Tag: Fantasy

I am on my Couch, yet I feel Lost: Pinkie Watches Labyrinth

Hear Ye Hear Ye, Princess Pinkie is here with a new Movie and Shows Post!

Greetings my Loyal Guests and Subjects! It may not be a surpise to you that I really dig the strange and unique and seek out these movies , games and anime on regular basis. One weird product in the movie industry had eluded me for the longest time.. but today I finally managed to get that film under my belt. In this movie David Bowie plays the Goblin King, a baby stealing , delusion of a man who creates several musical intermezzos in this oddball of a fantasy movie.  Today I shall tell you of that time I watched Labyrinth.

The Wizard of Wonderland…with Puppets

In 1986  Jennifer Connelly starred in her breakout role in the movie Labyrinth, a Jim Henson movie that pits the ,then still a child, star against a pop singer. Which usually isn’t such a great idea. Child actors are known for their hokey acting.. and how poor children are written in movies, and singers…. well… just name a well acted movie starring Justin Timberlake… It is a movie that has the audience and the critics sharply divided on Metacritic , scoring only a 5 out of 10 from critics and an amazing 8.4 out of the audience. So  such a bit difference is already weird… What’s weirder is.. I kinda agree.. with both sides. In their own way each is a very fair way to look at the movie. The first thing you need to ask yourself is, do I like Jim Henson’s work?!  Jim Henson , should you not know the name is the big name behind the Muppets and Sesame Street, he is the master of puppets and his creatures are recognised all across the world, and while these creatures may not be anywhere near as Iconic as some other Jim Henson products, you can tell this movie is his. Which I find a huge boon! 

The plot follows character Sarah who is rehearsing for a play about the Goblin King, however she has fairly recently gotten a stepbrother, her stepmother being over protective over little Toby forces Sarah to take care of this little brother much to her chagrin, she feels like the forgotten child, remembering a rhyme from her play she wishes that Goblins come and take her little half brother away, That they do!  Immediately Sarah regrets her actions and tells the Goblins to give her brother back, the Goblin King , Jareth played by David Bowie floats to her window and tells her he can not undo the wish. She has 13 hours to travel trough an amazing fantasy land that is one giant Labyrinth to go to Jared’s castle and reclaim her little brother before he is turned into a goblin himself and stays with Jareth forever.

The movie clearly targets a young audience, with little consequences and stuff like death or injury being replaced by less harsh, but way more looney consequences.  Like falling into the bog of Eternal Stench.. an event that will cause you to stink for the rest of your life.   Amnesia or turning into a Goblin replace death as well, and the risk of injuries is often being played for jokes, such as creatures who can rip of their own head and toss it , put it on another creature and just have fun with it.  When someone is crushed by a rock they just fly off like a bowling pin, and more like that. It makes the movie quite whimsical and delightfully lighthearted. However the dialogue has been written to appeal to a younger audience as well, which can at times feel a bit unnatural, like you are watching a high school play. Since the movie kind of sets this in a twisted version of a high school play though, I am not sure if it is an actual downside. It just is presented in a rather unnatural way.

The movie has a lot of similarities with the Wizard of Oz, in the sense with that there is a path to follow.. more or less but events constantly throw the journey off, and it even has more in common with Alice in Wonderland, with characters being extremely strange and the riddles and puzzles that have to be overcome are tackled in a manner that Alice oftenly would.  The characters that join the main character however  do really resemble the party format of Oz again.. with an ugly treacherous gnome/dwarf that finds friendship along the way, a ogre like creature that becomes braver as they go, and a dog knight that learns some humility and that fighting is not ALWAYS the answer.  Very cute, and pretty well executed. The biggest trouble is that it kind of falls short when compared to it’s greatest inspirations, but those are pretty much masterpieces so I don’t really hold it to that standard. I can see why a critic would conclude it’s an inferior product though..because it is… however there isn’t that much in the genre anyway and as general entertainment I could not help but be slightly enamoured with this flick.

Twists and Turns

The moral of the story is where the “problem” of this movie lies. I will explain why I write “problem” in quotation marks a bit later on.  The moral of this story and that the main character has to learn is “Life can be unfair sometimes, we just have to deal with it when that happens” .. or something like that. It is indeed unfair if a parent favours one child over the other, but it happens especially if one child is newborn and the other is in their teens. It is unfair that some pappa’s and mamma’s don’t stay together and you have to allow another person in your life. These are troubles Sarah has to face before the movie even starts.. but throughout the journey this theme is forced in pretty hard. The Labyrinth cheats!  If she is smart enough to mark the route, little creatures will change it.   A worm.. which by the way is the most adorable thing EVER .. tells her that sometimes she can walk through a solid wall!  Sometimes solving a riddle and clearing an obstacle will immediately resolve in a new punishment. For a movie about making progress that can feel a bit lackluster.. and make progress feel more like a Deus Ex Machina than earned.

For example at one time Sarah is solving lots of mysteries in a row, some hubris sets in and she tells him, this is super easy. He then fast forwards time to give her 4 hours left instead of 8.. or something. Why not fast forward it all the way so you win?!  Why  give her a chance?  Why come up with a riddle segment and have Sarah solve it.. if you give her the punishment for failing it anyway.. on a fundamental level it feels wrong.  The movie isn’t satisfactory in that regard. Stuff happens because it happens, and normally I would HATE a movie for that. I hate a lot of anime who do that.. but this one gives clear hints on what is going on, you just have to assume something, something most people really do not like to assume these days. To enjoy this movie you have to watch it .. as an analogy rather than an adventure.. because while the events are fun, the actions taken end up being inconsequential due to the chosen theme. 

I did not end up minding it all that much in retrospect when I saw the big picture but there where times I felt very frustrated.  The character of Sarah is a big offender in this as well.. for the first half of the movie she is extremely whiny. She complains how unfair the maze is and how everything works against her. She vents this to characters who do not deserve it and the whole idea of wishing her brother away because she is studying a play and hates his crying noises already makes her feel quite bratty. An argument can be made that Jareth, the Goblin King is more appreciative of the baby than Sarah is and he’s the better choice. The movie fixes that later on but at several points in the movie I found myself rooting against Sarah! If you close your mind off because of that before the midway point, this movie might indeed suck. I don’t like children and Sarag began to annoy me just as a child would .. and then I realised… she is annoying but most children who would not be crippled by crying would react like this.. I as a child would have probably reacted like this.

The movie makes the odd choice to leave a lot of responsibility at the mature viewer, you have to poke through some things, if you take everything face value and “as seen on screen”  this movie might not satisfy you. Like a fairy tale, we seem to walk across a beaten path with a cookie cutter morality and a clear sign of who will be the victor at the end. However if you poke a little deeper there  a lot there. Do these events really happen? Or is it Sarah’s mind trying to cope with how unfair life is and allowing her to grow enough to learn a lesson. Do we sometimes need to let go of reality and it’s unfair to escape.. so we can later on face that unfairness.. that to me is what this movie is really about. What we see MIGHT have happened… but if she imagined it.. all those silly things that did not make sense before make sense.. after all she is creating the scenario and it also all feels very much like the mindset of a child, every single event even how the story sometimes derails into something so fantastical that it does not make sense… maybe Sarah ‘s true labyrinth is that of the feelings in her own mind. Kids get a cute little adventure, yet there is something for a mature audience as well. You just have to work your grey matter and imagination a bit to find it.

And then there’s Jim

The creatures we encounter on this adventure are so fun! I especially enjoyed Ludo the ogre , stone summoner and the worm! Oh I loved the worm so much!  It had like 3 lines of text but it was great.  It just tells Sarah there are doors that she can sometimes not see and she can move through some wall!  But he also keeps inviting her over for dinner! Inviting her to come inside.. there is no clear indication of what he means inside, nor what’s for dinner. There is just a worm… in blue with a scarf that tells her you can go to a wall or come for dinner. I do not know why I love it so much but I absolutely adored it. Then there is a wise dwarf, with a talking hat who bestows wisdom on passersby. The hat looked a lot like the minish cap from zelda, even speaking in the same sarcastic tone. Two door knockers, gargoyle like by design one with the knocker in his ears the other in his mouth. One can’t hear one can’t speak! Find out which door is correct.  I love this kind of stuff. Sir Didymus being a dog riding on a dog was great as well, especially since one is a puppet and the steed an actual dog! It is also quirky and even all the goblins felt unique! 

