Hey everyone, I know I've been on a little bit of a hiatus from She Stoops to Heist updates. Life kind of got in the way for a bit there, but let me explain!
Work and school took up a lot my attention, it's my senior year of college and my design capstone project is coming up. But on the flip side, I'm taking a screenwriting workshop and an animation course, so I've been working on some stuff for these characters at least.
The characters have been given a revamp! The designs used for the mugshots aren't as exemplified of the vision in my head, so I've got some new mugshot designs + a full body model in the exit ramp.
I've started the outline process for a five arc series. I wanted to do something that gave me space to do a couple different genres and story structures. Here are the arcs I've outlined!
I. Databroker
The first heist of the show. One episode is dedicated to the lives of our main characters, showing why they're driven to a life of crime. Frontier works at a Silicon Valley start-up called BuzzWave. BuzzWave is siphoning user data into a secret basement server room and selling it on shady websites and storing the money in offshore accounts. Frontier finds Jean working her diner job at Night Owl's Diner, and invites her to return to her life of crime. The heist looks like everything goes wrong on the surface, but Jean has one last trick up her sleeve.
II. Prison Break
A largely episodic run of the gang's activities in prison as they prepare a prison escape. Took a lot of inspiration from those formula breaking episodes in the golden era of television. We're doing a bottle episode, an episode where they can't talk, a sleepover episode, and a fever dream episode. All that fun stuff before they break out.
III. Dead Man's Will
Tournament arc surrounding an eccentric dead billionaire's inheritance. He's set up a large scale treasure hunt around the world, and set up invitations to prolific burglars and treasure hunting crews. Pieces of the large fortune are hidden where each of the clues leads, teams sabotage each other to get a leg up, all the typical tournament arc stuff.
IV. Cruise
Inspired by a tumblr post detailing how cruise ships are prime horror movie locale instead of hospitals. The cast struggle with sickness, traps, and the existential weight of claustrophobia and international waters after a zombie plague breaks out during their vacation.
V. Espionage & Exhaust
A spy comedy of errors when the crew stumble into an international dispute between world superpowers. Jean gets into street racing undercover to get dirt and distract, while the others get caught up in spy shenanigans.
So as a character test, I wrote a short story version of Northbound before the novella idea. This is unrevised, and it's mostly dialogue. Also 10 pages.
**Little bit of an author’s note here: I do this thing where I’ll make playlists for the things I’m working on. Here’s the one for this story: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1oIzTRBK17kfI5HrHBdD9J?si=H-KpglcmSLCnoZUAeEto_A also, I have one called ‘heading north’ that’s also probably worth a listen, but it’s quite long. Anyway, enough from me.**
Northwards
“So tell us something Uscald,” Clint asks the older man poking around in the nearby woods from the campfire, “what made you come to the Arctic? Wouldn’t your mansion be more comfortable?” A slight hint of acid stings the end of his question.
Uscald pulls at the neck of his sweater, patterned with flying saucers and space motifs, showing more of the golf polo underneath. He nervously runs his hand through his poor, thin hairpiece. “Well, if I’m footing the bill for this project, I’d better come along to see how that money’s being spent.”
Clint, Dionne, and Leo give him a questioning look. For the past two days, he had been telling you about his wild conspiracy theories about aliens. Wildly alternate history facts, international sightings, and government coverups. He had been wearing on everyone’s patience since they had left Alberta, and his new habit of searching the woods has made him suspicious.
Dionne, a black woman with industrial piercings and three hairstyles on one head, asks what everyone else had been thinking. “Is that the real reason?” She asks with an investigative squint.
“Why yes, there’s no other possible reason.”
“Then what’s in the woods, Uscald?”
His forehead goes shiny, and a slight tremble begins in his fingers.
“Why are we focusing on me? What’s your story Dionne? Or how about you Clint?”
Letty, a girl with long brown hair and a black turtleneck, perks up. “That’s a great idea actually! We’re going to be out here for a while, might as well learn about each other.”
Edmund and Jèan look silently uncomfortable, Chip looks disinterested, and no one moves to start talking.
“Ok fine, I’ll start. I’m here because this is the last requirement left for my medicine program, field activity. Once I arrive home, I’ll go before the certification board who will review all my research and experience, after which I’ll be a real doctor. Then afterwards it’s bills and loans and work., and my life will be completely scheduled.”
The rest of the convoy looks with a fond sadness towards Letty. No one’s quite sure what to say to her. Are you supposed to comfort someone when they’re so resigned to their own fate? Or do you distract them long enough to take their mind off it? Clint is the only one to ask her a follow up question.
“If experience in the field is all you need, why did you come along with us? Surely you’d be comfortable at home?”
At this, the spark returns to Letty’s eyes. “I used to be really into those adventure novels as a kid. Something about journeying to a new place was especially appealing to kid me, bonding as a group along the way. When I saw the job posting, my last chance to experience something smacked me in the face. You know the Northern lights, aurora borealis? They always say that pictures can never really do it justice. I want to see them.”
This time, Chip is the one ask her. “If you don’t want to be a doctor, why are you going through with it?”
“I do want to be a doctor. I love helping people, and it feels good to do something good, you know? It’s good work, but if I’m going to be doing it for the rest of my life, one last great memory will make it more bearable.” She pauses for a moment, looking at the rest of the group. “Well, I’ve bared my soul, who want to go next?”
Clint opens his mouth next. A tall, stocky man, mid 40s, with short hair and scruffy facial hair. Next to Uscald, he had been the most difficult convoy member to deal with. “I’ve spent my career out here in the fridge, moving materials and running pipelines.” Dionne glares at the mention of oil pipelines.
