Thanqol Writes Weekly

[Elanorin]

I have a bit of a soft spot for James Bond. I love the films but I haven't yet got around to reading any of the books.

I'm really curious about your plans for this. Where will the story take us, geographically? Will any of the story take place within MI6? If so, what's your take on it? It's been portrayed in so many different ways over the years. What other established characters, apart from Bond himself, do you plan to use?

[TheAmishPirate]

Any plan which involves you directly threatening that many major powers, especially the big three or four, had better have one hell of a good method of assuming your own safety from governmental death squads built in, really.

I mean, sounds like a classic Dr Evil plot, essentially, which was itself mimicking at least one Bond film, but the Bond version at least involved the mastermind of a global crime organisation and a laser weapon capable of destroying cities and the nuclear weapons of the superpowers basically at will before demands started happening. You know?

For what it's worth, Bond is the government death squad, albeit just a squad of one. The part of this guy's plan that deals with Bond is his contingency against that. In this universe, it's a fair assumption that if there was a group of people more organized, better trained, better equipped, or otherwise more capable than Bond, this story would be about them instead.

[Tiki Snakes]

Bond and the double oh's are Britain's death squad, Amish. There is a reason he is usually working with Felix and worrying about the other, less directly allied agencies/powers even when they aren't actively his opposition. This is definitely a running theme in the films, if you get me.

It's actually rare that Britain is directly targeted or involved in a bond film, actually. There's specific dialogue about it in Diamonds are Forever, even.

Edit - But, you know. I've already dropped this line of conversation as it's not needed, so this is all basically off topic at this point and I'mma leave it at that.

[SiuiS]

Bond and the double oh's are Britain's death squad, Amish. There is a reason he is usually working with Felix and worrying about the other, less directly allied agencies/powers even when they aren't actively his opposition. This is definitely a running theme in the films, if you get me.

It's actually rare that Britain is directly targeted or involved in a bond film, actually. There's specific dialogue about it in Diamonds are Forever, even.

Edit - But, you know. I've already dropped this line of conversation as it's not needed, so this is all basically off topic at this point and I'mma leave it at that.

We're American, Tiki. The idea that more than one nation is important at a time is foreign to us.

[TheAmishPirate]

Bond and the double oh's are Britain's death squad, Amish. There is a reason he is usually working with Felix and worrying about the other, less directly allied agencies/powers even when they aren't actively his opposition. This is definitely a running theme in the films, if you get me.

It's actually rare that Britain is directly targeted or involved in a bond film, actually. There's specific dialogue about it in Diamonds are Forever, even.

Edit - But, you know. I've already dropped this line of conversation as it's not needed, so this is all basically off topic at this point and I'mma leave it at that.

I was going to drop it as well, but it looks like I need to clarify some things.

You'll note I said the government death squad. As in "Bond is the epitome of the government death squad, and unless it's interesting that other ones interfere then we really don't need to pay them more than lip service." Nowhere did I mention nor intend to mention any particular government, because this is Bond we're talking about and origin isn't even a question. I'm pretty sure Her Majesty's Secret Service doesn't refer to any President I'm aware of.

We're American, Tiki. The idea that more than one nation is important at a time is foreign to us.

I realize it's a joke, but please refrain from the assumptions. They make it hard to laugh.

[Thanqol]

I have a bit of a soft spot for James Bond. I love the films but I haven't yet got around to reading any of the books.

I'm really curious about your plans for this. Where will the story take us, geographically? Will any of the story take place within MI6? If so, what's your take on it? It's been portrayed in so many different ways over the years. What other established characters, apart from Bond himself, do you plan to use?

Geography: Three major locations
- A north sea oil rig, progressing to a russian gulag
- A luxury yacht in the pacific
- Somewhere in the Netherlands, probably Amsterdam

I'm not planning on talking much about MI6 or other major bond characters. M is necessary and she'll be around, there might be a package with some Q tech, but other than that I'm going to keep it to a minimum in terms of self referential stuff. The style is way more important to Bond than the canon.


I've got a pretty clear idea of all the major plot beats in my head right now, but before I get to them I need to talk more about the villain:

Who are his underlings? Anybody can find a couple dozen crazy people to follow them on any sort of evil plan, but to get professional minions and an elite henchman or two they need to be offered something real.

