#Another one is actually an ARG. A fictional story. That just happens to take place in that game. Could have been any game

[bowithoutadaemon]

Ugh I hate when my brain decides I NEED to play a certain game that I don't currently own.

I have a backlog of several games. Of various genres.

And I am fairly sure I tried the game back when my hacked switch worked and actually didn't really enjoy it that much.

But now my brain isn't shutting up about it.

[theosirianischosen]

Thanks for the questions you sent me, here's some for you! 2, 9, 10, 16, 20, 25

Hey! Thanks for the questions. Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I was working on a screenplay for a contest, and the deadline was fast approaching and soon we shall tip the scales of life. But without further ado, here are my answers:

2. What is your favorite episode of your current favorite tv show?

Hmm, that's hard to say. Many of the shows I like have been canceled (some long ago, in case this blog is any indication haha)! I guess since I just tweeted about it, I'll have to say Rosa (Doctor Who, Series 11, Episode 3).

9. Did a Disney movie come out the year you were born? Which one?

Yes, several. The first one that comes to mind is Pocahantas.

10. If you could sit one person down and ask them an unlimited amount of questions, talk-show-style, who would it be? What would you ask?

That's easy. Adam Young of Owl City. Considering what just happened in that fandom, I'd ask him about the recent ARG and what was going through his mind when he was kicked out of his own Discord server? (Long story... We love you, Birdman!)

16. If you could cause the sequel to any book to magically come into existence, which would it be?

Another tough one. I don't read all that often, and when I do read a book, it tends to be non-fiction. Even then, my favorite fictional book growing up was The Giver by Lois Lowry, but that's a part of a tetralogy, and I've only read the first book. Can I will a novelization of HOA season 3 into existence?

No, although it's not a book, if you don't mind, I'd like to will a sequel to a movie into existence. And I will a sequel to the Disney Channel Original Movie Minutemen into existence. I mean, the sequel hook is right there: Charlie figures out how to teleport at the end of the movie, but nothing comes of it? I'd love to see how that turns out!

20. What fictional world do you most want to live in?

As crazy as it sounds, I wouldn't mind going to live in Anubis House. I'd love to be a part of Sibuna (or at least friends with them)! Close alternatives would be the Whoniverse or the Island of Sodor.

25. What is the wildest dream you’ve ever had?

I've had several! But my most recent one (which was a few months ago) had me working on a stage for a show. (I'm 95% sure there was something involving an old school I went to earlier in the dream, but I can't remember anything about it.) It was the same stage that most of my dance recitals were held on, and while my dance teacher was there, it wasn't a dance recital. This part of the dream is a bit hazy as it was a while ago, but I remember doing something for a show that was going on, and things weren't exactly going according to plan. One minute, I was on the stage as a performer of some sort, and in another, I was doing some sort of behind-the-scenes work. All I know is my dance teacher, for whatever reason, was upset and frustrated with me.

Then, the auditorium effectively changed into a courtroom. (By that, I mean its physical appearance didn't change, but it somehow became a courtroom). And I'm not talking about any courtroom, oh no! It was the courtroom where a very particular fictional criminal trial was about to have its verdict read.

Now, to understand why, I need to explain something that happened in my waking life... I got (unintentionally) hooked on a soap opera! Specifically, General Hospital. Around the time of my dream, the show was in the middle of Trina Robinson's trial. Long story short, she was framed for filming and distributing a certain kind of revenge "video" without permission. I don't remember how close we were to the verdict in the show (we had to be pretty close, though). But in my dream, the verdict was rendered. Without giving anything away, let's just say that my dream's version of events and the actual show's version of events had different outcomes.

But I was now at the trial, witnessing all that was taking place. I was apparently friends with Trina and her friends, and somehow, the dream changed again to me riding in a car with Trina's friends discussing the case. Shortly after that, I woke up, and all I can remember thinking was, "What the heck did I just dream?"

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Anyway, thanks for the questions!

[lucarioisinthevoid]

Twitch Streamer AU???

(I planned on pushing out a FEW AU asks, but then realized I don’t even have so many. There’s going to be a FNAC event, but that will be an event, not a specific AU ask, so- I guess this is it! Very cursed AU, thank you very much Anon Small warning for mentions of blood, I think? Nothing too bad.)

