Six Degrees Below Paul I of Russia

 A. Paul I of Russia was born on October 1, 1734. He became Emperor of Russia because of the death of his mother in November of 1796. From 1799 to 1801 he was the Grand Master of the Hospitaliers. His pro German sentiments and unpredictable behavior may have led to his assassination on March 23, 1801.

 

1. Peter III

 

Bio: He was father of Paul I. He reigned in Russia from January 5, 1762 until July 9, 1762.  Peter spoke little Russian and held pro-Prussian sentiments, which led him to being deposed and imprisoned by soldiers loyal to his wife. His death occurred July 17, 1762 resulting from plans of the coup or because of drunken brawl with a prison guard.

Connection: He can be seen in the Japanese anime Le Chevalier D'Eon. In this show, he was characterized as being a drunkard and a wife beater (if there is any truth to this, no wonder his wife deposed of him).

 

 

2. Catherine the Great

Bio: She was the mother of Paul I. Catherine was born May 1729 and died November 17, 1762. From 1762 to 1796, she reigned as Empress of Russia. Under her rule, Russia experienced a cultural and scientific renaissance.

Connection: Lord Byron's poem Don Juan featured Catherine the Great as a character. In Canto IX, we see her falling in love with the young Don Juan.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/21700/21700-h/21700-h.htm#2H_4_0010

 

 

3. Alexander I of Russia

Bio:  Alexander I was the eldest son of Paul I, born December 23, 1777. Held many political roles: Emperor of Russia, King of Congress  Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland. While he used liberal rhetoric, he exercised his power as Tsar. He did initiate some social and liberal education reforms, but he quickly became paranoid and reversed many of his reforms.

Connection:  Alexander I was shown in Far Flies the Eagle by Evelyn Anthony as it depicted his life and reign.

 

 

4. Anna Pavlovna

Bio: Anna Pavlovna was the youngest daughter of Paul I, born on January 7, 1795. She married King William II of the Netherlands becoming his Queen. But she never felt home in the Netherlands, feeling more like an Imperial Russian Grand Duchess. Queen Anna remained an Russian patriot and kept with her royal etiquette.

Connection:   Besides being a real person featured in real history books, she was also in the book The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi by Arthur Japin. In the book, Anna Pavlovna brought her daughter, Sophie, to meet the two Ashanti princes - Kwasi and Kwame.

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/21/books/books-of-the-times-an-african-prince-as-pained-outsider.html

 

 

 

5. Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich

Bio: Konstantin Pavlovich was the second oldest son of Paul I, born on May 8, 1779. He was heir presumptive for his brother, Alexander I, but he had secretly renounced his claim to the throne.

Connection:   In the book The 39 Clues Book 5 The Black Circle by Patrick Carman, it is recognized that Konstantin had renounced his claim to the throne in favor of his brother Nicholas, but it indicated that he may have done so for the clues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Alexander II

Bio: He was the grandson of Paul I and son of Nicholas I. Alexander was born April 29, 1818 and died March 13, 1881. From March 2, 1855 until his assassination in 1881, he was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland. He was also known as Alexander the Liberator because he freed the serfs as well as initiating many social and judicial reforms.

Connection:  Katia (1938) and Adorable Sinner (1959) aka Katia aka Magnificent Sinner are movies that depict a highly dramatized romance between Alexander II and Princess Katia,who later became his second wife.

As Good As It Gets --------------------------> One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

 A. As Good as It Gets (1997)

Summary: This movie was directed and produced by James L Brook.. Sony Pictures distributed the film to theaters nationwide. Melvin Udall, Carol Connelly, and Simon Bishop were the main characters. The story mainly followed Melvin who was a novelist, suffered from OCD, and was a bit of a misanthrope. Two events happened that started Melvin on the road to change. First, Simon, his artistic and gay neighbor was attacked and had to be hospitalized. Because of this, Frank, Simon's agent, asked Melvin to care for Simon's dog and Melvin ended getting emotionally attached to the dog.. Second, Carol Connelly, Melvin's favorite server (the only one who could stand him) at his favorite restaurant quit because of her son's health. Udall couldn't cope with that loss and offered to pay for her son's care, just as long as she continued working at the restaurant. Now, when Simon fell into a depression because of his medical bills due to the assault (and the loss of his dog's affection), Melvin reluctantly (probably out of habit) agreed to help. Simon and Melvin and Carol (who Melvin invited) went on a road trip to New York so Simon could see his parents. From here on things were changed between the three people forever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Good_as_It_Gets

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119822/

Connection: I know that this connection will be a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. 