This movie, while an original story feels very much like a fairytale.. but also like a hodgepodge of fairy tale tropes.. like a kid or young girl trying to write her own story, including moments where the story derails… a great example of this is when Sarah loses Ludo as her guardian, he just falls trough the floor for no reason, nor is a reason ever given after reuniting with him.. he just comes out of a tunnel… but while alone Sarah comes across creatures that look a lot like Kowakian Monkey Lizards from Star wars..but bigger.. in pink and yellow and orange fur. They sing a song and toss their heads around to tell Sarah they want her to play as well and will rip of her head. It feels so extreme for this story, very Alice in Wonderland.. and very much like I used to write when I was young.

There is an encounter with Jareth on some MC Escher like stairs, where trough camera choices I got absolutely confused which was the point and it felt great. For a movie about a Labyrinth I truly felt lost, Henson made most of his characters so insanely quirky that they become self aware of their quirk. Like the guardians with one always speaking the truth and one always lying, by all the questions they have been asked in the past and all the mystery they forgot who is who themselves.. and aren’t even sure if they should lie or tell the truth thus if Sarah goes trough the door and falls trough a hole we aren’t sure.. did the creatures accidentally flip roles, is the hole actually progress, you can feel lost if you allow yourself too and if you immerse yourself.. and a lot of it is due to the wonderful cinematography, amazing creatures and fun effects.

Some events have this level of theater effect to them.. like a stone coming in rolling very slow based or a pebble clearly on a wire being moved towards the main character. It feels like one of those old stage plays, like the Muppets is supposed to be I guess.  It feels intentional yet hokey, it takes you out of the movie enough to give it a proper thought.. but also allows you to enjoy the wonderful creatures more. Like the hooded goblins with numbered helmets.. we see them several times but never see why their helmets are numbered.. not until way later where they end up being bowling pins to Ludo’s special attack!  A super simple joke but long before that they were on my mind as to what the secret of thiose numbers could!  It is all some great work and because it’s so hokey and forced at times.. it doesn’t age as poorly some effects feel like they were intended to feel wooden and forced.. so even the puppeteering that aged worse.. can be seen as semi intentional! Great work Mr Henson!

We are all mad here

If you asked me if I enjoyed this movie I would say yes! If you ask me if I had a good time while watching it, I’d be a bit more reluctant to say yes.  The second half of the movie is a great ride so would a rewatch of the first half.. but the first time you watch this… or the first time in a long while … eeeeh…. Sarah is a brat and that ends up being great as we really go on a journey with her towards a better version of herself..but she comes across very abrasive from the start and only when she accepts the maze ins unfair, she becomes a remotely likeable character That is relatively late in the movie to start liking a main character. That’s the whole thing I think.. if you hold it to normal movie standards this is odd! Maybe to odd  It doesn’t fit the normal criticising format. So if you review it as just a movie.. maybe it is bad. Reviewing by your normal, story, music, acting etc standards you can easily rate this a 5/10! Sure there is plenty of things wrong with this movie.. at least in the sense with how one normally reviews movies.

If you see it as a quirky visual fairy tale made by Jim Henson… that is a childs day dream about coming to term with the fact that she has a new family now and has to accept her new little brother as well as him getting more a spotlight than her you are in for a great time! This is NOT a movie that you measure by the normal standards, it can’t… well it can but in doing so you’d already be missing the essence of this flick! It doesn’t fit the standard bill. For once I do not really have a weird analogy for you this time because this thing is really unique! Labyrinth is not just a movie… Labyrinth is Labyrinth. If you can watch it with the goal of understanding or experiencing this wonderful product, rather than “put on a movie” a great time awaits you, that you will remember long into your happily ever after. The Bowie songs though will fade away rather quickly.

Did you see Labyrinth?! What did you think? Who is your favourite character? Let’s get lost in the comments but be sure to bring your Bedroll in case we really get lost! Because remember folks!
Friendship is magic but dreams are even more wonderful!
Oyasumi!

What Bad Luck! I got reborn into another life, and Now I am a Side Character! (Part 2)

It is time to step out of the spotlight and into the role of the comical relief side character again! In this series I Isekai myself and reincarnated not as the powerful main character.. but the one that provides lines of fun! I asked the god person thing not to change and just be a amplified version of myself. Figuring it would boost my wit and creativity and intelligence.. little did I know my bad traits would be amplified as well! How unlucky am I! If you missed the previous part, you can click here!

Dear Diary.. I would like to say that I woke up feeling refreshed but I did not! In fact I did not wake up at all! I didn’t even sleep! First of all I spilled ink all over my bed and it got like all inkey and soggy! And when trying to clean it up by washing it off I got it soaking wet! So I tried sleeping on the ground but my new tail really did not like that. So I spend the night reading.

Elle

I think I might have learned a spell from one of them! These books are like super easy to remember! Elle apparently was studying to be a mage so I guess that will be my class. I think my Intelligence stat is rather high after reincarnation so that is good! I might make a good Wizard. That morning I went to the guild that Maine is part of. They called it the Owls-Nest. Apparently it is one of the lower ranking guilds in Windmere Port. That is the town I seem to live in. Upon Inquiry why it is not Port Windmere a villager said that there are a few Windmeres across the world of Tenretni. I think she wanted to ask where I was from because she looked at me really strangely before she vomited all over my shoes! She apologised and hurried away! I slipped on something icky and could not catch up anymore! She seemed cute.. perhaps she was my romantic encounter. I would see if I Would meet her again. On my way to the guild building I saw two other people vomit! I guessed cooking in medieval like towns isn’t great for your stomach! My shoes look kinda crusty now though.

The Town Of Windmere-Port just imagine a few more rainbow puddles!

I arrived at the Owl’s nest, where a friendly dark skinned Cleric woman helped me apply to the guild! She told me I was now an Owl… I told her that was incorrect and that I still possessed the goat-like, humanoid en demonic features that come with being a race called Tiefling. I would also not obtain the skill to polymorph myself until I gotten to a decent level 7 which is when I get my first 4th level spell. She asked me what a level was. I explained to her that this world seems to be connected via the multiverse trough another world where this all unfolds as a board game and trough inter dimensional quantum entanglement I should be able to use this knowledge to learn spells.. but that a level had no defining qualities in this world…like another plain. 

Ynaja the Cleric

 But I could tell her that level 7 is reached after obtaining around 23.000 experience points. I also explained to her that easy skill challenge like for example killing some boars would most likely award me with 25xp but said challenge could exist out of 1 to 3 boars so I would likely have to kill between 920 to 2760 boars before i could actually be an owl. Given how my luck was treating me I’d say I’d have a 50% chance to run into a 3 boar encounter about a 35% chance to run into a 2 boar encounter and a 15% chance to get just a single boar. Which led me to expect with, while of course considering a mild deviation,  I would have to kill 2162 boars to obtain the required skill. She just nodded and said “Okay…… But the title for our members is Owls, I am not talking about literal Owls, All our members regardless of their species are called that.

When I finally was signed up, which happens after a few more miscommunications I was ready to take on the quest. Yet of course I took a good look around to the place first. Trying to see if I could locate Maine or Rho. Aside from the dark skinned  human Cleric woman there were three other people there. A human female monk.. white skin..whiter hair..though some peach snaps was spilling into it tinting it lightly as she lay on the bar passed out drunk with a crow on her shoulders.

Daria the Dwarf

A  Paladin in white  armor..whose race I could not identify due to the weird helmet with a tacky golden ornament to it. Then there was another girl at least I think they are! It’s a dwarf.. Gimli was hard it’s really hard to tell! Anyway! They were throwing a tantrum and wielding axes and skins! I assume she is a Barbarian! Daria seems to be her name For some weird reason they do carry some sort of spellbook. The monk clearly is of the drunken fist Archetype! She kept shouting things like “Daria is raging again.. take a sip” ..so I assume she wasn’t fully passed out. Daria told her to “ Fuck Off Mirina”.. So I assume she is called Mirina the monk that is … but why would she need to have intercourse with a person named Off.. that’s a stupid name, could it be the knight? 

Oscott the Paladin

Maine walked in and greeted everyone calling the knight Oscott.. so is Off the crow then? Would that not be forbidden? As she walked across the guild hall she seemed to be floating. I never seen such grace from armoured people, but then again..up until yesterday I haven’t seen many armoured people anyway.. also I died and this was my new life..from which I woken yesterday.. so even if I did before I guess it resets the score! The white knight had not moved a lot yet so little to compare it with.  I made my way up to the quest board when I slipped on a bottle that Mirina probably dropped. Maine walked to the board and helped me up with a smile! ‘I see you joined us Elle’ she said. ‘Oh I’ll take this quest.. a mysterious disease is plaguing the city”  Oscott, Mirina, Daria? Do you wish to join me? It is a four man quest I think. I would love to get to know you all better ?’

