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Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#1
Doug is obviously more than an average human. So... how many Forces would he have? More than 5, which, if I understand correctly, implies Symphonic awareness...
What would his metatalent do with the Celestial Symphony?

On a completely different path...
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war- war and the Loon. The two things in the grim darkness of the far future are war, the Loon, and ruthless efficiency. The three things in the grim darkness of the far future are war, the Loon, ruthless efficiency, and a more-than-fanatical devotion to the Emperor...
The Imperium would probably see the improbability field as a warp-taint, the Eldar are practically forbidden to have a sense of humor, and Orks just wanna have fun, er, I mean, *kill things*. The Necron are boring and evil, the Dark Eldar are too much like far, far too sadistic Servitors of Kobal for Doug to get along with, and Chaos is evil. Can you imagine Tzeentch's reaction to something like the bullets-into-cherry-blossoms trick from DWII?
The Tau, though, he might get along with, if only because they're the closest thing to 'good' to be found in M41...Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#2
Too bad the third season of Big O is merely an otaku's fever dream right now- I'd almost *pay* to see what Doug would do there!
If it 'twere me, and I had Doug's knowledge and an ambiguous number of years to work with, I'd start up a company to teach civilization skills to Paradigmers. I'd train engineers, carpenters, and any (every) other skill I could, just to make it a better place (and build a company that could, potentially, unseat Paradigm). This might even work post-2nd season, with the unresolved-but-apparently-better state of the City...
If I had confidence in my writing ability n, where n >= 0, I'd write a Stagger.Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#3
Try writing a Stagger anyway, Bluemage - you might discover that you have a talent, or at least can churn out prose that's as good as a dime-novel romance. At the worst, you've wasted a few hours and discovered you don't like writing, and can bury the manuscript somewhere.
As for settings, there seems to be an abundance of places Doug has/will/might go where he's the setting's last, best hope. There's a dearth of places where he can relax and unwind. Even the official list is tilted toward world-saving - on the "responsibility" side, there's Steps II, IV, VII, VIII, X, XII, and XIII (and maybe I, V, VI and IX), while the "relax" side is limited to Steps III and XI.
We're running the poor metahuman ragged. No wonder he's upset about being on the Walk...

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#4
I can do story, description, and most of the background and idea stuff, but two parts of the writers' craft totally escape me.
First, I lack characterization skills. I might, _might_ have a chance at understanding a character, but I can't predict what he/she'll do next. Second: dialogue. It evades me as well; likely, my dialogue suffers from me not knowing what a character would say!
I've tried to write fanfic before- I wrote about five pages before getting fed up with my inability to keep the first conversation scene going. It's been on indefinite hold for the last two years.
I try reading the works of authors that I like, in order to learn how those I consider good do it, but when I read, I speed-read- for content. I usually don't even notice writing style when I'm reading, making it hard to learn by example.
It's too bad- I have more ideas than FF.net has bad Ranma fics, but if I ever try to write them..Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#5
I find writing dialogue like pulling teeth, generally - espescially if there's a fight going on, because I'm too busy whipping the characters through their choreography to think up witty taunts or tortured monologues. I find that either watching somethign (preferably related to what I'm writing, and subtitled goes without saying since I haven't watched any US TV since about 1999, which leaves anime, meaning mostly fansubs) or reading manga/comics where the dialogue is the only thing TO read tends to help... though I admit, it leads to the kind of quirky not-quite-broken sentence structure that's the usual result of translating Japanese to English. Since I mainly only write anime fanfiction, that's not as terrible a handicap as it could be.
- CD
ETA: manga/comics in particular are very helpful in designing fight scenes, I find, since unlike anme you're only shown the critical part of each move, and can then describe it more easily. SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#6
Hmmm. Dialogue isn't my problem, really, although I tend to start channeling somebody who'd make Darth Vader say, "Mommy, make the mean man go away." And those are the good guys' lines. I did a snippet once set in the world of Roger Zelazny's Jack of Shadows. The "hero" cheerfully admitted to capturing people's souls and using sorcery to torture them.
My real problem is that I can do background/history (I tried to create a variant background for a Traveller game and wound up with 10 pages of chronology, plus a bibliography, planetary flags, descriptions of the uniforms for 5 different militaries, etc. -- I never did play the game) but then I can't come up with an interesting and fairly original story to tell against that background. My characterizations are also pretty lame, particularly relationships.