First off, I don't think the villain is tied into any intelligence agencies. He's probably quite contemptuous of them in general. I'm not sure if he has a family, but he doesn't seem like the sort to risk them on operations. This leaves mercenaries, terrorists, criminals and people with messed up personal vendettas. People with either strong convictions or no convictions whatsoever; not necessarily balanced people. The villain might be the sanest person in his organisation, which is a nice touch.

I need to work out some personalities and gimmicks for his henchmen. Hmm.

[TheAmishPirate]

Geography: Three major locations
- A north sea oil rig, progressing to a russian gulag
- A luxury yacht in the pacific
- Somewhere in the Netherlands, probably Amsterdam

I'm not planning on talking much about MI6 or other major bond characters. M is necessary and she'll be around, there might be a package with some Q tech, but other than that I'm going to keep it to a minimum in terms of self referential stuff. The style is way more important to Bond than the canon.


I've got a pretty clear idea of all the major plot beats in my head right now, but before I get to them I need to talk more about the villain:

Who are his underlings? Anybody can find a couple dozen crazy people to follow them on any sort of evil plan, but to get professional minions and an elite henchman or two they need to be offered something real.

First off, I don't think the villain is tied into any intelligence agencies. He's probably quite contemptuous of them in general. I'm not sure if he has a family, but he doesn't seem like the sort to risk them on operations. This leaves mercenaries, terrorists, criminals and people with messed up personal vendettas. People with either strong convictions or no convictions whatsoever; not necessarily balanced people. The villain might be the sanest person in his organisation, which is a nice touch.

I need to work out some personalities and gimmicks for his henchmen. Hmm.

One idea I get from reading this? Fishermen, especially those who were doing it illegally. People who lived by the sea with no regard to law or government, until law and government cracked down and ruined their livelihoods. The work makes them strong and hardy, the danger of their job makes them prepared to face death on a daily basis, and they know how to drive a boat to boot.

[Thanqol]

Sure, there's the core Somali pirates as minions but I need a henchman or two. Henchmen are the big, impressive second-in-commands with interesting gimmicks. A certain amount of Evil Genius colours all my James Bond thinking. Especially since the villain is relatively cerebral. I could just have him be some big dude, though.

I'll put a pin in that for now, though. Let's talk instead what's wrong with Bond.


The best Bond films turn it around on Bond and make it personal to him somehow. Usually this is done through some sort of internal problem he has to overcome in order to beat the external problem - think about Bond's terrible test results in early Skyfall. So that's why I'm planning on making James Bond blind.

There's an anti piracy weapon that is used by the US navy right now, a laser gun that temporarily blinds people. Bond's going to get hit by that in the face during the first action sequence, and then immediately cut to the music montage. The rest of the story is going to be about Bond's eyesight slowly returning but all the threats being amplified by his blurry and poor vision. Loss of vision is also a metaphor for Bond/MI6 being unable to see the bigger picture and sets me up for dozens of other cool metaphors and puns and such.

The Bond Girl for this story, I'm thinking, is a MI6 nurse who gets dragged along after Bond as he refuses to give up his mission. The central dynamic there is Bond learning to - being forced to - trust and rely on someone else despite wanting to operate on his own.

[Tiki Snakes]

...really? That's...that's where you plan to take things?

[Thanqol]

...really? That's...that's where you plan to take things?

Yup! There's a door over there if that's all you've got to contribute.

[Tiki Snakes]

I'm not here to contribute anything because you're not interested in anything I have to contribute and are on record as such.

I honestly couldn't tell if you were being serious, that's all. You know what? Forget I even asked. Consider me doored.

[Thanqol]

So, I've got the external threat and the internal threat, the Bond girl and the dynamic she has with Bond. That's the real meat of the story. Now I've just got to sprinkle some exotic scenery for fight and chase scenes and tie it together with stages of the villain's plot. Let's do that now!

STAGE ONE:

Setting: Somewhere isolated and valuable
Colour: Arctic oil rig

Operation: Kidnap key employees/steal tech necessary for the shipping virus (and now you see the nature of my plan, it's all an excuse for me to say the words 'shipping virus' a lot)
Diversion: When Bond attempts to intervene, overcome him and frame him for the destruction of the oil rig.

