your edge

Strong Bad Email #197

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"Look at this arsenal of edge-havery!"

Gee Tee is worried that Strong Bad might be losing his edge.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, The Cheat, Strong Sad, Strong Mad (Easter egg)

Places: Computer Room, The Field, Strong Sad's Room, Basement of the Brothers Strong, Living Room of the Brothers Strong

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: Monday, July 21, 2008

Running Time: 4:00

Page Title: Lappy 486

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Six

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {singing} Another freakin' email, another freakin' email song!

subject: a little concerned

Hey Strongbad-
I'm a little worried that you may be losing your edge. I
heven't seen any shennanigans from you or The Cheat in
a while.
Yours, etc
Gee Tee, Los Burbankos, CA

{Strong Bad pronounces the hyphen as "minus", "heven't" as spelled, and "shennanigans" as "she-ne-ne-nanigans". He expands "yours etc" as "yours, his, hers, mine, ours". He also pronounces the name and place of the sender in a very rushed voice.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Losing our edge?! That's ridiculous. Our shenanigans make the cover of Have Edge Times Magazine like every month! Like the other day. Me and The Cheat—

{scene cuts to The Field. We see Strong Bad and The Cheat approaching a deflated basketball lying on the ground}

STRONG BAD: {as voiceover} —walked past this deflated basketball and consciously decided not to re-inflate it!

STRONG BAD: So what do you think, man?

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: OK, now we're talkin'. {Dances nervously} Let's get out of here before the cops come!

{Strong Bad and The Cheat run off to the right. Scene cuts back to Strong Bad in front of computer.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} And then yesterday, we feathered—

{scene cuts to Strong Sad's bedroom, where Strong Bad and The Cheat are standing on the bed and throwing feathers from a torn pillow at Strong Sad, whose right side is only just visible at the right of the screen. The Cheat makes little excited noises, and Strong Sad produces quiet, bored-sounding "ow"s.}

STRONG BAD: {as voiceover} —the living crap out of Strong Sad!

STRONG BAD: You said it The Cheat! Tar is prohibitively expensive!

{Scene cuts back to Strong Bad in front of computer}

STRONG BAD: {typing} But edgiest of all, THIS MORNING, we spread mayonnaise—

{scene cuts to Strong Bad and The Cheat in the Basement, spreading Fluffy Puff Mayonnaise onto the tops of cardboard boxes}

STRONG BAD: {as voiceover} —on all these cardboard boxes, man. And then waited like, thirty minutes to clean it all up,—

{clockwise-wipe reveals basement with mayonnaise gone, Strong Bad vacuuming, and The Cheat spraying air-freshener. Room twinkles occasionally.}

STRONG BAD: —vacuum, and use air-freshener to get rid of any undesirable odors left by the mayonnaise!

{cut to a rear view of the Lappy}

STRONG BAD: Thirty whole minutes! Can you be— {quickly loses his jubilation} yeah, okay, we're losing our edge. The Cheat, get in here!

{cut to a full shot of the computer room as The Cheat appears, wearing an apron}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises, with a melodic tone}

STRONG BAD: Take that thing off!

THE CHEAT: {disappointed The Cheat noise}

STRONG BAD: No, it is not "pretend-we're-grandmas-baking" time! {close up of Strong Bad} And it'll never be again! {zoom out} {sotto voce} See me after this email.

{The Cheat removes apron}

STRONG BAD: No, it's time to do some real damage, The Cheat! It's time to get our shenan on! Again!

THE CHEAT: {enthusiastic The Cheat noise}

{left wipe reveals Strong Bad and The Cheat in a room with stacks of eggs in cartons, several battle-axes, a stack of toilet paper rolls, and two bottles of "Lite Em Up Dan"-brand lighter fluid near the wall, and a saw, a casserole, and gasoline can on the floor.}

STRONG BAD: Oh yeah, look at this arsenal of edge-haver-y right here, man. {close up of Strong Bad} We can't go wrong!

