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GrrrlSweatshirt
Jun 2, 2012

JackMackerel posted:

That dude quoted was Jim Profit, infamous... thing who's been banned from Wikipedia and TV Tropes for having some distorted loving view about Communism. He also wanted to murder the SA mods. He's made videos about him raging at getting banned from the place. It's like Chris-Chan, if he was a Marxist. This was the video I posted,, and upon scrolling through his video directory with morbid curiosity, he's got a few more:

Raging at moderators... after being banned three years ago... bragging that he owns the site... for being made fun of by one of the moderators.

Going balls-out internet tough guy on Satanic TV Tropes.

I'm pretty sure this guy is a troll, but he's loving good.

Yeah, Jim Profit's just an incredibly tenacious and really effective troll. He's been bouncing around different forums for years using the same gimmick. I find trolling pretty funny but I think at this point he's unhealthily obsessed with it, and I say that as a goon.

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Wrestlepig
Feb 25, 2011

my mum says im cool

Toilet Rascal


gently caress off

Edit: The picture better be loading for you or I'll look like a jerk.

Wrestlepig fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Oct 26, 2013

Djeser
Mar 22, 2013


it's crow time again

FedoraDefender420 posted:



gently caress off

Edit: The picture better be loading for you or I'll look like a jerk.

You have to link directly to the image.

Wrestlepig
Feb 25, 2011

my mum says im cool

Toilet Rascal
Thanks. We've solved this problem together.

Lottery of Babylon
Apr 25, 2012

STRAIGHT TROPIN'

6cqua di Gaia?

Djeser
Mar 22, 2013


it's crow time again

A troperrific online serial novel? Sounds great. Let's read chapter one!

quote:

The alarm clock broke the silence of the early morning with an obstinate and repetitive high pitched beep, until an arm managed to find its way from underneath the mess of sheets and covers on the bed to silence it, with more tries than she’d have liked to admit. Ran emerged from the warm little nest she had assembled during the night, with her red, almost pinkish hair covering her freckled face. She crashed her head back on the pillow with a frustrated scowl.

“Awuuu, it’s too early…”

Rubbing her face, she sat up.

“I can’t stay on bed. I can’t be late again.”
We've got a cliched starting line, wordy sentences, irrelevant physical description, and people making anime noises. And all within the first two paragraphs!

quote:

She hugged herself as the chill of the outside world got through her flowery white and blue pyjamas, and quickly made for the bathroom with fast but short steps.

“Ran-chan? Are you awake?”

The feminine voice was coming from the kitchen. The origin was a woman standing in front of the sink washing dishes, and when the water from the tap slowed down its flow she closed it.

“That girl, she could at least respond,” she said, shaking her head.

“Come on Miya, she just got up,” the man sitting at the table responded, sipping his coffee.

“Sure Taizo, she takes after her dad, huh?”

She turned to the man and smiled. Her red hair was a shade darker than Ran’s, and it was collected in a small bun on the back of her head. Taizo let his eyes linger on her wide and radiant smile, and then looked at her narrowed eyes and smiled too, shaking his head.

“I just can’t resist that smile of yours, you devilish woman.”
The man used his eyes and he looked at the woman's eyes and her smile and then he smiled too. "Taizo, my husband, our daughter, Ran-chan, takes after her dad, which is you, right?" The woman had red hair that was #CC4040 instead of #FF5050.

quote:

It was only a few minutes before the door of the bathroom opened again.

“Ran-chan?” Miya called.

“Yeeeees.”

“Hurry up or your breakfast will get cold!”

Ran walked into the kitchen and sighed.

“I hate this uniform,” she complained as she sat down.

“No complaints young lady,” Miya reproached her, “it’s hard times for everyone, it is what it is.”

“But moooom,” she continued in her special I’m about to have a freak out complaining voice, “it’s green and khaki and grey everywhere, even dad is wearing that and he’s not even in the army! Why can’t we wear something nice! A silk dress, a nice blouse, all I have that is not dull, dull, dull, is my ribbon, and it’s the same pink as my hair! Why?!”
The dialogue pisses me off because they're apparently terrified of using 'said'. Also I like to imagine since there's no description of the uniform, and her father is apparently wearing it too, that they're both dressed up like anime schoolgirls.
MOM TELL DAD TO STOP BEING SO KAWAII

quote:

She was about to take some air to continue when Miya put a plate full of breakfast in front of her. With an almost audible click, she forgot about her fashion woes, took up the cutlery and quickly went down to business eating. Miya smiled and patted her daughter’s head.

“Really, every morning the same thing…” Taizo said, shaking his head.

“Oh dear, are you going to start too?” Miya said, turning to her husband and smiling.

Taizo looked at his wife and started laughing.

“Ayah, you got me there.”

“Ran takes so much after her dad.”

And with that and her smile, she sat down to have her own breakfast. Taizo stood up just a few minutes afterwards.
Visual gags work best in written media.

quote:

“Well, I for one don’t want to be late, so I’ll see you two later young ladies.”

He winked, put on his grey cap, and headed off. The small apartment looked as if it had doubled its size with the departure, he was almost twice the size of his wife and his daughter combined.

Something Ran was very proud of. She smiled happily thinking of how jealous all the other girls were of her awesome father.

“You’re smiling.”

“Dad is awesome,” she said in between bites. After she cleaned up the plate, she rushed out of the house, with a cheerful “I’m leaving!”
Dad is awesome because he eats a lot and is lazy, I guess?

quote:

“Be careful!” Miya shouted as her daughter slammed the door, “really now, she goes from being all sleepy to being hyper in less than half a breakfast.”
Every scene should end with one character commenting on what just happened in that scene.

quote:

Ran rushed down the stairs of the building and, after shouting a good morning to the old lady cleaning the lobby, left it with a spring on her stride. It was a beautiful day. She looked up, and the sun was filtering nicely through the canopy of vegetation covering the dome. The city was nestled snugly on the side of a mountain, and the dome covering it was well camouflaged under the plants that grew on top, mostly a genetically modified creeper plant that could run over the reinforced glass for many many kilometres. The light of the sun was always green under the dome.

But it’s not green. I wish I could see the sun outside one day, mom always says it is the most beautiful light in the world, and that she only realized it when she lost it.

The air was a bit cold, it always was. She adjusted her military green jacket and started her walk to school.
Since there's no quotes around 'I wish I could see the sun outside', I'm going to imagine it's the author addressing us. I wish you would get outside too, tropers.

quote:

The air was a bit cold, it always was. She adjusted her military green jacket and started her walk to school.

“Ara? A cat.”

The cat seemed as surprised to see her as she was at seeing it, it was jet black with bright and clever looking eyes.

“Good morning, black cat-sama.”

Ran smiled, and nodded to the cat as she continued her march. It wasn’t until a few seconds later that she stopped and realized something.

Did that cat nod back at me just now?

