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"BREAKING THE FOURTH WAAAAAAAAAALL! OMFG HNNNNGGGGGGGGRAAAAGGGHGHHH!!"

SchitzoSchitzo
edited 2012-02-19 16:27:50 in General
They're somethin' else.

Is it just me, or do nerds seem to have a particularly ridiculous hard on for meta, self reference and another crap like that? I'm also saying IRL, they tend to do that to an annoying degree. Ugh, they get so theatrical about it.

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Comments

  • MadassAlexMadassAlex
    One foot in front of the other, every day.

    I think it's a learning curve kind of thing. 

  • BeeBee
    edited 2012-02-19 16:42:09

    I'm guessing it's a leftover cultural reflex from Greek theatergoers fangasming when the Chorus addresses them directly.


    OH MY GOD PIERONICUS TALKED TO ME SOOOO DREAMY


    (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.

    so, are you criticizing people for having a preference for a certain kind of storytelling?


    Hmmkay.

  • ForzareForzare
    Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last Day.
    Fourth-wall humor amuses me.
  • PonicalicaPonicalica
    edited 2012-02-19 16:49:36
    (void)

    Better than the ridiculous over-masculinity hardons that are so endemic in geekdom. *cough**cough*

  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.

    Quite so. At least one of these is a valid way of writing that is overglorified by nerds who like "original" works and seek validation. 


    Also, I find it amusing that you're complaining about this while you supposedly love Scott Pilgrim.

  • SchitzoSchitzo
    edited 2012-02-19 16:55:11
    They're somethin' else.

    I'm not criticizing them. I'm also saying it's not God's gift to storytelling either.


    ^Homage and (very, very) occasional usage of meta is one thing. A deluge of the shit and giggling amazement at one's own usage of it is another.

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    edited 2012-02-19 17:02:06
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    Personally, I'm only okay with meta stuff in two cases: if it's a completely comedic work, or if it's a more serious work and it's both critical to the point of the work and very well-done.

  • BeeBee


     


     


    On a more serious note, yeah, the breakage has to have some kind of purpose.  You can't just blindly wank to the audience.  That's creepy.

  • IronweaverIronweaver
    if u do convins fashist akwaint hiz faec w pavment neway jus 2 b sur

    I'm very ambivalent towards meta-humor. Breaking the fourth wall can be amusing, but also makes me take the story a bit less seriously.

  • SchitzoSchitzo
    edited 2012-02-19 17:13:39
    They're somethin' else.

    ^ Some say that's the point, from a post modernist perspective. If that's their true feelings about their own story, I'll be happy to stop reading it.

  • BeeBee

    It can be done seriously.  First-person narration addressing the reader lends it a relaxed, conversational tone that can establish empathy with the protagonist more easily.


    There was a moment in a fanfiction I read not too long ago where the fourth wall gets broken by the one character you least want to know your existence.  It was creepy as fuck.  Especially reading it at 2 AM.

  • vandrovandro
    He who laments and can't let go of the past is forever doomed to solitude.

    Breaking the fourth wall can make for an interesting tale that can still take itself seriously, ever read Niebla by Miguel de Unamuno?

  • SchitzoSchitzo
    They're somethin' else.

    Haven't

  • IcalasariIcalasari
    No rainbow star
    One of my nightmares broke the fourth wall



    Fucking Yellow Man ;.;
  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.

    ^Homage and (very, very) occasional usage of meta is one thing. A deluge of the shit and giggling amazement at one's own usage of it is another.



    I would argue that homages and intertextuality are still metafictional aspects of a work, especially in the case of Pilgrim, where there seems to be a degree of awareness by the characters of the fact that their story is very CRAZY and EXPLODY like the VIDEOGAMES they play.


    Honestly, metafictional storytelling doesn't bother me at all. It only bothers me when people think it's inherently better than non-metafictional storytelling simply because it involves a degree of creativity in order to make it work without the work losing all suspension of disbelief.

  • BeeBee

    With the exception of narration and the rare dramatic use of breakage, it basically just tells me to check my brain at the door and enjoy the ride.  Nothing more.

  • SchitzoSchitzo
    They're somethin' else.

    ^^ Well then, we're on the same page.

  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!

    I only mind it when it's done in a predictable way. I swear if one more vidya character says 'This isn't a video game!' I will find the develops and... be angry at them.

  • All NinesAll Nines
    edited 2012-02-19 19:10:12
    Has friends besides tanks now

    ^ What I've seen more often is "this isn't an anime! This is real!" Or something to that effect in anime. Still goddamn annoying, of course. Actually, I'm pretty sure the only time I've played a game that breaks the fourth wall (then again, I don't play many video games) is UMvC3, with Deadpool harassing the cameraman, but at least that's pretty funny.

  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!

    Deadpool's thing is breaking the fourth wall. It varies depending on the writer of course. One of my favorite comic jokes with him is when he says 'You can never have enough pouches." then turns to the 'camera' and says 'Right, Rob?' in a reference to Rob Liefeld who made that look popular.

  • BeeBee
    edited 2012-02-19 19:53:59

    Earthbound and Eternal Darkness are more good examples of dramatic breaks that serve to pull the player into things.


    I think one of the most hilarious takes on it for the sake of humor was the sex hotline in Snatcher trying to work around US censors.

  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!

    "I'm the evil mastermind behind the scenes. I'm the wicked puppeteer who pulls the strings and makes you dance. I'm your writer."

  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.

    >Malk quoting Grant Morrison


    quick, stop everything ever. These news need to reach everybody.

  • IcalasariIcalasari
    No rainbow star
    Sometimes I wonder if real life is a game



    Then I wonder if I broke the fourth wall



    D: Then I worry about a sudden power outage
  • Wicked223Wicked223
    We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, For the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year

    inb4 Homestuck

  • PonicalicaPonicalica
    (void)

    Homestuck is so meta that the fourth wall was literally broken.

  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!

    "[something in a barely intelligible Scottish accent] space heroes [Scottish, Scottish] Styx, yeah."

  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.

    ""Real life?" What's that?"

  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!

    Grant Morrison had King Mob get laid all the time as part of a spell to get a girlfriend.... which I'm totally not applying to my current story. >_>

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