The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => The Party Room => Ask Me => Topic started by: Caustizer on September 03, 2009, 04:33:45 PM
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This is a neat page and it really helps to get to know people.
If there is something about me you wish to know about me then shoot (no pun intended) :lol
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What got you interested in Twilight Valley. Sorry, standard question to all who have read it.
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What inspired you to join the Darwin's Soldiers RP?
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Serris:
What got me interested in Twilight Valley was that I am, as you can tell, very into war games and more specifically Command and Conquer. I first started viewing people's stories because I noticed that nobody was reviewing mine, and I figured that I had to earn that by contributing to other people's works. As an aspiring writer I would want praise yes, but I would also want critizism to know where I can improve. Born from that was the idea of Question, Comment and Qualm where I can give an even approach to reviewing without being too biased either way.
That and I had a spurt of inspiration around chapter 5 where I noticed how similar Claw Valley was to NOD in Tiberium Wars... so from that point on I started imagining what weapons and ideals the two sides would have if it was a Future Wars setting and well... if something inspires me I stick to it. :lol
LettuceBacon&Tomato
Like I said above I'm very interested in the futuristic war genre and Darwin's Soldiers made a good representation of a setting where science was in control but also allowed for the chance to make your own adventure outside the main storyline. I haven't really done online RPs, so it was something I wanted to try for fun. That and I'm also bored as hell here with nothing to do... so it's nice to have something to come onto the internet for.
Caustizer.
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Did you finish reading my DS story, Card of Ten, after your first critique? (which was very useful, BTW, you'll see my latest story does have an RP recap, thanks to you :!) If so, what did you think?
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I haven't started reading Card of Ten yet... now that i have done Sharptooth Valley II it looks like I'll have to read that one next.
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I haven't really done online RPs, so it was something I wanted to try for fun.
Wow, same with me! Darwin's Soldiers is the first and only online RP I've ever done too! If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask, I went through the learning phase, and still remember what it was like :)
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Are you going to continue with the RP?
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Yes. Although I'm going to have to do something about the other two characters before I can really start developing Clyco... a shootout would be nice.
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Who's your favorite character in LBT?
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How did you come up with your character name Frederick Clyco for the Darwin's Soldiers RP?
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Who's your favorite character in LBT?
That would be Ruby... she has many admirable qualities as well as acting as a secondary Littlefoot. Some things I like about her is how she is from the Mysterious Beyond, unlike Chomper who was born in the valley, so she sees things differently then the others do, and how she is smart and knows a lot of things that brings the others to come to her during matters that they might tend to go to an adult for.
How did you come up with your character name Frederick Clyco for the Darwin's Soldiers RP?
It just came to me... sometimes I'll think about things for a while and then the appropriate name will just pop into my head. A ton of characters in my stories are named that way - simply because the name sounds right for the moment.
If his name was Johnny Tweetums or something like that I doubt he would be seen the same way as I intend Clyco to be percieved.
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Do you have any suggestions for Twilight Valley? What do you want changed?
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Do you have any suggestions for Twilight Valley? What do you want changed?
Wow this is a very big question, but I'm glad you asked it.
If I was writing Twilight Valley I would probably proceed like this:
1) Now that Mr. Threehorn is rightfully the General of the Great Valley the first thing he should do is organize their ground forces. Up to this point groups have been sort of "you, you, and you come with me we are going to attack", as well as a few organized patrols. He should maximize the effectiveness of their army by only grouping members of a single species together, preferably close family, in groups of a set number (say 6 or 8). This is a very "Topsyish" idea, but historical examples prove that it can work, just like the Roman Phalanx, who would compose each line of men from a similar homecity to envolk a "bond of brothers" that wouldn't be there if they all came from different places.
2) To this point the war has fought mostly involving Fast-runners, Swimmers, and friendly Fast-biters. While this makes sense from the point of view of they can wield weapons, it also fails to truely take advantage of the Great Valleys strength - namely it's large leaf-eaters. When it comes to close combat I can see Threehorns being the most useful, due to their naturally well armoured form, while fast-runners would be great in a supporting role due to their speed (ie as Cavalry charging the flanks). Again, this touches on Topsy's "Racial Ranks" idea, but it would most certainly prove itself in battle.
3) Excidium hasn't been mentioned in a while, so we not only don't really hate him but we have also nearly forgotten about him. We also haven't heard from his "Special Forces" since two of them were defeated in a sneaking mission into the Valley. If Excidium's "Stalkers" are an important part of his army, they should be taking a more direct role in bringing about the end of the Great Valley. Ms. Maia is an important and well developed villian, but in the big picture of things she is little more then an annoying henchwoman in the greater scheme. It would truely be evil if Excidium chopped up the Stone of Cold Fire, gave a fragment to each of his lieutenants, and had them use it to resserect dead sharpteeth on the battlefield (maybe even have them come back as "Reborn" even better then they were in life).
I hope you don't take these suggestions as criticisms, because the story is really good so far and has remained interesting since I started reading it. Just a few little tweaks here and there, as well as getting the plot ball rolling again and it would turn out awesome!
Caustizer.
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Where did you come up with the names for all the wingtail characters in "Far Away Home"? (Apart from Sky, Star, and Glide, that is.)
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I'm glad you asked that Pangaea!
All of the names are ones that I created on my own, but some of them have a bit of a pun associated with them.
For instance, Eybron's name is pronounced "Eye-brawn" which goes along with all the Optical imagery in the story (The Occular, The Eye of the World, etc.)
Tenebron was actually the name of a dragon in World of Warcraft, so I originally wasn't going to use it (due to it's lack of originality) but it just sounded like a noble name for an elder so I used it for Eybron's father.
Aunt Fliela was difficult to name (pronouned "FLY-la") but her original name, Aunt Fly, didn't sound complex enough for an older figure.
Uncle Sturgeon is based off a guy in my English class, named Hienrich Sturgeon. Ironcially he is getting his education to be a surgeon, so he would be Dr. Sturgeon the Surgeon. I thought it was funny at the time, so I made a note to use his name somewhere in my story.