Feel: Bond on top of his game, effective and powerful and equipped, but blindsided and overcome.

STAGE TWO:

Setting: The villain in total control
Colour: The villain's hideout, elsewhere, Bond in a Russian prison

Operation: Develop virus, monologue, display the contents of the villain's heart.
Diversion: Bond breaks out of prison, links up with Bond Girl, learns there's a huge diplomatic SNAFU with the Russians which has him cut off from the rest of MI6.

Feel: Bond forced to rely on his wits and reflexes in a hostile and uncertain land.

STAGE THREE:

Setting: Somewhere rich and vibrant, but vulnerable
Colour: Luxury yacht in the pacific

Operation: Capture and interrogate shipping CEO for codes/backups/retinal scans/whatever.
Diversion: Blow up the ship and kill everyone aboard to cover the trail. Bond thwarts this.

Feel: What should be a cakewalk made horribly complicated by Bond's isolation and distrust

STAGE FOUR:

Setting: Somewhere rich and civilized, the heart of global society.
Colour: The Netherlands, pulsing CBD.

Operation: Infiltrate the shipping company and plant the virus. Begins as a covert op but due to Bond's interference in the last operation, turns into a violent assault and shoot-out.
Diversion: Bond must infiltrate the country as he is being hunted by Russian intelligence. Three way firefight.

Feel: Bond coming back up to the top of his game, armed with new strength

STAGE FIVE:

Setting: Poetic and grand, yet also ultimately indifferent. The grinding wheels of the natural order.
Colour: Massive, industrialised Amsterdam shipyards.

Operation: Bond must hunt down and kill the villain. The villain has the virus but needs some safety and refuge to start using it.
Diversion: Bond is being hunted by the last Russian agent. Long chase, followed by one or more murders.

Feel: Catharsis, sadness, Ozymandas.

-Fin

[Elanorin]

How does the story arc with the Bond girl fit in to it all?

[TheAmishPirate]

How does the story arc with the Bond girl fit in to it all?

I was going to mention that, it feels like she's brought up and then we don't see her name again for the rest of the story. Even if she's intended to be there alongside Bond, that's not a good sign.

[Thanqol]

How does the story arc with the Bond girl fit in to it all?

I was going to mention that, it feels like she's brought up and then we don't see her name again for the rest of the story. Even if she's intended to be there alongside Bond, that's not a good sign.

You notice my division between setting and colour? It's like that but with feel. Bond's relationship exists to explore and establish his emotional state at each of those points.

[TheAmishPirate]

Crazy random thought time; what if one of the henchmen was the villain's chief tech person? For a majority of the movie, he never directly confronts Bond, but rather throws crap in his way like security lockdowns, activating robots, seizing control of drones, hacking into the PA system, etc. Given that a lot of the plot is hitting on themes of misdirection and hidden threats, this seems like it could fit really well into that narrative.

[Thanqol]

Crazy random thought time; what if one of the henchmen was the villain's chief tech person? For a majority of the movie, he never directly confronts Bond, but rather throws crap in his way like security lockdowns, activating robots, seizing control of drones, hacking into the PA system, etc. Given that a lot of the plot is hitting on themes of misdirection and hidden threats, this seems like it could fit really well into that narrative.

Part of my motivation here is to stay away from ~magical hackers~. It got done in Skyfall and it felt so weak, like, the most boring, clichéd part of the villain's personality. I'm thinking, given my outline, that the Henchman role can actually be filled by Russian Intelligence. The bad guy can spend the entire movie doing his own dirty work, exposed, vulnerable, but whenever Bond gets within killing distance he gets attacked by the Ruskies. And that feeds into the metaphor of the blind fighting the blind a lot better, I think.

[Thanqol]

Okay so! Weekly recap!

I've done villain design and plot structure, which are big things. I'm estimating that this is going to be novella length - 30 to 50 thousand words? The action movie-esque plot is going to make things nice and simple to power through. I actually think I have all or most of the pieces I need so I reckon next week I'll start putting pen to paper. As soon as I give everyone names, drat it.

