{"id":3542,"date":"2016-05-17T19:56:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T01:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/?p=3542"},"modified":"2016-05-17T19:56:03","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T01:56:03","slug":"normal-man-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/?p=3542","title":{"rendered":"Normal Man Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"normal-man-manticore-space-1024x576\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since I knew this was going to be my last episode of Adventure Time, I wanted to have a hand in writing the premise. At first I thought I’d try doing a final thing about Magic Man, Betty and Margles, but I wanted to get away from the heavy vibe of Season 6. Instead I decided to mine the fucked up relationship between MM and Tiny Manticore: the poor battered hostage who is forever bound to his captor, even when free. <\/p>\n

I also decided to reveal that Glob hadn’t been killed in his collision with Martin’s ship. I noticed that some internet folks were upset about that, because a cartoon’s commitment to dead characters is pretty rare in the west. I can see what a rare treat it is to know a major character is completely kaput, but I never intended for Glob to be dead. I knew he was alive and in orbit around Earth since boarding Astral Plane. Glob accepted the possibility of his death when colliding with the ship, which in my mind gives his action philosophical power regardless of the outcome. One of my main thematic interests is the triumph of spirit over flesh – that the body is a vessel used to act out philosophy. When Glob hit the ship, you could say he underwent an alchemical process; finding a new purpose in circling the earth, disembodied. This is why he wasn’t interested in returning to Mars with Normal Man. <\/p>\n

At first I was compelled to board this episode solo, but Adam talked me out of it, because I’d asked him back at the end of S6 never to let me do another solo board. In the end I’m really glad I did this one last episode with Sam Alden. We’d come pretty far together and reached a good synergy. His jokes in the second half of Normal Man were super on point. I believe this was the best episode we did together, although I think Crossover could be a tie. Why am I trying to rate my own work? <\/p>\n

Anyway here’s a copy of the original outline if you’re curious to see how it developed. <\/p>\n

ADVENTURE TIME – SEASON 7
\nNORMAL MAN – outline
\nMoynihan, Burch, Osborne, Muto, Pendarvis<\/p>\n

ACT ONE
\n1. Open on Tiny Manticore\u2122 dramatically flying upward into low orbit with supreme effort. Supposedly, he\u2019s going to rescue the heads of Glob, Grod, Gob, Grob. They\u2019ve been floating in Earth\u2019s orbit since the events in \u201cAstral Plane.\u201d Tiny Manticore communicates with Normal Man (formerly Magic Man) who is down on the surface, via walkie talkie. NM has a basket of brownies on his arm. NM: \u201cTell my brothers I\u2019m the one doing this! Tell them I\u2019m cool!\u201d Tiny M: \u201cThis is very difficult!\u201d NM: \u201cYou can do it! I believe in you, Tiny Manticore!\u201d Tiny M rolls his eyes. Although he ends up missing most of the heads, Tiny M manages to grab Glob. But upon his return he flies just out of reach and taunts Normal Man for his powerlessness. Tiny M: \u201cI\u2019m doing a classic doublecross!\u201d NM: \u201cYou jerk!\u201d Tiny M: \u201dHow does it feel to be at someone else\u2019s mercy and to have that someone be your former captive! How does that feel?!\u201d NM: \u201cTerrible!\u201d Tiny M laughs and flies away with Glob\u2019s disoriented noggin. Tiny M: \u201cIf you want this head, you\u2019ll have to come and get it! Ha ha ha!\u201d NM takes out his telescope and watches as Tiny Manticore flies Glob to a nest in a high mountain crag. A mountain full of magical traps and perils.<\/p>\n

2. NM decides to go to the Tree House to ask Finn and Jake for help rescuing Glob. Finn and Jake notice that Magic Man (now Normal Man) is pacing in front of their house, talking to himself. NM: \u201cFinn and Jake, I know I wasn\u2019t always the nicest guy, but I need your…ugh, no.\u201d He paces more. Jake throws a wad of paper at him to get him to leave, he doesn\u2019t react. NM\u2019s lost in thought, mumbling to himself. F&J shrug; maybe he\u2019ll just leave. He doesn\u2019t seem like he\u2019s trying to do anything sketchy, and besides, he\u2019s not magic anymore — he\u2019s just Normal Man. F: \u201cWhat\u2019s he doing? Wrapping up brownies in plastic wrap?\u201d Indeed, NM seems to be carefully wrapping up brownies in plastic wrap. And a couple days later he\u2019s still there! <\/p>\n

3. They finally ask him what he wants. He needs Finn and Jake\u2019s help to retrieve the last surviving head of his brother Glob. \u201cI tried to get Tiny Manticore to rescue my brother\u2019s head from low orbit. But he betrayed me!\u201d F&J are not surprised. After all, NM used to keep Tiny Manticore\u2122 prisoner. NM: \u201cBut I\u2019m all better now!\u201d Now NM wants to rescue Glob from his mountain nest prison and return him to Mars for the good of the planet. NM: \u201cBut I can\u2019t climb that mountain myself. I\u2019m just a normie.\u201d Finn and Jake decide to help Normal Man, only because it would be helping Glob and the citizens of Mars. <\/p>\n

