I wouldn't overthink it. My guess is they wanted her to have two different death scenes like David. It is pretty tragic for a loved one to be most likely dead but you just don't know for sure. Like it's very unlikely that they're still out there but you don't have that closure of knowing for a fact that they're gone and you have no body to bury. There's so much emotion in Javi's voice when he desperately screams "Kate, where the fuck are you!?" I'd somewhat compare it to Michonne's daughters in the comics.
I mean let's be honest, if Kate did survive it's a little odd that she'd just leave Richmond.
I chose the dialogue option saying "No shes still out there" but then the 3 day timeskip happens and Javi/Gabe assume she os dead and add he… morer photo to the memorial wall.
In the other endings Kate is either alive or found as a walker. I really dont understand why they made her unknown on purpose unless she was going to reappear, it's really messing with me.
But it wasn't a death scene, she just disappears. And I cant pretend like shes definitely dead because that goes against every "No corpse no death" rule I can imagine. Good point about Michonne and her daughter's I forgot about them.
Clint/Joan are always unknown as well, maybe the one left alive took Kate prisoner somehow. Maybe Kate got caught up in the herd and was routed out of the city. Maybe she got mad that Javi went after David instead and just left. That's the thing, I just don't know!!!
I wouldn't overthink it. My guess is they wanted her to have two different death scenes like David. It is pretty tragic for a loved one to b… moree most likely dead but you just don't know for sure. Like it's very unlikely that they're still out there but you don't have that closure of knowing for a fact that they're gone and you have no body to bury. There's so much emotion in Javi's voice when he desperately screams "Kate, where the fuck are you!?" I'd somewhat compare it to Michonne's daughters in the comics.
I mean let's be honest, if Kate did survive it's a little odd that she'd just leave Richmond.
But it wasn't a death scene, she just disappears. And I cant pretend like shes definitely dead because that goes against every "No corpse no… more death" rule I can imagine. Good point about Michonne and her daughter's I forgot about them.
Clint/Joan are always unknown as well, maybe the one left alive took Kate prisoner somehow. Maybe Kate got caught up in the herd and was routed out of the city. Maybe she got mad that Javi went after David instead and just left. That's the thing, I just don't know!!!
Exactly! There is no reason to torture certain fans with an unknown fate unless they wanted her to come back. Showing her as a walker would have been simple and was more of what i was expecting.
With the possible flirting between Javi & Jesus at the end of Episode 5, will that friendship/relationship ever be able to be expanded on? Or does the fact that Jesus is from the comics hinder any of that?
I know we aren't supposed to ask what Clementine's story will continue... means, so I'll ask this (I hope this is ok): When will we get news about what it means? Anytime soon, or not for a while?
Is there any possibility that, in an hypotetical next season with Javi as a main character (not nessesarialy a PC), if Kate dies or you reject her, Javi could maybe have a male romantic interest in the future? (plz reciprocated feelings no one sided drama pretty please?)
Why didnt the slaughterhouse make the final game? It must have been an important location as it is on the offical poster and the New Frontier brand is based off the logo on the exterior of the slaughterhouse
Max was supposed to be killed at the slaughterhouse in episode 1 but instead made it to episode 3. His character development is interesting however because of this if he is spared he is not seen past episode 3.
Could you tell us if he is alive or dead and if so where he is located?
This is my only problem with it. They did the same thing with Kaiden in ME 3. I'm not saying that we needed a lengthy conversation with him talking about his sexual history but a line or two in one of the flashbacks would have been something.
