Night #107 - Let's Play Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - Part 1

Now let's be clear before I jump right in: I'm by no means a video game nerd, so as I go through this next series of videos, I won't be looking for video game "quality". I don't even know how to define such a term. What I will be looking for is adherence to and expansion upon the plot line of the movie upon which this game was based. I don't own the videos or the video game in question, I had nothing to do with putting any of this together. I'm just doing a spur-of-the-moment series I hope will be fruitful in supplying interesting bits of trivia to nourish and help develop our headcanons and amuse our friends.

That having been said, let's jump into "Let's Play Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"!

So apparently the woman narrating hasn't seen BOTS at all and is grading on a completely different scale than I am (apparently comparing to something called G4). Here it's made clear that Larry doesn't know the renovation is happening in the middle of an interview, rather than implied when he turns up at the museum like in the movie, and in this case he races off to see what all the hubbub is about. Slightly different opening but keeps the concept of the original. Alright, I'll bite.

"Unlike the massive sandstone tombs raised by the Egyptians, the Central American pyramids like this Aztec example used a stepped construction with a temple or altar on top. The Aztec people dominated central Mexico in the 14th through 16th centuries before being defeated by Spanish invaders." - Just one of the many audio tour sound bytes from this part of the game, but I wrote it down because EGYPT! The narrator, as an aside, spends a lot of this part going around collecting random things and unlocking audio tour sound bytes before actually getting the plot rolling. I can respect that, especially since she claims to be a huge nerd for everything in the Natural History Museum.

This part also gives us the detail that apparently Larry was up to "juvenile antics" (no shock) and has yet to actually clean out his locker (that's actually a quest in this movie, the first one; this actually sounds kind of fun, or it would if I had a gaming system and the money).

That is the most shittily-rendered Rexy I have ever seen in my entire life. And I thought Ben Stiller looked bad in this game.

Who voices Jed and Octavius for this? They sound so much better in the movies. They really do. (According to the IMDb on the subject, that's Dustin Leighton and Dave Wittenberg, respectively. I get that they try to sound like the real guys, but seriously. It's just terrible.)

Jed wishes for Larry to "Vaya con Dios," which means "Go with God". Apparently Rexy's feisty.

Riding Rexy bareback must be the single most uncomfortable thing in existence, especially if you have two fruits and veg.

"Hooray property damage." LOL straight up. Apparently our narrator is having fun riding Rexy and causing trouble.

So that was part one of this madness. Not a lot happening: we get the sequence of Larry arriving at the museum and dealing with the exhibits (namely Jed and Octavius, and Rexy), but other than that, not a whole hell of a lot. But Part Two is titled "Flashback", and the still YouTube is displaying for that shows Ahkmenrah and magic stuff going down. I thought it was Kahmunrah at first, full disclosure, but either one of the Brothers Egypt is fine with me.

Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": The promise of the Brothers Egypt entering into this game at last. We'll see how they deliver, and here's hoping Ahkmenrah has a bigger part in the game than he does in the movie. Voiced by Crispin Freeman, so no high hopes for aural or visual resemblance to Rami Malek, but we'll see what goes.

Countdown: 266 Days to NATM 3

Night #106 - Hail to the King!

I've been spending so much time focusing on Kahmunrah that I don't want to neglect his poor baby brother, now, do I? I'm aware that I've posted Ahkmenrah videos before (here), but I have yet to give the kid an actual, proper solo tribute, so here it is.

Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": There's a series of videos on YouTube which take you through the entire BOTS video game, and I'm going through each and every one of these videos, seeing which parts line up with and expand upon the movie. Come sail away!

Countdown: 267 Days to NATM 3

NATM 3 Update: According to the NATM 3 Wikipedia page, not only is Dick van Dyke on board as Cecil, but his two cohorts are back as well: Bill Cobbs and Mickey Rooney as Reginald and Gus, respectively. Looks like the three old guys are still at it. Wonder what antics they'll be up to this time, and how it plays into the theory I discussed a while back about Robert, whether there are four or just the three potential adversaries there that aren't getting hyped up (again, a total Once move, and for those unfamiliar that means you build up something of little significance as something with great significance while something with great significance lurks in the background for as long as possible). Oh, this is juicy.

