OOC Personal Blog so I can Stop Using My Rp Blog as a Personal. 27, aroace, professional writer. Posts art on occasion, take commissions. Reblogs homestuck and random fandom nonsense, infodumps often.Ā
actually, can you imagine if dave was raised by B1 roxy?
i wanna get into this actually
(ok i had to spend a few hours rewriting this because IT DIDNT FUCKING SAVE AFTER FIVE HOURS OF WRITING WHEN MY COMPUTER UPDATED WHILE I WAS AFK so it would mean a lot to show this post some appreciation. i LOVEEE hearing what other people have to say)
even though these things mom does are presented in an extravagant, kitsch, jokey way, her intentions always came from a place of sincerity. she is simply Funnie
but rose reads too far into it and assumes things that aren't there, that her mother is passive-aggressively feigning interest in rose's interests simply because the things she does are so extra. "why do all of this if not to mock me"
im telling you right now if dave lived in this household he wouldn't assume antagonism, he'd go,
donāt forget who LITERALLY patented tangible jpeg artifacts as their post-scratch adult self and scattered shitty scummed up statue of liberties all over the planet. theres no way some of that overboard artful shit wasnt post-ironic / circling back around to genuine funny sincerity
dave's natural state is funny sincerity like roxy. he's had the natural capacity for this type of humor from the start and this is the direction he goes towards when he grows out of his brother's shadow by the end of the comic. dave and roxy share an earnest āso bad its goodā type of humor
(lots more under the cut; the length of this meta analysis just got unwieldly with all the pictures and whatnot)
despite the alcoholism, roxy is a supportive mother. she's not the ideal guardian but hells of a lot more supportive of her kid than bro is. if she knew dave's interests she would totally indulge in them with some over the top silly goofy haha shit as a genuine gesture simply because she loves him
rose isn't too keen on it though. but she is more similar to dirk in her natural state of thinking of overthinking shit and assuming the worst, like the tags said
and yes dave got the sweet cuddly yet sometimes backhanded ouppy gene from roxy, probably even moreso lol
roxy's even said rose "sounds like girl dirk"
side tangent here, but this is something i wanna talk about.
i dont think bro should ever be in custody of children ever but if theres anyone who would be up to the task it's rose probably. i know she'd be able to keep up with him. not only does she have a defined personality (dave is more malleable and absorbs his environment like a sponge), if anyone can pick apart B1 dirk's batshit brain and probably be right on the money it's her. lil cal has been pumping patriarchal nonsense into bro's head and rose would be able to bring the fucking facts to the table without losing her own and being a living example of a badass little girl. i also don't think bro would try to force masculine roles onto rose like he did with dave, seeing as she is a girl, so she would actually have more of a leg up and get some passes that dave was never afforded. and rose wouldn't stand idly and accept any bullshit; she is no doormat. and i think this would earn bro's respect
but anyway, from this, couldn't we conclude roxy "sounds like girl dave"?
yeah okay. we havent even gotten into their penchant for funny typos or misspeaks, deliberate or otherwise
so, dave's environment
the sentiment "god you hope you can be as good as your bro at this some day" might have been genuine at the time when he idolized bro but of course he's not able to express that in any sort of sincere fashion because he's in dirk's fucking household. and this level 10 irony shit isnt doing dave any favors
his role models were the Internet and a vague idea of what Bro was like. So he built up his facade based onĀ ironyānot the literary definition of irony, as Rose might be quick to point out, but a popular concept of irony based on the idea that things that didnāt make sense actually made sense in some roundabout way.Ā As a master of irony, Dave probably reasoned, he could see in a way other people couldnāt why a world that was scary and didnāt make sense really did make sense, and could therefore convince those people that he was superior to them. And he would wield his knowledge to maintain the appearance of superiority by calling everything ironic and pretending he didnāt care about things that didnāt make sense, and he would use walls of vaguely rhyming words to keep everyone at armās length so they wouldnāt discover his insecurities
(source)
roxy's style is the embodiment of post-irony. being raised by mom lalonde would be like being raised by joel vinesauce ok
what can i say ā¦.. (getting meta about this actually, hussie got these jpeg wizard wallpapers from a spyware website. link takes some time to load because internet archive)
rose is quick to read post-irony as actually being a joke/insincere, which in bro's case would be true. but i believe dave's natural instinct, outside of the influence of bro, is to read post-irony as genuine, which is exactly how mom serves it. we see this as early as act 3 from him; he understands her motives better than rose does herself:
and in act 6 intermission 2 i think it's pretty clear
but the thing is, it's always genuine from her. dave wouldn't have to second guess it because he's not one to naturally second guess someone's sincerity; that was learned due to his bro being virtually unassailable
there two types of ironies at play here:
seems like a joke, is actually genuine (roxy)
doesnt seem like a joke, is actually a joke (dirk)
you can make the argument that the second is is more psychologically destructive because it makes you question the reality of what is genuine sentiment and what isn't. dave never knew what was genuine and what was irony so he just sort of existed in this sincerity-ironic limbo and always did the opposite of what he genuinely felt on principle even if it always did originate from a genuine place.
