory, because there would be no way for him to communicate with them. Either that or they were too late and he died.

He has found himself in a wasteland, with weather and times that are controlled electronically. He is scattered, does not have a name-- a shell of who he once was. If the Carmine Denton Nanofather theory were correct, this would be a beautiful picture: the guy who created a way for others to escape is trapped in the destruction that his creation wrought... Regardless, I am concerned for his wellbeing since it seemed like he was in a hurry.

The interactions between the Nanofather and the heist crew imply that there could be a larger plot with him, but I don't know how close that is to happening. The Nanofather is one complicated guy, and if they want to save him I... guess they'll have to never know when to stop dreaming.

Thank you for coming along with me on this long and gruesome ride. I started this way back after episode 30 aired, I think. It's been simmering for a month, my own personal stew of sorts... For those of you who have helped contribute to my madness, thank you, and to those who have watched in horror, I'm sorry. It's been a real one.

And now, to send you off, I present to you this excerpt from Episode 10:

Justin: Our friend and employee Jupiter is kind enough to help pull together recaps of this dumb stuff, but Jupiter, showing a lot of wisdom here, does not track the story of the nanofather […] Travis: I think they realize it's been so clear cut at this point that any child could keep track of all the nanofather/muckdweller lore.

[lucretiaadventurezone]

Happy Candlenights!

Here’s a list of all the TAZ Candlenights episodes that I could find! Feel free to tell me if I missed any.

Ep 29. The Crystal Kingdom - Chapter One

The Adventure Zone: Candlenights in Tacoma!

The Adventure Zone: Live Candlenights 2018 Spectacular

The Adventure Zone: Holiday Brawl in Chicago!

The Adventure Zone: Live at Emerald City Comic Con!

And here’s a Spotify playlist of all the episodes!! Now you can burn your Candlenights bush while being festive!! I also recommend reading The Worst Candlenights Ever by @kravkalackin to really get into the holiday spirit 🕯️❄️⛄️🌟🌳🔥

[pandoramsbox]

Sci-Fi Saturday: Five

Week 29:

Film(s): Five (Dir. Arch Oboler, 1951, USA)

Viewing Format: Streaming Video (Amazon)

Date Watched: 2022-02-11

Rationale for Inclusion:

Late in the runtime of last week's film, The Thing From Another World (Dir. Christian Nyby, 1951, USA), as part of a monologue trying to convince his fellow occupants of the Arctic base not to destroy the carnivorous plant alien that has already drained the blood of multiple scientists and sled dogs, Dr. Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) concludes his plea for the importance of the pursuit of knowledge at all costs with, "We split the atom." At which point, one of the airmen, Lt. Eddie Dykes (James Young), cuts in with, "Yes, and that sure made the world happy, didn't it?" The sardonic quip stops Carrington cold.

In 1951, only six years had passed since the United States had deployed atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August of 1945. Whilst news of the destruction and atrocities were initially slow to spread, by the time the film takes place the scientists and airmen in The Thing no doubt knew the horrors inflicted upon Japan. Furthermore, the Soviet Union had detonated its first nuclear weapon in 1949, and the Cold War was very much underway.

With this cultural context in place, it follows that the post-apocalyptic film would make a comeback in the 1950s. Rocketship X-M (Dir. Kurt Neumann, 1950, USA) featured a post nuclear disaster society on Mars, but this survey has not featured a film where the central narrative is built around people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world since natural disaster film Deluge (Dir. Felix E. Feist, 1933, USA). So when I encountered Five (Dir. Arch Oboler, 1951, USA) described as the "first to depict the aftermath of an Earthly atomic bomb catastrophe" whilst perusing Wikipedia's science fiction cinema list, I knew it was an essential film to view.

Five was an independent film written, directed and produced by Arch Oboler, a successful radio dramatist who followed in Orson Welles' footsteps in transitioning to filmmaking. Oboler had directed three films prior to Five, and to keep costs down on the production the cast featured relatively unknown working actors, the crew was recruited from recent University of Southern California graduates, and the primary filming location was a Frank Lloyd Wright designed guest house on Oboler's Malibu ranch.

Reactions:

With its limited cast and locations, Five is dominantly the kind of no frills character study that would become more commonplace during the 1960s. It is simply and competently made with aesthetics that may remind modern day audiences of episodes of anthology television series, like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits.