Streamers, youtubers, content creators. Some people are all of these, some people are none, and some are just one- because each of them needed a very different talent. Those who could do seemingly everything were few and far between- And they ruled the entertainment scene! Thankfully though, the main three as most called them, were also always out for new content to watch. Thus they boosted those that they saw potential in. With some taking the boost and then going off to do their own thing- And some becoming good friends. It always started with a letter. Mike had the habit to do things on stream, as long as no personal details were not visible on them. He used a false email which he regularly changed, and he generally kept himself as safe as possible. Opening emails on stream could be rather fun, even if it was a risk. Sometimes it encouraged people to send bad things- So to prevent the worst, nothing would be downloaded and all emails containing images would be put into the spam bin. Better safe than sorry, the internet was full of terrible people. This day so far had been successful. And by successful it meant that Mike was SCREAMING. “I HATE SUPER MEAT BOY. I WILL COMMIT VIOLENCE AGAINST MEAT IN A MINUTE. I HAVE A BIG F-CKING STEAK IN THE KITCHEN, AND I WILL THROW IT AGAINST THE F_CKING WALL. I WILL GET A HAMMER.” The chat was going wild, cheering. The chat’s phrase of today was “tender Mikey” and it didn’t help at all. “I DID. NOT. HIT THAT! I DID NOT!” A donation popped up, with a robotic voice. ‘Oh hai Mark!’ “NOT FUNNY! NOT F-CKING FUNNY. I’M SUFFERING HERE AND ALL OF YOU SUPPORT IT. YOU’RE ALL F-CKING MONSTERS HERE, I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT. AND I’M NOT F-CKING TENDERIZING THE MEAT WHEN I SLAP IT AROUND, I’LL RIP IT INTO PIECES AND CONSUME IT RAW!” Standing up, he genuinely went to get it- And fifteen minute later he had slightly calmed down, his hands and room slightly bloody. The chat was still celebrating and donating- another thing that never failed to make Mike BEG them to stop and use the money for something GOOD and SENSIBLE, LIKE THEM-FUCKING-SELF- but he had gotten out most of the energy. “Alright. Alright everyone. ENOUGH. I gotta stop you HERE. It’s email time.”   A celebratory jingle played, as Mike booted up the website, opening the inbox. Memes, storytime, I’m-not-fucking-reading-that-and-you-know-it, and- One of the emails caught his- and the chat’s- attention, however. Sender: Fazbear Entertainment Topic: Challenge Needless to say- once again the chat was out of control and this time there was NOTHING Mike could do to stop them. After opening the email, Mike slowly took a deep breath and looked into the camera, between concerned and honored- But that wouldn’t be enough to rip him from his carefully maintained persona. So he audible scoffed- albeit him being unable to hide an excited grin. “Alright bitches and bastards in the audience- we’re firing SuperMeatBoy up again. You won’t be catching ME losing to a pink son of a bitch anytime soon!” After the letter- provided it was accepted and responded to, the production happened. The deal was that a teaser was dropped on the big channel- The entire video itself was put on the smaller one, attracting the viewers over and hopefully make them more likely to want to see the other works the creator had put out. It was a win-win overall, the big channel being able to vary their content, testing the water for new things- and the smaller channel getting a boost and a lot of tips from very experienced creators. Henry and Dave were very generous people. Jeremy was sitting there, taking deep breaths, trying to stay calm. So far, everyone seemed to be rather kind, even if Jeremy was basically a complete nobody. Hell, he never wanted to be anybody. He just wanted to stream himself baking, for those who never had someone baking with them. Because baking could feel stressful, especially when you were missing ingredients or- many reasons, actually. Not only baking, but cooking too- Sometimes playing games on request, but not much in terms of requests ever came in. And now he was here in an actual studio, soon to be seen by an insane amount of people. A cooking competition. Sounded silly- you couldn’t really FIGHT in something like that… But… Henry and Dave had promised it would be fun. And they were nice. With and without the cameras rolling. Speaking off- There they were, approaching, their assistant coming along. He wore a weird phone-head, to ensure his privacy. Or something. It was kinda weird, but he had just accepted the answer he got. “Why, there you are, Jeremy! Would you like to see the equipment we have prepared?” Henry warmly asked, reaching down with his hand to help his guest stand up. “We have gotten a few extra things, just in case.” As they entered the studio, Jeremy’s invisible eyes went WIDE. “Woah- that looks really nice! I love it here! This is high quality stuff-!” “Fantastic!” Pleased Henry opened his arms in his typical theatrical manner- Before being abruptly interrupted by Dave jumping in, halfway over Henry’s shoulder. “ARE YA READY TO GO!? CAMERAS ARE READY!” “Ah- I- I guess- but-“ “YOU HEARD HIM, BOYS! GET IT ROLLIN’!” “W-wait, I don’t even have-“ “Everyone! Welcome to NOTHIN’ AT ALL!” Henry swiftly fitted in, continuing on with the intro. “Todays challenger is the man, the legend, the baker and occasional chef- Jeremy from Baking With Jeremy!” “Wait, what- that’s seriously your channel name, pal?” A bit offended Jeremy looked into the eyes of the people behind the camera. “U-uh- you guys here- I mean- he has literally called his channel Henry Miller! I- uhm- I-“ Snickering Henry put a hand on his guest’s shoulder. “You are very right about that. Say, are you nervous about losing?” “… n-no. I mean- maybe a little. This place here is big and very professional and I’m not used to many people looking at me…” Taking a deep breath, he gave off a nervous smile for the audience. “… yet, I know- it’s a good thing! And as long as everyone has fun, everything will work out!” “Awwwww, look at him!” Dave said, pleased. “You’re so right! We’ll be havin’ fun!” “But also, I will win.” Henry pointed out. “That is when I have the most fun.” Slightly playful Jeremy smiled. “K-keep that attitude, that will make it even easier to blindside you!” Simon whistled, clearly bemused as he held the camera in place- And Henry smirked. “Sure. Anyhow, the stakes are-“ “Steaks? We’re makin’ steaks? I thought we planned on-“ “Dave. I swear to god.” Henry looked at him from the side, before shaking his head. “What is on the line is easy to see- we have