{"id":836,"date":"2021-10-25T18:28:28","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T23:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/?p=836"},"modified":"2021-10-25T18:29:17","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T23:29:17","slug":"revisiting-episode-3-remember-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/revisiting-episode-3-remember-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Revisiting Episode 3: Remember Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, we’re reposting and reflecting on Episode 3: “Remember Me”<\/strong><\/a> in a blog written by Julie.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the episode that introduces our main supervillain Dr. Rough, his henchman Drums, and their evil organization FANS.\u00a0 So let\u2019s talk villains!<\/span><\/p>\n

Pretty early in the original 00Carter<\/em> conversation, our thoughts turned to who would be Nick\u2019s nemesis.\u00a0 I mentioned Brian being a villain so my character Red Jewel could be one of his minions.\u00a0 Rose responded that she would rather make Kevin the villain.\u00a0 I thought Kevin would make a better secret agent, but while 00Kevin rhymes with 007, we decided \u201cRichardson\u2026 Kevin Richardson\u201d was way too much of a mouthful compared to \u201cCarter\u2026 Nick Carter.\u201d I then suggested Howie as the villain:\u00a0 \u201cYou should make Howie a villain, cause he gets jealous of Nick and wishes he could be 00Dorough, but Nick and everyone else just laughs at him… so he turns to the dark side and tries to take over the world.\u201d\u00a0 Everyone thought that was funny, and the idea for Dr. Rough was born!<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Rough is my absolute favorite character in 00Carter<\/em>.\u00a0 He\u2019s completely different from the Howie we know and love, but that\u2019s what makes him so much fun to write.\u00a0 We do use attributes of the real Howie, such as his short stature (which Dr. Rough is very insecure about) and his winking (which we turn into a tic — his eye twitches more when he\u2019s in a heightened state of emotion).\u00a0 But he\u2019s more a spoof of Bond villains like Blofeld and Dr. No, as well as previous parodies like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers<\/em> and Dr. Claw in Inspector Gadget<\/em>.\u00a0 We even gave him a pet, but instead of a cat like the other villains, we thought it would be funnier for him to have a ferret named Dr. Twitches.\u00a0 Although Dr. Twitches is just a normal ferret who sometimes wears cute little costumes, Dr. Rough considers him a high-ranking minion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose came up with the idea for Dr. Rough\u2019s criminal organization, FANS:\u00a0 \u201cWouldn’t it be funny if Howie recruited all the members of boybands that were never noticed much? One of the boys from Otown who wasn’t named Ashley\u2026 lol Justin from 98 degrees, Joey from Nsync\u2026 only the ignored ones lol.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember who came up with the acronym FANS, which stands for “Forgotten Agents Need Status,” but it followed in the footsteps of the other fictional criminal organizations we were spoofing:\u00a0 SPECTRE from the Bond universe, KAOS from Get Smart<\/em>, and M.A.D. from Inspector Gadget<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose is also the one who suggested Justin Timberlake as another one of Dr. Rough\u2019s henchmen.\u00a0 Although we like his character, we can\u2019t stand him in real life, so our main goal was to make fun of him.\u00a0 We wrote his character as speaking in Ebonics because he (and some of his contemporaries, including Nick at times) used to talk that way, which got spoofed in the old BSB\/NSYNC humor stories people used to write.\u00a0 Of course, our take on his dialect is highly exaggerated and perhaps a bit cringey, but we\u2019re committed to it at this point.\u00a0 Justin\u2019s code name Drums comes from the breakdown part in his first solo single \u201cLike I Love You\u201d where he goes, <\/span>\u201cYou know\u2026 I used ta dream about dis when I was a lil boy\u2026 nevah thought it would end up dis way\u2026 drums,\u201d<\/span><\/i> before the drum beat comes back in.\u00a0 I had been mocking that song and calling him \u201cDrums\u201d for years before 00Carter<\/em> came about, so it became a natural alias for him.\u00a0 The main female minion of FANS, Sexi (Michelle Williams, the most overlooked member of Destiny\u2019s Child), is named for his song \u201cSexyback,\u201d which was new when we were first planning this story.\u00a0 Her character was created to be the punchline of a future episode we planned called \u201cBringing Sexi Back.\u201d\u00a0 By the time we get around to writing it, it will probably be like twenty years too late to be relevant.\u00a0 But as we said in our last blog, we hope readers in our age range will remember and appreciate the reference.<\/span><\/p>\n

In discussing why Justin would join FANS when he was clearly the most popular member of *NSYNC, Rose came up with his back story:\u00a0 \u201cMaybe he’s working with them because\u2026 he COULD have been a 00agent but had a horrible injury (which was later mechanically modified by Dr. Rough) and they wouldn’t allow it. So he was forced to watch 00Carter rise to a position that he felt should have been his. It explains why him and Howie get along.\u201d\u00a0 As we were brainstorming what kind of funny injury Justin could have sustained, I suggested maybe his head had swollen to an abnormally large size because of his overinflated ego, forcing him to wear some kind of metal helmet to keep it under control.\u00a0 Rose took that and ran with it, turning the helmet into a headband attached to a red robotic eye that replaced Justin\u2019s real eye, which popped when his head swelled too big on one side.<\/span><\/p>\n