As implied by the title of the film, the small cast of characters includes five people: the pregnant Roseanne Rogers (Susan Douglas Rubeš), white everyman Michael Rogin (William Phipps), the aged bank clerk Oliver P. Barnstaple (Earl Lee), black everyman Charles (Charles Lampkin), and supposedly affluent adventurer Eric (James Anderson). Roseanne's sex and Charles' race become sources of drama, mostly because Eric exhibits a behavior described decades later by sociologists as "elite panic."

Lee Clarke and Caron Chess of Rutgers University coined the term in a 2008 journal article, in which based on available research and case studies of disasters from the 1950s through 2001 they determined that the source of panic in these scenarios was not the general public devolving into a mob, but by elites, fearing that their power and wealth would be violently stripped from them by a mob. Clarke and Chess specifically identify three relationships with panic that occur during disasters: elites fearing panic, elites causing panic, and elites panicking. My introduction to this concept came via an episode of the podcast Behind the Bastards recorded during November of 2020, when amid the COVID-19 pandemic and stress around the presidential election having a reminder that the majority of people are inherently giving, caring, communal creatures was a huge comfort.

In Five, after an initially violent encounter, Michael and Roseanne band together for survival, with Oliver and Charles later joining them. They compassionately deal with Roseanne's pregnancy and Oliver's mental dissociation and decline from radiation sickness amid their limited resources. Oliver's dying request to visit the nearby ocean results in the old man having as peaceful a death as available under the circumstances, and the discovery of a man washed ashore, Eric.

The injured Eric's explanation for how he survived the atomic bombing is bizarre compared to the banality of the others' explanations, who were shielded from the blast via being in an elevator, lead-lined hospital x-ray room, and bank vault, respectively. Instead Eric was actively climbing Mount Everest alone when a blizzard stranded him. When he made it back to basecamp he found other climbers dead. On foot and via abandoned conveyances Eric had made his way back to America, encountering no other survivors along the way, just dead bodies.

Eric's journey in its entirety sounds highly unlikely, but at first only one aspect utterly defied my credulity: who climbs Mount Everest alone? Mountaineering is not a pet topic of research for me, but I know enough to know that no serious climber attempts Everest without guides, frequently members of the local Sherpa community. "What happened to his sherpa?" I demanded aloud when we got to this point in the film. "Did he eat them?"

Given that Eric is gradually revealed to be a greedy opportunist, in retrospect his story may have been nothing but lies. It seems more likely he was in the United States the entire time and leapfrogged from one pocket of resources and survivors to another until he ended up washing up on the beach. Regardless of whether he actually was a billionaire or not--and the film does nothing to disprove his account--he nevertheless has an elite mentality: trying to hoard resources (including Roseanne) to himself. 

Eric is the sociopathic evolution of the wandering rapists from Deluge, and ultimately serves the narrative role of Michael's doppelganger. Michael may have initially tried to sexually assault Roseanne, but spends the rest of the film making up for that feral moment. Eric is predatory and ends up becoming a murderer in the course of the narrative; after being banished by the others, he goes back to steal supplies and kills Charles when he is caught. Michael is spared having to also become a murderer by the reveal near the end of the film that Eric has radiation poisoning and likely does not have much time left. The film makes it clear that Michael is a good man, and deserving of being the new Adam of the post-apocalyptic world.

Roseanne earns her new Eve status in part by being the token female, and in part because she is devoted to her missing husband until she finds definitive proof that he died in the bombing. Her dedication to her husband and baby are all that is needed to qualify her as a good woman. 

Unfortunately, her newborn dies for reasons of narrative convenience. Apparently it was too much to ask for Michael to be father to a baby he did not conceive. Instead it ends with Michael and Roseanne left alone. Despite the tragedies and threat of radiation sickness lingering, Five closes conservatively and reasonably optimistically: life will go on.

Before I wrap up, I would be remiss if I did not spend more time discussing Charles. His presence is itself a progressive act, given how the casts of most mainstream films surveyed thus far have been all or mostly white. However, he is introduced in a subservient role to an old white man, and spends the remainder of his time in the narrative as a litmus test to show who is the superior white man to repopulate the world: Michael or Eric. The notion that Charles might be a candidate for Roseanne's mate is never so much as suggested. For all the indignities Charles suffers throughout Five, he at least is spared the trope frequently placed on black men of being the first to die. Overall, Charles is a minor step forward for black representation in science fiction cinema.

Five, on the other hand, is a solid first representation of the post-nuclear apocalypse narrative. Later films built on the premise, like On the Beach (Dir. Stanley Kramer, 1959) and The World, the Flesh and the Devil (Dir. Ranald MacDougall, 1959), would result in better movies, but Five deserves greater attention within the sub-genre.