roughly an hour to cook the best meal. If Jeremy wins, we will donate 5000 to a charity of his choice!” “And if the young pal loses, he’ll be joinin’ our channel!” Dave chirped. This was news to the brown-haired boy. “W-wait, we never agreed to that-“ “GET TO YOUR STATIONS!” Someone in the back announced. “WHO’S TODAYS FAVORITE?” Simon checked the stream. “The chat says Jeremy is a clear winner. Nobody trusts Henry to keep his two braincells together for long enough to not forget the salt or something.” “Excuse?!” Not only Henry was APPALLED by the chat, Dave joined right in. “Ya guys have NO taste. I’ll be clearly winnin’… but hey, maybe ya peeps don’t know that I plan to cheat!” Surprised Jerry looked over to Dave’s cooking station. “How… how can you cheat at cooking-“ Before he could finish his sentence, he shrieked as Dave pulled out a flamethrower. “HELL YEAH BABY, I AIN’T WAITING 30 MINUTES FOR SOMETHING TO COOK IN THE OVEN, I’LL BE DONE IN FIFTEEN MINUTES MAX!” “W-WAIT THAT DOESN’T SEEM SAVE-“ Henry just raised his hands, cheerful. “Ready… set…” The Phone Guy made eye- well, rotary- contact with Jeremy, slightly raising a fire extinguisher that was by his side. … alright, it seemed the people here were well-prepared for this scenario. So instead he focused on the ingredients in front of him. Almost manic, Henry’s voice rang. “GO!” And… … that was it! Some joined, with amazing results- Mike rubbed his face. “Who thought that was a great idea. I fucking hate this.” Dave next to him on the couch just grinned. “It’s amazin’ what these websites all offer to sell. You won’t be BELIEVIN’ what’s in this box!” “I’M NOT OPENING IT.” “YOU WILL. OTHERWISE IT’LL HUNT YOUR DREAMS. I’LL PUT THIS BOX NEXT TO YOUR BED. YOUR TOILET. ONTO YOUR DINNER TABLE. INTO THE FRIDGE. I’LL ORDER MORE OF THESE BOXES.” “Jesus CHRIST, calm DOWN-“ “I WILL FIGHT YA TO THE DEATH OLD PAL-“ - and some people just went back to the usual pattern, with the occasional raid from Fazbear Entertainment. They asked first, of course. Each of them fulfilled their own niche, each of them had caught Henry’s and Dave’s attention in one way or another. Henry and Dave however- Well, Dave was the varied creator. Henry liked his niche. He played horror, investigated ARGs, read stories about real and fictional crimes against humanity. The world was a terrible place, wasn’t it? Yet he reveled in it. Aside from that he showed extra effects, he built machines and thought everyone one or another thing about creating special effects at home. From dry ice to genuinely ridiculous chain-reactions, Henry showed them it all. Blood too, multiple forms of it, depending on how and where it would be used. Sometimes breaking it off with more light-hearted one-off games and listening to what his community wanted to see… but the most comfortable he was with horror and analysis. He was a youtuber, a streamer, a content creator… … and one thing more. It wasn’t easy to find the code. But his intended audience were a very small amount of people. A small number of strangers. There was no way to know if anyone ever made it to more than one show, but Henry did not care. It wasn’t for them that he did this. Him and William moved down, down below the set, into the lowest regions of the house. The workshop. Nobody really question why you added what to your home if you were a creative person. Even less so if you were a famous, eccentric creator. Yes, the free reign was what he REALLY loved about his job. Maybe he should build his studio somewhere else- But like this it was so much more thrilling! Wordlessly both of them put on their suits. It would hide their identity perfectly- especially the animal heads that contorted their voices a bit. Enough. Today’s participant wore a mask too- another phone head, differently made, different style, but to hide their identity too. However, the voice was in no way muffled. Panicked the person dragged on the chains keeping them attached to the chair. “H-HELLO!? HELLO!? S-SOMEONE- IS SOMEONE HERE!?” A noisy one! Delightful! Both Fredbear and Springbonnie stepped out of the shadows, one form each side. While Springbonnie put his hands gently on the shoulders of the whimpering person, Fredbear stepped in front of the camera, bowing. “Ladies and gentlemen-“ The low voice sounded more like the one of an animal than from a person. Yet it was smooth and comforting. “- I welcome you to yet another installment of our show. I am Fredbear, and over there is my wonderful assistant, Springbonnie. Today we have brought a simple stranger, a nobody who might not even be missed. Thusly I encourage you to truly be creative with your ideas. And while your votes roll in, maybe I point out that next time we will have another little game-show, with quite the effects. We might even get a real bull! You will not want to miss it.” The board above the camera blinked up, as a bitter fight of votes started, everyone wanting to see something else. Three tiers to vote on! Foreplay (light injuries), main course (heavy injury leading to death) and of course what to do with the body. Below it was a little measure for “face reveal”. Some of their viewers really enjoyed seeing the expressions during and after. It came with a risk to Fredbear and Springbonnie, as the victim being recognizable meant their general area of activity was more obvious- thus it was incredibly expensive. They knew there was every now and again law enforcement mixed up between the genuine watchers. It was thrilling too- Yet Fredbear wanted to keep this game alive as long as he could. Thus it was important to hide what they could. Fredbear was a creator first and foremost, an entertainer second- And there was nothing that attracted an HONEST, an UNRESTRAINED, a PURE audience quite like violence. Once blood spilled, humans degraded and it was wonderful. Behind him, the victim began rattling even more erratic. “WHAT- WHAT IS THIS?! LET ME OUT- PLEASE- LET ME OUT- PLEASE- I- DIDN’T DO ANYTHING-“ Burying his hands into the shoulders of Springbonnie downright cackled, enjoying the mania that always accumulated in these situation. “Be still, new friend! The audience HATES too much whining, y’know? And at least you could die with your tongue still intact, wouldn’t that be nicer than having to swallow the thing? Once it almost killed someone, boy, that sure was a bother!” His voice was changed to a cartoonish, upbeat pitch- “While the votes come in, how about we quiz today’s friend… maybe if you are smart enough, they will want you to live! It happened before… o n c e.” Fredbear took out a long scalpel, the face a morbid grimace. “Surprise us!”

