Topics

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General Chat / Nosy Questions: Tropes Edition

« on: April 21, 2014, 12:13:28 AM »

So I watched the new Captain America movie this morning, and while at lunch afterwards was talking to jenna about use of tropes and cliches in media(stemmed from talking about face-heel turns and the reverse). And I started wondering what other people think of them! So here we are.

Warning: this post will do a whole lot of linking to TV Tropes, since it's a good way to explain what I mean by things.

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Tropes Specific Section

1 - What are your general thoughts on tropes and cliches in writing? Always bad? Can be used for good? Don't worry about them and write whatever you want to write anyway? Something else entirely?

2 - Do you have a favorite Face Heel Turn? Or just one you thought was particularly effective? More than one you think worth pointing out as good is fine!
Link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FaceHeelTurn

3 - How about a Heel Face Turn?
Link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeelFaceTurn

4 - And for the reverse, any egregiously bad examples of either of those you want to call out as being such?

5 - Another favorite of mine is the Five Man Band. Familiar with it? (before my link here, anyway)
Link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand

5b - Do you have a favorite example of one? Or a role within it you tend to like characters of the most?

6 - On the subject of favorite tropes, do you have any you tend to like seeing?

7 - Any that just irritate you on principle?

General Creativity Section

8 - Do you do any writing or creating of your own? Even if it's stuff you don't let people really see is fine. (I'd consider something like GMing for roleplaying games to count)

9 - What genres do you enjoy the most, both as a creator(if you are one) and consumer of media? These can end up as very different things!

10 - Any genres you actively avoid? Again, both as a creator(if you are one) and consumer?

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General Chat / Starting up a PbP Pathfinder game, seeing if anyone's interested.

« on: February 22, 2013, 05:25:02 PM »

http://www.rpol.net/game.cgi?gi=54672&date=1361553560

Got talked into starting up an E6 Pathfinder game on RPoL, figured I'd toss the link here if anyone in this community was interested in playing in it. I've got basic plot/setting/houserules/etc info up on the board already.

E6 if anyone is unfamiliar with it is: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?206323-E6-The-Game-Inside-D-amp-D

Basic premise is that leveling up stops at level 6. After that you just get bonus feats. I've run high level multiple times, figured running something consistently low level might be interesting.

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Discussion / Minimeet Westcoast 2011 - Interest?

« on: July 31, 2011, 05:44:55 AM »

So the topic of this came up at DLC, so I figured now  that jenna has official time off in Nov, I'd throw this out there.

She's got the 12th to the 22nd of November off(on the 23rd we're doing family stuff) so we could fit a minimeet anywhere in that time. If we want to do a weekend, the 18th-21st, going friday to monday, is probably the best idea for us. But we could do 11th-14th with little trouble, especially if someone besides Jenna could do driving.

Any thoughts from those of you interested in making this happen?

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Light / Cyan (FF6) (General Writeup)

« on: October 03, 2010, 11:59:37 PM »

Cyan Garamonde, loyal knight of Doma, is ready to raise his sword to defend his honor once more. His mighty swordskills, including the instantly fatal Cleave and the health stealing Empowerer, are more then enough to make most Lights cringe in terror...or would be if they didn't take forever to use. Still, Cyan's rapid Dispatches are often enough to bring most enemies down and the lengthy charging periods of his greater techniques do not make them unusable so much as...requiring strategy and good timing.

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Light / Louise (FE7) (General Writeup)

« on: October 03, 2010, 11:59:19 PM »

Lady Louise may not be as fearsome in battle as her husband, but that doesn't mean she can't hold her own in a fight. Bow in hand, she stands ready to pick off her enemies one by one and claw her way to the top of Light. Or at least to display the elegance and sportsmanship befitting a lady of her station, win or lose. And to have a bit of fun, of course. Since at least in this arena she doesn't risk permanently dying if she loses!