And I have a last final question that I would really like answered. Perhaps more aimed at Creative Director @Alyssa_TTG, since you're likely to be the one in charge of such things. Is there any chance, that Season 2's episode presentation scheme comes back in future installments? And what I mean by episode presentation scheme is S2's widescreen slides each with their own tracks (tracks which I loved), color schemes, main menu images, settings menu symbolic images and episode credit songs. It made each episode so damn unique and added, especially to the last 3, this eerie, horror feeling about them (even if the episodes themselves didn't end up delivering such feeling (which, to be honest, I actually think they did)), it was such a beautiful and cool menu to play around with (since you could even use an episode's color scheme onto another episode's menu image) and I would love it was brought back since this new generic menu Telltale has been using ever since Batman is, in all honestly, just unoriginal and pretty plain. I hope you take this at least into consideration
Throughout the whole season Clementine has put herself in danger to help Javier and his family despite owing them nothing.
Now it is the end of the season, Javier is safe, Clem helped him and his family. Javier still didn't get her a car.
Now Clem goes to find AJ and instead of helping her, Javier just kinda "ok good luck bye bring him back." No offer to help her find AJ despite her helping him this whole time.
I am ALL FOR a 100% Clem season 4, but how does it make any sense that Javier wouldn't help Clementine?
I know we aren't supposed to ask what Clementine's story will continue... means, so I'll ask this (I hope this is ok): When will we get news about what it means? Anytime soon, or not for a while?
* What in the world happened to Max? Fell off the face of the earth?
* I remember during (pre release) crowdplay staff specifically said "… moreWe have not forgotten about Christa" but that didn't show in S3. Any reason as to why this was randomly said?
* Who thought it was a good idea to make Clem fall head over heels for Gabe after knowing him for, like, 3 days?
* Why did you guys say this season would be the "biggest yet"?
* The new artstyle doesn't feel like Telltale's TWD at all, can you please go back to the comic style in Season 4"
* How come throughout the whole season Clementine constantly stood by Javier to help him and his family even though she was not obligated to due so, but the moment she needs to go after AJ Javier leaves her on her own?
* How come you guys so strongly hinted about Clem's father and last name but there as absolutely no mention of that anywhere in the game?
* "We have not forgotten about Kenny's hat" did you… [view original content]
1.1 R-E-S-P-E-C-T! We're all here to have fun, so be cool to each other. Always behave respectfully towards other community members, moderators and Telltale team members - even in passing. Insults, hate speech, platform wars… leave it out. Criticism of someone's actions or opinions is OK, but avoid personal attacks. If you feel especially slighted by another forum member, use the "Flag" button to report their comments to moderators instead of shooting back!
Alright. I'll make it in my best interest to not repeat what I said before. But does lying count as disrespect? If so then I think other staff has broken guideline 1.1 plenty of times. Just my stance on it.
1.1 R-E-S-P-E-C-T! We're all here to have fun, so be cool to each other. Always behave respectfully towards other community members, moderat… moreors and Telltale team members - even in passing. Insults, hate speech, platform wars… leave it out. Criticism of someone's actions or opinions is OK, but avoid personal attacks. If you feel especially slighted by another forum member, use the "Flag" button to report their comments to moderators instead of shooting back!
We wanted the endings to be something people would talk about, and to feel both customized and distinct. Kate missing opens up a different set of potential futures than Kate turned, which can make for an interesting and different story in the future for players with that ending.
Why was Kate left unknown in my ending where I trusted Clem with her? What was the point of making her deliberately unknown when it would ha… moreve been simple to show her as a walker like the other ending? Should i maintain any hopes that Kate might be alive and found later by Clementine?
This is something that Clem will need to decide for herself. There’s some factors in her history that could make it more or less likely for her to open up to someone like Gabe, but at the end of the day, they really haven’t known each other all that long. She could feel strongly enough based on some existing choices that she’ll make a declaration on his deathbed of what they might have been -- but the difference between might have been, and what will be, remains to be seen.
Alright. I'll make it in my best interest to not repeat what I said before. But does lying count as disrespect? If so then I think other staff has broken guideline 1.1 plenty of times. Just my stance on it.
How do you feel this season was received by the fandom? Do you feel the fans overall liked it? Do you think you met their expectations?
I think all y’alls are better suited to answer this than we are.