{zoom out}

THE CHEAT: {questioning The Cheat noise}

STRONG BAD: You know, shenanigans! Like, uh, you start sawin' a hole in the floor, and I'll stomp on this casserole.

THE CHEAT: {affirmative The Cheat noise}

{Cut to a close up of the casserole. Strong Bad stomps on it while The Cheat saws a hole in the floor around him}

STRONG BAD: Ah ha ha! Sorry, casserole, your crusty layer of fried onions is no match for my— {zoom out} {screams}

{Strong Bad, The Cheat, and the gasoline can fall through the hole in the floor}

{Cut to a pitch-black room with faint light appearing above. Nothing can be seen besides Strong Bad's and The Cheat's eyes, which appear white with black pupils.}

STRONG BAD: {moan, followed by "yugga-da-yugga" noise of lips flapping while head is shaken vigorously} Whoa, where are we? I suddenly feel so... easy to animate.

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noise}

STRONG BAD: I dunno man, but we gotta stay edgy. We can't let this deep, dark hole get us down in a deep, dark hole. Here, lemme kick you. That's a classic shenani-move. {grunts}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noise}

{Strong Bad's eyes move in a way consistent with him winding up to kick The Cheat. The Cheat's eyes move in a way consistent with him backing up slightly. Strong Bad's eyes then flip around and lower in a way consistent with him flipping over and then falling to the floor.}

STRONG BAD: Aaaaa-oof. Geez, Lucy, hold still! {a hitting sound is heard}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noise} {another hitting sound and a popping sound are heard}

{Strong Bad's left eye disappears; in its place a round white ball appears of roughly the same size. It falls from Strong Bad's face level and rolls away on the floor.}

STRONG BAD: Ow, my eye!

THE CHEAT: {screaming The Cheat noise}

{Strong Bad's left eye reappears, opening}

STRONG BAD: Naw, just kiddin'. It's a ping-pong ball.

{Another white ball appears from the level of Strong Bad's pants}

STRONG BAD: I always keep a spare pack {a cluster of similar balls appears from Strong Bad's hip-level} in my pants. {Throws the balls.} Some would say "pocket", I say, "in my pants".

STRONG SAD: {offscreen} Hello? Is somebody down there?

{cut to Strong Sad looking at the hole from above}

STRONG BAD: Go away, Strong Sad! The Cheat and I are down here shenanigan-ing each other in the dark alone by ourselves.

STRONG SAD: Uh, are you sure you wanna go on record with that explanation?

{cut back to dark hole}

STRONG BAD: Of course! I don't see how that could possibly be taken out of context! Now either violently throw yourself in here, or scram-oose!

{cut back to Strong Sad}

STRONG SAD: Fine! But I wasn't the one who—

STRONG BAD: Hey wait! Could you get on the internet and look up if cutting a hole in your own floor is edgy?

STRONG SAD: Ah, sure. {mimes typing} Tappity-tappity-tap. Yeah, I just checked. It is.

STRONG BAD: Awesome, I thought so!

{cut back to dark hole}

STRONG BAD: Where'd you check, like "Have Most Edge Guy" or edgetangle.com, one o' those?

{cut back to Strong Sad}

STRONG SAD: Yup, all the most popular sites. Uh, they recommend staying in the hole for a few days too. So I can finish my novellique.

{cut back to dark hole}

STRONG BAD: Oh, cool! I mean, we've got foot-stomp casserole down here, so we should be good! Could you toss down something to drink though?

{cut back to Strong Sad, who walks away to the left}

STRONG BAD: Strong Sad? Ah, never mind, {cut back to dark hole} we'll just drink that gasoline. Doesn't get edgier than that, right?

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noise}

STRONG BAD: High-five, The Cheat!

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noise}

{The Cheat's eyes move in a manner consistent with him jumping up to slap Strong Bad's raised hand}

STRONG BAD: {grumbles} Thinks we're losing our edge. Pfft!

{New Paper is heard coming down, but it is too dark to see it. However, hovering the mouse over where the new Paper should be reveals the text normally printed by New Paper.}

Easter Eggs

Edge-Losers or Edge-Havers?

