You've heard his files. You've read his stories. Now... you're about to be dropped into his world. And it's quite unusual.
Are you ready?
— Tagline
RECORDING: START
Pokémon × Nimja: Play the Game
, often referred to as simply Play the Game or PTG, is a Pokémon fanfiction based on "the files, stories, and nerdiness" of the Dutch hypnotist YouTuber Nimja, whose channel can be found here. The plot involves Nimja and his two biggest fans, the plucky Genki Guy OGiNiM and the snarky, intelligent, seemingly emotionless HyDrO, as they are transformed into Pokémon on August 19, 2020, the fictionalized day that Nimja receives 100,000 subscribers. note They are soon sent on a portal-hopping quest through multiple dimensions as they, along with a panicky Dunsparce named Slang, attempt to defeat an evil Dutch hypnotist by the name of HyPN0se, who plots on taking down not only the hypnotists, but everyone who believes hypnosis is real. The fanfic is told in flashback through file "recordings", usually done by Nimja, although at some points OGiNiM or HyDrO will break in.
The fanfic contains a ton of references to Nimja’s files (including, believe it or not, several BDSM files- though of course PBDSM note is made into a thing), as well as pop culture references to things such as Queen, Portal, and many, many others. It is also worth noting that the series has a ton of Dutch in it, which is of course due to the fact that Nimja himself is Dutch.
It was announced by the author that a web series based on the fanfic would be made. Currently, the cast is as follows:
- Belgian actor Arne Moens as Nimja
- Cassie Carey as OGiNiM
- Midnight Films (a Gamer) as HyDrO
- HermionePotter2810 (also a Gamer) as Slang
- Steel as Boomer
Play the Game contains examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The fanfic starts two months after August 19, 2020, the date (in-universe) of Nimja reaching 100,000 subscribers. note
- Abusive Parents: This is The Reveal in "Under Pressure": specifically, the HyPN0se that we've seen in so many episodes of the series isn't the real HyPN0se. The real HyPN0se, named Lucas Visser, is a submissive Shrinking Violet with perhaps the worst mother in history: Agatha Visser, a Dutch tyrant. Among other things, she: forces her son to speak Dutch and only Dutch, tells him to his face that he is worthless, pathetic, and amounts to garbage— and then makes him repeat it, beats him, implants herself into his brain and manually controls his every movement and thought in order to make him a crazy killer, even though he doesn't want to be... Oh, and let's not forget that she turned Lucas into a Mewtwo as she believed it to be a Fate Worse than Death. Yeah... she sucks.
- Accidental Misnaming: John Cheese, Terry Gilead, Graham Cracker... and of course, who could forget the legendary Era Kidol?
- Actually Pretty Funny: Nimja's attempt at a Death Glare towards the Killer Bunny is admitted by Slang to be this in "And Now for Something Completely Different". And then later, all of Monty Python's Flying Circus is admitted by Slang to be this by the end of the chapter when he watches it for the first time- especially when compared to the skits acted out by everyone in the workplace, which absolutely terrified him.
- A Day in the Limelight: Slang gets this in "And Now for Something Completely Different," and as such the whole chapter is told from his point of view.
- In "One Vision," the other two members of the Spoken get this due to hanging around with Nimja, OGiNiM, HyDrO, and Slang. Boomer is taught some Dutch by Nimja, and Crowe cracks several English/Dutch puns, including, of course, multiple puns on "spoken".
- HyDrO herself gets one of these in "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," in which it is revealed that she has a Tsundere crush on O Gi Ni M.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Slang is a snake-like Pokémon, and his name is "snake" in Dutch.
- Affably Evil: Nimja himself, though he only states he’s evil. Slang, panicky as he is, believes him to be entirely evil.
- Affectionate Parody: As the title implies, "And Now For Something Completely Different" is one giant love letter to Monty Python. Besides teaching a bit of Python programming, it puts a bunch of Monty Python skits into programming code, has Slang come face-to-face with a Killer Bunny and the Spanish Inquisition (much to his dismay), has everyone at Nimja's workplace carrying around dead parrots, and even has Nimja do a Non-Lethal K.O. upon seeing The Funniest Joke In the World. The hilarious part is, it all happens from the point of the view of the easily panicked Slang, so while the audience laughs themselves silly at all the shoutouts, Slang is utterly terrified, which only helps to add to the humor.
- "The Show Must Go On", a
Spiritual Successor to the above, serves as another love letter to Monty Python- as well as a tribute. None other than Eric Idle himself serves as a character within the chapter, and the entire thing is meant to thank Monty Python for existing. The chapter ends, naturally, with "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life".
- "The Show Must Go On", a
- A God Am I: IK BEN DE ULTIEME ALFA!! note
- all lowercase letters: In chapter 4, "Don't Stop Me Now," OGiNiM switches to talking like this to convey his belief that his texts have become so overwhelming for Nimja to such an extent that he doesn't want to talk to OGiNiM anymore. Recognizing this as a huge form of O.O.C. Is Serious Business (OGiNiM NoRmAlLy TaLkS LiKe ThIs), Nimja is very quick to let him know otherwise.
- Anti-Nihilist: Delta. A shy yet philosophical Mimikyu whose current goal is to find out the true question regarding the meaning of life. Of course, the said question ends up being "Are we human or are we dancers?". His conclusion is that we're both: "We're dancers to ourselves, as we control our destinies and futures... which simultaneously makes us human. So as our own dancers, our life is worth living in the here and now, since the heat death of the universe is inescapable."
- Anti-Villain: Nimja. He only says he’s an Evil Overlord. His behavior proves otherwise.
- Arc Words: Say it with us now: What must you do?
- Though to be frank, all of the Hypnotic Questions (and their subsequent answers) count. note
- Speaking of "ik gehoorzaam u volledig," they count as well.