She looked back, but the cat was gone.

Ah well.

“Ran-chan!”

“Oh… Good morning, Sugi-chan!”
"[anime noises]" "[more anime noises]"

quote:

A girl with black hair and a round, happy face was waving at her. She was shorter than Ran, and given that she was not very tall to begin with, it put her definitely in the petite category. She looked almost too young to be a highschooler, something all her friends teased her with from time to time.
Tropers don't paint a picture with words so much as plainly describe the picture they want to paint.

quote:

“Good morning!” Sugi replied, smiling widely.

“Ooh, did you cut your hair again? It’s super short now!”

“Hehe, yes. I can’t help it, with the water restrictions it’s too hard to wash long hair without using up all the water.”

“Really, what do you do in the shower?” Ran tossed her hair around a bit, which was long enough to barely graze her shoulders, “I never have a problem washing it.”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s just too nice to be under the hot water to spend time messing with my hair.”

“Really now… Oh! You won’t believe it, I saw a black cat on my way here!”

“For real? Wow, that’s great! I wonder if he lives around here, it has been so long since I saw one last…”

“We can go back after school and look for it!”
The schoolgirls talk exactly like each other and like their parents. This is the true horror of the post-apocalyptic world. For their own protection, everyone thinks alike. Not one thought is unique, and everyone thinks it's okay to not put any attribution in their dialogue.

quote:

They talked as they walked the grey streets. Much like their uniforms, the houses in the hidden city were built to last, but from cheap materials and with dull regularity. It was row after row of four storied buildings, and with the dim light that filtered down the dome they never looked cheerful. Yet every morning they passed close to the food growing quarters, the only place one could see any bright colours over the landscape at all. Unfortunately, access was so restricted that watching it from the distance was all they could do.

“It looks really nice today,” Ran commented.

They had stopped like every morning at the top of the small hill to look down at the farm. Rows of white lights reinforced the weaker sun that managed to filter down, and a few animals moved about in their very crowded pens.

“It’s such a waste, plants grow outside on their own, but here we can’t grow them without the special lights,” Ran sighed.

“It can’t be helped, Ran-chan. It’s too dangerous to go outside.”

“Yes, I know…”
"Wait a second, Sugoi-Chan, I need to explain the worldbuilding our author came up with."

quote:

They arrived to school as the bell started ringing, just in time to run inside before the gates closed.

“Phew! Really now, I thought we wouldn’t make it!” Ran said as she huffed and puffed.

They both were slightly bent down and breathing heavily after the last sprint, and walked side by side giggling all the way inside until they were interrupted.
"Really now, we just made it!" They rushed in just as the bell was about to ring. They were almost late for class. If they had made it in after the bell had rung then they would have been late. They got through the doors with only a couple seconds to spare. "Really now," said the other girl that wasn't the first one, "we were almost late!" They started simultaneously gasping for breath and giggling until they started coughing and had to sit down. It was okay, though, because they weren't late. They had made it in just as the bell was about to ring. "I know, really now."

quote:

“Oh good morning.”

Ran and Sugi looked up, and their eyes opened wide when they saw who it was. Ran felt her cheeks warm up slightly at the sight of him.

“G-Good morning, Kokawa-kun!”

Nagataka… *Mental Sigh*
I don't know who Kokawa or Nagataka is, and if you want to know, gently caress you, we've got anime sounds to make.

quote:

“Good morning.” Sugi said, more composed and smiling widely.

“You always make it just in time, don’t you.”

Ran could only giggle, while Sugi carried the bulk of the conversation.

“It can’t be helped. How come you’re always so early?”

“Ah that’s easy, I just have to walk a few blocks. I suppose I have an unfair advantage, huh? What takes you so long to get here anyway?”

“We always stop to look at the farms from the top of the hill,” Sugi giggled slightly, “it’s so nice, there are so many colours there.”

“Yes, it is. But I don’t like it that much from up close, it really stinks in there, specially the pigs.”

“Ara? You have been inside?”

“Yes, my father took me for a visit once, when he was in charge of security in there. I haven’t been back since he transferred to the defence forces.”
Being annoyed about lovely dialogue gets boring so have a fun-fact: the author lives in New Zealand. I've always wondered if Aussie/Kiwi anime dorks are glad that they're closer to Japan than their American and European counterparts.

quote:

Ran hadn’t been able to speak a word so far.

What are you doing you stupid girl? You always clamp up like this! Really now, say something!

Ran’s imagination had taken a life of its own by then. She imagined herself calling Nagataka, and he looked so handsome when he turned around. With his brown hair parted in the middle, his sharp features and high cheekbones, the narrow brown eyes she so liked, and that smile. And maybe he wouldn’t just smile, but he would answer, and she would confess, and then… and then..

“Ara, that’s a shame, I could’ve asked you to sneak me in and take a look!” Sugi said.

“Haha, I suppose so. Hey, maybe I can ask my dad anyway.”

“Really? What do you say Ran? Want to sneak into the farm with Kokawa-kun?”

“Kyaaaaa! Noooo!”
NOOO I'M AN ANIMEEEE

Looking at the character bios, Nagataka is Kokawa, they're just first and last names. Who knows which is which, though. My bet is on whichever mangles the Japanese the most.

quote:

Nagataka and Sugi looked at her with complete surprise. Ran was trying to hide her blushed face behind her hands, and for all the shouting she was doing she sounded extremely happy. She stopped with the sudden realization that imagination had gotten the best of her.

“Wha…” Nagataka started saying.

“Ran-chan, what were you thinking?” Sugi echoed.

“Aya, nothing, nothing! Hahaha! ^_^;;”

oh my god gently caress you gently caress this gently caress tropers i'm done

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?

Djeser posted:

JESUS CHRIST MY INNER EDITOR IS CRYING


oh my god gently caress you gently caress this gently caress tropers i'm done

I, uh, wow. That sure is... something. I don't think I've seen prose that stilted since George Lucas reshot some of the scenes for Red Tails.

Srice
Sep 11, 2011

Arcsquad12 posted:

I, uh, wow. That sure is... something. I don't think I've seen prose that stilted since George Lucas reshot some of the scenes for Red Tails.

It's not so much English as it is badly translated anime speak, and it makes sense when approaching it from that angle (but that honestly makes it even worse).

When your main influence in writing comes from sources that tend to have an overly literal translation (transliteration would really be the better word in this case) then your writing turns out like that.

Lines like "It can't be helped" are a pretty clear indicator of that sort of stuff.

Skellybones
May 31, 2011




Fun Shoe
That's just about pure strain anime, in textual form. A wonder of the world it Is.

LeastActionHero
Oct 23, 2008
Writing a novel is like writing transcribing a manga, right? You just need to add some paragraphs of description inbetween the talking.

Shangri-Law School
Feb 19, 2013

I can't claim to have good taste in anything, but I liked the description of the alarm clock as "obstinate". The rest of it was boring, though.