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Middle / Rouge (SaGa) (General Writeup)

« on: October 03, 2010, 01:18:56 AM »

Blue this, Blue that, Rouge gets really sick of hearing about how unfairly powerful his selfish prick of a brother is. But hey, that jerk is banned from competing here so this is as good a place as any to get away from him and let Rouge practice his own magic against such an impressive variety of opponents. It's a good thing that his innate gift for Realm magic gives him a trick for every situation then, isn't it? Vermillion Sand packs a hell of a punch, while the aptly named Implosion can kill many foes outright, so he has offense covered well enough. And defensively, well, he believes that the best defense is a good trap, which Psychic Prison most certainly is. Should anyone attempt to utter a spell under that, they'll injure themselves instead.

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Middle / L'Arachel (FE8) (General Writeup)

« on: October 03, 2010, 01:18:28 AM »

What foolishness is this, someone dares stand in the way of Princess L'Arachel, champion of all that is good and just, and favored niece of the Pontifex himself? Why, they must be an evildoer then, and in dire need of some divine punishment! Though she sadly suffers the same woes as any Fire Emblem healer in the arena, namely the fact that her magic staves cannot heal her own person, she is not to be underestimated. Wielding either holy magic as a Valkyrie or elemental anima magic as a Mage Knight, Princess L'Arachel brings powerful spells, impressive swiftness and of course the good fortune one should expect from a woman so divinely blessed to bear against whoever might stand before her.

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Heavy / Shadow (FF6) (General Writeup)

« on: October 03, 2010, 12:44:26 AM »

Ninja in RPGs are most famed for their ability to throw shuriken and other weapons at their opponents, so naturally Shadow is adept in the art of lodging sharp pointy objects in people from a distance. But unlike other, lesser ninja, Shadow's throwing talents are good for far more then just being another flavor of damage. With his Invis and Shadow Edges, he can perfectly evade any and all physical attacks thrown his way without any trouble at all. Combined with his Memento Ring, which stops that most dreaded slayer of PCs in Instant Death attacks, he can be a hard man to take down before he picks his opponent off first. And that's not even getting into what happens when his dog gets involved...

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Heavy / Lyon(S5)(General Writeup)

« on: October 03, 2010, 12:44:04 AM »

To be the ever-present and unquestionably loyal bodyguard of Prince Freyjadour is all that Lyon would ask for, but if asked she would humbly admit to being a Heavy champion as well. It's not hard to see how she earned it either, with incredible speed and strong swordsmanship coupled with the powerful Twilight Rune, there aren't too many who can stand against her. Against those susceptible to such, the instantly fatal Setting Sun is a quick way to bring a fight to a close, while the pure damage of Vermillion Sky can often take care of those who are not. Being a touch on the physically frail side is Lyon's only real weakness, but her agility and offensive barrage can often make sure that rarely matters as much as her opponents might like.

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Godlike / Rubicant (FFIV) (General Writeup)

« on: October 03, 2010, 12:42:43 AM »

The honorable fire fiend, the greatest of Golbez's servants, Rubicant is a villain you can truly respect for both his power and his dignity. As far as fighting styles go, his is as simple as it is effective: kill it with fire. Glare can reduce even the toughest foes to mere ashes in a heartbeat, while his respectable durability usually gives him the chance to use it more then once to bring down those particularly persistent opponents. He doesn't even fear ice magic as you might suspect, he need only draw his cape about himself and he can resist it just fine, though he regrettably cannot use his spells while doing so. But do not hopelessly tremble before him, the noble Rubicant will do you the honor of restoring your health before he burns you to a crisp.

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Godlike / Loki (VP) (General Writeup)

« on: October 03, 2010, 12:42:24 AM »

One might expect the very God of tricksters and treachery to have so many nasty plots, traps and aces up his sleeve that he couldn't move his arms for fear of them spilling out. And, well, they'd be right. But the real trick here is how Loki doesn't need any of that to crush his opponents into paste. With the incredible magical overkill of Indiscriminate, as well as the might of the Dragon Orb should he deign to call on it, few can stand against Loki's onslaught long enough to fight back. And for those who can, they had better hope they use magic as his physical resilience is something to be stood in awe of. Though it took him longer then he would like, there is a reason he holds a coveted Godlike title.

