The Pit of Seething Vitriol
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The Unshaven's LiveJournal:
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| Thursday, November 12th, 2009 | | 7:49 pm |
And they wonder why I love them...
# TITANS ... WILL ... CLAAAAAASH! [NT] - Ravil 14:00:21 11/11/09 (8) * I would hope so otherwise they'd have the rename the movie. And 'Teaparty of the Titans' just doesn't have the same ring. Now I'd watch 'Box Social of the Titans'. [NT] - The V Man 14:05:29 11/11/09 (7) o UNCOMFORTABLE DISCUSSION OF THE TITANS [NT] - Inconsequential Lurker 14:51:35 11/11/09 (5) + HEATED DEBATE LEADING TO A COMPROMISE OF THE TITANS. [NT] - Dark Nexus 15:05:55 11/11/09 (4) # UNRESOLVABLE DIFFERENCE OF OPINION AND RESULTING GRUDGE... OF THE TITANS. [NT] - Vektor 15:17:54 11/11/09 (3) * THE UNPLEASANT EXCHANGE OF WORDS AND SHOVING IN THE HALLWAY FOLLOWED BY TEARFUL MYSPACE POSTS ... OF THE TITANS. [NT] - Ravil 15:31:53 11/11/09 (2) o ILL-ADVISED RELAPSE SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS... OF THE TITANS. [NT] - Fron@Work 15:46:57 11/11/09 (1) + ARGUMENT OVER WHO WASHES MOST OF THE DISHES... OF THE TITANS [NT] - Inconsequential Lurker 16:06:15 11/11/09 (0) | | 10:34 am |
...Heh.
Okay. I admit it. This looks like it could be my sort of fun. I mean hell, they look like a pack of unapologetically daft/munchkin PCs. This could be Mystery Men done in our actual world, where it's all going to go hilariously wrong. Plus... Red Mist. I was sold, giggling, by that alone. Although this says more about me than it should... | | Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 | | 9:28 am |
How Otters Ruin "Fellowship of the Ring."
Some of you may have encountered otters before. They are awesome. One of the distinctive things that they do is that if a male otter is warning you off, they make a loud, strident "PEET!" noise. It's very attention-grabbing, like a pick hitting an invincible glass wall. It occurred to me the other day that given the difference in hearing ranges, it's entirely possible that we're getting a full-on Ian McKellen "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" but not hearing all of it. Which of course flips around so that you have the Balrog getting up because there's a commotion upstairs and oh god the vermin in the walls are scuffling about again, "WILL YOU SHUT UP-"And then one of the vermin with a glowy stick waves it at you and declares: "PEET!"TL;DR version: I can't watch that scene anymore without hurting myself laughing. I mentioned this on RPG.net and the response has been humbling and glorious. Along with many people who thought the idea was funny, Shadowjack produced both a crossover start for a Wind in the Willows crossover, and then a piece of artwork for same: Quote Shadowjack: Lord of the Rings meets Wind in the Willows! A natural crossover, since Rankin-Bass animated both.
"Ratty! Take the ring to Mordor, won't you? There's a good chap."
"I… I don't know, Badger. Does the River run that far?"
"Oh, do take me, Ratty!"
"Of course, Moley. Wouldn't dream of leaving you behind, dear fellow! But we must make sure that Toady doesn't hear of this, or…"
"WHAT HO, CHAPS! Off to slay Sauron? CAPITAL idea! I know just how we'll do it! Look, I brought swords for everyone!"  There are a few things I wish to note: Gimli as a badger fits so well that it sings, and I am gleefully humbled to have had some of my gibbering brainspasms produce something that has accidentally helped people make Glorious Things. | | Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 | | 9:31 am |
...Yeah.
A friend I have known online for around thirteen years was found today dead in his car in the deserts of Utah. My experience of this is significantly different to that of the rest of the online community to which we were both a part. Everybody else read the initial mention that he hadn't been seen in a few days, the panicked communication hours later that someone else everyone knew had found a suicide note at his house, the frenzied discussion of what the police were doing and how people could help, and finally the word that his body had been found. I got a core-sample of that, arriving perhaps an hour before the final word came down. I just feel sad. Mostly it came out of the blue. In retrospect there were some signs in his comedy that he was this deeply unhappy, but I think that's mainly looking for patterns to justify a surprise like this. Certainly black humour was one of the founding principles everyone on that community shared, so I don't think it's fair to reduce something like that to being An Indicator. On the other hand, in my discussions with him I do know there were points he was depressed, and things about which he was deeply unhappy and uncertain of his ability to change. However, I thought he was Doin' Okay with handling life in general. I am sad to learn I was wrong. Due to the unfortunate rise in our ages and the resulting cases of Rampant Increasing Professionalism, we hadn't spent much time around each other over the last few years. All I can say is that he will be missed. There are people I know who never shared the same online community, but who know and respect the comedic offerings he produced. I even once ran into someone who had never met anyone who knew him online, but had stumbled onto the comedy entirely independantly of us. He left an indelible impression on the lives of those who knew him. I knew him for around thirteen years, and I hope that this was a positive experience. It certainly was for me. I think I will set aside a chunk of today to listen to his radio shows and remember the man well. | | Monday, September 14th, 2009 | | 8:26 am |
Well. That's exciting.