Mirina the Monk

The three seemed to agree and before I realised what had happened they went off! ‘But I encountered the girl that vomited all over my shoes! That quest was set up for me!.. Frugpoodles!’ I said while I puffed up my cheeks and stomped on the floor.. but the bottle was still there and I wounded my hoof-foot, I am still not  sure which it is. Maine looked at me sympathetically and said.. first have your foot checked out by Ynaja over their..pointing at the cleric. ‘I’ll take you next time.. ..or at least sometime soon, you know when we have a nice and easy quest so we can relax a bit’.  She then walked off with her newly formed party. I saw there was only one other quest remaining.. an old lady lost her frying pan I needed to get it back for her.. I sighed as I hobbled over to the cleric to have my leg healed.

I had a nice lunch with the woman named Ynaja she treated me to some soup as she healed my foot. She talked about how I was an odd new member to their ranks but that she liked that. Maine had only joined recently as well and Rho immediately took on his first quest, to track some bandits in a forest.  Now it was time for my first quest.. it did not pay well but at least I could do it alone. As I made my way to the old ladies house that posted the request I began thinking about Maine some more. She really was pretty..but probably super straight as well. Now she’d even get the new characters introduced to her and I could not even see them! Well at least I had a quest now and a mystery one to boot! This would work great with my intelligence. The old lady had a bit of a dirty cottage, she really should clean her windows, as is way her vitamin D intake would be minimal. The creeping veins would also impair the structural integrity of this piece of real estate and devalue it’s price when put on the market!
It’s grime had a aesthetically pleasing effect though.

“Oh good the guild finally send me someone, I lost my favorite frying pan dear” So I asked where she last left it.. as she pointed to her kitchen, which made sense in hindsight of course. Yet what I saw there was not what I expected. There was a enormous pile of dirty dish network on there. Like there must have been 23 frying pans and big kettles on top of them. “ One of them had a little message inscribed in the bottom..left by late husband.. but I am afraid they are so dirty I can not read it anymore.. Could you help me deary” she said. “I am too old to lift and clean all those heavy things” Nani! my first quest was doing dishes?! I hate doing the dishes sooo much! “I guess all heroes have to start somewhere” I said to her and she just nodded while she sat in her rocking chair.

Daisy

I cleaned every single plan.. even the big ones.. because otherwise she would lose it again!  It took me well over three hours to get everything clean.. but not a single pan had a inscription on the rim. I told her this and she looked at me with strangely  gleefull eyes “Oh dear.. then it must have been the one that I loaned out to my grandson, how silly of me” I reassured her it was quite okay she seemed to feel so bad!  “He is a cook somewhere.. I can’t remember his name.. but I know he wears a very odd hat chef, you could ask around in town people are sure to know who he is” “My grandfather kept forgetting the names of his grandchildren as well especially my brother.. gods have mercy on his soul’. I bid the lady farewell as she said I could call her Daisy, which weirdly is the exact name I would have come up with for her?! Townsfolks meanwhile where up and about.. apparently Maine and her party had discovered a evil necromancer had settled in town hiding in our ranks..cursing the people of the town. Now they were investigating who it might be. 

Maine the Fighter

I tried to find them.. thinking they might suspect me! I was new in town and I knew spells.. so it would make sense. I found them and Maine chuckled when I reported in! Oh no Elle dear! I do not suspect you, I honestly doubt that a high level necromancer would knock herself out using a garbage can, you also don’t seem to know people all that well and you told me you feared fire did you not?” I nodded.. I had discussed that with her during one of our talks the day earlier. “Well then it can’t be you, Mirina found out that this curse requires ashened flesh as well as some very intrinsic hand motions and seals, since you are afraid of fire and have the dexterity off a ochre Jelly I don’t think you can be our suspect. That’s so weird.. how does she know that?! I would classify my own dex stat as 6.. I fall more than zombies! What a peculiar guess! Maybe it’s really iconic. I decided to ask them  if they saw a guy with a weird hat. “Bah, you talking about Ematt, he’s the chef for our guild .. but we ‘ve got a necromancer to find! Good luck with the pan hunt’ they took off. I rushed back to the guild.. the pan was there all along.. the classic!  I might matter after all! Yet dear diary.. you never know where I found it.. it was in ANOTHER huge pile of dishes!

My arms hurt so much when I finished all the dishes! I broke quite a few plates by accident so that would have to come out of my quest reward Ynaja said, but she said it was okay I would keep about half still! I had finally found the pan! I had a horrible day .. but I completed my first real life quest ever! Washing dishes was not a skill test I guess but completing a quest surely would award me with some XP, that way I could earn better spells and become a great help to Maine.. part of the main heroes!  Destiny awaited me! With the last of my strength I rushed back to Daisy’s house so I could get my money! Than I could buy some food as well! Later I could then move into the forest  and find out Maine’s secrets! It would all work out. When I drew closer I suddenly saw sparks or  at least lighting coloured lights from the other side of the dirty windows. I could not tell if it was an arc, or a spark because of how dirty those windows where.  I hoped Daisy was alright. I bravely dashed in.. and then the door flew out of its hinges and into my face.. Mirina was riding on top of it being propelled by something. Then the familiar blackness came over me. 

When I woke up I saw Daria bend over the corpse of Daisy! “Oh no, they were evil! I found out and I would have to stop them.. Maine was a villainess with an evil crew.. like Aizen from Bleach. Maine stood next to me and reached her hand out to me “Are you alright “ she asked. I got really scared and might have peed a little. “Please don’t kill me?!” I said.  “Why would I do that” she asked. “Because you are evil and murder innocent people in town pretending it’s the work of some disease or something” I said! I was onto the plot I was sure about it.

Unfortunately I was wrong! My Intelligence might be high but apparently I failed my wisdom saves. It turns out Daisy was the Necromancer all along.  She compelled people into believing she had lived there for ages. Altering memories so that they believe she was part of the community. Each night she would throw a dinner party and then curse people! Once they died she would dig them up.. cut off their flash and Ashen it in her kitchen… when people would just think she would be preparing the feast for the next day. No one suspected a thing.  If she could murder the entire town she would have a vast skeletal army with whom she could rule the world. I nodded.. “I did not see that coming”..

Well at least everything was done now all that I needed to do was ……wait a minute… my quest giver died! I just failed my first quest! I just spend six hours washing dishes for nothing..well three hours for nothing.. the other three improved the quality of life for people in the guild. Ematt probably would be happy to.. now that his not grandma …grandma was beaten to a pulp by a barbarian two fighters and a monk I bet his mental disposition would not be with the dishes! I began to sniffle.. that I failed my quest. Now I had to pay Ynaja with money I didn’t have either and I was hungry and  tired! Maine smiled at me and gave me a gold coin saying “I will settle your debt with the guild .. use this to buy some food, get a long rest and try again tomorrow, you can do this Elle” I swooned a bit and did exactly as she asked .. she is so pretty!

I managed to get a bunch of food from a store that was still opened way past convenient times. Stores in fantasy worlds are so weird! Do they ever close?! Well in Skyrim they did.. but in a lot of games.. they do not! I guess I got lucky for once. I got some bread.. and eggs and potatoes and even some meats.. with a gold coin I could last a few days! Of course I saved some silver because meats spoil. Still Maine said I should get a long rest! That’s the DnD term for an 8 hour rest or so that restores your spells. Yet again.. she almost talks like a DnD player! Maybe it was a coincidence.. maybe I looked tired.. covered in ink, sick booze and dishgrease! I would find out more that night!  First I washed up! Then just just a tiny egg sandwich and a short rest! I’d be good to go! I woke up..at first light.. Crusts of my egg sandwich still in hand! I missed Maine’s secret meeting! I missed the main quest! I missed everything again! Besides that my house was smelling kinda funky! Like.. ..Oh no!  I rushed back to my stove and my worst fears have came true! There was the pot I cooked my eggs in.. all blacked. another pan I wanted to fry an egg in but never did was blackened too.. Argh! I don’t wanna do the dishes again! I wanna go home!  I HATE DOING DISHES!!!!!!!

Will Elle discover more about the mysterious Maine the next day? Will she be able to bond with her new guildmates and will she able to kill  2162 boars? Would she even try? Will she ever be a true owl? How about Maine..what is up with her?  That we will find out in the next episode of : What Bad Luck! I got reborn into another life, and Now I am a Side Character!

