The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => The Party Room => Ask Me => Topic started by: Serris on September 08, 2009, 06:51:06 PM
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Since half of my ask me thread were questions related to the Darwin's Soldiers universe, I thought to let that thread be dedicated to other questions and create this thread for the sole purpose of answering questions relating to my two works.
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Summaries
Darwin's Soldiers
First RP
Terrorists invade Pelvanida, a subterranean government research facility in the deserts of Nevada. They are thwarted by the unlikely team of scientists, security guards, and the animal experiments.
Second RP
The heroes have stumbled upon a secret and illegal series of experiments and they invade Pelvanida to stop them. Along the way, they have to face the experiments, the guards and the scientists who will go to any length to protect the secrecy of their experiments.
Twilight Valley
The real Stone of Cold Fire lands in the Great Valley. Unfortunately, Claw Valley desires the stone and they will go to any lengths to get the stone and wipe out the Great Valley dinosaurs, igniting a brutal war.
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Both works are fairly well developed and somewhat popular but I am sure that people will have questions about them. I am here to answer those questions. Without further ado, ask away! :wave :D
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How's the RP on furtopia going? What's happening in that universe?
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Both Furtopia RPs died.
The Reboot focuses mostly on a quartet of Pelvanida guards and it focuses more on rogue scientists and it has some babyfur elements.
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Of the two furtopia RPs, which did you like better? I was following both, but stopped reading the reboot a couple months ago.
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The first.
The babyfur content of the reboot clashed significantly with the tone of the RP. Also, a key signature of the DS RPs is a battle at the AWTR and it wasn't present. Finally, I think too much attention was given to the rogue scientists.
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What inspired Twilight Valley?
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My main inspiration for Twilight Valley was Falcon88's Land Before Time: War of the Worlds. It was one of the first LBT war stories written and I took the idea and ran with it.
I also took some ideas from Out of the Shadows (DarkHououmon), Sharptooth Valley (Brekclub85), A Time of Great Need (Karkovice).
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Will Ducky and Rytho become a couple in "Twilight Valley"?
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I don't want to spoil too much but all I'll say is this: bet on it.
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How often do you use tropes and realize you're using a trope? Does it usually happen by accident, or do you like trying out a new trope you read about on the site?
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Most often it is unintentional. Usually, I only work in tropes that logically make sense.
Here's a list of tropes that Twilight Valley has: TV Tropes article on Twilight Valley (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwilightValley). You're free to edit or critique or do whatever to it (except delete it!).
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What is your opinion on the canonicity of the following:
Card of Ten
Furtopia RP original
Furtopia RP reboot
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Card of Ten - canon
Furtopia Original - noncanon (antimatter universe)
Furtopia Reboot - noncanon
Note that Dr. Bailey from the Furtopia reboot is not exactly the same character from the the second RP. The Furtopia version could kick ass with the best of them and this one... can't.
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How did you come up with the names for your Darwin's Soldiers characters (James, Zachary, Keith Bailey, Yuri Kerzach, etc.)?
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I usually just think hard and dig through my memory banks using names that I have heard before. Surnames are either constructed, modified versions of surnames I have heard or I use this site (http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/KateMonk/).
A fun note is that I know people named James, Keith, Zachary and Johnson.
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What would you think of futuristic rendition of Twilight Valley involving lasers, mechs, guns etc. instead of stone age tech?
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Is chapter 28 already in the works? That "twist" that was mentioned in the "Bump this thread when in a good mood" thread really has my anticipation built up for chapter 28 already :yes.
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I have the mental outline.
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Caustizer: I do not think a futuristic rendition of Twilight Valley will work out too well. A unique feature of Twilight Valley is that the war is very low tech.
However, I do feel that dinosaurs and modern weaponry can mix.
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Just out of curiosity, how's the latest chapter of "Twilight Valley" comin' along?
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Pretty good. I'm nearly done and I will warn you that Ducky does something pretty shocking.
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OMG :o :!! Does it involve Ms. Maia, or is that too much information to give away :p?
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You'll find out it... I will tell you that it has something to do with a twist on Cloud Island...
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Any idea what the third RP should be called?
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I was thinking of "Darwin's Soldiers 3: Unnatural Selection". It fits perfectly with the Darwin theme but it sounds WAY too cheesy.
Another title I was thinking of was simply "Darwin's Soldiers 3: Evolution". Also fits with the Darwin theme AND sounds simply "cooler"
I will give it more thought.