[Thanqol]

Weekly Recap:

Sketched out some story structures, designed a few characters, and did some mental exercise in the form of some bigword critiques. Want to make an instant friend? Write an essay about someone's fanfiction.

[Thanqol]

I'M OVERTHINKING IT AGAIN. Let's just get started, no thinking, ever. Thinking is verboten.

Spoiler

Show

An oil rig is a magnificent thing.

It seems at a glance to be the dessicated skeleton of some great and warped giant. Four huge blocky legs ascend from the waters, higher than the greatest wave could touch. Suspended above is what looks like a floating construction site; the over-built and messy beginnings of a skyscraper, stretching high with cranes and a thousand exposed pipelines. The air is so cold, and the sky such an empty white, that even looking at the exposed sheet metal is a painful prospect. Put your bare hand for on that freezing metal and you stand to lose the skin off your palm. It was perhaps the most unnatural thing on this earth - sheer industry and ugly machinery in casual defiance of all of nature's dangers and secrets. Not a thing could be said about what it intended; not a cent was wasted on beauty that could have gone into function. Nearly a hundred people worked aboard.

And approaching it was a small, sleek warship. Just as unnatural in terms of sheer machinery as the oil rig it seemed somehow far more natural in this desolate place. Perhaps the way it moved, sucking its way across the ocean, or its low profile or sea-stained weapons - it spoke of predation. An inuit tribesman floating on an iceberg who happened to see it slip by would know instinctively that the ship was a promise of blood and death.

If the people aboard the ship spoke they would have promised much the same thing. They were armed and armoured in the way of men who expected to do a lot of killing and not have to cover it up. Their faces were black, sun-worn and grim in the manner of men who had not left their homes willingly or without pause. They were a quarter of those aboard the oil rig, but even unarmed an impartial observer would have put his money on their victory.

The observer would likewise have instantly picked the leader from among them, and upon hearing that he was the mind behind this mission would have quietly determined that the matter was so one sided that betting was not appropriate. He was not dressed for battle like those around him, though it was clearly not because he didn't know how to wear the uniform. Instead, he wore a long black coat, lined with soft brown fur that a Polish king would have been glad to have warm him. Underneath, almost comically, he wore a pinstriped suit and tie that wouldn't have seemed terribly out of place on a well to do investment banker. The short, curly grey hair lent a profound dignity to his brow and his chin, and his calloused black hands were worn on the tips of the fingers - time spent typing - and on the inside of the index finger - time spent killing.

The ship was silent. Normal ships are noisy, cowardly - constantly telling everyone who is remotely interested exactly where they are and asking them to please not run into them. This ship said so little and swam so low it was invisible to anything but the naked eye. It slid across the water like a crocodile, turning slightly as it came to a halt at the base of one of the huge towers. The leader got to his feet and walked up and down the men, speaking a blessing in a language that had survived many attempts to kill it. "Let your spear be water," said the old man, "and let your heart be drought. Give your foes famine and don't let your family go without."

They began moving.

When some killers moved they were like cats - slow, steady, open-eyed and vigilant. Some killers were like bloodhounds - focused, intent, co-ordinated. If there was an animal that inspired these men it was the rhino - solid, direct, armoured, seeming to fill every room they stood in. Emerging onto the deck, two set up grappling hooks and fired them up at the rig. They began to climb hand-over-hand, steadily and without the faintest sign of exertion despite their weapons and armour, up onto the floating platform. They followed, two after two, even the leader despite his age.

No one was outside during this weather, which meant they had free reign to take their positions. They split up into ones and twos and walked out across the platform in all directions. One by one they came to stand outside the doors to every major room on the oil rig. The leader glanced at the pale sun, hesitated for a moment as if he was contemplating the gravity of what he was about to do, and then said a single word almost to himself.

Twenty doors opened at the same time and assault weaponry roared. In less than three seconds the numbers between the oil rig's crew and the attackers had equalised.