Do you feel like the final product ended up being just what you guys idealized or do you think there was room for improvement? If so to what extent?
I’ve never finished a creative endeavor that I thought was perfect. Over the course of the creative process, we have to make choices on a daily basis about what chances to take and where to play it safe; where to invest and where to cut and run. There’s so many versions of every story, and one of our key jobs is to find the version that will resonate best and get it onscreen. Every day we make choices, and we see the results of those choices pay off via the hard work of a large team -- in order to bring a scene online, so many people (artists, programmers, audio/music, QA) play a part, far beyond just the writing team. Some scenes turn out exactly as envisioned, others, not so much.
So, was there room for improvement? Yes, of course there was. Is the season something that we’re proud of? Yes it is.
Before the season released, a clip at E3 showed a branded Javier with Clem by his side "getting close" to something. What was this about? And please, if the answer is "the clip was not representative" does that mean the game only started actually being written after E3 2016?
Pre-release advertising also talked about some "quest for vengeance" and Clem and Javier needing each other, having common goals and already having some sort of pre-set bond. I don't think I saw any of this through the Season. What happened?
There was an earlier version of the story where Javi was forced to join the New Frontier group and branded (against his will) in order to prove his trustworthiness/earn his place. He escaped, but still needed to retrieve his family (David, Gabe, and Mari) from their NF captors, which aligned his goals with Clementine’s search for AJ.
Development started with that version of the story, but once the first version of it got onscreen, it didn’t feel like an authentic Walking Dead story. From there, a rewrite process started that ended up with the version of the game that we shipped.
This was found in the game files. Why would closure to characters such as Eleanor and the antagonists and such interesting choices be removed?
So apparently, these choices were cut:
Executing Joan.
Exile Joan.
Keep Joan in Richmond.
Return Joan's supplies against Clint's advice/as Eleanor suggested.
Keep Joan's supplies as Clint suggested/against Eleanor's wishes.
There was indeed more story and gameplay about the other inhabitants of Richmond in an early version of the finale episode that ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor. The process of making games is an inexact science, and we don’t always know what content will resonate with which fans. What we do know is that these stories aren’t over, and the future of the Richmond folks will develop based on the starting point that the player created in this season.
* Why did Jane use a rope to commit suicide? Why not use a bullet to the head which is a way more efficient and painless way to off yourself… more? Not to mention how a bullet wouldn't leave Clem exposed to the threat of being eaten by Jane's own walker. What was she thinking?
* How did Kate die? Was she bitten? Where? Why didn't she put herself down? Or even ask Jesus to do it for her? She clearly wasn't devoured, and we saw no bite, so did she have a stroke or something?
* What was the purpose of Clementine's design change by the end of From The Gallows? It felt really random.
* How do you feel this season was received by the fandom? Do you feel the fans overall liked it? Do you think you met their expectations?
* Do you feel like the final product ended up being just what you guys idealized or do you think there was room for improvement? If so to what extent?
* Can you explain:
* why Jane ending Clem kisses Gabe (and why Kenn… [view original content]
What happened to Max if you kept him alive in Ep3? He's nowhere to be seen in Ep4 and Ep5.
After Max confesses that he and Lonnie were conspiring with Joan looting other settlements, given what we know about how the Richmond council approaches justice, they were put in a holding cell awaiting the herd to clear, so they could be exiled from Richmond (but given a fair shot to survive). Given what we learned about Clint in Episode 5, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to any outcome for Max and Lonnie that was harsher than exile -- and likely wanted to dig in and get more details before going that far.
I hope you actually read all the feedback you've gotten this season because this season wasn't up-to-par with S1 and S2. Lots of big youtubers agree with this, a lot of reviews and the majority in these forums agree with this as well - so please don't disregard us as a minority again.
We’re listening. And we do pay attention to the feedback, even the feedback that’s harder to hear.
