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pinkysfaultorbrainsfault · 5 years ago

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pinky and the brain - s1e3a: tokyo grows

episode summary: inexplicably existing in post-war japan, brain hijacks a shrink ray he just found laying around in order to make it a growth ray. he intends to dress pinky up as terrifying local monster gollyzilla, and pretend to defeat him, so the japanese people... elect him... president. of. japan.

all i’m gonna say is shinzo abe’s replacement has a hell of a lot coming to him if that’s a job requirement.

the rundown:

IT IS TOKYO IN 1956.

you can tell because it says “tokyo 1956″ in big letters at the bottom of the screen.

as we take a detour into acmeshito labs, senior-ly produced by tom ruegger,

we see a fellow sacrificing his shoes to the shoe gods. (sorry about that weird line at the bottom. vlc player has just decided it’s doing that now, i guess. nothing i can do about it.)

inside, some other lads, who have all been produced by peter hastings (my, the man gets around) are shrinking tvs for fun and giggles.

“at last! professor mifune! you have perfected the process of shrinking electronic devices, so we can sell them to americans for a lot of money!”

hm.

“yes, shimura, and now i say to you! miniturisation will be very,

BIG.”

and then they both shuffle over to stand in front of each other and laugh in a weird stilted way.

HA. HAHAHA. HAHAHA. i’m not sure if this is making fun of japanese people, or a common trend in japanese media (or voice acting?) at the time, but, um, i’m uncomfortable.

thankfully, the newly miniturised radio advertises that Legendary Prehistoric Monster Gollyzilla has been spotted, and apparently

the emperor wants mifune’s scientific opinion on gollyzilla

GOLLYZILLA

so maybe it’s best for mifune and shimura to get the fuck out of dodge.

so the two of them make a hasty retreat - after toeing their shoes back on, of course.

but who are these two!

brain looks pensive. i don’t know what’s in that waterbottle, but he’s having a tiny mousie crisis. pinky is narfing at him with little to no concern for his mental state.

still, crisis or not, brain has a world to take over. he mentions to pinky that the scentific equipment before them will be “invaluable for his plan to”

“TAKE OVER THE WORLD.” we really do get one per episode, huh.

“you mean you’re going to shrink down all the electronic so only mice can operate them?”

which is a reasonable idea, i think. brain counters it with “don’t be absurd, pinky, there’s no future in minaturisation,” and clarifies that is is big things that strike fear into the hearts of humans.

like that ridiculous legend of gollyzilla. <gay little hands on hip pose>

as pinky ponders whether Kay Ballard is In The Union (sorry, pinky, she’s dead) brain explains that his intent is to alter the shrink ray into a growth ray, to “become a four hundred foot tall mouse and save the world from gollyzilla.”

“but you just. said there was no such thing as gollyzilla, brain.”

“there is now, pinky.”

did we really need another closeup for that line, guys? really? is it not enough to have the mouse say his lines without shoving the camera into his face? must the man deepthroat the camera every time he has things to say?

anyway brain’s plan is to dress pinky up as gollyzilla and “save tokyo” from him. you can tell because the camera angle makes it look like his head is on gollyzilla’s body.

this random man takes a toke from his old timey pipe. “yes, i see.” he says. this is not explained.

as brain reverses the shrink ray into a growth ray, pinky makes his debut.

TADAAAAAAA POIT.

“what do you think, brain? pretty scaaaaaaary, eh?”

“yes, pinky. terrifying. stand by.”

boop.

there probably won’t be a lot left of the lab when brain is done, unfortunately.

but hey! check this out!

“narf.”

“where are you, brain? i can’t see you.”

“i’m down--”

bonk.

well, he’s clearly dead, so i guess that’s this review over.

jokes, of course. lucky for us, brain is still alive, and he has brought a little megaphone with him! awwww.

“now, go on your rampage, gollyzilla!” he’s very hype for that, it appears. pinky tries his best not to disappoint.

NARF POIT I AM PINKZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS

AARGHGGHGHH RAAARGHGHG ARGH.

it’s this random man again. “yesss, i see.” i don’t know who he is, or why he’s here, and i am scared.

but never mind him. we cut to this adorable straight couple chilling on this bridge.

“i love you, fumiko.”