"it just a joke bro i was just being ironic i dont actually x" is so much more trust-breaking and psychologically damaging than "wait are you being serious" / "i am being so fucking fr rn davy gravy" / "ok thats actually pretty fucking awesome. giant ass wizard statue" / "RIGHT"
how much about dave would change do you think? his character arc would be completely different for one thing, i think he'd have it good aside from mom's alcohol issues. he'd be left with the sweet and funny parts of him that we see at the end of the comic. the fake coolguy stuff is out, but this remains. this is dave in his element and we see it as early as act 1
he'd probably have no shades growing up in the lalonde residence* either cause those were given to him by bro straight out of the crater as an extension of his own cool image. and john gave dave ben stillerās aviators for his 13th birthday to replace them so he could āspread his wingsā
dave said he was wearing them for the ironies but i kind of doubt it. maybe post-irony but there was some reacharound to it being genuine because dave never put those pointy anime shades on his face again.
*though... itās kind of hard to imagine him without his shades at all? B2 dave still got stillerās shades from stiller himself so maybe getting them is a universal constant. i can imagine mom getting him them as a birthday gift cause shes pretty wealthy and probably could buy it out in an auction. but also itd be cool if john still gave him it as a gift
dave is actually a lot more genuine and easy to read than he lets on even when grappling with his upbringing with B1 dirk (again, see this post). this can be seen all throughout he comic but a good example is the evolution of thoughts about his interest in the preserved dead things in his room:
if B1 roxy was dave's guardian he probably WOULD have pursued paleontology because she wouldve indulged him in it and probably find it cool and worthwhile to pursue, instead of allowing dave to flounder under ironic detachment, being poisoned by irony to the point of gaslighting himself into believing he doesnt actually believe he thinks this shit is cool.
even if it was indulged in this such a way; a superficially kitsch and ironic appearing presentation, it comes from a genuine place and inspires genuine interest. just read the comments.
basically, i think if B1 roxy raised dave, their relationship would have a surface level appearance of being bizarre or over-the-top but theyād have an unsaid mutual understanding that itās completely in earnest and just build on each other's funny and absurd gestures of affection. rather than seeing it as one-upping each other, it'd more like collaboration of some silly bullshit that you take a step back and look at full and just say, "fucking incredible"
speaking of paleontology, mom had the proto-ectobiology lab. maybe they'd be able to use the equipment to appearify paradox ghost imprints of the dead shit to create paradox clones of things from the cambrian era??? sounds like a fun mother son bonding activity. and theyd actually put the sciencey shit in the household to use
oh god i know exactly the kinds of music shed listen too also growing up as a teen in the 80s. she on that (post)-punk/art rock/new wave/new romantic mtv stuff. XTC shit fr. this is a B-52S HOUSEHOLD. maybe the associates for the campy melodramatic flair. so he gets to keep the record on his shirt cause he is an enjoyer of the shit in her vinyl collection. dave would still gravitate towards musical expression and music itself but of more variety outside of just rap, with an 80s-90s, even 70s flavor due to momās influence. see this for perhaps a glimpse. āshe probably visited new york city a lot for business trips and because the music scene was cool as hell around that time, imports came straight from jfk airport, she probably got in on that a bit and have remnants in the form of vinyls and cassettes. in this way she could be distributing void to dave (influencing him with forgotten / presently irrelevant music). now he can REALLY rave about bands none of his friends have heard of. āhey davy grvay watcha listenin toā (he holds up vinyl cover) āomg snakefingerā
im not exaggerating when this is one of the best additions ive gotten on any post, EVER, in my over 10+ years of being on this site
#Dave Lalonde would know what conditioner is and bathe regularly therefore unlocking The Curl
#meanwhile Rose Strider would go full daddy's little princess #she would straight up kill that clown at her 5th birthday and then at her next one Bro would get 6 clowns and set up a fencing tournament #fully by the book the clowns are wearing full plain white fencing uniforms with red noses badly safety clipped to the face guards. #otherwise unidentifiable as clowns #but she knows. #the bloodlust remains.
