I completely understand your rant. I feel similar but for different reasons. I always think, why can't villains be actual villains anymore? Aren't they supposed to be examples of BAD BEHAVIOR that kids can LEARN TO BE GOOD from? Anyway, hope that makes sense.
True. What's wrong with a villain -- however he/she expresses that villainy -- as long as he/she gets their comeuppance? As Oscar Wilde put it in The Importance of Being Earnest: "The Good ended happily, and the Bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."
Agreed! A villain is meant to be BAD! Like, really bad to show what IS bad. A lot of modern villains I see nowadays seem mediocrely bad. Like the writers aren't allowed to truly make them evil.
All right, I should point this out: a villain -- a truly memorable villain -- shouldn't be out of 19th-century melodrama, twirling his moustaches and gloating over the white-clad, terrified heroine, a la "A-ha! Now I have you, my pretty!" Villains like that belong in cartoons and stereotypical melodrama. They have very little depth. They tend to wear long, black cloaks, which they swirl around a lot (melodramatically), and have nicknames like "The Black Shadow" or "The Dark Horse" etc. Oh, and they also laugh maniacally, on the theme of "Mwa ha ha" or "Bwa ha ha". A memorable villain, on the other hand, has to have either some redeeming quality or something that makes him/her interesting. Maybe he secretly donates to the local orphanage, or rescues puppies, or collects classic paintings? Or maybe, best of all, he secretly funds the would-be-hero's training because -- let's face it -- being an Evil Mastermind(C) isn't much fun if, when the hero enters your Secret Lair(TM), he's an utter incompetent who doesn't know how to handle a sword, or tries to fire a gun, which misfires, so the hero peers down the gun-barrel. *BANG!* "Ah, Ingvar the Inept -- we meet again..." How much more interesting it is for your villain, if he has to fight someone who knows what he's doing. Of course he will still (try to) win, with all kinds of dirty tricks and so on. It's up to your hero to overcome these challenges. (See also the classic "Evil Overlord List". Here is one iteration.)
Don't forget the villain, who's evil plan for world domination, is because he is so much smarter and he will make the world a better place. Never mind his moral mindset is that the ends justify the means so any tactic is a viable option.
I returned Dark Souls 1 and regret it. I have been lurking in the fandom since my return and I LOVE all the nicknames created for the hardest bosses in the game, Ornstein and Smough. My fav is Laurel and Hardy. Bonus: I just found a whole thread asking about player nicknames for these characters. Love it.
Hahahaha. That was the first thing I thought off! Particularly the part where Spock ignores his cue and Bones says, "I liked him better before he died!"
Another one from my childhood is Frère Jacques, Dormez vous? Is that just a Canadian one, or do Americans know it, too?
In French and English. You haven't lived until you've heard the French version sung with a Texas accent.
I wrote one once and recorded myself singing several parts. It was to the tune of Three Blind Mice, and went something (exactly) like this: This job sucks This job sucks (second voice starts here) See how it sucks See how it sucks It sucks in the day and it sucks in the night It sucks to the left and it sucks to the right Oh, this job sucks This job sucks
In short, in matters vegetable, animal and mineral, This job sucks all the joy out of a life that's very ... general? That'll never work. Never, never, never! *bangs head on piano*
Pirates of Penzance. "I am the very model of a modern major-general". W. S. Gilbert was deft at obscure words and rhyming -- couplets, triolets, quatrains, etc. Arthur S. Sullivan was a dab hand at writing any kind of music. Between them, they created some of the finest operettas in the English language, and that's no mean feat. (Or even feet. They'll have you up on your feet and dancing. And that's irrefootable).
I prefer "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". Or "The Masochism Tango". Tom Lehrer is a clever man. (I say "is" because he's still alive, though in his 90s by now).
I admit, that I was once so addicted to my mmorpg game and character that when people called her name in public, I'd answer.
I have way too much fun with the people on the other end of Customer Service chats. When they ask how I'm doing I'll reply with "Me good, how you?" or a Tony the Tiger "Greeeeaaaaatttt!" Then I'll ask them about the weather, or what they had for lunch, or who they like in March Madness. Stupid shit like that. Life is too short for boring conversation. I should add that these are tech support chats with some of the various, high-end software things I use at work. Not like Verizon or the bank or something flooded by the general public.
Nothing wrong with silly-but-fun answers to asinine questions. This reminds me of a story I heard once from a theatrical colleague. They were doing a play about Vikings, and when it was time to go to dinner, they figured it might be fun to go to the BBQ restaurant dressed as Vikings. When the waiter asked what they'd like, one of them thumped on the table and shouted, "MEAT!" The slightly stunned waiter said, "Yes, sir. And how would you like it--" Without waiting, the 'Viking' thumped on the table and shouted, "COOKED!" Another actor, seeing that this could take all day, took over and the conversation proceeded more normally after that. It also reminds me of a story I once read about Victor Mature, a stage, screen and TV actor, and Hollywood leading man during the 1940s and 50s. Victor and his buddies were doing a 'sword-and-sandal' film, and during a lunch break in the filming, they decided to go to a nearby bar without changing from their Roman gear. So there they were, with their breastplates, helmets, swords and all, and the barman's look of disbelief. So Victor said: "What's the matter? Don't you serve members of the armed forces?"