I got a phonecall last night from my mother. She asked if I knew a named-friend of one of my brothers (the elder of my younger male siblings, for the record, who I will refer to as Brother A). I said that I knew *of* them, but had never met them. She was relieved. It turns out that the man in question had a full-on legitimate psychotic break a few months ago, and was committed. Due to lack of space and care in the community, he was released a few days ago. So he turned up at the familial home looking for a place to stay. My mother has worked psychiatric wards and All The Alarms Went Off. He said he could sleep on the floor in front of the television. This was interpreted to be him downplaying how much bother he would be... but no, he had to sleep on that specific section of floor.He also informed my youngest brother (Brother B), who is about fifteen, that his soul would be improved by formal combat with someone trained to kill with their bare hands, although my brother would be allowed a metal staff of a very specific length. VERY specific. He specifically wanted to stay there to avoid encountering any of his family, who would have him re-committed. This seems a fair assumption. Brother A managed to talk him out of the whole Staying Here thing, and walked him out onto the pavement, where the man in question snapped entirely and attacked him. Brother A managed to pull his assailant off, and the assailant started crying hysterically. A passing family with young kids (!) thought that Brother A had attacked him and were consoling him, while Brother A frantically tried to re-focus the crazy man who had just attacked him on himself rather than having him paying attention to the family if he snapped again. Eventually the guy drove off in his own car (!). Brother A went to give a detailed report to the police. So yeah. Family were concerned that this guy knew where they lived, and they didn't know where he'd gone or if he'd be back. They were worried if he knew where I lived, he might turn up here. My brother has the weirdest luck a lot of the time. It's very high-amplitude. He wins things a lot, but then things also go horribly wrong a great deal of the time. When he travels, disaster normally strikes wherever he's gone to, while he's there. He arrived back in the country at 3AM yesterday morning from a week in Australia, and then gets attacked the evening he comes back. On the other hand, various people are thinking that if he hadn't been there to be someone this man recognised, it could have been much worse. Ah well. FUN TIMES. | | Saturday, July 25th, 2009 | | 1:35 pm |
Apparently not done yet.
Okay, here begins some more ranting about Fans!, by T Campbell. I'm going to work through some of the reasons I find the story so affecting, and this involves character interaction. Be warned: Contains spoilers. This post shouldn't be seen as a 'you should read Fans!.' It's more for people who've read it, unless you a) Don't care about spoilers, or b) Don't intend to read the comic anyway but are curious about why I care. Be warned even more seriously than for spoilers: TL;DR beneath cut. To summarise without spoilers: I think Fans! does a great job of exploring stories in which people get together, and the fact they do Isn't An Automatic Fix. Relationships that need to be worked at, and which will be, because they're worth it. But no magic endings. Magic would diminish them in comparison to what they are: Caring, and human. ( One of the things webcomics can do better than almost anything is show how people and their relationships change and grow in the long term. ) | | 11:35 am |
Another webcomic discussion.
I do this sometimes. I have recently read through the archives of a comic I followed years ago - and I am almost entirely up to date. As I read through the thing, I find I want to talk about it to people. In many cases, I'm in luck because of the lovely ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) poing_critter, although I do fixate on things enough that I get worried I'm turning into One Of Those Academics. So. Here we go. I'm going to try and keep this short and coherent for those who just want a recommendation. I recommend Fans! by T Campbell, Jason Waltrip, et al. (Link goes to first comic in archive to avoid spoilers.) It is about a science-fiction club at university who wind up saving the world. Repeatedly. The comic gets better continually over the course of it's many-year run, which is awesome. However, it does mean there is a shakedown period at the start for the art, writing and characterisation. (There is "director's commentary" for the first several storylines which I found gave a different perspective and made the shakedown period more interesting.) Also: The art is occasionally done by guest artists for a storyline or so. This is done with varying success. It's weird: I love the idea of promoting artists through something like this, and the idea that you'd shift art-style to reflect what the story was doing... but I think that I came to consider the 'normal' art as How The Characters Are, and moving away from that was weird. (What this means is that Jason's Waltrip's iconic black and white art is awesome. Here's a sample page, which I also posted to a thread on RPGnet about "Great Villain Monologues.") I'd recommend it to people who like TV series such as BTVS and Angel, because of a similar focus on fun characters, their relationships and - plus! - that whole saving-the-world thing. However, the characters all grow far more in Fans! than in they did BTVS and Angel- which is something I thoroughly approve of. So there you go. It's a good comic. I recommend it. | | Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 | | 2:26 am |
I regret nothing.