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Writeup Graveyard / Adel (vs Chie)

« on: August 07, 2010, 04:27:16 AM »

Little miss Satonaka seems to be rather fond of sending her foes flying into space with one solid kick. But what does she really know of the galaxy beyond Earth's horizon? The answer is not nearly as much as the sorceress Adel, who spent years imprisoned in a space station. During her time in space(or perhaps just due to her sorceress abilities, but who's counting) she has learned one simple trick that will bring her opponent to her knees. While Chie sends her targets into the heavens, Adel brings the heavens to them with a deadly rain of meteors. The girl from Inaba may be used to deadly rains, but this is one she will have no chance of surviving.

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Discussion / DLC5: House/Area Information(including Hotels)

« on: July 25, 2010, 01:14:14 AM »

Alrighty, we got a chance to get out and see the con-house itself today, as well as the area around it. So here's what we're looking at.

The House
-Six Bedrooms with 1 double bed each. Two sofas in the living room. So unless folks are willing to share beds, that's 8 people worth of actual sleeping space, and everyone else staying there can find some floor space. Hardwood floors in most rooms instead of carpeting, but there are rugs at least. We have 3 sleeping bags we'll bring for people to borrow. Might not be a bad idea for some folks to bring their own, though. Landlord also stated no issues with people sleeping on the floor here and there, even in rooms not meant to be bedrooms. Really laid back dude. So yeah, we can probably fit 16-20 in here without problems.

-One TV already there in the living room. We can bring our TV and hook it up in the large upstairs bedroom as well. It's an old house with old wiring though, so the circuit breaker may trip every now and again if too many electronics are going at once.

-Folding tables and chairs that can be moved around and setup as needed for board/card game purposes. As well as the space to set them up.

-Kinda small kitchen, with a very small, very old gas stove. I may have to abandon the idea of cooking anything that can feed everyone, sadly.

-Address for the house is: 6506 Eureka Ave. El Cerrito, CA.

Nearby Hotels
For those of you who can't stay in the house, there are a couple of nearby hotels. Of course, of the three in fairly easy walking distance, the closer ones are the worse ones. That's how this shit works, you know. Anyway, here's the info I got from them.

-Super 8 Hotel. $81+tax/night for a 2 Bed room. 10% discount if you have AAA apparently. This is the furthest one out from the con-house but also looks the nicest of the three. If you want to call to make reservations or ask any questions of your own, address is 6009 Potrero Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530. Phone is: 510-232-0900

-Terrace Inn and Suites. $65+tax/night for a 2 bed room. Closer then the Super 8, but looked a little run down. Still, if you want to fit 4 people in a room to split some costs, hard to beat ~$17/night per person. As above, here's the information. Address: 10869 San Pablo Ave. El Cerrito, CA, 94530. Phone: 510-235-8335. Website: www.terraceinn-suites.com

-Budget Inn. $65+tax/night for a 2 bed room. Closest one to the con-house, but...to be honest, I would never stay there. Frankly looked shady and there was a sign that said all the rooms were smoking rooms, so who knows what it might smell like. There's a Thai restaraunt there, though. Once again, contact info. Address: 10621 San Pablo Ave. El Cerrito, CA, 94530. Phone: 510-526-9020

Those of you capable of doing math will surely note that staying at a hotel(if split 4 ways) is cheaper then staying at the con-house. We obviously really encourage everyone who can pay it to stay at the con-house since, well, we really would like to keep the cost per share down and not end up swallowing huge chunks of it ourself(at least any more then we already planned to).

One last housing option is to stay at our place. So long as someone who can drive is there, Jenna has no problems loaning someone the car and letting them do the trip there and back. No more then 4 people can do this though, but we won't ask any more then paying for the gas and toll on the way back. However, it is a 45 minute drive(accounting for medium traffic) each way. So I really wouldn't reccomend this option unless you're flat broke. Even I'm going to be trying to split a hotel room or squeeze in at the con house out there. The commute's just not worth it.

Things In The Area
Try damn near everything. I'll list off the high points here.

-BART Station roughly half a mile from the con-house. Which apparently has a straight line from the SFO BART, may be an option to get from the airport to the house instead of relying on pickups and driving there from our place.