- Aroused by Their Voice: OGiNiM, HyDrO, and just about all of Nimja's subscribers towards, well... Nimja. He certainly does have a Compelling Voice…
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: At the beginning of "One Vision":
- Nimja: Not to mention that when HyPN0se said he was going to do something, he did. He tortured Slang. He went after my bicycle. He tried to exploit my newfound immortality. Hij sprak Nederlands. note
- Badass Adorable: Nimja, especially after being transformed into a Mew. Sure, he’s an adorable cat-like creature, but he is still an extremely powerful hypnotist, and you should be wary of crossing him, because if you don’t...
- Beware the Nice Ones: ...he will utterly destroy you. With hypnosis, of course. "Who Wants to Live Forever?" shows exactly what happens when you mess with Nimja, and he is so upset (but doesn’t show it, of course) with what HyPN0se did that he explicitly threatens HyPN0se with death. He never goes through with it, of course, because as soon as he says HyPN0se’s trigger word, the Dutch Mewtwo goes into a rage and tells him, OGiNiM and HyDrO to ga zeg. Still, the fact that Nimja is willing to go that far is stunning to the audience.
- Badass Fingersnap: Drop. (Though, frankly, it’s more of a tail-crack, since a Mew can’t snap its fingers.)
- Eventually played a lot straighter when Nimja learns Transform in "Bicycle Race." He is able to transform into a Hypno (of course), and is finally able to do a proper finger-snap again. And he hasn’t forgotten how.
- Eventually played a lot straighter when Nimja learns Transform in "Bicycle Race." He is able to transform into a Hypno (of course), and is finally able to do a proper finger-snap again.
- Badass Pacifist: Nimja's main form of weaponry? His Compelling Voice and ability to drop the Weak-Willed into trance. And if they can't be hypnotized? Then he will resort to playful trickery to get his way.
- BDSM: CTBB, the secondary defining philosophy of Nimja, Inc., is essentially a G-rated version of this. It is an acronym for Capture-Training-Bonding (not bondage)-Battles, and it can basically be boiled down to "the whole point of playing Pokémon." We're not making this up, folks. In-Universe, the whole reason that Nimja made CTBB was due to a realization that his friendship with OGiNiM was a lot more like the real thing than he first thought.
- Berserk Button: Do not tell HyPN0se to drop. Nimja flat-out exploits this in his battle with him, realizing that the more he tells him to drop, the angrier HyPN0se becomes. Eventually, he figures that HyPN0se will get so angry, he will pull a Screw This, I'm Outta Here. Which he does. Nimja wins.
- Also, in regards to OGiNiM- do not hurt Nimja in any way. The Spoken's exploitation of this is what eventually allows OGiNiM to pass the Secret Test of Character that they set up.
- "I'M NOT A GIRL, YOU PESKER!"
- Better than a Bare Bulb: Pretty much all of "History Won't Care At All" consists of Lampshade Hanging, Breaking the Fourth Wall, and hilarious commentary from OGiNiM regarding how he came to be such a huge Nimja fan.
- Be Yourself: The aesop of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” You don’t need to change your personality to get someone to love you. Sometimes, a person might love you because you’re so different.
- Big Bad: HyPN0se, a Dutch-speaking Mewtwo whose ultimate plan is to wipe out not only all those who believe in the reality of hypnosis, but also the hypnotists themselves, in order to take over Amsterdam. He has stalked Nimja for many years.
- Big "NEVER!": Courtesy of HyPN0se, in Dutch: "NOOIT! NOOIT!!"
- Bilingual Bonus: All the Dutch in the entire fanfic, for the most part.
- Half of HyPN0se’s dialogue in “I Want It All” is in Dutch, and you’d probably have to know Dutch fluently to understand about half the things he says. Thankfully, the general gist of it is translated by Nimja for the readers.
- Also from “I Want It All,” there’s this gem, courtesy of OGiNiM: Nimja and HyPN0se are engaged in battle and are telling each other to drop (as in “drop into trance”). OGiNiM, when questioned by HyDrO, explains that they are trying to sell licorice to each other, but neither one wants any. The joke is that “drop” is licorice in Dutch (albiet pronounced differently).
- An especially prominent example occurs in Chapter 5, “The Night Comes Down.” In that episode, the group visits a creepy-looking house, which they soon find to be inhabited by a group of people known only as "The Spoken"; they were apparently given that name because they aren't seen often, but are talked about. The group split- at Nimja's orders, no less- and travel through the house in an attempt to find the Spoken, but each member (or members) are stopped by a group of mysterious ghostly forces- OGiNiM and HyDrO by a Dutch-speaking sword, Slang by a bunch of scary monsters, and Nimja by a mysterious voice that tells him that he will submit to it. All three eventually face these fears. After meeting back up, Nimja soon realizes the connection and practically slaps himself in the face when he gets the real reason why the Spoken are called the Spoken. “Spoken,” in Dutch, means ghosts. The Spoken are the spirits of dead people, who had created illusory fears for the group to face as a Secret Test of Character. In short- a Bilingual Bonus sets off the entire plot of an episode.
- In "Bicycle Race", we get this joke:
HyPN0se: KAPPEN! KAPPEN, U IDIOOTE!Nimja: Oh, really? I thought that was something you do in the forest.HyPN0se: (growls)Nimja: Besides, I once made a file in which I helped people to stop cutting. (evil grin) Just as I'm going to do to you right now.- The joke? "Kappen" in Dutch is an exclamation meaning "Cut it out!", and the full expression is "kappen doe je in het bos" (cutting is something you do in the forest). Basically, Nimja is being a Guile Hero, once again exploiting HyPN0se's Berserk Button.
- "Who Wants to Live Forever?" contains an entire article written in Dutch. Translated, it reads as follows:
I'm sure that you have all heard of Nimja Hypnosis. He currently has over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. And to be quite honest...HE SHOULDN'T.Seriously, Nimja is the most mean and despicable person I have ever met. He brainwashes people just because he wants to. He has done terrible things to me. He forces people to relax against their will. And now he claims that he is immortal.IMMORTAL!ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!Are you really going to believe that?! No one can be immortal! Everyone dies! Do you think you can you trust him if he says you're going to wake up from trance if he tells lies like this?!- The Trevenant member of the Spoken receiving the name “Boomer” in “One Vision” spawns because of a Dutch joke- “boom” is tree in Dutch.