We know that Simon Bishop was an artist and that he was making a decent living through his art. We also know that Simon was gay. But what don't we know about him. We don't know much about his family. At first I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, that his great grandpa might be the Saint, Simon Templar. But after doing a bit of research, I changed my mind.

 I believe that Simon Bishop descended from a crime fighter named "The Bishop" parodied by  Monty Python's Flying Circus. That's probably why the family even went with a name change and Simon's side of the family wanted the notoriety that came with being a related to a famous crime fighter (Probably more disappointed with his desire to be an artist) or maybe even planned to continue the tradition. Or "Simon Bishop" could just be a pseudonym so we wouldn't know who the real person was.

 

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/laughingindisbelief/2018/01/3-times-when-monty-python-were-blasphemous/2/

1. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 17

Summary: This show was created by Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam. It was directed by Ian MacNaughton and John Howard Davies. These episodes aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. For some reason this specific episode also comes up as episode four of season. Maybe it has to do with airing of the episodes- I can't be quite sure. Anyways, in "The Bishop" sketch, Reverend EP Nesbitt was a secret agent like Bishop of the Anglican Church. On numerous occasions he attempted to save members of the Church from  being murdered, but sadly arrived too late to keep it from happening.

https://www.montypython.com/tvshow_Monty%20Python's%20Flying%20Circus,%20Series%202/15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH17q_X2Ak

Connections: The Bishop was the connection for this episode because he lived and worked in an alternate universe. As such, the Bishop was the doppelganger of another secret agent. This secret agent became known as 'The Saint.'

The Saint aka Simon Templar was a secret agent who used the names of religious saints to disguise his identity rather than actually having a religious identity. A bit of a bizzaro flip, I know. Anyways, one of Simon Templar many pseudonyms was 'Stephen Tarleton.' Under that assumed identity, The Saint appeared in Tales of The Shadow Men Volume 11: Force Majeure in a short story called The Legacy of Arsene Lupin. 

2. Tales of The Shadowmen Volume 11: Force Majeure  - The Legacy of Arsene Lupin

Summary: Tales of The Shadowmen was an anthology written by Jean Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier. The cover illustrations were drawn by Mariusz Gandzel. Arsene Lupin spoke to his biographer Maurice Leblanc. He related the story about what happened to D'artagnan's sword. Lupin claimed that the Comte de Guy was in possession of the sword and it was stored in a safe made be the Dale Company. Also according to Lupin, quite a few people wanted to steal that sword. During these events, Lupin met Stephen Tarleton, met Emmeline de Guy, saw members of the Paris Vampires, and member of the Union Corse.

http://www.crossoveruniverse.com/2015/02/crossover-of-week_8.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Shadowmen#Tales_of_the_Shadowmen,_Volume_11:_Force_Majeure

Connections: For this connection, I used Arsene Lupin. Arsene Lupin was a man of many face and a master thief. But he was also a force for good, sort of a Robin Hood type character. The people that he stole from were people of a worse moral fiber than he.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars%C3%A8ne_Lupin#Origins

A descendant of Arsene Lupin can be found in the game called Guard Me Sherlock.  Lupin, in this game, was known as Jeremy Cassel. He was a French businessman, a lover, and possibly a thief- but then again from the in-game bio which  stated "leave the bedroom window open" he could be more like Casanova.