“and i love you, hershel.”

awwww.

unfortunately, famously heterophobic legendary monster gollyzilla is here. “hello!” he says, cheerily. “i’m on a rampage. narf.”

fumiko and hershel get the fuck out of dodge.

still, pinky’s having fun, and that’s what matters.

though bits of his costume are coming off.

“oooh, i can’t see through this thing!”

“oh.”

“oh no! the giant monster is moulting!”

rip that guy, i guess. upon attempting to recover his lost glove, pinky accidentally spikes his tail on a nearby building in the process.

“egad. i’m all a tangle!”

he gives it a yank, for good measure,

and ends up catapulting himself into the abyss.

the random man is back. “yesss, i see,” he says. what does he want? what is he doing here? please don’t smoke in front of me, sir. i have real bad asthma.

meanwhile, brain is making himself “the largest mouse on earth, and hero of the planet.”

donk.

this frame is terrifying so obviously i’m making everyone look at it.

“people of tokyo! do not fear! i, brainodo, have come to save you!”

i’m not sure they’re convinced. the army have shown up, by this point.

“it’s another giant monster! even more ugly than gollyzilla!”

rude.

brain suggests that, perhaps, he is actually an artificially enlarged labmouse here to save them from gollyzilla, and maybe they could thank him by making them emperor.

the military do not agree.

so, yknow, maybe it’s best that he goes to look for pinky.

“how can i save the city from gollyzilla with no gollyzilla!” yells brain, as he steps on a school bus and either, 1, kills like 40 children, or 2, ruins the setpiece for melanie martinez’s 2019 music video “wheels on the bus.”

(no one’s watching us don’t give a fuck wheels on the bus ou ou)

anyway it’s a good thing that pinky has decided to spontaniously burst out of this lake. man’s really commiting to the role, huh.

again, he’s having fun.

brain is less impressed.

after admonishing pinky for running off,

brain reminds him to “make the battle look realistic”. their plan, of course, depends on it.

TAKE THAT, YOU HORRIBLE BEAST

ouch.

pinky sure is putting a weird amount of effort into this battle. and pyrotechnics??? yeah.

bonk.

yeet.

as brain unflomphs himself, and prepares to strike back, pinky comes over to see what’s going on.

“scuse me, brain.”

“go away, pinky. can’t you see i’m fighting with pinky?”

“oh, but. wait.”

“how can you be fighting with me over there, if i’m over here?”

“it’s a very simple principle, pinky! it’s because!”

“that’s the real gollyzilla.”

and by the looks of things, he’s not very happy.

conclusion:

pinky’s first instinct, upon seeing The Real Gollyzilla (please stand up, please stand up) brandishing a building at them, is to pick brain up and flee in terror.

it’s very cute. he just scoops him up and nopes him away. not today, gollyzilla. not today.

gollyzilla, unfortunately, seems pretty bloody determined to make it today.

unfortunately, in his quest to deliver brain to safety, pinky walks right into a pylon.

bonk. they fall over. ):

and unfortunately, they fell directly onto what was once acmeshito labs, which activates the growth ray in the process.

it’s this guy again.

who are you??? what the fuck do you want?? why are you just smoking your pipe and looking at me like that and saying yesss, i seeeee. what do you see??? did the newslady send you??? what do you want from me??????

he gets shot by the growth ray. good. die.

the mice, as you can imagine, are not having a great time of things right now.

gollyzilla is fully prepared to bonk them on the head.

but oh! what is this?

random man? is that you? are you our hero, random man? is this your redemption arc?

do you see now, random man? what do you see?

well, he just yeeted a building, so jot that down.

he seems to be preparing himself to yeet gollyzilla, too.

same.

the mice duck out of the way as the fearsome creature is launched like an olympic sport. good thing tokyo 2020 got cancelled, i guess.

air lizard. nyoom. unfortunately they land on the remains of acmeshitu labs,

and nudges the growth ray in the process.

it goes a bit haywire.

the mice look on, perturbed, as it starts firing at random objects.

like this building.

and that fire hydrant.

and that building.

and this, uh.

city?

um????

oh dear.

at least acmeshito labs is going back in for repairs.

“it’s a shame we’re not giant any more, brain.”

