#collaboratory

You know how some movies become so widely-seen and are so influential that they become an unavoidable part of everyday life? The kinds of movies that you just HAVE to see? Well that's what we have for you in the lab today. It was inevitable, really. I mean, not only do we have characters from Ponyo, Transformers, There Will Be Blood, and The Muppets, but we also have podcaster (and lead character designer from Archer) Shannon Manor lending her talents to the episode!

You HAVE to listen to this one. Otherwise how are you going to get all the jokes about goats, future ties, and close-up magic that all the cool kids are telling?

Time to fire up the ol' bunsen burners again, because Claire, Kit, and Miles, joined for the first time in a long time by special guest Tim Mulkerin, are back in the lab to try and somehow stitch a compelling screenplay together with randomly selected characters and story elements drawn from existing works of fiction! But this time around, the group faces possibly their toughest challenge yet. Can they make a happy Christmas movie out of stuff from A Quiet Place and The Shining, with a set of characters that includes at least one professional wrestler? Do they even need to? Where did these Japanese cat demons come from? Why are zombies? You know what, no more questions. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Claire and Dan are joined by special guests Jeff Eckman and Ryan Kasmiskie of the Final Fantasy podcast No One Can Know About This! These guys have clearly been spending a ton of XP on their storytelling skills because what results is a tale of mystery and intrigue utilizing characters and story elements from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Larry Sanders Show, and King of the Hill. So grab some popcorn as we delve into a story of ancient conspiracies, young love, and mind-controlling cat poop: the stuff blockbusters are made of!

It's time once again for Collaboratory, where four Smash Fic hosts attempt to cobble together a semi-coherent film using random characters and story elements!

This week, Claire is joined by Dan, Kit, and Liz, who have the unenviable task of attempting to craft a tale around a little girl, a cat, a dragon, and a serial killer, all while using elements from stories like Chronicles of Riddick, Jingle All the Way, and 1984. The hosts end up with a pile of really incongruous stuff, and end up making... something that actually kind of works? Listen and judge for yourself!

Last month, patrons voted for Claire to illustrate a full movie poster of the Collaboratory tokusatsu film "Final Flight: Legend of the Falcon Fist," and illustrate it she very much did!

She writes, "When this image was chosen for my Patreon bonus content, I was both super excited and completely paralyzed with fear. I was stoked to get to design sentai Aziraphale, rebellious teen Lapis Lazuli, drunken cynic Alexander Dane, and kaijuu emperor Shere Khan. I was worried, however, about the layout. I hadn't really done anything like a movie poster before, and I wasn't sure how to make a potentially somewhat abstracted series of vignettes that conveyed the soul of the movie. It turns out that was the easy part. The hard part was the cats. Why were there so many cats!? ...In order to convey the emotion that I wanted, I needed the heroes to feel ridiculously outnumbered. That meant a ridiculous number of evil alien cat warriors. That meant multiple late nights of drawing stupid freaking cats. But it's over now. We did it. ...And thanks to all of you for voting for such a cool idea for an image! I'm really happy with how this one turned out."

Smash Metafiction Studios presents another mashed-together masterpiece, as the creative team that brought you "Don't You Forget About Me" returns to the lab for another round of gently bubbling brainstorms and flashes of brilliance buzzing with electric current! It's time, once again, for Collaboratory!

In this episode, Claire, Kit, Miles, and MeganBob elucidate an epic tale of sword, sorcery, and science fiction, weaving a narrative that includes bird-themed superheroes, cat-like kaiju, magical destinies, and one of the original MacGuffins! What is the legend of the falcon fist?

Featuring Dr. Victor Frankenstein,

Jareth the Goblin King,

Sheila the She-Wolf,

...and Luna.