Pinkie Laughs and Sings Along with: Galavant

Way back in days of old, there was a legend told.
About a hero know as Galavant
Square jaw and perfect hair, Cojones out to there!
There was  no hero quite like Galavant!

This bardic song ushered one of the most memorable tv shows I have ever watched.  It’s one of the rare examples of british tv that I like! In fact I love this little show! Even if it got cancelled after two seasons and was subject to terrible critic reviews… maybe it’s the worst thing after all.

Blackadder the Musical

For those who have never seen this amazing show, it is a british musical comedy set in a medieval fantasy world.  It’s not very high on fantasy elements though it’s all fairly tame with just some minor magic and a mythical creature sporadically spread throughout the series.  We follow the fallen hero of Galavant who has lost his love Madeleina to the evil king Richard. Who usurped many other countries. Along with dethroned Princess Isabella and his trusty companion and squire Sid. Very early in the show we discover that Medalena isn’t exactly a damsel distress but a spoiled rotten power hungry wench who sleeps with just about everyone except for King Richard and Galavant.

A hilarious journey with plenty of twists and turns ensues. With enough betrayals to mimic game of thrones and enough dry humor to be Black Adder, the old classic Rowan Atkinson show we already got a different sort of beast. Yet that isn’t where it ends. The show is a musical epic, where each episode has one or two amazingingly humorous, well written songs that start very disney and  as the show goes on become more and more broadway spoofs. A combination that i haven’t ever really seen nor would I think it would work out. For example take this song where the two villains and the two main heroes start growing closer together despite their differences. 

A Sacrilegious Crusade.

As it should be with these kind of shows, nothing is safe from being the subject as jokes. The characters all share this fourth wall like awareness which enables to tell them how much their lives differ from all the tropes we have been spoonfed. This show lives to kick down your classic tropes. As much as they possibly can. Even pirates do not roam the see, no they are landpirates.. .who still sing about the sea. Character know their series switches epsiodes, they are aware they have low Nielsen ratings because of the singing, and they know that because they live in the middle ages there is a big chance their children will die from one of the many nasty diseases.  So.. there is just a hint of deadpool sprinkled throughout the series mostly during the songs.

So with dead baby jokes, constant slut jokes, plenty of virgin jokes as well and jokes making fun of the token character and plenty of minorities this show isn’t exactly politically correct. Yet all the jokes are also innocent enough , it’s just that no one is spared. In a way that is part of it’s charm. I never felt insulted at least, even if they make plenty of gay joke and poor jokes never I felt wronged. The jokes again mostly focus on the tropes and hardly tackle reality.  So if you are easily offended perhaps this might not be the best show for you but at least to me it was all fairly innocent. Galavant is very aware of that it is set in medieval times, troughout the entire show, which means characters will not care about being politically correct and this song from the second season makes that and my entire point about this paragraph very clear.

Actual actors singing

A cute touch of the show is that all the actors who star in this show are the ones singing and again the series has some fun with that. For example Luke Youngblood who plays Sid might not be the strongest singer of the group but that results into his lines being “cut”  by weird jump cuts to other locations or characters taking over his lines and such. Meanwhile Joshua Sasse who plays the titular character is singing quite well and gets so many songs that sometimes Galavant himself doesn’t really know what to do with a song.. being unable to think of words fast enough because he has so many songs.. or him running out of breath. When Vinnie Jones  character Gareth sings.. it sounds awful. Because it’s Vinnie Jones, no one would imagine he could sing and the show makes it very clear to us that he really can’t .
Gareth and the show are very aware of that though with him barely getting any songs and when he finally gets a song alongside madelana she talks about how different she is from him. She tells how she likes fancy meals and fancy wines on the rhythm of the music. Vinnie Jones lines are “I want meat and more meat” and Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer. Why waste rhymes on a non singer after all yet it all brilliantly works out.  Characters are so aware of who they are they can get annoyed for being dragged into a song that doesn’t fit their style or notice when a line seems out of character.

The most briljant character in the show Timothy Omundson who plays king Richard. Who is very much like the king Richard in Robin Hood. Mostly the disney version. He has a small heart and actually wants to be loved, despite that he is evil. As the show goes on we see him grow into the main character more and more over Galavant.. which is great! The chosen hero trope gets shattered again by this show. One of my favorite jokes throughout the series is that Richard turns out to be a virgin, a quality which apparently attracts unicorns. Each time Richard is bragging about his sexual conquests a unicorn shows up to signal he is lying. Which obviously Richard will try to rationalise with that the unicorn must be mistaken or is not a real unicorn, only to be proven time and time again that it is legit. It’s that kind of humor throughout the show. It just tries to have fun with it characters and actors. The show knows it’s to out there to have any credibility so they just make sure both the actors and the people have a fun time. This is very well illustrated in the song “secret mission” where two enemies band together to stop an even bigger evil. Rules of the world phase in and out as it works for the comedy and thats exactly how this show should be.

Wonderful Chaos

This show is a show where anything can happen, it’s one of those kids who wants to colour outside the lines just to be different. Yet never does that colouring make it look ugly. You can still see where this story is going ,you can understand the characters because it’s so much about them. They sing about what they think and due to that we get a lot more insight in them as we would trough normal dialogue. We  know what drives them and plagues them and it all just feels great. Galavant feels like a middle finger to the standardised writing that has come over most western media. I’d compare it to family guy but it has so much more pay off, their side stories bland together so well.

The narrator is a jester who lives in their world for example. Of course Madalena also sleeps with him and when Richard suspect that he thinks she likes Jester because he is funny, he wants a lesson in comedy from the man.  While Richard is to evil to understand killing people is not funny, the Jester calls it comedy gold, not just to please his king but because to us the viewers it’s a very funny scene. Very similar to when Spongebob sang the FUN song with Plankton. Some side characters realise that they are the “red shirts” (A star trek trope for faceless people who always die during missions) of the show and they plan to kill the main characters to end the show.. just so they can have a happy end. Which becomes a returning joke for them or others like them. They often sing about their bliss in their missery. Yet nothing beats the character arc of Richard in the second season! Those final words he ushered, that final song the show goes out on, it knows so incredibly well what it is and what we want to hear as an audience that I count it among my favorite show endings off all times.That line at the end .. was just perfection… of course to see perfection you will have to watch the show! Until then here is a sexy song. That one is very spoiler friendly and one of my favorite songs from the show!

A Theme Park Fit for Geeks: Pinkie visits The Efteling

Once upon a time there was this little pink blog that had a story to tell about a park that  is very close to her heart .Hello my sweet Island Guests, when writing this I have been away for the weekend.  After receiving some bad news in my family, I felt a bit down. My gay best friend took this to heart and treat me to a nice little weekend. One of the things he did for me was take me out to theme park The Efteling. A fairytale and local folklore theme park near Kaatsheuvel in the Netherlands. Why would I talk about this park? Well because I think it is one of the best theme parks you could visit as a geek.

Robot girls and talking Trash Cans

So what exactly is the Efteling? Well it all began in 1952 , when the town of Loon op Zand tried to attract tourists to the region to make them less dependant on their shoe industry income. What a horrible age 1952 must have been if shoes weren’t that popular that you needed to attract tourists! No pink pumps?! Anyway I will spare you the rest of the details.
The park started out a stroll around the forest where you can encounter certain fairytales, nowadays it’s one of the Netherlands biggest , popular and most technically impressive theme parks. What’s even more impressive  is that a lot of these still impressive animatronics stem from the 80’s and 90’s. Their animatronics are some of the best you have ever seen. Many put “It’s a small world to shame’. Not only can you still stroll through the forest to take a peek at your favorite fairy tales, like Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel, nowadays you can also visit one of the 5 (with the sixth reopening in spring this year) coasters, with many amazing dark rides, animatronic shows and classic rides stemming straight back from the 50’s. Like a steam powered carousel.  Most iconic though is the fairytale forest and the talking trash cans named Holle Bolle Gijs (roughly translating as Hungry Tubby Guy). These round rosy cheeked fellows are scattered throughout the park. If you feed them your trash they will suck it up like you just fed them something delicious and will thank you.