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I thought "Unnatural Selection" Sounds cooler. It hints that it might be slightly funny.
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THAT is the problem, Darwin's Soldiers is mostly a serious high tension RP. That was why there was an issue, with the Furtopia reboot. PM me if you want details.
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Another option is Darwin's Soldiers 3: Disruptive Selection. Look it up on Wikipedia: It's when natural selection weeds out the individuals of a species that are average or "middle", leaving only the two extremes of the spectrum. For the last two RPs, there have been neutral scientists working in Pelvanida. Once James' team finds and attacks Lab 101, there will be no middle ground; every participant is either Dragonstorm or anti-Dragonstorm.
Plus, James' team is being disruptive, and selecting which side wins.
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How's the latest Twilight Valley chapter comin'? I'm just curious, but if I sound like I'm bein' too pushy, just ignore this post :oops.
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Got 2 pages done. The earliest I can have it up is possibly at the end of this week.
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So...not to make a pest out of myself, but how's "Twilight Valley" comin' along :)?
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:lol what was your first reaction when you saw that there was actually a "Twilight" series out?
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TPAM brings up a weird thought: Your opinion on vampires?
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In the future, please direct all non TWV and DS topics to this thread (http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=6159).
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CT: Six pages done. Roughly 50% done with Chapter 29.
RL7: Not surprised.
CT: "Classical" vampires are pretty much unique but more "friendly" ones are interesting too.
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thought anymore about the title to DS3?
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For now, Darwin's Soldiers III: Disruptive Selection works.
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How's your latest TWV chapter comin' along :)?
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Unfortunately, not as good as I would like.
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Redundant question, but how is TWV comin' along?
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My main writing computer crashed so expect delays. As for what was lost, about 2 pages. I will try to recover those 2 pages and work on them from my back up computer.
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In LBT: Future Wars I have already imagined up how an expansion to the game might look - called LBT: FW Invasion where the alien Dirge show up on planet Earth to complete the extinction of the dinosaurs that they failed to do hundreds of years ago with their virus and VDF & Claw have to fend them off.
Here are a few ideas I'm tossing around, can you tell me what you think of them?
(A) New Faction: The Dirge
An ancient and bitter race, the Dirge as a people have all but destroyed themselves in a quest for physical and mental perfection. The few that remain are dedicated scientists specializing in biological experimentation and genome splicing. A division of the Dirge is responsible for the shrinking of the dinosaurs, in preparation of using the planet Earth to be the testing ground for their newest creation which is the earliest humans. Thanks to Achilles unlocking the code on the Stone of Cold Fire, the part machine-part fast-biter was able to signal their ships and summon them to end the Claw-VDF conflict for his own ends.
The Dirge specialize in deadly poisons and biological experimentation that produces monstrous troops, vehicles, and aircraft of all shapes and sizes. Their mastery of creation is unsurpassed, as demonstrated in their weapons.
Dirge Weapons list to come soon...
(B) New and Deadly Weapons for Claw and the VDF:
VDF Railsnipers
- previously only dedicated to non-combat roles as medics and attendants swimmers have now taken to the field in a combination of power armour and revolutionary new Railguns that they can use to pick off enemy targets from great distance. As a division of the Navy, Railsnipers can also swim unlike most other VDF forces. The first of the Railsnipers was Ducky, who volunteered for the role following a brief tour of duty in the Cardiocopter (a prototype that was never produced and unsuccessful)
VDF Ramjet
- VDF high command noted how vulnerable their air forces were to attacks from the menacing Claw Screamers, and following the end of the Twilight War the military authorized the construction of these rapid response air-superiority jet fighters
- Piloted uniquely by fast-runners who recieved the option of entering the airforce because of how many of their kin suffered and died during the Twilight War - far more then any other race in the VDF
VDF Mobile Drawler Device (MoDD)
- following the end of the Twilight War the VDF council was notably less restrictive on the types of weapons the military could use thanks to the brutality and horror of many Claw weapons that proved to outmatch their forces (most notably Omega Spheres and Reborn sharpteeth) and hence authorized the re-use of many long banned weapons including the Drawler Tech (or Atmospheric Destablization)
- piloted by longnecks due to its highly experimental nature, and fires massive balls of lightning at it's targets that burn through anything and everything in their path
Claw Reborn
- ressurected Claw Infantry now fully buildable and sustainable
Claw Rage Generator
- a powerful device that can incite large groups of units into insane bouts of rage doubling their firing rate. An unfortunate side effect is that the targeted units will kill everything in sight - even their own allies! Use this device wisely!