Night #105 - The French Taunter VS Kahmunrah

Ace Ventura is really just randomly thrown in at the end. The real show is the back and forth between the French Taunter and Kahmunrah.

Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": How about a little love for Baby Brother, yes?

Countdown: 268 Days to NATM 3

Night #104 - More Kahmunrah Madness

Kahmunrah at his best! With some back and forth between Dr. McPhee and Larry at the end. (Does include the scene from last night, but if you don't mind watching it again...)

Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": The Ultimate Mash-up: Kahmunrah and Ace Ventura against the French Taunter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This is going to be epic!

Countdown: 269 Days to NATM 3

Night #103 - "Don't! Croth! Thith! Line! With your hand."

Because let's face it. I couldn't resist.

Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": More Kahmunrah madness! A compilation of Kahmunrah's best scenes.

Countdown: 270 Days to NATM 3

Night #102 - Rumor Has It....

There's a lot of plot speculation out there concerning Night at the Museum 3, mostly because the plot synopsis hasn't been released yet, that fact has been made explicitly clear multiple times, and fans are curious to the point of rabidness by nature. However, amid all the theories, I've found one that has caught my attention and won't let go. It can be found here, and goes like this:

• Robert, Cecil's son, may have let loose Sir Lancelot to keep Larry busy, when he finds a great weapon.

This is one of those where I can't help but wonder all the particulars to: How did it get to this point? Will Lancelot find out he was being manipulated and switch sides? What weapon are we talking about here? Egyptian? And speaking of, where do the Egyptian characters come into play? Are they the weapon's guardians aside from being related to Ahkmenrah in some fashion? In a sense it reminds me of The Mummy Returns: tease a bad guy as the main one (really he's a secondary) while the real Big Bad goes to work. As you may recall, I was at first very disturbed by Lancelot being a bad guy in this movie, especially it's Big Bad. It implies so many things about the Arthur mythos which, quite frankly, feel out of place in a franchise whose whole premise is centered on ancient Egyptian magic. I had hoped he was insane or ineffective, but this theory would work out so well, too. It accounts for a lot of the characters who aren't being hyped up nearly so much as Lancelot (a la the Scorpion King), and it feels a lot more like it fits within the franchise as a whole, rather than just having random Arthurian characters appear out of nowhere for no good reason.

It also takes into account the revenge concept which (at the very least) popped into my mind as soon as I saw that there would be a Robert Fredericks in the movie to begin with. I sat and pondered the possible relationship between these two for perhaps a lot longer than I needed to, because considering the ages of the actors concerned, father/son is the most likely, and also something I almost recognized on sight. Having a son who wants to avenge wrongs done to his father makes a great deal of sense, at least in the world of drama (and some slightly outdated value systems which are still perpetuated to this day (I say that because in today's world, the "real world", nobody has time for elaborate revenge schemes, and it's more likely to be a wasted effort than not)). And that's if it even is a revenge scheme. Robert Fredericks, for all we know, probably has more up his sleeve than we know right now. What if he's not even a bad guy, but merely doing this to test Larry's skill to recruit him into some ancient secret society of Night Guards dating back to ancient Egypt (a la Now You See Me but without stage magicians)? That would actually mean a fascinating turn for the franchise, with the chance to explore the mythology a lot more closely and thoroughly.

This is one of those theories that hints at a lot more, and a lot more interesting, bits and pieces than many others, and it can go in more than one possible direction. Personally, if either of the above situations I've discussed are the way NATM 3 goes, I've got a very good feeling I'm going to enjoy it come opening night, when my butt's in that theater chair.

Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": A break from all the seriousness with one of the most funny (and famous) scenes from BOTS

Countdown: 271 Days to NATM 3

Night #101 - How to Write a NATM Fic! (The Serious Version)

Last night I gave all of you a humorous take on the proper writing of a NATM fanfic, but tonight, we're getting serious. Sit back as I take you through my method and mindset and see how I do the best I can at what I love: writing, with the disclaimer that this probably won't work for everyone.