“When Leah was going around, looking for expedition crew members, my company decided to appoint me on this little project.”
“It’s Leo.” She says with a tired tone. “I’ve told you how many times?”
“That’s a ridiculous name for a nice girl like yourself, it’s masculine. I’m not calling you that.”
“Who are you, to say what I can or can’t be called?”
“Look kid, you asked me to guide you through Eskimo nation, don’t get smart.”
This time, Dionne pipes up. “You’ve been working among these people for how long, and you still harbor this many negative feelings? Let alone forgetting that they don’t like to be referred to that way?”
“What, Eskimos? Don’t get me wrong, I like the native people. But they get hung up on just words.”
“Just words, or is it just basic respect? You’re awfully dismissive of people you claim to like.” Dionne moves her braids out of her eyes.
“I do like them, but they just dwell on the past. Always complaining about something we did to them a hundred years ago, and now they want to police our language? They need us for their economy to run, and so what if we took their land however long ago?”
“They care, asshat.”
“Whatever.”
Edmund, sensing the tension in the group’s silence, pushes the sleeves of his unzipped hoodie to his elbows and pulls at the collar of his dress shirt. “I guess I can go.”
“Yeah let the kid go, I need another drink.” Clint walks to the camp kitchen.
“Um, well. I needed to get out of the stuffy atmosphere of my parent’s life. We don’t have a whole lot of money, but they still feel the need to enforce these rigid rules and expectations left over from the Victorian era.”
A look of realization dawns on Dionne’s face. “Ooohhh, I thought I recognized you. You’re the heir of the Andorran aristocracy.”
“Wait, how’d you know that?” Edmund nervously ruffles his curly blond hair.
“Dude, European journalism has a whole ecosystem dedicated to following noble family drama. A friend of mine moved over there after she got her degree.”
“Really? A whole network of people following us?”
“Yeah, it’s not very interesting though. Trying to find the next English royal family was never going to work, doesn’t stop people from trying.”
Leo takes interest in Edmund for a moment. “Wait, if your royalty, what the hell are you doing with us commonfolk?”
“I couldn’t take it anymore! My dad has all these expectations for the next in line, and they’re difficult to maintain. Gourmet cooking was a hobby of mine, until my father decided that it wasn’t befitting of a man for the throne.”
Clint had come back to the fire after fixing his drink. “Sounds like a smart man.”
Leo and Dionne shoot him another look. Edmund ignores him.
“So I had to give it up, and once I saw your flyer I took the chance. It feels so much freer out here, I can’t get screamed at for putting the fork an inch too close to the plate. If my father were here to see, he’d be pissed! I’d love to see his face. He’d be angrier than the time he caught me and Michael-” his hand claps to his mouth before he can finish. You can guess how the story ends.
Dionne gives him a patient look. “Hey kid, it’s not the 2000s anymore. People are chill with it.”
Edmund exhales. “Nice to hear, but my father wasn’t so ‘chill’ about it. He had said that while he had no problems with it, the role of an aristocrat was to continue the legacy. The liar.”
Clint once again opens his mouth. “I don’t blame him. If one of my kids turned out that way, I set his ass straight.”
“Oh yeah, how are your kids Clint?” Dionne asks pointedly. Clint had rarely talked about his two kids. The most you’ve been able to figure out was one of them was named Fred.
“Oh they’re fine. Just fine. Don’t see ‘em too often of course. Too busy pioneering the frontier for them.
“You really won’t stop this whole John Wayne act, will you?”
“What act? This’s how I am.”
“Sure, anyway. I guess it’s my turn to share isn’t it then.” Dionne begins.
“I used to be a journalist back in San Francisco. Mostly did research and writing work. I had been there about 5 or 6 years. My friend had given me the opportunity to help take down an irresponsible corporation. You guys remember BuzzWave?”
“You wrote that? In the Post?” Letty asks.
“Yep, and it cost me my whole career. After the trial, BuzzWave’s lawyers and representatives pressured the Post to remove me. They caved, and anywhere else I applied was met with the same pressure. They were retaliating by blackballing me from the industry. Then I saw Leo’s ad, and since I knew a little of the Inuk language and how to use a communication radio, decided I’d come along and now here we are.”
“Do you regret publishing that article?” Chip had spoken for the first time in a while.
“No, it did a lot of good. But the new money kids who were running it made sure I’d never stop paying for it. I just wish it had ended differently.”
Now Jèan was the one to speak up. The quiet Frenchman had spent most of the trip quietly snapping pictures of every landscape and study object. The few photos the group had seen from the camera around his neck were beautiful. You’ve never seen such beautiful shots of snow and trees. He’s wearing a black long-sleeve shirt and distressed black jeans. A key necklace rests above the camera.
“I feel that. Something similar happened a few years back.” He runs his fingertips through his wavy middle part.
“Maybe not the exact same thing, I was a freelance photographer for a while, then I kind of focused on art photography. I had to stop though; they had taken my camera equipment away from me while in prison.”
“Jail!?” Letty says with shock.
“Yes, the place I was staying had recently implemented new laws against explicit material, and I had recently started shooting nude models.”
“So what, you’re upset because you got caught shooting porno? Serves you right, pervert!” Clint says without looking up from his boots. Dionne stares down at her chucks.
“Not porn, old man. The human body. It’s a beautiful thing, why should anyone be embarrassed. The photos were amazing; I was praised by art critics and fellow photographers. So what they were a little blue? Sex is a natural part of life after all, ignoring it only leads to heartbreak and oppression.”
Dionne looks towards Jèan. “I have a friend named Jean, just without the soft J. You remind me a little bit like her, very spirited and passionate. Who did you take pictures of?”