[star-trek-pop-quiz]

Star Trek POP-QUIZ #41

( 29 / 07 / 2024 )

Question 1. What is the name of the web-series hosted by Wil Wheaton? a. The Shuttlepod Show b. Tabletop c. The Orb d. The Adventure Zone

Bonus Question: What is the topic?

Question 2. TRUE OR FALSE Wesley Crusher is older than Harry Kim.

Bonus Question: What is their age-gap?

Question 3. How many episodes of Star Trek has Wil Wheaton appeared in? a. 77 b. 89 c. 102 d. 106

Question 4. Where is Wesley Crusher a Mirror-Verse Villain? a. IDW Comics. b. Star Trek Online c. A Book by Diane Duane. d. An Unaired Mirror-Verse TNG Episode.

Bonus Question: What is Wesley Crusher's position in the Mirror-Verse?

Question 5. Fill-in Question! How many superheroes has Wil Wheaton played?

Score: __/ 5 + 3 bonus ( Answers under cut )

Question 1. b. Tabletop

+ Tabletop is a Game Show.

Question 2. TRUE.

+ Wesley Crusher is born in 2348 and Harry Kim is born in 2349, meaning that they have a 1 year age-gap.

Question 3. a. 77

Question 4. b. Star Trek Online

+ Wesley Crusher is the Emperor of the Terran Empire.

Question 5. 3.

Aqualad on Teen Titans, Cosmic Boy on Legion of Super Heroes and Ted Kord ( The Blue Beetle ) in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Happy Birthday Wil Wheaton!

[mhalachai]

I posted 2,665 times in 2022

111 posts created (4%)

2,554 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@princesssarcastia

@beatrice-otter

@annechen-melo

@molllus

@dimondlite

I tagged 1,469 of my posts in 2022

Only 45% of my posts had no tags

#fanart - 107 posts

#cats are weird - 106 posts

#the untamed - 95 posts

#food - 53 posts

#star trek - 53 posts

#music - 48 posts

#dracula daily - 39 posts

#writing is hard - 32 posts

#the adventure zone - 29 posts

#the sandman - 27 posts

Longest Tag: 124 characters

#does anyone remember the time i wrote that 750k fic where stiles keeps trying to get allison to change her name to stilinski

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I happened upon Once Upon A Time and watched the pilot while I was making dinner... it’s a bit of a jarring episode, because you have everyone chewing the scenery in the fairytale scenes, then you get to Storeybrooke and the chewing continues by nearly everyone except Lana Parrilla, who is actually, you know, acting. 

Like, what was the direction to the cast on that episode?

155 notes - Posted August 13, 2022

#4

so anyway this is unnecessary.

look, i don’t care if you hate a fic. something like this has no point except trying to make a fic author feel bad. and to what end?

I’ve been writing fic for nearly 18 years and i’ve never seen so much negativity and vitriol aimed at creators of fanworks, be they for fic or art. and it’s exhausting.

if you don’t like something written/drawn by a stranger (that you are consuming for free) you can walk away! close that tab, change your subscription notifications, unfollow someone on social.

this isn’t a side hustle. we’re not getting paid. fanworks are a labour of love; and when it starts to feel more like labour than love, you’re going to start seeing less fanworks to enjoy.

181 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

#3

tumblr has failed me why is everyone sleeping on this look?

308 notes - Posted August 23, 2022

#2

if you ever want to have a good time, head on over to AO3 and do a tag search for Jin Guangshan, there’s some pure gold in there:

glad we’re all on the same page here

1,134 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

municipal elections are coming up in my city and it’s fucking depressing that in the year of our lord 2022 i have to be reading through the school board candidate write-ups to try to figure out which of these assholes are anti-trans and pro-cops-in-schools. 

at least to make things easier those two things have a large Venn diagram overlap

1,399 notes - Posted October 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[twistedtummies2]

The Devils I Know - Number 29

Welcome to “The Devils I Know!” For this spooky time of year, from now till Halloween, I’ll be counting down My Top 31 Depictions of the Devil, from movies, television, video games, and more! Today’s Devil loves an island adventure. Number 29 is…Roddy McDowall, from Fantasy Island.