Now, the trash I sporked last night is something I don't get past the summary or a couple paragraphs of, because I can pick it out relatively easily, especially with all the time I spend on the internet looking into all this stuff. It does help me identify what hasn't been done, however, and in the case of Night at the Museum, what that seems to be, overwhelmingly, is an engaging story about modern day museum problems concerning Larry and the exhibits we all love so dearly, and pretty much no one else. That, coincidentally, is something I want to explore. Therefore, I have a niche, and I feel like I'll enjoy it.

Write what you want to write about, or else it'll show. If you want to put yourself into a fanfic and fall in love, that's none of my business. I just won't read it. I happen to like a particular plot line and love to explore the heck out of it, and that's what I tend to repeat in my NATM fics time and time again. For the uninitiated, that plot line happens to be a family reunion with or without the forces of chaos to contend with. It just so happens that this is something no one in the fandom seems to like doing. Therefore, it's something fanfic readers haven't seen very much of, and if they're into that sort of thing, then I have a ready readership as soon as I finish the writing.

I don't publish chapters sporadically whenever I choose to finish them. My particular method is to write the entire thing out in Notepad (for some reason my personal favorite, maybe because of the aesthetics of seeing the text in the program, and no page breaks, which can become bothersome to me), and break into chapters later. The chapters are then published on the regular basis of about one per day or couple of days (it takes longer if I am tremendously unlucky). This process allows me to work through the story organically and cohesively, make it all sound similar and read similarly, and come up with a proper title before I even start the publishing process. And besides, this way, if I don't finish, it never sees the light of day, and nobody likes a dead fic (nobody I know of, anyway).

I have on this blog a series of posts about alternate universes, and there is one where I feel it's perfectly acceptable and even necessary to have original characters: the span of time between the first two movies, after Larry quit his job to be a success. There needs to be a replacement night guard (or possibly several). That's a situation which calls for an original character. However, if all you do is have your OC bone one of the exhibits (by the way, weird)--and if I see another AkhXOC I'm going to kill someone, to paraphrase his big brother--then I don't want to read it. If there's a story in there somewhere, like following someone getting back on the straight and narrow after battling drugs or the streets or something by becoming a night guard, then I'm cool with that and might actually read. That's good stuff.

Then there's plot lines which explore what happens when the exhibits are placed in various impossible situations: what happens when Cecil wins? What happens when the tablet activates during lunch hour? What happens when Dexter accidentally screws something up with it during late night hours, causing trouble? The tablet is the focal point of all these examples because it has the most potency to affect the plot, being the thing which grants eternal life to all exhibits in the building (at least at night). There are a lot of good plots out there that don't require OCs, so why use them? (JK, I know the answer to that one. I just don't wish to discuss it.)

I also put a lot of thought into what characters would do if this or that or the other thing happened to them. For example, who would win in a fight between Cecil and Kahmunrah? (You guys remember that post? If not, it's here.) Or how would the brothers react seeing each other again after thousands of years of literally no contact whatsoever? In order to do this correctly, have it play out believably, I have to develop a very, very solid foundation of understanding of the personalities of each character involved, hence my very involved personality-themed headcanons. And I have to keep these in mind when I work out how the characters would interact with each other, because our personality informs our behavior. The Stoic isn't going to start gushing upon sight of some pretty girl and thus run into a pole, is he? That would have to be some woman. I make a great effort into making sure key character interactions make sense. And let's face it, if I'm not happy with some section of my work, I fix it.

TL;DR: Make sure you understand the characters' personalities well enough to make sure their interactions in unusual situations is believable. Finish first, make everything feel cohesive, have a title to match, and then post (and make sure you at least make one pass through each chapter before releasing it to the light of day; if you're not confident in your spelling and grammar abilities, beta readers exist for a reason). There are plots where OCs are okay, but there are many more where you can use the ones you're given; try to avoid OCs if possible.

Happy writing everybody!

Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": An interesting theory has come to my attention concerning possible plot lines for NATM 3, so put on your thinking caps as I discuss it here. That's next.

Countdown: 272 Days to NATM 3.