#rather than a pallet of cinderblocks Bro would deck out her room with a knockoff disney princess theme #like Mom Lalonde's secret bedroom in the ectobiology lab #but worse #the giant princess doll would still be gifted but it's lovingly handstitched and has emo makeup #as a joke that he knows she would want to Fix it but look he knows that so now she Cant so she has to figure out what would be a creative #yet ironic response #she of course is given unrestricted credit card access for their gift giving battles
#in response to the fridge being filled with swords she gets an umbrella storage rack and puts that in the fridge #in steal of course #so they don't fall out at unsuspecting snackers #Bro adds some katana handled umbrellas and hooks a convenience store display of rain ponchos to the side #(meanwhile its still in the fridge) #so Rose makes a detailed 1950s style gelatin mold salad #she sets it on the counter next to the fridge under an oversized silver serving dish with a note about how she expects feedback #on her attempt to confirm to traditional femininity #the mold isnt set #its just a pile of sticky room tempature hard boiled eggs and cocktail sausages covered in lime jello #Bro diligently writes a review with pictures and posts in on a website he created and populated with comment bots for when this happens #the sites titled something like Puppet Princess's Piquant Plates and his reviews are in character as smuppet parodies of historical figures #rose buys 2 pairs of traditional Yellow rainboots and places them by the door #Bro is courteous and moves the fridge katana stand to by the boots. #he then perfects the salad recipe before Rose gets a chance and writes a terrible review of it in the voice of smuppet Tutankhamun #Rose is losing the irony battle but now the fridge has food in it again.
those posts criticizing common writing patterns in fanfiction are so fucking harmful and they ruined me
so like yknow what??? People tell you to avoid āsmirkā and āchuckleā as descriptors because no one does those things (???) but then when I need to use those words I have a ten minute crisis about how Iām a shitty writer. So heres my unwarranted writing advice: If you want your characters to smirk and chuckle fucking let them and donāt let anyone tell you that no one smirks or chuckles because I do both on a daily basis whenever I tell a shitty pun, byeĀ
in my experience, these kind of shitty takes are making two major mistakes. One, they fail to distinguish the actual problem from its symptom or to provide useful solutions. And two, they present as rules things which are far more useful as exercises.Ā
For example, smirk and chuckle hate tend to come from the same origin as the great Said is Dead debacle. In fact, the former tends to be a progression from the later. Someone tells you that you use said too much, so you replace your saids with smirks and chuckles and gasps. And they tell you that youāre using those too much as well. And youāre like, well what the hell do you want, then? Because they havenāt addressed the actual problem or provided real solutions yet! Why is using said too much bad? Why is using adverbs bad? What is the actual problem???
The actual problemĀ is not the word said, or chuckled or whatever.Ā Itās stiff, monotonous dialogue.Ā
Take this infamous section from My Immortal:
āThatās all right. Whatās your name?ā I questioned.
āMy nameās Harry Potter, although most people call me Vampire these days.ā he grumbled.
āWhy?ā I exclaimed.
āBecause I love the taste of human blood.ā he giggled.
āWell, I am a vampire.ā I confessed.
āReally?ā he whimpered.
āYeah.ā I roared.
If you replace every dialogue tag there with said, or with another adverb, itās not going to fix the actual problem, which is that this dialogue is repetitive and dull.
So how do you actually fix the problem? You break the dialogue up with action and description. You drop tags entirely when they arenāt necessary. You vary sentence structure to create a rhythm that keeps the reader engaged. When sentence have the same length/pattern over and over, the brain starts to skim because it can predict whatās coming next, and you lose reader engagement. Writing is like music that way, and your sentences are notes. Play the same note over and over and people get bored. So hereās the same section, rewritten with more varied structure.
āThatās alright,ā I said, leaning closer to the young man.Ā āWhatās your name?ā
āMy nameās Harry Potter.ā He pushed his hands into his pockets and looked away, expression sour.Ā āAlthough most people call me Vampire these days.ā
It wasnāt hard to guess why. Iād been called vampire for the way I dressed more than a few times. Being goth in a school full of preps could really suck sometimes. Harryās eyeliner and mesh look suggested he was familiar with the cruelty of the Hogwartās Prep-tiarchy.
āWhy?ā I asked anyway, feigning ignorance. Harryās bitter expression lightened at my sarcastic tone.
āBecause I love the taste of human blood,ā he said in an exaggerated Dracula impression, grinning lopsidedly and posing with his hands like claws beside his head. He flexed them at me menacingly and I laughed.
āWell,ā I said, an amused glint in my eye.Ā āI am a vampire.ā
āReally?ā
āYeah.ā
Is that groundbreaking work? Nah, itās still My Immortal. But itās more engaging to read!
The second problem- presenting things as Rules which would be better as exercises. Cutting said or adverbs from your vocabulary forever is stupid and its only going to keep you from writing. But as an exercise it can be helpful! Think youāre using said too much and want to practice finding other ways to append your dialogue? Write something short while trying not to use said at all, trying to push yourself to use as many different creative ways to avoid it as possible. Not just replacing it with adverbs, but trying new things to actively make your dialogue more dynamic.
