The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Achewood => Achewood => Topic started by: Victoria Waterfield on September 28, 2007, 05:33:55 am
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http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=09282007
I must respectfully disagree with Todd's assertion in the third panel.
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I have to disagree with Todd's assertion in the last panel (that people are laughing)
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The cracked-out squirrel is so agitated that people do not understand him.
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I feel rather "eh" about this one.
If it is one of a series of steps toward something, that could be good.
But in and of itself, the stoned squirrel wants a car and the debauched cat will give it to him if he crossdresses and drinks something that is possibly urine-tainted.
Am I jaded at this point? It isn't a weird or sick enough idea to be funny just on that merit alone.
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I'm not going to naysay jut yet, because this could be development for something good, but so far I'm not feelin' it.
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I'm not sure how to feel about the implication that Ray is actually manipulating Todd. I know Ray has untold depths, but I always figured the Chochacho Spirit in him would keep him from abusing his inner circle in this way.
Then again... it is Todd.
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Remembering also that Ray thinks Todd is a crap dude, it's not hard to imagine him steering the guy into a less than ideal situation.
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not feelin' it either. fuck you and your car, todd.
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yeah, I hate this.
Although, do you know what else I didn't get? The last time Todd needed Ray's help with a project. (http://achewood.com/?date=01112006)
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yeah, I hate this.
Although, do you know what else I didn't get? The last time Todd needed Ray's help with a project. (http://achewood.com/?date=01112006)
You must be joking Dan. As I recall, that little exchange led directly to the Great Outdoor fight.
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Up next: Tweekin Lightning fast pitch 8-balls.
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yeah, that was the idea. I conveyed it poorly. What I am saying is that maybe this silly little arc has a lot further to go. At the end, we'll thank him.
I mean, I just think that we have to assume our president Onstad knows more than we do about these things, and is making the best decisions for all of us.
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I prefer to think that Onstad is fallible and will occasionally set out upon an arc that does not particularly entertain me.
I hold this preference principally because my term is just about to start and I am going to have to get some serious work done.
(Unrelated interjection: how awesome are the Kronos Quartet?)
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Inev, you get a tiny can for making the same comparison I was going to use. The strip (and the entire arc so far, really) isn't very funny, but it bears the heady scent of plot development. On the other hand, if nothing spectacular comes of this now it'll suck even harder for having failed to deliver on something it never really promised in the first place. Better not to set our expectations so high just yet, I think.
I don't mind an story arc starting out this way, but I do hope that when it starts to take off, it's in a different direction than this. To quote a previous exchange:
Last time we got a flowchart it led into a month-long story arc. Are we about to witness an arc with Todd as the principal character? Are we ready for such a thing?
NO.
On a different note, when did Todd get that nick in his left ear? Have we ever seen it before this arc? Have we ever seen Todd's face from straight on before, for that matter?
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Hmm. This is a pretty interesting conversation. I think I can postulate that there are two basic kinds of Achewood story arcs: the Party/Cartilage-Head-style arc, where the basic scenario is established immediately and never changes much, and the GOF-style arc, where the scenario that appears to start the storyline has no actual connection to what the arc turns out to be about. (The GOF is actually quite complicated in this regard, since it goes from "Ray and Todd consider various artificial-scrotum-based business ventures" to "Ray awkwardly entertains his mother" to the actual GOF.) I find it interesting at this point that everyone's intrigued by this arc specifically because we're hoping it will turn out to be something else -- that nobody particularly wants to read three more weeks of Todd's Insane Crackhead TV-Star Adventures, but we'd love to see it turn into something unexpected.
Is there a correlation between relative lameness of startup and likelihood of a GOF-style swerve? If so, is it just a product of Onstad saying "eh, this isn't going anywhere, time to do something different?" I have to assume it is, but with Onstad, you can never deny the possibility of a boring startup being intentional as a run-up to something totally bizarre and epic.
(Yes, I'm overthinking it. Shut up.)
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You know, I don't think I've ever even considered the possibility that he might plan anything in advance.
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Yeah, I've never been sure about that either. He's remarkable at creating the effect, but he may just be an awesome impromptu writer. (This is more likely, really, since it seems to be the major skill required for keeping up a webcomic.)
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That and drinking.
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See, I think he plans it all out meticulously, at least on some level.
You can't have such distinct character voices without REALLY overthinking what you're writing about.
It's just that... in the actual execution, if he has a funnier idea, he goes with that idea and worries about making it all come back to The Plan later.
I dunno, I know it's kinda navel-gazing to theorize about the Process of a writer you've never met but...
That's just what I always figured.
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See, I think he plans it all out meticulously, at least on some level.
You can't have such distinct character voices without REALLY overthinking what you're writing about.
Yeah, but...
I think you're right on when it comes to character voices. Onstad has obviously devoted much mental energy to the details of each of the characters.
However, I'm not sure that the plots are developed that way. They just feel way (waaay) too spontaneous for that.
But the so-called "over"thinking of the characters fits in with that style. Onstad knows his characters so well he understands how they will react to any random situation he throws them in. Because he has created Beef (or Ray or Lyle or whoever) as such a fully nuanced character he could randomly pick plot twists and write realistic character reactions and interactions. Because he's made the characters so real, they will act in real ways -- no matter the situation.
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I think August is exactly right.
Also, doesn't Onstad say in an interview somewhere that he doesn't plan the plots? I'm working on pretending to have a life outside the internet or I'd reread them all to find it... let's see how long that lasts.
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But the so-called "over"thinking of the characters fits in with that style. Onstad knows his characters so well he understands how they will react to any random situation he throws them in. Because he has created Beef (or Ray or Lyle or whoever) as such a fully nuanced character he could randomly pick plot twists and write realistic character reactions and interactions. Because he's made the characters so real, they will act in real ways -- no matter the situation.
This is how Pedro writes. He meets the people in his head, and then throws them into different situations to see what they do.
Also, Faulkner said he wrote this way. "'I listen to the voices, and when I put down what the voices say, it's right."
I personally don't have that kind of brain -- which is why I write shitty dialog, all my characters sound like me. But it's certainly a natural process for a lot of writers, and I think Onstad is probably one of them. Without it, writing the character blogs would be impossible.
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Ironically, this is a skill that roleplaying helped me with. All the writing classes in the world couldn't make my dialogue non-shit, but doing enough D&D and other character-focused activities helped a lot. Who said it was a waste of time?
(Me. Frequently. But hey.)
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I'm interested in this rating system of Ray's. I need you to give me a ride to work on a scale of 1-10. You'll do a seven? Great.