Couple of questions, you don't have to answer all questions but answering one at least is appreciated - thanks:
* What happened to Clin… moret/Joan (depending on decision)? They were just left out in Ep5 altogether, not even mentioned once.
* Why does the "Your Choices" trailer say you can 'make peace with David' but in the episode you fight him regardless?
* Why does Ava die in such a bad way? Probably as bad as Kenny's death. Why is she forgotten about after that 30 second scene after her death?
* What happened to Max if you kept him alive in Ep3? He's nowhere to be seen in Ep4 and Ep5.
* Why did you go for Javier and his family (which none of us have asked for) instead of continuing S2 (which is what we all wanted)?
I hope you actually read all the feedback you've gotten this season because this season wasn't up-to-par with S1 and S2. Lots of big youtubers agree with this, a lot of reviews and the majority in these forums agree with this as well - so please don't disregard us as a minority again.
There was an earlier version of the story where Javi was forced to join the New Frontier group and branded (against his will) in order to prove his trustworthiness/earn his place. He escaped, but still needed to retrieve his family (David, Gabe, and Mari) from their NF captors, which aligned his goals with Clementine’s search for AJ.
Development started with that version of the story, but once the first version of it got onscreen, it didn’t feel like an authentic Walking Dead story. From there, a rewrite process started that ended up with the version of the game that we shipped.
How do you feel this season was received by the fandom? Do you feel the fans overall liked it? Do you think you met their expectations?
… more
I think all y’alls are better suited to answer this than we are.
Do you feel like the final product ended up being just what you guys idealized or do you think there was room for improvement? If so to what extent?
I’ve never finished a creative endeavor that I thought was perfect. Over the course of the creative process, we have to make choices on a daily basis about what chances to take and where to play it safe; where to invest and where to cut and run. There’s so many versions of every story, and one of our key jobs is to find the version that will resonate best and get it onscreen. Every day we make choices, and we see the results of those choices pay off via the hard work of a large team -- in order to bring a scene online, so many people (artists, programmers, audio/music, QA)… [view original content]
How do you feel this season was received by the fandom? Do you feel the fans overall liked it? Do you think you met their expectations?
… more
I think all y’alls are better suited to answer this than we are.
Do you feel like the final product ended up being just what you guys idealized or do you think there was room for improvement? If so to what extent?
I’ve never finished a creative endeavor that I thought was perfect. Over the course of the creative process, we have to make choices on a daily basis about what chances to take and where to play it safe; where to invest and where to cut and run. There’s so many versions of every story, and one of our key jobs is to find the version that will resonate best and get it onscreen. Every day we make choices, and we see the results of those choices pay off via the hard work of a large team -- in order to bring a scene online, so many people (artists, programmers, audio/music, QA)… [view original content]
So this ending IS set up to give Kate different potential futures? That is awesome i can't wait to see how my ending plays out. Please dont forget about our Kate!
We wanted the endings to be something people would talk about, and to feel both customized and distinct. Kate missing opens up a different … moreset of potential futures than Kate turned, which can make for an interesting and different story in the future for players with that ending.
Lot of questions here and thank you for asking them! I'll try to answer a couple.
If Javier was raised by cuban parents, why doesn't he have cuban accent, yet randomly speaks spanish sometimes?
As someone who was also raised by a Cuban parent, I don’t have an accent. And amongst family we will occasionally throw Spanish in here and there. Just writin’ what I knew...
How do you develop your characters? Not trying to be mean, I'm just really curious. How does the character chart looks like? What is the minimum of pages you dedicate to each character?
From Alyssa: We track plans/development for characters within each episode, and characters across the whole season. (It’s a spreadsheet, not a document, but it does have lots of pages and columns! And sometimes we use white boards, too!). What we try to do is understand where the characters should be at the beginning, middle, and end of their story for each episode (and what scenes we’ll be developing them in), and then look at the progression of those stories across the season.