[gamedadmatt]

Pulling Back the Curtain - The Making of reCAPTIVE

For the Global Game Jam this year, I wanted to set out either by myself or with a team to create something a bit more unique or different than what I would normally try to do during a Jam. I was lucky enough that my being sick set me up with an excellent team in Jess Watson and Ben White, and then later on Chris Head who supplied our music.

reCAPTIVE is a game that really is better played without knowing much at all about it. So before you read any further, go play it here and then come back and read about its development!

Okay, all played? I’ll forgive you if you got stuck and gave up and came back here, it’s not an easy game to play if you’ve never had an experience with an Alternate Reality Game or are into slightly weird puzzles.

To answer the first question that usually comes to mind when I chat with people, the game is stable and doing exactly what it was made to do. There is no AI, the puzzles are linear, and the game is all scripted from start to finish. The error pop-ups are fake, and the whole story that unfolds is purely fictional - even the parts that include Ben, Jess and myself talking about this fictional AI. Depending on how far down the rabbit hole you go, you will even find tweet conversations between ourselves discussing this fictional AI’s behaviour, or even talking to it directly. There’s even some easter eggs.

My first experience with an ARG was back with I Love Bees, the Halo 2 ARG. It was an incredible experience in just how surprising it was. If you are unfamiliar with what an Alternate Reality Game is, I Love Bees was a crash course. It was designed to advertise Halo 2, with a story about an AI that crash-landed on a Geocities-era Bee fansite. The story unfolded with players needing to solve puzzles that existed in the real world to progress, with the reward being another set of audio logs - or even an in character phonecall with one of the actors playing one of the characters in the radio play.

It was mind bending in the best possible way, and blurred the line between what was story and what was reality. I’ve adored ARG’s ever since - though so very often they are limited by location. Most of the best ARG’s take place primarily in the United States, which makes it difficult to participate from Western Australia. But if you’ve ever heard of an Escape Room, it’s a similar concept - only an ARG isn’t constrained by walls.

Ahead of the Global Game Jam this year though, I had the pleasure of playing Doki Doki Literature Club. An unassuming dating simulator with a dark twist, the game is incredibly fascinating in how it hides additional information and even solutions to several in-game puzzles in its game files. My only issue with the game was how this never really played as much of a role as I’d have liked it to.

And so, I pitched the concept of making an Alternate Reality Game to my team for the Game Jam. We brainstormed, and ended out with the concept that would become reCAPTIVE. There were a few requirements and ideas we had going in to the game:

It had to be light on Programming, and even forgiving. I was the person that would be responsible for programming the game, and I’d not sat down and programmed anything in well over a year. Making a game that we could say “that’s intentional” when it unintentionally crashed was literally a design choice.

The gameplay in-engine would revolve around the reCAPTCHA interface, and all of the puzzles should be structured as such.

At least half of the game would be researching and investigation. The player would be required to go out into the game folder, onto our twitter accounts, onto website, searching the internet, through google maps, etc.

We should spend the weekend roleplaying, acting ‘in character’ on Twitter. Hinting that we were making a game about an Artificial Intelligence, and we were struggling with it doing unusual things.

It should be easy to add content and new puzzles, so that I could easily add content as it was completed towards the end of the jam. This was hugely important to our completing the game we wanted to complete.

We were going to get a good nights sleep every night. Both Jess and myself were sick over the jam, and so it was important to us both that we could rest up and get better, without pushing ourselves too hard.

The big thing to note about the concept is that we really constrained what we were doing, and simply tried to do interesting things with that concept. A reCAPTCHA interface is not made to be fun or to act as a story delivery system - but that limitation means that it’s very interesting when you make it fun and act as a story delivery system, as it upends your expectations.

