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Been There, Done That, Got The T-Shirt...
Been There, Done That, Got The T-Shirt...
#1
I got to thinking about something just a few minutes ago. We all know from reading the first chapter of Glory Hound how much stuff Doug has stored in his bike's panniers, right? We also know the kinda guy he is and that he isn't just scraping by and trying to survive in all the worlds he visits. My question is: How much of that stuff in the panniers is souvenirs, what is it, and who is it for?
I, for one, foresee him picking up a few things for Dwimanor in Harry Potter and Rune Soldier...
Doug: "Oh, come on - if I didn't bring him back some spell books and trinkets from those places he'd change all my Coke into moose piss!"
Edit: I'd say a bigger-on-the-inside trunk with spell books, magical history and theory books, and a few books on magical animals and plants with maybe a few long-term preserved apothecary purchases to go with them from HPland. From Forceria... maybe some religious texts for Research Theology purposes?
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#2
Well, he got a keyring in Fenspace... (I'm assuming Eimi doesn't count as a "souvenir.") That one was intended for his own use, since it incorporates an MP3 player hard-wired to play I'm Alive at the push of a button (which is usually behind a safety shield).

And while he'll primarily be picking up information in Blue Skies, Blue Water, there's nothing saying he can't also pick up a trinket from Neo-Atlantis for someone. Any preferences, Bob?

(Now one wonders whether Belldandy gave Doug anything to give to Hexe...)
--
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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#3
Quote:DeputyJones wrote:
Edit: I'd say a bigger-on-the-inside trunk with spell books, magical history and theory books, and a few books on magical animals and plants with maybe a few long-term preserved apothecary purchases to go with them from HPland.
Spellbooks may be a bust since they're mostly useless unless you practice Potter style magic, which requires specially crafted wands made with materials which are likely beyond rare in Doug's world. I doubt that Ollivander would be willing to sell Doug several dozen unmatched wands either. Theory books would likely also be a bust since, by the time Doug leaves, he'll have a better understanding of their spellcasting paradigm than they do. Herbology and potions texts and some seeds could be an interesting but problematic gift, since Doug could conceivably get in trouble for importing potentially invasive species from another universe. Besides which, would Doug really want to risk keeping a stock of magically active plant seeds near his chaos field for an unknown number of decades/centuries?
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"Anyone can be a winner if their definition of victory is flexible enough." - The DM of the Rings XXXV
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#4
Quote:Spellbooks may be a bust since they're mostly useless unless you practice Potter
style magic, which requires specially crafted wands made with materials which
are likely beyond rare in Doug's world. I doubt that Ollivander would be willing
to sell Doug several dozen unmatched wands either.
Just because you can't do something doesn't mean you can't research it or read about in general interest. I can't do martial arts but I still like watching it being done.
Quote:Theory books would likely also be a bust since, by the time Doug leaves, he'll
have a better understanding of their spellcasting paradigm than they do.
...Where did that idea come from?
Quote:Herbology and potions texts and some seeds could be an interesting but
problematic gift, since Doug could conceivably get in trouble for importing
potentially invasive species from another universe. Besides which, would Doug
really want to risk keeping a stock of magically active plant seeds near his
chaos field for an unknown number of decades/centuries?

I never said anything about seeds, or anything living. Admitedly, if he brings back any well-preserved samples of magical flora or fauna, the science and/or magic of Warriors' World sounds like they may be able to recreate them, but I was thinking more alongs the lines of "Little Wizard's First Potions Set" or something like that as a semi-joke gift.
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#5
Actually, given GURPS (and Warrior World's) Grand Unified Magic Theory, which explains the functioning of every possible method of spell casting, theory and spell books are actually both very interesting gifts. It allows his friends to delve into the nature of magic on another world and see if the GUMT applies on a multiversal level or can atleast explain magic in another universe with no more than the minor modification of shifting a few constants at the most.

Yes, that's a minor modification. It may have far reaching and awesome implications, but if the relations between the laws of nature remain the same the specific values aren't really that important. E=mc^2 remains the same even if a differing value of the speed of light in a vacuum leads to different results in the equation.
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#6
Quote:DeputyJones wrote:
Quote:Theory books would likely also be a bust since, by the time Doug leaves, he'll
have a better understanding of their spellcasting paradigm than they do.
...Where did that idea come from?
The fact that, according to the released chapters, the Potterverse wizards haven't come up with a Unified Theory of Magic and don't know how to translate spells between magical systems. In order to teach Dumbledore about dimensional magic, Doug is learning Arithmancy so he can translate knowledge he possesses as a theoretical expert in multiple types of magic into a system of magical notation which Dumbledore can understand. Thus, Doug will potentially end up with a deeper understanding of magic than any native Potterverse caster.
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"Anyone can be a winner if their definition of victory is flexible enough." - The DM of the Rings XXXV
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#7
Should have been clearer, sorry. I understand the part in which Doug'll have a better understanding of the material. My question was how that made the theory books "a bust."
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#8
Quote:DeputyJones wrote:
Should have been clearer, sorry. I understand the part in which Doug'll have a better understanding of the material. My question was how that made the theory books "a bust."
Ah. In that case, why would Doug bother bringing home a bunch of Potterverse books on magical theory, when his personal notes provide a far superior understanding of how their magic actually works? He'd just keep his notes and give them to his friend as a gift. Heck, there's no reason Doug can't spend some idle time during his journey home turning his old notes into the definitive textbook on Potterverse magic. His A.I. laptop would likely love acting as editor for the project as it'd give her something to do during the occasional mind numbingly boring stop without an internet connection. That would make one hell of a gift.
----------------------------------------------------

"Anyone can be a winner if their definition of victory is flexible enough." - The DM of the Rings XXXV
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#9
Why should Doug bring home a set of Potterverse grimoires? That's like asking why watch the LotR movies when you've read the books, or why read Drunkard's Walk when you've read Twisted Path... A fresh take on the subject - no matter what that subject might be - always brings fresh insights.

And, yes, Eimi would love to have something to do in the quieter worlds...
--
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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#10
(Sheepishly raises hand) I didn't watch the LotR movies, because I read the books. It's kind of a shame I hadn't gotten to them earlier in my reading history, because by the time I did they came off as horribly cliche and derivative, when the actual relationship goes the other way - even so, the idea of watching the stories yet again in movie format was nothing but a yawner when I heard about them, and general lack of pew-pew lasers or giant robots made my interest as mindless eye candy minimal.

See also: thread title

So my point is, I can see both sides of this argument, as viewing primary sourcces does help to understand the history of the genre, but I'd have been just as happy with the Cliff's Notes version.
--
"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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