This goes for a lot of bad writing advice. Most of it is trying to avoid a problem without actually addressing it, and most of it is better as an exercise than a rule (and sometimes itās just stupid people trying to applyĀ ārulesā that work in other kinds of writing but make creative fiction read like a college paper). If someone gives you a never rule, first ask yourself what problem itās actually trying to fix, and then turn it into an exercise.
hopefully this reads well lmao but i drew this for anonĀ
if you want to draw a bipedal animal that is not usually bipedal, there are 2 routes u can use to make it look balanced and not just like a dog standing up begging for treats like the guy on the left.Ā
the main thing to understand about digitigrade legs (including hoofed legs) is that the ankle is always under tension - it has to support the entire weight of the animal. the mechanism to support that weight is the achilles tendon (in red) and if the animal is standing up then the tendon is always taut. because of this taut tendon attaching to the heel of the animal, you wonāt actually see much visible calf muscle, and the leg will appear deeper than it is wide (from the front anyway)Ā
for a more upright stance (right) you have to mess with the proportions a bit and straighten out the leg, so it looks a bit like a human on tip-toes. this guy, however, could not possibly revert to all-fours comfortably.Ā
if u want to keep the sense of tautness in the legs, you have to make sure the angle of the ankle isnāt too extreme, because then it looks like it could fold in on itself at any moment.Ā
Workers, when have you said āfuck this, I quitā?
I used to work at McDonalds (I know). Opening usually involved me at the front counter with a headset on so I could do drive-through orders and handle making coffee / putting orders together / taking money at the front from the little old people that came in at the crack of dawn every morning. We would also have a manager who was there to be important and one person in the kitchen. Weāre a small rural town so usually this is fine but we were on kind of a major highway so sometimes it would get busy out of nowhere.
Depending on the manager the amount of help we had would vary wildly. One morning we got super busy and I started cracking under the pressure. Iām a fantastic multi-tasker but my drive-through line was backing up since I was trying to juggle them and all the walk-in folks from my front registers and when it gets packedā¦well, itās fun. I glance around trying to find my manager for help. I see him on one of our cameras ā heās outside smoking a cigarette around the side of the building. Mind you, this is like his third trip out to smoke this morning. Iām absolutely dying trying to get caught up. Customers are being passive aggressive saying they will come behind the counter and get their own coffee and stuff. I have people yelling at me in my headset from the drive through. I end up having to remove the headset just to try to get the frontline sorted. I start making progress with the front but I basically had to sacrifice the drive-through customers for two minutes.
Apparently the cars outside start yelling at my manager and interrupt his smoke break so he comes in, sees me with my headset off and goes berserk. Heās like āWHOS TAKING THE DRIVE-THRU ORDERS?ā Iām in the middle of trying to get a fresh pot of coffee going so I sort of auto-respond āNo one. Hang on.ā as I continue to dash around behind our counter to grab a fruit & yogurt parfait for an order. He basically gets in my way and starts giving me shit. Loudly, talking to me like Iām a dog. I point to the camera and yell, loudly enough to disrupt the entire inside of the restaurant. āIām these two registers, first window, second window, and Iām bagging. Iām like FOUR PEOPLE and youāre out behind the building not doing SHIT!ā
His eyes go wide. I can tell he knows Iām holding on by my last thread. Heās sighs. And heās like āYouāre in a ton of trouble but we can talk about this later.ā No. Fuck him. Iām done. Iām all riled up from random customers yelling at me. I toss him the headset. āYou want to give me shit for not being able to run like four stations with no support? Run five. Iāll watch.ā I remove my name badge.
He went to say something to me. I turn away, facing the one girl working in the kitchen who is watching this all play out. I remember telling her āIām so sorry.ā and then I dropped my name badge, toss my hat on the counter, grab a water cup, put on (and zip) my jacket so my uniform is covered up. I go to the drink fountain, fill my water cup, and then I go sit on the far side of the seating area and watch him go down in flames. He ends up ALSO taking off the headset and picking up the phone so he can spam call the whole workforce one by one trying to call for help. Itās like 5AM so no one is going to accept a call from their work number. About ten minutes into his struggle he ends up very loudly pleading with me to come back from behind the counter. I canāt even see him on the other side of the sea of people swarming the counter at this point.
I call back āI need a smoke first!ā and I go outside.
I donāt smoke. Iāve never smoked. I drive home.
I was working two jobs at the time, one of them at Blockbuster (I know, Iām dating myself here) which I actually enjoyed because I love movies and I got ten free rentals a week.
The problem was, I was also living alone in my first apartment and I didnāt have a car. I had a bicycle. It was a two mile ride from my apartment to work, one way. Work was also on the busiest street in town which meant I was dodging traffic most of the time. My second job was about a quarter mile up the road from Blockbuster.
