Judge not! Have you tried opening up those water bottles with balloon hands—and no thumbs!!
Salutations, visitor!
I created a tvtropes account the first day of 2017. [The troper wall
a bit later...] I've been browsing tvtropes since 2008 at least. Just noticed the OTCs last year. (Do not start making conclusions about me just yet...please?) Anyway, most likely to be found in the forums, these days. Studying to be a bureaucrat and a lawyer IRL (stop snickering). I affirm, hand over heart, that neither job is boring.
Creative pursuits? Just one tell-tale collection of snippets that suddenly developed a plot and a universe recently. Outside my own writing, I don't actually watch that much tv these days, but I prefer government procedurals, Chicken Boo shorts, Supernatural (just Supernatural and the occasional daydream about what could've been with the Leviathan Saga), legal procedurals—if only so I can pick at them admire creative interpretations of the law, generally things that make nice background sounds while I'm writing, and a probably unhealthy amount of documentaries and fanfics. Why are those last two together? No reason. But, if you were paying attention, I just revealed to you the meaning of life.
I once sailed a boat, and we won the race. Yes, I helped, I turned the thingee and moved the other thingee to keep the sails pointed right in some direction. Did I mention we won? I got my first lesson in express assumption of risk out of that. I hadn't been paying attention when the crew were offering life jackets. I did pay attention when they explained that a sailboat, unlike a motor boat, takes minutes to turn around for a man overboard, which is quite a long time in the Gulf of Mexico for someone who can't swim. Didn't worry about me though. No siree. I absolutely was not clinging to that thingee like a padlock when the sailboat leaned 89 degrees and planted us all almost face to face with the gulf. The water was a nice blue though. Did I mention we won that race?
Edits and All that Jazz
Can't say I started contributing immediately, but I happened to have checked out an interesting book on the US State Department planning staff, so for my first works, I was able to add some choice quotes to the Korean War and The Great Politics Mess Up. It counts! Why history, tis the story of us! (That sounded profound right?)
- 28 July 2017 note Added Julk/Jimmy-Hulk example to the Western Animation folder of the Hulk Speak page.
Why Century Changed Signatures
First, my thanks to Crown Of Dawn. My ID just came from a random Word Salad Title I came up with it to play video games. Then I found out it's in a song with both time and personality appropriate lyrics. Suffice to say, my signatures are always going to eventually revert back to lines from the Century Eyes by Shearwater. Deviation is near certainly because I'm playing the Respond To The Above Signature game.
Look with century eyes...
With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind
We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind
We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
You are not the last of this house
Nor the first to go over the side
Remember the wrecks of those elegant ships
Look with century eyes...
Nada to do with the song, tis just a timely paraphrase of an inaugural address:
Nor the first to go over the side
Remember the wrecks of those elegant ships
Look with century eyes...
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right...let us strive on to achieve and cherish just times
Doesn't matter if you're on the way to Hell or Heaven. The connecting flight will inevitably have a two-hour layover in Atlanta.
Q&A from "Ask The Above Poster A Question" Because Why Not
- Do you have a favorite Literature?
- Category: Travelogues, Like: Small Boat on the Lower Rhine and The Reach of Rome and Travels on the Frontiers of Anarchy. (They can be on either side of the cynicism-idealism scale).
- If you meant a favorite book—I'm rather fickle in that regard. Nothing holds that title for very long, but I'll still happily push World War Z on everyone possible. *Beat* Seriously, read it. It's awesome! No, the movie is nothing like it, except the title and Israel having an anti-zombie wall.
- Would you want to observe a black hole without getting sucked in?
- Hell Yes! I would want to see a black hole through and through if there were a (very large) chance I'd get out alive. And maybe stick around long enough to roast a hot dog in all the inflationary instability near the singularity. Or shake hands with Azathoth. (We all know his throne with all the strange flutists is in Sagittarius A, if only I could prove it...) I love black holes.
- Since you've known about TVT for so long, what finally made you spring for an account?
- A few reasons: there were a few technical questions popping up in the forums that I could answer at that point (I may have wanted to show off...*whistle*); I discovered the worldbuilding forums and figured I could stop bouncing ideas off of myself; and in general I just threw myself into more activities after that year.
- What sparked your interest in becoming a bureaucrat?
- There was no special incident (before I started the courseload and the work). I just thought it'd fit me best. Then helping with a food co-op and seeing it work really convinced me I was where I needed to be.
- Are you more partial to the Pokémon or the Sonic fandom?
- Pokemon...if only because I've played a dozen Pokemon games to one sonic game. And I always get a kick out of delivering a Blaze Kick each to the entire line up of an enemy who thought I was on the ropes.
- What is century eye?
- A purely Word Salad Title I (thought I had) made up for online games. I found out that it was the title of a song by Shearwater later.
- What is your current avatar from?
