[OOC] Surwall - South of the Wall

[WildKnight]

I think the price went up (but don't quote me on that), but it includes more stuff than it used to.

[VPA_Shadow00]

I finished my short story so I went ahead and posted.

I will be posting said short story on my blog in the next few days, and you'll be able to read it then. It is titled "Wind in the Rafters" and it is a weird story I can't really describe without simplifying.

You can read my blog, Diary Diarrhetic, whenever you please, the link is in my signature. I will post poetry, music, and fiction. But nothing like what I write on DnDOG.

[Thamewolf]

Good for you! English Writing was one of my undergrad majors, and I specialized in the short story as well. That's actually a big reason I love play by post so much, even though I now live in a place where I could find plenty of RL games. This is the only outlet I still have for any sort of creative writing.

[Thamewolf]

Originally Posted by VPA_Shadow00

I want to write in the present tense. I feel it gives a sense of immediacy and uncertainty, and I like that. In addition, I think it pulls you the writer and roleplayer into the story, because, you are describing what your character IS doing rather than what they did. For example, "The caravan marched cautiously forward" in past tense becomes "The caravan marches cautiously forward" I invite you to join me and do the same. NOTE: There is an error on the map, Caityl, you are in the front wagon, not the rear, not that it matters yet. Sit tight though, I have something special planned for you in particular. I will be putting a grid overlay on the next map I post, but what do you think of this one?

I do agree with you about the tense, usually the ideal writing for this, though occasionally I would say past tense is necessary, such as describing the past that led to this moment without creating too much of a temporal disconnect from the person who posted before you. It's also useful when describing a character's inner thoughts of the past, of course. That said, for the most part I gladly join you in the present.

As for the map, it looks great. A grid overlay would be appreciated for battle (unless you want to freestyle it) but otherwise good.

[Aitrus]

Didn't somebody write something about how it's better to live in the present rather than the past?

Just thought that might be relevant somehow...

[VPA_Shadow00]

So, I've been listening to "All Eternals Deck" pretty obsessively for the past few days. I wanted to share some of my favorite tracks.

Age of Kings and The Autopsy Garland

[Thamewolf]

Yeah, kind of like it. It's interesting to me how a lot of music is taking a turn towards acoustic and folk, so that now we have these opposing poles of back to basics low-tech folky music and hyper-synthesized pop/hip-hop, with less falling in between.

[Aitrus]

Yep, good stuff.

I'm praying for a resurgence of the kind of music that made the likes of Dire Straits, Creedence, Simon and Garfunkel, Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Grateful Dead, the Stones, the Eagles, and all the rest famous.

[VPA_Shadow00]

Eh. I don't think that's true. I listen to a wide range of music, from Bob Dylan to Daft Punk. I'm not a 'one genre' kind of guy, and I think kids like that are pretty annoying, personally.

Music has always been changing, but there are some incredibly talented musicians who making neither folk or acoustic rock or pop or hip-hop.

There is some really impressive electronic music being made right now. Crystal Castles' for example, was taking control of my music for a while, with songs like Alice Practice, in a similar vein you could listen to The Wilhem Scream by James Blake.

But there's some really good poppy music coming out too, like Mika's Relax, Take It Easy and Patrick Wolf's The City

But, if you want some really good bluesy rock and roll, well, then there's The Black Keys

And then there's Regina Spektor who's apparently described as antifolk with Blue Lips and The Dance Anthem of the 80's

But, Eddie Vedder's soundtrack for "Into The Wild" was as impressive as the movie.

[Thamewolf]

Oh, I didn't mean to imply there was nothing in between those poles, just that those seem to be the two popular current poles right now, like if you were looking at a distribution graph (of course that's just from what I've been hearing and reading about). The greats are certainly always going to be greats, and there will always be some people doing innovative stuff that's not like much else in the current environment.

EDIT: Love The Black Keys, by the way. Saw them at Bonnaroo.

[WildKnight]

*chases the kids off his lawn, shaking his cane at them*

You kids and your folk music. If it ain't metal (or at least really loud rock), it's a tool of the devil.

[Thamewolf]

I wouldn't call the Black Keys folk. They're pretty much a modern retake on 70s rock. As for the metal only stance, can't follow you with that one. I like me some metal, but all the time? Sometimes a man needs to chill. Or in my case, a lot of the time a man needs to chill.

[WildKnight]

Eh, actually I like a lot of different stuff (I'm a big Billy Joel fan, he's about as non-metal as you can get), but folk music and all flavors of R&B/rap are way off my radar. In general I'd do my manscaping with a rusty shovel than listen to them.

[Thamewolf]

Heh, well God forbid anyone force you into that choice then.

[Gargleblaster]

Not all rap is alike .... I enjoy Taleb Kweli when I'm feeling political or Atmosphere for lyrical and slightly disturbing; mainstream rap and what is passed off as R&B nowadays on the other hand is pretty uniformly awful.

I actually currently have Regina Spektor in the car stacker (Samson ftw) so was kind of amazed to hear you reference her

Also listening: The Hold Steady, Dresden Dolls, and Gerry Mulligan.