3. Guard Me Sherlock (2016)

Summary: This game was published and developed by NTT Solmare. It was considered a dating simulation, but more specifically if fell underneath the category of an otome. An otome has been defined as a story based game in which the female player has two goal- the main story and a developing a relationship with one of many choices. In this story, the main character approached Sherlock Holmes to "request something unique" (with the name of the game- probably a bodyguard position). Along the way, the main character worked with Sherlock to solve the case while meeting many potential love interests.

https://shallwedate.jp/en/free/free_008.html

Connections: One of the potential love interests was a scientist by the name of Henry Jekyll. He was described as being calm, clear-headed, and intelligent.

Henry Jekyll doesn't seem to have a dark side unlike many in the Jekyll family line. One of his dark-hearted relatives was named Harvey Jekyll. The Harvey Jekyll in Death Warmed Over, was a scientist who used to his knowledge of chemistry to create a potion that dissolved "unnaturals" (zombies and other preternatural creatures). He also concocted a potion that could make "a normal human strong enough to fight even army of unnaturals." (page 268).   

Anderson, Kevin J.. Death Warmed Over. United States, Kensington, 2012.

Sounds quite a natural course of events for someone of the Jekyll line. Keep in mind though, the Harvey Jekyll in Death Warmed Over, lived in an alternate universe to the original Jekyll's world. What we don't know is if Henry Jekyll from Guard Me Sherlock has the same life in the original Jekyll's world or if he has the same life in the Harvey Jekyll's universe. But what I think it may indicate is that similar people to these characters exist in every multiverse.

4. Death Warmed Over by Kevin Anderson 

Summary: This Paranormal/Fantasy book was published by Kensington Publishing in 2012. PI Dan Chambeaux aka Dan Shamble was dead. More specifically, Dan Shamble was a zombie, somehow brought back to life because of the Big Uneasy along with many other undead beings. Ever since Dan returned, he had been looking for the person who killed him. On top of that, Dan had a caseload of work needing his attention: two witches wanted restitution from their publisher for not using spell check on their magical tomes and a mummy sue the museum that used him as an exhibit. Along the way, Dan received help from his partner, a human lawyer, Robin Deyer, and his ghost girlfriend Sheyenne.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Death_Warmed_Over/Mxhrt6v8_F8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&kptab=overview&bsq=partner

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Warmed-Over-Shamble-Zombie-ebook/dp/B009CFWEWG

Connections: Dan Shamble existed in a universe where the supernatural existed and the dead have come back to life. But that doesn't mean that this universe was the only universe that Dan Shamble had contact. One day a dimensional doorway was opened up allowing PI Dan Shamble to meet Reporter Carl Kolchak. This meeting was notated in  Dan Shamble, Zombie PI/Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

5. Dan Shamble, Zombie PI/Kolchak: The Night Stalker

Summary: This comic book was written by Kevin Anderson and Richard Dean Starr while Sergio Banez illustrated the story. Dimensional doorways were opened up when a trio of genies went looking for a place to dump some toxic waste.By doing this, Kolchak came into contact with another world that was full of monsters. Kolchak met Dan Shamble and they worked together to solve a mystery (probably trying to catch the genies but I couldn't find out more online.)

https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/DEC151458

Connections: Carl Kolchak was a newspaper reporter for the INS. He seemed to have a penchant for finding crime stories with unlikely causes and solving them with nothing more than luck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolchak:_The_Night_Stalker

Kolchak, in this story, was not from the same universe as Dan Shamble. Was there a Kolchak in Shamble's universe? If there was what happened to him? I think the answer to this question could be found in a movie called Dead End.  In this movie, a newspaper was seen with an article written by Carl Kolshak.