With Gabe, for example, he started out in a pretty sheltered world, and was kind of chafing from that in Episode 1. Across the middle episodes, he was testing his boundaries as well as dealing with the revelation that his hero-figure, David, was alive and well. And in Episode 5, he leveled up a bit in maturity, realizing that David might not be as perfect as he remembered, but even so, might need his help. When he agreed to go with David, despite having been accidentally knocked around by David twice that episode, he was doing so out of selflessness rather than selfishness, which represents considerable growth from that moody teenager in Ties that Bind.
What are your inspirations? What music do the writers listen to?
Believe it or not, I’ll actually often listen to...video game music. I’ve found it’s a good way to keep my mind focused on the task at hand and since it’s almost entirely lyricless, there aren’t words to distract me. Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, the Donkey Kong Country series, there’s a whole lotta great tunes out there to write to.
As for inspirations? Golly, so many. I adore Bioshock. The plays “Red” by John Logan and “Angels in America” by Tony Kushner changed the way I write. The novel “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry was a masterclass in crafting heartbreak (just ask Conrad about it, I hear he's a fan! ;-) ). I could go on and on and on. There’s a bunch.
What is the message of the game? I mean, besides family and stuff.
Call it a cop-out, but I'd really love to know what YOU think it is. Art means different things to different people. So what did this mean to you? :-)
Why don't you have the whole story written since the begining?
If Javier was raised by cuban parents, why doesn't he have cuban accent, y… moreet randomly speaks spanish sometimes?
Also why no one pronunces the Garcías' names right? Gabe and David specially. We don't say Gabe, we say Gaby. It's weird. Specially for a child.
Can Javier have a boyfriend please?
Clem's new haircut. Why?
And what happened to the hubs and the pace?
Why so much action?
How do you develop your characters? Not trying to be mean, I'm just really curious. How does the character chart looks like? What is the minimum of pages you dedicate to each character?
Why do your stories last a week or so?
Gabentine. Why?
Why are the episodes so short?
How did the idea of Javier start?
Slaughterhouse. Anything. Please.
What are your inspirations? What music do the writers listen to?
What is the message of the game? I mean, besides family and stuff.
How long did it take to write the whole story?
Comments
I wouldn't overthink it. My guess is they wanted her to have two different death scenes like David. It is pretty tragic for a loved one to be most likely dead but you just don't know for sure. Like it's very unlikely that they're still out there but you don't have that closure of knowing for a fact that they're gone and you have no body to bury. There's so much emotion in Javi's voice when he desperately screams "Kate, where the fuck are you!?" I'd somewhat compare it to Michonne's daughters in the comics.
I mean let's be honest, if Kate did survive it's a little odd that she'd just leave Richmond.
But it wasn't a death scene, she just disappears. And I cant pretend like shes definitely dead because that goes against every "No corpse no death" rule I can imagine. Good point about Michonne and her daughter's I forgot about them.
Clint/Joan are always unknown as well, maybe the one left alive took Kate prisoner somehow. Maybe Kate got caught up in the herd and was routed out of the city. Maybe she got mad that Javi went after David instead and just left. That's the thing, I just don't know!!!
Except Grady doesn't have a powerful 'stache.
Mark.
Javier.
But he has luscious golden locks.
I have the same ending, I hope she appears, theres no reason they couldn't have just made her the walker kate ending if she really was dead.
Exactly! There is no reason to torture certain fans with an unknown fate unless they wanted her to come back. Showing her as a walker would have been simple and was more of what i was expecting.
With the possible flirting between Javi & Jesus at the end of Episode 5, will that friendship/relationship ever be able to be expanded on? Or does the fact that Jesus is from the comics hinder any of that?
Thank you for the positive LGBT representation!
I know we aren't supposed to ask what Clementine's story will continue... means, so I'll ask this (I hope this is ok): When will we get news about what it means? Anytime soon, or not for a while?
Is there any possibility that, in an hypotetical next season with Javi as a main character (not nessesarialy a PC), if Kate dies or you reject her, Javi could maybe have a male romantic interest in the future? (plz reciprocated feelings no one sided drama pretty please?)