“Men, women, all consenting adults. The only reason behind my arrest was bullshit puritanism. I guess that’s why I’m here. Running away.”
Chip comes to attention in his seat at this mention. A man in his early 30s, but looks at least 40. His denim jacket, cargo pants, and backwards baseball cap ensemble befitting a mechanic. He looked in his duffel when you asked for his name. When you look later, you see a gold coin with the number 30 next to some books from AA.
“Compared to you guys, I feel like my story is kinda lame. I just needed a fresh start, and it seemed like a good way to do it would be to run somewhere cold and dark.” You probably aren’t getting much more out of him.
“Am I last?” Leo wonders out loud. Her backpack of equipment slung over her shoulder. The company hoodie with its ice colored logo has the sleeves pulled to the middle of her forearm. Her light brown hair in a single braid, with pieces of hair falling over her forehead and wing-lined eyes. “I guess I can go.”
“I don’t really know why I chose glaciology for a science field. I think I saw it on one of those ‘top paying science fields’ lists. And I’ve always enjoyed science. I come from a big family, lots of kids and relatives. Mi madre works like three jobs trying to take care all of us kids. As soon as we turn 16, we all got jobs to try and help her. We were living in this small house with my aunt and her kids. I’m trying to make enough here to give them both a better life. It’s the least I can do.”
A few understanding nods from around the fire.
“I really respect that, you know, you’ve never had anything handed to you and you still found a way to make yourself.” Edmund says in a meek, reassuring tone.
“Normally, that kind of compliment would make me mad, but you don’t seem to know much about poverty or the working class, so I will begrudgingly let it go. But while I appreciate the sentiment, my family shouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. We shouldn’t have had as many kids as we did, love my brothers and sisters to death, but there were too many mouths to feed. And we shouldn’t have been poor and shouldn’t have been in such a small house, and it shouldn’t be only me able to help all of them. I know this isn’t your fault, and you can’t help where you came from, but I would’ve killed to have your life.”
“You guys aren’t here for my learning experience, but I do appreciate making me aware of these things. It’s part of why I’m here. Are you okay?” Edmund tells her, helpfully. Leo puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah, we good. Hey, where’s Uscald?”
Uscald emerges from the tree line. Leo points at him.
“Hey old man, it’s your turn to share. No more deflecting.”
“I told you there was nothing.” Uscald scratched his goatee.
“Yeah, and I know you’re lying.”
“Something’s up with you.” Dionne says. She’s right, Uscald had been acting bizarre from the moment the convoy met him. He’s the kind of eccentric billionaire that you only read about, but never meet. Except he barely seems to grasp basic human behavior. You once saw him practicing talking about himself in the mirror.
Nervously, Uscald stares back and forth at the convoy members. Finally, the eccentric speaks.
“Okay fine. I didn’t want to say anything, but I’m pretty sure I’ve tracked a spaceship belonging to an inhabitant of the star system Andromeda to somewhere in the Arctic. Now I’m looking for it.” Leo stares at him with suspicion. Dionne is suspicious, but curious.
“Why? Also how?”
“Disturbances in local wildlife, seclusion. The tree branches are bare in a few places, the animals avoid certain spots. Less chance of running into people this far north. I want to find it.”
“But why do you want to find it?” Dionne repeats the sentiment.
Uscald waits a beat, as if finding a reason that would satisfy her. “To see if I’m right.”
“I suppose that’s as good an answer we’ll get out of you.” You can’t help but feel the sense there’s more to his motive he’s hiding from the group.
The landscape around them begins to tint a myriad of cool tones. Blues, greens, and purples glint off the snow around them. Clint is the first to notice the change.
“Hey Letty, look up.”
Letty’s gaze moves towards the night sky. Her pupils enlarge immediately, processing the ribbons of celestial color. Her jaw drops with a smile.
A tiny flying disc shape shoots through an opening in the lights.
I've been working on some short story versions of Northbound/Northwards for a workshop. I might post both versions here once I finish revising the second one. I've also come up with a few character ideas for other prisoners over the last month or two, so I thought I might as well share them here. Not a complete list, and I don't really have a visual ideas for them yet.
The Cautionary Tale
A former cop who ended up in prison after being framed on drug charges. He was framed by his fellow officers after reporting on the racism and unethical behavior of the officers in his precinct. I myself am staunchly ACAB, and his story directly tackles the "not all cops" position.
Freaky Nun
This one is mostly based on the joke in Clone High season 1's film festival episode where Abe says Mother Theresa is doing her slasher sex romp (paraphrasing). She's a lesbian cult leader doing freaky sex stuff and murder.
Black Panthers
A group of Black Panthers arrested for lawful demonstration that Misty briefly joins (this entire storyline will be proofread by sensitivity readers) and when the leads break out of prison, they leave behind the information with them. Misty's joining the Panthers will not cause friction with the main group, they won't separate on bad terms or anything.
The Vandal
Graphic designer struggling for work accepts a job as a freelancer for the government/evil political entity. Once the work goes up and the checks get cashed, they vandalized and removed their artwork in the dark of the night. I was thinking one night if it was possible for me to work for objectively evil entities and have a way to keep a clean conscience, like all of my local representatives are Republican liars.
The Informant
Partially inspired by The Witness; the only episode of Love Death and Robots I actually liked, and Night Call; a great movie about a locksmith accidentally getting involved in organized crime. She was in witness protection (I love the word witness) after being a rat in the mafia, but the mob found her anyway. She purposefully lands in prison, thinking it's the most safe place to be.
Bride Smuggler
A mail-order bride smuggler. I don't have much detail on this one. He may just be a complete side character, or if I am able to find enough story for a dedicated episode, it'll be about the industry of mail order brides or smuggling.