- Plenty of these moments occur in “Radio Ga Ga,” starting, of course, with the very first line of dialogue: “Hallo. Ik ben Nimja, en dit is het verhaal van hoe ik naar de Verenigde Staten ben gekomen, op de radio heb gestaan en het Nederlands aan miljoenen mensen heb geleerd.” Translated? “Hello. I am Nimja, and this is the story of how I came to the United States, got on the radio, and taught Dutch to millions of people.”
- Later on in the chapter, during Nimja’s first radio broadcast, he ends it all off with a line in Dutch. When that line is translated, it comes out as “I hope you enjoyed listening to my words, and if you want to hear more, you can check out my YouTube channel.” Yep, that’s shameless self-promotion, ladies and gentlemen!
- The last lines of the episode, when translated from Dutch, are the lyrics to the chorus of “No One But You” by Queen, the song played during Nimja’s last radio broadcast.
- Tons of these moments also happen in "Lily of the Valley," mainly due to the fact that Hades doesn't know Dutch at all. This is best exemplified by this conversation:
Crowe: Oh! By the way, did you know that I breed horses?
Hades: Pardon? You breed horses?
Crowe: Ja! Paarden! See, you're getting the hang of this language already.
Hades (evidently confused) I'm sorry, Crowe. I have no idea what you're talking about. So... you don't breed horses?
Crowe: No, no, no; I do breed horses; it's just that—''
Hades: But... you just said you bred some strange animals called yapardon. note
- Bilingual Dialogue: About half of “I Want It All” is this, mainly between Nimja and HyPN0se. It gets much more prominent in “Bicycle Race,” “Who Wants To Live Forever?”, and “Dedicated To...”.
- Bittersweet Ending: By the end of "Dedicated To...", the Rijksmuseum has been burned down to ashes due to HyPN0se's actions, and 8 Van Gogh paintings have been burned as well, destroying the pride of the citizens of Amsterdam. However, due to a Rousing Speech from OGiNiM, as well as a epic performance of "Het Wilhelmus," the citizens and curator get their pride back, with the curator pledging that they will rebuild the Rijksmuseum. On top of that, the group managed to save every painting in the Rijksmuseum, including the Night Watch, And no one was killed, making it much more sweet than bitter. As OGiNiM says in his Rousing Speech, “HyPN0se has won, but so have we.”
- "Lily of the Valley." Hades defeats the cyclops with the help of Nimja, but even after proving himself still isn't made a full-fledged Olympian (i.e. with an actual spot on Mount Olympus). However, he is made an honorary Olympian by his brothers Poseidon and Zeus, and gains a lot of respect from the Greek public. To him, that's as good as the real deal. Not to mention that Nimja introduces Zeus and Poseidon to a little thing called Skype...
- "The Show Must Go On," surprisingly enough for a Monty Python-based chapter, ends with a surprisingly realistic one of these. Unsurprisingly, due to Graham Chapman's death and the success of Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go, Slang's efforts to get Monty Python back together for a new show are a dismal failure, as Eric Idle tells him they have no plans to do so. However, Slang is able to accept this fact, and finds comfort in the fact that there are multiple things from Monty Python he can still look forward to for new skits. Plus, reruns of Monty Python's Flying Circus exist that he can watch anytime he wants to. He's still a bit dissapointed by the end, though, so the episode ends with Idle, Nimja, and a huge crowd of people cheering him up in exactly the way you'd expect:
Always look on the bright side of life... - Bookends: "And Now For Something Completely Different. It's..."
- Every single episode of the series starts with the words “RECORDING: START.” Every single episode of the series ends with “RECORDING: END- WAKE.”
- Bookworm: HyDrO is first revealed to be this in Chapter 4, “Don’t Stop Me Now,” when she mentions to Nimja that she has read multiple psychology books. Nimja himself also proves to be this at times.
- In “The Night Comes Down,” HyDrO has a moment of Not So Stoic when she is immediately intrigued by an entire library inside the abandoned house, complete with books by the likes of Poe, Stevenson, Dickens, and amusingly, Pratchett. A book also happens to be how she (and everyone else) find out about the Spoken.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Nimja does this sometimes, which is meant to be reminiscent of his hypnosis style. In “I Want It All,” he flat-out explains to the audience how to snap their fingers. Justified, as it’s a recording In-Universe.
- Also from “I Want It All,” OGiNiM’s response to HyPN0se is to shout out: “Hey! This is a kid’s show!”
- All of “And Now For Something Completel yDifferent” serves as an example of this, as the whole thing explains to the audience how to do basic Python programming. In addition, it’s told by Slang.
- Similarly, "History Won't Care At All" consists of nothing but OGiNiM breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience on repeat.
- Break Them by Talking: Slang, of all Pokémon, towards the Spoken, allowing him to pass the Secret Test of Character that the Spoken had set up.
- BSoD Song: "OGiNiM's Lament," as heard in "Don't Stop Me Now." The song expresses his (false) belief that his consistent texting has upset Nimja to the point where he doesn't want to talk to OGiNiM anymore. The lyrics are absolutely heart-wrenching:Please don't hate meI'm so sorryPlease don't hate meI'm so sorryI will listen to what you say
- The Bus Came Back: The Spoken make a triumphant return at the start of “Who Wants To Live Forever?”, and in “One Vision,” each member of the Spoken gets A Day in the Limelight.
- Butt-Monkey: Slang, throughout all of "And Now For Something Completely Different." In the chapter, he: is attacked by a Killer Bunny, "attacked" by the Spanish Inquisition, and is forced to watch Nimja pass out in front of him (and then believe Nimja actually did pass out). All of it was planned in advance by Nimja's boss for Monty Python Day.
- Casual Kink: As in Real Life, Nimja is into BDSM... though given the subject matter, of course, it's G-Rated BDSM note , never going beyond "domination and submission are mentioned repeatedly." As for the Too Kinky to Torture stuff? Pokémon battles. It's all Pokémon battles.
