JDolan

What games are you playing lately?

Victoria II, Hearts of Iron 4, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout 4, War Thunder, Kerbal Space Program, and XCom2 with the Long War 2 Mod. All games played on PC, except for Red Dead Redemption.

Foreign Legion [First Contact/Uplift/Military Sci-Fi]

Shoot, Kill, Repeat

The hand on János' shoulder bareyl elicited a response. Already, eyes were down the 4x sight's tiny red chevron lining high on the torso of the lizard-warriors falling out of column into a hasty firing line once the shooting started. He spared only an acknowledging tilt of his head in Kristjana's direction as the Swede settled in off on his left just a few yards down the line. His head was cold, blank except for darting eyes and shifting shoulders as he kept the muzzle downrange. He watched as one of his rounds snapped across the snout of a Salvesh, the 5.56mm round sheering the front teeth teeth out of the creature's mouth. But the warrior seemed utterly unfazed except for the bright blue oozing from his gums. The things seemed to grow teeth with an alarming regularity, as though they were part-shark, whose mouths constantly grew and shed constantly. Provided the creature survived combat, . Where the bullet would have shattered a jaw from the force alone, the roots of Salvesh teeth were weak at the root while strong and serrated throughout, as though naturally engineered to remain in an ancestral prey creature that got away.

Fire shifted lower after a moment, bullets tearing through the center of mass to either side of the creature's sternum. The shots came with a practiced deliberation. János took his time with every target he acquired, though when he shot he did so with rapidity, a double-pull of the semi-automatic trigger sending two rounds down at whatever was in the center of his sights. They missed the tooth-torn Salvesh, who twisted, let out a saurian roar, and threw himself behind whatever cover there was in that synaptic reflex that demanded self-preservation

Fire if you've better than even odds, János had remember as a practical lesson of his combat experiences. Ideally, every bullet would find a target, but if it kept the beasts under cover, and from shooting back, or flinching, their shots going wild... Well, that was almost as good. Continued fire ensured that another of the creatures fell though, bullets riddling through his target's right half, shredding his shoulder and chest. The Salvesh fell, dead or wounded didn't matter to János as he shifted to the next target. And then the one after that too.

Once the brief firefight was over, the call for a medic was anything but unexpected. Nor was what happened fully unexpected. János did his best to ignore Anoi's plight. The doc would take care of him in due time: there wasn't much he or the others could do about a shredded, limp, arm. Looking from Anoi to Park (who merely seemed to have a bad headache and a nasty cut on his face), János couldn't help but think: twice lucky bastard. Park'd lucked out: perhaps the shells had been poorly manufactured, the detonators not going off despite having purchase? That had to be fun for the Salvesh, playing a game of dice about whether your ammunition even worked or not!

Pacing about the bodies with Viktor and the rest of the team, there was a detached efficiency to every step János took among the corpses of the dead, both already and not-yet. Fitting his bayonet to the rifle, he slashed the blade again and again over every body's throat that he came across, alive or dead. Those still living shot up a geyser of fluorescent blue. The dead merely oozed it as János stepped over bodies to C-team's assigned point on at the center of the squad's firing line.

A long swig from the camelback as suddenly, János' throat felt parched once he returned to the bunch. Magazine check - three rounds left: twenty seven rounds had been fashioned down range, cool and orderly. A new mag went in, and the old one went to the back of the line. Taking a knee on the center-left of the middle of the line, head swiveled in the direction of the low whine of the platoon tech's drone. Knowing more company was inbound, János slipped a grenade into the side-loading tube of his 320. He watched, waited...

The 'Explain The Appeal Of......' Thread

<Snipped quote by JDolan>

Except Daenerys, Jon Snow, and Tyrion. GRRM's books have "main characters" like any other, but he's talented at tricking his audience into thinking minor characters (who are going to die later) are actually the protagonists.

All three of these characters have plot armor, especially Ms. Mary Sue.

@pugbutter

True. But I'd say that there is a fundamental difference between a main character and a protagonist, in the strict sense. There are no protagonists in the setting. Everyone is an antagonist. And I'd also remind you that these decisions about killing/not killing are dictated by plot and story, not popularity or attachment, by and large.

But now we're kind of drifting from the point of the question originally asked.

Rainbow Six - White Flame ~ A Military Narrative RP ~

A character along those lines. ANd no worries - I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep, myself.

Rainbow Six - White Flame ~ A Military Narrative RP ~

I'm tentatively interested, depending on how my schedule and everything works out. I've got an eye towards an S2 (Intelligence), S6 (Signals/Communications), or S9 (Civil-Military Coordination) type.

The 'Explain The Appeal Of......' Thread

Can someone explain the appeal of Game of Thrones? Song of Ice and Fire?

The only thing I've heard about it is that people die a lot in it, when people least expect it. Why would I willingly get myself into a journey where I know that people I'll start liking will get killed off left and right? What's the point in that? It feels like I would be subjecting myself to torture. What's the appeal in that?

@PlatinumSkink

You're right. It is basically because people die constantly. The fact that the author, the show-runners, etc, refuse to pander to their audience for any "fan favorites" and the like is, indeed, a small part of the series' popularity. They give zero fucks about their audience's preferences...and instead are simply out there to create an interesting story, whatever the consequences. Its popularity also stems from its ability, its desire, its mandate really, to be realistic. Too often in fantasy settings, things get whitewashed. People are poor but happy. The protagonists are just and wise. The kingdom is, if a little dysfunctional, then benevolent in its intentions. The world of Westeros is, at the core, none of those things. It is a dark, dangerous, place where people are not saved by the mystical powers of Plot Armor simply because they are the hero of the tale. They will die because the world is by its nature a dangerous place and sharp pointy things don't give two shits if you're the King of X or the Prince of Y or if you're a righteous soul. Righteousness doesn't protect you from anything.

In a word, it is popular because it's so damned refreshing to a lot of folks who have grown up on the idealized fantasy setting where everything is in black and white. By that same token, the lack of clear lines of good and evil are appealing to so many folks. The universe exists in shades of grey, and GRR Martin does a rather fine job of allowing everyone to have some depth and dimension to it, some noble and redeeming quality that helps make all of the cruelty they willingly and gleefully inflict upon each other all the more bearable and understandable. Thus, whenever someone dies, anyone...people care. Even if a character is the genocidal love-child of Hitler and Stalin, raised by Pol Pot...someone's gonna love the character because he has a fondness for refreshing white wines, fishing, warm fireplaces, horses, or once gave a kitten a ball of yarn to play with.

Oh, and there's also the food-porn in the books. And the casual sexual depravity in both the books and series.

Seas of Blood: The Premier Buccaneering Roleplay!

Excellent. Great to see this up at last.

Change A Single Word

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How do you typically deal with Writer's Block?

Dive deep into research... Or write around the block. By that I mean, if I find that the starting point of a post is difficult...I'll write from the middle to the front, then finish up, basically. Or while working on my other writings, I usually have an outline, so what I do is skip the scene immediately in front of me and work on the scene immediateyl behind it. That generally works, since it lets you attack the problem of writers block from, basically, two approaches, nipping away from both the start and end points.

The only problem is that sometimes it's a slow and painful process...and sometimes energy-intensive in my experience. But it usually works pretty well.

Is there a term for "weird" fantasy?

Related to that, Magical Surrealism or Hysterical Fantasy. Perhaps Maximalist Absurdism would be an apt descriptor as well.