Despite the two jobs, I was struggling. My power kept getting turned off and I couldnt keep food in the house, in part because of my transportation issues. I had reached a point of just ordering a large pizza every friday and just making that stretch all week. Just to let you know what kind of headspace I was in.
So on the day in question, i bike out at an unholy hour of the morning to my first job, sorting paper files in an uninsulated, unfurnished trailer out back of a place that sold power wheelchairs. I work a full shift with a lunch break, and then head to the Blockbuster for the evening shift, where I work until eleven at night.
While I worked, my bike was parked in the locked back room because they didnt have a bike rack out front or anywhere else to chain it where it wouldnāt get stolen.
So at eleven, im burnt as hell, all ive eaten today is one of those red baron microwave personal pizzas. I just want to go home, eat my cold week old pizza and sleep. I get my bike out of the back and head home, leaving the shift manager and another employee as they finish closing up for the night.
Its raining, of course. So i bike two miles home in the rain, at eleven at night, after working since at least eight that morning.
I get home, and as i get inside and drop onto the couch, i get a call from work. Turns out I accidentally brought the backroom keys home. I apologize cause thats my own stupid fault. But then the shift manager says i have to bring them back, immediately. She knows i bike to work. Its almost midnight and its pouring rain. I tell her i cant do that.
She and the other employee both have cars. It would take her all of five minutes to come and get the keys from me. Versus waiting a half hour or more for me to bike my exhausted ass back up there in the rain. But shes set on this.
And this manager has this particular quirk of using resignation forms to threaten people. Like waving the physical forms at people to make them do what she wanted. And sheād been escalating with this where it was like her go to thing anytime anyone did anything she didnt like.
I dont know if she decided she needed to teach me a lesson or she just didnt feel like driving over. But she wont come get the keys and pulls out her usual shit. She says if i dont do it, sheāll have my resignation form filled out when i show up tomorrow morning (you know, when i was going to be there for opening and could have given her the keys anyway).
If Iād had an ounce of sense I might have just done it for the sake of $7 an hour. But I was too tired to give a shit anymore. So i call her stupid bluff. I say āalright, see you thenā and i hang up and ignore all subsequent calls.
The next day she was sheepish and it was obvious sheād been bluffing. But she wouldnt back down either, so I signed the papers and peaced the fuck out.
It was worth it just to not have to deal with her hanging it over my head anymore.
My main problem as a writer is that I donāt write becauseĀ āI have a story to tellā. I write because there are worlds I want to visit, ideas I want to explore, people I want to meet, conversations I want to hear, emotions that I want to express, and impossibilities I want to make real.
Hi, professional writer here! All those things you described? Worlds you want to visit and impossibilities you want to make real? Yeah thatās what you actually need in order to write a book. Nobody just has a fully formed story. Itās not just going to spring into your mind one day all at once. You write the bits youāre excited about, and eventually that becomes the story.
Turn it into an exercise! Write down all the little bits you want to do something with, and then find a way to frankenstein them together.
Whatās the world you want to visit? Candyland motherfucker.
Idea you want to explore? Iāve been wanting to write something that tackles the concepts of personhood and how we define intelligence for a while, letās do that.
A person you want to meet? I like noir detective types put in absurd situations that clash with their aesthetic.
Conversation you want to hear? Iāve got about 70% of an argument floating around in my head about how most forms of government break down at any scale larger than a city state vs the greater efficiency and freedom allowed by large scale government.
Emotions you want to express? I am so got dam scared and angry all the time and Iād really like to write about someone as scared and pissed off as I am getting to just really wreck some shit and go full godzilla.
Impossibilities you want to make real? Everyone is gay and no one cares and we can make babies out of dirt like the amazons if we wantĀ
Now we just mash that shit together.
MC is a noir detective type wizard in candyland whose magic is based on absorbing the properties of things he eats but heās got an eating disorder which hampers his powers and more importantly is ruining his life and health, but he focuses on the first part because he has a self destructive streak and bases all his self worth on how good he is as magic. Central conflict is between the human-centric candy government and the population of candy-based life forms whom the government is reluctant to extend full personhood too. This is reflected in the interactions between Wizard Detective and the candy-person Magic Scientist he ends up working alongside. Eventually the Wizard Detective and Candy Magic Scientist discover that all candy is basically alive. A giant candy golem channeling all the fear and anger of all the candy people and candyland itself rampages through the city as Wizard Detective and Candy Magic Scientist try to stop it without killing it and also figure out how to make people understand that the candy they eat, and build their homes with, and in some cases are literally made of, is alive and intelligent, albeit in a way that is almost unrecognizable to us.