Cinceel was a name I really fiddled with. I wanted to get the "eel" image in there for an elder that nobody is supposed to like.
The Grand Creator Benzon, and his great-grandson Aizon (who comes in Act III) were both based on the same ending as Tenebron and Eybron, but one that still manages to sound different.
I hope this answers you question. :smile
Caustizer.
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(I wish I had that kind of imagination for coming up with names for characters. :rolleyes)
You mentioned recently that you’re going on a “Geological Excursion”. As someone who is fascinated by geology, I was curious about where you're going and what you will be doing.
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I'm going up to Algonquin Park to study a Syenite Deposit up by Bancroft with my University Minerology class. Its a three day trip that we have to make a report about the area in.
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Man I must be pretty unknown for nobody to want to ask me a question. Okay, here's some info about me that people might find interesting:
- I am a fanatic over Command and Conquer games, and my favourite faction is the Allies for it's technical complexity
- I enjoy writing stories, and find myself coming up for new ideas all the time. Very rarely however do I actually write them into being, but Rise of Storm Tide and Far Away Home are 2 such cases.
- I am currently debating on whether to do a sequal for FAH... but if I did it would be called "Into the Black Sun," and it would nominally feature the children of the gang.
- My current university degree is in Atmospheric Science. I have ambitions to become a Storm Chaser.
- I recieved a medal declaring me a 'Hero of Canada' for saving the life of a hiker in the deep woods
- I spent 6 years of my life in Scouts, and hence tend to prefer more rugged camping trips over cushy ones
- My favourite character in Land Before Time is Ruby, followed closely by Chomper. I like her not because she is pink and speaks funny, but because of what she represents. As a child of the Mysterious Beyond, she views the world differently then the others do and is very close to Chomper... a lot closer then he really lets on.
Bring on the Qs! :DD
Caustizer
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Do you like the Tiberian series?
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Tiberian Sun will always hold a special place in my heart, mainly because it was the first CnC game I ever played. My favourite unit in the game was the Mammoth Mk. II which killed pretty much anything in one shot. I always found myself building one, along with Ghost Stalker for their insta-kill beams.
It wasn't until much later that I learned their weapons were called "railguns", so naturally when I played Tiberium Wars I was ultra excited when GDI got Zone Troopers (an entire unit of pawnage railguns) and Railgun Upgrades on ALL of their tanks. I was completely and entirely impressed with CnC3, even if other people didn't like it for some reason.
Caustizer
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I can’t believe I forgot to ask this earlier: :rolleyes
Did you find anything interesting on your geological field trip to Algonquin?
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We rushed from site to site, often spending no more then an hour or so at each one.
The most interesting thing we found was a solid block of Allenite, which was quite radioactive so we did our best to avoid it.
One particular quarry we visited was a pit over 200 feet deep. It was quite something standing on the edge of that one!
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The most interesting thing we found was a solid block of Allenite, which was quite radioactive so we did our best to avoid it.
Yikes! :blink:
For my next question, I'm going to quote you on a post you made in Sky's "Ask Me" thread: :p
That is such a good picture... now you can see why I was inspired to write Far Away Home based on a single work of art.
What was that work of art that inspired you?
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You're new avatar looks great! Who is it? And what's the story behind him and Star?
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@ Pangaea
The work of art that inspired me to write Far Away Home (apart from Sky's enormous archives) was actually a model figure that somebody painted for Golden Demon (a very presigious model painting competition). It was a figurine of a Dinosaur with a golden gyroscope mounted to his bank. In the center of the gyroscope was an Eye of Eternity, which inspired me to create the concept of the Eye of the World... from there came the Occular and the Sonicron and the prehistoric glass-works that the wingtails are masters of. When I can scan it, I'll post the picture of it in the magazine.
@LBT
I'm glad you asked. My new avatar is a character of Sky's creation named Glide, and he is one of the antagonists in my story Far Away Home. Sky is in love with Glide's sister named Star, but he is very protective of her and doesn't trust Sky in the least. They fight quite frequently over the subject, with Glide usually beating the crap out of him :slap
You should take a look at Far Away Home in the Fanfic thread, and tell me what you think! At the very first post there are some interesting pictures of characters in the story.
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Well, you took a look at my story, so it would be rude of me not to read yours. :) I'll do that!
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What is the story behind Land Before Time: Future Wars?
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To sum it up in a sentance:
"Envious Aliens attempt to wipe out the dinosaurs with a deadly virus, but instead it makes them more intelligent and restricts their size, spawning an uprising of advanced civilization and a deepening of the rift between sharptooth and leaf-eater."
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Claw, being a nation that depends on war (both to conquer and consume the dead, and to reduce the numbers they have to feed through battle casualties), eventually becomes so desperate they attack the three main Havens all at once, sparking the Twilight War, a massive conflict that covers most of ancient Pangaea.
When I get the time, I will write a full story (with your permission of course - some of your OCs might not be portrayed exactly as you imagined them).
First though, I want to get my Claw weapons document done. They have some really nasty stuff that only the most careless and brutal military would ever sanction (like Cold Fire Soul Replicators, to make more troops by producing copies, Death Screamers - giant flying saucers of death, and Caustic Diggers with chemical throwers).
We cannot forget Claw's incideous superweapon, the Doom Hammer.
It's a gaint cannon that creates an instant volcano wherever it hits!
VDF has the Titan Uplink, a similar but less brutal orbiting satelitte that attacks using a barrage of Titanium-rods... and even after rigerous testing and fall-out monitoring VDA counsellors still "banned" it deeming it too heartless of a weapon to consider using against living - but they sure as hell reconsider!
If this would be an actual game, Claw would definately be my favourite faction because their weapons are so delightfully evil! :anger
Caustizer.
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On the Far Away Home Interviews (http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=6946) page, would you prefer that for now only I ask questions of the character who has been already introduced (Gentry) and wait for Theanol to introduce the other interviewees, or do I just ask questions of anyone on the list of guests at any time? (I'm asking this because I was about to ask a question on that thread that relates to Thylo as well as Gentry.)
