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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 4, 2023 13:48:57 GMT -5
Ok, so clearly based on a good deal of our stories, it seems that what's happening in the 3WSR universe is that the fictionalized versions of ourselves are are basically a Monty Python-esque group, who write and perform assorted works in different genres, but ultimately have a comedy undertone. We even alluded as much to that in the 3WSR show commentaries. So, what's the story behind the stories, just who is this group that calls themselves "3WSR"? Let's learn more about the fictional versions of ourselves that exist in some alternate reality.
Lets find out:
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(Jazzy music theme song, followed by announcer saying the name of the show and introducing the guests for this episode. The host walks out and introduces himself)
"Gooooooood evening, ladies and gentlemen, and everyone else, welcome to Late Night with Howard Breslin. I'm your host, Howard Breslin, and today we've got a great treat to share with all of you! For years you've followed their works; from their sitcom and Sci-fi journey, and Medieval journey and pirate adventure, this gang has made some great stuff over the years... even their experimental stuff that didn't make much sense. So without further ado, let's meet the first of the guys you've tuned in to see tonight. Among their collective works he's done the most writing, and built a lot of the lore behind almost all their fictional worlds. His writing is rather dry and information heavy, but you can always count on him to keep the narrative going. Please welcome to the Breslin stage, Frank, The Trivia Man!"
(audience applauds as Frank walks on stage in a well pressed black suit and tie, shaking hands with Breslin as the host sits behind his desk and Frank sits on the couch)
"Frank, I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to have you here on the show tonight." Howard said enthusiastically
"Pleasure to be here Howard; and you know, I can't believe how things have gone since after all, not too long ago we passed our 8 year mark in collaborations" Frank pointed out (applause from Audience)
"Wow, 8 years have gone by? How do you keep things going after all this time?" Howard asked.
"Well, whenever inspiration strikes, you take it, and hope it sticks" Frank explained.
"Is it usually good or bad?" Howard continued.
"Depends on who's writing; if its anyone but me, its probably good. If its me, its probably dry" Frank quipped (mild laughter)
"I can't argue with that but we know that's not always true. More importantly I want to ask about the group. There are those who call you "3WSR" among other names, but usually it seems that you are just called "the gang" so... how did this all start?" Howard asked.
"Well most of us were connected in some way. Toz and I did some writing together on assorted works, and Toz did some independent collaborations with TGC and Eyes as well, back when she went by "Diesel 11" as her stage name. Tug was independent for the most part, and joined the four of us later on" Frank explained.
"I see; so you five are "the gang" you could say?" Howard asked.
"Well, some fans say that. Others say that its me, Toz, Tug and Eyes that are "the gang" hence our alternative name, the "core four" when it comes to 3WSR" Frank explained.
"Why exclude TGC?" Howard asked confused.
"Well, There was a 3-4 year period where TGC didn't really collab with us, and compared to the rest of us he didn't write as much, so there are fans who only see the four of us as "3WSR" as weird as it sounds" Frank explained.
"I guess I see the reasoning. But lets go back to your origins. How did you guys get started?" Howard said.
"Well, Toz and I got our start on Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends when it came to writing" Frank explained.
"I don't remember any episode written by the two of you though" Howard pointed out.
"I was more of an ideas guy; I fleshed out background stuff- Toz helped with characters but didn't really write episodes" Frank explained.
"Yes; and you all had your careers outside these works. Toz and Eyes had their music, and you all had assorted shows. Which reminds me, I'd like to ask about that office comedy you referenced in the commentaries, just what was it?" Howard asked.
"You don't remember that show?" Frank asked.
"No, I don't" Howard replied.
"Keep it that way; I don't like talking about that one" Frank said sternly.
"...Ok then. Well, as we all know, Frank alone does not define 3WSR so let's see who else is here today, please welcome our next guest!" Howard declared as the spotlight pointed over to the curtain.
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 6, 2023 2:48:39 GMT -5
"That's right, it's the one and only Toz!
"Hi, everyone!" Toz emerged from the curtain, blowing kisses to the audience as she made her way to the seat.
"Good to have you here as well, Toz," Howard said. "Now, before we get any further, I have to ask, what's the deal with the 'seventy six' moniker?"
"Well, Howard," Toz said, leaning back in her chair like an insufferable talk show guest, "it's really a statement on the nature of art. Artists are reduced to machines producing product. Input prompt, output content. Referring to myself with a number ironically reduces me to the level of machine while simultaneously reclaiming that identity."
"Hang on," Frank said, "you've been going by that since you were 13!"