- Character Tics: When he is feeling particularly excited, Nimja will do backflips in the air and teleport frantically around the room.
- Notably, Nimja will also glance upwards when trying to come up with an answer to something, and will glance downwards when trying to remember something or when expressing slight frustration at himself. He does this in Real Life, as seen in his livestreams.
- Charm Person: Well, what would you expect from a hypnotist?
- Companion Cube: Nimja's bicycle, as "Bicycle Race" shows. Throughout the chapter, he treats his bicycle as though it is real— though it's noted that he only does so in private, and never in front of HyPN0se. It's the love he has for his bicycle that influences his final decision- he decides that despite his new powers of teleportation, he loves his bike far too much to give it away. A Curb-Stomp Battle with HyPN0se ensues.
- Compelling Voice: What must you do? note
- Which is Truth in Television to the nth degree. Seriously, just listen to any of Nimja’s files on YouTube!
- Cooldown Hug: Oh, boy. Nimja is the master of these. He gives one to OGiNiM at the very end of "Don't Stop Me Now," and then in the very next chapter, he gives one to Slang to help him calm down before he enters the haunted house. Awww.
- Cowardly Lion: Slang, to the umpteenth degree. He is extremely fearful of Nimja and is fully convinced he is an Evil Overlord. And yet, he not only entered a haunted house with the rest of the group, but he unknowingly talked down and beat the Spoken, in the form of illusory monsters. Even Nimja is impressed.
- Cowardly Sidekick: Slang, again, being an extremely paranoid, German-accented Dunsparce who fears Nimja.
- Crowd Song: Always look on the bright side of life...
- Cuddle Bug: OGiNiM has been prone to glomping Nimja at several points.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Any and all battles with HyPN0se usually end up with one of these happening in Nimja's favor.
- Curse Cut Short: "Life's a piece of--" "Um, Eric? You're live."
- Cute Kitten: Nimja is transformed into a Mew in Chapter 1, “Another One Bites the Dust”. And he loves it.
- Cypher Language: ;48 3+0!2?3 -+!8 5) 16(); ?)8! 6* *8`8(9+(8 note
- 1+( ;4+)8 ]4+ *8`8( (85! ;48 3+0! 2?3, ;48 -+!8 6) 280+] note
- a=5
- b=2
- c= -
- d=!
- e=8
- f=1
- g=3
- h=4
- i=6
- j=7 (chosen by the author; Poe never assigned a value to j)
- k=< (chosen by the author; Poe never assigned a value to k)
- l=0
- m=9
- n=*
- o=+
- p=.
- q=, (chosen by the author; Poe never assigned a value to q)
- r=(
- s=)
- t=;
- u=?
- v=`
- w=]
- x=[ (chosen by the author; Poe never assigned a value to x)
- y=:
- z=~ (chosen by the author; Poe never assigned a value to z)
- Deadpan Snarker: HyDrO, full-force, as part of her aloof personality.
- Nimja can also be this at times, and it’s prominently evident if someone or something particularly bugs him. His humor can be so dry as to border on GLaDOS-esque. It’s prominent in Real Life, too. And if you don’t believe us, check out this. Yep, Nimja’s quite the snarker!
- Nimja can also be this at times, and it’s prominently evident if someone or something particularly bugs him. His humor can be so dry as to border on GLaDOS-esque. It’s prominent in Real Life, too. And if you don’t believe us, check out this
- Did Not Do the Bloody Research: “WE’VE GIVEN IT FOR 51 BLOODY YEARS!” Naturally, Slang takes “bloody” literally and assumes that there had been carnage for 51 years.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: CTBB, besides being the entire point of Pokémon, is essentially kid-friendly BDSM, minus the sexual stuff. All of the Too Kinky to Torture sadomasochism is presented as a move being used on a Pokémon (a Bulbasaur happily playing in a Flamethrower move, for instance).
- The Dreaded: HyPN0se, to Nimja, to such an extent that seeing him in a vision makes the normally stoic Nimja terrified. He eventually gets over it, though.
- Establishing Character Moment: Nimja's entire opening monologue in "Another One Bites the Dust", for anyone who has not seen his channel or been to his website.
- In the same chapter, both OGiNiM and HyDrO get this: OGiNiM is introduced by cheerfully greeting Nimja in Dutch, then immediately apologizing for potentially butchering Nimja's native language. This shows three things: one, that OGiNiM is a friendly Keet; two, that he has a love for Dutch and learning whatever he can about Dutch; and three, that he absolutely adores Nimja and has an utter sense of Undying Loyalty towards him. HyDrO, on the other hand, is introduced by snarkily correcting OGiNiM, then immediately congratulating Nimja on getting 100,000 subscribers. This shows her Red Oni, Blue Oni contrast with OGiNiM and her nature as The Stoic and a Deadpan Snarker, while also showing that she's not as emotionless as she appears.
- The first word we ever hear Slang say towards Nimja is "Eep!" .
- HyPN0se is first introduced angrily- and soon, hammily- ranting in Nederlands. When Nimja and him meet for the first time, his Hair-Trigger Temper is explored further.
- Evil Is Hammy: HyPN0se’s dialogue in about half of “I Want It All” is screaming loudly in Dutch. He continues to be a ham throughout much of the series.
- Evil Laugh: Both Nimja and HyPN0se have this, though Nimja’s admits that his is better.
- Evil Matriarch: Agatha Visser; see Abusive Parents above for all the horrible stuff she's done to her son Lucas, AKA HyPN0se.
- Evil Overlord: What HyPN0se is, what Nimja says he is, and what Slang thinks Nimja is.
- Every Episode Ending: RECORDING: END- WAKE. In case you can’t tell, it’s a Mythology Gag to the ending of every single Nimja livestream since the green-screen.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Nimja is only ever referred to by his screen name by all characters except for his boss and his coworkers, which whom he appears to be on a First-Name Basis with. The same is true of OGiNiM and HyDrO, though the latter does get her name revealed in "Crazy Little Thing Called Love": Amanda Merkel.