6. Dead End (1985) 

Summary: This movie was produced by Emmerson Bixby and Debra Coline. The story followed an unstable moviemaker by the name of Tom Rennigan took his film crew into a town where a UFO may have crashed nearby. It turned out that it was really a crashed weapons satellite that had carried a deadly biochemical agents. Lo and behold, that biochemical agent turned the town into flesh eating zombies. Even knowing this, Tom wanted to keep his film crew and document the crisis. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131260/

https://obscurityandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/07/lost-movie-detective-dead-end-1985.html

Connections: For this possibly fake movie (in case you didn't read the blog above), I used the supposed Indian zombie who was wearing pajamas and throwing a sink out through a window. Because this zombie was from a supposedly fake movie there was no picture to be shown. Still this zombie could be the alternate version of Chief Bromden from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Chief Bromden was in a mental hospital in Oregon for at least 10 years, all the time pretending to be a deaf mute because he was unable to face the world. After meeting Randle Patrick McMurphy, he rediscovered his strength and sanity. He learned how to face the world, started speaking, and escaped from the asylum..

B. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Summary: This film was directed by Milos Forman and released in 1975. The story was shown from the eyes of Chief Bromden, a tall Native American man who was pretending to be a deaf mute. He began relating the story with the introduction of Randle Patrick McMurphy. McMurphy. McMurphy shook up the asylum with his rebellious and belligerent nature. He arranged a fishing trip for the inmates, threw a Christmas party that included call girls, and challenged the status quo at every opportunity. These events brought Bromden back to his senses and he had revealed his secret to McMurphy. Bromden and McMurphy had even made plans to escape before things went south.

https://sites.google.com/site/rpmcuckoosnest/background

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_(film)

Six Degrees: Library

I am a Christian. You may wonder why I am bringing it up on this type of blog and that is a fair question. It was reading about Jesus, reading the parables that he told and how they moved people- that gave me a love of stories. I wanted to be able to tell a story that was as meaningful as those He told. And maybe one I will because you are never to old to reach for your dreams. But that isn't what this is about. I love stories and I realized while doing research for this blog and other projects that there are many stories that are going to be lost to time. Stories that were written by authors that weren't as well known as Poe or Dafoe or Dickinson or Melville... You get what I am saying. I want to do something about that. My plan is to set up a second page on this blog as a type of library for short stories, poetry, plays, or other stories that I find on Google Books that are out of copyright and might not be found anywhere else. If anyone wants to help with that- send me a message. Thanks.

Buy me a coffee

Dirty Dancing ---->The Following

A. Dirty Dancing
Summary: This movie was directed by Emile Ardolino, written Eleanor Bergstein, and by produced by Linda Gottlieb. During the summer of 1963, a well to-do Jewish family by the name of Houseman's heading to a resort up in the Catskills called Kellerman's. There were four members of this family Dr Jake Houseman, his wife Marjorie, the older daughter named Lisa, and the 17-year old daughter named Frances or Baby. While there Baby noticed the different treatment the staff got based on their background with the Ivy League students being advised to mingle with the guests while the entertainment was demeaned. An entertainer named Johnny caught Baby's eye. She was briefly introduced to him when she helped his cousin carry a watermelon to a staff party. Later, Baby learned that Johnny's dance partner was in a tough position and stepped up to help her. This led to Baby helping Johnny and Johnny helping her.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092890/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Dancing

Connections: Connections were not very prevalent for this movie. For the connection, I worked to find a fictional relative of one of the characters.



I went with the character named Sidney Schumacher as the last name Schumacher had been used once for every 10000 people. This means that more than likely people with that name were related. Using this information, I'm making the assumption that Dr. Schumacher from Kitty Goes to War was related to the belated Sidney Schumacher. Not much was known about Dr. Schumacher except that she may have worked for the military.



1. Kitty Goes to War
Summary: This book was written by Carrie Vaughn and published by TOR Books. It related the story of Kitty Norville, a werewolf and radio host, who worked with the NIH's Center for Paranatural Biology in order to help 3 military werewolf who were suffering from PTSD and cannot transform. As if that wasn't enough, Kitty was being sued for libel by the CEO of Speedy Mart - Harold Franklin.
http://www.librarything.com/work/9508819
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7662235-kitty-goes-to-war





Connections: One of my running theories for superheroes of the modern age were that they get their powers from ancestors in the past- unknowingly. For example, a mutant who had ice powers would be descended from a spirit of nature that had to do with ice. Because of this theory I think the ghost witch Amelia Parker may be related to our friendly neighborhood SpiderMan aka Peter Parker. https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Peter_Parker_(Earth-616)