In my previous pick, I talked about Julie Newmar’s portrayal of the Devil from the Twilight Zone; I also mentioned Burgess Meredith, who played the character in a totally different episode of the same series. Neither Newmar nor Meredith were the only Batman Villain alumni to play the Devil, however. Enter Roddy McDowall: the Bookworm from the 1960s series, and the Mad Hatter from the Animated Series, among countless other roles. McDowall is one of my favorite actors, and it’s kind of amazing it took me a while to discover his Devil: until sometime about a year ago, I’d never known about him.

McDowall played the Devil – here referred to as Mephistopheles – in the classic TV series “Fantasy Island.” The show focused on a magical island where different tourists could wish for their hearts desires, and those desires would then become reality during their stay. Sometimes these fantasies turned out to be pleasant, sometimes they ended up bittersweet or downright depressing, and sometimes they were utterly horrifying. It all depended on the person and the wish. McDowall first appeared in the show as a mere guest, but he would later return in a much larger part as Mephistopheles, popping up in two separate episodes: “The Devil and Mandy Breem,” and “The Devil and Mr. Roarke,” from seasons four and five, respectively. Ever since discovering him, he has become one of my favorites of McDowall’s characters and performances. Both episodes effectively have the same setup: Mephistopheles comes to Fantasy Island seeking the soul of at least one of the guests touring the place at that time. He makes a bet with Mr. Roarke, the caretaker of the island (played by Khan himself, Ricardo Montalban) to try and claim those souls, as well as Roarke’s. In the end, however, the decisions of the guests and the caretaker’s own sharp wits allow them to defeat Mephistopheles, and the Devil is sent packing without a soul to his name. Although he only appeared twice, and both episodes were somewhat similar in nature, McDowall’s Mephistopheles nevertheless became a memorable character. He was essentially treated as Roarke’s nemesis: it was clear the two knew each other from long ago, and their relationship was very much that of a Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty duo: they seemed to respect each other as much as they despised each other. It was never really clear how or why this was, which only made both characters more intriguing. The parallels between the two were certainly worth noting: both Roarke and Mephistopheles gave people a chance for their hearts’ desires to be made manifest. And in both cases, what those people got wasn’t always what they bargained for. Ultimately, however, Roarke never intends to do harm with his work, and shows more humanity and understanding; Mephistopheles is purely and simply evil, relishing the sight of other suffering from his machinations. A great example of the hero and the villain reflecting one another.

Tomorrow, the countdown continues with Number 28! HINT: What happens when two Princes of Darkness meet?

[grimaussiewitch]

I think it’s so funny looking back on how I found critical role because it’s just too funny in my mind. I have the exact date too. Why? Because I have photos on my phone from a thingy earlier that day. And the next day I saved fanart and offical designs lol.

I had no interest in ever playing dnd. I kind of knew The Adventure Zone but it was a dnd podcast so I didn’t care for it except when it would trend on tumblr. Then the 28th of July, 2018 happened.

I was very bored so I thought I would look up fantasy hybrids because that’s my jam. First it was stuff like Vampire x Mermaid hybrids but turned into Elf x Orc hybrids. Then I saw a word I’ve never seen before; Tiefling.

Curious I looked it up through tumblr. There was lots of art of these rainbow fiend people but one particular purple tiefling kept popping up. “Who is Mollymauk Tealeaf? I will look him up- WHAT DO YOU MEAN HES DEAD??”

Had zero clue about this man but I love the colour purple and this purple character is dead. I was distraught (/Jk)

So a course I would look up critical role, get confused on which is season 1 and 2, confused by Sam Reigal’s ad and just mortified at the length of time on 1 video.

Wanna know the funny thing? Caduceus, the player character that was introduced to replace the dead one, made his first appearance one day before.

Also I had no clue when the live streams start but I accidentally caught them live. After a week of researching, liking fanart and watching clips, I had a good idea who’s who and what was going on.

My phone went flat after Nott’s line “Case closed” ;0;

Also it was the 29th episode of campaign 2, 29 is my lucky number. The stars were aligned!

[whooshingnoise]

Podcast Update #1

Finished “Fated Mates” last week. 

Currently working my way through the backlog of “Maintenance Phase.” 29 episodes to go? Should take me...maybe a month? And that’s being conservative.

Next up: I’m not sure whether I should start “Not Another D&D Podcast,” which a classmate has recommended to me multiple times, “Business Wars,” which SOUNDS like it’s right up my alley (I love industry dirt), or one of the other McElroy properties (either “Sawbones” or “The Adventure Zone,” whichever is shorter).