The Carpenter
I got this idea after seeing a video about fictional serial killers in crime shows, who have a cool name and take weird interesting trophies from there victims. That was my only note, so I'm kind of coming up with it while writing. I'm leaning towards The Carpenter, a serial killer who takes the fingernails and toenails (get it) from his victim, along with a specific murder technique I haven't thought too hard about.
The Seamstress
If I go the other route with a female killer (or I do both to show the difference between male and female killers), the Seamstress removes the tunnels inside a person's body, or dethreads her victim's clothing and takes however much amount. I don't know, there's a lot of possibilities for this single idea.
Neighborhood Creep
This actually came from a discussion in my horror writing class while we were reading Room by Emma Donahughe, in regards to their captor building a weird shed with a skylight in his backyard. I made a joke about the guy being thwarted by a nosy HOA Karen. (I think that's how it went, it was a while ago) That was actually a good idea, someone mentioned writing their short story for the class about it. This episode would be told from her perspective to really nail the effect.
Those are all I have so far, I may not need more. I'm not actually sure how long this arc should or would be. On top of the side characters, our main 6 need individual episodes of focus and backstory. I might actually post Northbound version 1 tomorrow if I remember.
Wow wtf HIV/AIDS was discovered by Flossie Wong-Staal, an Chinese-American woman, and she’s the reason the HIV test even exists. AND THEN she invented the molecular knife that lead to treatments for HIV/AIDS. And she’s STILL ALIVE. We don’t hear about the contributions of Women of Color enough, my word. Madness.
you can always tell a major breakthrough is made by a woman, a woc or any poc because it’s either completely ignored or never credited like it just happened by itself
There's that old saying that there is nothing original under the sun. One of my writing professors likes to say that there may not be original plots, but what you do with them is original. The heist story isn't very original necessarily, but I feel like I've done a good job making my characters and my stories different from the heist movies of the past. I still find influence in those old works and some others, because we exist in the context.
Swindle
Possibly my first exposure to the heist movie. This is a Nickelodeon TV movie, that is maybe not very good as an adult. I was enamored with the cast, particularly the hacker little sister. Each character with their specialized skills was very new to me when I saw this. While the movie doesn't hold up as well as an adult, watching it as a kid burrowed it in my mind.
Ocean's Eleven
This is the heist movie. It's the one everyone knows, with actors everyone knows and narrative devices that everyone knows. The montage, the heist plan, the twist at the end. It took me a while to watch it, but it's a great time.
CHeist Night
In a similar vein as Ocean's Eleven (they're actually parodying that movie). I watched this when I was 18 I think, and it's very funny. Highly quotable. When I came up with SStH as a heist comedy, this was one of the first things I turned to for ideas. The farcicle attitude of parody makes it a little easier to figure out what jokes to make.
Cowboy Bebop
The found family aspect is something I love seeing. My band of thieves become a small family as the story goes on. I love the setting, this kind of neo-noir space western. I had originally thought about an arc set in space for my crew, but I couldn't really think of a story for it. Still, they live in neo-noir San Franscisco, so the setting of both has some crossover. I love lots of things about this series. The character dynamics, the genre-busting nature, the action scenes.
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
This movie is a romp. It's so lighthearted and bouncy and fun to watch, it's the right attitude for my work. Inspector Zenigata was a part of the thought process behind Detective Cain, although Cain is more of an antagonist than reluctant ally. I really like the animation style, I have an image in my mind of the original three running around a corner with Jean running like Lupin does in this movie. That might be part of the opening theme.
The Bad Guys
The movie that kind of cemented my interest in heist movies. Watched this freshman year of college, before the idea of writing She Stoops became a thing. I really love this artstyle, it's a little like Lupin in that way. I think the heist crew is well thought out, particularly with the animal traits. Also, I really like when a movie or show does a story that isn't normally done in animation, which was part of my inspiration for this story.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Overtly politically progressive take on the heist movie. Except they aren't trying to steal something, they're trying to destroy something. Something I really like about this one is the way they establish why each character is involved with this. It's done in flashbacks at different points of the movie, and their reasons are all different, but they all intersect at this pipeline. Carrying a lot of this into my story.
Community
In a different tonal direction, Community's character work is very good. I mention this in the Northbound post, since this is one of those works that carry over throughout the whole body of work. Community is very well written, comedy and character wise. It's something I'll need to look to while writing the different parts of my series. Another aspect I really like is the way that episode to episode, Community is almost a whole other show entirely. They do this through homage, formula-breaking, and different character pairings.
All the Wrong Questions
This is a book series I read when I was younger. It's sort of noir-y, a more overt detective story compared to the series it stems from. I really liked the make-up of the team in these books when I was younger. The whole idea of being on your own with these like-minded peers works for the tone of the series, since both series are full of adults that are evil and/or stupid. Also, the way they use their hobbies and occupations to help the group get pretty creative. They use origami to send messages to each other!
Snatch
Snatch is a British gangster movie with a pretty large cast, but they're all their own brand of colorful weirdos. I originally heard about this movie from the YouTube Diregentleman, where the co-host pitched this movie and two others for a movie marathon in order to have a good time. This movie doesn't really have a set protagonist, and morally they are all gangsters so none of them necessarily have the high ground. The main thing was the colorful cast of weirdos that drew me in.
Night in the Woods
Really powerful themes of friendship and perserverance. This is another one with really complex characters that have different but similar motives. The characters have issues, they work them out with each other. Especially towards the end, there's a really beautiful theme about your friends are a lifeline when everything starts to go south.