In the oil rig's kitchen three men were sitting around a table and one other was at the bar when the attackers entered the room. The big man had to duck his head under the door as he came in, holding his rifle through thickly gloved hands as he blew the men away. Blood puffed out of his victims in a pink mist and they were dead before the gunfire had even finished. The two attackers came into the room and looked around, checked corners, checked behind the bar. Big, slow turns like men who were more afraid of losing their balance than being blindsided by a hidden gunmen. "Four," said one of the men. His voice was soon followed by others. "Two," "Nine," "Five," "Twelve"...

"Good," was the only word the leader said and the only word he needed to. Things were to plan; everyone was to go ahead to their next job. Three men went inside the control panel and began typing on the blood-stained computers before the screensaver locked them out. Eight went up to one of the spires to begin yanking out a satellite dish. Two zip-tied a man - the only person who hadn't been instantly killed with the rest. Seven began searching for stragglers, moving about with their guns raised, slowly sweeping them from side to side like an elephant's tusks. Five went down to the base of the pillars to begin planting explosives.

Two of those five were in the kitchen with the four dead bodies. As one of them turned and ducked his head to leave the room, the other noticed with a frown that there was no blood on the man at the bar -

Zwwht! Zwwht!

Before they could react both of the attackers were dead.

The man stood up. He brushed his jacket down. He turned back to face the bar. He put his silenced Walther PPK on the counter. He finished mixing his drink with an intent, leisurely care. He took a single calm, almost regretful sip.

"This is 007," he said, "He's here."

*

[Thanqol]

Hoh gosh darn I may be overcommitted on this one. But being overcommitted was what stopped me doing this in the first place. So busy! I'm going to try to keep this pumping unless I got no other option though.

Let me divert myself with a brief wander into the world of science fiction, because I've had a bunch of those talks in my orbit.

The single most compelling question sci-fi has ever posed to me came through the game Endless Space. It was subtly phrased, wrapped into the competing narrative of the races, but the one thing that unites them all was a single question: "What is beauty?"

And this was a magnificent question with some remarkable answers. Horatio's answer was that beauty was in the self; replicated endlessly. The United Empire's answer was in a powerful, functional nation state that delivers on all its promises. The Sowers had the answer that worlds themselves were beautiful and they should work to terraform them all into new cradles of life. The cravers had quite the opposite view. Interestingly they further rolled back and expanded that question to a more basic form with the sci-fi-progenitor-race conflict, which was a war between those who believed beauty was digital and those who believed beauty was physical.

My own observations of science fiction is that it frequently turns into Space Politics. Poverty in SPACE! Fascism in SPACE! Democracy in SPACE! Like there has not been any development of political thought or resource distribution at all in however-long it's been since the stars were mastered. The really interesting sci-fi for me has been stuff like Asimov's Foundation series, Existence, the Culture (I really need to read The Culture), and even Warhammer 40K which all look at interesting new social institutions. The parts I like most about Fallout are the robots and the drugs. The drugs in particular are this huge society warping thing, people being able to gain mental superpowers in return for addiction to strange compounds.

I do have a pet sci-fi race that I've carried around in my head for a decade now. They're called the ira'Azura, and basically they're a look at a deeply interconnected and deeply united species. They were almost like a parable for ponies, now that I think about it. I've stolen ideas from other places and times and absorbed and digested them into a single unified whole, but when I really sit down and think about it I think that their big constant is that they're about family. I think I'm going to work on modernising them, and take this thread to do it in, because it'd be nice to have an up to date set of reference documents to work with.

[Thanqol]

Okay, while this was a great idea and I'd love to be able to do more for it, the fact of the matter is that I just don't have the time or mental capacity to keep up with this project. I need to take this moment to acknowledge my own limits and let this one go rather than continue walking on the edge of burnout. Not a decision I make lightly but it's one I've got to make.

Sucks, but there you go. I am going to make an effort to write more personal pieces but they've got to happen according to a more relaxed schedule or else I'm going to collapse.

[TheAmishPirate]

Stinks, but in the end it's far better to know your limits and flourish within them. I went through a phase last year where I was in a messload of PbP games, writing a story, building a world, and trying to start up an indie game development team all at the same time. Shockingly, it didn't end well.

It was fun watching this experiment, and best of luck with your other endeavors.

[Deadly]

It's hard to prioritize sometimes, but necessary. Best of luck with what you do choose to do.