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You may ask questions that relate to any one of the characters on the list at any time. The reason I don't have any limits on this is because I don't expect that I'll get that many questions anyway so I don't want to force the people who might have a question to wait.
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Okey-doke. :p
Speaking of Thylo, is her name derived from “thyreophoran” (the group of dinosaurs that includes stegosaurs as well as ankylosaurs), or did you get it from somewhere else?
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Actually I completely pulled Thylo out of thin air, really! :wow
This time I believe I just got lucky by the fact it lined up with a good reference dinosaur from that age. What I wanted to do with Gentry and Thylo was to produce two names that were different but sounded very good together.
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^Holy buckets, that IS a stroke of luck! :blink: :lol
Just so I can visualize Thylo more easily (I continually find myself automatically thinking of her as resembling Tippy :rolleyes), can you describe to me what color and size (i.e., same as Spike, smaller, etc.) you envisioned her as being?
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Thylo is dark green, and is actually about the same size as Spike. The most important thing to note is that she talks the way she does not because of childhood but from an actual speech problem. Thylo simply has a brain that works faster then her mouth can speak the words.
She is also quite fearless, which is an attribute unique of the entire gang.
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Can you think of any kinds of dinosaurs that haven't appeared in the Land Before Time series that you would have liked to have seen?
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Wingtails :lol
No really I don't have an extenisive working knowledge of all the different dinosaur types, but I can say that I wish they featured more egg-stealers in the series and movies because I find them to be quite an interesting speices of dinosaur and one that can be cast on either side of the story.
I'm also surprised that apart from Cera and her family (including Tria I suppose) are the only threehorns in the world we have seen so far. Longnecks are uplifted above the other dinosaurs a bit more then they should be, since Littlefoot is the main character though I'm not entirely surprised.
Caustizer.
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What drew you to use Sky's wingtail characters (and wingtails in general) in "Far Away Home"?
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As I was writing Rise of Storm Tide, I started to think about what I wanted for the sequel that was totally untypical for the movies and series and yet did not deviate from the LBT formula too much. Eventually I settled on the idea of going away... a long long way away. Farther then the gang has ever gone before.
I thought... what if Littlefoot didn't feel like he belonged in the Great Valley anymore, and taking the gang with him left to find a far away place where he truely belonged. Eventually this became "Far Away Home" because it implies a place a long way away from where we are now where we believe we would belong.
The idea to use Sky & Star in my story came when I realized that Far Away Home needed an OC, and not just any OC but one that people could relate to as more then a name. Back then too I had no reviewers (apart from you of course) and nobody really read my stories so I was also looking for a way to appeal to others and get more interest in the story as a whole. Apart from both of these things I wanted to find a talented artist who could "bring the story into life" by creating a few pictures for it.
So by asking Sky to use his character I not only had a large bank of art and familiarity with the OC from potential readers, but I knew I was also guarenteed to appeal to at least one other person in the GOF. Sky is an enormously talented artist, so by doing a story for his drawings I was able to solve all three problems I had with Rise of Storm Tide.
Later I found out that Star had a brother named Glide, and so I was forced to change the storyline accordingly part way through Act I. I have been more then satisfied with the result so far. I also coined the name "creators" prior to knowing they were called wingtails, so it now looks horribly out of place in the beginning of the story :lol
By introducing Glide into the story it created the potential for not one, not two, but three seperate villians. Each one has their own brand of mis-deed, but some of them like Glide are just misunderstood while others start as heroes and grow to be a villian as the story carries on (ie Eybron).
Caustizer.
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^ Wow. Interesting. :yes
When you're writing (particularly when you are writing a story), do you ever get stuck at a point where you want to use a particular word, but you can't quite remember what the word is? (That's one of the most frequent and most significant problems I encounter when I'm writing. :rolleyes) If so, what do you usually do when it happens?
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Well let's see... when I get stuck on what word to use it usually ends up being the beginning of a chapter or during one of the less exciting scenes of the story. What I do in this case is to just write something (even if you know it's total garbage) and then continue on until you finish.
Once you come back and proofread the story, certain sentances that made sense to you at first suddenly don't make sense anymore and maybe even the garbage line you thought you wrote turns out to sound pretty good. The key is to just finish first, and then edit once you are done.
Often when I'm writing I'll go on a reverie where I sit there for 20 minutes frantically writing away in an exciting scene only to come back later and find half of it doesn't make sense.
Nobody does perfect work the first time. :angel
Caustizer.
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What are your plans for the near future?
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I plan to finish Far Away Home of course, provided computer problems stop interfereing with my progress :anger
I also am painting an army of minatures for Warhammer 40K that is taking a while to complete, but is vastly rewarding.
Thank you for asking :smile
Caustizer
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What exactly was your inspiration for making the Wingtails skilled in glassworking?
Still, imagine what would happen if paleontologists found their artifacts? Can anyone way "World's Greatest Discovery"? :lol :p
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I wanted to create a Land Before Time story that was completely atypical, intriguing, and at times a little bit scary (similar to the first movie) without resorting to the simple devices like magic and time travel which have no place within the universe.
Far Away Home began very similarly to Future Wars, as a small idea that over the course of weeks gradually grew into a larger and more complex one.
The goal was to leave everything from the first 13 movies completely behind, and explore the realms that existed far outside of the places the gang has visited thus far (after all the prehistoric world was still pretty massive). Moving onto the Wingtails... I came to the conclusion that in order for Sky to characterized the way I wanted him to be he needed a 'tool' that was iconic. It is perfectly feasable for one to say that glass existed in some form back then, but it was entirely another to say that it was 'forged' within a universe of dinosaurs.
The most famous of Wingtail glassworks took generations to make, and they are the Occular, the Cordian, the Sonicron, and the Eye of the World.