Boom, thereās your story.Ā
Now take your Frankenstein of ideas and go write it. Even if itās weird or goofy or full of self inserts giving impassioned speeches about the shit you care about. All that matters is that you get that shit on the page.Ā
Worry about making it good later. Worry about getting it done now.
To be totally fair to Willy Wonka, at least a couple of those candy factory casualties involved kids deliberately circumventing reasonable safeguards, sometimes aided and abetted by the parents who were supposed to be supervising them. What happened is at most 60% his fault.
Augustus Gloop literally dove into a chocolate river, after being deliberately told that he should avoid getting too close to it and his parents being told to keep him away from it. Although Wonka shouldĀ have installed safety railings to prevent such an accident, the fact is that Augustus Gloop and his parents still ignored Wonkaās warnings over the safety of said chocolate river.
Violet Beauregarde deliberately chose to chew a piece of gum that Wonka specifically told her not to- which he told her was experimental and not yet fit for human consumption. She ignored his protests and warnings, and instead chose to chew the gum. Furthermore, despite her deliberately defying Wonkaās orders and coming to harm due to her own actions, Wonka still chose to help mitigate the ill effects of the experimental gum; although it wouldnāt have passed in a medical context, Wonka did not have a full medical staff on hand necessary for such a procedure, and instead made do with what he had, ultimately saving her life.
Veruca Salt deliberately chose to interfere with the animals Wonka had trained for use in his factory despite him telling her to not get close. Furthermore, Veruca Salt attempted to stealĀ one of Wonkaās trained animals, and unlike many of the other children, was only covered in garbage for her trouble, due to the squirrels throwing her in the garbage bin where they put all the nuts they deemĀ ābadā. She was subjected to no harm, other than needing a bath afterwards.
Mike Teavee, much like Violet Beauregarde, played around with experimental technology despite being told not to. And as a result, he was shrunk to a miniature size, roughly the size of a mouse. And much like Violet Beauregarde, Wonka used what he had on hand to fix Mikeās body back to working order, in this case enlarging him, albeit to a much larger size than he was prior to the incident.
In conclusion, although Wonkaās factory had lax safety standards, especially around experimental foodstuffs and technology that were not yet safe for human consumption and/or use as well as work animals not properly trained for human interaction while working, he did make it completely clear to both the children and their parents what was expected of them, and further told them what parts of the tour were and were not safe to interact with. As a result, while Wonka Candy will be fined for not meeting minimal safety regulations, for the case of Wonka VS the Factory Tourists, I find the defendant not guilty.
I feel like there might even be an argument to be had about the safety fine. The factory wasnāt intended to have tourists or other untrained professionals moving through it on a regular basis. The golden ticket tour was a one time thing. Expecting the factory to make structural changes such as railings and isolated walkways just for the sake of a one day tour seems unreasonable to me.
Furthermore, the tourists did all sign waivers upon entering. And while contracts signed by a minor may not be valid, these were signed with and by their legal guardians as well, which im fairly certain makes them binding.
Additionally, i would be surprised if there wasnt a non disclosure agreement included in that paperwork, considering wonkas secrecy and the slugworth issue. Wonka could then reasonably sue them for any public discussion of what they saw inside the factory.
However, i think if any of the children actually died (which isnāt confirmed one way or the other in the original) then i think a wrongful death suit might have a leg to stand on? If wonka tried to enforce an NDA on a grieving family, whether the court supported him or not the public would tear him apart. Probably heād try to settle out of court, and the families in question seem like theyd be pretty receptive to cash settlements. Except maybe the Teevees, who would want to make it as noisy and drawn out as possible and probably spin their brief notoriety into a reality tv showā¦
The fact is that the kids all made it out alive, albeit some of them physically mangled in one way or another; Violet was still blue and, Mike was eight feet tall. So none of them could really sue Wonka over killing their child.
Furthermore, while itās true that most of the factory wasnāt designed for tourists, the candy room, the one made entirely out of candy with the chocolate river, clearly was.Ā Or at least partially, given that it also served to carry liquid chocolate to the fudge-making room. So one could argue that the Gloops, perhaps, have some leg to stand on, though not the rest. But thatās also ignoring the contracts Wonka had them all sign.
Theyre shown alive in the 2005 version, but the 1971 version doesnāt comment on the survival of the other children. The book has them alive but maimed as in the 2005 film, but thereās differences in all three regarding the specifics of how the children are injured, which could all affect legality differently (ie: in some versions veruca climbs onto the chute herself, in others sheās picked up and thrown in. In the broadway version the squirrels literally tear her apart). For a proper legal analysis weād have to decide on a single version of events.
