Dear Insane Children,
Omri sends along another concept image from the Realm of the Queen of Hearts. As we’ve discussed previously, this realm is an analog to Alice’s Anger as she traverses the stages of PTSD. The entire realm and all its major inhabitants – the Queen especially – are fuel by and addicted to Anger.
We all know there’s a kind of power to be drawn from Anger. That’s why we have so many catchy quotes which embody that concept:
“Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.”
“Turn your pain into anger. Anger into motivation. Motivation into success.”
But it requires energy to stay angry. Which is why harnessing anger to accomplish things is a zero-sum game. There are better, more efficient, and less destructive ways to accomplish our goals.
But no one tell that to the Queen of Hearts!
She’s literally harnessed The Sun and is using its warmth to drive an Engine of Anger allowing her to build weapons of war and the armies to wield them.
In the image above we see The Sun, a prisoner chained inside a dungeon, designed and built by The Mad Hatter.
In response to Omri’s delivery of this art I wrote,
So, yes, the “sun” can be Alice’s burning anger. It’s being used to fuel the Queen’s “factory” which outputs the dogs of war, weapons of rage, armies of anger, etc. We should see that this is the Queen’s source of power… but, it’s also her weakness. If Alice (and the Rebels) can get past the Shield Generator they can set it to overload… which will blow up the Queen’s entire domain. Alice can learn of this fact from Hatter (he helped build all this machinery). But someone will have to stay behind and hold the lever to make the thing explode – of course 😛
Speaking of tropes, there’s a couple of cheeky ones in there!
Angry Judgement
Balanced judgement is one of Anger’s first victims. When we’re angry we make bad decisions based on faulty judgement. That’s why “the best answer to anger is silence” and “the best fighter is never angry.”
As Alice makes her way through the Queen’s Realm she’ll come across – not sure how yet – the seat of judgement, The Courthouse. Here Alice will witness or experience the sort of nonsense decisions made by a psyche addled by anger.
Speak logic? Death sentence! Whisper reason? Off with her head!
I suggest we attach this building to an Execution Factory where all the Queen’s enemies are led after receiving judgement. A sort of gauntlet of horrors ultimately leading to death.
Prepare to Croak!
All of which leads us to the Croquet Grounds on our way towards the Main Castle.
As Omri suggests, this can be part of that Execution Factory. Perhaps the idea is that once “judged” you’re sentenced to “croak” – because Alice struggles with the word “croquet” – which doesn’t seem all that bad until you realize that it’s a game you play till you’re dead.
As a way of Alice reaching the Castle… it might be interesting to have her be the first victim to successfully navigate this death arena.
Who would enjoy a well realized Croquet Mini Game in Asylum? If we link that with a highly developed, very useful, and powerful Croquet Mallet weapon… could be a lot of fun.
I have a secret to share: One of my favorite games of all times was “Wii Sports” (on the Nintendo Wii) – which I played the Golf Game on a big screen nightly… literally one of the most relaxing and fun ways to pass time with a video game I’ve ever known. So, I’ll admit my bias towards realizing a solid “golf” control on Alice’s Croquet Mallet Weapon 😛
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
An Audience with Anger
We all know where this leads… and it’s not a good place.
Omri sends along the Final Version of the Queen’s Throne Room. A stunning concept image! Wow.
Who says Anger can’t create a thing of beauty?
Mapping It Out
I’ve asked our Art Team to look at mapping out a sketch of the journey we’ve outlined for Anger. That way we’ll have – like we do for The Circus Realm – a bird’s eye view of the area representing Anger. We can then discuss in more detail some of the encounters, challenges, and choices Alice might face.
Got ideas and suggestions for this realm?
Add them into the comments below!
From Shanghai with Grrrr,
-American