© Capital Ships
Both the VDF and Claw have new massive ships they can construct in the late game as a method of slaugtering their enemies from the air:
VDF Deliverator
- equipped with a powerful Drawler projector and an additional weapon slot that can be upgraded to either a Punisher Cannon, a Skystrike missile Battery, or a Self Repair Device
Claw Basilisk
- replaces the Omega Sphere
- artillery ship that shoots incidious new weapons called 'Soul Nukes' at long range
- for every unit the Basilisk kills it gains Soul Charge which can be expended to create one large and devestating blast.
(D) New Heroes and Hero Mechanics
- One hero may be chosen at the start, and an additional hero may be chosen when you build a Black Tech Lab/ Battle Centre
VDF:
Railsniper Ducky
Sonic Ruby
Cera's Punisher Tank - requires T2
Littlefoot's Brontodon - requires T3
Petrie's Deliverator - requires T3
Claw:
Infiltrator Ozzy
Aconite's Calculator
Hellebore's Reductor - requires T2 (a mobile device that stealths anyone near it)
Procella's Basilisk - requires T3 (a soulful weapon for a soulless torturer)
Red-Eye's Tyrannotron - requires T3
(E) New Special Weapons Structures that grant Support Powers that consume part of their energy when used
VDF:
Atmospheric Destablizer
- Create Vortex
- Great Circle Nova
- Turbulance
Claw:
Caustic Synthesizer
- Launch Caustic Missile
- Chemical Purging
- Melt Ore
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Tell me what you think and let me know if you have any questions.
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I like this expansion a lot. It reminds me of Firestorm from the Tiberian series.
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Are you going to turn all three RP's into novels? And how many changes do you think you'll have to make to the storyline?
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I will try but I want to see what happens with the first novel.
I will try to keep it as close to the original as possible but I feel that I will need to make some changes to the storyline.
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How is TWV comin' along :)?
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On Chapter 34 - Yellowbellies get involved in the war...
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What do you mean when you say the ending of DS2 was very close to Rocks Fall Everyone Dies?
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Well, Pelvanida got bombed into oblivion so anyone inside there died.
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Oh, is that what you meant. I thought you meant you were planning on killing off the main cast. :) I like your interpretation better.
Did you think Darwin's Soldiers was going to get this big when you started it? Were you ever planning on more than just one RP?
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Hell no!
I was actually expecting it to end like the Furtopia RPs - no closure!
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Why did you choose the name Fool's Gold for your Kerzach-centric story?
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The name was originally random and I could not think of another name.
However, with the conclusion of the story, there is another reason:
Pyrite is often mistaken for gold by amateur mineral hunters. Likewise, Dr. Kerzach mistakes one of the trucks leaving Rara Terra's refinery complex for one of the lanthanide haulers. Like the rockhound who goes through so much work only to find out that the "gold" they found is not gold at all, Dr. Kerzach goes through a lot of work only to find out that the lanthanide hauler was not even carrying any lanthanides.
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Why did you decide to revamp the old Twilight Valley chapters?
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I felt that my writing style has significantly changed for the better.
Also, I need to get rid of that "artifact age" that implied that the Gang is the same age in the story as in the movies.
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Now that I've rated them, how would you rate all of the Darwin's Soldiers stories?
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Now that I've rated them, how would you rate all of the Darwin's Soldiers stories?
(Rated out of ten)
Furtopia (Original) - 6/10- The strong point was definitely the characters and their interactions. My favorite character had to be the nearly sociopathic SSgt. Garrelli but every character was quite interesting. This lost points because it was never completed, the plot was too straightforward and Dragore (the character) was sort of annoying. The RP also got hit with an obnoxious godmoder who essentially ruined the flow of the RP and receieved a serious reaming both in public and via PM. The worst issue was several posts that showed the interaction between Garelli, Eclipse, 008 and Dragore (the character) were lost because they were done via I'M between Alsek (plays Garelli) and Dragore (the RPer) and they refused to post the results of even send to me. This caused some severe continuity issues.