• Clicking "Have Edge Times Magazine" at the beginning shows Strong Bad and The Cheat on the cover of Have Edge Times magazine.
• At the end, click Strong Bad's right eye to see what happens 3 hours later.

  {a cross-stitch title card with the text "THREE HOURS LATER" appears}

  THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises, in an imitation of a grandmother}

  STRONG BAD: {Also in an imitation of a grandmother} Oh, Adelaide, you devil! Substituting bacon grease for butter? If my Wilbur only knew...

  {Lights turn on, revealing the basement of the Brothers Strong with Strong Bad and The Cheat standing on a circle of floor resting on Strong Mad's head. The Cheat is again wearing his apron}

  STRONG MAD: WILL YOU PLEASE KEEP IT DOWN?

  {Lights turn back off.}

• At the end, click The Cheat's eyes to see Strong Sad on the cover of Have Edge Times magazine.

Fun Facts

Explanations

• Strong Bad's comment about tar is a reference to tarring and feathering, a colonial punishment.

Trivia

• The label on the Floppy Disk Container reads "flash-back".
• As of this email, Strong Bad has checked seventy-nine emails on the Lappy — one more than on the Compy.
• The text on the first magazine reads:

HAVE EDGE TIMES
MAGAZINE
Strong Bad & The Cheat -
Edge-Losers or
Edge-Havers
YOU Decide
{image of The Cheat peeking over Strong Bad's head}
PLUS:
A Knife
A Dead Rat
Two matches
and much more
edgy stuff
on the cutting edge of edge-having

• The text on the second magazine reads:

HAVE EDGE TIMES
MAGAZINE
The NEW FACE of Edgy?
{image of Strong Sad}
AND:
Old Bread
Rusty Pipe
Smashed Tape
and THAT IS ALL
on the cutting edge of edge-having

• The YouTube description for this email is "Strong Bad tries to prove he's not losing his edge."

Remarks

• The sender's city of Los Burbankos, CA doesn't exist, but probably refers to Burbank.
• Strong Bad breaks the fourth wall when he says, "I suddenly feel so... easy to animate".
• When Strong Bad and The Cheat are in the hole, the same Flash object that is used for Bubs's smaller eye is used for both of their pupils.
• If the Easter egg showing Strong Sad's Have Edge Times cover is clicked on, the New Paper's mouseover will appear on top of it rather than under it.
• In the Strong Mad Easter egg, both Strong Bad's and The Cheat's eyes are higher up in the frame after the lights come on than before.
• When The Cheat falls down the hole, he does not have his Grandma apron on or with him, but he is wearing it in the Strong Mad Easter egg. This suggests that he went upstairs to fetch it and then returned to the darkened basement for further "pretend-we're-grandmas-baking" time.
• In the Strong Sad Easter egg, the outline around his head is lighter than usual.
• Although the same sound effect is used, the invisible New Paper prints out nearly twice as fast as in previous emails.
• During Strong Bad's close-up in his living room, his right hand is animated in the flash, but is obscured by the layer that the blurry background occupies. This can only be observed by viewing below the flash's border.
• When Strong Bad tosses his handful of ping-pong balls, all of them make a bouncing sound, except for the ball that was tossed straight up. It comes down and apparently falls through the floor.
• The basement's echo disappears when Strong Mad turns on the lights. Also, no echo is heard in any other toons with scenes in the basement.
• Strong Bad commits a common grammatical error by saying, "Like the other day. Me and The Cheat—" The phrase should be "The Cheat and I". Interestingly, he gets it right later in the email.
• When Strong Bad is in the hole, he has white eyes with distinct pupils.
• When Strong Sad is pretending to type, the actual typing sound effect can be heard, faintly.
• In Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, which was released shortly after this email, the basement is below the living room, much like it is in this email.

Fixed Goofs

Three-to-one arm-y?