Fuego Fish
Dec 5, 2004

By tooth and claw!

Cruel and Unusual posted:

I can't claim to have good taste in anything, but I liked the description of the alarm clock as "obstinate". The rest of it was boring, though.

Describing an alarm clock as obstinate, stubborn, unyielding, persistent, or any other one-word synonyms for being an uncaring machine carrying out its duty is a ridiculously common occurrence in fiction.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if they'd taken that part from somewhere else.

Jay O
Oct 9, 2012

being a zombie's not so bad
once you get used to it

Srice posted:

Lines like "It can't be helped" are a pretty clear indicator of that sort of stuff.

Can't wait for the lines "Ran is just Ran, isn't she?" and "That is something I can never forgive!" :eng99:

Djeser
Mar 22, 2013


it's crow time again

Fuego Fish posted:

Describing an alarm clock as obstinate, stubborn, unyielding, persistent, or any other one-word synonyms for being an uncaring machine carrying out its duty is a ridiculously common occurrence in fiction.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if they'd taken that part from somewhere else.

As far as I know they stole 'waking up to the start of the novel' from Pokemon and Chrono Trigger, which are not novels.

Let's keep going, at least to the end of Chapter 1. There are 81 chapters, so keep that in mind.

quote:

“Still, I’m not sure if my dad can do that, since… Oh dear, I suppose we better go to class!”

The hall was looking rather deserted, so they ran to the classroom. To their surprise, the class had not started yet. But less than a minute after them, the principal made it in, followed by a woman they had never seen before.

It was quite a contrast, the principal was a short, balding man in his late forties, wearing thick glasses and always in a very dull looking grey suit. The woman was much younger, mid twenties perhaps. She had the longest hair any of them had seen in a long time, almost reaching down to her waist, and it was of a dark pinkish red. Her high cheekbones and slightly narrow face had a profound sense of elegance, and her whole person radiated an aura of power that had the whole class enthralled. The girls were admiring her, the boys… Well, a few were experiencing a hormonal thunderstorm for the first time in their lives.

She was wearing a simple white blouse with a red knee-length skirt, and higher heels than was custom for anyone in that school. The red ribbon choker completed her attire, altogether not excessive but far more colourful than most.
New characters require two paragraphs minimum physical description. But...at least she's in her mid twenties? :unsmith: She's the seasoned veteran, isn't she?

quote:

“Good morning everyone,” the principal spoke in his trademark monotone, but nobody was paying attention to him, “as you know, Ms. Shibata quit two months ago and you have had a substitute Maths teacher since. Well, from today on you’ll have a new permanent teacher, this is Miss Kokawa Hoshiko.”
'As you know', the greatest exposition tool.

quote:

“Welcome Kokawa-sensei,” the class answered.

“Hello everyone. I hope we will get along nicely!”

She smiled and the whole class erupted in noise, squees of delight from the girls, ooohs and aaaahs from the boys, and everyone telling everyone else what they thought and how crazy it was to have such a teacher.
Why are the girls excited enough to squee? I am legitimately upset to have to type squee like it's an actual word.

quote:

“Oi Nagataka, is that your older sister or your aunt or something? She’s such a babe!” One of the boys asked.

“What are you talking about Shiro, I don’t know her!” Nagataka replied, annoyed.

“Come on now, she looks a lot like you, and Kokawa…”

“Tsk, how does that woman look like me? I can’t believe this.”
Try to say "Oi Nakataka" and make it sound like something a human would say.

quote:

The principal left them, and Hoshiko managed to calm everyone down by counting attendance. She smiled when she called Nagataka, which earned him a few comments and made him surprisingly unhappy, and then came Ran’s turn.

“Shimizu Ran.”

“Yes!”

Ran squirmed uncomfortably under the intense gaze of the teacher. A few of the students looked back at her, sitting in the last row, and a low murmur could be heard. Finally, Hoshiko spoke again.

“Please stay after class.”

“O… okay…”

How did I get in trouble this time?

By the time classes were done, Ran had mentally exhausted herself trying to figure out what was going to happen. She was not the best student, but usually managed to pass most subjects. That, of course, didn’t stop her mind from racing ahead through a thousand different avenues.
God forbid we know what any of those avenues are. This story is written in Third Person :effort:.

quote:

“I can’t believe I got detention from the teacher on the first day, really now…”
I want to know what this person's deal with the phrase 'really now' is.

quote:

“Come on Ran-chan, maybe she just wants to talk about your score on the last test,” Sugi said, trying to cheer her friend up.

“Bu-uuuut!”

“Anyway, I’m going home, take care!”

“Ah! See you later, Sugi-chan!”

She spent a good ten minutes alone in the classroom waiting for her teacher to appear. Outside, the sun had already gone behind the cliff side, so it was getting rather dark. She looked up, and saw the pale green of the dome was still bright enough to see.

“It’s so nice… Oh!” She looked down at the grounds outside the school, “the black kitty is here. Hello black cat-sama!”

She was waving from the classroom, and she thought the cat had stopped to look at her, but was so far away, and the cat was so black, she could barely see it.
I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be Ren being a Manic Cloud Pixie Genki Dream Cuckoo Girl Lander Girl or if it's just so anime that waving at cats on the street is normal.

quote:

The door to the classroom slid open. She almost jumped out of her skin.

“Kokawa-sensei!”

“Have a seat, Ran,” Hoshiko answered, looking very serious, and with a voice that matched the mood.

Ran gulped.

“I’m sorry, Kokawa-sensei, really. I don’t know why I made you so angry, but…”

“I’m not angry.”

“But…”

“Sit down. I’m not angry, but there’s some important matters I need to discuss with you.”

“Okay.”
Are you ready for an action scene, guys?

quote:

Ran did not have a chance to sit down. When she grabbed the back of the chair, the whole school started trembling, amidst very loud crashing noises.

“Kyaaa! What’s happening?!” Ran shouted.

Hoshiko rushed to the window and looked outside, with a surprised and very tense expression. She immediately looked at her watch.

“It can’t be, it’s too early! And here!”

“Kokawa-sensei…”

Ran joined her, and what she saw rendered her speechless. Two of the buildings by the school had been damaged, and a lot of debris was falling from the sky. She looked up and saw there was a huge hole in the dome, and pieces of it kept falling down.
Question - What's more devoid of effort, A: 'loud crashing noises', B: 'a surprised and very tense expression', or C: 'two of the buildings by the school had been damaged'?

quote:

From the rubble and the dust, a large humanoid figure stood up. It was like a twenty feet tall person, without the neck or the head. The skin was a bright metallic red, with several white stripes painted on top. Instead of a head, it had a glass half-sphere, and Ran couldn’t see what was inside under the mirror-like surface.
:itjb:

quote:

“Ran! Get back!” Hoshiko yelled as she dragged Ran away from the window, “don’t get near the window, and stay inside, no matter what, you understand?”