Now, I don't think that Peter was ever a witch or wizard, just that he had a genetic predisposition for being different (mutant gene) and it was triggered by a spider bite. One of the stories that we find Peter Parker in a game called Spider-Man/X Men Arcade's Revenge


2. Spider-Man/X Men in Arcade's Revenge
Summary: This game was developed by Software Creations and published by Acclaim Entertainment. It was designed as an action game and a platformer. After disarming several bombs around the city, Spider-Man learned that Storm, Wolverine, Gambit, and Cyclops were kidnapped by a villain called Arcade. Spider-Man began tracking down his friends while the X-Men actively freed themselves. They meet up in a large room where they work together to bring down the villain (how its supposed to be). In reality, Spider-Man was used to defeat the villain while the X-Men stand to the side helping on occasion.


Connections: As mentioned above, one of the characters in the game was Wolverine or James "Logan" Howlett. https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Wolverine

He was a mutant with the ability to heal himself quickly. This meant that he had been around for a while, but that past was shrouded in darkness. The farthest back he could remember was escaping from Weapon X (which was where he was embedded with adamantium). After leaving Weapon X, he had many adventures including taking part in a Death Battle against Raiden.


3. Death Battle Wolverine vs Raiden
Summary: Death Battle originated on the website ScrewAttack which was created by Craig Skistimas and Thomas Hanley. Later, Death Battle and the ScrewAttack website became property of Rooster Teeth and Let's Play. The hosts of Death Battle were Ben B. Singer and Chad James. For each Death Battle- the hosts chose two fictional characters and had them fight to the death. In this episode they chose X-Men's Wolverine and Metal Gear Solid's Raiden. It seemed to me that the two were chosen to fight against each other because of similar backgrounds. Both men lost one father and gained another. And both men were abducted by secret organizations and experimented on from which Wolverine received an adamantium exoskeleton and Raiden was turned into a cyborg.
https://deathbattle.fandom.com/wiki/DEATH_BATTLE!_Wiki
https://deathbattle.fandom.com/wiki/Wolverine_VS_Raiden

Connections: Because Raiden was the only other character portrayed in this episode of Death Battle, he now becomes the next connection in my chain. What do we know about Raiden... Well his real name maybe Jack and he was adopted by Solidus Snake. He was trained to fight under Snake, joined a unit called the Small Boy Unit, and became a killing machine. Later, Jack came to be with the Patriots who turned him into a cyborg. Being a contender on Death Battle was only a side story for him. He could also be found in Metal Gear Solid 4.




4. Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots
Summary: This game was written by Hideo Kojima, developed by Kojima Productions, and published by Konami. It's chaos in this world. Private militaries were used to enforce the peace and handle any terrorist. Five of the largest private militaries were owned by Liquid Ocelot. These private militaries were embedded with nanomachines that not only enhanced their abilities but connected them to the Sons of Patriots network. Liquid Ocelot was aiming to take that system over and Solid Snake was sent to kill him.
https://metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_4:_Guns_of_the_Patriots
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_4:_Guns_of_the_Patriots








Connections: At the beginning of the game, there were 4 different television channels that can be accessed: 15,16, 23, and 42. These channels play specific programs like a cooking show and an interview with David Hayder.

w.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/02/28/the-story-behind-metal-gear-solid-4-39-s-bizarre-intro.aspx
https://metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_4_secrets
There was something more to those four numbers than just numbers of a TV channel. Those 4 numbers were a fraction of the numbers from Lost. (Excuse me for changing tenses here)

https://lostpedia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Numbers
The numbers existing in MGS and in Lost indicate that they were alternate realities of each other. If so and the numbers were broadcasting then whom was the candidate for the island. Probably Solidus. It wouldn't matter if Snake only had a year to live as the island can change the reality within its boundaries. While the numbers aren't seen in the episode Lost LAX 1 & 2. but it was hinted at when Sawyer speaks to Hurley about his lotto ticket.

