guess who’s playing a flute next to my printer!?
*squees*
Chestnuts roasted by kittymao @ 12/28/2007 7:28 PM
Hi guys, just after I post the last entry (tonight), I’d be happy to answer and any all questions. Fire away.
Let me also take this time to thank you all for your great participation throughout the month. Suffice to say, I don’t think I would’ve taken it as far as I did if you guys weren’t there to motivate me. Extra special thanks to Guise for running the “breakdown” site!
I know this counts as a question, but will you be giving us some “DVD style commentary” on the Advent calendar? The inside scoop as to who was behind the bunny suit? The meaning and inspiration behind some of the videos? How we pronounce Hssxxlllo?
Chestnuts roasted by Tresjolie9 @ 12/28/2007 8:56 PM
I’d be curious to know how far in advance this was actually planned out. Obviously the groundwork was started last year but was it plannedout at the beginning of last year or was it spur of the moment?
Chestnuts roasted by Dan H @ 12/28/2007 10:44 PM
I want to know where you got the idea for this big mystery or something. In other news. I went to see National Treasure Book of Secrets today which really didn’t have much to do with the book but was still good. And I got to see the Iron Man trailer which kicked ass. Especially when they played Iron Man(the song).
Chestnuts roasted by Andre @ 12/29/2007 12:04 AM
Last entry is up. To answer some questions without ruining too much of the alleged magic:
1) I wouldn’t dare define the pronunciation of Hssxxlllo’s name. I think that’s one thing that should be up to the person reading it. (Yes, I have my own opinion on it.)
2) The rabbits were always going to be the year’s villains, because it was setup last year. Their secret agenda and guerilla tactics were partly inspired by my current interest in Cloverfield, but really, they were always intended to have a weird kind of entrance. I viewed them more as aliens than rabbits, and definitely didn’t want them to come off as plain bad guys. Since they were all-new characters with no established connection to anyone else, I didn’t want them to be easily pegged early on.
3) Reader involvement definitely played a part. The reaction to Hssxxlllo pretty much dictated that he couldn’t be all bad. I go into these things with some idea on how I want them to turn out, but it’s never set in stone.
4) I couldn’t wear the rabbit suit and take pictures of myself at the same time, so my poor girlfriend got the honor. She expects some form of gift in return for this exercise, and I can’t say I blame her. Though we both had to laugh at the absurdity of my life as I made her rush through dinner so she could put on a full-body rabbit costume. Leviathan was planned from before Day 1. (The teaser video that was posted of November is the same “portal” that he/she/it stood in front of while teleporting Hare to Hell.)
Thanks for the answers to my questions, and the amazingly done epilogue.
Hare and Claire Winningham live
Chestnuts roasted by Tresjolie9 @ 12/29/2007 1:36 AM
I just read box #29/25. And then I scrolled down. Oh my god. That crazy psycho sister will return soon! Well….next Christmas. Oh crap am I spoiling? I think 2008 might top out 2007. Matt? Great job.
Chestnuts roasted by Andre @ 12/29/2007 2:39 AM
Damn! Hare & Claire together!? That’s not good!
And Matt like everyone else has said before great job this year!! With all the anagrams and websites and searches not to mention the group that has formed because of it you’ve truly outdone yourself! Thank you so much!
Chestnuts roasted by Dan H @ 12/29/2007 2:49 AM
Matt, what’s the story behind dinosaurdracula? As we’ve checked, the site had been registered for a long time and just by chance, at the same time you were talking about leaving Nick as a full-timer and also when you were complaining about Gmail which was obviously used for this project. Was this Advent Calendar that dedicated or is this just a bunch of coincidence? Or do you just register domain names for things that you think will be hip catch phrases in the next 5 years so you can cash in on it?
Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 12/29/2007 4:20 AM
Wow, thanks Matt for answering our questions! I just read the 29th box, and I have to say – awesome way to wrap things up! I’m so pumped for next year it’s ridiculous. Will we see as much reader involvement as this year? I really liked the whole ‘interaction’ thing.
It does make me sad that we won’t see these guys for another eleven months, though. Is there any chance that you might (if you have the time, of course) do a quick Easter update or similar? It would be pleasantly weird to see our favourite holiday characters in a non-Christmassy setting, and it would be neat to see if Hssxxlllo can inject some enthusiasm for Easter into the gang.
And LOL, the Advent-urers are starting to make up their own anagrams already, and it’s only been a few days. We are seriously going to be out of our minds waiting for the next big mystery.
Chestnuts roasted by Frakkyfire @ 12/29/2007 5:17 AM
Matt, amazing last part of the calendar and next year looks to be very intriguing. You’ve gone above and beyond with everything this year, and we all appreciate it.
Also, thank you for Hssxxlllo, who was perhaps the character that I, and probably a good portion here, actually cared about as a character. It’s nice to be able to assosciate with a character, and having interaction was a very nice touch.
I also love the folk on these threads, who have made the season an absolute joy.
I guess my questions are going to be a little more on the “what did we miss” side of things.
1) Was there any clues that you expected to get and we completely missed, or did you change any of the timing plans based on our…enthusiasm?
4) What was your personal favourite bit or puzzle in this, or what part are you most proud of?
Ok, not a question but…I still don’t trust Tahiti Santa, there is something up with him.
Chestnuts roasted by Guise @ 12/29/2007 7:29 AM
Yeah what was “A Biddable Roof Tis Try”
Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 12/29/2007 10:08 AM
I always wondered what the characters sound like? Besides Waitorbot.
