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PHADE RANT #3

July 27, 2010

Metal Gear Mania
*Series Spoiler Alert!*

Right, so, I'm a gamer. Always have been, likely always will be. I like going around hacking and slashing and shooting people to death, and I'm a particular fan of sniping. But that kind of game gets really old really fast--maybe two hours worth of entertainment, if that's all it is. Such is the reason I can't get into games like Quake and Halo, I suppose, though I haven't honestly tried for more than five or ten minutes on either of those.

The key aspect that keeps me hooked to any videogame is the story. The graphics can suck for all I care, and gameplay can be craptacular. Give me a story, and I'm golden. The early Final Fantasy games are prime examples. FFIV kept me entertained because I kept wondering when Kain was going to stab me in the back next or if he was done being possessed. Plus the cast of characters kept me on my toes trying to figure out parties and such. FFVI (best FF out of them all) had a stellar cast of characters with different backstories you can access and unlock and an amazing storyline. I mean, really, how often do you get to play a game where you fail to save the world before the antagonist manages to turn it into a barren wasteland and becomes supreme overlord of said ruined world? And the soundtrack was to die for.

But Phade, what does any of this have to do with writing?

I'm getting there.

While listening to a Pandora Radio station, I happened to hear the theme for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. And I loved it. From personal experience, a game with good music tends to be a game with a good story. But I didn't think much of buying the game at first. I just happened to be browsing in a GameStop one day and I happened to see MGS2 in a used been.

How can you possibly pass up a $3 game, I ask you?

I don't think I had ever been more addicted to a game in my life. Aside from the stealth factor where you get to go around killing people if that's truly what you desire, the story was just one giant plot bunny after another. As the player, I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but that was the point. The MC of the game didn't have a clue either. It was addicting as all hell--I couldn't put it down. I literally blew two days sitting in front of my television with the game. And God, you have to love the way everything was strung together. When I finally managed to beat it, I was left with a lust for more. So I went and ordered Twin Snakes and Snake Eater.

While Twin Snakes wasn't the most OMG-like story out there, it still had me on edge the whole time. Snake Eater, on the other hand, left me awe-struck. I mean, you're betrayed by bloody everyone! The Boss blows up a research facility with a mini-nuke, and Eva turns out to be a spy from China, rather than an American-defected-to-the-Soviets, who, while helping you, uses you over and over and over. And in the end, she gets screwed over by Ocelot who's a triple agent for God only knows who. And then you find out that The Boss never actually defected to the Soviets and that it was her mission to be killed by Snake and just... GAH!!! I cried at the end of that game.

Metal Gear Solid decided to own my life, and eventually I broke down and bought a PS3 (which I really shouldn't have) just so I could play MGS4.


You still haven't gotten to the part about the writing.

It's the STORY, damn it! The story behind the entire series is so incredibly well-written it's hard not to be in awe!

I have never played a game that left me with such a huge sense of satisfaction. Every loose end ever opened throughout the series was tied up in a beautifully executed story (except for how Raiden went from a human to a robo-ninja-cyborg, but that's what Metal Gear Rising is for when it finally comes out). Characters from Snake Eater, which took place in the 60s are brought back as the Patriots, Eva is now your ally for real, Mei Ling and Naomi play major roles now, where they didn't in Twin Snakes. Metal Gear Ray makes an appearance, as does Metal Gear Rex. You finally find out why Vamp doesn't die, you're revisited by a suped-up version of the original members of FOXHOUND, and you find out that through it all, Ocelot, who has always been your enemy, was really your ally through it all.

I have to give Hideo Kojima his props. The story of the entire series twisted and turned and knotted together so expertly in each and every individual game that it seemed impossible to untangle it. And yet he did. He masterfully created a series that is both addicting, solid, and overall amazing. It leaves its players wanting more and more and more and when the end finally comes, you're so happy that you waited all that time for such a phenomenal ending and yet so very depressed that it's over. A friend of mine said "You'll cry once because it's so amazing, and then cry again because it's over." And he was right.

That is what every writer should strive for! That is what we owe to our readers! A heart-wrenching story with characters that feel like we feel, that act like we act, a well-blended balance of action and rest, heart-racing events and moments of calm and reprieve, and a well thought-out ending that leaves them with that overwhelming sense of satisfaction. It's not easy. It's probably the hardest thing for any writer to accomplish, but it is the ultimate goal. I think we writers sometimes forget that while we have to love what we write, while we have to appease ourselves, we're writing for other people, and that they need to be thanked for their time by having that satisfaction in the end.