My main inspiration for including them came from 2 reasons:
1) The Occular (eyeglass) and the Cordian (glass bell) represent visual and verbal perfection that says something important about Wingtails - they are intelligent, enlightened, a bit showy, and very mindful of their past. The Occular is also extremely useful as a plot device, for numerous reasons from distant sight, polarized vision for catching fish, and focusing light.
2) Destruction. In my story I wanted to give the wingtails something of a weapon that they could feasably use to take on someone like Tyron's sharpteeth without violating the 'no magic' rule. The Sonicron represents the extreme end of sound - sonic resonance. If your voice is just the right pitch, it resonates and cracks the earth causing massive earthshakes. As for the Eye of the World... I haven't got to it yet.
I hope this explains it well enough as I tend to wander a bit. :angel
Caustizer
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2) Destruction. In my story I wanted to give the wingtails something of a weapon that they could feasably use to take on someone like Tyron's sharpteeth without violating the 'no magic' rule. The Sonicron represents the extreme end of sound - sonic resonance. If your voice is just the right pitch, it resonates and cracks the earth causing massive earthshakes. As for the Eye of the World... I haven't got to it yet.
Cool!
Let me guess, the Eye of the World is a focusing lens for turning the sun into a beam of light similar to that of a laser?
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Yes!
But it doesn't work without one key piece - the Occular.
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Gaaaahhh...Caustizer! :anger You realize you just gave away a major spoiler to your own fanfic! :slap :bang If you had to answer Serris's question at all, couldn't you have done it by PM?!
P.S. I'm not really mad, just disappointed that I now know a major part of the plot of Far Away Home waaaaayyy before it's been revealed in the story. :( My suggestion: delete your response before any other FAW readers see it.
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Gaaaahhh...Caustizer! :anger You realize you just gave away a major spoiler to your own fanfic! :slap :bang If you had to answer Serris's question at all, couldn't you have done it by PM?!
P.S. I'm not really mad, just disappointed that I now know a major part of the plot of Far Away Home waaaaayyy before it's been revealed in the story. :( My suggestion: delete your response before any other FAW readers see it.
I think I'll leave it up. There are many, many things that haven't been revealed yet and compared to them the nature of the Eye of the World is not significant. Now if I would have told you that _____ was going to be mauled killed by _____, then that would be a major spoiler!
And besides... who is to say I won't suddenly change it to something else? It is not officially written yet... so who knows :lol
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There are many, many things that haven't been revealed yet and compared to them the nature of the Eye of the World is not significant.
That wasn't the impression I got. It sounded to me like it would be a much more momentous revelation. :blink:
And besides... who is to say I won't suddenly change it to something else? It is not officially written yet... so who knows :lol
Again, my interpretation was that it was already set in stone (and if you weren't conjecturing, please don't change it just to prove me wrong; admittedly, I find the truth about the Eye of the World rather interesting), and your response to Serris's guess sounded pretty affirmative. (You also revealed the bit regarding the Occular; that could count as two spoilers.)
At any rate, to me, a spoiler's a spoiler, and since I prefer to remain blindfolded to upcoming plot developments, I'm going to completely avoid looking at this thread (in case of any more incidents like this) until Far Away Home is finished. I should stress that the sole purpose of this is to keep myself in the dark; I am not intending to spite you or anything by refusing to post questions. To express my sincerity, I'll even ask you a last question before I go:
As someone with an interest in geology, do you know anything about agates? If so, have you ever collected them? :p
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But if you're not viewing this thread anymore, then how will you ever see my answer? :confused
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:rolleyes
One, I was planning to come back one last time to see the answer to my question before I began my abstention. (That's why I'm here and writing this message; I assumed your recent post was a response to my question.)
Two, even if I did not return immediately, I would eventually come back once Far Away Home was finished and spoilers were no longer an issue. Upon doing so, I would simply read the posts that had been made since I was last here, and see the answer to my question.
Three, if you didn't think I was planning to come back to see your answer, then why did you ask me a question? :p
EDIT: Four, whose question thread is this, anyway? :confused
P.S. That was rhetorical.
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What do you think are the key elements to writing a truly immersive story? (Figured I could ask you as one fanfic writer to another ;) :D)
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Pangaea:
I have taken some courses in Geology but my main interest lies in weather and atmopsheric phenomenon. That being said we haven't really got into Agates yet until next year so apart from them being gems formed of biological material I don't really know too much about them.
Littlefoot1616:
When you are writing a story, you have to keep these things in mind:
1) Developing all the characters who are important to the story, expressing their personal feelings and emotions as the tale goes on. In this case where you have a ton of characters, you have to make sure you give every important character in your story a 'moment in the sun' so to speak. Obviously the more forerunning ones like Littlefoot, Sky, Ruby and Chomper will get a larger role in the story but don't forget to acknowledge and develop your background characters.
2) Too many characters is a bad thing - if you have too many characters then typically confusion riens as nobody can remember who each one is. This can get especially binding when you don't describe their race or colour, so your reader is left completely in the dark.
3) Meaningful and Motivated Villians - while at one point they were acceptable, nobody likes Cliche villians anymore and readers will be a lot more interested in your story if you take characterizing your villians seriously. Even perhaps inciting some debate as to who the real villian is generates interest.
For example, compare these two: "Devilron the sharptooth is invading the great valley, and Littlefoot and the Gang has to stop him" to "The sharpteeth of the mysterious beyond are suffering from near starvation, so their leader Devilron expands the hunting grounds into the nearby Great Valley only to be opposed by massive herds who defy natural selection and jeopardize survival of the sharpteeth."
4) Multiple Villians and Anti-heroes can also add to the story, provided they aren't too cliche and predictable. For example, Thudd isn't really a bad guy in my story but he certainly isn't good either.
5) Flowing Conversation - when characters talk to one another you have to repeat the entire converstation in your head and recognize what sounds right and what doesn't. Make sure everyone is in character and that all talk is productive in some way or another, either to plot development or character development.
