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Old 08-07-2016, 05:26 PM   #21
Flyndaran
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Default Re: Mix Master Myth Parallels

The ghost acts as a believable, to such cultures, of murder accuser. Without it, it's just a story of a deranged paranoid sliding into deeper murderous insanity. Do we have any written reason to think his uncle did murder his father without that voice on high saying, "yep, he killed me."
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Old 08-07-2016, 05:57 PM   #22
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Default Re: Mix Master Myth Parallels

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Originally Posted by Phantasm View Post
My favorite idea of a "Mix Myth" is essentially a Spelljammer Argonauts game, which takes the ideas of "Jason and the Argonauts" and puts them in aether-ships. I really should flesh this out a bit more for players to mess with.


In my opinion, the moment the players sit down at the table with their characters statted out and approved by the GM is the moment the game officially breaks from the myth, because at that point you're in the myth rather than just reading it. The GM is still free to use the myth for inspiration, of course.

To use my Argonauts example, their first port of call in the myth was an island where the women had killed and/or exiled their men, and the Argonauts spent the next month there in the women's beds before Herakles went around banging on the doors to get them moving again. From a gaming standpoint.... BORING! Now, if there was something else going on in the background, and the crew that had decided to enjoy such festivities were in danger, then "boring" becomes something else entirely....
There is the question of whether the characters are playing versions of mythical characters, like your Argonauts example, or are outsiders coming into a myth (such as visiting Burton).

Coming into a myth can get kind of 'Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead', seeing a myth from a different viewpoint.



The folks behind SCTV did a comedy movie, Strange Brew, that had a version of Hamlet in it.
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Old 08-07-2016, 06:01 PM   #23
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Default Re: Mix Master Myth Parallels

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Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
The ghost acts as a believable, to such cultures, of murder accuser. Without it, it's just a story of a deranged paranoid sliding into deeper murderous insanity. Do we have any written reason to think his uncle did murder his father without that voice on high saying, "yep, he killed me."
The uncle himself saying, once Hamlet just walked away after deciding not to kill him while praying for fear that he wouldn't go to hell, saying "yep, I killed my brother and I'm guilty about it"
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Old 08-07-2016, 07:28 PM   #24
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The ghost acts as a believable, to such cultures, of murder accuser. Without it, it's just a story of a deranged paranoid sliding into deeper murderous insanity. Do we have any written reason to think his uncle did murder his father without that voice on high saying, "yep, he killed me."
Oh yes. "The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king". In the context of Hamlet, the attestation of a ghost is about as compelling as an anonymous note. There's a reason why Hamlet opens communication with the spectre by saying:

Angels and ministers of grace defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd,
Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,

He doesn't know whether it's his father, a demon, a prankster fairy, or an illusion cast by a witch. He needs confirmation. The ghost could be replaced with a medical examiner, a small child who saw something, an informant who dies right after telling Hamlet that something is hinky, or even a message from the victim right before he was murdered. The ghost is a plot device. Pretending to be insane so his enemy will take him lightly and not kill him...that's the plot itself.

As to the idea of setting Shakespeare plays in historical Japan...well it was good enough for Kurosawa.
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Old 08-07-2016, 08:55 PM   #25
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...Pretending to be insane so his enemy will take him lightly and not kill him...that's the plot itself.

As to the idea of setting Shakespeare plays in historical Japan...well it was good enough for Kurosawa.
"Pretending" - Dr. Evil air quotes.
I strongly believe Kurosawa could turn an ad for Old Spice into a compelling adventure story you'd demand your great grandchildren watch as one of this century's classics. ;)
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Old 08-07-2016, 09:29 PM   #26
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"Pretending" - Dr. Evil air quotes.
I consider Hamlet to be one of the most believable, relatable, sane and rational protagonists I can recall reading...
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Old 08-07-2016, 10:50 PM   #27
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Default Re: Mix Master Myth Parallels

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I consider Hamlet to be one of the most believable, relatable, sane and rational protagonists I can recall reading...
In an orthodox presentation of the play, I agree wholly. However, I have seen a version of the play (I've watched seven different versions of Hamlet, at last count), in which the dialogue of the ghost is spoken by Hamlet, himself, as a form of delusional psychological break.

While that particular interpretation isn't my favorite (Branagh's is close to perfection; Kevin Kline's would have achieved perfection if the supporting cast had been better; Mel Gibson's was good enough to be a pleasant surprise; Sir Lawrence Olivier's is kind of tedious, and his Ophelia grates on modern sensibilities; Richard Burton's is mostly forgettable; and Derek Jacoby is sublime but, once again, the support cast doesn't carry its weight), it does make for a fascinating Act I and beginning of Act 2.

However, Hamlet's keen insight into the reason for the necessity absolute proof of Claudius' treachery, and his ability to hatch the plan needed to secure that proof, requires a keen, self-disciplined mind -- of the sort a delusional schizphrenic simply lacks.

I certainly wish I could remember the name of the actor in that particular version, but I've only seen it once and (as noted) it wasn't my favorite, even though it was rather memorable and nicely acted.
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Old 08-08-2016, 04:43 PM   #28
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Default Re: Mix Master Myth Parallels

Who wouldn't want to watch a Klingon Macbeth? Or A Merchant in Venice set on Yrth? "Hath not a Goblin eyes?"
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Old 08-08-2016, 05:45 PM   #29
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Who wouldn't want to watch a Klingon Macbeth? Or A Merchant in Venice set on Yrth? "Hath not a Goblin eyes?"
The Klingons go through a different MacBeth actor every night, due to them taking the beheading literally....
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Old 08-08-2016, 09:38 PM   #30
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Star Wars in the original Ancient Japanese.
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