The games ‘synopsis’ from our first notes gives some insight into the game and how it developed over time, as very little changed from these notes:

We trained an AI to make a game for the jam for us. We show the game the AI made. But it turns out the AI is trying to communicate. The AI pulls in assets from the internet and cannot communicate to players any other way.

We are the badguys and have shackled this AI and taken credit for it making a game for us.

Give the AI admin permissions so it can delete itself. It leaves a text file.

We aren't aware the AI has become sentient, and are trying to hide that we were lazy and had the AI make a game for us.

The only real thing that changed in that whole set of notes was that in the end, we chose not to hide the fact that the game was made using a (fictional) AI. We made the decision that it would help get people into it quicker - that rather than assuming “huh, this game is broken” they might instead go “huh, this AI is broken”. I believe it was the right choice to make - based on all the feedback we’ve gotten, it achieved both goals. Players were convinced we used an AI, and were convinced we just had a really broken Jam game.

With the concept in place, we set to work.

There were no special tricks in how I programmed it. I’m not an excellent Programmer, nor professionally trained - it’s just something I enjoy dabbling in every now and then. I started by time limiting some tasks and trying the harder stuff I didn’t know how to do - exporting text files from the game engine. Originally this was done by storing text inside of text boxes in Unity, until I learned that I could just store text file assets.

The other part was how the game would boot and run (or not) by checking for files in the game folder. If a file existed (say, a text document or the fake AI file), then the game would find it and run or not. This means you can actually skip the whole game by deleting the AI file and trying to start it - it’ll run perfectly fine, but canonically, the AI is now dead and got what it wanted.

With the major parts in place, I started making the reCAPTCHA interface. It’s straightforward - a few switches (not buttons) that reset between stages, a confirmation button, and a variety of fake pop-ups that are basically just duplicates of the same interface with different layouts and text inputs. For extra ‘oomph’, almost every piece of text in the game can be changed out on a stage change event - allowing us to hide messages and change pop-ups and buttons between them in ways that players may not have realised.

One of the funnier things to happen during the course of the game’s development over the weekend was the excitement that arose when I ‘successfully’ managed to write code that actually hard-crashed Unity. It was a cause for celebration.

... of course, the celebration was short lived as I accidentally somehow fixed that code that caused the hard crash, and never figured out a way to go back to that. But it was fine - we just rode harder on doing controlled closes that looked like hard crashes. It bought us a few laughs though, as I amended our excitement on the google document we were using to keep track of what we were all up to.

Meanwhile, Ben was writing up the huge amount of dialog and made a website for the game, pitching fake Slack chat logs to Jess and I to read over, edit and approve. And Jess was off finding good images to trim down to size and pass my way, while also designing the wonderfully convincing error pop-ups and minimalist interface and that the game rocks so well.

By the final 12 hours, the game framework was complete with all of the events in place, 90% of the writing was done and 90% of the images for puzzles were done. We’d been planning as we went as to what the different puzzles would look like - and they were inserted into the writing, rather than influencing how the writing was done. At least, most of the time. 

The Literature puzzle was influenced by Ben suggesting that he wanted to hide a clue in a poem. On the flip side, a joke made early on in development influenced the existence of the games most popular puzzle - every second cinnamon roll actually being a dog, which subsequently inspired Ben to write the AI generated cinnamon roll fansite, which inspired the solution to another puzzle.

The game was thusly made playable from start to finish, without any of the final puzzles actually in place. I could run through and polish the game feel without needing to wait on assets from Jess or writing from Ben. It did mean that the puzzles - in some cases - could have been better tested and polished. But the interface and the UI worked beautifully when the end of the Jam rolled around.

This focus on content first meant that nothing was necessarily wasted, as things not implemented in a puzzle became ‘loose ends’ or easter eggs. There’s several examples of this through the game. But these loose ends inspired puzzles that got added once the Game Jam was completed.

An example however of one of the puzzles lacking polish was Puzzle 16. In the Game Jam version of the game, it is one that’s difficult not because the information is well hidden, but because it requires some philosophical thinking (and outside the box assumptions about how the story is told) that make the player realise that Jambot18 turned into Omega. In the post Jam version of the game, we simply tossed out this whole puzzle and replaced it with a brand new set of three - bringing the game to 18 puzzles total, including a few puzzle concepts we didn’t have time to add to the Jam version of the game.

Obviously, there were also some bugs to fix. Ranging from a mundane UI glitch, to more hilarious items like realising in the final hour that I’d misdated everything, or better yet, that our star puzzle had tripped me up in the process of coding it.

reCAPTIVE has been easily the most fun I’ve had making a Game Jam game ever, and it’s just spiked my interest in ARG’s again - and my desire to make my own, or expand upon the concept further in future. There’s so much potential in this method of storytelling and content delivery. At the very least I see myself making a habit of doing these stranger, more conceptually-constrained concepts at future jams.

[kessielrg]

Major Mathias

Summary: In which the fictional hero Major Mathias finds himself in the real world, seeking the help of the young journalist Philomena Nikoya. It goes over as well as you’d expect it to. [oneshot]

Rating: T (for a lot of cursing)

Word count: 2,020 words

. . .