6) A Well Planned and Intrigueing Plot - nothing grabs a reader more then a mystery, as demonstrated by the success of Sherlock Holmes in the theatre. If you keep secrets and opt to reveal them later in the story,
Caustizer
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Hmm... the answer you gave to Littlefoot1616 helped me a bit. :)
Anyway, how do you come up with names for your characters? Like Thylo, Cinceel, Kepsla and others?
I'm having a hard time to come up with names so maybe you could give me some advice. :idea
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When I come up with new names, normally start with a prefix that I like the sound of and experiment with the endings.
For example,
Let's say I'm creating a new fast-biter character.
I'll start with the prefix Car- ... from there I experiment with endings based on sound.
Carnel - sounds and looks too much like 'caramel' so no
Carwen - sounds to mystical and light so no here too
Carvon - hmm, it includes the sound 'carve' as in carving up a meat loaf, which could produce some interesting imagery. I'll take it.
Coming up with good names can be a bit of a process and sometimes you just got to feel it belongs with the character.
Caustizer.
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That sounds good! Thank you for the advice. :yes
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Bump.
Normally im opposed to this sort of thing, but nobody has asked me a question in months, so i figured I'd bring it to attention.
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Oh, what the heck? I've already broken my promise to avoid this thread (so that I wouldn't be accidentally exposed to any more FAH spoilersóin retrospect, a pretty hair-brained reaction; apparently frustration makes me lose my mind :rolleyes) by looking at it; :oops I might as well ask a question.
It's not much, but how are you doing with the latest chapter of Far Away Home? Have you come up with a solution to the issue you requested reader suggestions on? (If you have, don't tell me what it is.)
P.S. Technically it's been one month, three days since your last question. :p Still a long time, though.
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I know exactly what I'm going to do for the next few chapers, and your ideas really helped. You can look forward to funny moments, interesting interactions between characters, nuclear missiles, and the same quality of writing from me you have come to expect every two weeks or so.
...Okay, maybe not with nuclear missiles :lol
I found it disturbing that there was a 'pattern' in my writing that you mentioned, as predictable entertainment quickly becomes boring. Hopefully you enjoy the change of order. :angel
Caustizer.
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So how is your LBT: Future Wars work going?
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I found it disturbing that there was a 'pattern' in my writing that you mentioned, as predictable entertainment quickly becomes boring.
Whoa, no! It wasn't a bad thing! :blink: I didn't think it was boring at any point; it just kept me guessing. I couldn't tell whether something surprising or dramatic was going to happen or not, so I was in a state of anticipation throughout the whole chapter. And the last part WAS pretty exciting. I didn't feel like there was anything predictable about it! Heck, maybe it was only me who thought there was any sort of pattern. (I wish there were more people reviewing the story, so I would know whether or not anyone thinks and/or notices the same things. :()
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So how is your LBT: Future Wars work going?
The Future Wars project was fueled by a single source.... music.
Most of the units and abilities, as well as personalities, were made as I listened to Frank Klepacki's excellant music, and as such when I found such amazing tracks as 'Machines Collide' and 'It Has Begun' it let to something absolutely amazing in the creation of Future Wars: Invasion.
Currently, I haven't been able to find music of that callibre anywhere so the work has stagnated.
Sure I still come up with things every once in a while, and lately I have been putting together some ideas for new weapons that Claw would use under Theta's rule.
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Here's a simple question:
Like Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Carribean had one bullet saved for a certain someone, if you had a cream pie in your hand, who in the world would you save it for? ;)
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In all honesty, I'd probably eat it.
Cream Pies are delicious.
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I used to launch rockets, and had one of them fail to go ten metres due to an underpowered engine, had one travel over a mile and nearly reach sub-orbit, and had one explode in the sky with the rest of the public school watching - the pilot capsule ejected but due to strong winds was never recovered.
Do you mean rockets as in REAL rockets? :blink: Or just elaborate model rockets?
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Model Rockets.
I still have the blackened and burnt first stage of the rocket that exploded, since it fell down to earth even though the plastic pilot's capsule was carried away by the wind since it's parachute broke loose from the main body.
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That's sort of what I thought, :oops but still, I didn't know model rockets could travel that far. :! About how high is “sub-orbit”, exactly?
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That's sort of what I thought, :oops but still, I didn't know model rockets could travel that far. :! About how high is “sub-orbit”, exactly?
It really depends on how large the booster rocket is and how you calibrate the bottom opening to increase the power. One of the rockets I set off was almost too large to be considered a 'model' :lol
In my mind 'sub-orbit' is anywhere above the troposphere, since the nearest satellite orbits are in the exosphere and you need special clearence for one of that hieght.
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In my mind 'sub-orbit' is anywhere above the troposphere, since the nearest satellite orbits are in the exosphere and you need special clearence for one of that hieght.
So, about how high (in miles, kilometers, feet, or otherwise), do you estimate the rocket went?
(Sorry; I don't know a heck of a lot about atmospheric science, and from what I've read, the depth of the troposphere varies depending on latitude. I like my data to be as specific as possible. :p)
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I'm not going to pretend to be a rocket scientist, but the rocket went high enough into the atmopshere (probably nearly a kilometer) that when it exploded several of the components were never recovered.
The only piece that actually came to earth was the first stage of the rocket. It broke loose when the ejection discharge (an explosive component built into most rocket engines) went off and broke the tether that kept the stages of the rocket together. The force of the explosion due to the rediciously overcharged engine (it was my fault for putting a supercharged and expensive rocket engine into a relatively small vessel) blew it's charge and caused the rocket to disintigrate.
The 'pilot's capsule' where a human might have been held, was never found because the wind carried it so many kilometers away that we gave up searching for it.
Net result - I haven't launched a rocket since. I'm holding the burned and battered first stage of the rocket in my hand right now!
Caustizer.
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Wow. :o
Okay, here’s another question inspired by your recent ”Tell us something about yourself!” post (http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=5052&view=findpost&p=9193019):
World Renowned proffessor Stephen Hawking is currently teaching the class that I am enrolled for next fall at University of Waterloo.
