Random thoughts

[Tom]

"Cast it into the fires from whence it came!"

Man, I wish more people would make their doohickeys like the Ring. Most are just pretty jewels or other stuff, and their purpose is invariably good. But the Ring--damn, that thing is scary. The way it slowly insinuates itself into your mind, so gradually you don't even feel it happening, is just...unsettling. The movie did a very good job communicating just how sinister it is, which is often hard when you have to illustrate a psychological concept like that in visual media.

 

[Incanus]

How many times do you approx. edit one work? Just curious.

My old stuff, which is worthless, I used to do about 3 passes total including the first draft. Second pass for content, third for improved wording. Now? Not sure. Think I'm going to break it down into smaller jobs and do more passes. The second draft will still be all about getting the content in line though. On the other hand, this particular novella is a bit...strange--it's super indulgent and I may want to keep it in WIP form for longer than usual so I can tinker.

Is your WIP a novel, or something shorter?

 

[Tom]

Hey, I almost forgot--Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

I know that's the most common Irish Blessing ever, but May the Road Rise Up to Meet You by Peter Troy is one of my favorite historical fiction novels. If you haven't read it, I suggest you give it a go. You may have to order it off Amazon, as it was published in the Buffalo area and is relatively unknown elsewhere, but it's worth it.

Well, today is the one day of the year where I (mostly) forget I'm German and let my Irish pride burn like a wildfire! Buffalo's St. Patrick's Day parade is really a sight to see--it's the biggest in the nation. I've been playing Irish music most of the weekend, including Ed Sheeran (I don't care that he's British--ancestrally speaking, he's Irish, so he's good enough in my Irish-American-among-other-nationalities book). I've also drawn a few Irish dancers, though I can never get the wigs right.

Side note: If I see another group of stupid frat boys wearing strings of tacky shamrock beads and shirts that bear offensive statements such as "Kiss the Paddy!", going around trying to kiss girls and loudly talking about how much they're going to drink tonight, I'm going to start throwing punches.

 

[Jabrosky]

"Cast it into the fires from whence it came!"

Man, I wish more people would make their doohickeys like the Ring. Most are just pretty jewels or other stuff, and their purpose is invariably good. But the Ring--damn, that thing is scary. The way it slowly insinuates itself into your mind, so gradually you don't even feel it happening, is just...unsettling. The movie did a very good job communicating just how sinister it is, which is often hard when you have to illustrate a psychological concept like that in visual media.

I actually did read a pretty good fantasy where the doohickey was an old gauntlet containing an evil god, which possessed the hero's girlfriend once she put it on. But since the story was really about dealing with the consequences of stealing that doohickey, you could say it's more representative of the "cursed artifact" sub-genre.

My own question is why we always invoke these special doohickeys as the motivation for fantasy quests. I think the appeal of the quest story is it lets our characters take a road trip throughout our world, but then must they always be to be looking to retrieve (or dispose of) one particular item of magical import? Why couldn't they be, say, tourists who simply want to see the world, with the conflict being more about their fun getting ruined than saving the world with one item?

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

So, I was writing a paper for a land use planning class recently. And as my mind is wont to do in situations like this I realized that The Hunger Games's system is based on national land use planning gone crazy. My paper is about national land use planning in the US. Needless to say I couldn't help but use the Hunger Games as part of my introduction. So Suzanne Collins and Katniss Everdeen welcome to the altogether boring and convoluted world of legal writing. May the jury be ever in your favor.

 

[Tom]

@Jabrosky:

Maybe we feel safer sticking to old cliches? I for one disposed of the magical doohickey altogether, and my quest is more of a political thing--my MC, the crown prince, embarks on a journey to meet up with a band of freedom fighters, therefore giving them the political backing of his whole country, which he hopes may deter the opposition. ...So I guess my MC is the doohickey in this case. (I think it's technically referred to as a MacGuffin, but doohickey is more fun to write. )

 

[Ireth]

Isn't the continent of Panem supposed to be post-apocalyptic North America anyway? So that kind of fits.

 

[ArenRax]

Tom that sounds like the plot to fable 3......almost

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

Isn't the continent of Panem supposed to be post-apocalyptic North America anyway? So that kind of fits.

It is. I mostly used that opening paragraph as a means of kick starting my writing. While I enjoy the class and the paper is turning out well it was hard to get it started. I may change it I may not. The paragraph Panem shows up mentions how America is infatuated with a national land use planning scheme. It's just fictional. And evil. And not that workable. The paper later proposes a more viable solution and why we need it, or will need it in the near future.

 

[Reilith]

Is your WIP a novel, or something shorter?

