Can someone please explain to me WHY no one can accept that I knit for pleasure?? Every time someone compliments me on my knitting they ask me if I’ve thought about selling it. NO GOD DAMMIIT NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE A SIDE HUSTLE
Go to a furry convention dressed as an 18th century fur trapper. Longrifle, jawtraps, chains, fur hat, big coat made of sewn-together pelts of different polyester neons…
Sometimes people think they’re dealing with a Torment Nexus but what they actually have is a Jumanji. And sometimes people think something’s a Jumanji but oops it’s a Torment Nexus.
Now. Sometimes you have a third thing- you’ll have yourself a Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. And buddy, I can’t help you there.
So a Torment Nexus is something that is either a metaphor for a larger societal problem (e.g. The Platform, The Long Walk) or a social issue/trend taken to an exaggerated extreme (e.g. The Purge), with a lot of shades of grey in between (e.g. Squid Game). If it isn’t about a larger societal issue/trend/structure it isn’t a Torment Nexus.
A Jumanji can be dangerous and high-stakes (to the characters), but it doesn’t need to have a metaphor or lesson, it can easily just be a “Would this be fucked up or what?” situation (e.g. a lotta Goosebumps stories). If there IS a lesson/metaphor, it will be on a smaller scale like psychological issues (e.g. Magnus Archives), family/relationship issues (e.g. Zathura), or about a specific topic (e.g. Magic School Bus). Large-scale social issues may be present (after all, Everything Is Political), but they take a definite backseat.
Now. A Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory is a trap based around morality and vices. These can be cultural, religious, or bonkers bullshit like “children shouldn’t chew gum.” There is generally not discussion or criticism of this morality system. Regardless of the morality system used, if it’s not a trap, it’s not a Chocolate Factory.
examples of a willy wonkas chocolate factory include:
books by eggatha christie, murder on the omelette express, custard house, hercule pavlova’s christmas, the pale huevos, the moving frittata, the meringue in the brown suit, a pocketful of egg
Hearing about the secret Slack channels and text threads and email chains everyone was using to hide the Entire Castle from Sam is extremely funny on its own, and even funnier because at the same time, Sam was stressing himself and probably the other half of the cast and crew out trying to hide 100k and a dad from Jacob Wysocki. Layers upon fucking layers of deception happening over at Normal Comedy Show Dot Com.