- Everyone Hates Hades: Completely and utterly averted. Rather than being a villain, the version of Hades seen in "Lily of the Valley" is a socially awkward, and painfully shy Dusclops with a good heart and a desire to be an Olympian like his brothers Zeus and Poseidon— not just for the recognition, but so that he can spend time with his brothers, who he misses greatly after years of living in the Underworld with no connections to family. With the public, it's played straighter, as the general public consensus of Hades is that he is a "bad" god, which Hades and Nimja set out to disprove. By the end, Hades finally gets the love from the public that he's always wanted.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: The entire plot of "Nevermore" is this: Edgar Allen Poe, famous American poet and author, is sent to 2020 Amsterdam. He is stunned to see tons of strange inventions he has never seen before, such as cars, skyscrapers, and bicycles. Then Nimja tells him that he's in the Netherlands, and Poe responds thusly:Poe: Figures. This is a nether-realm.
- And then he finds out that he is one of the most beloved authors and poets of all time in 2020 America, has a museum dedicated to him, and finds out that his poems are being read by people in schools and that musicals are being made based on his poems. He reacts exactly how you would expect him to react, and comes to adore 2020 Amsterdam to the point where he decides to live in the future forever and relay to immortality.
- Footnote Fever: Echoing the footnotes seen in Nimja's story Twilight (not to be confused with that one), the story contains a lot of footnotes/comments by the author, in-character as Nimja, OGiNiM, or Slang. Many of them explain a Dutch joke or translate HyPN0se's Dutch, or simply give a character's inner thoughts that were not mentioned in the story.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: The peppy Genki Guy OGiNiM is sanguine, the quick-to-anger HyPN0se is choleric, the aloof and snarky HyDrO is melancholic, the panicky Cowardly Lion Slang is leukine, and the calm, stoic yet playful, so-called "evil" overlord Nimja himself is phlegmatic.
- Freestate Amsterdam: Duh. There's a reason as to why this fanfic is often referred to as the "most Dutch fanfic of all time."
- Friendly Ghost: All three members of the Spoken serve as one.
- Freudian Excuse: HyPN0se has one, and it's absolutely heartwrenching. His entire life has been controlled by his abusive mother Agatha, as "Under Pressure" reveals- and when we say controlled, we mean literally, as Agatha flat-out brainwashes her son routinely into becoming a mindless killer. Seriously, you just want to give him a hug...
- Freudian Trio: The three members of the Spoken are this: Crowe is Id (upbeat, fun-loving, a prankster, sometimes a bit of a snarker), Boomer is Superego (sensitive, overtly melancholic), and Aegis is Ego (the balance between the two).
- Funetik Aksent: Slang’s combination of a German accent with Snake Talk is rendered as this.
- Fun Personified: OGiNiM is this, combined with Undying Loyalty.
- Fun with Acronyms: The four main Pokémon species in the story are a Bulbasaur, Dunsparce, Snivy and Mew. Abbreviate those four in that order, and you get something way more adult. It was entirely coincidental.
- The Gadfly: Guess who? MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--!
- Genki Guy: OGiNiM, full stop. He’s so upbeat and fun-loving that everyone becomes concerned when he drops it for four days straight.
- Get Out!: “GA ZEG! GA ZEG!”
- Giggling Villain: (evil chuckle) Take a guess. note
- Guile Hero: Nimja. Hypnosis aside, he has been known to manipulate a ton of enemies without needing to put them into trance. It's very prominent in "I Want It All," in which, upon finding out that HyPN0se is Immune to Mind Control, he exploits the latter's Berserk Button (being told to drop into trance) to fuel his Hair-Trigger Temper. And it works. HyPN0se gets so enraged he pulls a Screw This, I'm Out of Here!... which is exactly what Nimja wanted.
- And it happens again in "Bicycle Race" and "Who Wants to Live Forever?"
- In "Dedicated To..." Nimja pulls a pretty big stunt to prevent HyPN0se from burning down any more Van Gogh paintings. Specifically, he pretends to be the ghost of Vincent van Gogh, and only reveals himself once HyPN0se is enraged enough. It works.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: HyPN0se will go completely into a Dutch-filled rage at the simple mention of the word “drop” (or anything that basically says “you are currently being hypnotized”). Actually, he’ll go into a Dutch-filled rage over just about anything.
- Haunted House: The house in “The Night Comes Down” is revealed to be haunted by the spirits of the Spoken; see Bilingual Bonus above.
- Heh Heh, You Said "X": Don’t think we need to explain the “come to me” joke above. Think about it.
- Heroic BSoD: This is what sparks off the entire plot of “Don’t Stop Me Now”: OGiNiM falls into a depression upon believing that Nimja is annoyed by his presence.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Spoken attempt to do this to Nimja in “The Night Comes Down” by trying to hypnotize him into submission. It doesn’t work, and the fact that it didn’t allows Nimja to pass the Secret Test of Character set up by the Spoken.
- Hot-Blooded: RAAD EENS WIE, IDIOTEN?! note
- How Do I Shot Web?: Or rather, "how do I snap fingers": in "Lily of the Valley," after realizing that finger-snapping someone across the River Styx is much faster than manual transportation (which can take hours), Hades asks Nimja to teach him how to do so, in the hopes that he has more time to be with his brothers, who he misses greatly. Nimja happily agrees, and a long explanation follows, during which the switch-and-drawbridge motion is explained to both Hades and the audience. The Cyclops invades before he has a chance to actually master finger-snapping. Thankfully, though, by the end of the chapter, he does, and his reaction is heartwarming to see.Hades: YES-! YES—! I DID IT! I DID IT! I FINALLY DID IT! Did you hear that, Nimja~?
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every single chapter is named after a Queen song or lyric, with the sole exception being Episode 7, a programming-and-Monty Python-referencing slew of hilarity appropriately titled “And Now
- I Just Want to Be Special: The entire plot of "Lily of the Valley." Hades, bored of living in the underworld for so many years and desperately missing his brothers Zeus and Poseidon, wonders why he can't be an Olympian like them so that all three of them can spend some time together and be with each other. It doesn't help that he is feared by everybody and is a Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold. Poor guy. And by the end, while Hades doesn't exactly get his wish of becoming a full-fledged Olympian, he is made an honorary Olympian by his brothers and gains a lot of respect from the Greek public for his role in taking down the cyclops.