You are the Hero

‘Pinkie, that all sounds like stuff for little kids, why is it that fun for geeks?’ Well of course in general I have found that geeks oftenly enjoy the old fairy tales a lot longer than our “normal”  peers. So there is already the experience of seeing your favorite stories come to life right before your eyes, sure it might be catered to kids but there is just something magical about this theme park that resonates with my geek soul. The attention to detail, the way things are visually told to you. Regardless of language. You could visit the village of some people called the ‘laaf’ Laaf are a halfling like race, they are comparable to the hobbit. They live in somewhat hovel like homes and have their own customs and are little pranksters.  Already we can take a step within a little fantasy world. Even though the village of the Laaf isn’t as lively as it used to be, I would recommend paying it a visit if you are somewhat geeky. With just a bit of imagination , this is the Shire of the Netherlands. There’s also stuff to visit like the great Knights show. These aren’t just your standard knights. In brightly coloured armors and with an entire fantasy novel themed around them they can feel between a mix between Power Rangers, Fantasy and Knightly roleplay. Such a delight to see. 

What makes the efteling truly something special is in how many rides you a part of the story.  In the ride of Villa Volta for example we are a group of people (everyone riding is a participant) visiting a former bandit who swore his loyalty to satan. These bandits have existed in Dutch History and Folklore  and where known as the Bokkenrijders (Those who ride Goats) . Highwayman that were said to have demonic powers and who instead of horses rode Satan’s creature through the skies. In actuality they were all just regular highwaymen raiding churches but the goats sound cooler. History aside, in this ride you visit Hugo van den Loonsche Duynen.  A former bandit who desecrated a church and now is cursed with immortality .. but not just of any kind. Hugo can not find any kind of rest ever. Only if one with a pure heart enters his homestead and preys the curse away can Hugo finally find rest and redemption. As you sit in one of the pews, the room around you starts to spin, ever faster, up becomes down  forward becomes backward. But you are the one who has to help Hugo. In another ride you have to survive the legend of the flying Dutchman. In Joris and the Draak, a wooden coaster ride you and your band of fellow riders are a group of knights fighting a dragon, but there is also another group riding this coaster. Racing whoever finishes the coaster first is victorious. Still for a moment you are a group of knights! Racing in coasters is also incredibly fun and gives you the feeling of participating in some way shape or form. Symbolica , their newest darkride have you choose one of three routes through a fantasy castle. Through a context sensitive panel,   you can influence this ride, make this happen … or not happen, yet again you feel like a hero. A lot of the animatronics throughout the park as well as those trash can guys interact with you directly so somehow, more than in most theme parks you can feel like a hero! A sentiment I’d think many geeks would like.

Pixies and Sugar

The entire park has a very distinct old timey feeling throughout. There are hardly are modern buildings through the park. Most of it feels like you are travel through very medieval worlds. The origins of the park are also kept intact, giving you an insight in classic dutch culture. A little island holds a bit of a classic middle eastern village which is home of one of my favorite dark rides. The Fata Morgana. In this ride you travel on a little boat trough an arabian town, following the path of a powerful sorcerer.  Tigers, Camels and Crocodiles are alternate with seedy town filled with even shadier figures and even some mythical figures. My favorite dark ride however is a ride called the Droomvlucht (Dreamflight) we visit pixies and trolls as they dance around. We visit castles build on stars and other planets. We see a perfect world without strive. Pixies, trolls and whatever the green things are interacting together. Loving the animals of the forest. It’s a perfect little utopia there no one forgets to have fun. A really important lesson for us all to keep in mind. The Efteling also really caters to being super dutch, old/classic dutch to be exact. From the name and design of nearly all the stores and restaurants trough what you can find there, that old timey dutch feeling is woven throughout with just enough magic to surprise you every time. From classic stroopwafels to other famous dutch candies you can get it all here. There is something sweet for everyone. Maybe it’s a elf on a unicorn that does it for you, like me! Perhaps it’s one of the many dutch treats you want to try.

Princes and Princesses 

This theme park commits to everything it does, it does everything well. Being one  of the only theme parks in the entire Netherlands where you can get some solid food and have a meal that has character. You can spend an entire day here, and be completely content with the food on offer, as long as you are willing to pay theme park prices of course.  If you like shows there is quite a few for you two visit. From life action jousting to an animatronic ghost show, that despite being 32 years old still looks impressive. If you do not like rides this still a nice place to visit, despite the fairly high admission cost. The coasters are all their own unique thing and all feel like their own distinct thrill ride. A wooden coaster, a dark coaster, a classic coaster, a coaster with holograms water effects and more,  a hanging coaster with a a complete vertical drop 0/90 degrees.. I don’t know how to explain it so here is a capital /I …Like that! That’s a steep drop. The dark rides all vary a lot as well and add a great assortiment of mellow and swing rides to the mix and the Efteling is a theme park that is very suited for any kind of amusement park goer. That this park had to ban cosplaying already says something how popular it is among the geek community. (Mostly because of the large amount of disney characters showing up causing cues in inconvenient places and general saftey stuff) In this park you can walk trough a magical fantasy world, reminiscent of D&D, lord of the rings and those classic fairytales it is based on. It’s a park where you can be the hero or just stuff your face with sweets while sitting in little swan boats and old classic cars.
If you are a tourist in the Netherlands and geeky, this theme park is sure to please you. No matter if you want to be a hero or a lazy stroller, either way this park will offer you so much that you will feel like a prince or a princess. And as we know those always live happily ever after.

Didn’t I Say to make my Abilities Average in the Next Life (Episode 1-2)

Aloha, my dear guests, today I serve you a new content cocktail from the Isekai vein. A cute little show that plays that really pushes some right buttons for me. After the last Isekai I watched, being Isekai Cheat Magician I could really use a winner. Let’s see if this one can convince me.

One Punch Man’s Blessing on this Wonderful World

Conceptually this Isekai show is nearly identical to any other. Girl dies by a truck to save a little kid and gets a chance to start a new life in a magical world and ends up being extremely powerful. Nothing new under the tropical sun here. Yet from the get go I felt welcomed by this show.  Misato was a genius girl in her old live and thus lived a life in a bit of an ivory tower. High expectations made her even more of a loner, causing her to only find solace in her geekdom. Due to being a geek she recognises the truck and fully realises what is happening to her as she is familiar with all the Isekai tropes. As a result she wishes to be perfectly average so she can have plenty of friends. Unfortunately her new god, takes in account every species living in this world, giving her new life Adele/Mile the stats that are that of the weakest little bug .. and an Elder Dragon combined.. and then divided by two. Thusly.. Mile, as she prefers to go by is 6800 times stronger than your average mage. She’s also a noble by the name of Adele von Ascham which she tries to hide. As a result we do get an interesting twist in the genre in the fact that it’s not about her learning to wield her overpowered abilities of her.. but about trying not to to use the.  It feels very aware of the fantasy tropes and has that ‘pen and paper’ feeling that I loved in Konosuba mixed with quite a few hints of One Punch Man with just a dash of Blood Lad, or Gintama, in terms of references. While not groundbreakingly original I can not help but feel this anime is really targeted at people like me. 

Mile & Me

Over the course of the first two episodes this feeling only got stronger and stronger. We see Mile move into a tavern for a night, which leads into her finding a party, like any classic fantasy D&D adventure SHOULD begin.  They got their bases right. In the tavern Mile meets a girl that goes missing which is her original quest , which ..as stars align will allow her to meet all her party members twice. This feels as it should be.. not very original but as an homage to classic fantasy stories. I know I am skipping a few scenes here, but this feeling is something important to remark because this theme is recurring for me. Mile throughout the first two episodes could come across as your standard awkward protagonist, but she is more than that. In many ways she is a D&D player. She is very much is a character I can relate to. We first see her settling in town, enjoying the benefits of a fantasy world, excited to try new meats when she goes to the market, awkward when addressing knights not noticing her gender, she is not above being petty for being flat either.. I kinda can relate. 

So the first half of the first episode cleverly sets up her character showing us her abilities and thought process in a charming harmless way. Around the midway point of the first episode however we get the exposure dump by her cute familiar creature. In my eyes .. he is kind of like the Dungeon Masters in a game of D&D, explaining the character and her stats.. but for now the thing is a bit throwaway. I wish it had a bit of a cuter voice, it’s very human like voice , which makes me think of a DM even more. A mediocre exposure dump, that while I can see is necessary , could have been handled better.


