PFFFS, TWWWOG, and What's Next
I just finished watching TWWWOG, the whole thing so far. What a ride- my ballpark is usually more "point out funny little details" than "give an actual critique", so I'm not the type to give an actual review, but, to sum it up: Gumball is back and I'm so glad it is! there were definitely some insta-classics in there for me!
Regarding PFFFS (excuse me if you're coming across this through tags and have no clue what that is- it's my long wacky crossover fanfic that this blog is supposed to center on): Obviously a ton of stuff contradicts it... but a ton of stuff is also weirdly close to it. the Awesome Store guy wears a hood, and it looks pretty much like the hood I've been describing & drawing him with for a long while! he's a tough-love father figure for Rob! there's the not-S&P-approved gag, which basically makes that episode a gravity falls crossover already if you have the world's laxest standards. And, if anything, the tenuous Stan&shopkeeper similarity is strengthened by the stuff he says and does in these two new appearances. like that last line about selling junk to people! AND THEY EVEN USED THE WORD "INTERDIMENSIONAL" WITH REGARD TO THE SHOPKEEEEEEPER! Should I be calling him shady guy now?
I know for sure that there were some details/gags that lined up uncannily well with details/gags in PFFFS, but unfortunately I wasn't taking notes, so I'll just have to post them as I remember them:
the thing with Gumball and Darwin getting entangled in the most recent chapter happens several times in TWWWOG, which isn't a major thing but it was fresh in my memory at the time since I just wrote that chapter before watching
there is a running gag in PFFFS with there being a ton of characters named Bill. now we know Idaho has an uncle Bill, which is another one on top of the pile, and brings Gumball's canon-characters-named-Bill-count to 2, or even 4 if you count William and Billy as "potential Bills"! How to get all of these people in the same room in the fic, I wonder...? No, I need to add more of them first. That isn't a joke. (Remember this tag that has been on the story this entire time but hasn't been relevant yet?)
Sarah being freaky strong has actual canon backing now!
there was a chapter called The Survivalist in the fic, and an episode called The Survivalists in the show.
As expected, Elmore's citizens become vigilante chaos-makers and set everything on fire when any incident happens, a pattern that existed in the original show, was referenced in PFFFS, and reoccurred in TWWWOG.
I just noticed that PFFFS and TWWWOG both have acronyms with a triple repeated letter!
Now, so I don't sound delusional: there are obviously a ton of differences, maybe even more differences than similarities when it comes to background stuff that would affect the present in both canon and the fic (obviously the events in the present day are not at all similar because of the drastically different settings). I already accepted as far back as the miniseries that the whole "elmore is still around, but in the void" thing isn't canon, so I'm not worried about that. But how to square the differences? Do I keep going with my version of, say, things like the Shopkeeper's appearance? Do I change it and pretend it's always been canon-compliant? Do I write an extremely meta chapter to make an in-fic excuse for the changes to the continuity? I'm leaning towards this third option, and I have some ideas on how to write it, but nothing that has fully crystallized into a usable chapter outline yet. Much to think about. Maybe the shopkeeper's appearance isn't even described thoroughly enough to justify bringing up the discrepancy, all I said is that he's made of shadows (right) and has a middle-aged man build (wrong). Maybe that was a bad example to use. what about that doll from the cheapmas? I gotta work her in somewhere! But how? At this point, I'm rambling.
My goals for PFFFS "season 2": shortish chapters that feel more like actual episodes of the show(s). I want to try writing chapters with the actual formulas the creators of the shows have talked about- I have an idea for utilizing the "monster+emotional conflict" setup gravity falls uses. I'm planning an ambitious chapter where the A-plot is about the Gumball characters and arranged/written like a Gumball episode, and the B-plot is about the GF characters and arranged/written like a GF episode- it'll all take place in the same setting, but the characters just narrowly miss each other while unknowingly interfering with each other's plots. More focus on humor and escalating plot developments than on internal emotions/drama. Increasingly prominent interdimensional stuff. I'm going ahead with a plot point based on this. Most of the confusing stuff that happened in "season 1" will be explained. More on Sarah's parents. anyways, that's my rambling.