Another instance where the CWAL board rock: I AM AN UNSTOPPABLE SLEEPLESS ENGINE OF PHD DESTRUCTION STRIDING THROUGH THE NIGHT. BEHOLD AND WEEP AT MY TUMESCENT MAJESTY. ARR HAR FUCKING HAR. [NT] - Lothos 07:30:42 07/21/09 (2) *OH GOD THE MAJESTY IT'S IN MY EYES. [NT] - The V Man 07:40:32 07/21/09 (1) #FLUSH WITH HOLY WATER EVERY FIVE MINUTES FOR AT LEAST HALF AN HOUR, THEN GO DIRECTLY TO A HOSPITAL. THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAVE YOUR LIVER. [NT] - Ravil 07:53:59 07/21/09 (0) In other news, here's a picture of me taken at 1:30AM when I've finished a PhD chapter draft due on Friday by writing 5,500 words. I feel manic as hell, or did at the time. I have two pictures, one manic and one not manic. The non manic one is so non-manic it looks like I'm thinking "The dude abides." ( I Cut Because I Care. ) | | Monday, July 20th, 2009 | | 3:13 pm |
| | Sunday, July 19th, 2009 | | 2:48 pm |
I need to rewatch that show...
I stumbled onto something neat the other day. Someone made a trailer/homage to Avatar - The Last Airbender set to the music from the Sin City trailer. It makes the characters seem like Total Frank-Milleresque Badasses, All The Time. Which is weird and yet the same time very cool indeed. Highlights the number of strong female characters the show has, too, which is goodly. It also works better for some characters than others. All in all, it's pretty well edited and put together, as well. BE WARNED: It does contain spoilers from the end of the series, so if you care about things, this is not for you. I think this is a pity, as otherwise it'd be a great way of getting people interested in the show. Of course, if you don't care/won't remember or recognise them, go nuts. I initially embedded the video, but the format plays automatically even if you're not looking at it, and I consider that to be Bad JuJu. Here's the link: Avatar 'Trailer' | | Friday, July 17th, 2009 | | 1:30 pm |
Anyone with an interest in good storytelling enquire herein.
I have probably pimped this story before, but I regret nothing.If anyone reading this is in the market for a good webcomic, I recommend: Digger, by Ursula Vernon. (Link goes to the first comic, so as to avoid spoilers.) Creative, funny and epic non-Tolkienian fantasy with excellent characterisation and dialogue. The art starts good and proceeds to get better. And there have been recent developments (which will make no sense out of context) that have made me sit down and say "... dude." In that good, ever-so articulate way I have at times. On a more serious note, this is the kind of story that I can read and think "This. This is the kind of story that made me want to be a writer." So there we go. Check it out, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been. | | Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | | 11:12 am |
| | Friday, July 10th, 2009 | | 11:03 am |
| | Friday, July 3rd, 2009 | | 2:19 pm |
I give you... The CWAL Board.
Whoa, how did this forum get to be full of geeks? - The Man with the Platinum Gun 15:54:26 07/02/09 (15) * Yeah what with the molecular biologists and the programmers and the IT guys and the web developers and the PhD students I can see why you'd take us for a mainstream popuWHAT THE HELL [NT] - Fron 16:46:50 07/02/09 (8) o I think there is only one valid response to this. - TheDeamon 17:18:50 07/02/09 (7) (Awesome picture of a cat in a SCUBA suit at the bottom of a pool.) + Hell yes. [NT] - Fron 17:21:31 07/02/09 (6) # I am so making one of those for Runtley. [ His cat] [NT] - Vektor 18:35:44 07/02/09 (5) * How come Runtley gets all the cool toys? What about me? [NT] - Psycho Sam! 18:53:19 07/02/09 (4) o You get knives. [NT] - TheDeamon 19:24:49 07/02/09 (3) + Do knives let me breathe under water? No! Well, maybe if I cut fish open and steal their air, but that's it! [NT] - Psycho Sam! 20:13:01 07/02/09 (2) # I'm not sure you understand how fish work. [NT] - Fron 20:21:48 07/02/09 (1) * Shhh. Let's just watch. [NT] - Sensitive Meat for Gentlemen 20:23:37 07/02/09 (0) | | Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | | 8:12 pm |
Hey isn't it weird how Michael Jackson's death completely fixed the problems in Iran, and Korea, and the humanitarian crises of the world? OH WAIT | | Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | | 10:39 pm |
| | Friday, May 22nd, 2009 | | 11:51 am |
| | Sunday, May 10th, 2009 | | 9:24 am |
Gleee!
Ran playtesting for The Dungeon Monster's Guide last night, and had a lot of fun. The players said they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, which is better than I expected for a first-draft proof-of-concept. The bit thing was length of time. At the upcoming con, I have a 3 hour slot. The game last night took four hours, although some of that involved getting food. However, explaining the rules and such was included. For a typical gaming one-shot, four hours is entirely workable. So that's great. In the context of the con-session, some trimming will be needed. However, I've had all sorts of awesome feedback from the lovely players, and I am feeling entirely positive about it. | | Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | | 10:48 am |
 Reposted from Kalledon on the CWAL board. | | Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 | | 8:49 pm |
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