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!
[display_podcast]
Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or questions for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
We’ll talk about it!
And remember, you can find the show on iTunes or Stitcher!
Subscribe, listen, and review.
Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.