- The bird is just one of the pictures that came out in 2016. It looked cool and it was public domain.
- What's the worst fic you've ever read? Or fan comic. Sonichu is an option.
- I saw some absurd/funny Cultist-Chan comics on Deviant Art. That was the good fic. Then I decided to google stories about the character. The internet's gaze burns sometimes...No, they do not have names (or names that I remember) and even if they did, I would not stain my soul and repost them.
- Did you have a favorite letter of the alphabet when you were a really little kid, for whatever reason?
- Y Consonant and Vowel 2 for 1!
- Did someone say heresy?◊
- Pft. Of Course Not! We're all humble servants of the false emperor here. Now, with the 37 keys of Tzeentch, we open the way for our brothers...
- If you could choose only one video game that you could play for the rest of your life, which one would it be?
- Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots. I pretty much do that now...
- Favorite Chaos-aligned character in 40k?
- Azariah Kyras hands down. No, I'm not inclined towards Khornenote Rather, this is the one and only reason, and it is more than enough.
- Azariah Kyras hands down. No, I'm not inclined towards Khornenote Rather, this
- What is your location based on?
- The Great Race of Yith are lovecraftian aliens. Not quite all powerful eldritch abominations but beings of great wisdom—who get their kicks by randomly switching spacetime positions with people of other species.
- Do you often feel like no one else knows about some of the works you like?
- Yes I often wondered how Supernatural, for one, stayed afloat given how few people I spoke to ever heard of it. And it kinda hurts that I don't have cable and am not patient enough to sit through movies and long myth arcs without excellent introductory episodes.
- So, is that avatar something you made yourself or stock? (Ok, a lame question, maybe...)
- I took a photo of a burger to tease my dieting compatriots. It was one of the restaurant's best looking works, so I had to keep the photo and put it to use somehow... (And I wouldn't call it a lame question. I photographed the burger because it attracted attention, after all)>
- Your take on Clarke Ashton Smith in general?
- Unfortunately, I have yet to read anything by him (or hear of him at all until now). Just glancing at the Google results though, I think we'll get along swimmingly.
- Favorite warm weather activity?
- Nighttime walking, of course. Viva l'exploration!
- Please tell a very short version of your life story? (You're interesting!)
- [grin] Glad you think that. (And you asked for it).
- Moved to the ATL at 4 and grew up next to a practicing very young witch for a while. (I even remember her claiming the creek and my sister and I had special permission to cross it). Was convinced that I could work around computers in elementary school. (They taught everything so badly, that you wanted to do the opposite). Used to float out of class all the time. (Benefits of being a high-achiever). Once I randomly brought donuts to my sister in her class on the other side of the school. Passed a test in middle school that put me on my current career path by sheer luck and ego. No one told me what it was for and I dearly wanted to just fill in bubbles and go back to lunch at the time. High school is a bit of an Old Shame. I failed a trigonometry class in the last year and that particular program required A/Bs for everything. And I wasn't a chess master. Me vs the two guys in the library only about thrice wasn't a Curb-Stomp Battle. And I saw more people arrested in that middle school than in my job so far. Also never dated until university. More for practical reasons than anything. I didn't get a number of interesting hobbies et all to talk about until then.
- The really influential thing may have been when I interned with the city government (I'll be very general here). I know most of what I do about the city from that time. We have a bar whose theme is classic/Atari games, that was three feet from my university no less. And I learned the first rule of civic engagement is have food. You already know what happened during graduation (on the troper page). In law school, I learned what you can be sued for (Everything—I'm not joking). And over the course of all this, I've gotten, fought, and beat eight traffic tickets. Now I prosecute misdemeanors, including traffic tickets...Well, I do have experience.
- [grin] Glad you think that. (And you asked for it).
- Do you like any other Animaniacs segments besides Chicken Boo?
- Er All of them. And Freakazoid! too! I just have the Chicken Boo theme handy.
- I'd like to ask you the same question. Also, what is your MBTI type?
- INTJ. I like the sound of it; the description does not always fit though.
- Is the dog yours?
- Formerly. She's still young and kicking, but she's been staying with another family for some time now.
- Ever gotten stuck at the Atlanta airport before?
- Nope. When I get to Atlanta, I'm home. No layover for me! (Well, I was stuck at a Detroit airport once...)
- Is there any plot you'd really like to see in Supernatural?
- I actually wanted to see actual examples of Horrifying the Horror. The Leviathans seemed to be going down that route, but then...
- Which period in history are you most interested in?
- I have to choose?! Uhh....[30 minutes later] I guess I'll give the #1 slot to the Byzantine Empire (I know it covered a thousand years but still...) followed closely by Classical Athens, then the Ottoman Era, then the Assyrians, then (Ok, I'll stop....)
- What do you think of Time Travel?