The second half  of the episode sees Mile embark on her quest to find the tavern girl and meet with her mysterious of encounter earlier again. Reina the tsundere fire mage, Mavis the androgenic swordswoman and  Pauline the large chested, soft spirited cleric. Together they hunt a group of bandits that are behind a series of child abductions. This is done in a way that is nicely paced. Characters show up when there is need for them allowing us to get a good grasp of them, after which the story  propels Mile back into the stratosphere in terms of ability. She can use any form of magic with ease and without spells and her strength is made significant by putting her amongst lessers. Again the series nails the relatability to Mile by making her realise on character is the tsundere and adapting her behaviour to it.  The fact that she rages when she is called flat and goes beserk might seem like a cheap character trope and in a way it is.. but this is EXACTLY how people build their D&D characters. People add this kind of stuff to their characters for flavor and whimsey so in case of Mile it feels entirely justified, in a way she is playing a D&D game after all , her overpoweredness enforcing that feeling that she CAN actually treat it as such as well. I just can relate so much.

The Heart of the Party

The first episode concludes with a battle between the four girls and a woman named Arledy who wishes for nothing more than an ‘platonic’ young girl harm, where she can put her head on their laps. The party fights Arledy’s generals but are easily overwhelmed, until one of them calls Mile flat.. after which she unleashes her full power beating them. Embarrassed Mile flees the scene, after discovering her friend was safe all along she  heads towards the Hunter Academy.which is basically your standard guild, where they train to be heroes .. or hunters of various ranks. Mile hopes to start a new life here where she can hide her abilities only to be assigned to a dorm that holds those very same three adventurers she encounters the night before. With this somewhat painfully predictable cliffhanger we move into the second episode.

The second episode begins at the exact moment the first ends and continues straight away with all the girls telling more about themselves. All appear to be children with Mavis being 16, Reina 15 Pauline is 14 and Mile is revealed to be 12 years old. Even though she clearly was older when she died. She had to start all over, but those twelve years are left blank. Still leaving some room,  for mystery with the character, which seems a nice choice. Her roommates of course want to know everything about her so she tries to deceive them and chooses to spin very obvious falsehoods. This could seem out of character, after all her intelligence is very high as well, but again this is exactly how D&D characters behave. They are knowing when it comes to monsters, skills etc but no matter how much charisma or intelligence a character has,  the player will somehow end up talking like a fool. This scene is followed by them settling inside the school , with them having a few trials to prove their worth… where Mile obviously fails to be average, nonetheless her roommates are more than happy to party up with her and they get send on their first ‘official’ quest. Kill 10 horned rabbits.

This simple quest nails again what it means to us to be a  beginning adventurer, every D&D or fantasy RPG, mostly MMO’s have you start out with this sort of questline. One might call it uninspirational to follow this trope but every DM and D&D player know the importance of starting out like this. It makes the journey and the leveling more worth it in the end. It will highlight how far you have come when the campaign is over. Yet with a character that is half as strong as a dragon how can you make this worthwhile? The episode cleverly chooses to put Mile into the role of teacher. She concludes her  party would learn nothing from just doing it herself and she uses her skill to teach the others. Once more we see how much this character is like us , making references of games , anime and manga throughout. When being interrogated she imagines being stuck in Phoenix Wright, when she is doing combat training she dresses up like Master Roshi. This is exactly how I would play a character like Mile in a D&D and she has a very similar thought process to me. She sees how training is like Dragon Ball, how things in this world because of their traits fit other geek-culture things and she uses this knowledge to her advantage. The way she  teaches spells is much more visual compared to how many Isekai characters. Shapes and feelings instead of talks of molecules. While there is some science talk it all feels clean and much more catered to their intended targets, making everyone feel a lot more human. By letting Mile be a teacher and crafter she contributes to the world, even if she just makes a Nendoroid.. she isn’t just a walking nuke. She is what makes this party move.

This is exactly what  what makes the conclusion of this episode very pleasant. The lessons Mile teaches to the party make sense and make them grow as adventurers, she doesn’t just shower them with skills either, she makes the other girls reach insights which ends up in them taking on a high level monster by themselves, when Mile gets overwhelmed by excitement. Mavis,  Reina and Pauline demonstrate that not only have they learned their skills, they know how to apply them giving value to this episode. The overpowered protagonist easily takes down two other golems keeping the tone of the show intact and again very much succeeding in making this seem like a game to Mile. They found out all other groups failed their quests and the adorable twelve year old realises that when she is not directly involved  her party is well above average. Simply because the “average” skill of the party is to high again. Perfect for a lingering smile from me as a viewer.

Flavor

While I do get this show is not for everyone and can feel generic because it heavily relies on tropes, I kind of feel that that is the entire point. To me it feels like it’s written by someone who knows D&D and how your standard fantasy adventure works. While Mile may not be original , in honesty neither are most of our D&D characters. These tropes have existed since the 70’s and we still use them to this day. This unlike to most of its previous seasons counterparts to me knows exactly what makes them fun , funny and applies them in a way that shows knowledge of what makes fantasy so great.  Arledy is being set up as an antagonist again, while she may not hold a candle to the perfectly average girl she is an ideal villain who can actually antagonise our main girl , threatening her newly found friends and that average life. I am excited to see what the future holds and found these episode to be berry good!

OWLS Fantasy Special: A CLASS in Chaos

Believe it or not, I do not spend every waking moment thinking about pokémon.  I have some other hobbies as well. One of the includes being a Dungeon Master in three games. Though of course one is a  pokémon, another one is a classical high fantasy D&D 5th game. The type where you face dragons and crazed goblins side by  side with your friends using twenty sided dice to overcome any challenge along the way. Over my years of playing and mostly hosting campaigns I have noticed something however, no matter what campaign you play, who you play with or even how long you play… each campaign has “that guy’. Several of them even.

Classes

My fellow OWLS came up with the topic of Fantasy to be the theme of October. 

“The genre of fantasy focuses on telling stories about our external and internal environments. There are many ways we can interpret the word, fantasy. For example, we can talk about how a fantastical place could glorify what reality should be or the dangers of ideal expectations. Fantasy could also be seen as taking a “wild journey” or a “hallucination” and how that can affect our psyche and well-being.  Fantasy can also focus on our personal dreams and expectations and how those expectations do not align with our reality. “

My post will focus on a combination of these aspects through the beautiful medium of Dungeons and Dragons or other tabletop RPGs , answering how and why we play it. How we deal with fantasy and D&D can be divided into ‘Classes’ a trope that is very connected to pen and paper, or even any , role playing games. We can not colour outside the lines to much because in these games we SHARE our fantasies. So not only do we have to live up to our own expectations, we also have make sure the others see that same character we want to be. When we push our fantasy outside of the limits, people will think we are bad at this whole fantasy theme.. so as a result we have developed certain arch-types which always work  for enjoyment. As a DM however I also see how these ‘Classes” can create ‘Broken Parties’.
The anime ‘Konosuba’ portrays this wonderfully well and the main heroes of the story really resemble the types of players one can get in a D&D. So let’s examine this .

The Hero

The first archetype I wish to discuss is the noble hero. The knight in shining armor. Players who follow the path of the hero usually choose character classes in D&D  like Paladin, Fighter or Ranger. That being said, your class doesn’t always have to be one of the three but people are naturally inclined to gravitate towards these roles. Oftenly they prefer to play fairly standard races, like Humans or Elves but basically any race is a possibility to them because everybody can have a good heart.  Oftenly they come from noble backgrounds but got fed up with the injustice in the world. Sons or daughters of people who matter or mattered. They follow the path of Bruce Wayne or oppose their “tyrannical noble father and have been outcast. The characters are often very religious with strong moral fiber. They have denounced love or have created a loved one NPC that  drives them to do what they do. Characters developed by the ‘Hero’ will oftenly abstain from drinking alcohol and will relatively have few vices. Yet most of their story arcs revolve around redemption.

(Ashley Johnson is an
example of the Hero)

Players in this “class’ will be recognisable by always taking the  ‘good’ option. A friend got kidnapped and they demand ransom? They will at least show up with whatever the bad guy wants in return as well as set up a trap for them.. so that evil will not prevail that day.  They will try try remove the corrupt from their seat of power and try to turn whatever fantasy world they are into a utopia. Their characters are often played as naive OR overly cautious and aware of everything. This is the archetype that is most appealing to new players. They follow the DM’s story very neatly and their own goals are made to align with that of the campaign. They are by far the easiest players to deal with, but the easiest to disappoint when the DM throws a spanner into their plans. They do enjoy their comedic moments from the more chaotic party members and make sure they can aid them at all times. The hero does like the serious moments a lot better though.