Okay, first off: :wow
Second, does this mean that Stephen Hawking will be one of your professors next fall? :!
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Okay, first off: :wow
Second, does this mean that Stephen Hawking will be one of your professors next fall? :!
Hopefully.
There are a couple of physics profs teaching the same astronomy course, so I may end up with one of them instead. :angel
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Have you had a chance to meet Mr. Hawking in person?
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No. I haven't been back to the University since he flew in this summer. If I'm lucky, I may get the chance to this fall. :smile
Caustizer.
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Could you possibly share with us some of the highlights of your vacation? :angel
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I'm afraid as far as vacations go it wasn't terribly exciting. The problem was we were in a state of 'been there done that' because this was our 3rd or 4th trip out to the area in the past decade.
A guess a couple of highlights of the vacation would be:
1) We missed the Massive Fireworks Festival in Quebec because dad was sure it would rain... turns out it didn't and we as a result missed out.
2) We visited a beached Submarine that had been turned into a museum, but unfortunately the tour schedule meant we had to wait an hour to get on - time we couldn't afford. Another activity missed.
3) We arrived in Shediac for Lobsterfest, and ate lots of seafood. Both me and my dad got sick over the course of four days, effectively ruining half the vacation.
4) We visited Lunenburg, a town in Nova Scotia famous for the Bluenose ship (undefeated in any race) but the place was deserted because of a nearby Regetta in a different town. Lots of space to walk around.
5) I got 12 Guardsmen and a Commissar painted for my Imperial Guard model army... they look really good.
Caustizer.
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Oh…Sorry to hear that your vacation wasn't very good. :(
Are you planning to post pictures of those newly painted figures up with your other(?) Warhammer pieces so we can see how good they look? :)
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Yes very soon.
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I’ve asked this same question of Sky, but since you essentially came up with a new concept of wingtails for Far Away Home, I’m asking you too. :p I'd like to hear your different takes on it.
How large did you imagine wingtails to be? (In comparison to humans, the other LBT dinosaurs, in feet, centimeters, etc.; whatever terms you can come up with.)
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I envision wingtails to be on average about 3-4 feet tall. That would come out to about waist hieght on a human, which would make sense because they are not dinosaurs per-se, but birds.
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Wow, that's about the same size I guessed them to be. :!
Technically, they ARE dinosaurs, because birds are classified as dinosaurs (theropods, specifically), but I get what you mean. :p
What sizes do you see the gang as being?
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Ah... thats a good question and will be addressed in the next chapter.
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Have you ever owned any pets?
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Yep.
My first hampster was named Todd, and I barely remember him. My sister killed him by accident when she threw him in the toybox with the toys.
My second hampster was named Hammy (big surprise) and we had him for years. One day he got sick, and didn't wake up so we buried him next to Todd.
I haven't owned any pets since, though I have thought that it would be cool to have either (A) An Alligator, (B) A Snake, or © A Shark. Obviously the shark would be the least responsibility, yet I am leaning towards getting a snake when i get out of school.
My sister currently has three cats that hang around the house and occassionally bother me, but they aren't my responsibility so I regard them as simply denizens of the house like me.
Caustizer.
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Uh, I’d strongly suggest the snake. An alligator would become very expensive and difficult to house and feed (let alone handle) once it reaches its adult size, and a shark would need a saltwater aquarium that would be a real challenge to maintain (even if it was just a small species of shark like a horn, bamboo, or leopard). I’ve heard that ball pythons make good snake pets. :yes Corn snakes too, I think. (Bigger kinds like Burmese pythons would be a lot harder to feed, and could potentially be dangerous). I think there are also some small boas which are fairly easy to care for and make good pets.
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You have said that your next story will be called Into the Black Sun or Journey into Blacksun (personally I prefer the first title). I’m just wondering: how are you planning to use the word “sun” in a LBT fanfic when the dinosaurs all call the sun “the Bright Circle” or “the Great Circle”?
Also, are you going to ask your question about the upcoming chapters of Far Away Home to Cancerian Tiger and Serris? :p
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The official title was actually 'Into Black Sun' but i thought it was too short, so i changed it to the more LBTish 'Journey Into Blacksun'.
'Black Sun' does not refer to the Great Circle... it refers to a place. That is the only clue I'll give you before I release the synopsis. :)
And yes I do plan to ask Serris and CT, thanks for reminding me.
Caustizer
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Based on a comment you made on my new fanfic, I think you mentioned that you also read my first fanfic, "Quest for the Energy Stones". Did you read it? If so, what were your thoughts on it?
(Oh, and just so you know, I have been reading all of your fanfics. I just can't think of anything to say.)
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Sorry for taking so long, but with the various harddrive malfunctions I've had to deal with I would have had trouble coming on sooner.
Quest For Energy Stones began about a year and a half before I joined the site, and about two years before I became interested in fan fiction. Keeping this in mind I was pages and pages behind, and in a busy world it's tough to make time for that much reading. I won't lie and say I've read the whole thing, but I can say that once I saw you start updating I followed from there and I generally liked what I read.
Bionicle was not something I was ever into to any degree, mainly because I was always more interested in the more classic lego like trains and marinas and lego cities etc. Apart from that though the way the story was told it flowed nicely and was fairly easy to understand from the perspective of an outside reader like myself, but I chose to reserve comment for a couple reasons:
1) I hadn't read the majority of the story, so it wasn't right for me to comment on events I didn't understand
2) Posting in depth reviews of each chapter like what I did for Twilight Valley, Sharptooth Valley, and Journey to the Island would make you expect it to be done for every update, and that was a commitment I could not honor because I was so busy with school work and such.
I plan to follow your newest story because it is a fresh start, and won't require hours of me sifting through back-story to fully understand the plot. :angel
Caustizer
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Are you still following TWV?
And what do you think of the revamped chapters?
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I'm still following Twilight Valley and I have been recently reading the revamped chapters, however my stance on revamping the earlier chapters at the expense of new ones remains the same. When you do that and then expect reviews for the new chapters you just re-did then the storyline is discontinous making it potentially confusing for us. :angel
If it were up to me, i would finish the story before I consider revamping old chapters, but to each his own i suppose.