Futopia (Reboot) - 2/10 - Again there were some very cool characters but most of them dropped out at or before the halfway point. Examples: X-3125 (profile was written like an actual lab report), Dr. Leroy Kinsley (desperate scientist who experimented on himself and almost died but gained severe dementia and general insanity but also pyrokinetic and cryokinetic powers, which are inconsistent in strength and are always triggered by movement of his limbs <he cannot move any limb without using his powers and he cannot turn his powers off>), Remnant (Wolf cyber-experiment made of liquid metal who can turn his body into various weapons by scanning weapons or by using specialized UMD discs). But despite the cool characters, I hated this RP for a lot of reasons. For starters, Dragore (the character) was even more annoying than the last RP. The biggest reason was Lupis (another Furdragon child experiment). Not only was he annoying as hell, Dragore (the player) decided to put a diaper on him thanks to an in-character sarcastic comment made by one of the guards I played. As a result, there are a lot of posts that deal with changing Lupis's diapers. There also a lot of childish interactions between Dragore (the character) and Lupis. I disliked the above two points because they detracted from the RP's dark, high test atmosphere. In a nutshell, babyfur and dark RP do not mix. Furthermore, my scientist character fell into the background and a group of Pelvanida guards took the spotlight. Also, the terrorists were barely mentioned and the focus seemed to shift very dramatically to the rogue scientists. Finally, I feel that Dragore (the player) more or less hijacked the plot. And it was never completed.
Darwin's Soldiers - 9/10 - What can I say? The plotline stayed coherent but with enough twists to keep from going stale. The descriptions were very, very good as well. The atmosphere was good too: dark with a high tension undertone. I will admit that the characters were a lot less "cool" than the ones in the Furtopia RPs.
Card of Ten - 7/10 - Well, it was nice to see something that was so important in the first RP get a full story. The plot was very unique too. I liked the twist at the end too. I liked how you did. The characters, making sure that each get a moment in the spotlight and how well you kept them in character. Some problems were that the time travel was a bit of mind screw and the plot was a little confusing. The biggest problem was that the story was not really in the same vein as the other stories.
Schroedinger's Prisoners - 10/10 - I loved this story. Dark, thrilling and nicely paced. I especially liked the subtle hint to the first RP and the backstory of Shelton.
Darwin's Soldiers II - 9/10 - I liked this one a lot. More of a "run 'n gun" RP that was a touch darker than the others. I liked the addition of the new characters. The car chase was cool too. The main flaw was that Sgt. Clyco left a lot of plot holes unanswered.
Pavlov's Checkmate - 6/10 - This really caused a bunch of continuity errors. I do like the idea of a Pelvanida guard going rogue. The plot was good too and it revealed a lot more about the characters. The worst part was the time travel aspect; it was really confusing.
Nietzsche's Soldiers - 8/10 - I really liked how you linked an element of Shelton's past to the current situation. I feel that it fell kinda flat towards the end, though.
Fools Gold - 9/10 - I liked this one a lot. High test thrills throughout. Nice pace through out with a major speed up towards the end. I have to admit, there were some touching moments that I think were done pretty well. My only complaint is that Steven Irving was not as fleshed out as I wanted him to be.
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I'm just curious. What do do you think of my character in Darwin's Soldiers, Subject 19? I mean, do you think she's gone well so far as a character in general?
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I'm just curious. What do do you think of my character in Darwin's Soldiers, Subject 19? I mean, do you think she's gone well so far as a character in general?
I like her. She is creepy but cool and the relationships between her and all your characters is really neat too.
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It doesn't sound as if you liked the Dragore character either. What were your reasons?
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As I believe you like military like stuff, so I do wonder, in Darwin's Soldiers, what do you think of my portrayal of the military in general in it?
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It doesn't sound as if you liked the Dragore character either. What were your reasons?
Unfortunately, the player Dragore also irked me. After I got sidetracked due to real life concerns, my PM box was filled with messages imploring me to get back to the RP. That did not make me think highly of him. Not to mention he really pissed me off in the reboot because, as I said, he hijacked the plot but I did not want to be mean and ream him in public or in a private message.
As for the character, I just found his speech and behavior really irritating. I think his angst crossed straight into wangst. Not to mention, he gains almost ludicrous levels of power (telekinesis, superhuman agility, powerful healing factor AND Wolverine-esque arm blades)
As I believe you like military like stuff, so I do wonder, in Darwin's Soldiers, what do you think of my portrayal of the military in general in it?
I do like military related stuff.
As for the the portrayal in Darwin's Soldiers, pretty good. I have seen better but this is fairly solid and realistic given the science fiction setting.
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How am I doing on the Darwin's Soldiers Wiki? Is there anything you think I should add/focus on? Also, do you think you'll be making many edits to help out?
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I will try my best and you are doing a great job on it!
