AFBH 29: Pages 396-403
Episode 29. Foamfollower gone wild!
Foamfollower loses it, and an Australian expert.
http://fantasybedtimehour.com/episodes/EP29.php
###Pages 396-403.
Starts with “There, deep in the hulky chest of the mountain” (p396), ends with “a low chuckle like the glee of hysteria.” (p403)
###Expert
Adam
###Intro/Beginning
The episode begins with Heatherly crying. Julie asks her what’s wrong (01:58). Heatherly is upset because her favorite lipstick, which she’s been using since Episode 1, is gone. Julie tells her not to worry, that in a world of magic, anything is possible, and then starts taking things out of Heatherly’s cleavage. The first thing is a light bulb, (02:19), followed by Poe, an African Grey parrot (02:32), a bunch of scarves tied together (02:42). At the end of the scarves is Heatherly’s lipstick (02:45).
Julie then begins the usual spiel, but is speaking oddly (in a faux-”Ebonics” style?) and is subtitled through the whole thing.
###Analysis of Pages
Heatherly starts by saying that the questers are still questing (03:42), and they pick it up at page 396. She reads the desciption of the quest’s goal being in the heart of Kiril Threndor. She says that everyone rested and ate, except for Foamfollower, who she sys sings a song about not having a home anymore.
She says that in the distance they hear war drums (04:25), and says “and then, there are many more paragraphs to describe how gnarly and treacherous the terrain is” (04:32).
She says that “Mormon” invites Covenant to hike up a gully, and that they go together and get a great view of Andelain (04:47). She says that Covenant says to “Mormon” that he brought him up there just so he could see that it was something worth fighting for and that “Mormon” wants something from him, a declaration of alliance before he has to face Drool (p399) (05:05). She says that “Mormon” agrees that this is the case, tells Covenant to look around, and says that Foul has no place in the Land, and that Covenant says that he’s made his peace and will not do any more killing. She describes “Mormon’s” reaction as “okay man, that’s cool, that’s cool” (05:30) and says that they rejoin the others and move on.
She says that Covenant “starts doing some reflecting” and thinks about the Wraiths of Andelain, the battle at Soaring Woodhelven, Llaura and Pietten and “Atrium”, the Unfettered One, Lena, “Tuvok”, and says that at some point “he could see the maw of Mount Thundar gaping for him” (p401) (05:59).
She continues with a description of how the company is surprised by nearby Cavewights and of Foamfollower’s enraged desire to attack them. She says that Prothall confronts him, asking “do you rave?” (p402) (06:37) and says that Foamfollower “totally loses his shit” at this (06:40), “bumrushing Prothall” and slamming him up against the side of the mountain (06:44).
She says that the Bloodguard are about to help Prothall, but “Mormon” tells them to stop, and that when Foamfollower hears someone else ask about the possibility of a Giant Raver, he breaks into convulsions of coughing and puts Prothall down, and that his coughing starts to turn into a low chuckle like the glee of hysteria (p403).
Julie says that it was really freaky how Foamfollower just went berserk for a little bit (07:35). Heatherly asks what Julie thinks got into him, and Julie suggests that it might have been asthma, because the only things that stopped him was that fit of coughing and laughter (07:46). She then asks if he thinks that asthma is funny, and they then state that asthma is not funny. Heatherly asks why Steven R. Donaldson would make fun of people with asthma.
Heatherly asks why “Mormon” singled out Covenant to go on a walk, and wonders if he’s hitting on Covenant (08:13). Julie says that he wanted to find out where Covenant’s loyalty was because they’re not really sure (08:23). She says that Covenant, when asked what he’s going to do when the shit hits the fan, says that he’s not going to fight, and that this sucks for the Lords. She then asks what he’s even there for, if he’s not going to fight or do anything (08:56).
In sight of Mount Thunder, the morale of the party improves, except for that of Foamfollower. He is aloof and seems melancholy, singing a song about being Unhomed (p397).
It is clear that Prothall is very tired from having gotten through the storm, and is feeling his age.
When the company camps on the mountain, Mhoram asks Covenant to accompany him further up the slope, and shows him the view (p399). Covenant is cynical, saying that Mhoram brought him up there to convince him that the Land is worth fighting for, and says “You want something from me—some declaration of allegiance. Before you have to face Drool” (p399). Mhoram agrees, but says that the Land itself is asking for Covenant’s allegiance, and that Foul has no place there. Covenant, still thinking about the Cavewights that he killed, in unmoved by this and says that he’s already decided, and that he’s not going to do any more killing (p400). Mhoram lets the matter go, making a reference to Kevin Landwaster that Covenant cannot fully decipher.
After the party continues its climb, they see Cavewights below them, and Foamfollower is enraged and wants to throw himself down upon them. Prothall confronts him and demands to know if he raves, at which Foamfollower gets even more angry, grabbing Prothall and holding him up against the mountainside. He demands to know if Prothall is accusing him. Mhoram stops the Bloodguard from aiding Prothall, presumably because he thinks that Prothall can handle the situations and also to prevent actual infighting in the group. Prothall asks Foamfollower again if he raves, and Foamfollower looks at him with murderous intent. At that point Tuvor says “A Raver? In one of the Seareach Giants? Impossble” (p402). This seems to get through to Foamfollower, and he lowers Prothall and starts coughing, coughing that becomes a semi-hysterical chuckling (p403).