"Ok, fine, I just needed a username that wasn't already taken," Toz admitted. "But I think this recontextualization is valuable. It's an ongoing theme in my work, actually. Something you'll see in a lot of my ongoing projects, such as Toz Story, BBB, and TozWSR, is this idea of recontextualizing your infantile, underdeveloped ideas with the benefit of maturity and hindsight, while still maintaining that innocence and joy of the untrained creative."
"Ok, that's fascinating stuff," Howard interrupted, before Toz could self-promote any more agressively, "but we wanted to start this panel with the two of you discussing your very first projects together, back in late 2014 and early 2015."
"My goodness, has it been that long?" Toz asked, sharing a knowing look with Frank.
"So much has changed for both of us," Frank said. "But looking back on that early work, I can't help but feel nostalgic for it."
"Would you care to discuss what those early days were like?" Howard asked.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 13, 2023 20:24:23 GMT -5
“Well, early on…” Frank began, “we were brought together by this agent type character, her name was Stephanie Westinghouse, but since she was proud of her East coast heritage and was fond of her life growing up in coastal New Jersey, we referred to her by the nickname Steph of the East; now, Steph of the East was starting a new project… one she called the Three Word Story Revolution” Frank explained
“Wait, is that where the 3WSR moniker comes from?” Howard asked
“Indeed, but we’re currently working on recontextualizing it so it’s not so esoteric a reference to understand. ANYWAY, see, if you’ve ever been on an online forum, you’re probably familiar with the game Three Word Story, where you write a story 3 words at a time. What Steph wanted to do was revolutionize this concept… forget three words, a bunch of people would be brought together and would write entire scenes at a time, to then be continued by another person; catch was instead of outright collaboration, we wrote independently of each other but had to build off of what the last person wrote; effectively creating a new form of writing.” Frank said
“And, there were others?” Howard asked
“Early on, yes. But the others couldn’t quite get the hang of it, and Steph later went to pursue other interests so eventually, it was just Toz and I for the longest time. The writing we produced was rooted in Thomas lore because that was was brought us together and it was something we knew and understood. But eventually, we decided to go in a more original direction, for better or worse” Frank continued
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 14, 2023 0:30:23 GMT -5
"It was one of those things where we were just goofing around in the studio, trying to amuse each other, and throwing lots of random stuff at the wall to see what stuck. The cinnamon bun thing, the boulder thing, just us playing around. None of it really stuck, obviously." Toz said.
"At first," Frank chimed in. "The moment where we introduced the Man In Black was the moment everything changed, although neither of us knew it at the time."
"Yes, tell me about that first introduction to the Colorfolk," Howard said. "I understand that at the time, they were intended as one-offs?"
"Well, yes," Frank said. "But by that point it was just me and Toz, and when it's just the two of us, we like to build on what came before rather than jumping around. So we kept expanding on the idea of the men in different colored suits, and soon they were taking over the story."
"That's also when 3WSR really developed a storyline rather than being a series of random events," Toz added. "Obviously, we wouldn't write it that way nowadays--for one thing, the colorfolk are more sci-fi than fantasy with tons of random gadgets--but that first story of Thomas getting caught in the middle of a fight between the colormen really changed the game, no pun intended."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 15, 2023 12:25:57 GMT -5
“Ah yes, the early days. You know, some of the most famous gags in colorfolk lore were born in that time. Pants into rockets, for one. And I think we introduced the Colorman whose whole shtick was trapping people under a giant fish bowl too. Oh, and Toz introduced Bachman Edward, an iconic piece of early 3WSR” Frank continued
“But, you do know model trains don’t have batteries, right?” Howard asked
“It was a stupid goof on my part, but I don’t regret it, and hey, he had to move without rails somehow, right?” Frank asked
“But, why abandon the story that started it all?” Howard asked
“Put simply, it became too complicated and was an utter mess; also I admittedly mishandled some things. It didn’t help that we lost a good chunk of the story in a fire one day” Frank sighed
“It’s no exaggeration to say that was a disaster” Toz indicated as the screen showed a picture of some burned filing cabinets, indicating “March - August 2015” with a lot of fire damage, and burned papers and files
“We’ve tried reconstructing some of the lost stuff here and there, but it wasn’t the same” Toz continued
“Well, I think we’re getting a bit sidetracked so let’s get back on track; so the early days and origin of 3WSR and the Colorfolk. But if there’s one gag we have come to expect, it’s the perpetual mystery of 3WSR. Frank, it’s time to tell us… just what IS the gift of carrot and the Tale of Tail?” Howard asked
(Applause from audience)
“Well, I suppose enough time as passed, so I’ll spill it” Frank began. “To be honest we kind of considered them the Noodle Incident of our canon, but as time went on, what happened was…”
At this moment, Frank’s microphone cut out. Frank is still talking, but no one can hear him except for Toz and Howard. The audience looks confused, one person shouts “speak up!” While the behind the scenes crew tries frantically to fix it; but only snippets of what Frank is saying come through
“…and then the red shirt…they were amazed, it was the size of a grapefruit…got lost near the lake…furious about the deadline…cooked to a perfect medium rare…which is in relation to the Erdagovern’s…hoppity hoppity hop hop… her masters in Communications…a terrible haircut and awful shave…and it’s all a commentary on the flaws of the philosophy of Deontology. And I hope that finally answers the age old question on what those are” Frank said proudly.