• When the camera cut to the back of the Lappy, part of Strong Bad's fist went through it.
• Before scratching his eye while listening to Strong Bad, Strong Sad had two right arms for a single frame. Twelve frames later, he then had no right arm at all.
• After Strong Bad told The Cheat to take off his apron, the apron was already on the floor for a split-second before it reappeared on The Cheat's body. The Cheat then took it off again.
• Strong Bad said that they had the "foot-stomp casserole" and the gasoline in the hole, but in the Strong Mad Easter egg, only the gasoline was there.

Glitches

• When the camera zooms out to show Strong Bad yelling at The Cheat, several dark pixels appear along the edge of the Lappy's screen.

Inside References

• Strong Bad's nervous dancing is the same as in retirement.
• In the living room, eggs, "Lite Em Up Dan" lighter fluid from pizza joint, and axes from slumber party are seen.
  • The eggs and toilet paper, in particular, were previously used for Halloween shenanigans in 3 Times Halloween Funjob.
• Strong Bad smiles while spreading mayonnaise, and also while vacuuming it up. The cover of Have Edge Times magazine also shows him smiling.
• Strong Bad and The Cheat previously sported pupils in bike thief.
• This is another instance of kicking The Cheat.
• Strong Sad gets his revenge on Strong Bad again.
• "Scram-oose" is a portmanteau of "scram" and "vamoose", both slang terms meaning "go away".
• Adelaide was a name previously mentioned in dreamail.
• "Smashed Tape" was one of the items sold at Manolios Ugly One's Lectro-Pawn in Teen Girl Squad Issue 10.
• Strong Bad and the Cheat use Fluffy Puff Mayo in their third shenanigan.
• Strong Mad's predicament in the Easter egg is similar to the Strong Bad Email clip in HomestarRunner.com: PAY PLUS!, when a 2-foot pit caused Homestar to drop onto Strong Mad's head.
• Strong Bad and The Cheat pretending to be grandmas baking may be a reference to gender confusion.
• The Cheat wearing a feminine apron is an example of cross-dressing.
• Strong Bad suggests that he and The Cheat will drink gasoline.
• Strong Bad previously had admitted to stomping around in pecan pie in DNA Evidence.

Real-World References

• Lucy, a character from the Peanuts comic strip, famously held a football to be kicked by Charlie Brown only to pull it away at the last second in many strips in the series.

Fast Forward

• In Career Day, Strong Bad as Space Captainface has white eyes with distinct pupils.
• In Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 17.2, Strong Bad sets up the living room in a similar way.

DVD Version

• The DVD version features hidden creators' commentary. To access it, switch the DVD player's audio language selection while watching.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Strong Bad, Mike Chapman, Ryan Sterritt)

STRONG BAD: {simultaneously with himself} Another freakin' email song!

MIKE: Welcome.

STRONG BAD: That's my new Ache.

MIKE: Eh—

STRONG BAD: My new Acheman impression.

MIKE: Hey, Strong Bad, we got Ryan in here. Talk— Make Ryan feel welcome. Sometimes, he doesn't talk very much during these commentaries.

STRONG BAD: {overlapping} Hey, Ryan!

MIKE: Really try to... break him out of his shell. {unintelligible}

STRONG BAD: Okay.

RYAN: I might get more into it.

STRONG BAD: Okay. Uh... {imitating} Down, double down! 71! 72! A-hick!

RYAN: {chuckles} Sounds just like him.

STRONG BAD: Uh... Ryan, this email does not paint me in a very favourable light, from what I can tell so far. {pause} What do you think that is on the floor there, Ryan?

RYAN: Deflated basketball.

STRONG BAD: Yeah. I think that's right.

RYAN: James Naismith. {pause} {chuckles} Like pulling... each individual feather out of the pillow.

{pause}

MIKE: Strong Bad?

STRONG BAD: {annoyed} What?!

MIKE: You're fired from getting Ryan to break out of his shell. {Ryan laughs} All this talking about this throwing individual feathers out of a pillow.

STRONG BAD: I'm trying, man!

MIKE: How do you think they got those— you guys got the cardboard to shine like that?

RYAN: {laughs}

STRONG BAD: It was hard. We had to cover it in wax first.

MIKE: Uh-huh.

