{"id":2123,"date":"2021-05-15T11:36:27","date_gmt":"2021-05-15T16:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/?p=2123"},"modified":"2021-11-22T22:17:57","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T04:17:57","slug":"lx-chapter-commentary-3-you-stood-me-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-chapter-commentary-3-you-stood-me-up\/","title":{"rendered":"LX Chapter Commentary #3: You Stood Me Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

A dream, a frame story, and a flashback walk into a novel<\/a> based on lyrics from a double album by Benji Hughes<\/a>\u00a0who also stars as the protagonist.

Kidding aside, the thrill of working on L Extreme<\/em><\/a> was the kitchen-sink zaniness of the structure. As I began to identify the throughline of the plot, songs naturally identified as dreams, skits, or flashbacks. “You Stood Me Up” was squarely in the latter category as a lyrical play by play:<\/p>\r\n

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“You had a date with me\u00a0on April 17. I showed up at the Dairy Queen where we were supposed to meet…”<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

Setting and setup took care of themselves. I tackled it as a Waiting for Godot<\/em> type situation, exploring what a character would do waiting for a date who never shows up and running through all the emotions that go with it. Nervous excitement slowly evolving into a feeling between annoyance and genuine concern.<\/p>\r\n

For the second half, the idea was a riff on the concept of a friend who overanalyzes any story you tell them, and the other friend who has a tendency to tell shaggy dog stories<\/a>\u00a0where not every detail is as important as they think. What does this Dairy Queen story have to do with how Benji met L?<\/p>\r\n

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“I might never have met the girl if you would’ve shown up that night.”<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

Other tidbits:<\/p>\r\n