###Key Misunderstandings
Foamfollower is not asthmatic.
###Action Sequence
The Fantasy Action Sequence begins at 09:26.
It opens with the company standing underneath a cliff. Prothall leads them along a mountain path, and then “Mormon” does the same. After more walking, we see the following scrolling text (10:19):
> pg. 398
>
> “The Questers heard
> a low rumble. Like
> the march of drums…
>
> It was the beat of
> mustering war.”
Accompanying this we hear a high-pitched video-game/electronica beat. Prothall and “Mormon” react to this (10:250 and look around. “Bloodguard Bob” says “that’s the ur-vile drum circle” (10:30).
“Mormon” asks for a word with Covenant (10:36) and they wander away from the rest of the company. “Mormon” says “Here is the Land. Andelain around us. The dark catacombs beneath us. The battlefields behind us. Mount Thundar above us. The skies above Mount Thundar. The grass beneath our feet. This little pebble over here. You to my left! Me, to your right!” (11:14) Covenant says “what?” and “Mormon” continues, “here is the heart of the Land” and stares intently at Covenant, who stares back until finally saying “so you want something from me. You want me to prove my loyalty before I face Drool” (11:45). “Mormon” replies “well, yeah! But not just me, it is the Land that needs your loyalty. Look, listen. Those drums aren’t natural. They’re the heartbeat of the Despiser” (11:58). He spits, then continues “The Despiser does not belong here. He belongs in Lord Foul’s Creche… wherever that is.”
Covenant says that he won’t kill anymore, that he’s made his peace, that he won’t do any more killing, that they won’t get that from me. Then he adds “fuck you” (12:19). “Mormon” says “peace? Well excuuuuuse me! Some Lords in times of trouble act strangely. Now think about that!” (12:28) and walks away.
Covenant says “whatever” (12:34).
After some more walking, Covenant has a flashback (12:55). (The “drum beat”, having continued until this point, stops for the flashback.)
Covenant’s flashback is of Lena from Episode 6 (subtitled as “Hot Teenage Girl”), the Wraiths (subtitled as “Wraiths of Andelain”, “Atrium” (subtitled as “Atrium”), the ur-viles (subtitled as “Urviles”), the Unfettered One (subtitled as “The Unfettered One”), Foamfollower (subtitled as “Foam Follower”), “Atrium” stabbing the ground (subtitled as “Atrium again…”), the Bloodguard “Bob” and Bannor (subtitled as “Blood Guard”), and the “Ranynyn” (subtitled as “The Ranynin”). The flashback ends at 13:44, and we see Covenant looking thoughtful. The “drum beat” starts again and we see Foamfollower, who lets out a shout at 13:56 and start yelling about how he can’t go home (14:01). Bannor tries to calm him down and he throws him off. Prothall rushes up to him, tells him to get a hold of himself, and asks him if he raves, at which point Foamfollower grabs him by the throat and shouts “Fee fi fo fum! Do you accuse me of raving?” (14:18). Bloodguard “Bob” says “Prothall’s in trouble” and rushes towards them, but “Mormon” stops him and says “Prothall’s a big boy now. I’m sure he can handle this by himself, huh Prothall?” (14:26). As he says this, we see Foamfollower choking Prothall and forcing him to the ground. Prothall again asks Foamfollower “do you rave?” (14:35). Foamfollower pauses for a moment to consider this, and then resumes choking him. Bloodguard “Bob” says “A Raver? In one of the Seaweed Giants? Impossible!” (14:48) and Foamfollower then releases Prothall, starts coughing and laughing, and falls to the ground, where he rolls around and continues to laugh”
After a fade to black, we hear Julie say “oh my god, Heatherly, those ur-vile drums of war are so annoying” (15:27) (The “war drums” stop at 15:26, while she is saying this). Heatherly says “I know, what did they do, use a Casio or something? Jesus”
The Fantasy Action Sequence ends at 15:31
###Expert
Heatherly says that their next expert came all the way from Australia just to be on the show (15:38), and Julie says that he’s a phycisist too.
The expert is Adam, who appears on screen at 15:47. He is wearing the expert jacket. He has brought them presents of a bottle of wine from Western Austrailia and a pack of Tim-Tams. Julie asks what the attraction of Lord Foul’s Bane for phycisists is, and he says that it’s that Lord Foul’s Bane makes no sense, and neither does physics (16:20).
He has read Lord Foul’s Bane twice (16:38). He says he doesn’t think he has understood it (16:45).
Julie asks if he thinks you can apply the laws of physics to Lord Foul’s Bane (17:06). He says no, and that one of their past “experts” failed miserably in trying to do that. He then says that Ted, the expert from Episode 12, was wrong about the “Maxwell’s Equation” that he presented.
