(ideas) Wonder Woman: Ambassador

Recently, srs has been posting a few thoughts on the Wonder Woman TV Series. Which reminded me that I've been meaning to post some of the fanfic outlines I've been working on. Let's start with Wonder Woman: Ambassador(The file says it was last updated in August, which feels wrong) , which would be the fanfic version of a Joss Whedon movie.

No, seriously. Here's the cast;

Starring Bridget Regan
Alan Tudyk
Charisma Carpenter
Rosario Dawson
Emily Blunt
and Marina Sirtis
Directed by Joss Whedon

The only A-list actor in there is Rosario Dawson, and she's a secondary character. Though since Joss likes recycling, he'd probably just cast Gina Torres.

Anyway, Hippolyta (Marina Sirtis) is the Theymiscran ambassador to the UN. Embassy full of women, Diana is officially an "aide". Strong warrior, but insecure in the Patriarch's World.

Why?

Joss Whedon.

Anyway, she's riding in an SUV with her mom after a UN session, and they have a bonding talk, and Di gets out of the SUV, walks a few feet away, and it explodes with her mum in. She turns with a cry, and as the Amazon bodyguards try to keep her away from the flames, scanning for assassins, the credits start.

( the plot proceeds apiece. Spoilers, if I ever write the thing. )

"Breast Naga", from deviantART

NSFW

The sad thing is that this and the previous post aren't the first time I've seen boobepedes.

Machinarium (2009)

I bought the game as part of the Humble Indie Bundle #2, and took a while to get around to playing it.

I normally hate adventure games. They tend to have a lot of contrived nonsense that makes no sense withing the context of the game world. In Resident Evil, f'r example, apparently get custom locks that use large, bulky pieces of metal instead of normal things like keys or keypads. In God of War, by contrast, anyone with any knowledge of mythology at all should be fully expecting the key to open the door to be half-a-mile away on the other side of a boss fight. Also, the key is probably someone's head. It takes a certain type of mind to enjoy adventures games, and that mind simply can't comprehend why someone might not find a fake moustache puzzle with a dozen odd, illogical steps fun. And any pitiable fool who's played text adventures has tried to figure out the exact verb to get ye flask.

Machinarium is not like those games.

For one thing, the adorable robot protagonist is limited. He can get taller, shorter, reach out to things, store items, combine items, use items, and look at things. He can only interact with things that are in reach of his current position, which makes it easier to tell which of the dozens of absurdly detailed objects onscreen you should be trying to grab. There are a few times when you can miss something, but not often, and the game offers a robust hint system. You get one hint for free, and you can play not-Space Invaders to open up your Prima.

I'm not joking. There's actually a game guide in the game. I'm not sure if our hero can see it, but it's non-linear; since you might have multiple tasks in the same area, you might have to come back and play the game again to open the book. Or CopyPaste it into Paint or something. There are a few puzzles that seem unnecessarily complicated--such as a safe being locked with a puzzle instead of a combination, which is inside a room with a combination lock on the door--but most of them are problems, not puzzles.

That aside, the art direction is lovely, the controls are simple, the music is great (and I got the soundtrack for free! Yay!), and the protagonist endearing. And it's only $20 regular price. I recommend it.