STRONG BAD: And then buff the wax.

MIKE: {chuckles} Okay.

STRONG BAD: {in response to his "pretend we're grandmas baking" comment} Yeah! Who thinks that I do that every Friday night at 7:30 PM until 9:30 PM?

MIKE: Now— I do.

STRONG BAD: Why?

MIKE: Because you were so specific about saying that you didn't do it then.

STRONG BAD: {overlapping} No, what I do during that time... is, punch a lot of people in the— in the butt! {Mike and Ryan laugh} I say, "Look behind you!" And they say, "What?" and I go, "POW!" Right in the butt and they can't sit down no more 'cause of the... Charley horse.

MIKE: Do you give them the gas?

STRONG BAD: Yeah. Look at that, man! "Cassssss"!

MIKE: {laughs} I'd kinda like to have a casserole dish like that.

STRONG BAD: Uh, this is weird. This is just weird and unsettling and I hate it. {Mike starts to say something} I do not have eyeballs!

MIKE: When you're in the dark, Strong Bad.

STRONG BAD: Look, I've never s— {Mike starts to say something} I can't see myself in the dark!

MIKE: Well, that's what you look like.

{pause until after Strong Bad tries to kick The Cheat}

STRONG BAD: Uh, I did a Charlie B. Augh, I say. A-U-G-H. {pause} That is a big ping-pong ball, Mike.

RYAN: {unintelligible}

STRONG BAD: {simultaneously} That is a giant ping-pong ball.

MIKE: Yeah, eyeballs and ping-pong balls. They show up in the dark.

STRONG BAD: You've got some weird rules for the dark, Mike.

MIKE: {chuckles} Oh, just two rules. The whites of eyes and the whites of ping-pong balls. {unintelligible} enough. Yeah.

STRONG BAD: {unintelligible} That's it.

MIKE: Two rules. Very simple.

STRONG BAD: Why don't I use those battle axes more often!? You know?!

MIKE: Well, we didn't draw them until the "slumber party" email.

RYAN: {laughs}

STRONG BAD: Why didn't you make them earlier? I could've been throwing those things at Homestar during the jumping jack contest!

MIKE: {laughs} Maybe we can go back and redo that one.

STRONG BAD: Okay. With battle axe. The bat— the deleted... battle axe scene.

MIKE: {simultaneously} We could just do a battle axe edition of a lot of old cartoons.

STRONG BAD: {grunts}

MIKE: I probably think we might wanna go back...

STRONG BAD: Battle axe?

MIKE: Battle axe?

STRONG BAD: Go baxe?

MIKE: Let me know.

STRONG BAD: Let's go baxe. That could be our slogan.

MIKE: Is that your Dolph Hauldhagen battle axe for your... battle axe lessons?

STRONG BAD: Yeah, but I have one with an extended pole.

MIKE: Is it just a broomstick taped to that?

STRONG BAD: Uhhhh-uh-uh-uh-uhhh... yes.

MIKE: Yeah, that's what I thought.

STRONG BAD: Uh— what is going on!? {Mike laughs} Is anybody entertained right now?!

MIKE: Uhh...

STRONG BAD: Ugh.

{pause}

STRONG BAD: It was nice to see that living room.

MIKE: Yeah, the bl— the light blue smoke detector room?

STRONG BAD: Yeah, that's a good room to be in.

MIKE: Four, five... four or five appearances for that room.

STRONG BAD: It's apparently directly above the basement.

MIKE: Or the black-ment.

STRONG BAD: Oh! {pause} The Paper?

This DVD commentary transcript needs to be checked for transcription errors. You can help the Homestar Runner Wiki by proofreading it.

Fun Facts

• James Naismith is the inventor of basketball.
• Strong Bad describes a trick similar to his tricks in the basics.
• Strong Bad mentions A Jumping Jack Contest.
• Mike's mention of Strong Bad's battle axe lessons with Dolph Hauldhagen refers to other days.

External Links

• watch "your edge"
• watch "your edge" on YouTube
• watch "your edge" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "your edge"
• forum thread re: "your edge"