MeddlingMonk Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 Assuming anyone might care (and even if no one does) I've completed a Grim Fandango-related, novella-length detective story called "Dead Vows". It was going to be put up on the Grim Fandango Network but since Mojo is having the usual trouble I've slapped up a really crappy, temporary page where the thing can be downloaded. Someday I'm sure it will wind up on GFN. The address to go to (for those who may not have already dozed off) is here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrik Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Lovely! I'll be sure to read it shortly. I'll also add it to the GFN once we get things sorted out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GendoTheGreat Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Cool. I've been waiting a long time for this thing. Since I joined these forums, in fact. And what do you mean, "even if no-one cares"? Of course we care. We're all one big, happy, mildly deranged family here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleto4_ryan Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Originally posted by GendoTheGreat Of course we care. We're all one big, happy, mildly deranged family here. Of course...i agree.... I am gonna look it as soon as i have ended my finals... Eather way....Good work.....It's nice to see these actions Thank you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanspoof Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Originally posted by GendoTheGreat We're all one big, happy, mildly deranged family here. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Great, a new GF story thingy (Not sarcasm, btw)! I'll be reading it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GendoTheGreat Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I read the thing through this afternoon, took me a couple of hours. Awesome work, 'Monk, the effort you put in really shows. I have to say though I found the ending to be abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying, but that's a very small thing. Mostly I think I was just disappointed it had to end so soon. So, any plans to produce more of the like? I haven't been so engrossed with the written word in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanspoof Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 Yeah, I thought the ending was a bit abrupt too, but hey, it's a fantastic read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeddlingMonk Posted July 11, 2003 Author Share Posted July 11, 2003 I suppose the ending could be considered a little abrupt. I originally had in mind something much longer but there wasn't enough plot. It could be extended a little but I'm not sure. I wouldn't want to just pad it. There is the logic of the investigation, and I could drag out the dilemma of who was sprouted only so long. Once Wells learned that Harris' apartment key was missing that nailed down who was sprouted. And he had to hear about 'Mrs. Anderson' fairly quickly because he had to be able to realistically catch up. And, of course, Wells' only interest was in finding Mrs. Cutler. Everything else was the worry of either Mr. Cutler or the police. And that might be where some dissatisfaction with the ending might come from. A lot of questions are left unanswered. The big one being, who the hell was Anderson? And then in the end new ones were opened: will Mr. Cutler be able to catch up on his own, will Harris and Mrs. Cutler remain together. But that's the nature of hardboiled detective stories. Unlike mysteries by Agatha Christie and other 'golden age' writers, which seek to nail down every detail, hardboiled stories are more ambiguous. In some cases (particularly stories by Dashiell Hammett, the only mystery writer to my knowledge who had ever been a private detective) questions of motive, evidence, and even the actual culprit sometimes become more confused at the end of the story than at the beginning...and that's just because real life doesn't resolve itself as neatly as Poirot's solutions. My problem, though, is that unlike Hammett I had to resort to a good deal of simple trickery to create ambiguity. But ambiguity itself can be a problem if the reader doesn't expect it, and that was the motive behind the Thin Man quote after the title page. Nora has the same complaint when Nick doesn't nail down all the little details that interest her. The only 'regret' I have with the ending is that the business with Farver wasn't much developed. I had thought to have him try to follow Wells to Rubacava, or to meet him when he returned from the island. But there was no way he could have known about the trip. Besides, once Wells laid eye sockets on Mrs. Cutler the story was essentially over. But, who knows. I don't have any plans about more Wells stories, but then I had no plans to do more Land of the Dead stories after doing the GF novel. If I have ideas about how to improve Dead Vows I might revise it. In the meantime, I had the idea that it might be cute to do a short thing in which Domino tries to enlist Wells in his hunt for Meche. If anyone thinks it would be worth doing... Anyway, did anyone spot the two references to GF in the story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GendoTheGreat Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 Originally posted by MeddlingMonk Anyway, did anyone spot the two references to GF in the story? The closest I can come to is a vague hint towards the existence of the LSA (made by the secretary, Jen.) I never did have a head for details. Though I did notice a few cute little jokes sprinkled through it, like the name of the tracker demon being "Nares" (the name for the outer part of the nostril.) The name "Ettis" is very familiar too, though I can't quite place it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeddlingMonk Posted July 13, 2003 Author Share Posted July 13, 2003 Good catch on 'nares'. 'Ettis' is nonsense I made up. It does sound like it could mean something, though, doesn't it? Maybe it's the similarity to 'ettin'. It's hard to remember, but I think I was thinking of Brennis (the red, tube-switcher demon) when I named him, so maybe it's the rhyme. I like the idea that Jen was talking about the LSA. Too bad I never thought of it when I was writing that part. ------ I've added some more stuff to the page I slapped up. I've uploaded two zip files: one with all the unused dialog that I can find, the other with all the unused graphics (minus Glottis' dog house...everyone's seen that). The page is still crappy-looking. Go wild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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