“Sensei, are you leaving…”

“I’ll be back for you, stay here!”

The trashing outside the school continued, until she was no longer able to resist it and rushed to the window again. The army had already responded, and several ground vehicles and soldiers were surrounding the large monster. She shouted in surprise when the armoured vehicles opened fire, and after a few seconds the monster responded. It suddenly made a sweep with one of its arms, and several globes of energy launched from its open hand, crashing on the vehicles and the ground and exploding with great violence.
Answer - D: 'exploding with great violence'

quote:

“That’s enough!”

She didn’t quite recognize the voice, but it sounded familiar. She turned to the end of the building where the voice had come from, and saw there was someone standing on the roof. A tall woman, and Ran realized she could see her clearly, almost like she was glowing. She had beautiful golden blonde hair meticulously braided in a long braid that reached all the way to her waist, with a sparkling bracelet holding it together at the end. Her dress was of pure white, wrapping around her in a tight fitting zig-zag pattern like it was made of several sheets of silk weaved together. A large red jewel was clasped on her chest, looking as if it was holding everything together, and Ran could make out some reflections on the edges of the cloth, but was too far away to see it was threads of gold weaved through the ends in a beautiful swirling pattern. The dress hugged her curvaceous body tightly thanks to a wide leather and golden belt with silver studs that neatly fit her to perfection, and several long strips of leather hung from her belt, each studded with shiny silver studs and a red jewel at the end, weighting down the knee-long silky white skirt, also weaved with gold on the edges. Her feet wore leather Roman styled sandals, with straps wrapping her slender legs all the way to her knees, and held there with golden and silver bracelets. The sandals had each two small wings on the sides, and in her hand she was holding a branch of some sort.
If you need evidence that tropers only write because they can't make their own anime, refer to that paragraph.

quote:

Ran was hypnotized by her presence.

“Your evil scheme will not come to fruition, I did not come to this place to fail when victory is at hand. For Earth and her beloved people, I will destroy you!”

The monster responded by firing several energy blasts at her, but she jumped out of the way with ease.

Wow, what a jump!

Ran couldn’t quite see what happened next, because the blasts that were meant for the woman impacted the school instead, and the whole building trembled like it was going to fall apart. Things started dropping all over the place, and she couldn’t keep her balance, landing with the shower of debris and ending up under a pile of foam ceiling tiles.
Troper Writing Tip #1: If someone does something cool, be sure other people in the story comment on it.
Troper Writing Tip #2: If you're feeling tired of writing, just obscure your viewpoint character's view of the action. Now you can just say she can't see anything.

I hope Ren is careful. I've heard dropping things can explode with great violence. :ohdear:

quote:

When she got back to the window, she couldn’t believe her eyes. The monster had lost an arm, and the woman was standing at the top of a utility pole. And in her hand she no longer held a branch.

Is that a spear? Really, it is a spear! She’s amazing!

She pointed at the monster with her spear.

“This is the end for you! I…”

She was interrupted after having to jump quickly out of the way when some more energy shots landed on the pole where she had been standing.

“Another monster?!”

Ran gasped in horror when she saw another identical monster jump down from the gaping hole in the dome and land on to the battlefield, followed by a shower of debris from the broken superstructure. It quickly engaged the woman, while the wounded one turned and started moving about the school grounds.
The fifty-foot monster bent down on one knee. "Grarrrrgh," it said. "Graarrr. Rragh?" In its giant fingers it held a crudely-rolled steel ring about a foot in diameter.

"Of course I will!" Sailor Literal Roman God Mercury gasped. Finally, she was engaged to a loving, fifty-foot metal fiancee.

quote:

“It’s not attacking her, what is he doing?”

Suddenly the one-armed monster snatched a the ground trying to grab something. And right where the hand was, something jumped out of the way. Black, and moving fast.

“Kitty! Oh no!”

For some reason the monster was trying to grab the black cat and, although it moved fast, the monster seemed to be getting closer to catch it.

“Poor kitty…” Ran’s expression turned sad and worried. She started remembering finding the cat in the morning, and how wonderful a surprise finding a cat had been. All she ever saw outside the protected farms were a few boring insects, the occasional very disgusting rat. That cat was a breath of fresh air. “No way, I’m really saving that cat!”

Without second thought, not giving her brain time to second-guess her stupidity, she turned and rushed downstairs. The trashing outside the building continued, and that reassured her that the cat had managed to avoid being squashed or captured. She slammed open the back door of the building and rushed outside.
I was going to joke about how dumb Ren is but the author made that joke, so I'm just going to focus on how dumb "No way, I'm really saving that cat!" is. Read it in your best Ash Ketchum voice for the full anime experience.

quote:

“Black cat-sama! Over here!”

That attracted the attention of both the cat and the monster.

Oh no, I wasn’t thinking! What do I…


She crouched down on the ground as the monster shot an energy ball at her, and it crashed on the building, blocking the exit with several tons of debris. The cat had come rushing towards her, and jumped on her arms. She grabbed it almost by instinct.

Run, run, run!

She was not the most fit person in the school. She tried to run, but the monster constantly blocked her way with its long arm. She didn’t stop to think that it could have squashed them both if it had wanted to, she was too scared to realize.

Finally she was cornered. The monster stood blocking her way, and Ran felt like she was being watched. From up close, she could make out there was something moving behind the glass of the half sphere that sat on the monster’s neck.

Is it some sort of robot?

She looked around. Amidst the debris of the school and the dome all she could find to grab a branch that was near her foot. It must have been a piece of the vine that covered the dome, she thought. Holding the cat with her left arm, she raised the branch towards the monster.

Really now, what can I do with this stick? This is ridiculous. But I don’t care! I’m not giving up!

The branch started glowing as soon as she had that thought. Soon the light engulfed her, and she felt as if time suddenly stood still.
And then Ren was eaten by the giant robot and everyone in the dome died, the end.

Haha no.