-Huge freaking shopping center right next to the BART station. It's got a GameStop, a large selection of food(fast and otherwise), and two grocery stores. Even Starbucks and Jamba Juice for random drink cravings. Oh and a bar if you're into that. Also apparently has a farmer's market on saturdays if anyone's interested in checking that out(they have more then just produce. I've found some great lunches at the one we have here before).

-Tons of food options that are not in the shopping center. A burger diner(that's really good, if slow service) that's open 24/7, a couple of pizza places, and more various asian places then I could keep track of.

-Sadly, the beach is not walking distance for anyone besides maybe Tai. Driving distance, sure. We don't have good directions there, but if people want to make a trip out of it, we can get directions. Also no bowling alley that we noticed nearby. We'll do an online search of the area between now and then and see if we can find one, though.

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Writeup Graveyard / Meg (vs Estella)

« on: June 18, 2010, 07:20:36 PM »

Oh come on. Meg takes light by storm last season and she's stuck here again? Well, nothing for it but to win ANOTHER championship and upgrade properly this time, right? So let's see who's in the way this season...oh lookie here, another boring mage to just shut out with Silent Lake. Yeah, yeah, Rage Rune, infinite power of fire, famous sorceress, whatever. Meg isn't going to waste any breath bantering with her self centered opponent, she's just going to blast some Simon and Garfunkle, cause it's time for Estella to listen to the Sound of Silence.

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Writeup Graveyard / Mia (vs Sheena)

« on: June 18, 2010, 07:19:53 PM »

The graceful swordmistress Mia takes to the arena to finally find her eternal rival! With her speedy blade work and the ability to preemptively counterattack from her Vantage skill, she's sure to shake things up this season! And what should await her in her first match but a ninja, one of those legendary assassins of the dark who kill as easily as they breathe! Surely this Sheena could be the rival Mia's been waiting for, so she can't wait to cross swo...rds? What do you mean she doesn't use swords? What does she use then, spears, axes, ninja stars? ...cards? Okay, this won't take long then. Mia will waste no time slicing up this second-rate ninja and moving on to find her real rival. Moral of the story: never bring cards to a swordfight, kids.

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Writeup Graveyard / Jowy (vs Odin)

« on: May 22, 2010, 02:02:42 AM »

The Black Sword Rune has already consumed two lives along Jowy's road to Godlike, and yet it hungers still. Perhaps the life of a god will be able to slake the Rune's immeasurable lust for bloodshed? Jowy is certainly about to find out. With speed that his opponent simply cannot match, the master of the Black Sword will be able to unleash his Hungry Friend upon Odin before the pathetic god can do so much as blink, tearing him apart without hesitation or mercy. And if by some miracle he should survive that assault, Odin will have only one chance to counter, for there is little that exists that can survive two.

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Writeup Graveyard / BEEEEELLLLCOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!! (Vs Lady Harken)

« on: May 22, 2010, 02:02:25 AM »

Belcoot has to admit that he's coming into this match a bit distracted. He's a master of the sword, a veteran fighter and fairly experienced with many different forms of combat, but for the life of him cannot figure out how Lady Harken pulls off Fast Draw techniques with a *scythe*. It's mind boggling! Still, he's got to keep his head in the game and parry those lightning scythe strikes like anything else or he won't be keeping his head at all. Fortunately that's just the kind of game he's good at. Parry, counter, then smash right through the threat of Maximum Risk with the power of the Falcon Rune.

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Writeup Graveyard / Gerik (vs Carol)

« on: May 14, 2010, 07:11:22 PM »

At first look, it almost doesn't seem fair. A big burly mercenary against a little girl? Yeah, it doesn't sound like something to take all that seriously...except that Gerik's been around long enough to know that sometimes the little girls are the most dangerous people around. Carol in particular seems to have some impressive advantages in speed and her life draining magical attacks. Pretty good for a kid, he has to admit. Thankfully, she still both hits and takes hits like the little girl she is, so Gerik's overwhelmingly strong attacks should bring this match to a quick close regardless. The real problem will be avoiding getting his head ripped off by Elvis for daring to harm Carol...