“we are, pinky. unfortunately, so is everything else. our relative smallness remains.”

alright. that’s the end of that one, i guess. that’s going down as a solid outside influence.

brain: 5 ½ pinky: 6 ½ outside influence: 11

brilliant, brain!

but oh, wait, no. is earth like, 400 times its’ previous size, now? surely that can’t be good for the universe????

what are your thoughts, bbc science focus?

well. that’s not good.

#patb #pinky and the brain #before each night is done they'll prove their mousey worth #by the dawning of the sun they'll cause the biggest extinction event earth has ever seen #they're dinky.

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sparky6230 · 7 years ago

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He lives!!!!!! This was a mouse that escaped from our immunology lab and was recaptured and will now be our pet. His name is Tiberius and he is awesome! #mouse #labrat #labmouse #pet #Musmusculus #musmusculusdomesticus #immunology

#pet #musmusculus #immunology #labrat #musmusculusdomesticus #labmouse #mouse

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pandaladie · 2 years ago

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she looks more than a gigantic mouse than a cat

labmouse?

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xen0lush · 2 years ago

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(flirting) hey, do you wanna develop folie à deux together?

#labmouse #psychology #oc

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leoperalta76 · 2 years ago

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Esta ilustración que creé hace unos años, disponible en una edición de 50 ejemplares firmados y numerados, es un homenaje a los ratones de laboratorio, inspirada en el monumento que les rinde homenaje en la ciudad rusa de Nobosibirsk ✨🐁✨

#LabMouse #Illustration #Mickey #老鼠 #MickeyMouse #mouse #Málaga #shippingworldwide

#マウス #mickey #mickeymouse #pop art #art #Málaga

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roadfromtheashes · 7 years ago

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Roadhog and Labmouse.

Crime duo extraordinaire. I can see the headlines now.

#I guess I am excited.

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drangelmachine · 8 years ago

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Two of #myfavorite old #cartoons with very similar plots and elements.... #sidebyside !! #❤ #🤘 #👍#😀 #😁 #😍 #😎 #InvaderZim #Nick #Nickelodeon #Zim #alien #Irken #invader #Gir #robot #trustysidekick #sidekick #droid #android #burrito #biscuits #chickenlegs #tacos #🌮 #taquitos #doomsong #doomdoom #doom #ItsME #IwastheTurkeyALLALONG #random #spontaneous #PinkyandTheBrain #WB #WarnerBros #Brain #genius #mathamatics #science #Areyouponderingwhatimpondering #AreyouponderingwhatimponderingPinky #Pinky #insane #Narf #Poit #funny #cute #labmice #labmouse #labratory #mice #mouse #Trytotakeovertheworld #Evil #Mischievous

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swipestream · 7 years ago

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Gnome Stew Notables – Laura Simpson

Welcome to the next installment of our Gnome Spotlight: Notables series. The notables series is a look at game developers in the gaming industry doing good work. The series will focus on female game creators and game creators of color primarily, and each entry will be a short bio and interview. We’ve currently got a group of authors and guest authors interviewing game creators and hope to bring you many more entries in the series as it continues on. If you’ve got a suggestion for someone we should be doing a notables article on, send us a note at [email protected]. – Head Gnome John

Meet Laura

Laura Simpson is both a game and user experience designer, who designs compelling and creative games. In 2017 she concluded a successful Kickstarter supporting Companions’ Tale, a storytelling and mapmaking game that builds up the mythos of a hero from the perspectives of the people and world around them. She also authored the nanogame “Driving to Reunion” for the #Feminism anthology. Laura co-created and shares the Sweet Potato Press imprint with Dev Purkayastha. Sweet Potato Press, as described on its website, creates games that “tell surprising, memorable stories from a variety of perspectives.”

Her works include: Companions’ Tale, “Driving to Reunion”

@labmouse on twitter

Talking With Laura

Note: This is an abridged version of the full interview. Some questions were added after the fact to divide the interview up more and promote readability.

Question 1: Could you start off by telling me a little bit about yourself and how you got into game design?

I’m Laura Simpson. I’m a game designer, and also a user experience designer. That combination really informs how I approach game design and they just kind of inform each other. I’ve been a gamer most of my life. I would say that, I was that kid running around saying, let’s play pretend. I got an Atari when I was five, and every new generation up until—when my parents wouldn’t buy them for me anymore, then I’d buy them for myself. And I would make up games. I was really interested in games and technology, so I played a lot of various online based games, like stuff in Prodigy (an online service that predates the Internet in the 90s), like Mad Maze, a RPG on Prodigy. I was really excited about what type of emergent narrative you could get out of those sort of games. I played a lot of MUDs and MUSHs in the mid to late ’90s. Instead of hanging out and having fun in the outside world, it was like, I’m going to have some fun on the internet with these randos.