 5. Lost: LAX 1 & 2 
Summary: This series was created by Jeffrey Lieber, JJ Abrams, and Damon Lindelof. It was produced by Bad Robot, Touchstone and ABC Studios. During this episode, a lot of things happened. First, the Man in Black was confronted by some of the islanders inside the statue, but disappeared. Then, the Monster appeared and killed a few of the islanders. After the battle, the Man in Black reappeared confirming that he was really the Monster. When questioned about what he was- he basically told them islanders that they wouldn't understand and that he just wanted to go home. He left the statue with the islander and spoke to Richard as he wanted, saying he was glad that Richard wasn't in chains any more. Meanwhile Kate and some of the others (Jack, Sawyer, Miles) returned from 1977 to 2007. Quite a few of them were injured, especially Sayid. Hurley stated that they could save him if they take him to Jacob at the Temple. They took him to the Temple and submerged him into the water, but he died, at first, and then woke up. Somehow they flash sideways, showing how Oceanic 815 would've gone if it didn't crash.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)
https://lostpedia.fandom.com/wiki/LA_X,_Parts_1_%26_2

Connections: One fictional product existed in Lost universe that also existed in other universes. This product was Morley cigarettes. In this episode of Lost, an advertise for Morley cigarettes when Rose flipped over the magazine she had been reading- it displayed an ad for Morley's with the phrase 'the truth is out there.' In the Criminal Minds episode North Mammon, DNA was found on a Morley cigarette butt.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley_(cigarette)






6. Criminal Minds: North Mammon.
Summary: This series was produced by Mark Gordon and Jeff Davis. It was distributed by CBS Television, Buena Vista Television, Disney ABC, and Disney Media. The story followed the FBI's premier group of criminal profilers who work at the Behavior Analysis Unit (BAU). In this episode, three teenage girl were kidnapped on the night of a pep rally and the BAU traveled to Pennsylvania in order to find them. Once there, the team realized that they have to profile the entire town. Meanwhile, the girls were put in a difficult position by their kidnapper- two of the girls could go free if the third was killed by them.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0872735/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Minds



Connections: One of the members of the BAU team was a man named Dr. Spencer Reid, a genius who held PhD's in mathematics, chemistry, and engineering. He also had multiple BA's in Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy. And he was also the youngest profiler to work with the BAU.


https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Spencer_Reid
https://thegameofnerds.com/2017/12/31/why-dr-spencer-reid-is/
In a TV series call The Following episode "The Poet's Fire" we find that the second youngest profiler was a man named Mike Weston. Unlike Spencer, he didn't seem to be a genius though he was described as being tech savvy and it was stated he studied political science.
https://thefollowing.fandom.com/wiki/Mike_Weston
https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=47191






B. The Following: Poet's Fire
Summary: This episode was created by Kevin Williamson, produced by Kevin Williamson and Marcos Siega, and distributed by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros Television. Ryan Hardy and his team were hunting notorious serial killer Joe Carroll. It was soon discovered that Carroll gathered around a group of acolytes.And some of them have even kidnapped his son, Joey. By the time of this story, five of the acolytes have been captured and a sixth one just made himself known. This new acolyte wore a Edgar Allan Poe mask and set a man on fire. They found out later that the man who died was a critic of  Carroll's. Meanwhile, the Joey's kidnapper were beginning to argue among themselves.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2386714/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Following

Buy me a coffee

Team Fortress 2 ---> The Play that Goes Wrong

A. Team Fortress 2

Summary: This game was a multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve. this tory/game took place mid 1950s and centered around two feuding brothers who hired mercenaries to destroy their each others companies while protecting their own. These mercenary groups, for the purposes of the game, were named after the respective companies that employed their services: Reliable Excavation & Demolition or RED and Builders League United or Blu. Each group of mercenaries was made up one of nine classes: Scout, Soldier, Pyro, Demoman, Heavy, Engineer, Medic, Spy, and Sniper.

https://www.teamfortress.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Fortress_2

Connections: I chose this game because of Scout.