Edit: Oops. And we're getting off the original topic. What I'm trying to say is, write what you can, Bluemage. Show it to friends -- here, for instance. Maybe somebody can help with the parts you can't make work.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#7
I am drnk
COLLA?NB
COLLABORATE
COLLABORATE OR DIE
me and my azlcohol will go bed now.[Image: kokbanner.jpg]
--- Kokuten Daysleeper, Retired Epicced Officered DorfWire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#8
oh my, I was drunk last night.
My sentiment stands, if my statement doesn't. - a collaboration, one man's weak point buttressed by another's strength, can be a wonderful thing.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#9
The first two are hypotheticals, for places where Doug really shouldn't be. IN would, if he wasn't Symphonically aware... still be dangerous, but only if he tried to get involved (or knew to do so). PC angels/demons would at least be a workout, Word-bound would probably be able to beat him, and Superiors, well... I don't think he'll come out of that wall- just clean up the little chunks and paint over the splatter.
40K would just plain be *dangerous*. I still don't know how the natives survive, but Doug doesn't even know what they do. Let aliens/Chaos get him- he's toast. Let the Imperium get him- he's toast. Let him loose in the Imperium, and they'll eventually find him- see above. On a battlefield, he's not just toast, he's dust- several times, just to make sure.
Big O, though, I think Doug could do a lot of good in. I could, with permission and a few character questions answered, write that Stagger now.
Useful ideas? Places that would kill Doug but quick? Please tell me!Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#10
Quote:
I could, with permission and a few character questions answered, write that Stagger now.
Granted, and ask away.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#11
The e-mail will be firing off soon- I don't want to put very much on the boards yet, so that I don't raise any hopes or spoil any plots.Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#12
It's in my inbox, but I won't have a chance to really sit down and reply to it for a little bit. Please be patient.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#13
I don't know if I can use this yet, or how I'd do so if I could, but here's something that hasn't left me alone all day.
It may be omake for the Stagger, but I think I may have to work this in...
(Typing Every Word In Caps is a hard habit to break sometimes!)
_______________________________________
"Those voices! I know those voices! Show yourselves!" Doug yelled, worry showing in his eyes. "Why, oh why, did they have to find me _here_?", he thought in panic.
A few tense seconds after Doug spoke, three figures stepped from the shadows that surrounded him. The mysterious figures each wore identical black cloaks, concealing everything but their eyes- colorful, piercing orbs, which seemed to see into the very depths of Doug's being. They stood in a line in front of him: one short figure -too short to be fully mature-, on the left, another, taller figure in the middle, and the third, who managed to reach a medium height despite being hunched over, on the right end.
A voice spoke: nothing betrayed to which figure it belonged, nothing save its tone- deep, sultry, and quite obviously feminine.
"You Seek To Break The Wheel Of Destiny," it said.
As the first voice finished speaking, another- this one the sweet, bell-like tones of a virtuous maiden- took up where it left off.
"Why Do You Do This?," it asked: curiously, yet unhappily.
Predictably, the third voice- that of a young girl, yet possessed of more knowledge and wisdom than any girl- picked up the thought, as the last echoes of bell-like tones faded into the inky otherscape.
"Know You Not That What Is, Is For A Purpose?," the girl questioned, somewhat accusatorily.
When the girl finished speaking, all three figures, in perfect unison, stepped forward and spoke as one.
"Who Are You To Trifle With The Destinies We Ordain?"
A tinge of something dangerous entered Doug's voice as he responded. "So it is you who have caused so much suffering here?" As he went on, his voice grew in power, becoming louder, angrier, and more incredulous with every word. "_You_ are the reason that *these people*," his arm sweeping around, indicating the world around him, "have lost their pasts, and avoid their futures? _You_ keep *these people* ignorant, binding them ghosts of pasts that may not be, while blocking the way to their futures! WHAT could THESE PEOPLE EVER have done to deserve this, THIS TRAVESTY?," Doug roared, glaring at each of the figures in turn.
"We Have Done This," responded Sultry, a hint of- was it regret?- in her voice.
"It Has To Be," continued Child, certainty audible in her words.
"You Cannot Change Our Paradigm," Bell-tone finished.