This episode explores the story of how that happened, told through a series of flashbacks from the perspective of the various people involved:\u00a0 Nick, Jay, Red Jewel, Pearl, K, and Drums himself.\u00a0 It was a fun but challenging episode to plan and write, as we had to figure out a way to piece all the different parts of the story together around the continuation of the Global Idol<\/em> plot from the previous episode.\u00a0 We used Episode 2 to create suspense and slowly build up to the reveal of Justin and Howie as our villains in Episode 3.\u00a0 This episode completes the three-episode arc that I consider to be the introduction of 00Carter<\/em>.\u00a0 Once we established our heroes <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> our villains, the real fun could begin!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s settle the debate once and for all:\u00a0 how is Dr. Rough\u2019s name pronounced?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dee:<\/span><\/strong> So I know it\u2019s a play on \u201cDorough\u201d and there\u2019s the Bond villain Dr. No, but I\u2019ve always pronounced it \u201cDr. \/ruff\/.\u201d Especially after we named one of his minion subclasses \u201cRough Riders.\u201d It\u2019s for sure \/ruff\/!<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose<\/span><\/strong>:<\/span><\/strong> I used to apparently say it was “ro” in old conversations since that’s how Howie\u2019s name goes, but I’ve never read it that way. I’ve always said “ruff” so…Oops lol. But yeah, “ruff” it is!<\/span><\/p>\n

Julie:<\/span><\/strong> Good to know! I, too, have always read it like the word \u201crough,\u201d even though that\u2019s not how the last syllable of Dorough is pronounced.\u00a0 It\u2019s a clever name because it works on multiple levels:\u00a0 a play on Howie\u2019s last name, a spoof of Dr. No (if you do pronounce it Dr. \u201cRo\u201d), and a spoof of other spoof villain names like Dr. Evil and Dr. Claw (if you pronounce it Dr. \u201cRuff\u201d).\u00a0 Kudos for coming up with it, Rose!<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose: <\/span><\/strong>Thank you! Though admittedly I didn’t think of all those levels lol.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We filled FANS with the less popular members of various boybands.\u00a0 How do our old boyband references hold up?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dee: <\/span><\/strong>We vaguely introduce FANS last episode with DC. How forgotten are these boybands? Does anyone remember Youngstown?<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose:<\/span><\/strong> I do! Lol. We really should throw in references to The Wanted, One Direction, and Big Time Rush someday. Obviously BTS too lol. Keep evolving the boyband mocking. And like outside of Timberlake the mocking is all with love. I met Lance and Joey from NSYNC this year, both are pretty cool. Oh and Jeff from 98 Degrees. Love him. I saw 98 Degrees live, and plan to go see Otown in December. Basically it’s only Justin I can’t stand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dee:<\/span><\/strong> Speaking of Drums, we\u2019re not subtle about that at all. I always love that Julie suggested his injury is from a swollen head, lol. At this point, I don\u2019t know if we pick FANS members because we actually think they\u2019re forgotten or because it\u2019s more funny that way. Take us putting most of NKOTB in FANS for instance\u2026 Does this hold up as well after NKOTBSB was a thing?<\/span><\/p>\n

Julie:<\/span><\/strong> Hehe, I love what we did to Justin. I find him much more likeable as Drums than as his real life self. At this point, I\u2019m not sure if I remember most of these other boybands <\/span>because<\/span><\/i> of this story or not. I know I can\u2019t name a song by Youngstown off the top of my head. NKOTB is an interesting one because the only New Kids I knew by name going into this story were Jordan Knight and Joey McIntire because they both had solo careers (I remember their singles and videos from TRL), as well as Donnie Wahlberg because of Mark Wahlberg and <\/span>The Sixth Sense<\/span><\/i>. It wasn\u2019t until NKOTBSB that I realized Donnie was actually one of the more popular members of the group and also completely different from his <\/span>Sixth Sense<\/span><\/i> character, which is what we based our portrayal of him in this story on. I stand by Danny and Jon belonging in FANS though. Do those two even sing?<\/span><\/p>\n

Dee:<\/span><\/strong> They definitely don\u2019t dance! A true tragedy to boybands everywhere! But yeah, rereading this, I had a moment of pause, like \u201cY\u2019all know Donnie is in Blue Bloods<\/em>, right?\u201d lol<\/span><\/p>\n