Avatar the Last Airbender
Avatar is another good example of writing complex characters, in that a character's motivations, personality, fighting style all come down to one core trait. Aang has his upbringing as an air nomad, Katara and Sokka have the loss of their mother. So while it's difficult, I think it's something worth working on for my cast. Besides that, I really like the main group and their bonding. The dialogue works really well, it's another theme of friendship and diversity makes us stronger. Avatar also does the "action scenes as the culmination of an emotional arc" thing pretty well.
Orange is the New Black
If you're reading this, you probably already know that the second arc of the series takes place in prison. In the leadup to them breaking out of prison, I have an outline of the stories I want to tell, but the in between stories where they bond a little more and doing character focus is where I have less of a rigid idea. The great thing about Orange is the New Black is how they intertwine the ongoing narrative of episodes with character flashbacks for maximum pulling on heartstrings. Litchfield is full of very interesting characters with wide variance in their personal stories. The reasons they're in prison tie back into their personal flaws and convictions. This framing device makes it very easy for the audience to become familiar with these characters. I've got a few ideas for other prisoners, and I will come up with more. If you were wondering, my favorite episodes so far are "Take a Break from Your Values" and S3 E4, mostly because they got me emotionally the most.
La Haine
This is a political noir, with three young men waiting for the opportunity to get their friend out of prison after a protest. It's very slice of life-ish, touching on a lot of themes of political unrest, anger, and generations. For the episodes with specific character focus, especially in the first season, it's something I personally find intriguing to take inspiration from.
The Fast and The Furious
I really like the aesthetic of these movies early on. Very grungy and neon. Extremely 2000s. The final arc of the series I have planned is Espionage and Exhaust, where Jean gets into street racing. I'm going to translate parts of this aesthetic because I enjoy it so much. These movies are also a little spy thriller-y, which translates to the other parts of the story. Speaking of spy thriller...
Skyfall
The best of the Bond movies. I'm toying around with the idea of doing a few different styles of spy fiction in the final arc, and James Bond is kind of the poster child of the Martini and Suit and Tie brand of spy thriller. Skyfall is amazing, it has a great narrative theme, really beautiful camerawork.
Infinity Train
Here's where we start getting into some of the smaller influences. The anthology aspect is part of the mode I'm delivering these arcs in. The forced character development part of the story might possibly have some impact on my writing, when the plans and capers go wrong. In particular Jean's humility, Blaine's hesitancy, and the twins stubborness might cause some issues.
It Chapter Two & Jumaji: Welcome to the Jungle
Most of this movie is fetch quests, which everyone has different tolerances for. Personally, I enjoy throwing this movie on every so often while cleaning or working. The third act has all the characters split up and doing their own forced therapy to overcome their trauma, and that's always something I've appreciated. The recent Jumanji movies are a similar affect, the cast is thrown into a situation that requires them to deal with their problems head-on.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon have such good chemistry here. This movie is really funny in really subtle ways. The fight scenes are really good and blend comedic elements into them well. The ending fight in the circus is particular memorable.
Dick Tracy
When I picture this version of San Francisco, I imagine it as a Dick Tracy neo noir version of itself. This movie's visual style is incredible. Liquid lighting, matte painting backgrounds. Look at any scene with the moon in the background or the graveyard scene. It's amazing.
The Bling Ring
There's an episode in arc 2 based off the phenomenon that was the Bling Ring. Sofia Coppola's movie isn't amazing, but it is very fun. These kids steal and burgle because they have a desire for material gain above their social station. My characters aren't exactly like this (they're actually poor and downtrodden). But committing crime out of desire to rise above or the concept of retribution is effective.
Knives Out
Part of the arc Dead Man's Will is the death of a rich old man kickstarts a globe-trotting scavenger hunt. The detective aspect of the Knives Out movies, the specific part of the fight over the will. For a while this was my number one favorite movie.
Cool Hand Luke
One of the first things I watched specifically about the failure of prisons in America. Part of the second arc is about how American prisons allow power-hungry abusers to have control over people and the unethical practices of prisons. Orange is the New Black does this a little as well, but in more subtle ways and through the vector of character drama than overt acts of force and injustice.
Across the Spider-verse
Edgar's character design was partially inspired by Spider-Punk. The writers of this movie really did their research with his character. The other Spider people also have such differing designs and aesthetics, which I find really cool and interesting.
Bob's Burgers and Twin Peaks
My two favorite shows! I'm someone who believes in the idea that your favorite art will somehow inevitably affect your own work. Following that, these two will naturally make it into the series in subtle ways. I really love the way the characters in both operate, the storylines they find themselves in. It all really works for me.
Adventure Time
Both Adventure Time and She Stoops to Heist are ensemble pieces, granted the ensembles are different sizes. Adventure Time is here because the way they develop characters was something I was really studying last summer. The show ran long enough it was able to flesh out its main characters over several years, getting more and more complex as it went along, and taking time to do one-offs with side characters. And if a character wasn't working for the show, they bounced back afterwards. The Cruise arc might also take inspiration from the show's humor in the face of disasters.
The Pelican Brief
Similar to the Northbound list, this was the first John Grisham novel I read, and it undoubtedly shaped my own personal politics. The whole "corporations do not have your best interest" and doing the right thing aspect are the things I'm taking with me into this project.
American Dad
This is mostly a "sense of humor" entry. I really enjoy the lampooning of the CIA and America. They also do spy comedy every so often. A lot of this shows jokes just really land with me.
There's a couple shows I can't write a whole entry about, but they probably affect the show in really subtle ways. Fillmore! was a Disney cartoon parody of cop shows, and every episode is a middle school version of a different crime. That's something I really like about episodic storytelling, the variety. Batman the Animated Series is very noir and has a killer aesthetic, also it's crime fiction similar to She Stoops. Teen Titans has a good comedy style and fun character dynamics. Etcetera etcetera.