Whenever Scout drank a can of crit a cola his speed was set 167% of the base speed- that was of course as long as his speed stat wasn't already max out.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/440/discussions/0/523898291490594406/

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Crit-a-Cola

Craft recipes for game items were made up of things that wouldn't normally make up a drink, such as a token, scrap metal, or radiation but they can hint at what the drink really contained. First, most liquid have a base of water. And second, it had to do with metal and radiation. That led me to think of deuterium. Deuterium was a stable isotope of hydrogen that can be used in nuclear reactors in the form of heavy water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterium

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_water

With that in mind, I was thinking that somehow the Team Fortress 2 universe accidentally discovered the speed formula that gave Jay Garrick powers and tested it on Scout. Now, who was Garrick- he was the first iteration of the speedster hero known as the Flash.

1. The Flash #1
Summary: This comic was created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert for DC Comics. In this story, Jay Garrick was at University running an experiment in regards to hard water. When the beakers containing hard water fall, Garrick was effected by the gas emanating from the containers. This gas effected Jay by giving him the ability to run at or near the speed of light. Being able fast allowed Jay to save his girlfriend Joan from almost getting hit by a car and rescuing her father when he was abducted by the 'faultless four.'
 



Connections: As was clearly seen in the above pictures of Jay Garrick, he wore a pair of blue pants sometime s with a lightning bolt on them and a red top of lightening bolt on the chest. The most iconic portion of his outfit was the helmet with the lightning bolts on the side. Why was this important? Because in the movie Batman Returns, at the masquerade, we see someone dressed up as the Flash. This means that the speedster superhero was the speedster superhero most well known in that universe.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/13/flash-may-made-big-screen-debut-26-years-ago-batman-returns-7833840/

2.Batman Returns
Summary: This 1992 file was directed by Tim Burton and distributed by Warners Bros. Oswald Cobblepot aka Penguin returned to Gotham in order to be avenged for being abandoned. First thing he did was to grab crooked businessman  and blackmail him Max Shreck into helping. I'm sure Shreck was okay with this as it would give him cover with his own nefarious plan. This didn't help Selina Kyle, Shreck's secretary because when she found out and confronted Shreck, she was pushed out of a window. Selina survived the fall and vowed revenged dressing up in a catsuit and calling herself Catwoman. In the meantime, Oswald introduced himself to Gotham by rescuing the mayor's baby. Bruce Wayne/Batman was suspicious of both men  After some investigation (finding out about the Red Triangle Gang) and speaking with Selina Kyle/Catwoman- he realized that his suspicions were correct. Batman/Bruce Wayne and Catwoman/Selina Kyle team up against the Penguin and Shreck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Returns#/media/File:Batman_returns_poster2.jpg




Connections: We all know that Batman defended the Gotham City. Gotham City didn't just exist in the Batman Universe.







Either the same city or an alternate version of Gotham can be seen throughout the multiverse. An example of the this can be seen in an episode of Sabrina The Teenage Wtich called "No Place Like Home." In the story, Hilda and Zelda were turned into penguins. Hilda then asked Zelda if she wanted to wreak havoc in Gotham. https://sabrinatheteenagewitch.fandom.com/wiki/No_Place_Like_Home

3. Sabrina The Teenage Witch: No Place Like Home
Summary: This show was created by Nell Scovell, produced by Paula Hart, and distributed by CBS Television. It starred Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman who was a teenage girl that discovered she was a witch. In this particular episode turned 18 years old and her father invited her to live with him in Paris.At first, Sabrina said no because at home have been going well for her: Libby went to boarding school, Valerie planned to stay with her, and Mr. Kraft wasn't going to be the vice-principal. Sabrina's luck seemed to change. It turned out Valeria wasn't going to stay with her and that Mr. Kraft was going to the principal instead. To top it off, a friend of Harvey's just didn't like her. All of this caused Sabrina to move in with her father in Paris. It took Salem starting a war with Pluto to bring Sabrina home.