Heatherly wants to know what it means that Covenant felt that the gaping maw of Mount Thunder was gaping for him. Julie says “the gaping maw was gaping for him? That’s some poor writing” (17:57) (In fact, the word ‘gaping’ is not repeated in that sentence in the text.) Adam says that the maw is the mouth of the mountain, and that it’s reaching out to swallow Covenant up. This leads to confusion over whether the mountain is alive or not. Adam says it’s not, because it’s not a living being, but it’s alive because “it’s ticking away”. He also says there’s a party going on inside the mountain.
Julie asks him about Lord Foul’s Creche, and about what a creche is, because she thought it was daycare (19:08). Heatherly says that she thought that a creche was one of those big yellow wolves (meaning kresh). Adam doesn’t really answer their question, and the three of them remain uncertain what it is, Heatherly saying it’s like Foul’s apartment, and Adam saying that perhaps he takes care of a lot of children.
Julie then asks why it’s bad to be an ur-vile or Cavewight, and says that they can’t help what they’re born as. Adam says that there are no good ur-viles (20:20). Julie asks what makes them bad, and Adam says they’re just born bad. Julie asks if people are born good or bad, and Adam says “if you believe George Bush, yeah” (20:30).
In reference to Foamfollower’s altercation with Prothall, Heatherly asks “What’s a Raver?” (20:57). Adam says “a Raver is an evil being that can possess people, much like someone who’s gone a bit crazy and taken too much drugs” (21:06). He then says that they can’t possess Giants.
Julie asks why “Mormon” didn’t let others intervene when Foamfollower was holding Prothall against the wall. Adam says “because he’s a pacifist” (21:18). He further says that sometimes reacting aggressively to a situation like that makes it worse. Julie then asks Heatherly “if Cameraman Jenn was throttling me, would you allow Adult Gladiator to stop her?” (21:53). Heatherly says “Yeah, I might give it a minute or two, just to see what happens, but—I mean, I would totally allow—″ at which point Julie expresses dismay at her position. She says that Heatherly just wants her position on the left side of the bed.
Heatherly wants to know who would win in a fight between the Bloodguard and Foamfollower (22:27). Julie says Foamfollower would win, becaus Adam just said that he could kill like a thousand ur-viles with that set of luggage alone (22:37) (she is evidently referring to a part of the show that got cut). Heatherly agrees that Foamfollower could just pick up the Bloodguard and smash them together. Then then ask why Steven R. Donaldson didn’t just have the quest throw Foamfollower down at the opposing forces so that he could kill them all.
Julie asks Adam “how much despair does it take to waste the Land, and do you have an equation for that?” (23:11) He says that it takes an enormous amount of despair, but since you can’t quantify the amount of despair, you can’t write an equation for it. They’re not entirely convinced by this, and ask him questions about whether you could adapt other equations to it, and about what the speed of despair is.
Chart-writing begins at 24:08 on the topic of “what do you think Lord Foul’s Creche looked like?”
Chart-writing ends at 24:41.
Julie’s chart (24:50) shows Lord Foul as a Satan-like figure who is acting maternally to Cavewights and ur-viles, holding a baby and baby-talking to it, with a griffin in the background and a teddy bear holding balloons on the left.
Heatherly’s chart (25:13) shows a “70s bachelor pad”, featuring an atrium with an elaborate coatrack and a wall-sized fish tank just past the entrance, and a “luv lounge” with a dance floor (including disco ball) and a couch and a fireplace. It also features a round bed, a hot tub in the bedroom, a kitchen and a library.
Adam’s chart (25:43) is similar to Heatherly, and he says that “Foul’s Creche” is a metaphor for Foul’s crib (Adam does not appear to be intentionally making an ironic statement regarding the similar child-rearing themes of the original meanings of the two words). Adam’s chart shows a living room with gigantic speakers, a disco ball, and other “pimp-style” acoutrements.
The “post-coital” segment begins at 26:19.
Heatherly’s favorite part was Foamfollower going nuts and pinning Prothall up against the rocks (26:45).
Julie’s favorite part was “Mormon” prevented the Bloodguard from intervening between Foamfollower and Prothall (26:57).
Adam’s favorite part was when Foamfollower snapped (27:11).
The end credits include out-takes of Foamfollower trying to read from Stud-Ranch Slave but not being able to keep from laughing.
After the credits, there is an out-take from the “post-coital” segment of Julie saying “That was some, uh, Australian-type reading of Fantasy Bedtime… I can’t think of what that was like” and Heatherly saying that she has one.
After that, there is a still shot of a statue, with the words “Fantasy Bedtime Hour Productions” to the left of the statue, with a voiceover of Heatherly saying “Oh my god!” and Julie saying “I know! That’s hot!”. The statue is from Powerscourt Gardens in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland.
###Words Defined
Creche: A place where children are taken care of. Can also refer to a model of the crib of the baby Jesus and its surroundings. In the text, it appears to refer to where Foul retreats to recover, and where he raises or creates his armies.
###Firsts
No significant firsts in this episode?