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I don't know if this has been asked already but, are Littlefoot, Cera, Ali, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Blue-Scale, Raptix or Deimos going to be any of the deaths in Twilight Valley? Cause after Rime :cry (who I was hoping would live), I hope no more main characters get killed.
Also, how many chapters are you planning on putting in the story, sixty like Out of the Shadows or more?
I also have a feeling every character from the series is going to be in this too.
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I have no idea how long it will be but I will not tell anything more about character deaths.
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I was wondering if you thought anymore about the plot device I sent you via PM. Story-wise, it would give a reason why we've kept Kerzach in Dragonstorm this entire time, since he hasn't really done anything this whole RP.
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I will use it. Dr. Zenarchis does not have it with him at this point.
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Are you planning on writing any more Darwin's Soldiers stories?
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Maybe.
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if you do, I'll be glad to participate. will Dragonstorm be destroyed completely at the end of this story?
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Who would consider the main characters of Fool's Gold? I ask mainly for this page (http://darwinssoldiers.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Characters_of_stories) of the wiki.
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Nick: Dragonstorm will be finally destroyed by the end of the third RP. As much as I like Darwin's Soldiers, it is not something that can continue infinitely so the 3rd RP is likely the end.
LB&T: Paul Gamay and Dr. Kerzach are the main characters of Fool's Gold
Also, I may do a Sharon-centric story set after the first RP. It will be less "actiony" than Fool's Gold and it will probably involve her completely crippling a Dragonstorm computer backup base.
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thats a reasonable conclusion Serris.
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Also, I may do a Sharon-centric story set after the first RP. It will be less "actiony" than Fool's Gold and it will probably involve her completely crippling a Dragonstorm computer backup base.
Ooh, that would be awesome! Kind of like how Nietzsche's Soldiers 2 was written partially to explain where Siberys was during the 2nd RP.
I would totally read a Sharon-centric story, you should write it :yes
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Also, I may do a Sharon-centric story set after the first RP. It will be less "actiony" than Fool's Gold and it will probably involve her completely crippling a Dragonstorm computer backup base.
Any news on a possible story? Do you think you'll have time to write one?
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Were there any significant aspects of Twilight Valley that you planned on writing and keeping, but after implimenting it, you decided on a different idea before posting? A behind the scenes question, this is. I'm just wondering if any major plot points were originally something entirely different but went through another draft or other drafts before the final idea came about.
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Were there any significant aspects of Twilight Valley that you planned on writing and keeping, but after implimenting it, you decided on a different idea before posting? A behind the scenes question, this is. I'm just wondering if any major plot points were originally something entirely different but went through another draft or other drafts before the final idea came about.
I had planned for a duel between Deimos and Phobos (his brother) to take place in a volcano some time near the end with both of them significantly enhanced from the Stone of Cold Fire.
That was scrapped because I felt it was too cliched.
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LB&T:
My writing drive has severely diminished. So I don't know about when this story will arrive.
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Do you plan to ever finish Twilight Valley or have your interests shifted away from it?
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Do you plan to ever finish Twilight Valley or have your interests shifted away from it?
I really, really want to finish it but I need to wake up my writing powers so I am writing a short piece to do so.
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Are there any parodies in Twilight Valley, like scenes tweaked from other works to fit your story but also remind people of other ones?
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Are there any parodies in Twilight Valley, like scenes tweaked from other works to fit your story but also remind people of other ones?
There are no parodies but there are a lot of references to other media that are detailed in the author's notes.
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Last time I'll ask, promise: Do you think you'll write that Sharon-centric story you mentioned (or a different Darwin's Soldiers story in the future)?
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My writing has been "broken" and I am trying to restore it so it may be a while...
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did you ever wrirte that second chapter of the fanfic where you borrowed some of my characters?
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did you ever wrirte that second chapter of the fanfic where you borrowed some of my characters?
No. It was a one-shot and it'll probably stay that way.
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How is that Sharon story going? I want to read it!
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So is Chasing Seconds canon, or is it alternate universe?
If alternate universe, I must note that I will be withdrawing all my past and future stories, video games, and other projects from the Darwin's Soldiers canon and incorporating them into the Chasing Seconds canon instead.
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So is Chasing Seconds canon, or is it alternate universe?
If alternate universe, I must note that I will be withdrawing all my past and future stories, video games, and other projects from the Darwin's Soldiers canon and incorporating them into the Chasing Seconds canon instead.
I have reread the stories and read your timeline.
My proclamation is that Chasing Seconds is canon!