With weeks remaining in 2016, we find ourselves hitting the show landmark that makes us both snigger like fifth graders: SHOW #69!!! We’re not talking about sex, erotica, or naughty bits. We are looking at the antagonist. Sure, the antagonist is a villain, but a villain is not always your antagonist. What are the challenges you face when developing the foil to your protagonist? Where is the line drawn between the mustache-twirler and the complicated antagonist?
Let’s talk about how good it is to be bad…
00:00 — Introduction
- As we have said before, we are twelve years old…
- Can you feel the excitement over Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2?
- Groot. The new Hodor.
- Nobilis Reed, celebrating a new book and a new house!
- Show #69? Do we talk about sex, baby? Do we talk about you and me?
- No, we actually decided to take a high ground for this show, and go low…
02:28 — Episode #69: Antagonists, Villains, and the Writers’ Challenge
- One writer’s villain is another’s antagonist…sometimes, according to Miss Fancy Pants.
- New drop-in’s are getting a workout.
- Tee has already talked about the importance of developing your villains, but it’s worth returning to.
- This is Pip’s current dilemma in her new fiction coming in 2017. (Something to look forward to…)
- If you want to know more about editor-of-infinite-awesome, Jennifer Meltzer, pay her a visit at One-Stop Writer Shop!
- What is Pip’s villain lacking?
- Pardon the Galaxy Quest tangent…
- Pip can do villains and antagonists. Look at Geist and the other Books of the Order.
- Worthy to note: Mysteries handle antagonists different than Epic Fantasy.
- Then you got antagonists within antagonists ala The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences.
- Tee & Pip audition for a Metallica tribute band.
- Antagonists risk going neglected when “pantsing” through a work-in-progress.
- The value of having a focus with your antagonist
- No SPECTRE without Earnst Stavro Bloefeld
- Lessons in antagonists from William Shakespeare
- A turning point in the development of the game, Destiny.
- The Fallen. Bad Guys. Eh.
- Then we meet the Taken King…
There’s your focus.
- Making antagonists sympathetic
- Done right: Loki and Marvel’s Thor
- Done wrong: Vader and the Star Wars prequels
- More on an antagonist’s focus
- The lack of focus in Star Trek: The Motion Picture versus KHAAAAAAANNNN!
- The Phantom Menace. What was it again?
- Antagonists as the central character of your property
- Dr. Hannibal Lecter
- Walter White
- Dexter Morgan
24:57 — Writers Off the Clock
- Pip tries to bleep herself. She fails.
- The creepiest cover of “Edelweiss you will ever hear…”
- Amazon Studios’ The Man in the High Castle
- Talking about Dick
- Lou Anders says it best…
- Some great films coming from Philip K. Dick’s concepts
- The details add a degree of creepiness.
- A quick run-down of the cast form The Man in the High Castle
- The story of The Man in the High Castle
- It’s worth Amazon Prime just to have access to this!
34:41 — Voicemail
- We had dinner with Nobilis…and told him “Share this with the show!”
- Steve Saylor asks for our favorite Dungeons & Dragons stories.
- We’re RPGing again, and you can hear all our current adventures at the Geek Wolfpack Podcast
- Pip’s Memory: When Ashimei enjoyed her own “Leeroy Jenkins” moment…and some things still never change.
- Tee’s Memory: When Eryk can’t hit the broadside of a barn. The next week, though, Tee goes all John Woo on the “hobogoblins” in range…
- Nobilis Reed has a new book out…and he asks about shipping books and how you work it into the cost of a book.
- Pip is a big fan of using Indica.com or Stamps.com, especially when it comes to shipping from our online store.
- Flat rates are best for domestic shipping for one book.
- Going international? More than one book? Well, there’s a grey area…
48:13 — Wrapping up
- Not done yet with 2016!
- We’ve got some bonus audio we are going to throw in to a feed for the holidays! Thanks for hanging out with out this year!
- Best. Year. EVAR! For posting shows, that is…
- ONE MORE SHOW for 2016…with K.T. Brisket. (Sorry, K.T. Bryski.)
- What we have coming up in 2017…
- 5-8 January, MAGFest in Washington, D.C.
- 21 January, The 4th Annual Pocono Writers Conference
- What was your favorite or most informative show in 2016?
- Call us at 703.791.1701 (now accessible through the Instagram app!)
- Send Tee email — tee@teemorris.com
- Send Pip email — pip@pjballantine.com
- …or find us on social media everywhere.
- Join us for our final show of the year featuring 100% MORE CANADA!
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Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.