If you follow Mike Flanagan on Letterboxd you might already be aware of his "companion lists" he makes for his miniseries and movies. If you aren't, what he does is gather a handful of movies that were influential on the development of said show or movie. Originally, I did something similar just with a list on Letterboxd that I linked on here, but I think it might be more fun if I wrote out full thoughts and mapping out how these movies, shows, books etc. influences the writing.
Northbound originally started as just a simple "What if?" timeline that asked "What if Dionne had been blacklisted from journalism?" and I had imagined a story about her joining an expedition to the Arctic. Then I started coming up with a full cast, and decided a short story wasn't going to be the best way to use these characters. Novella/novel it is!
There's a lot of mediums in the idea pool for this project, so I'll just get into them. Some of these items also carry over to the main work She Stoops to Heist as well.
Atlantis the Lost Empire
The first initial idea I had when developing the cast actually came from the Disney movie Atlantis. The movie is a Jules Verne style adventure, where all the exploration and the journey is the most fun part of the movie. As JelloApocalypse has said, the cast is full of fun and interesting characters that don't have enough screentime in a 90 minute movie. He made the comment that they're better suited for a short TV show. When I was developing the characters for this group, that was something I kept coming back to. Besides the cast, Atlantis represents a bank of interest in the old-timey adventure story. I was calling this story "a mashup of Jules Verne, Jack London, and Community." Speaking of...
Community
This is one of those that is translated over from the main series as well. Community's best aspect in terms of writing is character work. Characters are the main draw to the show. Each member of the main cast is a fleshed out individual with their own little quirks and personalities. The show really takes advantage of this with different character dynamics and they try out different pairings early on to see which ones stick. The Greendale Seven, when described with a single sentence, are some of the most interesting characters ever conceived. This was another thing I was trying out when creating the characters and their dynamics.
Long Way North
Admittedly, it has been a while since I've seen this one. But I remember enough about it to put it here. The movie has a smaller cast than Atlantis, but it is the closest thing to a Jack London novel I've seen (I haven't actually read Jack London, but I am aware of the stories themselves). The animation really sells you on the atmosphere and the main character.
A Place Further Than the Universe
This miniseries is so heartwarming. It's about four girls going to Antarctica, and each one has a different motive. One girl hopes to find her mother, one girl is going because she's an influencer, one girl is going because she's almost done with school and wants one last big adventure because she feels like she hasn't had one yet, and the last girl is working herself down and is going as an escape. You can probably already see why this is here.
North of North
A really lovely sitcom set in Alaska/Canada, with all the snow and ice. The series touches on colonialism, indigenous issues, and family drama. I loved this series so much from the first watch through, it's part of what inspired me to write something set in this location. In Episode 2, they use an Alanis Morissette song in a montage between the mother and daughter, and that scene is so good. While I am not Inuk myself, part of the dynamic between two characters involves white people's inherent biases when discussing native issues. The indigenous tribes of the Arctic circle are going to be involved in the storyline also, Dionne is the group's translator.
The Secret History
Here's where we start getting into the specific character inspirations. So I've been trying to get back into reading this year, and the first book I read was The Secret History. While coming up with characters, I was looking at one of them in my notes and thought of something. I could make this one a slight nod to that novel I just finished recently. Like a more tolerable version of one of the main characters, and he shares his real name.
Bugonia
Bugonia caught my attention almost immediately. It took me a while to watch it, but the premise was so interesting. One of the main ideas behind a character is that of the eccentric wealthy donor, who may or may not be an alien. I don't actually plan on answering this in the story, it'll be more fun if it's left completely ambiguous, like I kind of wish Bugonia had done.
The Pelican Brief
I was really into John Grisham novels when I was in middle school for some reason, and I think Dionne's story of being forced out of journalism probably comes from that. This novel specifically was one of my favorites, I think it was the first one I read.
The Big Book
This is the closest way I can describe this aspect of the writing. In Alcoholics Anonymous, there's a concept of pulling a geographic, where someone will move away from whatever location they're from in an effort to run from their past and their issues. It almost never works however because "no matter where you go, there you are."
I the Victor
I the Victor's discography is one about personal perserverence, triumphing over your problems, and inner strength. Specifically the song Harness inspired me to make the 'heading north' playlist shortly after watching North of North. Her EP Wellslept has lots of songs in that playlist. It sounds like summer in the North.
There might be others I'm forgetting, and others I haven't seen yet. If I come across something worthwhile, I'll add it here!
I'm thinking about making Northbound from s2 e3 into a full novella type thing. I did a short story with all the characters and I don't think one segment of a single episode is enough time to enjoy them all. So I'm thinking that instead of a "What if?" plot, a majority of Dionne's arc in season 2 will be split between helping the crew in prison and dealing with the lead-up to Northbound
For the second arc of the show, I've been particularly inspired by Community and Orange is the New Black. The way both shows give a lot of room for their larger casts to grow and develop their backstories is a really engaging format for both characters and the audience. Community in particular also has this fun trait where every third episode is a break in the show's formula. Lots of shows do this, but Community does it in spades. On top of the show's character work being really damn good.
A now deleted TikTok came across my feed long ago, and the OP was asking for "episodes so different from the rest of the show," and the examples they gave were Breaking Bad's "Fly" and Buffy's "Hush." The comments mentioned Community, of course, but other episodes were mentioned. This was the thing that inspired this leg of the show.
I have mentioned that this arc is largely episodic, so the episodes events aren't necessarily in proper order here, and I also don't have all the character episodes plotted out necessarily. This outline is just the stories I know I'm going to tell.