Are you ready for poo poo to get loving anime?

quote:

She was floating. She felt she was naked, but her body was immersed in the same glow and her skin itself felt as if made of light. A sudden wind came from beneath her, and her hair was sent flying up. It grew longer, longer, until finally, and with a flash, it changed its colour to a golden blonde, working itself into a long braid as the wind stopped and it fell on her back. The light wrapped around her body, and turned itself into a soft silken white short skirted toga. Its edges shone brightly, and the light curled itself into a wavy pattern that finally solidified into a golden thread adorning the edges of the fabric. She raised her hands, and a disc of light materialized just above them. It descended slowly, adjusting itself to the diameter of her body as it moved. The nails of her hands were painted pink, and over her wrists all the way to the elbow, a pair of golden bracers with a pattern of waves appeared, covering the outside of her forearm and wrapped with wide leather straps on the inside. As the disc of light descended, a mask appeared over her face. It was more of an armoured faceplate, of silver colour and with golden relieves. It started from a tiara, and along her cheeks two long narrow strips of metal protected her face, and over her nose was only a very thin strip of pure silver, it all offered little protection and covered almost nothing of her face, other than most of her forehead. The light touched her shoulders, and a shoulder mantle of deep red, almost brown rich velvet with a V neck and fluffy white fur along the edges joined up with her toga, and the same red appeared on a second skirt of lighter fabric that reached her knees. When the light finished at her feet, she was wearing Roman styled sandals with long straps reaching at her knees and golden greaves over her shins, them too with a wavy pattern on them. The sandals had little wings on the side, pure white and of real feathers. When the disc had passed her, it exploded in a million little lights, and they twirled and converged into stripes that launched on her body. From the waist, where they made a leather belt with a double hole buckle and pairs of holes rimmed in gold running along its length, then several more stripes of leather hung from it along its length, weighting down on the skirt. Up on her chest six stripes of metal ran like false ribs over her toga and under her shoulder mantle, assembling like a protective armour. A small rain of sparks fell on her, and as they touched the stripes of the belt they turned into so many tiny silver studs, plust a sparkling jewel at the end of each one, and on the edge of her red skirt into a white lace that ran the length of the skirt with minute regularity. Two pieces of lace broke off from the skirt, and tied themselves into perfect bows around her wrists over the bracers.
What bugs me the most is that she's got winged sandals despite clearly being Sailor Literal Roman God Neptune.

quote:

Words came into her head, and she spoke them without even thinking about their meaning.

“I carry the hopes and dreams of mankind, and that of the Earth who is their mother, hear my name now and despair. I am Nereida Nostrum!”

“Uh… Nostrum?”

“Yes! What came to mind was Nereida Mediterranea, but really now, it’s so long that I went for the Latin name of Mare Nostrum, and…” She suddenly stopped talking when she realized who she was talking to, “c-c-c-cat! A talking cat!!”
See what happens when you don't attribute your dialogue? You end up talking to a god drat cat without even knowing it.

quote:

The cat was looking at her with an obviously bored expression.

“Whatever,” he said nonchalantly, and looked ahead at the monster, “you have done well, Nereida Nostrum, but don’t get careless. You have to learn to use your powers if… Watch out!”
Oh boy, the cat is our Deadpan Jerk Crouching With Snarker Heart Loser rear end Hidden Gold Badass.

quote:

Ran grabbed the black cat and quickly jumped out of the way. She was astonished at her own speed, she had jumped a good five meters high from a standing position with little effort.

“Wow! What a jump!”

“Stay sharp!” The cat chided her, “for now think of the feeling when you were holding that branch, it will call forth your powers when you need them.”

“Sounds easy!”

“Concentrate! The feeling!”

Yikes!

“Yes, yes black cat-sama!”
I'm not cutting anything out. They just decided to only write one side of the fight scene for a bit.

quote:

She was still in the air when the monster turned and, with a sweep of its arm, threw a series of energy shots at Ran.

I can’t dodge! Oh no, what do I do! What… No, no, concentrate… Concentrate… Don’t give up!

Her left bracer started glowing, and when she saw it she quickly changed the arm she was holding the cat with, and put the bracer in front of her. With a flash, it transformed into a glowing round shield, with concentric wave patterns and a large bright red jewel in the centre. The energy shots impacted on it and exploded, sending her flying back onto the wall of the school, but otherwise unharmed.

When she landed on her feet, she was only short of breath.

“Nostrum, you have to finish this now. Use the branch!”

“Eh? But black cat-sama…”

“It is your weapon, and the charm of your powers. Use it now! You can do it!”
Anime sounds are my weapon and the charm of my powers.

quote:

She left the cat on the ground and took two steps towards the monster.

Don’t give up, don’t give up. Something will happen, don’t give up!

She suddenly remembered the woman that was fighting the monsters before. She had a branch too, and when she looked that second time it was a spear.

It must have transformed! That’s it!

She raised the branch and thought of her resolve. Never give up. The branch glowed, and started to grow longer, and as it did, Ran turned it on the palm of her hand. One, two, three full circles before grasping it firmly and lowering it, grabbing the end with her left hand and the middle with her right, and pointing at the monster decisively.

“In the name of the Earth, by the spear of Gaia, I will kick your loving rear end!”

=O_O=;;

“Language!” The cat shouted.
gently caress you so much agghhhhhh

quote:

“Shut up and watch, I’m on a roll here!”

She felt absolutely hyper, the power was incredible. Without hesitation, she rushed forward, and as the monster tried to swat her with its arm, she jumped up high and right above its false head. There was definitely something under that glass, controlling the monster. It didn’t matter. She turned mid-air, pointed the spear down, and as the power in her exploded, she descended in a spiral of light, tearing through the flesh of the monster and cleaving it clean in half. She landed on the ground with a loud crash and throwing pieces of concrete all around her.

She felt really proud of herself as she walked out, with half her dress covered in the monster’s blood.
Troper Writing Tip #3: Be sure to make your protagonists overcome all their difficulties through inherent abilities that make them special and unique.

quote:

“Well done, Nostrum.”

“Thank you, black c… What is your name?”

“Hmph, you can simply call me Lord Kitteh.”

“Yay, kitteh!” She rushed and grabbed him, giving him a big hug.

“Oi oi, take it easy girl.”

They were interrupted by a sudden roar not far from where they were. The second monster, missing a leg and looking worse for wear, had suddenly taken flight with some sort of jetpack attached to its back.

“poo poo! We have to stop it or it’s over!” Kitteh shouted.

“What? How? Can I fly? How…”
Oi is back, which means that Lord Kitteh is now voiced by Jason Statham.

Kitteh is another one of those words that makes me angry to have to type out.

quote:

Her answer came when a bolt of lightning suddenly shot from the ground and crashed on the back of the monster. The ensuing explosion was massive, and sent little bloody pieces of the monster all over the city, none of them bigger than a thumb.

Ran kept looking up at the spot where the explosion had happened with a shocked expression.

“Nostrum, heads down.”

“Kitteh?”

“LORD Kitteh dammit! Look.”

The woman had returned, and Ran realized it had been her who had destroyed the monster in such spectacular fashion. She was breathing heavily, both of them were. Ran’s legs felt suddenly wobbly, but even struggling she managed to stay upright.
"Oi ya fuckin oval office it's Lord Kitteh."

quote:

“What are you doing?” The woman asked.

“What? The same as you! I think…”

Ran looked at the woman’s hand, and saw she was holding a branch, exactly like the one Ran herself was holding. She, however, had her eyes fixated on Ran. It was such an intense gaze Ran thought she’d suffocate.

“Why did you have to do this?”

Is she talking to me?

Ran could no longer see the face of the woman. Her legs were giving way, and the world was spinning all around her. She would have fallen down on her face if the woman hadn’t grabbed her.