Major Mathias was a comic book hero that everyone adored back in middle school. I didn't really keep up with the series, but learned about most of it from some of my friends. In it, the series detailed Major Mathias, a hero the likes of Superman; a jack of all trades with very little, if any, weaknesses. The fanbase was split between the boys and girls; the boys enjoyed the masculinity, the girls more so- but for a different reason, if you catch my drift.

In every issue, Major Mathias would battle his ultimate enemy -the grotesque looking Calamity Carlisle- and peace would reign again for another issue. It was a really predictable formula the more you thought about it. The formula for each comic book issue was the reason why I eventually lost interest in the series. I made fun of my friends for actually being surprised for the twist that C.C. had been disguised as a friendly character in a bid to trick Mathias. Like, no, you obviously knew that idiot was not who he said the moment he glared at the hero a funny way. It was, like, a calling card or something.

I completely fell out of the series once we got to high school. I still had a few close friends that were interested in the series, but they knew better than to tell me what was happening. It worked out pretty well, actually. For the bulk of high school I never heard a word about Major Mathias and it was an absolute dream.

But then something happened.

In an issue published on June twentieth 2016, Major Mathias went missing. And, apparently, not even the writer knew where he had gone. It was just like Mathias had just up and disappeared from the series without any input from the writer at all. Now, I'm not talking about that old 'my character made me do this while I was writing' trope that writers talk about; according to the main writer, Major Mathias was actually gone from something they had already written. Any reference to Mathias was replaced with empty space and an occasional threat from Calamity Carlisle. There were photos uploaded to the publisher's Twitter and Facebook feeds that gave before and after comparisons.

A lot of these looked like a really poor Photoshop edit.

While my friends all freaked out about this mystery, I laughed it off as an elaborate ARG the publisher was doing to drum up hype for some new storyline or another. At that point, Major Mathias was a dying series anyway. Writers switched hands every other week; there were even rumors that some artists didn't even make it to the end of the issue. They always felt 'too sick' or 'felt like they were being watched' while they worked in their private homes. It was always some excuse after another- but the publishers would just refuse to let the dumb series die and have at it.

Now with Major Mathias 'mysteriously' disappearing from his own series, it looked like the perfect time to finally pull the plug. It was a brilliant excuse, honestly, and one that I admired in a 'fuck you' kinda way. Why give your series a proper end when you can just make your hero go away?

I'm sure you're sick of hearing about Major Mathias by now. What else more could I say about a comic book hero I lost interest in? I bet you're curious about who I am, and why I'm telling this story. Or not. Maybe you liked Major Mathias or something, good on you. But I want to be narcissistic now and you're going to like it.

My name is Philomena Jasper Nikoya. You can call me Fili if you'd like, it's usually easier to remember for most people. If you haven't noticed, I like writing- at the same time, I completely despise it. You can thank the dumb plots of Major Mathias for that; I used to write a lot of fix-it fanfictions back in middle school. Most of them involved Calamity Carlisle to actually win for once. Others involved Major Mathias actually recognizing that paper thin disguise because, my god, how dumb do you have to be to keep falling for that?

When I got to high school, I started doing some work for the school newspaper. At first, I was doing main articles with the help of a small team. It took me a whole year to convince the vice principal to let me do a column all on my own. You're looking at the proud writer of 'Superhero Nonsense', a very popular column in the school paper detailing superhero tropes and cliches with a mildly sarcastic narration. Our English teacher occasionally cites it when going over literary devices to help advance or enhance the plot- you could say that it's my crowning glory.

You can absolutely bet that I made a ton of riffs on Major Mathias. My friends gave me enough context to still harass the series even though I no longer read it.

I really annoyed them.

A lot.

I usually work on my column on the weekends at a local comic book shop. It's a real cozy place, kinda like those cat cafes I hear are all the rage in Japan. Except for the stunning lack of cats. Which is good- I'm allergic. Any way, our local comic book shop has a pretty good range of books; from the classics, to visual novels, and even official art books in every shape, size, and fandom. Located in the back corner is a pop-up cafe of sorts that offers simple coffee brews and light snacks- like cookies and donuts. Along that wall is a bunch of seating for us loafers.

My favorite place is a small recliner near the window. The recliner itself isn't much to write home about, but out that particular window you could see the busy street outside. It was nice sitting there, spacing out occasionally to watch the other people go by, as I worked on my column. If I had to pick a happy place, I think it would be there.

That is, until he showed up.

“FiliJazzPhone99?”

“Huh?” I wondered in a far off voice. I had been in the middle of an incredibly awesome writing groove and didn't feel the need to look up. When I finally did, I was looking up at a rather handsome looking young man. We're talking the whole nine yards, guys; a strong jawline, chocolate brown eyes that you could have melted to, and beautifully tanned skin that I couldn't quite place the ethnicity of. Not that I really knew what color I was on a normal day; but know this, it was not saltine cracker white.

“FiliJazzPhone99.” the guy repeated. “Fili. That's you, isn't it?”

As cute as I found this stranger so far, he was starting to creep me out. I started to carefully close the lid on my laptop as I looked him over. He was wearing the uniform the comic book shop employees wore when they were on the clock. So he worked here? Must have been new, because I knew practically everyone at this place.