- I would love a full motion picture movie of the past and all the time to watch it. Suck it, archaeologists! I would never visit the past though, even Nova Roma. I'm not the right kind of Christian to not get mobbed for instance, and I rather like clean streets and water and chocolate bars.
- What's law school like? (Or if you're not in law school yet, what do you look forward to?)
- Law school is da best! It's a giant exercise in reasoning and problem-solving. (I suppose that's every subject to its beholder, but this one was made for me.) Briefing cases, for instance, is far from boring. You come back with excellent stories, like people literally slipping on grapes or courts being quite snarky to lawyers who end up on the wrong side of the bar.
- If you had to choose between a nuclear apocalypse or a zombie apocalypse, which would you pick to live in?
- Damn that's a tough choice...I'll go with the zombies, nuclear radiation being instant/slow and agonizing invisible/burning bright death and all...
- What is the best quote you've ever seen on this website's forums?
- Oh, that's a hard one, but for recent gems:
- "What's that, Private? Your political views don't coincide with mine and that of the current ruling party, which I'm a supporter of? Well, as your commanding officer, I cannot order you to change your mind. In a matter completely unrelated to this conversation, you're being transferred to Shitshow Colony, the fifth planet of the Urfuckt system. Yes, I know it's under constant attack by the Bugs and that we recently pulled out Nixon's Nepotists and Reggie's Regimesupporters, but that's exactly why Uriah's Undesirables really need more men. Do you know Lieutenant Uriah, by the way? Good officer, used to date the Secretary of Defense's wife."
- Oh, that's a hard one, but for recent gems:
- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you choose?
- Making charisma my dump stat. I am actually changing that now though, but it's taking time...
- On the flip side, your favorite aesop?
- From House: "You can't always get what you want...But if you try, sometimes, you get what you need..."
- How the heck did you end up racing a boat when you didn't know how to sail OR swim? That's one significant Noodle Incident and I am DYING for background info!!
- The short answer, I had several choices of "excursion" on that occasion, and I chose the one insane option. I'd just learned that I got into graduate/law school at my first choice, so I was in try anything, it's all good mode. And sailing was something I'd never done... note
- Favorite celestial object besides black holes?
- I was this close to saying there isn't one, but then there's the planet we live on. Other than Terra Firma (and Sol that powers it—and I suppose Luna for sticking with through thick and then), just black holes (and quasars, which are black holes).
- Favorite character redemption that was right before the character's death?
- Don't know if she was actually going good by then, but Meg in her last appearance in Supernatural. It's Supernatural. Of course she was dead meat, but she worked so well as part of the team (better than Ruby or Crowley) even/especially accounting for her role for killing Ellen and Jo. She's the one character I can think of in these situations where I saw the trope coming and still got invested in her living.
- Do you ever look back on the posts you made on the internet when you first started to use it and wonder: "Man, did I really say that? I was stupid..."
- YES On this very website actually. (I post very little online, this website getting the most of it).
- How did you first encounter the Great Race of Yith? Because of your location.
- Well, last year I said, (alot), What Could Possibly Go Wrong? while I was picking around lost ruins under Atlanta... Or well, I started really getting into Lovecraft lore in high school, and the Yithians have been my favorite cosmic critters—well, tied with Hastur—ever since. Which is odd now that I think of it, because I've never actually read a single story about either. (I like Lovecraft's mythos, but his writing style keeps me at arms length). That's all. As I am, like you of course not an alien, certainly not a Yithian having switched bodies with some fortunate earthling while he's devoured by the flying polyps in the future. No Siree...
- Favorite opening tune to a TV show?
- Oh, so many choices. I'd have to go with the Supernatural season finales. "Carry On My Wayward Son..."
- Out of all of your avatars, which one would you most not want to meet?
- None fits that really. Even the chaos marine and the insane traitor guardswoman mean I'm in a plane of psychic powers of 40th millennium tech—and endless war and if not hopelessness a world where the god of hope is evil, but meh... That said, I wouldn't want to run into either without thick armor and a planet's worth of distance between us.
- Most interesting thing about studying law?
- It's a behind-the-scenes look at society, like social architecture and the history of that architecture. In short, it's more than just studying rules and knowing that one can be sued for anything. (Accounting gives one a similar behind-the-scenes look actually, but that's a different skill set).
Weird Things You can Be Sued For—because I'm sure this will grow as I come across them...
- Breaching a contract you both agreed on, because no one bothered to spell out what "chicken" meant
- Bringing a ferret to a Walmart on Black Friday with predictable results
- Building your seaside house with a great view right in front of someone else's seaside house with a formerly great view (although you'll likely win this one)
- Writing someone's name in all caps on a subpoena (Not really, but ppl try this alot)
- Realizing just a little bit too late that one's partner is a jerk and starting one's own side business without telling said partner about the business opportunity
- Letting someone borrow your car and telling them too specifically what they should do with it. note