“…wow” Howard said in amazement
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 15, 2023 14:39:19 GMT -5
"Actually, I had a different interpretation," Toz said.
"Really? Let's hear it," Howard said.
Just then, a horrible feedback screech from the sound equipment drowned out most of what was being said. Most of the behind-the-scenes crew covered their ears as a few people ran to fix the issue.
Fractured sentences from Toz's overly long explanation could barely be heard over the feedback.
"Good for the eyesight... widely considered his best film role... Devonshire... meanwhile, in Poland... unfortunately I got a flat tire on the way... a four foot by eight foot wooden board... hoppity hoppity hop hop... deeply offensive towards women... local hero Sir Mixalot... just like this hideous shade of neon green... and of course Percy Silver gets involved... and it's all a commentary on the flaws of the philosophy of Deontology. Does that clear everything up?"
Howard nodded sagely as the crew finally fixed the mic feedback issue. "Both of your explanations are fascinating, both so different and yet with clear similarities."
"Well, that's the beauty of 3WSR, isn't it?" Toz said. "We have different visions and ideas, but when we come together and build off of each other, we can create something greater than we could ever have done alone."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 17, 2023 20:00:21 GMT -5
“Very true. So, what were the others up to during this time?” Howard asked “Well, Eyes was taking her first steps in her music career, though back then “he” was Diesel 11 as the stage name, and she was with her first band” “Indeed, and for one night only, we’ve got a special treat for you viewers at home. Ladies and gentlemen, for one night only, put your hands together for Eyes’ first band, THE DIESELS!” (Audience applause as a curtain rises revealing Eyes in some getup that is reminiscent of a train driver but with a heavy metal twist, joined by Henry Bocobsen on backup guitar, Tyler Bowler on electric bass, and Johnny Paxton on drums) After the opening guitar riff where the drums join in, Eyes starts singing, “Shed of Oblivion, SHED OF OBLIVION!!” (4 and a half minutes of song later; sorry, not a songwriter  ) “…watch out, you’re in oblivion” (Audience applause as the curtain descends on Eyes and The Diesels) “That was incredible! So, what happened?” Howard asked “Before we proceed, we just want to clarify that Eyes has reconciled with all her former band mates which is the only reason tonight will be able to be pulled off” Toz explained “So, they only lasted a few months and broke up due to creative differences, Eyes, still as Diesel 11 at the time, then went on to be become a more “generic” band, dropping the train theming in favor of something different”. Frank explained “Indeed that is true, and I think we’ve bought Eyes enough time. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Eyes’ second band, Seasons in the Abyss!” (Audience applause as Eyes, now in a more generic “heavy metal getup” is joined by Nolan Dale on backup guitar, Tyler Bowler on Electric bass, and Vernon Conrad on drums) Once again, a guitar and drum riff opens the song as eyes begins singing “There’s a war going on in everybody’s heads…” (Four minutes of singing later; again, not a songwriter ) “…until the sun sets on our eternal war” (Audience applauds again) “Seasons in the Abyss everyone!” Howard continued “Yea, they broke up due to a threat of a lawsuit from Slayer.. can’t blame them though, should’ve chosen a better name” Frank explained “But around the time she was putting together another band… which we’ll get to later!!” Toz indicated, stopping the audience applause before it started, “she came in touch with us. Put simply, things were hard since not a lot of money was coming in and she needed a side gig to keep busy, so she found out about us, liked what we were doing, and hopped aboard” Toz explained. “I actually don’t remember how TGC got into the picture, but what I do know is that he joined around the same time as Eyes, looking for a challenge and wanting to do something different with his career” Frank added “We mostly worked on this Colorfolk story for a good while, until one day the studio big wigs came up to me, Frank and TGC and said, “we want to propose something” and they brought us into a room” Toz explained. “They cut to the chase and said they needed a show for their lineup that needed to be scripted, but keep the budget down, and they liked that we both acted and wrote. Thus, Three Weird, Silly Roommates was born” Frank explained “Or, as you know it…” Toz began *the cheerful theme song from season 1 plays as a montage of season 1 clips is played over the screen, audience applauds” “Tell me about those early days on the show; what was it like?” Howard asked “Well, believe it or not, when it was just the three of us. I was the one who proposed the first idea” Frank explained, “an episode about the characters getting rich quick by inventing something stupid. And you can imagine what my idea was” Frank said “Hmmm… the solar powered flashlight?” Howard asked “You got it! I got the prop you know” Frank said as he reached behind the couch and grabbed it, prompting applause. “Fascinating; but, how did Eyes and Tug enter the picture, and for that matter, what was it like working on both the sitcom and that colorfolk story at the same time?” Howard asked |
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 23, 2023 10:47:13 GMT -5
"I think that's a question better saved for when they get here" Frank pointed out.