Now all of you go out and buy and play the Metal Gear Solid series! Right now!

Dude, if you actually just read that whole rant, I applaud you. That's one of those posts that's easily a TL;DR thing. XD

PHADE RANT #4

July 31, 2010

Interpretation

I was always a good student. English was my forte, next to music classes, of course. I could bullshit my way to an A on any paper I was forced to write, but I have to say, I really hated the whole "force a meaning out of what the author wrote" thing. I'm a firm believer that writers write for entertainment, not to instill some greater meaning in their works. There's a copy of Huckleberry Finn where Mark Twain, in the beginning, states that the book was written for entertainment purposes. J.R.R. Tolkien didn't have a theme in mind for Lord of the Rings, either, but he said if there had to be one, it would be death. Donal Hall has compared searching for meaning in a work of literature to beating a chair with a hose.

That's not to say I don't believe in things like themes and motifs and symbolism. Far from it. But I don't believe in purposefully writing those things into a story. They're more things for the reader to interpret as he or she will. In a sense, it is the reader's interpretation that adds depth to the story.

Which leads me to my current work. It's finished and I'm attempting to get picked up by an agent. So, naturally, I'm continually going through it and making corrections, changing wordings I'm displeased with, etcetera, etcetera... And I'm noticing some recurring ideas and things that could be considered unintentional symbolism. I have to admit I'm a mite bit fascinated by all this. Some of the unintended messages or ideas I'm picking out as a reader are making me a little giddy, too. They're giving birth to new ideas. Not so much more symbolic and thematic ideas, but plot ideas. It's like a snowball effect that actually helps me for once.

It might also be because happy goody-goody books get really boring really fast.

I just think people need to not make something out of nothing.

That's not to say, as an author, that I haven't had little nuances and such plugged into my work. It's like having your toenails painted--no one's gonna notice unless you're wearing open-toed shoes, but as long as you know it's there, you're incredibly happy with it.

Okay, I'm a bit hypocritical, I admit it.

I reckon all stories have a message, whether we notice it or not. My recent fiction is questioning the line between good and evil. I found out quite soon that even though I took the 'bad' side, it seems like the good side. However, I know if I would have taken the 'good' side, that would have still stood as the good side. If that all makes sense?

However, when reading books, especially when doing Shakespeare, it was so interesting to uncover hidden meanings. Authors probably don't know they are doing it. I find when I read back a story I have written, there are little things that I embedded in there that do have an underlying meaning. It's weird.

Think how many of them are rolling over in their graves. XD

PHADE RANT #5

August 5, 2010

Emotional

I love needless banter between characters. I love sarcasm. I love stupid comments that just make you laugh. I love over-dramatizations that are just so bloody ridiculous that you burst out laughing and leave your sides aching. In fact, there's only one thing I love writing more than humor:

Death scenes.

These are seriously some of the most difficult scenes for me to write. There's an art to capturing the



mood that I struggle with getting most of the time. Particularly if its the death of a major character. Actually, only if it's a major character. I find that the deaths of lesser characters are usually short and to the point while still getting a noticeable amount of drama in.

But the major characters... Oh, God, are they hard.

I really have to be into what I'm writing to write a good death scene, and those nights are very rare. But when I get them, as I got one tonight, it's utter bliss.

The character I slew tonight was by far one of my favorites. I loved casting her down just to see her get back up every time. I loved forcing her to do things she didn't want to do just to see her persevere and overcome most of the obstacles I threw at her. She's one of my older characters, and I came to know her inside and out. But even then, she always surprised me (Wow, this is sounding a lot like an epitaph).

There are certain characters I can never wait to kill, and then there are those like her that I hesitate to murder because the scene never does them justice. This is not true for her anymore. I finally gave her the death scene she deserved.

And yet what I find most ironic about it is that it's one of the shorter ones. Major characters always get to say their goodbyes and their huge "I love you" spiels and such. In truth, no major character ever dies in a decent amount of time, no matter how severe their injuries might be.

But not with her. Her death consists of nothing more than a smile, a quick kiss, and a thank you. That's it.

It's short. It's to the point. It's so bloody satisfying!

I'll be crying myself to sleep tonight.

Death scenes I struggle with, not because of emotions. I'm now rather detached from my characters when it comes down to the dirty. It's because of the suspense.

I wrote a death scene last night and I just 'meh-ed' at it. It all ended up just being one sentence, short and quick to the point. I prefer it all like that. My main was too exhausted to really take the death in too much.