Episode 1: "Kangaroo"
A courtroom drama episode. When one of the inmates is accused by another for a personal slight, Jean suggests they take it to trial, and she plays the role of the Amoral Attorney. During the prisoner's mock trial, intercuts of the court case after the BuzzWave heist are shown, playing into the prison plotline.
Episode 2: "The Haunting of [Prison Name]"
I haven't settled on a name for the prison yet. This is a sort of Halloween special, when the prison is beset by paranormal activity, the crew explore the prison campus as ghost hunters. Spooky shenanigargles ensue, and one of our thieves discovers a possible escape route.
Episode 3: "Northbound and Diverging Timelines"
A "What if?" episode that follows a few different questions. What if Dionne's expose didn't result in BuzzWave's destruction? She'd be the communications expert on Arctic expedition obviously! What if the BuzzWave heist went as planned? The gang would spend the rest of their lives on the run and commiting more crime. What if the heist never happened? Their lives would all likely be worse. The end goal of all this is to give both the crew and the audience the idea that this is the best case scenario.
Episode 4: "Sleepover!"
The gang throws a sleepover in the cell block during a prison blackout after a riot. They attempt the usual sleepover activities as best they can: scary stories, truth or dare, self-care. They are in prison after all, materials are scarce.
Episode 5: "Jean's Fever"
After coming down with a crazy illness, Jean is bedridden and just barely hanging on to reality. While her friends try to get her some medicine from the prison staff, she falls asleep and lands in a fever dream. Her subconscious mind finds a way to examine her guilt, insecurities, and her flaws throughout the trip. Alice in Wonderland homage episode!
Episode 6: "Chain Gang"
This episode is a Bling Ring homage, following an in-universe documentary crew as they do a piece on Jean and the crew in prison. Talking heads from each of the group members give insight to their feelings while in prison and attitudes about life and crime. Camera footage captures the monotonous routine they find themselves in.
Episode 7: "Psycho Therapist"
The prison has a new counselor, a sadistic psychologist who traps each of the thieves in a mind prison where they are tortured by their greatest fears. Blaine has to suffer watching one of his friends die because he failed to act, and the world speeding on while he stays in place. Misty is forced to stay contained with her abuser, until she confronts him and finds the courage to leave. Etc, etc.
Episode 8: "Face the Music"
Musical episode where Jean is the only cast member fully into it. I know I want to do this, since it sounds like a lot of fun writing wise. Only problem I'm having is whether or not to make it plot relevant somehow, or a plotline in general. I was thinking along the line of the musical element being a necessary distraction in order to advance the escape plot.
Episode 9: "Out of Focus"
A Lower Decks style episode. Dionne on the outside is helping the crew with something while they're in prison. Cain is working on a case nearby, when he gets suspicious of what Dionne is up to. A group of inmates get focused on while the crew does their C-plot in the background.
Episode 10: "The Cell"
The prison's psycho therapist returns, this time inducing temporary amnesia or knocking the crew out in order to stick them in a psychological experiment. The crew's dynamics get specific focus as they have to find a way out of the small room. A kind of escape room plot and/or bottle episode.
Episode 11: "Concrete Jungle"
Noir episode following Blaine as he investigates the necessary tools and acquiring them for the escape plan. He's into detective novels, remember.
Episode 12: "Catch Us If You Can"
Jean and Edgar find themselves in a conspiracy thriller homage as they investigate their escape route. Initially just focused on getting the prison blueprints and Frontier getting security system information, they discover areas not on the map originally shown to us in Episode 2. Ends with a showdown in the prison garage. I have this idea of Jean saving Edgar by sliding and pulling him to the ground out of the way of a swinging car/large metal object.
Episode 13: "Grounders"
Grounders is a kids game I really enjoyed playing back then. The gist is basically tag, but players are trying to be entirely silent while the seeker is blind. If you get caught on the ground, you're the new It. This is a no-dialogue episode, while the characters escape the prison and can't make noise.
Episode 14: "The Outside"
Essentially an epilogue picking up after the events of Grounders. They successfully escape, and we see their lives as escaped convicts. This episode sets up the next arc; Dead Man's Will.
There's other episodes I'll need to configure, bonding episodes and individual focus episodes possibly. It's sort of like what Orange is the New Black likes to do, where they'll take one prisoner during an episode and we'll learn more about their lives through flashbacks and life in prison. I'll probably try something similar, it's a good format. This arc of the series is the best chance I'll have for traditional episodic storytelling.
Hey everyone who may be listening, sorry about the brief hiatus. It's winter break here, and I've been using the time off to work on a memoir project I developed over the summer. In the meantime, I have started the process of episode outlines for the series' arcs!
Databroker is a little more serialized than some of the following seasons, so I needed each episode to somehow advance the ongoing narrative. Which means there's not as much room for traditional character development episodes, but I'm sure as hell going to try. So here's my working outline.
Episode 1. "Catalyst"
The introduction episode. Jean and Blaine are introduced as roommates, Frontier brings Jean into his mission in the diner flashback scene, and Jean goes to Edgar and Lilith's house to try and reconcile.
Episode 2. "The Coder"
Frontier works as a programmer in a San Francisco start-up called BuzzWave. While dealing with corporate monotony and the constant crunch time, he is brought into their shady basement dealing in the hidden servers. Horrified, he seeks out Jean, having remembered her from the tabloids.
Episode 3. "The Acrobat"
Day in Misty's life, working at Night Owl's Diner with Jean, finding fun things to do until she inevitably has to go home. The episode ends on an off-screen abuser reveal.
Episode 4. "The Librarian"
Blaine works at a nearby library, we spend the time with him seeking out heist-related knowledge alongside his workload. Dionne's on-screen debut, comes in to visit and updates Blaine on newspaper happenings. At the end, Blaine goes with Jean to recruit Misty at her gymnastics studio.
