that guy [TCTI v 8]

[machomuu]

Really? That's pretty interesting- the last bit, I mean.

Kinda glad to hear that, actually. Never really would want to step on any toes with something like this, but a statement like that does say something positive about the Playground- or at least, TCTI, as a community.

228341

On a totally related note, you guys think it's pretentious in modern writing to use the word rapping, as in "to knock", in place of knocking?

 

[donavannj]

228342. That got heavy quick. Especially from my perspective where I've got a very boring, yet safe background that I come from.


Regarding "rapping" vs. "knocking", rather than pretentious, I think modern readers would just be confused, because "rapping" to many of them means to produce rap music. Although "rapping" brings to mind a specific form of knocking when used in that context (a very fast, almost rhythmic knocking sound).

 

[Akiba]

228343.

I've usually only seen "rapping" in the old 20th century books that I've read.

Although in the future it could produce an interesting meta-euphemism, "to rap one up." Related to the previous conversation.

 

[Yukari]

228344

Ehh... I don't really don't think it's pretentious myself. ...I have nothing else to add here.

 

[Gabri]

I see "rapping" and "knocking" as words with entirely different meanings, actions with different meanings and intentions of the person who does such. I would not use one word in place of the other for the same action.

228345

 

[Akiba]

228346.

Hence "meta-euphemism."

 

[machomuu]

Huh, well thanks for the input, guys. The reason I asked is because I use the word in my writing- more for Roleplaying than anything else. Main reason being that it "rapping" has a really nice ring to it and, for some odd reason, that's one of the Poe-isms that I happened to carry with me after I got out of High School. Apart from adding variety to my pretty limited dictionary, it can tend to go better with the music of what's being said (or the rhythm of the grammar, rather).

228347

With this in mind, I'mma go watch my favorite Seth Rogan movie, Rapped Up.

 

[donavannj]

228348. You could opt to get overly wordy with the action of knocking without actguallly using the word knocking. Plenty aof ways to get your point across that someone is knocking that way.

 

[Ivysaur]

I woke up and the first thing I did was grabbing popcorn to read through the De Gea - Madrid fiasco.

228349

 

[machomuu]

228350

Part of me wishes I had an interest in reading.

You'd think as a guy who RPs and non-chalantly creates walls of text I'd be into books, but I just can't. Very, very few text-exclusive books have held my attention to the end- hell, I can count 'em with one hand.

From a narrative perspective, as well as from a dialogue perspective, this does make me a little intimidated as a prospective game developer. When I see franchises like Ultima, whose rich worlds are brought up on the heels of such works as Lord of the Rings and like, and heavily inspired by themes from literary classics, well...

...And it's not so much that I have doubt in my ideas and their plots so much as I do their execution. Keeping the player engaged and creating a narrative that's wide enough to hold the player's attention without relying on tricks...that's what worries me most.

 

[Gabri]

I woke up and the first thing I did was grabbing popcorn to read through the De Gea - Madrid fiasco.

228349

I've seen in news that the problem was... the file format.

228351

 

[Pokestick good times.]

228352

I worry about the same things as Macho. Especially since Japanese cartoons have lowered my story and world building standards substantially.

Luckily I quite fancy reading once I put my mind too it.

 

[machomuu]

228353

Well for me it's a two-way thing. On one hand, I do want to read books, but on another, larger hand, I'm a bit annoyed about how things like anime/manga and especially video games are considered by many to be lesser forms of narrative media. This especially bothers me because, growing up, video games played a huge part in the development of my writing skills and the like. Though my writing's nothing now, back when I was younger I was writing better than people who were reading Tolkien and Eoin Colfer. Never did anything with it, just played more games. Damn, do I love games.

But simply put, there's nothing about them that inherently makes them weaker narrative forms than books, nor does anything make them less effective. Got an English class (or equivalent, where you study literature, themes, and language)? You could read the Count of Monte Cristo, but Gankutsuou's also pretty great- that's not my point though.

Simply put, I just recently decided that, on no uncertain terms, I don't like books (just the plain text ones, of course. Disliking books (or reading, for that matter) in general would be a bit much), so I won't force myself. 'S not like that's the only road to improvement.