Question 2: So how do you think that influenced your game design now?

I think that the way that a lot of those MUDs and MUSHs were structured was a big influence for me. It made me really think about how to make it fun for everyone. Sometimes you’d just be sitting in a room by yourself, essentially, and then someone would join, and you had a lot of … A lot of the communities, you had control over your own narrative, and there was a lot of talk about, what does it mean when someone tries to force a narrative onto you?

I got really used to the idea of autonomy. I would put the effort into introducing myself. My first experience with Vampire Masquerade was through a MUSH and thinking really carefully about how I interacted in the world and the environment around me. Even though there wasn’t a ton to really reinforce the environment.

But I think that all of this really kind of informed me, and I had a really strong concept of wanting to play games, wanting to play with other people, wanting to have a good time.

Question 3: What other experiences have influenced you as a gamer and designer?

I went to Smith, a women’s college. I was a part of this science fiction and fantasy society, even though the organization wasn’t explicitly about gaming, I attended during a time when there were many members who wanted to game.

And that was a huge deal to me. One of my first GMs was a woman. I eventually GMed some games myself, and we were really encouraging, even when it went badly, we were really encouraging.

There was just a lot of room to be interested in gaming, to read game books, and just to be an ecstatic fan.

I think that the timing of being there really meant a lot for me in terms of growing into gaming, being able to have access to people who were interested in it, passionate about it. There was one particular [first year] woman in my senior year who was like, “I’ve ran games for all my friends throughout my high school years.” And we had this incredible game of Big Eyes, Small Mouth. She really introduced a lot of structure in the thematic arcs, and all the women in the game, we all got to be mighty, big heroes. It felt great.

In this close-knit community, there was an opportunity to explore. We were all between 18-22 and we were trying to figure ourselves out. It was a fruitful time to explore different social dynamics and expression. You’re growing so much during that time, and you’re also trying to figure out what it means to navigate a game, and a game table.

It was an opportunity to be really flexible about what kind of gaming that you do.

Question 4: So how did you move, then, from playing and all these games to designing and making your own?

After college, I had a gap when I wasn’t playing with other people in-person. I was mostly doing online gaming. World of Warcraft had come out, so I was playing that, as well as other RPGs, like various Final Fantasies. I moved to Florida to complete a second bachelors in fine art. In my senior year I discovered a passion for new media and electronic art. I took a game design class, but I did not do a game design for my thesis

Also around that time, I met some indie gamers in New York. It was totally different from what I was doing before. I was playing really small, intimate games where I was actually sitting at the table with the person who might have written the game.

With all those things on my periphery, I realized I wanted to stay in the know of what’s going on with tabletop roleplaying games. I started thinking: what else can I do? What do I feel comfortable doing? What kind of topics do I want to take on?

I started reading a lot more, and socializing with all these indie game designers. They had different ideas for games that astounded me. It felt similar to the design process involved in a strong community of practice.

The community also reminded me of art. There’s a lot of exploration and sharing concepts you want people to engage with. There’s an adage in both design school and art school: in design, you’re solving problems, whereas in art, you’re creating them. Then, in gaming, you’re doing both. You’re engaging people and creating the situation for them to think about and react to. The players have to come up with ways to comprehend what’s going on and contextualize it, because everyone has different experiences. I find that exciting.

Then I got into user experience design, which developed into a design practice where I can think about each aspect of the experience I want someone to have, such as the table atmosphere or the type of play I want to see or encourage.

The experience expands beyond the game’s genre or the type of play taking place. It includes safety concerns and the questions I want someone to think about at the table. For example, what does it mean to have an unreliable narrator, and accept their humanity? In Companions’ Tale—it’s all about questioning what exactly makes a hero a hero, and humanizing this person. It is also about understanding that there’s not a single ownership of the truth, and expanding the meanings of archetypes.

Question 5: Do you want to explain a little bit about what Companions’ Tale is?

I describe it as a map making story game that tells the hero’s journey through the perspective of the hero’s companions.

