C.W. Longbottom

C.W. Longbottom
General information
Full name	Carl W. Longbottom
Also known as	C.W. Carl
Birth	1939
Personal information
Occupation	Head Writer
Affiliation	Mythic Quest Studios
Series information
First seen in	"Pilot"
Last seen in	"TBD"
Actor	F. Murray Abraham Josh Brener (young)

C.W. Longbottom is one of the main characters for the first two seasons of the Apple TV+ streaming series Mythic Quest. The Head Writer for Mythic Quest, he is a Nebula Award-winning author whose better days are behind him. C.W. is portrayed by F. Murray Abraham, first appearing in the episode "Pilot".

C.W. Longbottom is Mythic Quest's seasoned storyteller and Nebula Award-winning author, who desires a game with as much backstory as possible. Amongst his many works prior to the game is the book Inside the Caves of Beneroth, something which, in small measure inspires the marketing team's live streaming efforts.

Fallen from his former glory, C.W. finds himself in a world he doesn’t fully understand, nor that he ever imagined he would be a part of. Accordingly, he tends to drink a lot while at work, favoring Wild Turkey and his own concoction, the "Rutger Hauer".

Biography

Background

In 1972, when he was younger, C.W. took a job as a copy editor for Amazing Tales Publishing in hopes that his short story Tears of the Anaren would be published. There, he meets A.E. Goldsmith, and Peter Cromwell, two other writers like him who are also on their first day as copy editors. The two quickly bond and agree to review each other's work. While A.E. and Peter have little to critique of each other's stories, both feel that C.W.'s needs significant work. C.W. takes their initial critiques and attempts to apply them, but upon further review they both feel that he only made minor superficial changes. As time passed, A.E.'s story was eventually published, giving her the ability to put in a good word with the publisher when the other two felt their stories were ready. Later, C.W. applied another critique and ended up transforming his short story into a novella, while working on it he called A.E. and discovered she and Peter were romantically involved when Peter answered her phone. In a last-ditch effort to be published, C.W. approached Isaac Asimov directly, whose work was published by Amazing Tales, and asked him to take a look at his story. The next day a courier delivered a package containing C.W.'s story with a note from Asimov telling him it was good and he made some revisions in red—which turned out to be the entire story. C.W. submits Asimov's version and ultimately wins his Nebula Award.

Writing Career

Following on from his debut novel, C.W. wrote a number of other books including The Widowmaker and the Queen, The Brazen Shield, The Fall of Hrad, The Cape of No Hope, Inside the Caves of Beneroth, Dances With Elves, A Bloody Alchemy, The Pines of Her Betrayal, The Beacon of Venus, The Last of Dain, and Saturn's Desire. The Seventies and Eighties were a blur for C.W., and he based the character of a elven sorceress in Saturn's Desire off of a lover he took in Morocco. The proceeds from the book paid for the medical expenses that results from the encounter. Also during the Seventies, C.W. participated in several sit-ins, and had to once be forcibly removed from Jane Fonda's house.

Mythic Quest

C.W. met Ian Grimm when he was working at Azuza Ren-Fair selling award-winning rotisserie chickens. He was hired as the Head Writer for Mythic Quest. Working at Mythic Quest Studios, C.W. champions backstory above all else, including for inanimate objects such as a shovel, as well as alluding to his debauched past at inappropriate moments. He also basically lives in the office, although Ian points out he only sleeps there after C.W. has had too much to drink which is pretty much every day. As they developed the game, C.W. and Ian created a mysterious character known as the Masked Man, and they heavily promoted the character and the eventual reveal of his identity. In truth, C.W. and Ian had no idea who he was, and after the launch of the expansion Raven's Banquet, they were forced to figure out it when the mystery was called out by Pootie Shoe. Eventually, C.W. settled on the idea of a father and son story, along with the introduction of a new character, the White Knight. Ian pointed out that the story was basically Star Wars, but C.W. did not know what he was talking about.