Episode 5. "The Twins"
Jean works on reconciling with the twins, coming into their workplaces with conversation and planning goals. They go with her to shoplift supplies, and the episode ends with the whole group meeting in a dark storage unit.
Episode 6. "Delay"
There's a necessary day-long gap between meetings, so the group uses it to prepare for the heist and gather more supplies. Frontier gathers blueprints and tech during his workday.
Episode 7. "The Actress"
Jean spends her morning attending auditions, we see her various performances. She shoplifts some costume supplies before work. The episode ends with Cain's surprise visit to Night Owls.
Episode 8. "Heist!"
The big event, the group does the Ocean's montage thing at first, explaining the different roles over the heist scenes. While everything looks like it's going well, Cain starts poking around the BuzzWave office.
Episode 9. "The Pinch"
Lilith deals with Cain, flashbacks to past crime, insight into the trio's dynamic with the detective. Parts of the plan start to go wrong.
Episode 10. "Robin Hood"
The big showdown, when almost everything has gone wrong, the group makes their way to escape while the authorities close in. A high speed car chase, a rooftop pursuit, and a building explosion. Epilogue with the group in prison, while Jean narrates the resolution.
These two side characters have a bit of screentime, they just aren't the main focus of the narrative.
Detective Cain
I'm still not sold on his name, but this is Detective Cain. He's a long-time rival of Jean and the twins, similar to Inspector Zenigata from Lupin the Third. Like Zenigata, he's less of an outright villain, and can take on a few roles when necessary, whether it's an unexpected ally or sympathizing good cop.
Dionne
She's Blaine's reporter friend! They're Jean's backup in the first arc in case the group get arrested (spoiler: they do). They work at a national newspaper, which is where she breaks the story of BuzzWave.
Motive: Struggling to land any acting gigs, a return to her former exciting life of crime shows up in the form of Frontier at Night Owls.
Skills: Acting, distractions, and disguises.
Flaw: Pride. Jean's struggle with humility caused the initial fracture between her and the twins, and her emotional arc over the series covers her inner shame and prideful demeanor.
Quirks: Throws herself into whatever role she's playing. Even as a waitress, she's putting her all into her life.
Behavior: Snarky, dramatic, and incredibly perky. The kind of person you love hanging out with until they get on your nerves.
Motive: The promise of a large fortune and her distrust of Jean's promise that it would be different this time.
Skills: Demolitionist, basic gadgetry, and various other skills.
Flaw: Holding grudges. After the last heist landed them in prison, and Jean having issues with accountability, she's still distrustful and pessimistic. But if Jean can pull this off, or fail miserably, Lilith either gets her friend back or proven right.
Quirks: Loves explosions, all things spooky, and her hands seem to never stop moving.
Behavior: Stoic but sassy. Slightly flippant, a little moody. Will deck a fellow inmate when trouble starts.
Motive: The promise of fortune, a desire to see rich people suffer, and possible reconciliation with an old friend.
Skills: The team's muscle and skilled mimic. Various other skills as the plot may or may not require.
Flaw: Anger. His anger can get the better of him, and his conviction is rather strong.
Quirk: Edgar's belief system is well-defined and informs everything he does. He cares about his circle, and he cares very deeply about what's right.
Behavior: He normally presents as aloof and snarky, but gets genuinely excited at the idea of a new cause. Whether it's a heist or just an excursion in the city.
Motive: Turns on his employers at Buzzwave after discovering the secret basement server room where the company runs a data-selling operation. After years of crunch time at his desk, the unethical nature finally breaks him and he seeks out Jean.
Skills: A talented hacker, inventive gadget creator, tech guy.
Flaw: He doesn't always take things completely seriously. While he'll do his best to keep spirits high and take the edge off, some situations require more levity than he can bring.
Quirks: Frontier's really into technology. The antenna allows communications, radio, and spyware. Also, really into reality television. When you get off a 12 hour workday, you just want something really easy to get invested in.
Behavior: Noticeably more lax than the rest of the cast. Finally free from a stressful office job, his demeanor no longer requires high-strung anxiety and caffeine addiction to function. Strange how a life of crime is easier on someone than a proper corporate career.
Motive: A life of crime sounds like fun! Just one problem; her controlling long-term boyfriend is trying to keep her trapped in a life of servitude and misogynistic abuse.
Skills: Gymnast, mechanically inclined, and able to fit into tight spaces.
Flaw: Masking. Misty's bouncy exterior is a coping mechanism for great pain. She finds it difficult to be real with her friends when things get too heavy.
Quirk: Misty is a complete ball of energy, she's the group's resident chaos gremlin.
Behavior: She's short, exciteable, and jumps onto her friends back without warning. Playfully scary at times, and scarily playful every other time. Bubbly, hyperactive, and energetic.
"You don't plan on leaving me with the lease, do you?"
Name: Blaine
Age: 27
Occupation: Librarian
Motive: Life has gotten too stagnant, and the little things he enjoys just aren't doing it anymore. He wants adventure, and his criminal mastermind roommate might be able to provide it.
Strengths: Masterful pickpocket, researcher, language expert.
Flaw: Hesitancy. He often freezes when important action is taking place, despite his desire for a more fast-paced way of living. When Jean shoplifts something as small as eyeliner, he'll get worried as they leave the store.
Quirks: He often finds himself buried in a research topic during slow points at the library and at home. He enjoys pulp detective novels, he's read up on many languages dead and living.
Behavior: Introverted book nerd on the outset, but will be the first person to give his friends a bear hug after a successful heist. Generally polite, kind to others, helpful spirit.