As for the chocolate room/candy garden, itās decidedly not built for the tourists. The waterfall is for churning the chocolate. The river also is part of a highly delicate process intended to prepare the chocolate without it ever needing to be touched by human hands. Even the oompa loompas have as minimal contact with the river and the garden as possible, adding sugar and cocoa from isolated back areas, not unlike zoo keepers adjusting the habitats of the animals. My assumption is that the purpose the candy garden serves is to support the river as a functioning, candy based ecosystem, filtering and maintaining it the same way real world ecosystems do. In a way its a metaphor for the factory as a whole. A closed, candy based ecosystem. Augustus contaminating the chocolate river is both disrupting the literal candy ecosystem, and also showing the inevitable disasterous consequences of wonka allowing the real world into the factory.
To be totally fair to Willy Wonka, at least a couple of those candy factory casualties involved kids deliberately circumventing reasonable safeguards, sometimes aided and abetted by the parents who were supposed to be supervising them. What happened is at most 60% his fault.
Augustus Gloop literally dove into a chocolate river, after being deliberately told that he should avoid getting too close to it and his parents being told to keep him away from it. Although Wonka shouldĀ have installed safety railings to prevent such an accident, the fact is that Augustus Gloop and his parents still ignored Wonkaās warnings over the safety of said chocolate river.
Violet Beauregarde deliberately chose to chew a piece of gum that Wonka specifically told her not to- which he told her was experimental and not yet fit for human consumption. She ignored his protests and warnings, and instead chose to chew the gum. Furthermore, despite her deliberately defying Wonkaās orders and coming to harm due to her own actions, Wonka still chose to help mitigate the ill effects of the experimental gum; although it wouldnāt have passed in a medical context, Wonka did not have a full medical staff on hand necessary for such a procedure, and instead made do with what he had, ultimately saving her life.
Veruca Salt deliberately chose to interfere with the animals Wonka had trained for use in his factory despite him telling her to not get close. Furthermore, Veruca Salt attempted to stealĀ one of Wonkaās trained animals, and unlike many of the other children, was only covered in garbage for her trouble, due to the squirrels throwing her in the garbage bin where they put all the nuts they deemĀ ābadā. She was subjected to no harm, other than needing a bath afterwards.
Mike Teavee, much like Violet Beauregarde, played around with experimental technology despite being told not to. And as a result, he was shrunk to a miniature size, roughly the size of a mouse. And much like Violet Beauregarde, Wonka used what he had on hand to fix Mikeās body back to working order, in this case enlarging him, albeit to a much larger size than he was prior to the incident.
In conclusion, although Wonkaās factory had lax safety standards, especially around experimental foodstuffs and technology that were not yet safe for human consumption and/or use as well as work animals not properly trained for human interaction while working, he did make it completely clear to both the children and their parents what was expected of them, and further told them what parts of the tour were and were not safe to interact with. As a result, while Wonka Candy will be fined for not meeting minimal safety regulations, for the case of Wonka VS the Factory Tourists, I find the defendant not guilty.
I feel like there might even be an argument to be had about the safety fine. The factory wasnāt intended to have tourists or other untrained professionals moving through it on a regular basis. The golden ticket tour was a one time thing. Expecting the factory to make structural changes such as railings and isolated walkways just for the sake of a one day tour seems unreasonable to me.
Furthermore, the tourists did all sign waivers upon entering. And while contracts signed by a minor may not be valid, these were signed with and by their legal guardians as well, which im fairly certain makes them binding.
Additionally, i would be surprised if there wasnt a non disclosure agreement included in that paperwork, considering wonkas secrecy and the slugworth issue. Wonka could then reasonably sue them for any public discussion of what they saw inside the factory.
However, i think if any of the children actually died (which isnāt confirmed one way or the other in the original) then i think a wrongful death suit might have a leg to stand on? If wonka tried to enforce an NDA on a grieving family, whether the court supported him or not the public would tear him apart. Probably heād try to settle out of court, and the families in question seem like theyd be pretty receptive to cash settlements. Except maybe the Teevees, who would want to make it as noisy and drawn out as possible and probably spin their brief notoriety into a reality tv show...
hey!! sorry to hijack this post, but there are a bunch of ways you can make videogames without knowing shit about computers!!Ā
for starters, thereās Twine, which is fucking great for making all kinds of interactive experiences (itās what Crystal Warrior Ke$haĀ was made in so you KNOW itās good) at all skill levels (i picked it up and made a game in two minutes a few nights ago)
if you want a bit more involved experience thereās Inform 7Ā which is a simple language for text-based adventure games that reads like slightly-weird English and also relatively easy to learn
you can do some pretty fucking cool stuff with UnityĀ (my personal engine of choice) but you may need to dig a bit farther to get at the good stuff. thereās lots of really good presets though (i made an entire game just mixing and matching pre-existing templates and adding in my own art, won an award at a game jam for that one) and if you want help the communityās pretty dang friendly from what iāve seen!
this is just a taste of whatās out there from what iāve seen, but thereās so many cool resources out there. if anyone wants help getting started, iām around to give you a leg up on making something in the coolest, most unexplored art medium around!