That face when the St Johns were just hungry for talent.
Why didnt the slaughterhouse make the final game? It must have been an important location as it is on the offical poster and the New Frontier brand is based off the logo on the exterior of the slaughterhouse
Max was supposed to be killed at the slaughterhouse in episode 1 but instead made it to episode 3. His character development is interesting however because of this if he is spared he is not seen past episode 3.
Could you tell us if he is alive or dead and if so where he is located?
This is my only problem with it. They did the same thing with Kaiden in ME 3. I'm not saying that we needed a lengthy conversation with him talking about his sexual history but a line or two in one of the flashbacks would have been something.
And I have a last final question that I would really like answered. Perhaps more aimed at Creative Director @Alyssa_TTG, since you're likely to be the one in charge of such things. Is there any chance, that Season 2's episode presentation scheme comes back in future installments? And what I mean by episode presentation scheme is S2's widescreen slides each with their own tracks (tracks which I loved), color schemes, main menu images, settings menu symbolic images and episode credit songs. It made each episode so damn unique and added, especially to the last 3, this eerie, horror feeling about them (even if the episodes themselves didn't end up delivering such feeling (which, to be honest, I actually think they did)), it was such a beautiful and cool menu to play around with (since you could even use an episode's color scheme onto another episode's menu image) and I would love it was brought back since this new generic menu Telltale has been using ever since Batman is, in all honestly, just unoriginal and pretty plain. I hope you take this at least into consideration
Throughout the whole season Clementine has put herself in danger to help Javier and his family despite owing them nothing.
Now it is the end of the season, Javier is safe, Clem helped him and his family. Javier still didn't get her a car.
Now Clem goes to find AJ and instead of helping her, Javier just kinda "ok good luck bye bring him back." No offer to help her find AJ despite her helping him this whole time.
I am ALL FOR a 100% Clem season 4, but how does it make any sense that Javier wouldn't help Clementine?
Telltale has somewhat teased information in upcoming events this summer. I would guess at comic con since telltale confirmed S2&S3 at comic con.
Who would win at an arm wrestling contest?
not lee tho
About 20 minutes left.
Cmon, man, I put the time in the title and everything!!!
It was merely a pity kiss.
I edited your post to take out the last bullet point which wasn't a question and also violated our guidelines. FYI.
Which guideline?
1.1 R-E-S-P-E-C-T! We're all here to have fun, so be cool to each other. Always behave respectfully towards other community members, moderators and Telltale team members - even in passing. Insults, hate speech, platform wars… leave it out. Criticism of someone's actions or opinions is OK, but avoid personal attacks. If you feel especially slighted by another forum member, use the "Flag" button to report their comments to moderators instead of shooting back!
Alright. I'll make it in my best interest to not repeat what I said before. But does lying count as disrespect? If so then I think other staff has broken guideline 1.1 plenty of times. Just my stance on it.
We wanted the endings to be something people would talk about, and to feel both customized and distinct. Kate missing opens up a different set of potential futures than Kate turned, which can make for an interesting and different story in the future for players with that ending.
This is something that Clem will need to decide for herself. There’s some factors in her history that could make it more or less likely for her to open up to someone like Gabe, but at the end of the day, they really haven’t known each other all that long. She could feel strongly enough based on some existing choices that she’ll make a declaration on his deathbed of what they might have been -- but the difference between might have been, and what will be, remains to be seen.
Noted.
I think all y’alls are better suited to answer this than we are.
I’ve never finished a creative endeavor that I thought was perfect. Over the course of the creative process, we have to make choices on a daily basis about what chances to take and where to play it safe; where to invest and where to cut and run. There’s so many versions of every story, and one of our key jobs is to find the version that will resonate best and get it onscreen. Every day we make choices, and we see the results of those choices pay off via the hard work of a large team -- in order to bring a scene online, so many people (artists, programmers, audio/music, QA) play a part, far beyond just the writing team. Some scenes turn out exactly as envisioned, others, not so much.