"I Write." Sultry.
"I Direct." Bell-tone.
"I Produce." Child.
The Three spoke together, their chorus resolute. "We Ended The Past, To Produce The Enduring Present. We Repeat The Present, So That The Future Does Not Happen. We Prevent The Future, Because There Is No Future. If We Did Not, The City Would Be Gone, And All Would Be For Naught!"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
Reply
Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#14
Quote:
As for settings, there seems to be an abundance of places Doug has/will/might go where he's the setting's last, best hope. There's a dearth of places where he can relax and unwind. Even the official list is tilted toward world-saving - on the "responsibility" side, there's Steps II, IV, VII, VIII, X, XII, and XIII (and maybe I, V, VI and IX), while the "relax" side is limited to Steps III and XI.
I wouldn't be surprised if almost every setting could have some sort of problem that Doug would end up getting involved in. Not many series out there that go very far without some sort of conflict going on.
I've actually got this stagger idea of Doug ending up someplace where he keeps hearing about problems after they've already been resolved... but that'd probably be more upsetting than being in the thick of things. And it's not like that sort of thing is always so hard on him. (As he notes in DW2-3, "what I did best was have fun while doing what I
did best".)
So far it seems to me like V might actually be more on the relax side. There was a lot of tension to start with certainly, and Mara can be expected to make trouble, but there's nothing like the air of looming menace that colors some settings.
-Morgan."I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, time travelers, or espers here, come sleep with me."
---From "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
-----(Not really)
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Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#15
Quote:
So far it seems to me like V might actually be more on the relax side. There was a lot of tension to start with certainly, and Mara can be expected to make trouble, but there's nothing like the air of looming menace that colors some settings.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#16
What, no maniacal laughter? Smile
-aeroprime
----------------
"I did NOT escape! They gave me a day pass."
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Re: Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#17
... Isn't V that vigilante guy with the opera "comedy" masK? Not a very relaxing fellow at all, I'd have thought.
(reads earlier meassages again. Oh, oops. Nevermind. This is the place for speculative futre steps thgouh, so I'm not totally off track.
- CD just keeps telling himself thatSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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Re: Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#18
Quote:
What, no maniacal laughter? Smile
Nah -- by the agreement we signed before starting to write, I get the evil grins and Chris has exclusive rights to maniacal laughter.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#19
Quote:
Nah -- by the agreement we signed before starting to write, I get the evil grins and Chris has exclusive rights to maniacal laughter.
Who got the gloating rights?

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Re: Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#20
Depends on day of the month and time of day.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Re: Painful thoughts! The hurting!!
#21
Quote:
Who got the gloating rights?
Quote:
Depends on day of the month and time

And whether or not you've got a Royal Fizzbin. But the odds against that are just astronomical.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
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DWS-Big O Stuff
#22
Any ideas for a title for a Big O Stagger? I have a few, but nothing that really grabs me. Love to get some input.
Here's something I'll eventually develop.
_________________________________________________
Flanked by his two henchmen, Beck stood proudly, gazing down upon the key to his future domination of Paradigm. It really was a work of art, he mused: nice, bright color scheme- assertive, but not flashy. The lines were smooth, and pleasing to the eye. Its beauty was matched only by its effectiveness- with its multifunction weapon-arms, the Megadeus Beck possessed had the strength to rip its foes apart, with the dexterity to reach through doors and grab objects. It was perfect.
Sure, there was the little matter of a bit of battle damage- a few scratches and dents here, a bit of damage to the arms there, a big, gaping hole in the chest over there- but nothing that couldn't be fixed with some spit, polish, elbow grease, theft, and creative rewiring.
With a sad look on his face, Beck looked over at his minions and said, apologetically, "Damn shame, folks throwing away a perfectly good giant robot..." His expression then grew cheerful, almost manic, as he continued "...but wait- we aren't!!!"
-----------------------------------------------------Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
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Just a li'l sumthin' foy you.
#23
Dorothy narrowed her optics in the expression that her interaction subroutine suggested for annoyance. "You are a nutbar, Douglas Sangnoir."
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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Re: Just a li'l sumthin' foy you.
#24
Thanks- I like it. Have to find a way to use that...Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
Reply
Re: Just a li'l sumthin' foy you.
#25
I'm looking forward to this.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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