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Writeup Graveyard / Saleh (vs Meg)

« on: May 14, 2010, 07:10:41 PM »

Silent lake. There is really nothing that any Fire Emblem mage hates more then that single spell. All Saleh can really try and do is weather out what passes for Meg's offense during the magically enforced moment of silence, then respond with his own much stronger spells and hope it's enough. It's really too bad that he can't use his staves to heal himself, as that would make this much less of a problem. Who designed those things anyway? Saleh would really like to find whoever's responsible for that, zap them a few times then give them a Heal staff and tell them to figure it out.

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Writeup Graveyard / Kain (vs Futch)

« on: May 07, 2010, 07:09:56 PM »

A dragon rider versus a dragoon. It's almost poetic how similar they are in many regards. Both men have lost much, and struggled to regain some semblance of what they once had. Both are tried and tested veterans who remain unbroken by all they've seen and done. But only one can win this fight, so it is with the utmost professional respect that Kain will be sending Futch crawling back to the locker room like the suikoscrub he is. Without his precious dragon Futch is groundbound, having no way of chasing Kain into the air as he jumps again and again, raining furious blows on his opponent's head while evading the dragon rider's desperate attempts to land attacks of his own.

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Writeup Graveyard / Meganium (vs Guy)

« on: May 07, 2010, 07:09:37 PM »

This is an interesting battle for the second grass starter. Guy's purely physical swordsmanship plays right into Meganium's bulky stature and defensive game, but the speed is a bit of a concern. Reflect and the lowly Growl of all things will take the sting right out of Guy's sword while strategic use of the healing Synthesis keeps Meganium afloat, all the while whittling his opponent's life down bit by bit. It's the classic contest of speed against endurance, and like the tortoise before him, Meganium intends to be the one still going at the end.

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Writeup Graveyard / Tsai (vs Milich)

« on: April 30, 2010, 08:03:51 PM »

Not every day a mere soldier gets to square off against a noble and not get in trouble for it. Of course, Tsai of the Divine Spear isn't a 'mere' anything, being not only a master of his chosen weapon but a skilled craftsman of them as well. So you can be sure that he'll be bringing nothing short of a masterpiece weapon to the arena with him. That's only a minor detail, but General Milich seems to have an eye for quality so he'll surely appreciate being gutted by a true work of art instead of some common weapon, right?

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Writeup Graveyard / Odin (vs Albert Simon)

« on: April 30, 2010, 08:03:17 PM »

So Albert Simon wishes to take on the king of the gods, does he? Odin has never been very forgiving of mortal hubris, so it seems he'll simply have to make an example out of the arrogant cardinal. Sadly it's not a task that will take overly much effort on Odin's behalf, Simon's best tricks all fall quite short of the mark when used against a fellow boss instead of the PCs he's so used to picking on. Meanwhile, Odin's own attacks have no such failing, allowing him to met out Capitol Punishment to his blasphemous opponent with ease. And should Simon manage to put up at least some fight, there is always the threat of the mighty Spiritual Lancer to send the fool straight to Hel.

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Writeup Graveyard / Guv (vs Ultimecia)

« on: April 30, 2010, 08:02:51 PM »

Ultimecia can kurse her luck, the uncaring universe, or just about anything else she wants...except for her opponent. No matter how you spell it, those things just never seem to stick on Guv. But that's okay, see, Guv is a nice guy and he'll be happy to bring along some friends who she can kurse at with impunity, in the form of his monster allies he summons with Call Team. Assuming they don't just karve up the consonant-impaired sorceress all on their own, King Trode's number 1 retainer is hardly a slouch in the damage department himself, so he can klean things up with Gigagash just fine. Throw in some full healing as needed and this match will be a piece of kake.

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Writeup Graveyard / Renault (vs Kain)

« on: April 23, 2010, 06:35:49 AM »

So Bishop Renault is to face a man best known for being a weak-willed, easily brainwashed traitor, is he? There does not appear to be much of Kain's life to laud, but Renault is hardly a man to lay judgment...his own past is little better, after all. What the reserved holy man will focus on is the battle at hand. Kain's jumping antics could save him against many foes, but not from Renault's steady magical counters, which will strike the dragoon without fail or mercy as he lands.