“I thought I told you… Why did you do this?!”
You were the chosen anime!

quote:

No answer. Ran was unconscious.

“Why did you have to do this…”

Her voice faltered, and she fell down on her knees holding Ran, while two timid tears made their way down her face. She put her arms protectively around Ran, and hugged her tightly, stifling her crying.
And on that baffling note, Chapter 1 ends.

Rating: Trope-horrific :v:

edit:

About Page posted:

Now, dropping the Ham for a moment; this is a NaNoWriMo project that started as a way to have some fun writing an Anime-esque piece without taking it too seriously.
NA NO WRI MO :argh:

Djeser fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Oct 27, 2013

Flesnolk
Apr 11, 2012

Jay O posted:

Can't wait for the lines "Ran is just Ran, isn't she?" and "That is something I can never forgive!" :eng99:

Ran wouldn't die even if you killed her!

(How do tropers do it? I typed that sentence and instantly felt dirty.)

Penny Paper
Dec 31, 2012

Djeser posted:

As far as I know they stole 'waking up to the start of the novel' from Pokemon and Chrono Trigger, which are not novels.

Let's keep going, at least to the end of Chapter 1. There are 81 chapters, so keep that in mind.

81 chapters?! How do these people do it? Even when I was a teenager trying to write a novel, I stopped at 15 chapters (20 if I was really ambitious). Guess I can't write about nothing, even if I'm drafting it. I got this very bad affliction called "Chronic Editors' Syndrome" and "Qualityworkitisosis."

Where am I going with this? Oh, yeah: I couldn't write 81 chapters of crap if I tried because I actually care about what I put down on paper, even when I draft. Godspeed to you, Djeser, for spelunking through the depths of Troper Hell. If you die, I will lay flowers on your grave.

Keromaru5
Dec 28, 2012

Pictured: The Wolf Of Gubbio (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
Yeah, back in high school I had an idea for a Tenchi Muyo/Macross AU crossover fic that never got very far past the idea phase; whereas now I have an 89,000-word original novel currently in the critique phase and about four short stories published through various small outlets. Their output boggles my mind, too.

Cleretic
Feb 3, 2010
Probation
Can't post for 5 days!

Penny Paper posted:

81 chapters?! How do these people do it? Even when I was a teenager trying to write a novel, I stopped at 15 chapters (20 if I was really ambitious). Guess I can't write about nothing, even if I'm drafting it. I got this very bad affliction called "Chronic Editors' Syndrome" and "Qualityworkitisosis."

Where am I going with this? Oh, yeah: I couldn't write 81 chapters of crap if I tried because I actually care about what I put down on paper, even when I draft. Godspeed to you, Djeser, for spelunking through the depths of Troper Hell. If you die, I will lay flowers on your grave.

Kind of the idea for NaNoWriMo is to overcome this. A lot of wannabe writers (including a fuckton of Tropers) have the issue where they can't write much of the novel they want to write, because they keep being picky about it; you'll edit the first page thirty times over, and then never get to the second.

The primary goal for NaNoWriMo is to vomit out the complete first draft, regardless of quality, that you can then edit and fix up later. I don't think that guy got to that second step, though.

Cleretic fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Oct 27, 2013

ArchangeI
Jul 15, 2010

Flesnolk posted:

Ran wouldn't die even if you killed her!

As expected from a description of her position!

Sunsetaware
Jun 2, 2012

ArchangeI posted:

As expected from a description of her position!

But don't think I'm praising you or anything.

Fuego Fish
Dec 5, 2004

By tooth and claw!

Sunsetaware posted:

But don't think I'm praising you or anything.

In other words,

RoeCocoa
Oct 23, 2010

Acqua di Gaia posted:

an arm managed to find its way from underneath the mess of sheets and covers on the bed to silence it, with more tries than she’d have liked to admit. Ran emerged from the warm little nest she had assembled during the night, with her red, almost pinkish hair covering her freckled face.

I drew a picture of Ran based on this description:



Now, I know what you're thinking: don't cartoon characters normally have four digits instead of five? Well, it turns out that animes tend to have the full complement of fingers on each hand. I'm glad I took the time to look that up, though; I wouldn't want my art to suffer due to a lapse in my research.

evocative descriptions posted:

red, almost pinkish hair
Her red hair was a shade darker than Ran’s
it was of a dark pinkish red
red knee-length skirt
red ribbon choker
The skin was a bright metallic red
large red jewel
mantle of deep red, almost brown
bright red jewel

Really now, it's too bad the English language doesn't have different words for different shades of red.

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?

RoeCocoa posted:



Really now, it's too bad the English language doesn't have different words for different shades of red.

George Orwell once said that if something could be described with a single word, do it, even if there are more flowery synonyms.

That exchange might have just proved him wrong.

Antivehicular
Dec 30, 2011


I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving And something has got to give

Djeser posted:

As far as I know they stole 'waking up to the start of the novel' from Pokemon and Chrono Trigger, which are not novels.

My guess is they stole it from other magical-girl media; I know Sailor Moon makes a big deal about getting ready for/being late for school, and I believe it's enough of a trope in similar magical-girl or slice-of-life school anime that there's probably a TVTropes page for it. Give me a second to check --

Yep! (Note that even the TVT page mentions how fuckin' overused and tired this is, but no trope is too feeble to shoehorn into Troperfic.)

Overall, I'm kind of impressed how generic this is even by the standards of troper fiction. The "post-apoc" veneer is especially weak; I know it's pretty standard in nerd media to dilute post-apocalyptic themes to homeopathic strength (to get the perceived grittiness/coolness without having to provide any meaningful content), but aside from the anemic dialogue about the filtered sunlight, nothing in this story couldn't take place in modern urban/suburban Japan. If you can't be bothered to not make your story read like Azumanga Daioh, don't write post-apoc!

RoeCocoa
Oct 23, 2010

Arcsquad12 posted:

George Orwell once said that if something could be described with a single word, do it, even if there are more flowery synonyms.

That exchange might have just proved him wrong.

Except the writer is using a bunch of imprecise words instead of a single precise one. There's nothing flowery about calling maroon, maroon, or carmine, carmine. "Dark pinkish red"-- what the hell even is that?

Razorwired
Dec 7, 2008

It's about to start!

Keromaru5 posted:

Yeah, back in high school I had an idea for a Tenchi Muyo/Macross AU crossover fic that never got very far past the idea phase; whereas now I have an 89,000-word original novel currently in the critique phase and about four short stories published through various small outlets. Their output boggles my mind, too.

Don't be. If Troper wordcount is tricking you into respecting them remember that MCAC straight up copied and pasted "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" in order to make a Nanowrimo deadline. Troper output is just vomiting out fight scenes and descriptions of gags and hoping a narrative coalesces.