Lalatina Dustiness Ford, better known as Darkness,  from Konosuba highlights what creates chaos with these types of players. Your average hero is extremely self sacrificial, putting themselves in harms way to save the rest of the party. They have little to no self preservation and would give their lives to save a party member from a low level imp creature , if it was bluffing it had an instant death curse. They are tension breakers, who like Darkness have some masochistic tendencies. If someone loses their character first, it should be them, if someone has to be punished for the rogue stealing things.. it should be them.  Darkness loves being punished and it arouses her. While I am not implying this goes for every hero player they do share a lot of similarities.

They oftenly reject quest rewards because taking payment for saving people is wrong. During campaigns it means these people can easily get undergeared while still throwing themselves first into danger.  They have tend low self-esteem in real life and value them and their character less over the enjoyment of others. However since they are often very armoured they can be incredibly difficult to hit. Creating stalemates where they are to undergeared to hit anything properly, but are too to take damage. Exactly like Darkness! She can’t hit a thing, but can survive critical hits from bosses like it’s nothing. While players do not flaunt their masochism as much as Darkness does it will always be them who pays toll for their fellows who are either short on cash or unwilling to pay. When someone has to drink a poison to move through a trial it will always be them, and if someone has to take a cursed ring that can eat on one’s sanity it will ALWAYS be them. At times their noble and even corrective behaviour can really put other player out of play. However these people are often the heart of the party, and can bring balance between the more serious and the more wacky players. They enjoy this experience with their friends and alongside the DM they will try to make sure others have a good time as well.

The High Roller

The second type is the High Roller, this type of player doesn’t really care about being noble nor does he aspire to be evil. In fact this one doesn’t even care about the story all that much. The High Roller just wants to outdamage everyone. They want to roll as much dice as possible and maximise their damage output. If someone deals more damage as them, they’ll have a bad session. The High Roller mostly sticks to classes who deal magic damage. Wizard and Sorcerer are very popular with them but they may also dabble with Rogues and are the first person who will ask the DM if they can use third party classes. They play races which benefit their chosen class. So if they play a Wizard, they will choose a race that has an intelligence bonus. Characters they play have less of a fleshed out background , because their story is not that relevant to the numbers they roll. More often than not they play edgy loner characters. The ones who do not make friends easily, who sit alone in a dark corner in the tavern where everyone starts their adventure. For a DM these are the hardest type of characters to get involved into the main story. Be prepared for some creative storytelling. High Roller players have optimal stats for damage , as a result their characters are not very versatile. They can’t use a sword because “strength” is a dump stat,  they can’t talk their way out of things .. because Charisma is a dump stat. Characters of the High Roller almost disappear when they have some time off from slaying goblins and oftenly just pick up a book and read until it is time to kill again.

(Liam O’Brien is a High Roller)

The High Roller player are very driven by the printed game rulings, they do not take kindly to homebrew rules and other interpretations  and are the ones who will argue with the DM the most. High Rollers know which spell they will take for many levels ahead. From the moment of creation their character is already fully build out. They know what spells to take, what feats to select and they know what sort of enemies not to hit. They want to be the one that kills the boss of each session, they want to be praised for that 72 damage they did when the ranger only did 20. It’s the big hits that count. Even if the rogue hit the enemy 5x with 15 damage .. that single 72 roll is still better. The high roller doesn’t like to spare enemies as it means they miss out on the kill. These are people who love to track how much relevant kills each player has made and more often than not they will be on the top of that list.  While most High Rollers do not care as much for a place in the spotlight there are those who do. Because they do so much damage a lot of those tend to get “protagonist” syndrome where they inflate their own importance compared to the rest of the group, oftenly resulting in the character and sometimes the player being less liked. In puzzles they also want to be the one who finally solves it, even if their friends actually solved the riddle, they will take credit for opening the door.

Megumin is the character in Konosuba who fulfills this role. She is an archwizard who has learned the most powerful spell EXPLOSION. Due to it being a spell that is over her limit however she can only cast it once before falling to the ground completely useless. However she is so in love with casting this damage spell she will oftenly put herself in harm’s way to be able to do so. This is a classical high roller player problem. They do not always play that nicely as a team. The High Roller has to do the biggest number each session so sometimes even though he is frail he has to put himself in harm’s way just so he can roll those dice.  This can create chaotic situations where everyone has to save the glass cannon all of the sudden, forcing them to turn their backs on enemies and they can find themselves up a creek without a paddle. Plot Twists that the final boss, was not actually the final boss can be extremely dangerous for your party if the High Roller is baited into using all his good spells early. Megumin embodies this so well, even the fact that she almost “steals” screen time. Her odd ‘non immersive’ name is another indicator where she doesnt care if she even fits in the world. It’s all about that damage. 

 Players who follow this path oftenly feel unrecognised and invisible in the real world, a trope that oftenly is liked by the ‘number’ guys of gal of the group. The “smart” ones as it were. People who like this role tend to flaunt their intelligence in real life a bit, oftenly choosing more serious table conversations than the other three categories. Not exactly the life of the party but these people are very grateful towards the DM because they are granted something by them that they lack. Their loyalty to the game is oftenly unsurpassed and with some health cheating from a DM (and we all do that)  they are among the easiest of crowds to please, which will give them actually great joy. In most groups the High Roller feels like the odd one out, yet we all need them to keep the game into motion because….

The Survivor

D&D is a game where characters can  and in case of long campaigns, most likely WILL die. However there is one type of player who above anything else is very afraid to lose their imaginative character. I call these people the survivors. They tend to play versatile classes, which have access to self heals, ranged attacks and even some melee possibilities .. just in case they ever got forced into such a situation. They like to play healers as well as those tend to be targeted less (unlike in my campaigns where enemies ACTUALLY have eyes and will take countermeasures) . They tend to play some of the more relatable races like humans and elves again. Oftenly very beautiful and sweet. They aren’t adverse to picking another good looking race though, if it gives them better stats. The survivor tends to choose a background story that makes their character beloved and popular or at the very least desired by their beauty. They are oftenly the rightful noble ruler of a land who had to flee or got taken off the throne by some mysterious force. These characters fall in line the fairytale tropes a lot. Even when played by non-females they prefer choose to make a female character. I have seen male survivor characters but they occur significantly less. These characters tend to be very fleshed out, with players even being able to describe what scent their character have or how they move their eyes, in an instant . They tend to be obsessed with even the smallest details of their looks and will describe every single outfit within fine detail.  Characters like these blossom in downtime/ free time , making themselves very popular in towns and being kind to most npc’s, as long as they are not evil.

(Laura Bailey is a Survivor)

The Survivor themselves however is not nearly as strong or confident as they make their character. Ruled by a constant fear of losing their character they would wish their character was a god. In terms of building their character they are the exact opposite of the High Roller. When A survivor gets in trouble because of poison, the player will tend to choose a spell or gain new equipment to counter that in the future.  They “patch’ out their weaknesses as it were but tend to lose oversight of the bigger picture trough their fears . When I as a DM send you through a poisonous bog, it will most likely mean you will not encounter a similar challenge for a good while after. However the survivor is paranoid by nature, they saw they were weak to this.. they know I saw, what if I use it to finish them off now better patch it out. The Survivor tends to demonise the DM , sees them as a heinous monster just out to kill them in the most brutal way possible.A survivor oftenly refers to their character as themselves . They also tend to suffer from protagonist-syndrome even more so than the High Roller. They are unmissable to the story in their eyes and will make an effort and play to actually be that.. They will carry the macguffin,  as long as it does not harm their character. They will offer to be be the leader of the group, as long as that doesn’t put them into additional danger. They will do anything to inflate their character’s importance as that equals survivability in their eyes. To kill the character would be to kill the story. They keep looking backward instead of forward, taking abilities to overcome trials like the one they just overcame and banking on importance of NPCs they befriended when they already moved past.

Aqua, the former goddess from Konosuba is a bit of a spoof of the classical survivor trope. While we do not see her take useless skills in the form of “after event skills” she spends all her skill points in their magical world on party tricks. Which she uses to make herself more popular and beloved. Claiming to be an actual goddess (which in her case is true)  and very much disliking the current god Erris (Which is basically is sort of the DM of that world) she even goes as far as to blackmail that god into bringing back a dead character for her own sake. Her over reliance on ‘useless’ skills can make her extremely situational and sometimes even completely offside her, which we see happen when she tries to punch some toads. During her dealings with the poisoned lake we also see the typical panic that goes through a Survivor type player. She is portrayed whining a lot, and crying , overvaluing  herself and her items.

