today's pre-lunch modly braindump

[mindcrack_love]

• Mod, why haven't you worked on either of your fanfics nor done your Yuletide nomination yet? It's October and registration isn't even open for that thing you've been freaking out about. Stop slacking. Speaking of, placeblocks nominated Guude, Bdubs, Kurt, and Beef. I'm planning to nom MC, Nebs, Zisteau, and Pause in light of that; feel free to fill in extra blanks accordingly if you are participating.
  
• If you were to write an fannish/ship-friendly (though not necessarily ship-emphasizing) introduction to Mindcrack, what would you say? What videos would you link? How would you explain the appeal of these guys, their video content, and their chemistry?
  
• Kurt says "Damnit, @zisteau, now look at what you made me purchase!" while talking fancy coffee. Genny attempts (succeeds, perhaps?) at upstaging them both. And the mod still prefers old-school cheapsake moka pots, because her partner is Cuban and they buy kitchen-y things from thrift stores.
  
• Speaking of Zisteau on twitter, I may or may not have teared up when I found out that creepers griefed the Lens. SO AWFUL.
  
• Supposed the trial is coming out today. OOOOOOOH. Watch it come out while I'm commuting, though. :(
  
• The spontaneous fight after the Wither is like...the most ridiculously terratorial thing I've seen in a while in a good way. It's like all of the frustration from UHC/Death Games bundled into chaos and it's kind of amazing. Also, something about proud Nebris asking for advice from Pause to kill Etho gives me some very, very strange feels.

Comments

[placeblocks]

I was so confused about the whole Wither thing for the longest time. I watched Beef's POV which is like 9 mins long and cut out all of the fight at the end. Then I watched Avidya's POV and he had a bunch at the beginning that Beef cut, but none of the fight at the end! I only even realized I was missing stuff because on the Reddit thread there were all these "Etho killed everyone again" threads. I finally watched Etho's POV and man! I missed so much!! Damn guys!

At least if the trial comes out during your commute home you can watch it later, i.e. it's not a livestream.

With regards to a "ship manifesto" uhhhh. ALL OF LEGENDARY? The relevant Minecon '11 videos. It's weird since I can't think of any really major episodes of shippiness, because it's usually just 30 seconds of super innuendo in a 30 min episode. (THough Genny's "Choose between Beef or Millbee" could be fun...)

I love coffee, but I'm far too lazy to wait for a slow drip like that. But man I wish Zisteau were going to Minecon so he and Kurt could hang out and drink coffee together. (Also, damn, that's a lot of Creepers griefing. How does that even happen? LIGHT IT UP MORE)

[mindcrack_love]

I watched...I think it was Beef's or Kurt's first? One of the early ones with parts cut out. Then Zisteau's after checking Reddit - got everything that way. I can only imagine how confused I'd be if I'd started with Doc's, because from what I understand he did a LOT of editing (in that amazing Doc-ish epic way).

This is true about the commute, but man, I'd love to have that on while at work, something to laugh at while slogging through the daily grind. Home time now is time for me to, you know, study. And work on my LPs and fanfics and contest entries for things, bwaaah. Still, something to do while digging out a mountain, I guess.

Minecon 2011, Saw Prank, Beefy Castle Full of Millbees, and that "Laugh with OOG Legendary" clip show seems like a good introduction. Maybe toss in a Single Malt dig-into-a-mountain moment or two as well? Nancy Drew UHC2? CobbleHaters? Orange Wool? AAAAAAAH.

I am team Moka Pot when it comes to coffee because my partner is Cuban and that's how you make a proper cafe con leche. (As opposed to the French cafe au lait which uses "real" espresso.) And ugh I would have SO MANY FEELS if Kurt and Zisteau met in real life and had fancy coffee and fancy alcohol and talked fancy science and fancy editing. Fancy Single Malt is fancy.

[placeblocks]

Perhaps it's a good thing that Kurt and Zisteau aren't going to meet at Minecon. The universe might implode from awesome... I'm sad/surprised Z isn't going though. Since the one picture we have of him IRL is at a convention, you'd think this would be right up his alley.

You know what would be awesome? If someone compiled a bunch of epic shippy moments into a single video, maybe with links to the full episodes in the description, or ability to click the video on those parts to go to the full video... Don't we have someone with awesome video editing skills on this comm? :D?

[guiltyshirts]

Fancy Single Malt makes me picture them up in the Lens with antique armchairs and velvet smoking jackets. XD

[crystalllized]

When I look to see whose perspective of a video I watch first, I usually look at the lengths and pick the longest, except in UHC where I always start with Zisteau or Beef or Nebs, in that order, depending on who is playing. But yeah, that led me to watch Kurt first, and then I watched Etho after checking Reddit. Man, you must have been confused!

[isi]

I watched Nebris first, after comparing video length of all the ones in my subbox. I noticed immediately the video lengths were all over the place, so I figured there was extra stuff not everyone was showing.

[guiltyshirts]

The wither fight and the whole melee afterwards was pure chaotic fun. Kurt's disappointed 'Awww..' when he withered away while eating a golden apple gave me the giggles.