Antivehicular
Dec 30, 2011


I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving And something has got to give

Razorwired posted:

Don't be. If Troper wordcount is tricking you into respecting them remember that MCAC straight up copied and pasted "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" in order to make a Nanowrimo deadline. Troper output is just vomiting out fight scenes and descriptions of gags and hoping a narrative coalesces.

I'll also guarantee that most Troper NaNos end abruptly just after the 50k-word mark, since that means they've "won," and who cares about actually ending the thing properly? (I don't remember whether MCAC did this, or whether it just non-ended because there was nothing really there to wrap up.) Not only are they cheating to make wordcount, they're giving up on their "novels" as soon as they've made that minimum wordcount, so it's not like they're using a newfound ability to put words on the page to really finish a story. If it broke 50k, it's done, right?

Flesnolk
Apr 11, 2012
At that point it seems like writing the book isn't the point of the exercise at all, to them, so much as just getting the tacky "won NaNo" badge. NaNo itself seems to have been corrupted that way by a lot of people.

Edit: Do you still win if you hit 50K but aren't done? Or turn out a complete novel that's shy of 50K because that's longer than the story needed to be? Though much less than that wordcount is a pretty short book unless I'm screwing up my page estimates.

Flesnolk fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Oct 27, 2013

Jay O
Oct 9, 2012

being a zombie's not so bad
once you get used to it

ArchangeI posted:

As expected from a description of her position!

Sunsetaware posted:

But don't think I'm praising you or anything.

Fuego Fish posted:

In other words,

Okay, now y'all are just flashin' your anime taint all over the thread. I can see your giant stacks of fansub-folders all the way from here. :colbert:

Antivehicular
Dec 30, 2011


I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving And something has got to give

Flesnolk posted:

Edit: Do you still win if you hit 50K but aren't done? Or turn out a complete novel that's shy of 50K because that's longer than the story needed to be? Though much less than that wordcount is a pretty short book unless I'm screwing up my page estimates.

You win when you hit 50k, no matter what that 50k actually consists of -- a finished story, a half-finished story, five quarter-finished stories in a big wad, or 1000 pasted repetitions of "Froggy Went A'Courtin'." If I recall right, there's just a word-count program on the NaNo site through which you submit your "novel," and if it hits the count, hooray! Take your congratulatory graphics! This is where all the encouragement to fill your novel with random wordy garbage comes from, and in your theoretical situation of someone completing a finished novel(la) at under 50k, I'm pretty sure the official NaNo response would be "pad that poo poo." The absolute focus on quantity over quality is the big reason reason NaNo is so popular among lovely Internet amateur writers, as well as the potential of being able to say you wrote a "novel," even if that "novel" is manifestly unpublishable and unreadable. Since TVTropes people really want to be able to say they're writers/creators more than they want to write or create anything worthwhile, it's unsurprising NaNo is such catnip for them.

Evrart Claire
Jan 11, 2008

Flesnolk posted:

Though much less than that wordcount is a pretty short book unless I'm screwing up my page estimates.

I think like 40k words is when something starts being generally considered a "Novel" instead of a Novella, but even that nears 200 pages in a small paperback format. Heart of Darkness, Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, A Clockwork Orange, A Christmas Carol, The Old Man in the Sea are all well under 50k wordcounts.

Lottery of Babylon
Apr 25, 2012

STRAIGHT TROPIN'

Jay O posted:

Okay, now y'all are just flashin' your anime taint all over the thread. I can see your giant stacks of fansub-folders all the way from here. :colbert:

Excuse me, but a famous academic resource for writers considers this academic information that everyone should have, and you should too.

Not that TVTropes actually does anything with the big list they collected, but hey, that big list sure is big, that means it must be good, right?

Cleretic
Feb 3, 2010
Probation
Can't post for 5 days!
A quick Google search indicates that the NaNo 50k word count is around the length of Slaughterhouse-Five or The Outsiders. Looking at more ubiquitously known novels, the first Harry Potter book clocks in at just shy of 80k, The Hobbit's a few thousand above 100k, and because I was curious, Twilight is 118k.

So 50k is fairly short for a novel, but considering NaNo is intended for beginning writers looking to write their first novel, it's just fine; the process will teach you what you need to know about writing some proper long-form prose, while still being big enough to be considered 'a proper novel'.

The problem is that the people like Tropers that take the challenge don't really understand the process. They don't give a flying gently caress as to the learning process behind the entire exercise, they just want to have written a novel. So they cut corners, they pad, they copy-paste things liberally (I'm wondering how many NaNo pieces, as a percentage, end up using time travel), and generally speaking spend as much of that word count missing the point as absolutely possible. The problem isn't exclusive to Tropers, but they sure as hell exhibit it.

Sunsetaware
Jun 2, 2012

Lottery of Babylon posted:

Excuse me, but a famous academic resource for writers considers this academic information that everyone should have, and you should too.

Not that TVTropes actually does anything with the big list they collected, but hey, that big list sure is big, that means it must be good, right?

It's a conversation help and a valuable dialogue writing resource.

Speaking of lists, the "Psychology Tropes" section has a Myers-Briggs page, because of course it would. And how better to explain one set of useless categorisation than with another?

quote:

Guardians are "social people" who hunger after stability; these desire to be buttresses of society. Their top skill set is in organization or "logistics" as the writer calls it. Typical Guardians might be The Patriarch, Apron Matron, etc. Many Badass Bureaucrats are Guardians, though it is also a profession fit for Artisans, especially when they combine it with being The Scrounger.

Artisans are "physical people" who hunger after freedom, exuberance and wildness. Artisan characters might be a Blood Knight, Glory Seeker, or Passionate Sports Girl, and express themselves with their prowess. Or they might express themselves with their looks or sexuality and be The Fashionista or a Chivalrous Pervert or a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Their top skill is "tactics" or handling themselves for the moment. They think "quickly" while Rationals think "deeply".

Idealists are "spirtitual people" who hunger after "something higher"; they may not even know themselves what their "something higher" is. Idealist characters might be a Knight in Shining Armor, a Good Shepherd, The Heart or The Messiah. If an Idealist is not The Chosen One, he or she will act like it anyway. The Idealist skill set is "diplomatic"; they are good at inspiring people.

Rationals are "mental people" and hunger after knowledge and for skills as something to possess-like a Technician-rather than as something to play with-like a Performer-as in the Artisans' case. A Rational is likely to be a Badass Bookworm, a Guile Hero, or a Gadgeteer Genius. Their top skill is "strategy" or planning. An Artisan knows how to do things and doesn't need to ask why. A Rational knows what to do and why to do it.