- Ik Ben De Naamwoord: IK BEN DE ULTIEME ALFA--!
- I Lied: "I never gave my bicycle away."
- Image Song: Nimja has one, entitled “Ballad: WMYD?”, a reminder to the listener that they must obey him completely and listen to his voice and his voice alone. The chorus explains exactly what he intends for the listener to do:
Let yourself drift and drop so deep
Before you know it, you’ll be asleep
So don’t betray
You must obey...
- Immortality: Nimja is revealed to accidentally have been granted with this by the Spoken in “Who Wants to Live Forever?” (and that’s not a spoiler, because it’s mentioned right at the start of the chapter). His opinion is that Living Forever Is Awesome, despite the Spoken believing that he’ll think otherwise. Naturally, HyPN0se decides to exploit this.
- This is also a theme in "Nevermore"- Edgar Allen Poe is so taken aback by 2020 Amsterdam and 2020 America that he not only decides to stay in the future forever, but also relay to immortality. He is turned into a Murkrow thanks to the Spoken getting a hold of the Shotgun, but concerns soon arise that his immortality might change the course of history. It doesn't. The day Poe came from was his death day, and because no one in the 1800s realized Poe had been sent to the future, he was still declared dead, and the events of his death are still a mystery. Only Nimja, the Spoken, and Poe himself know the truth. And so do OGiNiM and HyDrO.
- Immune to Mind Control: HyPN0se. As a result, Nimja is forced to find other methods of defeating him. That takes zero time, as Nimja finds out from the get-go that HyPN0se hates being dropped, and as such he exploits his Berserk Button in every single battle ever with him. “Who Wants To Live Forever?” reveals he does have a submissive side, but it’s submissive to himself, not Nimja.
- Inadvertent Entrance Cue: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!"
- In My Language, That Sounds Like...: The main source of all the Bilingual Bonuses in the fanfic. Most notably: the "Pardon? You breed horses?" "Ja! Paarden!" joke in "Lily of the Valley."
- Killer Bunny: A variant of the Trope Namer appears in (what else?) "And Now For Something Completely Different," and it freaks Slang out to no end. How is it defeated? Hypnosis, of course. It's not actually killer.
- Land of Tulips and Windmills: Wat zou je verwachten?! note
- Large Ham: HyPN0se. He is a Dutch-speaking Mewtwo with a Hair-Trigger Temper who absolutely despises Nimja, and he will make it known.
- Literal-Minded: Slang. He is 100% convinced that pepernoten (pronounced "paper-noten") are actually made from paper note and calls them "papernotes", and upon hearing the Did Not Do the Bloody Research line from the Spanish Inquisition takes "51 bloody years" literally and assumes that there had been carnage and blood for 51 years straight. Additionally, he humorously thinks that Monty Python is a snake and assumes that Nimja's workplace is celebrating a snake and not a British comedy troupe from the 70s.
- Hades is also this as well, especially when it comes to the Dutch language. Namely, he thinks that Crowe’s first name is Ikben. Crowe introduced himself in Dutch. note
- Lovable Coward: Slang, Slang, Slang. Full-stop. He is terrified of just about everything and anything.
- Mathematician's Answer: Nimja, oh, so much. It's prominent in the livestreams (someone will ask "X or Y?" and 95% of the time Nimja will respond "yes"; i.e. as if it's a Boolean value), but the fanfic shows it as well. Most notably, it happens in the chapter "Nothing Really Matters (Not Even the Points)," when Slang asks Nimja if he prefers Monty Python's Flying Circus or Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Nimja responds "yes." The real humor comes when Slang, being his Literal-Minded self, responds with this:Slang: YESSSSSSSSSSSS?! Z-zat'sssssssss all you hafe to sssssssssay? V-vat'ssssssssssss zat sssssssssssupposssssssssssssed to mean?!
- Which leads into a Call-Back and semi-continuation of the events of "And Now For Something Completely Different."
- Meaningful Name: As revealed in "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," HyDrO's real name is Amanda Merkel. "Amanda" is a name meaning "deserving of love" in Latin, and HyDrO is revealed to have a hidden crush on OGiNiM. In other words, she secretly feels deserving of OGiNiM's love.
- All three members of the Spoken get named in "One Vision," and all three have meaningful names. Aegis' name is derived from his species (he's an Aegislash), but "aegis" also means "the backing or support of an organization," and Aegis is the group's ego and their support. Boomer is a Trevenant, a giant tree Pokémon, and his name comes from "boom," which is Dutch for tree. However, it also serves as a reference to his baritone voice (even though it's rather shy and not really booming). Finally, Crowe, who is a wisecracking, punny Haunter, is named for two other fictional characters named "Crow(e)"- one of which is a ghost and one of which is a punny wisecracker.
- Much like HyDrO in "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," OGiNiM reveals his real name in "History Won't Care At All": Theodore Cardwell. The name Theodore means "gift of God" in Greek, and if "God" in this case is Nimja, then OGiNiM- due to Nimja's influence- has certainly been a "gift"— he wouldn't be who he is today without Nimja. As for "Teddy," that comes from a French word meaning "prosperous protector." While OGiNiM isn't necessarily prosperous, the "protector" part...
- Music for Courage: Wilhelmus van Nassouwe ben ik van Duitsen bloed...
- Mythology Gag: Every single chapter ends the exact same way: with the words RECORDING END: WAKE in big bold letters. While the “RECORDING END” part isn’t one of these, the “WAKE” part certainly is: it’s a reference to every single Nimja Live ending since the green screen was added into the background. In a similar fashion, the beginning of every chapter narrated by Nimja since “Don’t Stop Me Now” is an almost word-for-word reference to the beginning of every single Nimja file ever.