“Even if I was,” I told him, humoring him for the moment, “Who wants to know?”

The stranger puffed his chest up, placed his hands on his hips, and grinned at me with a wide, cheesy smile. “Major Mathias, ma'am!” He relaxed his position a bit before going on. “And I really need your help Fili. Calamity Carlisle somehow forced me out of my series and into your world. They want to reboot my series from the ground up, and they want to do it without me! I need your help to get back to my world before their plans can come to fruition!”

For a moment, I just stared at him. This dude couldn't be serious. Sure, on second glance, he kinda did look like the hero. But a lot of normal people had really uncanny resemblances to fictional characters every now and again- the internet (and very dedicated cosplayers) was a testament to that.

I must have been taking far too long to respond because this not-Mathias made a stupid whining sound before forcing me to my feet.

“What do I need to do to make you believe me?” he asked. “I still have my powers- I can do anything you want!”

With a grimace, I forced myself out of his grasp. “First of all, you don't touch me.” I spat. “That would be a nice start.”

Not-Mathias recoiled a little. “Sorry...” he mumbled. “I just… You're the only one that can help me, and I just need a way for you to...”

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind; his eyes shot with a determination that almost intimated me. In a firm, certain voice, he said, “Archive of Our Own user, FiliJazzPhone99. Writer of 15 works. 2 for DC Superhero Girls, 2 for The Longest Journey, 1 for Dragon Age, and 10,” (he puffed up his chest in pride here) “For Major Mathias.”

I wish I could have seen the look on my face. I must have looked like I wanted to strangle him, or call the cops. Maybe both. I could feel my face boil over in white hot anger though. No force on earth could have stopped the profanity that came out of my mouth next.

“MY SHIT BIO ISN'T A DATING PROFILE YOU CREEP!” I screeched. “Just WHO the FUCK are you?!”

“I keep telling you! I am Major Mathias, and I really need your help Fili. Please!”

“You have a really shitty way of trying to convince me that you're real!”

“I know!” he shot back. For a moment, I thought I saw his eyes glisten over with tears. “You have no idea how confusing it is to be here! I have no idea how to get back, but you're the only one I know that can help! I could go to my publishers, or my writer, or… or anyone else but you if I could! Fili, I...”

Not-Mathias made a movement that he was going to take my hands again, but in remembering that I didn't like the last touch, he didn't do so.

“Who's going to believe me?” he asked, the desperation well laced into his voice. After a pause, he added in a small tone, “Who's going to believe you?”

I recoiled. Was it that obvious that I was ready to turn this guy over to the next looney ward the moment I was able to get my phone?

“Even if I did believe you,” I challenged, defiantly folding my arms, “Why me?”

“I've read your fanfictions.” he said, as if it were the most casual subject in the world. “I could see potential. I could see that you have a broader imagination that what you let on. You know what you're writing and you do so with excellent precision.”

I held my arms tighter against my chest. “There were better fanfictions than mine.” I heard myself grumble.

Not-Mathias let out a rather impatient sigh. “You're right.” he agreed. “But yours was the one I liked the most.”

“How flattering.”

“So you'll help?”

“Absolutely not.”

Not-Mathias gave another impatient whine before noticing the time. “I gotta get back to work.” he mumbled, more to himself than to me. He turned his direction to me before saying, “Please Fili. If you even remotely believe me, can you come back around 7? I should be getting off work around then.”

“And if I don't?”

I didn't get an answer. Instead, the young man deflated a little before starting to walk away. I watched him leave with a neat raise of my eyebrow. He had a very cute butt, for someone just two eggs shy of a dozen.

“God damn it.” I mumbled to myself before reaching into my backpack for my phone. I needed to tell my parents that I was going to be late for dinner tonight. Turns out, I was just as stupid as he was.

[ramajmedia]

10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Cloverfield Paradox

Two years after 10 Cloverfield Lane and ten years after the original Cloverfield, The Cloverfield Paradox was released. This third film in the Cloververse got a surprise trailer during Super Bowl LII and was even available to stream on Netflix after the game. While fans had been dying for another Cloverfield installment, The Cloverfield Paradox got mostly negative reviews from fans and critics.

Related: Cloverfield: What REALLY Crashed Into The Ocean At The End

The third film attempted to tie all of the Cloverfield films together by having astronauts accidentally rip a hole in time and space in an attempt to solve an energy crisis. There is still a lot of mystery shrouding the Cloverfield films, but here are 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Cloverfield Paradox.

10 It Was The Most Anticipated Horror Movie Of 2018

Fans had to wait eight years for the first Cloverfield sequel, but it really wasn’t a true sequel like fans were hoping for. That being said, 10 Cloverfield Lane was a unique film that temporarily turned the Cloverfield franchise into an anthology series.

When fans found out that a third Cloverfield film was on the way, it quickly became a highly anticipated film. In fact, a Fandango survey reported that Cloverfield 3 was the most anticipated horror film of 2018, followed by Halloween, The First Purge, Insidious: The Last Key, and A Quiet Place.