"I guess you're right; sorry, I just loved the sitcom during the original run and am so excited to talk about it. We'll stick with the original story for now. Tell me Frank... why do your characters feel so... flat? The story definitely had great moments but... why do your characters feel off at times?" Howard asked.
"Well, I guess I should come clean. I never really focused on character development in my stories. See, I always saw 3WSR as a "plot driven" story that we used the Colorfolk as a vehicle to tell the story... like, the focus was on the action and things they did, not so much the people in the story. But Toz and Tug didn't think that way, so when you see "meta-conflict" in our narratives... that difference in end goals, while not the only reason, was absolutely a contributing factor" Frank explained.
"You've been accused of not giving Man In Blue a personality; how do you respond to that?" Howard asked.
"Again, he as a character wasn't the focus; it was the actions he did and the events he experienced that was the focus. I always thought of him as a... humble intellectual, so he was a knowledgeable person, and of course he wouldn't have moments where he'd be all arrogant, prideful or full of himself... that's the opposite of humble after all" Frank explained.
"Fair is fair. But why not give him more... "Human" flaws and weaknesses?" Howard asked.
"Because I genuinely thought at the time that I was not supposed to give him such things given his role. He's not just a *protagonist*, he's a *hero* and unlike some modern anime titles which like to invert tropes and play with the "hero" as if it is more so a title than a role, I fully intended to play them straight as heroes. And what comes to mind when you think of a hero? A hero isn't just a character you follow, he isn't just someone who is there. A hero is meant to be an inspiration; someone you look at and makes you realize you want to be a better person, or you can do amazing things to. So by extension, Man In Blue *couldn't* be allowed to do things like fail or "do wrong" because then he would lose his mantle of a "hero" and then... he'd be just a character" Frank finished.
"I can respect that" Howard explained. "But we're not just about the heroes with 3WSR, so tell us, Toz- what insight can you give us to the original 3WSR villain... the Bronze Mage?"
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Post by Toz76 on Nov 28, 2023 23:24:40 GMT -5
"Well, to be honest, he was never supposed to be as important as he became. The whole idea that he was a mage and not a diesel was a big twist that I fully expected would get retconned, but he's become one of our most enduring characters. Sadly, that first arc with him was lost to time, but there was a lot of fun stuff in there."
"What do you think makes him stand out as a villain?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure he does," Toz said. "He's kind of a generic evil wizard type, he doesn't have a particular fatal flaw or even clear goals beyond summoning the horned one. In my newer writing I'm trying to lean in more to the "cult leader" aspect of him, which I think makes him much more compelling and scary, but he's still a more comedic villain, which fits the tone we generally go for."
"As long as we're discussing those early days, there's one particular story arc that often goes forgotten, but I've gotten many requests from viewers to ask about it. Frank, could I ask you about your decision to have the characters from TUGS move to Sodor?"
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jan 7, 2024 23:18:28 GMT -5
“A great question. See, the gang, including myself, were a specific breed of Thomas the Tank Engine fan at the time. We didn’t just grow up with the show, but we had developed an appreciation for it, as well as its sister show. I thought it would be fun to play around with the idea of David Mitton’s two shows coming together and seeing what would happen. I do regret we lost the bulk of the material in that fire, but its essence lives on in a side project I worked on- a proper crossover of the two shows without the 3WSR elements. I really should give it a proper ending someday, its been 6 years” Frank explained
“Red tape?” Howard asked
“Red tape” Frank confirmed.
“So collaboration can often be tricky, given how everyone is an individual. With such varied backgrounds, beliefs and ideas, how is 3wsr able to come together so well?” Howard asked.