The hero is not a playable character, nor are they represented by any type of face card. The hero is not necessarily like the heroes in Hollywood blockbusters; they are a person who has done some acts others consider heroic.

In this game players are not only telling the story about this person who’s a hero, they’re telling these stories about the companions, the people who occupy all these different roles that are important to this hero’s life. In the course of play, each player has a lot of autonomy over who the companions are, how they see themselves, and how they see the hero. Each person has their individual spotlight and moment to share their truth and importance. No one says, “No, the hero really wouldn’t have done that.” It’s really important to allow someone to say, “I am the mentor of the hero,” and they tell a story about [their time] with the hero.

The only thing that the players do not have is power over their face. I commissioned a set of 20 cards that all have different faces, different ages, different backgrounds. They’re all different potential faces of the companions. Any of those faces can be any of those companions.

Question 6: Why is that?

At first, I had the cards face up, giving players a limited choice. Then, during an early playtest with an alpha of the game, a player drew the lover card and looked at the faces. They chose a young light-skinned woman who looked very feminine and said, “Oh, this looks like the lover.” So I asked them what they meant by that. I don’t want to reinforce these sort of ideas. I want people to actually challenge themselves.

I decided in this one moment, that the companion’s face is not something players are going to choose, because every single one of these face cards could be someone’s lover. There’s not a limit on who you can be in love with. And the same thing for any of these other roles.

Question 7: Do you enjoy playtesting?

Playtesting makes me super happy because you have an opportunity to put together something and see what happens. I love it when players point out something that’s not working, because it’s an opportunity. It lets me take that mechanic, that rule set, or the way I laid something out, and make it better. That’s really important.

Question 8: So what is your advice for play testing, then? So what advice would you give someone who wants to be better at play testing?

As a user experience designer, I design software. One part of being a user experience designer is writing scripts for when doing usability tests with software. The idea behind scripts is that they take away the pressure of having to remember what to say.

When you’re playtesting, think about the things you want to test, what makes sense to test within the timeframe you have, and how you want feedback. Some people want to give feedback as it goes. Other people want to get to a certain point, and then get feedback.

Experiences will vary. If you’re unsure the first time you playtest, tweak your process a little and try again. You don’t have to have one single way of testing.

Don’t be afraid to change your plan if it’s not working or stop people mid-game. If you’re doing a playtest, you want people to have fun, but you’re really there to gather information so that your full game is fun.

I tend to say, “Okay, so I’d like to do this type of scenario,” and I set it up. I’m not there to GM; I’m testing whether specific mechanics, the ordering, and game works. I think people get caught up this idea that they’re playing a game for recreational purposes, but during a playtest, the focus is really about testing. Players will understand.

Question 9: Where you think gaming in general is going, and where do you hope it goes?

I think that gaming is becoming more inclusive. At first, when I went to conventions, I would sometimes feel a little sad and lonely. Now I meet all of these wildly different people who are really excited and passionate. It’s way broader than I ever thought it’d be.

There’s also so much room for making different types of games. I love that there’s so many different types of games and creators. I think that that variety is going to continue growing and improve even more. The resources are out there.

Kickstarter is also, in many ways, creating more equal, even ground. It’s not perfect, but it allows people to take a concept and reach people that would otherwise never hear of it.

Gaming is also mainstream. It’s not weird to be gaming. It’s incredible. We’re not so niche anymore. I love that there’s so many different people, and I love meeting people who are interested in playing all kinds of games.

Question 10: All right, I have one last question, unrelated to gaming entirely. What are some books, TV shows, or songs that you think people should check out?

I know it requires a subscription, but you should watch Star Trek Discovery. It’s amazing. I think some people go in expecting Next Generation, but it’s not. The genre has moved on. A lot other space-oriented entertainment has has happened since then. I think it’s completely worth the subscription.

As for reading, look up N. K. Jemisin. You should read all of N. K. Jemisin without exception, no caveats. I adore all of her work. She is incredible. The Dreamblood duology has such lush and incredible writing, you could smell the air just reading it. So, yes, all of it. I recommend all of her work.

Thanks for joining us for this entry in the notables series. You can find more in the series here: and please feel free to drop us any suggestions for people we should interview at [email protected].

Gnome Stew Notables – Laura Simpson published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

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kayawagner · 7 years ago