- “Don’t Stop Me Now” has a Mythology Gag straight-up put into the plot: Nimja poking OGiNiM in the belly in an attempt to cheer him up is a direct reference to his “Little Induction” file, in which he does the ''exact same thing'' to the listeners. note Unlike the listeners, however, OGiNiM is too saddened to even giggle in response- very much unlike how he usually reacts, which is to laugh uproariously and roll on the floor.
- The series as a whole consistently makes reference to many of Nimja’s interests, including Portal, the Discworld series, and Monty Python's Flying Circus, to such an extent that there was a whole episode that paid tribute to them. And then there was another one in the form of "Death on Two Legs."
- The entire existence of the Spoken is one giant Mythology Gag spawning from a Bilingual Bonus mentioned in the Q&A of one of Nimja’s live files. When asked what the first English word he learned was, Nimja responded with a story of him being read a book called English Spoken in primary school. The book had ghosts on the cover, which was a pun as “spoken” in Dutch means “ghosts.” The story was so funny that the author wrote “The Night Comes Down” on the spot, and from there, Aegis, Boomer, and Crowe were born.
- Even funnier? English Spoken itself is mentioned by name, as a book in the castle library, in “One Vision.” Also mentioned in “One Vision” repeatedly? Frozen Youth.
- In one of the Nimja livestreams, Nimja is asked which subject he would teach if he were a teacher. Nimja responds by saying he would likely teach programming code... which he does, in “And Now For Something Completely Different.”
- The Dutch line ”Dat kan ik zekker, maar ik denk niet u begrijpt wat ik op moment zeg” was initially used in a Nimja live file. And then it was used again, in “One Vision,” as a demo for the pronunciation of the Dutch G.
- Tons of these show up in "History Won't Care At All." Among the more obvious ones include lines straight from multiple Nimja live files, but one of the much more subtle ones occurs at the very beginning of the chapter: OGiNiM mentions that his real name is Theodore Cardwell- "Teddy," for short, and then says to the audience "No, I haven't broken any pots." It's a reference to Nimja's "Sweet Bedtime Story" file, which tells the story of a boy with the same first name as OGiNiM who did exactly that, causing him to be blamed for everything being broken. This, in turn, leads to him having a Heroic BSoD. OGiNiM in fact lampshades this.
- In "The Night Comes Down," Nimja gains the ability to see without his glasses. This is not only an example of one of these, but also an example of Real Life Writes the Plot, as right at the time "The Night Comes Down" was being written, the real Nimja got laser-eye surgery. With the ending to "The Night Comes Down" not having been written, the author decided to put it into the plot, making it an unintentional one of these.
- “Don’t Stop Me Now” has a Mythology Gag straight-up put into the plot: Nimja poking OGiNiM in the belly in an attempt to cheer him up is a direct reference to his “Little Induction” file, in which he does the ''exact same thing'' to the listeners.
- National Anthem: "Het Wilhelmus," as performed by everyone in the aftermath of the Rijksmuseum's burning in "Dedicated To...".
- Nervous Wreck: Slang. It's established from literally his first appearance that he is terrified of just about everything.
- No Name Given: One of the very first lines in "Another One Bites the Dust" is as follows: "My real name will not be revealed to you." And indeed, throughout the series, Nimja remains an example of Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep". During the moments when his real name is used, it is blocked out and rendered as "——-." note
- The Spoken also remain unnamed and are referred to by the names of their species until "One Vision," when Nimja decides to name them each.
- No Punctuation Period: hydro talks like this combining this trope with Main/AllLowercaseLetters
- it serves as an expression of her deadpan and stoic nature
- though she does use punctuation twice in crazy little thing called love when she is expressing her love for oginim
- being who she is she denies both of these instances
- Not So Stoic: Nimja is a hypnotist, and as such is usually extremely calm and collected in even the most extreme situations. However, there’s no denying that he also has his moments of pure and unbridle adorkableness, being a giant nerd. Case in point: the very first chapter. Upon his transformation into a Mew, Nimja is so happy he does backflips around the room.
- He also does it again in “The Night Comes Down,” when the Spoken reward him passing their Secret Test of Character by healing his eyesight and allowing him to see without his glasses.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The fanfic absolutely loves this trope.
- Literally the very first chapter has an example of this. OGiNiM is a happy-go-lucky Bulbasaur who has such a huge interest in the Dutch language that he will only refer to Nimja as "Mijnheer," which is Dutch for "sir." However, right when he is transformed into a Bulbasaur, a terrified OGiNiM sends him a text on a chatstream in which he refers to Nimja as "SiR," in English, and frantically tells him to hurry up and head off to the Rijksmuseum. Nimja is stunned by this and immediately heads off, in the process lampshading the fact that this is the first time that OGiNiM has ever called him "sir" towards the reader.
- Nimja is usually extremely cool and unflappable in extremely stressful situations, and serves as The Stoic for the rest of the group. However, upon seeing HyPN0se for the first time in a vision in "I Want It All," he is terrified, and regards him as The Dreaded. This is coming from someone who, in Real Life, states that he has no real fears or phobias. However, this was eventually subverted when he sees HyPN0se for the first time and realizes he is able to exploit his Berserk Button to defeat him.
- "Don't Stop Me Now" has its whole plot revolve around one of these, and as such, there are a ton of these moments in it. In order of appearance in the chapter, they are as follows:
- The first indication that Nimja has that something may be wrong with OGiNiM is when he declines his offer to participate in a hypnotic trance. Although he says it in his usual cheerful demeanor, Nimja and HyDrO are instantly suspicious, because they know OGiNiM enough to realize that he would never leave from a hypnotic trance that early- especially one that is organized by Nimja, who he has Undying Loyalty to!
- Later on in the chapter, Nimja runs into OGiNiM on the streets of Amsterdam and noticed something quite disturbing. Not only is the normally happy-go-lucky Bulbasaur suddenly extremely quiet and subdued in nature, but he doesn’t seem to be paying attention to Nimja at all. When Nimja attempts to cheer his friend up by poking him, he doesn’t react. All he does is sadly and quietly continue to walk on. This greatly unnerves Nimja, as normally OGiNiM’s reaction to being poked is to laugh uproariously and roll on the floor. Nimja is so horrified by OGiNiM's sudden change in personality, in fact, that he goes straight back home to talk with HyDrO and Slang about it.