It is the first of a three part series I am planing at the moment. Novel I guess, but I have no idea how long it will turn out to be. As long as it needs to be I say to myself as I don't want to limit myself on a word count yet. And I do the first drsft edit the moment I start retyping it from paper to PC.

 

[Ireth]

In The Little Mermaid, Ariel sings "I wanna be where the people are", referring to humans who live on land. But... she's a mermaid, an equally sentient/sapient being to a human. Shouldn't merfolk be classified as "people" too? It wouldn't change the flow of the song at all if she'd said "I wanna be where the humans are" instead. That kinda bugs me.

 

[Tom]

You got a point there. Huh, I never thought about that line like that before. But hey, it's Disney. They make lots of gaffes.

 

[Tom]

Double-post because THIS IS IMPORTANT, YOU GUYS.

So I was watching an episode of Doctor Who, specifically The Sound of Drums in season 3. And in one scene involving American audiences watching the Master's televised speech, something caught my eye. So I paused it. And I took a closer look.

And there it was.

One of the guys was wearing a Buffalo Bills jersey. Not only that, but it was a no. 12 jersey, which is legendary Bills quarterback Jim Kelly's officially retired number.

You have no idea how happy this makes me. The Bills are probably the most under-appreciated team in the league, having the longest postseason drought out of all the teams, as well as an abysmal Superbowl record of 3 losses 3 years in a row. They are the laughing stock of the league, mocked and virtually given a guaranteed loss by most commentators for any given game they play in, despite the fact that they were a formidable team back in the 90's and are now starting to come back.

To a lot of people, they just don't exist.

Do you know how happy it makes me feel to see a Bills jersey--no, a Jim Kelly jersey--on a minor character in a TV show from across the pond?

There is hope yet!

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Old Jim Kelly... from East Brady, Pennsylvania. A mere 30 minutes from my hometown.

Drive through East Brady, it'll take you ten minutes, and you'll see a mural of old number 12.

 

[DaFlaminUnicorn]

Double-post because THIS IS IMPORTANT, YOU GUYS.

So I was watching an episode of Doctor Who, specifically The Sound of Drums in season 3. And in one scene involving American audiences watching the Master's televised speech, something caught my eye. So I paused it. And I took a closer look.

And there it was.

One of the guys was wearing a Buffalo Bills jersey. Not only that, but it was a no. 12 jersey, which is legendary Bills quarterback Jim Kelly's officially retired number.

You have no idea how happy this makes me. The Bills are probably the most under-appreciated team in the league, having the longest postseason drought out of all the teams, as well as an abysmal Superbowl record of 3 losses 3 years in a row. They are the laughing stock of the league, mocked and virtually given a guaranteed loss by most commentators for any given game they play in, despite the fact that they were a formidable team back in the 90's and are now starting to come back.

To a lot of people, they just don't exist.

Do you know how happy it makes me feel to see a Bills jersey--no, a Jim Kelly jersey--on a minor character in a TV show from across the pond?

There is hope yet!

Ha wow I didn't know you were into Doctor Who. And I love the way you refer to the British TV show as "from across the pond" lol

 

[Reilith]

Doctor Who - best show there is.

In other news, can a person become tired of being tired? Cause I am and I ain't doing much. I just wanna sleep for a month or so. I feel like I was ran over by a truck.

 

[Jabrosky]

Anyone else wonder if the traditional idea of a love potion is actually almost like a date-rape drug? You're basically trying to get a person to consent to intimacy with you.

 

[Ireth]

Anyone else wonder if the traditional idea of a love potion is actually almost like a date-rape drug? You're basically trying to get a person to consent to intimacy with you.

Yeah, pretty much. I first noticed that in stories like Harry Potter.

 

[Reilith]

Anyone else wonder if the traditional idea of a love potion is actually almost like a date-rape drug? You're basically trying to get a person to consent to intimacy with you.

Yeah, pretty much. I first noticed that in stories like Harry Potter.

Yeah. I think JKR actually used it as a plot device where a person conceived from that sort of relationship can't understand love, cause they were born from a magically created infatuation. That is why Voldemort was the way he was. It was a bit shifty for me, if related to irl subjects where there are many people born from rape and they are not inherently evil, but for the story it worked.

 

[Ireth]

The love potion was definitely part of the way Voldemort turned out the way he did, but I think there was a lot more to it than that. Maybe if he'd been adopted by a loving family rather than left in an orphanage -- and a Muggle orphanage to boot -- who can say what he would have been like? This is one more thing that makes him a foil for Harry; Harry grew to be kindhearted and loving despite the Dursleys' neglect and abuse, while Riddle/Voldemort was twisted and corrupt from start to finish.