Chestnuts roasted by Andre @ 12/29/2007 11:11 AM
Man I am really sad that this whole thing is over. I was in FAO in NYC recently and saw a huge display for all the playmobile toys, they even had a few that were almost lifesized and all I could think of was just imagine if Matt had all of that to put into the calender. I have two questions, first “where does he get those wonderful toys?” Really these companies should be comping you at this point since I think a lot of people have bought them because of the advent calender. The other question I had was about the huge list of links in the one clue, some of them about black magic or rabbits make sense now but others are still a mystry?
Chestnuts roasted by Rob @ 12/29/2007 11:22 AM
HAA HAA HAA!! I thought that was a rabbit stuffed animal, it’s so awesome that it’s actually your gf in a rabbit costume!!!
I have a handful of questions, I just need to limit them to the ‘best’ ones… Will be back in a few
Chestnuts roasted by Nizz @ 12/29/2007 11:39 AM
Righteous finale!! I am satisfied. Great job as has been said a million times. This has truly made this year’s holiday season something to remember. Great working with all of you and looking forward to the 23 thread if it happens.
FM
Chestnuts roasted by Fungusmungus @ 12/29/2007 12:50 PM
Guise has pretty much covered most of my questions, but I’m still curious about the true significance of the number 7777. Some of the Advent-urers came up with some coincidences associated with that number, but never really anything conclusive.
Also:
1. Do you still own the 2002 advent calendar, and if so, will it ever be finished, in any capacity?
2. A more personal question, have you ever considered writing a screenplay or novel? Seriously, you’re that good. At least I think so.
Chestnuts roasted by Wilkins @ 12/29/2007 12:53 PM
There are some questions that I’m going to avoid answering for the moment because, to be truthful, a few ideas were shelved once the story really took shape, and it didn’t make sense to keep adding layers past a certain point. The tricky thing was maintaining a balance, because a comparatively small number of AC readers were following the Box #23 stuff. (So, the story had to mostly make sense with or without it.) Some of the unanswered questions are things I’d rather answer in-story.
In no particular order:
1) I’m fortunate that there’s an actual Playmobil store (a rarity!) in the Woodbridge Mall in Jersey. Some of the stuff is picked up there, but most is by mail order. Between the giant house and rabbit costume, it was an expensive Advent Calendar. I have mixed feelings on the house. On one hand, I thought the environment kind of photographed “cold.” On the other hand, it allowed certain characters to develop further because they had more room to be themselves in.
2) To make sense of some of the words and links peppered throughout, my take on Hare and Hssxxlllo was this: Amalthea is a kind of weirdo colony for people with odd ideas, where Wicca is the prevalent religion. Hare modified Wiccan rules to create something more along the lines of black magic, and even though Hssxxlllo thought that was wrong, he thought the greater goals were more important. By the end, Hare’s goals seemed more self-serving than righteous, and that’s when he started to really question them.
3) I’m most proud of the fact that “HW” almost slipped by without anyone correctly guessing it. (Kudos, Chris!)
4) Any character with an established connection outside of the proper AC has potential for “staying alive” through the cold months. Knacks has MySpace, Waiterbot has YouTube, and technically, Hssxxlllo has his site.
To reiterate, there would not have been so much if you guys weren’t actively “playing.” That’s for sure. In fact, if nobody really seemed interested beyond saying “wtf why is #23 an active link,” I might not have done much more than the initial postings.
doho: That anagram = “Deadly trio of rabbits.” Hssxxlllo’s tongue in cheek nickname for he, Hare and their spirit father. Hare killed him. Hssxxlllo sent out evidence to this fact near the end, not knowing if he was going to survive the struggle or not.
Just out of curiosity, which ideas ended up being shelved?
Chestnuts roasted by Tresjolie9 @ 12/29/2007 2:56 PM
Any plans for an Easter countdown with some characters returning, or is that too over the top?
How accurate were we overall?
I can’t recall exactly, but it seemed like we found a few things you didn’t want us to (there was the generic web page, the fonts page, etc.) that seemed to be deleted soon after we found them. Were we ever close to messing up the plan? Any close calls?
FM
Chestnuts roasted by Fungusmungus @ 12/29/2007 3:04 PM
Did you ever tear your hair out over something we missed or get freaked out over something inconsequential we obsessed over (Kitty, I’m looking at you and your Waiterbetty illustration!). And I really have to know what the ‘iguana’ code was on Leviathan’s head, That one drove me batty. Tell your gf that her dressing up is greatly appreciated and ranks as one of the highlights in my Christmas season. Talk about falling off the couch laughing!
Chestnuts roasted by Ann @ 12/29/2007 3:58 PM
Yeah Kitty, geez, what was it with you and Waiterbetty, I mean that’s disturbed? ::whistles innocently::
Chestnuts roasted by Guise @ 12/29/2007 4:53 PM
On the theme of things we might of missed, are there actually any pages we flat out didn’t find? Doesn’t seem possible but who knows.
Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 12/29/2007 4:58 PM
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Posted by Matt on 12/18/2007. 
Chestnuts roasted by 
Is there any chance that you might (if you have the time, of course) do a quick Easter update or similar? It would be pleasantly weird to see our favourite holiday characters in a non-Christmassy setting, and it would be neat to see if Hssxxlllo can inject some enthusiasm for Easter into the gang.
…
guess who’s playing a flute next to my printer!?
*squees*