I feel like we're approaching a sure-fire method of effective characterisation here. But let's differentiate a bit more within the obviously coolest category, so we can achieve true depth:

Rationals posted:

ENTJs (Fieldmarshals) enjoy making plans and carrying them out. They make really good leaders, but have trouble not being objective and accounting for emotions. They are fact-driven and good at highlighting inefficiencies. Possibly a Corrupt Corporate Executive or Evil Overlord as a villian, or a more person-oriented version of The Chessmaster.
INTJs (Masterminds) are pragmatic and logical, and are not scared to tell someone (or themselves) when they're being stupid. They emphasize efficiency, making them simultaneously loners and excellent leaders. Many Spocks and Byronic Heroes (as well as The Chessmaster, especially in fiction) fall into this category.
ENTPs (Inventors) are clever and analytical, often with quick wits and a quicker tongue. They are very good at thinking outside the box, but (like ENFPs) are easily bored. Frequently a Trickster. A common type among Magnificent Bastards.
INTPs (Architects) are loners with a love of information and a knack for logic and knowledge. This can lead to Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness, but also the opposite, as INTPs are best at describing complex ideas simply. Frequently The Spock, The Professor, an Absent-Minded Professor and sometimes Mad Scientist falls into this category.


Beautiful. And there is even a separate page for "Examples of Myers-Briggs Personalities in Stories", so we can get some well-done examples from literature, oh who am I kidding. Here is a selection:

ENTJ (Fieldmarshal) posted:


Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z
Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2
Lord Voldemort/Tom Marvolo Riddle from Harry Potter
Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars
Byakuya Kuchiki from Bleach
Madara Uchiha from Naruto
The Administrator from Team Fortress 2
Megatron from Transformers
Frieza from Dragon Ball Z
Zagato from Magic Knight Rayearth

INTJ (Mastermind) posted:


England from Axis Powers Hetalia
Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, Orochimaru and Kabuto from Naruto
Spy from Team Fortress 2
Severus Snape from Harry Potter
Auron from Final Fantasy X
Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) from Watchmen
Some incarnations of the Doctor from Doctor Who
Fuu from Magic Knight Rayearth
Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Jayfeather from Warrior Cats
Professor Pericles from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
Starscream from Transformers


Also an INTJ:

quote:

Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment
Which grants him the honour of being in the same category as Twilight Sparkle.

Sunsetaware fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Oct 27, 2013

corn in the bible
Jun 5, 2004

Oh no oh god it's all true!
God drat it, why does everyone on that site seem to think Raskalnikoff is this attractive genius? The whole point of the book is that he's really just a coward and an rear end in a top hat, and he's only sort of redeemed because he's too afraid to kill himself.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous

crowfeathers posted:

The whole point of the book is that he's really just a coward and an rear end in a top hat, and he's only sort of redeemed because he's too afraid to kill himself.

Have you actually read the book?

Keromaru5
Dec 28, 2012

Pictured: The Wolf Of Gubbio (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund

Razorwired posted:

Don't be. If Troper wordcount is tricking you into respecting them remember that MCAC straight up copied and pasted "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" in order to make a Nanowrimo deadline. Troper output is just vomiting out fight scenes and descriptions of gags and hoping a narrative coalesces.
Hey, I didn't say I respected it!

I'm just... astonished. Does this fic even have a conclusion? Does the author ever plan on going back and revising? Whenever I did NaNo, I was always glad about two things: one, that I could eventually go back and edit if I ever saw potential in it; and two, nobody ever actually had to read it until then.

corn in the bible
Jun 5, 2004

Oh no oh god it's all true!
I'll happily admit it's been a while, so if I got it wrong then I was probably mixed up with some other book. That's embarrassing!



To make it up to you all, have some bits from a Troper RP that's going on right now:

quote:

Chun-Li was thinking of continuing to fire more Kikokens when the black miasma caused Chun-Li to stumble onto the ground. Fighting an opponent was easy, but fighting sickness was hard.

quote:

Fluttershy braced herself for the strike - *CLANG!*

The halberd struck. The shield was undamaged, but the pegasus visibly flinched from the hit. It was evident it would take a lot more hits for the shield to break.

quote:

Leo had intended to smirk only internally, but a physical one crept on his face as well as Ed kicked up a fuss. Again, he found a quirk like this almost cartoonishly amusing.

quote:

Shotaro passed out from the drained Life Energy from the previous two encounters. When he woke up, he saw the bird in front of him. It talked.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!?" Shotaro got up and freaked out.

Every time they roleplay their character doing something "cool" or "awesome" they also post the appropriate videogame music that would serve as the soundtrack to it.

Random Stranger
Nov 27, 2009



Cleretic posted:

The problem is that the people like Tropers that take the challenge don't really understand the process. They don't give a flying gently caress as to the learning process behind the entire exercise, they just want to have written a novel. So they cut corners, they pad, they copy-paste things liberally (I'm wondering how many NaNo pieces, as a percentage, end up using time travel), and generally speaking spend as much of that word count missing the point as absolutely possible. The problem isn't exclusive to Tropers, but they sure as hell exhibit it.

I actually think that this is a fundamental problem with NaNoWriMo. As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I think it teaches the wrong lessons.

I did a NaNoWriMo novel a few years ago and, as you would expect, it was completely loving awful. I mean dire. I told myself as I was doing it that I was building habits but at the end of the month I turned around and looked at what I had accomplished and realized it was a complete waste of time for me. NaNoWriMo didn't help me become a better writer, it told me to vomit words on the page.

I can understand why tropers are so attracted to it, though. It rewards quantity over thought. There's an encourages of a reliance of cliches tropes out of necessity. Quality of language and storytelling is run down by the requirement to move from plot point to plot point. And there's no one, not even themselves, to tell them that what they're writing stinks.

I have to say, however, that I think there are some people that NaNoWriMo can help, but they've got to have some sense of introspection about it.

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Antivehicular
Dec 30, 2011


I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving And something has got to give

Yeah, I don't think NaNo is worthless, but I think if you want to get anything out of it you have to be willing to focus on a potentially good story from the beginning (instead of "what can I write all these drat words about") and be willing to treat what you produce as an extremely rough draft. If your big struggle in writing is just getting words on a page, NaNo can be a decent motivator, but so many of the people who do it treat the final wordcount as the meaningful goal, not "write something that can eventually become something of value."

In this context, well, we're talking about Tropers -- have those guys ever edited anything they write? I can't imagine Mayor Tom going over the Siege of Dryerball with a fine-toothed comb to tighten up the prose. Well, okay, actually I can imagine him lovingly rereading his own work, but not for the purposes of editing.

Anyway:

quote:

Chun-Li was thinking of continuing to fire more Kikokens when the black miasma caused Chun-Li to stumble onto the ground. Fighting an opponent was easy, but fighting sickness was hard.

I can only picture this as some sort of PSA, honestly. Lights up on Chun Li, looking serious and dignified, seated in an airy and flower-arrangement-filled living room. "Hi, I'm Chun Li." Subtitle: CHUN LI (Street Fighter, Street Fighter II) "Fighting opponents is easy for me, but when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I learned that fighting sickness was hard. I'm here to talk to you today about breast cancer awareness and what you can do to help in your community..."

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