Gabriel Knight 4 - blog

I figure… here I am, stuck in this limbo thing (sort-of like a N’Orleans gumbo I once had; unexpected, mysterious, and pretty damn’ scary), and I figured, well, since I’m stuck here, why not investigate?

The unmoving limbs were one clue about why I didn’t exactly go haring off in first place in the Otherworld Olympics. But I figured a way out of that. Y’see, all those fans, I could hear’em. I could hear their voices. I could see their voices and energy turning into flame, and I mentally went with it. Kinda reminded me of a similar experience in a chapel once, only it didn’t hurt as bad.

The point is, I could break free. Yep, for the last couple of hours I’ve been walking around. Look out, ladies of Hades, the love king is on the move!

I say it, but my heart’s not in it. I’m worried about Grace, and still feeling kinda confused. Do I really love her? I think I do. And I know damn’ well I put her through a lot these last few years. If she felt anythin’ like I do now, I don’t know how she’ll forgive me.

Anyway, mind back on track. Think straight, Gabe. You got work to do. Let’s explore this place, see what it’s like. I want to find out if any of my ancestors are down here. If this is the afterlife, they’d be here, right? If it’s not, well, I’m not goin’ to lose anything by checking around.

I’ll keep you posted.

This week’s haiku is about fate/destiny:

I tried to escape.
No one can evade their fate.
I fought it; it won.
——————–
A reoccurring subject that is depicted in the Gabriel Knight series is fate/destiny. A lot of the characters/villains suffer from family curses. Mainly, they are forced to live a certain way because they are born into it.

I have read up on the subject of fate/destiny. Although nowadays, the words are synonymous and interchangeable, they do have their distinctions.

Both are predetermined course of events, but with destiny, the person willingly follows that course. With fate, outside forces interject to make sure events happen as they should.

For example, you could say that it is the destiny of the Ritter men to be the shattenjager because up until Gabriel’s grandfather, Harrison, they did willingly accept that that was their duty; to serve the light.

I think when Harrison decided he didn’t want to be the next shattenjager, he took hold of his destiny but fate intervened. He had nightmares that haunted him and ultimately, he paid with his life.

Gabriel’s father, Philip, was born into this life he did not know anything about. The reason simply was that Harrison did not want the schattenjager life for his children or his children’s children. Although Philip never knew about his father’s past, it still affected him. He was haunted by the same nightmares. His death was eerily like the death of his father.

I do not think it was a coincidence that both Harrison and Philip died in their 30’s, nor that when they died, their sons were 8 years old. By trying to rewrite the book of destiny, I think Harrison gave life to a new family curse (haunting nightmares and early deaths). Not only that, but Gran said that Harrison often felt guilty, that he felt that he should be doing something else.

Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that Gabriel was investigating this voodoo murders case that lead him to find out about his family’s past. It could have been a push from fate. I think when Gabriel took on the role as Schattenjager, he was in essence finishing what Harrison should have started.

When I asked how could I help, Almirena said I could contribute to the blog. My next question was, well what do I write? “Whatever whacky thing you’d like to write,” was the response I received. I will first say that I will not post any sort of fan-fic because if I write anything longer than a paragraph, it ends up being stupid. Sure, it might start off sounding decent, readable even, but then it starts to get stupid, then stupider, and then when you don’t think it could get any worse, you suddenly find yourself throwing your hands up in the air shouting, “Why that’s the stupidest thing I ever read!” (and you’re not even a hands-thrower-upper) Then you go set fire to your eyeballs because I warned you and you didn’t listen.

I have decided that I will write haikus. I’m going by the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Sweetheart). *smirk* A haiku is short and you’re limited by the 5-7-5 rule, but with the use of different words, added punctuation, whatever, you can change the entire tone.

So without further ado, I present to you two haikus about coffee (Gabe’s favorite drink).
————
Caffeinated bliss…
Without you, I do not work.
One word: Heavenly.
————
Dark, rich, and fresh-brewed
You’re my reason for being,
Your scent drives me wild!
————
Coffee is a great metaphor for the adventure games. Without fans, they do not exist. Why bother to make them if no one will drink the finished product? It’s true, but maybe people just do not know how good it really is. For example, 20 years ago, instant coffee was all the rage.

What if someone told the founders of Starbucks that no one would pay $5 for a cup a coffee when they can make it at home for about 10 cents a cup?

The fact is that there is a demand for adventure games, even though some people might not realize it yet. Maybe they’ve never had good coffee, only drank that really bad bitter stuff that’s been sitting on the burner for hours. The fact is Gabriel Knight is the king of coffee. It is the best adventure game series I have ever played. If you think you don’t like adventure games and you haven’t played Gabriel Knight, then maybe you should. I think it would change your mind.

Like with coffee, you can always discover something new that you didn’t notice the first time, maybe a different aroma than last time. When I replay the game, I always notice something I didn’t before, whether it is finding a clue I missed before or understanding the story better. Maybe the first time you played, you just played to beat it. I challenge you to play it again and this time, give the story and detail the attention it deserves.

Going back to the KISS principle, what do I want? I just want another Gabriel Knight game.

I do not personally know Jane Jensen, but her storytelling is phenomenal. She is like this master weaver and she weaves this intricate tapestry, yet just as she introduces this amazing new pattern, she leaves the room leaving you in awe, wanting more. Well with GK3, it’s like Jane left this beautiful yet unfinished thing, it has tons of loose ends. I don’t even think a GK4 could be the end all because there is just too much of the story that needs to be told. It would be like fitting a giraffe into a matchbox, it just wouldn’t work.

Haiku#2 definitely speaks about passion and that is why I’m here, when you feel passionate about something, you can’t just idly wait, you must take action even if it’s a small step.

Behind the scenes at the Campaign office, so much is happening… It’s frantic. Phones are ringing, reporters are dashing in and out, research is being done, articles are being written, ideas are being thrown about like pancakes by a great chef.

Oh well, I’m exaggerating about the phones and the reporters. But everything else is true!

There are are new articles up for reading. Gabriel Knight fans will be delighted to read about Voudoon (voodoo), which puts Gabriel Knight 1 in context. And what about the articles that talk about computer games not necessarily or especially being for children? Thought-provoking ideas abound in those two articles tackling this pivotal point.

Of course, if your interest in Wagner was tickled by Gabriel Knight 2, you might want to read about the real man and his music. What an arrogant creature he was! Talented, yes - but you wouldn’t want to lend him any money or trust him with your wife or daughter.

Check out the REAL history of vampires; find out a little about the real Marie Laveau; take a look at the real King Ludwig of Bavaria. Was he mad? Was he murdered? Fascinating stuff…

And Gabe… I hope you can hear me. I hope you realise we’re doing everything we can to help you. I don’t know where you are, but I hope you know that much. We want to see you live again in further struggles over the dark powers you’ve already faced. Darkness itself has so many faces… and so many ways in which to attack its foe. We need our Schattenjger back again…