 

[donavannj]

228354. You do miss out on some amazing stories by choosing to dismiss pure-text books. Then again, so do people who choose to dismiss comics and animation.

But if it's not something you can sit through, it's not something you can sit through.

What sorts of books were you made to read growing up? I'm curious. Because often the boring and symbolic books that are mandatory reading in schools are what turn people off of reading. 7 year old me enjoyed the hell out of the non-mandatory children's chapter books targeted for kids that age, which helped make the mandatory readings like The Giver, The Outsiders, and Huck Finn that came later on easier to stomach. Socks the kitten was probably one of my favorite characters. Granted, 7 year old me also loved the hell out of maps and fact books, so I'm a bit of a special super-nerdy case.

 

[machomuu]

228355

Pretty standard stuff- ...though off the top of my head pretty much everything I remember came from my later Middle School- High School years. Some of which I liked as far as concepts and execution went but just couldn't hold my attention enough to read from cover to cover. Fever 1783, No Promises in the Wind, Of Mice and Men, and the best book I've never completed, 1984. Love 1984. Probably won't ever finish it, though.

But as I said, those were the ones I liked- though actually, we read the first two in class, so I did finish those. OMaM, too, because it was pretty brief. And The Outsiders, since it was brief. *Pulls up a list* Actually, now that you bring it up, I really did complete a lot of the books that we read (because they were largely read in class or just assigned and read in other classes).

Let's see...A Wrinkle in Time, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ella Enchanted, Whirligig, Possibly Tuck Everlasting (sounds familiar at least), The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, James and the Giant Peach...Jesus. Looking over this, years of my life are rushing back to me...guh, feels weird.

Anyway, there's only been one book that's actually pulled me in and not let me go until it was over, and it's my favorite book. It was assigned, but I finished reading far before it was due. Butterfly Revolution. That book's my absolute favorite. but rambling, rambling, I'll stop here.

 

[Yukari]

A Wrinkle in Time

Wow that really brings back memories. ;-;

228356

 

[donavannj]

Butterfly Revolution, eh? Reading the synopsis, that sounds like a more relatable version of Animal Farm with much less symbolism.

I'm kind of but not really surprised at the lack of overlap in your mandatory school reading compared to mine.

Granted, I don't think I've properly completed a non-Japanese origin book that was pure text since my senior year of high school. I can't even remember what my last book of that type was that I actually finished. I do remember that a fair bit of Shakespeare was required reading throughout my high school years, though.

228357.

 

[Ivysaur]

I have a hundred books in my shelves, easily. Probably over twice as many comics. And just about the same hundred videogames.

All three are pretty valid, in their ways.

228358

 

[donavannj]

228359. That's much bigger than my library. My non-manga and non-Japanese LN library sits at probably 60 books. Though that does make sense since I haven't really bought any since high school, and I didn't have stable employment back then.

 

[machomuu]

228360

I definitely have more text-based books than anything else. The comic books I own consist of Captain Underpants (hand-me-downs from my brother), all of the Calvin and Hobbes books I know of (timeless treasures from my childhood, as well as hand-me-downs from my brother), a karate book, and the first volume in color of Scott Pilgrim. Oh, and also...damn, this is taking it back, but Spy Five. It was this really cool subscription-based comic book series from when I was a kid where they would send you a gadget and a comic book each month, with the book both being its own series and a supplementary manual on how to use the gadget.

As for manga...not much. I'd generally get these from the library, but in rare instances my mom would get me a book from Books-A-Million. So I have some volumes of Naruto, more volumes of One Piece, and a single volume of Rurouni Kenshin and Yu Yu Hakusho. Other than that, I have a volume of Skip Beat (the first volume), several volumes of Zatch Bell, and an Ani-manga of Inuyasha. Possibly more, but that's what I know off the top of my head. I also have a good number of miscellaneous books about different things. I'd be hard-pressed to get rid of those, though.

Only reason I go into specifics is because I don't have that much, and save for the non-manga/comic books, it's all from pre-High School. Well, except Scott Pilgrim. And in terms of physical games, I have a good sum, but not nearly as many as Went.