With the revelation that there were white supremacists within the Mythic Quest player base, C.W. was called on to write an apology. Initially, he asked if they were apologising to the Nazis or on their behalf. Completing the task, C.W. adapted the apology from one given to the San Diego Women's Museum. Later, after spotting a group in the meeting room, C.W. asks why they are meeting and demands the opportunity to defend himself. Learning that it was, in fact, an ethics committee formed to figure out how to deal with problem players, C.W. joined the group, bring an older perspective.

C.W. found himself lost in ennui when Ian was at StreamerCon, entering the testing booth to find Rachel. Initially mistaking her for a boy, they began talking and C.W. admitted her had never played Mythic Quest while Rachel said she skipped all cutscenes. C.W. was taken aback, and they agreed to hear the other out. Rachel taught C.W. to play the game, while C.W. introduced Rachel to emotional cutscenes, but from other videogames. C.W. came to understand the importance of creating one's own story through the game.

With Dana Bryant installed as the new streamer for Mythic Quest, Brad Bakshi turns half of C.W.'s office into her streaming space, decked out to look like a bedroom. C.W. bristles at the invasion of his space and refuses to write anything until his office is restored. In retaliation, C.W. relocates to Brad's office. Brad tries to tempt C.W. into writing a backstory for Dana, but he refuses. Brad shows him an artificial intelligence that can write a backstory as good as him, and has one for Dana. C.W. is initially sceptical, until Dana tells him that she was moved to tears by it. C.W. reads it and fears that the age of the writer is over if machines can produce prose that moves people. Brad reveals it was all a con; the machine is a nothing more than an air conditioner and the prose was lifted straight from one of C.W.'s books, Inside the Caves of Beneroth. C.W. didn't recognize it, admitting that the Eighties were a blur.

After Ian challenged a hacker who had taken control of the Masked Man to a duel in-game, C.W. entered a depressive funk as the largest moment of Mythic Quest history was unfolding without his contributions to the story. He was annoyed that there was no emotional core to the story, and took to hiding in the janitors closet where he slept drinking Rutger Hauers with Jo and David Brittlesbee. C.W.'s faith in the narrative arc was restored when he found out that the hacker, Pootie Shoe, was actually Ian's son.

Reconciliation

Forty years later in 2022, A.E. has passed away and Peter, who was married to her for a long time, wishes to see C.W. Believing he's going to receive an apology for stealing A.E., they learn that Peter's daughter orchestrated the meet with both men thinking the other would apologize to them. After falling out further, they eventually reconcile after C.W. exposes Peter's failures as an author: that his wife carried his entire career through her success, calling in favors with her publishers to publish Peter's work as well. Peter published 19 books in his series, but once she passed nobody would publish the final installment of his series. Peter reveals he's now dying as well, and they both reconcile. C.W. then asks Peter to read the manuscript for the 20th and final installment of the series, of which C.W. had become an immense fan.

In the season two finale "TBD" Jo has organized what she thinks is a welcome home party for C.W. who has allegedly been on a book tour abroad. However, once everyone has gathered she follows up with subsequent instructions that C.W. left her to give a letter to David at a specific time. Within the letter C.W. reveals to the team that he received a terminal diagnoses some time before, and if they're reading the letter then he's already passed away. He has had his ashes placed on a satellite in orbit and instructed them to look into the night sky at a specific time to see him pass over. They then all share Rutger Hauer's together in C.W.'s office, reminiscing about him, and again go their separate ways while suggesting that they reunite annually in a similar fashion.

Appearances

• Season 1
  • "Pilot" (First appearance)
  • "The Casino"
  • "Dinner Party"
  • "The Convention"
  • "Non-Player Character"
  • "Permadeath"
  • "Brendan"
  • "Blood Ocean"
  • "Quarantine"
  • "Everlight"
• Season 2
  • "Titans' Rift"
  • "Grouchy Goat"
  • "#YumYum"
  • "Breaking Brad"
  • "Please Sign Here"
  • "Backstory!"
  • "Peter"
  • "Juice Box"
  • "TBD"