ACT TWO
\n4. They journey to the treacherous mountain pass. Jake helps them stretch over the tricky parts. As Finn and Jake walk ahead of NM, they\u2019re making up funny songs to pass the time. Watching them have fun, NM starts to flashback to when he and Glob were kids. Glob holds one end of a jump rope (the other end is tied around a streetlight or something) and does a Martian chant while NM jumps. Back in present day, NM looks guilty and lonesome.
\n5. Normal Man gets attacked by muscly mountain lions, drawn by his basket of brownies. F&J team up to save him like a couple of adventurous rescue pros! They rassle gently with the mountain lions. F: \u201cGive up those brownies! Chocolate is terrible for mountain lions!\u201d NM: \u201cI\u2026 CAN\u2019T!!\u201d They beat the mountain lions anyway\u2026 by giving them relaxing back rubs. While Normal Man is catching his breath, F&J say, \u201cWe did it! We did it!\u201d and congratulate one another and slap each other on the back. NM remembers when NM and Glob got in trouble for setting off firecrackers around the King of Mars, who\u2019s very high-strung about loud noises, and NM literally threw Glob under a bus to distract their accusers. Later, visiting him in the hospital, MM slaps him on the back and says, \u201cWe did it!\u201d Glob says, \u201cOuch! No, you told them I did it!\u201d MM: \u201cYeah, but we could have both gotten in trouble, and this way only one of us got in trouble. We did it! Look, I brought you a brownie.\u201d GGGG scowls back at him.<\/p>\n

6. Back in the present, NM looks up the mountain. There\u2019s still such a long way to go. He\u2019s discouraged and his bad memories (even mixed in with the good ones) make him want to give up and go home. Finn and Jake try to give him a pep talk. NM: “You don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to have a bad relationship with your brother. He\u2019s not even going to want to see my stupid face.\u201d NM looks down at a brownie he brought with him to give to Glob. F: \u201cWe argue sometimes…\u201d NM: \u201cHave you ever thrown each other under a bus?\u201d J: \u201cEhhh…I\u2019ve thrown him a dirty look or two\u2026 no I haven\u2019t.\u201d NM sighs. F&J give him a pep talk about brotherhood. F: “Look man, you can’t worry about the past. Those brother vibes are always ripe for reactivating! You can do something to help him now. You\u2019re his only hope! Well, we are.\u201d Just then: the whooshing sound of a flame thrower! And of tiny yelling.<\/p>\n

7. Tiny Manticore is above them, at the top of the mountain. He\u2019s carrying a flamethrower and a boomerang. He’s got Glob\u2019s head in a sling dangling around his torso! TM has been training to build up his courage and fight Magic Man to the death. He sees F&J with NM and is like, \u201cI respect you, Finn and Jake, but I must have my vengeance!\u201d He attacks with the flamethrower! F, J & NM dive out of the way. They try to flank him, but he sees their tactic and hurls his boomerang, which smacks Jake in the noggin. <\/p>\n

8. Finn and Jake fight like crazy. TM has set up a bunch of deadly traps at the top of the mountain that they narrowly evade as he darts through the air around them. Normal Man tries to help, even though he\u2019s just normal, but he\u2019s batted aside. While Tiny Manticore is distracted with NM, Finn and Jake manage to disarm him. \u201cVengeance!\u201d cries TM. When he swoops in for a last desperate attack, Normal Man leaps onto the sling and wraps his arms around Glob\u2019s head. But then the combined weight of Glob and NM causes the sling’s straps to snap and NM and Glob fall down the mountain. Finn and Jake hang glide after them but they can\u2019t catch up!<\/p>\n

ACT THREE
\n9. While falling, Normal Man apologizes to Glob about all the bad things he did while he was crazy. Glob has also had time to think and replies with his own apology \u201cIt\u2019s okay, little bro. I\u2019m sorry I exiled you. I should\u2019ve tried harder to help.\u201d <\/p>\n

10. The brothers embrace and accept that at least they\u2019ve finally made amends. Just then they are snatched up by Tiny Manticore\u2122 who was moved by the brothers\u2019 reunion. He no longer wants to kill Normal\/Magic Man and flies them back to the martian transporter. Normal Man is like, \u201cMars needs you, brother!\u201d<\/p>\n

11. But on the way back to Mars, NM tries to give Glob the make-up brownie but Glob bites NM\u2019s hand instead and flies out of the transport beam. It\u2019s a shocker! NM lets him go! Aaaah! NM: \u201cGlob! No!!\u201d But he sees Glob slowly floating back into orbit with his brothers. NM sees that\u2019s where Glob wants to be. His other brothers welcome him back to this relaxing \u201cretirement\u201d in orbit where they\u2019re going to spend eons in peaceful contemplation.<\/p>\n

12. Normal Man realizes it\u2019s now his job to go back and take care of Mars. He arrives and things look pretty bleak. The clones are crying puddles of tears. He gives one of them the brownie. The clone cheers up! Normal Man rolls up his sleeves, ready to go to work. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since I knew this was going to be my last episode of Adventure Time, I wanted to have a hand in writing the premise. At first I thought I’d try doing a final thing about Magic Man, Betty and Margles, but I wanted to get away from the heavy vibe of Season 6. Instead I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3544,"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542\/revisions\/3544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jessemoynihan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}