I haven’t consumed a lot of RPG media. The few episodes I’ve seen were either the initial ep of TAZ or, at one point, I tried to watch “Critical Role.” It felt like...a lot. I’ll try it again? Anyway. I listen to a lot of podcasts.

[blupjeansweek]

[ID: A white banner with black text and a drawing of bluejeans with heart patches on either leg. The text reads “Blupjeans Week 2023″. End ID.]

Announcing Blupjeans Week 2023, a whole week dedicated to Barry and Lup from the Adventure Zone Podcast!

The week will run from Friday May 26th to Thursday June 1st, honoring the anniversary of Episode 64. Any creative content is accepted, so feel free to share whatever you create!

For Visual Artists: image descriptions are deeply appreciated! I'd like to make sure this event is as inclusive as possible, and not having to describe all the images myself allows me to run things much more efficiently!

Prompts Are:

May 26- Refuge

May 27- Bet

May 28- Myth

May 29- AU

May 30- Bones

May 31- Free day

June 1- Aftermath

Tag your posts #blupjeansweek2023 and @blupjeansweek to make sure I see it! If your post is not reblogged within a day or two please send me the post through message so I can reblog it here!

Happy Creating!

[admintrust]

Thumpies egg

#Thumpies egg series

#Thumpies egg tv

The stories revolve around Colin and the Thumpies' lives at "Thumpie School", with Colin joyfully oblivious to what the Thumpies do with their free, unsupervised time.

#Thumpies egg tv

The situations he gets himself into are utterly absurd and riveting, borrowing from visual storytelling traditions of other Treehouse TV and ROBLOX TV Studios shows such as The Plaza, Cherry and the Toads, Toopy and Binoo World, and Yure and You. Through the many obstacles and mishaps on the adventures he has at "Thumpie School", a school almost like the school Colin attends, children aged three to seven will see that it's okay to be awkward, to make mistakes, to try again, to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and to always, always stand up for your best friends.īudge the dog's dialogue may be limited to his barking, but his shenanigans can bring big laughs. He has a huge heart and is both highly excitable and entertaining, much like his best friend Bree.

#Thumpies egg series

"Building on the success of the popular ROBLOX TV Studios series Mommy and Connor, Colin and the Thumpies is about the imagined adventures of Colin and his multi-colored sidekick pals, the Thumpies, who create compelling stories through imaginative exploration.Ĭolin is friendly and super positive an upbeat seven-year-old kid who loves to laugh, mostly at himself and the Thumpies. in Montreal, Quebec, alongside Fuzzy Door Productions in Los Angeles, California (for all of the cast members in the United States), Studio 306 in Toronto, Ontario. Voice recording for the show is by Audio Postproduction SPR Inc. Productions logo was used in one episode of season two, and the Spectra Animation logo used the Nelvana logo variant music from 2004 in that same episode.

A segment from 4 Square/An episode of the Mole Sisters (season six).

A short episode of Dragon/A three-minute segment from season two or three of Caillou (season five).

Number Menu/Kitty Catfish teaching the viewers six different words in aboriginal languages (season four).

Connor's Housicals/ Farzzle's World (season three).

Treasure Trove/ Fuzzy and Wuzzy (season two).

A Quiet Moment with Blooter/Simon Says (season one).

Most episodes usually have a song in them, sung by one of the characters.Īfter the first and second segment in every episode, an interstitial segment is used they are: Together, they embark on many adventures, usually taking place in the Thumpie School, or sometimes start their adventures by switching a lever. The series is primarily geared towards children between the ages of 0 and 6.īuilding on the success of the ROBLOX TV Studios series, Mommy and Connor, the series centers around the many adventures of the imaginative seven-year-old protagonist, Colin, and his friends, the Thumpies. All together, a total of six seasons, each composed of one hundred four 11-minute episodes in each season were aired. The show premiered on Januand ended on October 29, 2010. channel and program block on Nickelodeon. Productions, Xilam Animation and Zinkia Entertainment, aired on Treehouse TV and the Nick Jr. Janu– OctoColin and the Thumpies is a Canadian-American-French-Spanish preschool educational television series produced by Spectra Animation, Nick Jr.

[saharadunes]

TTTHACKER!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY FUYCKING SHIT NO WAY THACKER!!!!

[marsdave]

[colordrifter]

I am literally listening to the Thundermen LLC utter the words “We have to destroy the economy” over and over again.

This ENDING to Episode 28!!! THE CRAZY IDEAS!! THE MUSIC!! I LOVE THESE BOYS!!!!

[jidem]

THE PHILOSOPHAL STONE ??????