- Towards the end of the chapter, two examples of this happen in text form with OGiNiM. First, it's another example of him referring to Nimja as "sir," instead of "Mijnheer." Secondly, however, and more importantly, is the text type that OGiNiM uses. Rather than his usual bicameral text (that is, alternating between uppercase and lowercase letters- LiKe ThIs), he instead switches to talking in all lowercase letters, in much the same vein as HyDrO. Everyone, even Nimja, is stunned by this.
- Series-only example from the same episode: the web series makes a Running Gag out of OGiNiM sounding like a girl despite being a 18-year-old male. His reaction is to comically shout "I'M NOT A GIRL, YOU PESKER!" and amuse the heck out of Nimja and HyDrO, who is usually the one to make that joke. Except in "Don't Stop Me Now"- OGiNiM is so depressed that when HyDrO tries to make the joke, he doesn't respond in his usual manner. He doesn't even respond, period, which is what alerts HyDrO that something is wrong with him, leading to the "denial" scene.
- And finally, there’s an example in the art for the episode itself. In every single piece of art OGiNiM appears in, he has a huge smile on his face- except for the second piece of art in “Don’t Stop Me Now,” where he’s in tears.
- Slang is well-known for being extremely shy and panicky towards just about everything under the sun. Everything, that is, except for one thing: the Spanish Inquisition. He regards them with initial confusion, but relaxes completely when he finds out that the group's "torture methods" include putting people in a comfy chair and poking them with pillows. Much like the Inquisition itself, this was very much unexpected for both Nimja and Slang, with the former lampshading that it's the calmest he has ever seen Slang.
- Much like "Don't Stop Me Now" above, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" has a ton of these for HyDrO. After realizing she has a crush on OGiNiM, she begins to wonder if she is too different for the plucky Bulbasaur's tastes. She promptly changes her entire personality and over the next four days becomes exactly like OGiNiM- overtly cheerful, exciteable, and prone to wearing eccentric clothing. It slowly freaks OGiNiM out to the point where he confronts her about it and straight-up yells at her- which is an OOC moment in and of itself, as OGiNiM normally never gets angry or confrontational. This causes HyDrO to have a major My God, What Have I Done? realization, and in no time at all she is back to her old self.
- In the same chapter, there are also multiple moments in which HyDrO breaks from her regular usage of all lowercase letters. She uses all capitals when she first realizes that she has a crush on OGiNiM, as well as to convey his breakdown. She uses punctuation twice: once when she is confessing her love to OGiNiM in front of a mirror, and again when she confesses her love to him in real life. Interestingly enough, her reaction to these OOC moments is completely in-character, as she attributes her capitalization to her caps-lock being on and her punctuation to a typo. It's totally not a sign that she is in love with OGiNiM. Like, at all.
- And speaking of HyDrO, she is usually stoic and completely emotionless. Anytime she shows emotion, whether it be positive (such as her utter joy upon OGiNiM's break from his Heroic BSoD in "Don't Stop Me Now") or negative (such as her urgency and panic when Slang is captured by HyPN0se in "I Want It All"), it's a sign that something serious has gone down.
- “Dedicated To...” has a very small moment of this, but it still counts nonetheless: the citizens of Amsterdam are horrified upon realizing the Rijksmuseum has been burned down, and all except Nimja have just about given up hope... until OGiNiM, in a dead-serious tone, gives them a Rousing Speech, which not only leads into “Het Wilhelmus” being performed in a subtle Shout-Out to Casablanca, but also lifts everyone’s spirits.
- Crowe is a certified Dutch Pungeon Master. If he ever finds an opportunity to make a pun on the word “spoken”- or indeed, any pun in general- he will follow it up with a verbal rimshot for comedic effect. However, in “Lily of the Valley,” after Zeus angrily strikes Hades out of Mount Olympus for asking for Olympian status, Crowe is downtrodden by the failed mission, and blames it on himself, saying “The fact that Zeus reacted so harshly makes me regret that we never thought about being outspoken." Nimja- and the readers- are likely surprised by the fact that after that line, Crowe doesn’t do his classic rimshot, missing a perfect opportunity to make yet another pun on “outspoken.” It slowly dawns on Nimja that there was no pun intended that time- he truly does blame himself, and the fact that he didn’t stand up for Hades, on him not becoming an Olympian.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: The Spoken, of course. All three of them are friendly ghosts who happen to consist of a stoic Aegislash, a shy Trevenant, and a punny haunter.
- Pædo Hunt: This trope is the main motivation behind the It's a Wonderful Plot in "Now I'm (Not) Here"; see Mistaken for Pedophile above.
- The Paranoiac: Slang. But only in the "terrified of just about everything" sense.
- Pep-Talk Song: "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life," naturally.
- Perpetual Smiler: OGiNiM. He has a huge smile on his face in every single piece of art that he appears in. The one exception, appropriately, is the second piece of art in "Don't Stop Me Now."
- Pokémon Speak: Completely and utterly averted. Nimja, OGiNiM, HyDrO, and Slang are all able to speak fluent human language (though the latter three were shot by the Shotgun).
- The Pollyanna: OGiNiM, as beautifully demonstrated in "Dedicated To...". The same goes for Nimja, including in Real Life, as he himself mentioned in a livestream.
- The Prankster: Crowe, the fun-loving Haunter member of the Spoken, is seen pranking Aegis from behind in "One Vision".
- Prone to Tears: Boomer, the Trevenant member of the Spoken. He is a nervous, blubbering mess for about half of his screen-time in "One Vision". Nimja, of course, is unfazed and comforts him repeatedly.
- Psychic Powers: Nimja is a hypnotist.
- Pungeon Master: Crowe's Dutch puns are widely spoken about! (rimshot)
RECORDING: END
WAKE