Caustizer
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Not sure if you got the PM but I recently added a new chapter to TWV. And yes, I do agree that I should finish the story before I revamp chapters.
On a side note, do you like music in the heavy metal, hard rock or industrial genres?
I figured you might because a good amount of Frank Klepacki's music is in this genre.
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Thanks for the question. Musically, I like lots of different types though the better the singer's voice or the main beat sounds the more likely I am to take to it.
Frank Klepacki has a lot of interesting rock/electronica beats, and since many of them were fond memories from Command and Conquer almost all of the stuff he does reminds me of Futuristic Battles.
Heavy Metal and Hard Rock have their place, most notably in Duke Nukem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUCbflBkIgo) though I don't find the prospect of somebody screaming into a microphone appealing most of the time.
I guess all the music I like can be divided into two seperate categories:
(1) Music with an Excellant Singer(s) such as Linkin Park, Our Lady Piece, Celine Dion, Elton John etc.
(2) Invigourating Electronic 'Battle Beats' that remind me of CnC or any other war game.
Caustizer.
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As I understand it, you will be posting multiple chapters in rapid succession for the Far Away Home marathon. My question is, do you plan to write all of those chapters in advance before posting them, or just work overtime, posting each chapter as you finish it and then immediately moving on to the next one? (Personally, I’d rather wait a long time than have you rush yourself.)
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All chapters will be written in advance.
In effect, this means you might be waiting a month or more after the posting of my next chapter (which unfortunately I haven't started yet >_<)
Caustizer.
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How are you feeling today?
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Pretty good.
Thanks for asking. :angel
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I take it you'd like some more questions. :p
How's the other half of the latest Far Away Home chapter coming along?
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I have about a page done. Of course I know what all is going to go in it, but its a matter of coming up with the wherewithal to get it done. Sky has been gone so long I'm starting to worry about him, and a lot of the work I've been putting into Future Wars seems to be coming to naught.
Lately I have been spending a lot of my time working on my Warhammer 40k stuff because of how satisfying it feels to complete a paint job, as well as watching the pros play Starcraft 2 and trying to learn from them.
Above all else too, there is the constant lingering demon of school :!
Caustizer
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What is your inspiration behind Far Away Home?
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One night while writing Rise of Storm Tide, I thought to myself :
"What's something the gang hasn't done yet in their movies..."
And then after some debating on Volcanoes, fires, landslides, tornadoes and so on I eventually settled on the trivial solution... just going far far away to places beyond the horizon. That is really the premise of Far Away Home, searching for a place we will some day reach where we are perfectly happy.
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What do you find most interesting about Ontario?
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Ontario is a very big place with a small area of land taken up by towns and cities and the rest being mostly untamed wilderness.
What I find best about Ontario is that the 'back words' region also known as Muskoka is only 2-2.5 hours away from Toronto so many Canadians have a practise where they go 'up north' for the weekend to their cottages to relax, swim, go boating, or even have cottage parties.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_erP0dLQX940/S7oCVfIoiDI/AAAAAAAAA7k/a_RCt767Tkk/s1600/muskoka+view.jpg)
Ontario has major contrast in the two seasons of Winter and Summer. In the Summer we get hot nice weather and trips to the cottage become very frequent, while in the winter the entire place is covered in snow and snowmobiling and hockey become very popular.
Snowmobiling is where we get together with friends and family on 'sleds' and go cross country through fields, over frozen lakes, and see absolutely amazing scenery. 'Back woods' diners suddenly become bustling joints if they are located on a main snowmobile trail, with dozens of sleds filling the parking lots and curbs.
(http://www.incentive.is/index/assets/Activities/snowmobiles2.jpg)
In the winter everything freezes over, so shinny (aka pickup Hockey games with no equipment) on ponds, lakes, and rivers becomes really common.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2195/2172832498_495153a465.jpg)
Overall I would say the most interesting thing about Ontario has to be the contrast in the seasons and the second-homes we have up north in the wild woods. :angel
Caustizer
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Do you see (or consider there to be) a lot of parallels or similarities between yourself and the character of Glide?
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The best answer to this would probably be yes and no. Perhaps Glide has some elements to him that admire, and he best represents the character I would likely play in the story, but there is an unkindness to him that does not represent me at all. The quality I envy about Glide is his strength of personality and ability to win a fight with just about any other wingtail thanks to his constant training (this is developed in "Into Black Sun").
However, I think his unkindness is a good manifestation of all the 'bad' that there is in the world that LBT really ignores. One of the scenes I really like is in 'Journey Through the Caves' when he starts intimidating Chomper, only to feel bad once the sharptooth starts to cry. In my mind, this is truely the bridge between the childhood innocence portrayed in LBT and the reality of life in that age. Glide (and myself) learn in this part that sometimes it is necessary to bring forth the good things and exclude the bad to make the world a better place.
One thing I REALLY wanted to do but didn't get the chance was for the gang to start singing, and Glide put them down mid-song to bring to light just how stupid of an element in LBT it is. There was even a point where I wanted a 'Real' song done by Gentry and Thylo to prove they had the talent to vibrate the Sonicron, but ultimately that was cut too because songs in text form suck, to put it bluntly.
I think that the most interesting development to come for Glide in the story is when he finally finds a mate (no spoilers!) since his tastes seem to echo mine - the attitude that 'I have more important things to do then chase after girls'.
Caustizer.
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MERRYCHRISTMAS!!!
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I recall you mentioned that you had not yet read my first fanfic, "Quest for the Energy Stones", because by the time you joined GoF, I was already almost done writing it.
When do you think you will get an opportunity to read it?
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The best answer would be whenever I have some time, and my interest is peaked. I have a tendancy to only focus on certain areas online and over time this means that some things get almost entirely abandoned. I've read through about half of your current chapter for the second story, but holiday events thus far have conspired against me. I'll post my review as soon as I feel I my thoughts about the chapter are strong enough to put into words, as posting one now would mean I haven't read half the chapter.