Julie:<\/span><\/strong> Yes, but Blue Bloods<\/em> didn\u2019t exist yet when we started this story LOL.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dee:<\/span><\/strong> True. I just always assumed he was more popular because \u201cWahlberg,\u201d and what not. I think of the three of us, Rose is the most up on the business of what non-BSB boybands were\/are up to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose: <\/span><\/strong>Youngstown did the Inspector Gadget<\/em> movie song! I think. It wasn’t Soul Decision, they did “Faded.” Also I knew nothing about NKOTB when they started this lol. Beyond Joey cause I liked his song \u201cI Love You Came Too Late.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Julie:<\/span><\/strong> I also love the video for \u201cI Love You Came Too Late\u201d – and the song \u201cFaded,\u201d though I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve had anyone from Soul Decision join FANS.\u00a0 I had to look up Youngstown\u2019s Inspector Gadget<\/em> song<\/a> because I couldn\u2019t remember it, and LMAO!\u00a0 It\u2019s not as good as the original cartoon theme song, but the music video is pretty great in all its late \u201890s boyband glory. Forgotten boybands are da bomb dot com!<\/span><\/p>\n

Dee: <\/span><\/strong>I think all boybands are bomb dot com whether they\u2019re forgotten or not. Maybe it\u2019s on us to make sure they\u2019re not forgotten. At least we still have them in a fanfic a decade later\u2026 unless we killed them off\u2026 RIP Chris?<\/span><\/p>\n

Julie:<\/span><\/strong> Poor Chris\u2026 gone too soon!<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose:<\/span><\/strong> Outside of NSYNC who I wrote off after their debut album due to my heavy dislike of Justin I have appreciation for the lesser boybands lol. My favorite outside of BSB was 98 Degrees but I also just really loved LFO. I’ll never forget the minor boybands! Lol.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remember when we had so many writers, we divided everyone into two teams, Heroes and Villains, for the sake of divvying out parts?\u00a0 Which team were you on then, and which characters do you prefer writing now?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rose: <\/span><\/strong>I always wrote more of a mix at the beginning. My main three then were Drums, Pearl and Nick. But I actually really loved writing this episode cause I\u2019m always about shades of grey in a character and with this one you can see the psyche of Drums and what it\u2019s done to him to face his HimTak past before he goes completely over the edge. Cause I don\u2019t think he was a hundred percent there yet, just really close. You see that later on in “It’s A Small World” too. And if you give me an angsty character\u2019s mind to dive into, I\u2019m a happy girl. That’s still true but I’ve drifted away from writing Drums’ parts and tend to take whatever feels like a solid deep dive for me. Like Brian or even Jay. Characterization is my favorite part of writing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dee:<\/span><\/strong> I think I was probably Team Hero\u2026 Frick & Frack, Carter Girls, all the goodness that is Nick and K\u2026 I don\u2019t think I wrote a lot of Jay back then because I thought I wasn\u2019t good at writing AJ? I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve gotten any better, lol. I\u2019m normally pretty big on strong characters, so I could see myself gravitating towards the villains that we\u2019ve created in general. However, when we started this, I was deep into the darker parts of PBox<\/em><\/a> and I think I just needed something lighthearted, so Team Hero makes more sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

Julie:<\/span><\/strong> I feel you on that!\u00a0 I am usually writing something depressing outside of 00Carter<\/em>, so this story has always been a nice break from that.\u00a0 I was and am Team Villains all the way!\u00a0 It\u2019s funny because I used to say I sucked at writing villains, but the villains in this story are perfect for me because they\u2019re supposed to be cliched.\u00a0 They don\u2019t have to be totally believable, and they\u2019re definitely not meant to be scary.\u00a0 I\u2019m better at writing ridiculous, over the top villains than realistic and terrifying ones.\u00a0 And Dr. Rough, Drums, and the rest of the minions are definitely ridiculous and over the top in different ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dee: <\/span><\/strong>I don\u2019t think I really have a preference now? Other than trying to get Diamond back to my original vision, lol. I think of the parts I\u2019ve chosen in our newer episodes, it\u2019s been the ones that seemed most entertaining to me regardless of the characters involved. Sometimes they\u2019re funny ones and sometimes they\u2019re dark and dramatic. I think overall, the three of us have a good handle on characterization across the story, so it\u2019s more about the plot of each scene more than the characters themselves. In the beginning, we talked about writing certain characters though and I volunteered for Diamond and Lancy (though I think we ultimately didn\u2019t end up divvying things out that way on purpose, though it happens sometimes). How can you not love Lancy? Of all the decisions we\u2019ve made in the revival, bumping him to main character status was the best one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose: <\/span><\/strong>I love Lancy so much. I know he’s a walking clich\u00e9 but he’s the perfect comic relief. And he’s a great example of characters taking on lives of their own.<\/span><\/p>\n

Julie: <\/span><\/strong>Rereading and editing these old episodes, it\u2019s fun to see how the characters have evolved. One thing we edited in this episode was Drums\u2019 dialogue. He sounded a lot less \u201cghetto\u201d in this episode than he does later in the story. We decided his dialect, while occasionally cringey, adds to his character and is a nice contrast from Dr. Rough\u2019s rather formal manner of speaking, so we opted to keep it and play it up more in this episode. Google Docs and Grammarly hate us for it, but we love our villains!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, we’re reposting and reflecting on Episode 3: “Remember Me” in a blog written by Julie.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5xaHX-du","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836\/revisions\/840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}