Iām addināĀ to this post because lowering the barrier to entry for making games is super important to me!!!! If yāall have any questions about making games, youāre welcome to come and ask! I made this list a while back with some friends, so it has some of the programs John already mentioned.
2D Editors:
GameMaker : Potential for pure drag-and-drop āprogrammingā. It is recommended to read-up on the programās functions to make good use of it. Good for prototyping. Uses its own language called Game Maker Language (GML) that is similar to a C language (e.g. C++ or C#). For both Mac and PC; free version available.
Construct2 : Drag and drop level editor that uses an āIf-Thenā event sheet structure for programming. Good for prototyping and for beginners. For PC; free version available.
GameSalad : Drag and drop with no code requirement. Good for programming. For both Mac and PC; free version available.
Solpeo : HTML5 based game engine for 2D and isometric game development. Some programming knowledge needed. Platforms supported: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer 9+. Free version available.
Stencyl : Drag and Drop āprogramming,ā templates you can edit the variables/values for.
Scratch : Lego-block-style coding platform by MIT; totally free and a great intro to thinking in code. Very kid-friendly and comes with a community site. Browser version available.
3D Editors:
Unity : 3D editor that creates 3D games. Can build games for browser, as an app, or for mobile devices (iOS and Android). For both Mac and PC; free version available.
UDK (Unreal Development Kit) : Full-fledged, highly advanced editor. Features a complete set of tools that go from level design to visual scripting to cut-scene creation. Uses itās own programming language called Unreal Script that can be arranged with Kismet, a visual code editor. For Mac and PC; free.
2D Art/Animation Software:
GIMP : Free photo editing and digital painting software.
Easy Paint Tool SAI : Free digital painting software with a UI similar to Photoshop.
Mischief : Free digital painting software with an endless canvas.
3D Art/Animation Software:
Sculptris : From the company that created Zbrush, this free software is ideal for beginning 3D sculptors.
Maya : Animation, VFX, lighting, and rendering software.
Magical Voxel : Voxel Art (3D Pixel Art). Very intuitive and quick to pick up.
SketchUp : Ā Architectural modeling software, great for creating 3D environments and buildings. Free version available.
Text-Based Games:
Twine : Create interactive text stories using Twineās visual map system that links your game together. Easy to learn and use. End result is browser-based. For Mac and PC; free.
Quest : Interactive text stories that you can build in-browser.
RenāPy : Create visual novels using a modified version of Python that reads like a combination of stage directions and a CYOA novel. For PC, Mac, and Linux; free.
Audio Resources/Editors:
Indie Game Music : This site offers free indie music with no need to worry about royalties or licenses.
Audacity : A free, open-source, cross-platform sound editor that allows you to record and arrange sound.
Super Flash Bros. : This site allows you to record theremin-like (8bit) sounds and export them as .wav files for your games.
FL Studio : Free music composition software.
Miscellaneous Tools:
Donjon RPG Tools : Randomly generates maps, items, XP, etc.
seriously underrated Doctor Who Comedy Momentā¢: when the Doctor explains to Donna that the Tardis is translating her words to Latin for their visit to Pompeii and her immediate thought is what would happen if she spoke actual Latin to someone so she goes up to some dude and says āVeni, Vidi, Viciā and he tells her he doesnāt speak Welsh
Every single episode with Donna was a seriously underrated Doctor Who Comedy Moment ā¢
Having an extended conversation in Mime with the Doctor through a window while the Doctor is also on the other side of a window, while the villain who is in the room they are both looking into watches, flabbergasted.
āYou just want to mate?!ā
The doctor, on a segway, stonefaced. Donna, also on a segway, in a wedding dress, cracking the fuck up.
āI am Sparticus.āĀ āAnd I am also Sparticus.ā
The Doctor and Donna nervously approaching a stack of books which they are concerned may be alive, reaching out very slowly and carefully to poke them, and collectively shitting their pants as a loud voice goes off behind them.
I considered myself to be well versed on cats/communicating with cats. Iāve lived with at least two cats my whole life, and currently live with two very different cats who I love. Apparently most cats are shoulder cats? My cat Mason has always been very nervous about going up on peopleās shoulders, so I thought Iād try theĀ āshoulder catā technique.
I had to help him up on my shoulders because heās never done it himself before. But once I got him up there I squished him, he started purring like nobodyās business. I carried him around our entire apartment, up and down staircases, and he was so happy. He didnāt try to leave once! When I put him down he head butted me and meowed and was super affectionate. And of course I gave him a treat.
TLDR- Even if you live with cats and think you understand cats, please watch this video.Ā