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Whoa, has it really been a month since your last question? :blink: I ought to remedy that… :p
In the early stages of Far Away Home, did you come up with the idea of a dinosaur species more technologically and politically sophisticated than the others driving the plot (and pertinent plot devices such as the Eye of the World) before you had decided/received permission to use the wingtails as that species? Or did you first get the idea to use wingtails in the story, and then devise their society and their influence on the plot?
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At the start I knew I wanted to do a story with Sky. As a character I wanted him to be a dignified 'teacher' that knows a lot about a lot of things, but has a multitude of secrets and personality quirks that mean he can be unlikeable at times.
For instance, in many chapters Sky is heroic and an excellant leader (such as the gas clouds in Misty Valley, rescuing the gang from Tyrus, and protecting Glide from the sharpteeth) but sometimes he does things that the readers don't understand or might consider somewhat mean (like ignoring Ruby, not telling anyone about the sharpteeth in the forest, and trying to ditch the gang in Verdant Valley).
The ideas for the wingtails came after I had decided what I wanted to do with Sky. I figured if Sky was somewhat of a representitive of this race, they would have to be highly intelligent overall and quite dominanting to have a body of elders that could exile him. The idea for 'glass superweapons' came as a completely seperate idea that eventually was combined with the wingtails.
In order to make the story interesting, I wanted to have 2 seperate and approximately equally threatening groups of enemies. Eybron and Tyron are both evil in different ways, and have different methods of inflicting suffering upon the good dinosaurs. To that end, the sharpteeth would simply expand on what they know best - taking over territories and coming up with a way to make their food come to them while Eybron would be fairly tame until suddenly he explodes to the top of the 'most hated' list.
Caustizer.
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Who are your greatest inspirational idols?
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I don't really have any idols per se, simply because I want to be my own person and be guided by my own feelings and instincts. There are a few people though whom I admire, including Steven Hawking and Phil Collins.
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That reminds me, did you ever get the chance to meet Stephen Hawking at your college?
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No he left prior to most of us arriving back at school in the summer. I think he was only there for a conference with our physics proffessors.
:(
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Sorry to hear that. :(
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I just heard the news... looks like Stephen Hawking is coming back to University of Waterloo next September. I might actually get to see him this time!
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I just heard the news... looks like Stephen Hawking is coming back to University of Waterloo next September. I might actually get to see him this time!
That's awesome! Good luck on that!
Did you have any April Fool's pranks played on you this year?
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Nobody would dare pull an April Fools prank on Glide... he'd kick the snot out of them :p
Actually no I didn't surprisingly, but one of our professors tried.
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Here's a question pertaining to Far Away Home:
What made you decide to split the gang up and have the halves become involved in such divergent plots?
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I decided to split the gang up for a few reasons, but the main one was that keeping them together would produce a group of such size that the individual characters would inevitably get very few lines (as in real life, the few dominant personalities would end up speaking for the others).
I guess I can summerize them as follows:
1) Offers more Plot oppertunities as well as exploring more of the world that otherwise would never be seen (like the Feral Forest, the Abyss Lake, etc). It also allows for the two groups to have wildly different interactions both with the main and secondary villians as well as the good guys.
2) Ensures all characters get the 'screen' time they should get, while allowing space for new and interesting characters to be added and developed.
3) Allows for a 'break' from a certain storyline in favour of another.
4) Allows for multiple villians and cases of villiany. For instance, did you notice that there was a big switch in the story where the villian that terrorizes one group gets taken down by the other?
5) Gives you a different impression of the same character from two different groups in some cases (ie with Glide and Star).
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How goes the writing of the next chapter of Far Away Home? (I ask not to imply impatience but to assure you of my continued interest. :))
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Recently I've actually written a small offshoot story for Sky, since he is feeling kind of down these days. Its a non cannon story about Sky and his son, but I don't want to post it until its done because its so short. If you want me to send what I have to you just ask!
The next chapter of Far Away Home is about one third done... my new job is quite physical and leaves me tired when I come home so I don't get in the mood to work on it as often as I used to. I'm glad your still interested, and that you've been patient to allow me to answer this question.
Caustizer :angel
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Hey, Caustizer. :wave Are you still planning to write "Journey Into Blacksun" and/or continue working on "Ruby in the Jungle"? I'm still up for reviewing them if you are.
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Hey, Caustizer. :wave Are you still planning to write "Journey Into Blacksun" and/or continue working on "Ruby in the Jungle"? I'm still up for reviewing them if you are.
Regrettably I will not be finishing the story Ruby in the Jungle. It's been too long since I last wrote any Far Away Home material and it's off my creative radar due to lack of inspiration.
Blacksun, however, is still up in the air. I can say that IF I do choose to write it, it will be shorter then FAW (like around 15 to 20 chapters maximum) and it will involve the gang of seven as adults as well as their kids - which is a type of story that not all LBT fans like.
If I decide to write it, the prologue will be up by Sky's birthday (November 22nd I think) at the latest.
Thank you for your maintained interest in my work Pangaea :angel. If you are so inclined, my latest story is up to 8 chapters and is currently posted on my deviantart page: http://caustizer.deviantart.com/ (http://caustizer.deviantart.com/)
Caustizer.
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Not the most original of questions, but…
How are you doing, buddy? :) It's been a while since I've seen you on the forum.
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Sorry for taking so long to answer, I don't pass through this site as often anymore as I used to.
I'm currently doing some fan fiction work for another artist in the MLP sector, and that's chugging along fairly nicely. Journey into Blacksun has a great beginning and a great ending but I'm at a loss for the inbetween, and without any new LBT material coming out ever I'm finding it difficult to discover the inspiration to keep it moving.
Far Away Home took a long time to write, and I'm not so sure I want to do it again with another equally long story about the same characters.
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Sorry to hear that. :(
Well, feel free to contact me if you'd like help coming up with ideas.