Frank seemed to think it over for a second before admitting “well, if any one of us can be attributed to the longevity of this crazy collaborative experiment… it’s Toz here” Frank indicated as Toz seemed to look over, surprised at the admission. “Each and every one of us can write an idea, and bring something to life, but Toz… Toz has a gift that you can’t put a price on. She has the strongest adaptability skill out of all of us. It didn’t matter what I, Eyes or Tug did, she proved to be very good at bouncing off the rest of us, and keeping things going while at the same time adding her own bit to it. Admittedly there were times our stuff would just hop around writer to writer, but when things got coherent, Toz was the one able to keep the flow going, and then we took it from there” Frank finished
(Audience applause)
“Fascinating; but surely you added value as well” Howard insisted
Frank seemed to slouch a bit and played with his hands for a moment, clearly showing a lot of hesitation at the prospect of praising himself. “It’s hard to say… I’m… I’m fairly certain that much of my contribution is defined by my work on the lore, so I think a lot of my contributions isn’t so much at the forefront like Tug and Toz especially, but moreso the background stuff that gives our world depth and meaning; not all of it was a winner, but I would like to think a lot of the lore holds up after all these years” Frank said, trying not to sound boastful
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Post by Toz76 on Jan 8, 2024 18:45:44 GMT -5
"Frank's just being modest," Toz said. "3WSR would not be what it is without him. Honestly, I love working with him. Bouncing our wacky ideas back and forth is super fun, and Frank and I have gotten really good at it over the years. Check out Toz Story or Not So Fast for some recent examples where we just have fun with it."
"Yes, you two have been around since the beginning, and you've done a lot to make 3WSR what it is today. There have been some massive projects, but perhaps the biggest of all is the infamous Colorfolk Wiki. What was making that like?"
"God, it was so much work. I don't know what we were thinking," Toz replied with a laugh. "It's stagnant now, but it was fun to use it to flesh out our world."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jan 14, 2024 17:53:27 GMT -5
"It was arguably the first real exercise in my more building abilities" Frank added. "I created a whole bunch of random pages with different aspects of the world, initially because I had a bunch of ideas, and I was curious what the others would do to see what would stick. Did you know I was the one who actually created the Great Horned Beast?" Frank explained.
"What? No way!" Howard said in shock
"Yes; it was initially just a small entry about a creature that was slain by the first Man In Black establishing his legend as a hero. But Toz here, being the best at bouncing off of others, saw potential in this particular page, and expanded its role to be that of the leader of the Vile Evil Confederacy, of all things" Frank explained.
"Fascinating. Perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to explore what goes on in the mind of a "bouncer" you could say. Toz, do you remember that day? When you looked at that Great Horned Beast page, what about it made you think "You know what, I can use this" and do what you did?" Howard asked.
.........
(NOTE: you don't have to reply to this part; this is something I want to use later, and I'm writing it down before I forget)
"But, lore based stories aside, you two in particular have had a lot of success with more spontaneous, random works; how do those work?" Howard asked.
"Well, I think we'll use Not so Fast for the best example of that" Frank began. "See, with Tug, Eyes and TGC busy with other stuff the network came to us one day and basically said "listen, we need a premise that isn't going to be too absurdly crazy to do; one or two main sets, but otherwise nothing absurdly fantastical. Toz and I talked it over, and after some Trial and Error, we came up with the premise of a company that specializes in creating Mexican standoffs for entertainment and seeing who wins and breaks the standoff. The "ABCDEF" gang, you could say, took off surprisingly well" Frank explained.
"That doesn't answer my question though; what about the spontaneity of it?" Howard asked.
"Well, that collaboration works a little differently; we work directly with the cast to execute the scenes we have in mind. But the catch is, Toz and I don't directly work with each other. Rather, I'll do my bit, Toz will see what I've done, do her bit, and the cycle repeats. It's resulted in some great material" Frank explained.
"Can you give one example?" Howard asked.
"Certainly; one day on set Ava had brought one of her stuffed animals from her childhood; don't remember the reason, but seeing it gave me a great idea. I talked to her about incorporating it into the scene and she loved it. After a quick lesson on how to punch the stuntman effectively but without hurting him, my idea came to life- Duncan "kidnapped" Mr. Bumblecakes, prompting Ava to absolutely freak out and began punching the crony rapid fire" Frank finished.
"That's pretty funny actually. Tell me Toz, when you saw that scene, how did you go from that, and turn it into a scene where Duncan ends up getting shamed for "such a low blow" as you put it?" Howard asked.
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