Then, because I saw it from Pause's pov first and didn't actually see what happened, the chat log has Anderz shooting Kurt and then Zisteau shortly after. I was picturing Kurt forgetting it was a friendly fight and nudging Zisteau out of the way without thinking, then being all embarassed later. Also there was post-fight coffee shared.

Kurt's POV included a bit pre-fight of new work on the silo. It's now got an obsidian floor with lava lighting underneath.

Fancy coffee geekage <3

Avidya. Dat voice.

Edit: okay which is cleverer/funnier, SquawsUnsquaws or Pauseahontas?

[crystalllized]

Oh my god those are both hilarious. Pauseahontas is probably more easily understandable at first glance, but if you get it, SquawsUnsquaws is much better sounding.

If you post it, give both names. Knowing Pause, he will pick his favorite for you.

[mindcrack_love]

I like SquawsUnsquaws myself, but I also agree with the "post it on Reddit with both and see how Pause responds" idea.

[placeblocks]

Not that you can't pick another name yourself, but doesn't Six already have a genderbent name for Pause? (BrasUnbras, I think?) I like Pauseahontas more myself, but SquawsUnsquaws is probably closer to his name. I'd just double check potential ethnic slurs first to make sure "Squaw" is acceptable. I honestly don't know, but it pings my inappropriate-dar.

[isi]

I believe Six's name for it was PauseUnbras.

And I've never heard of "Squaw" myself, so it could be some kind of slur for all I know. I was just about to ask myself.

[guiltyshirts]

You make a good point, I hadn't even thought about that. I only remember it as being wife or woman, but even vaguely ethnic and racial terms are a complete minefield these days. :/

[placeblocks]

The problem with a lot of these words we use is that they're usually accurate--for one tribe. Using it as a blanket word to refer to all native women, for instance, could be problematic. (I don't know, but without looking into it, that'd be my gut reaction.) I also have no idea if it's a term that was original native that we appropriated or one we assigned to them.

A quick google/wikipedia says that it is considered offensive, "At present, the term is often held to be offensive, though controversy surrounds the historical evidence claimed for such a view." I guess that'd make me lean toward Pauseahontas then.

[crystalllized]

The Wither fight looks like it was so much fun, not to mention the silliness that took place beforehand...Etho and MC playing with boats, Avidya making a ring just to see if people will jump through it, some boys chilling in a hot tub...Etho and Kurt both have a fair bit of that action going on, and I figure I'll have to watch all the perspectives to see as much of it as possible. I'm only watching one a day, though, so I can spread out the silliness. And I agree with you on the Nebris feels...Nebris and Etho had some really incredible antagonistic action during the PvP bit and after it. I think I might be a Nebs/Etho fan now (which made me giggle at today's Mindcrack Manhunt from Van, where he carts an Etho and a Nebris away from their homes and then leaves them together, alone on a plain).

For a ship-friendly intro I think the Castle of Millbee's and the GenerikB Pause prank are necessities, and of course MineCon 2011 footage. I would even possibly extend it to include some of the Death Games, some footage of Z and Kurt blowing up the silo together, and some stuff from the teams of two UHC season.

Can't wait for the trial! I probably won't get to watch it until tomorrow if it comes out late tonight, but hopefully it comes out soon!

[placeblocks]

I'm generally not a fan of rivalry pairings (Harry/Draco or something), but there's a degree of sort of "hero worship" when it comes to Nebris/Etho that appeals to me. Although they're trying to kill each other, it's not out of hate. Nebris admires Etho's ability to LIVE FOREVER!!! and Etho obviously loves being idolized by Nebris. There's a low-level of animosity, but there's a lot of mutual respect/admiration there, as well. I don't know how I'd translate it into a story, but it's definitely starting to appeal to me in a way I didn't expect.

[damnreddit]

You don't have to convince me. :D

Nebris wants to defeat Etho SO BAD it's just completely charming. And like you say, Etho gets a hell of a kick out of it.

My over-active imagination goes back quite a way with those two. Way back to King of the Ladder.

[placeblocks]

One thing I think is really neat is that Etho doesn't gloat about it at all. In fact, it's like he wants Nebris to improve so that he has a genuinely challenging opponent to go up against. And that's an appealing part for me, too. I genuinely feel that Nebris wants the challenge of killing Etho, and that there's no "fan boy" aspect of "I KILL ETHO I AM SO BAD ASS" to it at all, which could happen VERY easily for other people.

[isi]

Hehe, I had the same reaction at that moment in Manhunt. Nebris/Etho may have to be some kind of thing now. The different facets behind their rivalry is fascinating if nothing else. Now throw in Pause for being "Etho's kryptonite" and just see what happens. Is it time for the next UHC yet? D:

[placeblocks]

I don't know if it's time for the next UHC yet, but I do know Six has started drawing Avidya for it! :D

[isi]

Sweet! Which reminds me-- have we even seen intro art for GenerikB? The last UCH intro didn't even use art.

[placeblocks]

You're right, we didn't! Hopefully that'll change too.

[isi]

Trial! Last night I saw MC had left a comment on some fanart, saying that he wanted to say more but couldn't because it would be spoiler. Such a tease, but I am happy it's airing soon.