Connections: The Sabrina in the television series lived in a city called Westbridge.

Another version of Sabrina lived in a town called Greendale and she would chum around with teens from other towns. One prime example of this was found in the comic Archie Happy 300.

4. Archie # 300 Party of the First IV
Summary: This comic was drawn by Dan DeCarlo and written by Frank Doyle. I don't know much about this story, save for the little bit I have read online, but I will explain what I've put together. It's a special day for Archie but it seems that all his friends have forgotten about it and were acting weird. Archie went home and found a note telling him to go to the gym at 8pm. Upon arriving at the gym, he discovered that his friends hadn't forgotten about this special day rather they were planning a celebration in his honor.
https://archiecomics.fandom.com/wiki/Archie_Vol_1_300

Connections: Some of the celebrants at Archie's party include: Alex McCoy, Melody Valentine, Alan Mayberry, Alexander Cabot III, Alexandra Cabot, and Valerie Brown. https://www.comics.org/issue/105881/#697400 This group of people were not only Archie's friend, but members of the band Josie and the Pussycats. Josie and the Pussycats were famous in their own rights and could be found in a cartoon called Josie and the Pussycats.


5. Josie and the Pussycats



Summary: This series was created by Dan DeCarlo and Richard Goldwater. It was produced by Hanna Barbera Productions. Josie McCoy was the main character of the show and she had a dream. She wanted to be a world famous rock star. To reach her dream, she got a band together consisting of her, Melody Valentine, and Valerie Brown and with them won the Rockland County's Battle of the Bands. Now they travel the world playing gigs and having exciting adventures.

Connections: As I said in a previous post, two members of the band were Alexandra and Alexander Cabot III. They don't play instruments or sing but they do manage band activities or at least Alexander does. The two were twins and rich, a bit flamboyant, and temperamental (Alexandria more so than Alexander).https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/JosieAndThePussyCats




And now here's where I have to make some assumptions. I think that these two characters were related to John Cabot from Eight Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Case of the Vampires Mark. John Cabot, I think exemplifies some of the darker characteristics of the twins. They were all shifty and scheming. John Cabot had an knowledge of vampire lore and Alexandra demonstrated witchcraft on occasion.



6. Eight Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Case of the Vampires Mark
Summary: It was written by Bill Crider and published by Crossroad Press. The main characters in the story I am looking at were Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and Bram Stoker went to 221B Baker Street to request Sherlock's help in a case having to do with a possible vampire mark on a little boy. This was believed because the people in the household were from Transylvania and steeped in the old legends. But the person behind the crime new this staged and preyed upon their beliefs. Sherlock deftly uncovered the truth and the criminal exposed.













Connections: To move from this point, I am using Dr. John Watson.  



He trained as a doctor and served in a war, but when his health turned for the worse- John retired. When he went looking for a flat to share, he met Sherlock and found they clicked. It took some time, but Watson eventually discovered that Sherlock was a consulting detective and thought it might  be a good idea to document his work. Not that I'm saying Watson was in anyway dumb as he was a doctor, but when compared to Sherlock- Watson seemed a bit obtuse. And it's because of this I believe that Trevor Watson from The Play That Goes Wrong may be related to John Watson. Trevor Watson like John was a serious person who did his job well. And sometimes Trevor will miss a cue just like sometimes John would miss clues. Trevor fixed the set like Dr. Watson would heal a patient. If I haven't said enough to convince you- I don't know what else well.

B. The Play That Went Wrong
Summary: Mischief Theatre was a British Theatre Company that specialized in comedy. The artistic directors of the troupe were three men by the names of Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. In The Play That Went Wrong, Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society set about putting on a play called The Murder at Haversham Manor written by Susie HK Brideswell. Unfortunately for them, things start going wrong even before the curtain rises. From then on, actors forget their lines, miss cues, and were even knocked out. The plays ending really brought the house down.
https://theplaythatgoeswrong.fandom.com/wiki/Goes_Wrong_Extended_Universe_Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischief_Theatre
https://mischiefcomedy.com/

Buy me a coffee