So, was there room for improvement? Yes, of course there was. Is the season something that we’re proud of? Yes it is.
There was an earlier version of the story where Javi was forced to join the New Frontier group and branded (against his will) in order to prove his trustworthiness/earn his place. He escaped, but still needed to retrieve his family (David, Gabe, and Mari) from their NF captors, which aligned his goals with Clementine’s search for AJ.
Development started with that version of the story, but once the first version of it got onscreen, it didn’t feel like an authentic Walking Dead story. From there, a rewrite process started that ended up with the version of the game that we shipped.
There was indeed more story and gameplay about the other inhabitants of Richmond in an early version of the finale episode that ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor. The process of making games is an inexact science, and we don’t always know what content will resonate with which fans. What we do know is that these stories aren’t over, and the future of the Richmond folks will develop based on the starting point that the player created in this season.
Even if none of my questions are answered, describing the many ways I thought this season was flawed and disappointing was pretty cathartic.
To the best of my ability to predict, yes.
After Max confesses that he and Lonnie were conspiring with Joan looting other settlements, given what we know about how the Richmond council approaches justice, they were put in a holding cell awaiting the herd to clear, so they could be exiled from Richmond (but given a fair shot to survive). Given what we learned about Clint in Episode 5, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to any outcome for Max and Lonnie that was harsher than exile -- and likely wanted to dig in and get more details before going that far.
We’re listening. And we do pay attention to the feedback, even the feedback that’s harder to hear.
Can you removed the spoiler tag on this thread so we don't have to reveal discussion every time we refresh? @mostlypoptarts
Thank you for being open and telling us what exactly this original story was. I wish they had done the same with Season 2's original plot.
I love the Garcia's.
I hope we will play Javier again.
I'm hoping they only read the shorter posts, those posters IMO seem far more considerate of the staff's time.
So this ending IS set up to give Kate different potential futures? That is awesome i can't wait to see how my ending plays out. Please dont forget about our Kate!
Lot of questions here and thank you for asking them! I'll try to answer a couple.
As someone who was also raised by a Cuban parent, I don’t have an accent. And amongst family we will occasionally throw Spanish in here and there. Just writin’ what I knew...
From Alyssa: We track plans/development for characters within each episode, and characters across the whole season. (It’s a spreadsheet, not a document, but it does have lots of pages and columns! And sometimes we use white boards, too!). What we try to do is understand where the characters should be at the beginning, middle, and end of their story for each episode (and what scenes we’ll be developing them in), and then look at the progression of those stories across the season.
With Gabe, for example, he started out in a pretty sheltered world, and was kind of chafing from that in Episode 1. Across the middle episodes, he was testing his boundaries as well as dealing with the revelation that his hero-figure, David, was alive and well. And in Episode 5, he leveled up a bit in maturity, realizing that David might not be as perfect as he remembered, but even so, might need his help. When he agreed to go with David, despite having been accidentally knocked around by David twice that episode, he was doing so out of selflessness rather than selfishness, which represents considerable growth from that moody teenager in Ties that Bind.
Believe it or not, I’ll actually often listen to...video game music. I’ve found it’s a good way to keep my mind focused on the task at hand and since it’s almost entirely lyricless, there aren’t words to distract me. Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, the Donkey Kong Country series, there’s a whole lotta great tunes out there to write to.
As for inspirations? Golly, so many. I adore Bioshock. The plays “Red” by John Logan and “Angels in America” by Tony Kushner changed the way I write. The novel “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry was a masterclass in crafting heartbreak (just ask Conrad about it, I hear he's a fan! ;-) ). I could go on and on and on. There’s a bunch.
Call it a cop-out, but I'd really love to know what YOU think it is. Art means different things to different people. So what did this mean to you? :-)