When rolling a dice you average about half of it rounding up, effectively.  This means if you can roll a d6 for damage you average 4..This is not the case in the eyes of a survivor. They will always assume the worst. A survivor will ‘never’ risk their character even if there is only a 1% chance of death. I once saw a Survivor player flee a dungeon, leaving the party behind causing one player death because there was a 0.16% chance that she would be finished off before she could end the fight. In the eyes of a survivor they will always get the worst outcome possible and they will act accordingly. This can drag on encounters a lot longer than they need to be and the survivor will always take the longest to finish their turns. Players who follow the path of the survivor are oftenly uncertain in real life and their fear can cripple themselves as well as your game. However this type tends to heal and find more confidence in themselves trough games over time. The survivor is the easiest to spot as he or she will be the player who will have the other players reaching for their phones.  They can not plan ahead because they need all information before they can decide on any play. Survivors are among the  greatest of roleplayers though, they make sure you care about their character and really make it a part of this world. They are the easiest of characters for everyone party member to hang out with and where the hero united players out of character, the survivor does so in character.

The Disruptor

The Hero can break your tension arcs or force you into using overpowered monsters, the High Roller can risk party-strategies and is not very well equipped for sudden twists and the survivor can make your game very panicky and long winded. The ‘worst’ one however and the true “that guy” of them all is the disruptor. They  will always be there in any fantasy game and their goal is to break your story. Where the other 3 classes try to follow the game’s story the disruptor actively tries to make your adventures NOT about what the DM planned. Rogues and Bards are by far their preferred classes, but they also Barbarian. Disruptors rarely play humans, they like to play races like Orcs, Goblins and alcoholic Dwarfs. Their backstories are loaded with vices, be it ale, women or recreational herbs, gambling or a knew crazy thing they invent themselves.  Regardless if their character is a rogue or not .. they always have skill points invested in Sleight of Hand (which is pickpocketing) and the law means about as much to their character as the DM’s will to the players. They are extremely quirky and quite cartoonesk. I DMed for a goblin named Scruffy ones, who lost all sense of reality after he fell in some sort of hallucinogenic potion as a result he had a pet he named Ugly Batstard.. a bat that didn’t exist. Within the first two minutes of the campaign he walked over to a table with the bulkiest dude and said “Hey Ugly Batstard” get your fat ass off, Chaos was born. In another campaign there is a guy who plays a chicken, he robbed a store quite early in the game.

(Sam Riegel is THE Disruptor)

The disruptor type player is the one who enjoys the game the most though, come high or come low rolls, the disruptor is the player who is always entertained. The disruptor lives for the RP using it to act out like they can not in real life. They don’t play to win, they play to break some rules and have fun doing it. If you as a DM describe “a tavern and a man sitting , he is reading a treasure map of sorts scratching his stubbles with a dagger while he has a cloak that seems to fancy for him,” the disruptor will ask ‘who else is there?. If you say ‘some random goblin by the name of  Skurft the disruptor will go talk to Skurft. If you say no one, they will walk outside to talk to random people there. They do not want to play by the rules and they WILL find way to skip encounters or even complete dungeons. They will cost the DM hours of work by simply, not going to the route you had planned before them and someday they will succeed. Each DM learns about the ‘Illusion’ of choice  trough disruptor type players. Sometimes you only have to make players think they are making a game changing choice. While the rest of the archetypes described play against the game, the disruptor plays against the DM, they want to stump their creativity want to dumbstruck them. A DM drawing a blank is their victory.

Kazuma is 100% a disruptor, so much even that the guy who played that Goblin (and the chicken too)  made him his avatar for about a year. From the moment we get introduced to the man he is a clear and plain disruptor. Sometimes by his own design, like when he choose Aqua to be his weapon in this new world and drags her away from her god status, too random moments where his high luck stat causes things to move in a very unexpected path. ‘I’ll cripple the enemy by stealing their weapon!’ He ends up crippling them by stealing their panties instead. ‘A magical powerful weapon comes onto your path?’ Sell if for money so I can booze a lot. Kazuma feels very detrimental to the story progression of Konosuba, where they plan to stop the Evil Demon king, but Kazuma’s action basically constantly creating ‘side arcs’ and side quest that have to be resolved first.  Because of their massive impact and alterations on the story disruptors often end up becoming a sort of main character of the campaigns they are in. Kazuma again fills this role quite well. They are always deeply flawed characters and I do not think that I need to convince anyone who saw the anime that this boy is a flawed character.

Disruptors unlike most of the other archetypes are relatively more socially outgoing, they like to mess with their friends , they aren’t that insecure about themselves  and they are the most socially capable of all the Player Archetypes, in general. They aren’t necessarily socially strong either though. Disruptors tend to be people who tend to be “bored” in reality , who feel suffocated by having to be normal and that usually does mean they can’t really let themselves go in a bar either. They tend to be a bit more random in real life though too , perhaps being a bit shunned because how strange they can be. The real disruptors can not 100% hide that they are a bit goofy. As a player I myself am a disruptor, you notice I am socially “odd” in real life but when I rp I can let that side out and be myself. I played an heavily Autistic Draenei clumsy in World of Warcraft and I played a pink wearing , singing cheery Sith who claims Friendship is Magic in Star Wars the Old Republic. I like to break the mold. While by their very nature they cause chaos the Disruptor also makes your game so much more vibrant and alive. They make all other classes better at their roles and stronger roleplayers, because they always have to expect the unexpected and they can boost your creativity. They pay close attention to every word the DM says (to use it against them) and really can bring a game-table alive.

Order and Chaos

So even in the limitless world of fantasy we are somewhat bound, by who we are, no matter who we play or where we pretend to be, there is always that part of who we are that we can not truly shake. No matter if I am an kawaii evil space wizard or a dojikko demon girl , I am a disruptor. No matter where my best friend her boyfriend plays his campaigns he will always be a hero. There is a thoughtprocess we can not shake even if we shed ourselves of our limits. There order even in imaginatio and fantasy. No matter who you pretend to be, deep down you do it because of who you are. You can never truly betray yourself and this is why tabletop roleplay will always feel so therapeutic. 

While I do think your typical hero does have little self esteem, trough rp he can see that he in fact IS needed. We can rationalise it and say.. he is just needed in this fictional game.. but for the survivor this is much more than a game, it’s an escape they truly need. So a hero can ACTUALLY be a hero in reality, even if it is acted out trough fantasy. A disruptor can shed their shackles , even if it is just for a three hour gaming session. The high roller can proof their intelligence can gets them far, because the numbers he crunches in real life might seem insignificant in the big pile of real life, in the small contained world of D&D his numbers visibly matter. In real life he might , if lucky ,  get a compliment from his boss.. once.. and that’s it, in fantasy he can use that same skill to see numbers explode. He can be himself in a rewarding way. The survivor can get validation, a sense of winning by surviving a game and see their character grow up to be a noble king or queen, their good intentions recognised by npc’s. While arguably an npc is ‘not real’ they still react to the words of the players, they offer them feedback and when Dm’ed correctly they have their own feelings and emotions. The social interaction thusly in a way.. being still real.

We can learn, grow and truly discover who we are through the power of fantasy. Not in the chaos we create by doing our thing but in looking at the order that is left when we take the chaos of both the fantasy world and our own world away. We aren’t defined by our flaws or our quirks, we have those flaws and quirks because of who we are. To deny them is to deny a piece of yourself. So through fantasy  and D&D we can find who we are, not though what we create but trough what we bring to each world no matter the world. While our goals may never really align with one another, even if they seem to directly contradict there is a symbiosis between the four archetypes as well. We all have our roles to play, even our flaws allow our party to shine. No matter who are what you are, you will always contribute to the fantasy of D&D , be it to yourself or to the party! You can discover who you are in your very core and be that person you want to be! That way in fantasy and outside it you can build a stronger character.

Question to my Readers:

Which Player-Class would you be in?

Let me know what class you would be in in the comments. If you still want more OWLS check out Matt in the Hat’s post about Kingdom Hearts right here! His profile picture doesn’t show him wearing a hat though? So is he actually in a hat?! That must be a big hat then!
Tomorrow it’s time for Flow. The subject will be some fantasy Light Novels and some angry melodic music called death metal. While that music is not pink enough for me I will take a careful peak, or even better you guys take a peak for me and tell me how angry the music was! I’m scared! Then come back and tell me if the music is too angry for me! Flow’s blog is here! Be sure to check the Youtube channel as well.
Let’s do that! I am counting on you my little monsters!

The pinkest Poké Blogger is Blasting off again!
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