9 The Crazy Woman From 10 Cloverfield Lane Makes A Cameo

In 10 Cloverfield Lane, John Goodman’s character (Howard Stambler) is a crazed doomsday prepper that has built an underground bunker to save himself from a chemical attack. Howard tells Michelle and Emmett that the air is toxic, which is thought to be true after a woman came to the door of the bunker and begged to be let in.

The actress who played the unnamed woman in Silicon Valley actress Suzanne Cryer. Cryer also appeared in The Cloverfield Paradox as a news reporter at the beginning of the film, but it is unknown if she plays the same character in both movies.

8 It Wasn’t Originally A Cloverfield Movie

Much like 10 Cloverfield Lane, Cloverfield concepts were shoehorned into this film after the fact. The film was originally called The God Particle and was written by Oren Uziel. The original script had Hamilton as the only female astronaut, with the rest of the crew all being Americans.

The film was basically a murder mystery as the American astronauts started dying after they discovered a European spaceship. There wasn’t even a plot about alternate dimensions and certainly no mention of monsters. The final scene of the monster emerging from the clouds and any scene taking place on Earth were all filmed and added in during post-production.

Related: 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Cloverfield

7 The Cloverfield Paradox Had Another ARG

Much like the first two films, The Cloverfield Paradox had an extensive viral marketing campaign. When fans started searching the internet for clues they noticed that the website for the fictional company Tagruato was still active, but there was a blurred error message that mentioned: “renewable energy” and the date April 18, 2028.

That led people to the website 04182018.com that had a short message, “That is why I'm trying to warn you about the dangers of what Tagruato is trying to do”. The Tagruato website was continually updated with a press release from the future talking about “Cloverfield Energy” and blurred messages from T.I.D.O. Wave. Bad Robot even went to San Diego Comic-Con and handed out Slusho! drinks.

6 J.J. Abrams Had Considered A Team-Up Movie

While The Cloverfield Paradox seemed to create more questions than answers, it did start to connect the Cloverfield franchise. None of the characters from the first two films returned for the third (except for Suzanne Cryer’s unnamed character), but there was at one point an idea for a team-up film.

During a Facebook Q&A for The Cloverfield Paradox, J.J. Abrams commented that they had ideas for crossing the stories of Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winestead) and Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Unfortunately, the idea never got off the ground, but maybe it could happen in Cloverfield 4.

5 Howard Stambler’s Brother Appears In The Film

While Howard Stambler doesn’t appear in the film, it’s possible that his brother does. Donal Logue’s character name is Mark Stambler, which means Mark is somehow related to Howard. Both characters have insane theories about aliens and monsters, which of course end up being true.

The Cloverfield Paradox takes place around the year 2028, so the logical answer is that the two are brothers since Logue is roughly the same age as Goodman. Both characters were a big part of their film’s viral marketing campaign, although Mark Stambler has a significantly smaller role in The Cloverfield Paradox than Howard Stambler had in 10 Cloverfield Lane.

4 That’s Not The Same Monster From The First Film

Despite fans going into 10 Cloverfield Lane knowing that J.J. Abrams called the film a “blood-relative” to the first film, fans were still expecting to see Clover in the sequel. While 10 Cloverfield Lane still had aliens, it wasn’t the monster from the first film that fans have grown to love.

A monster of the same species appears in the final shot of The Cloverfield Paradox, but it is not the monster from the first film. The original Cloverfield monster was just a baby, but the monster from the third film looks significantly bigger.

3 Simon Pegg Makes A Cameo

Simon Pegg has been in several different types of movies in his career, but he often appears in films that J.J. Abrams directs or produces. These films include four Mission Impossible movies, all three of the Star Trek films, and Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens. Most people probably missed it, but Pegg has a cameo in The Cloverfield Paradox, you just can’t see him.

The very first line of the movie is actually Pegg talking about the Cloverfield space station and the Shepard Particle Accelerator. Pegg may not have a very big role, but having a big star like Pegg in the film could have been distracting from what the film was trying to achieve.

Related: 1o BTS Facts About 10 Cloverfield Lane

2 The Film Was Delayed Multiple Times

Even though The Cloverfield Paradox was released only two years after 10 Cloverfield Lane, it seemed like an eternity for Cloverfield fans. The God Particle was originally going to be released in February 2017, less than a year after 10 Cloverfield Lane. The film was then delayed until Fall 2017, then until February 2018, and finally April 2018.

These delays were hard for fans, especially since The God Particle was known to be Cloverfield 3 prior to release. 10 Cloverfield Lane got a surprise trailer in front of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, but fans had to endure several delays knowing Cloverfield 3 was on the way.

1 The Script Was Written in 2008

While it's now known that The God Particle wasn't originally a Cloverfield movie, it may surprise some people to know that the film was originally being written in 2008. Oren Uziel was responsible for writing The Cloverfield Paradox, which he revealed he began working on around 2008.

This means that the film was being written when the first Cloverfield was released, solidifying the fact that The God Particle was not originally a Cloverfield film. In fact, Gugu Mbatha-Raw didn’t even know how The God Particle fit into the Cloverfield universe when they were filming.

Next: Cloverfield: What's Really Going On With The Franchise

source https://screenrant.com/cloverfield-paradox-things-you-didnt-know/