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| Connor18
Connor18
[28654903]
[2013-10-15 02:34:13 +0000 UTC]
(United Kingdom)
# Statistics
Favourites: 135; Deviations: 123; Watchers: 48
Watching: 45; Pageviews: 13724; Comments Made: 1219; Friends: 45
# Interests
Favorite movies: Lawrence of Arabia, Sky Captain and the World of TomorrowFavorite TV shows: The Last Ship, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones
Favorite bands / musical artists: A lot
Favorite books: The Road, Metro 2033, Library of the Dead
Favorite writers: Dmitry Glukhovsky, Philip Pullman and many others
Favorite games: Skyrim, ArmA 3, NEO Scavenger, Serious Sam 3 and most certainly Eidolon
Favorite gaming platform: PC, otherwise just good old Xbox 360
Tools of the Trade: A little known writing tool called Microsoft Word
# Comments
Comments: 67
Nice! And spelled Connor, too! Thanks for the watch as well. I write stories to do with werewolves and psychics mostly, occasionally make memes and Gmod pictures.
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Your welcome. Cool, werewolves and psychics....
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Just wanted to pop in and say thanks for the comment and the favorite! They both really mean a lot.
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I really like your literature, keep it up man!
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Hey, thanks a lot! Always glad to see people are enjoying my stuff.
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You're welcome! I think I meant to do it a while ago and completely forgot.
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Hey welcome to the group and just a heads up were are accepting donations of DA Points to get the group to super group class. If you want to you can donate to one of our owners or here would be best orange-box.deviantart.com/ again welcome to group.
Also we just got a steam page up for the group here steamcommunity.com/groups/OBFC
-DevinShadowV, Moderator/Co-Owner of OBFC
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Thanks! If I ever get some points, I'll about sending a few to the group.
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Thanks for the Llama and the Watch as well!
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Welcome! I read the first two chapters of Wrath and it was interesting, looking forward to reading more.
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No problem, and thank you for letting me post my writing there!
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You're welcome, loved the design of it; quite creepy!
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You're very welcome, I like your writing. Thank you for the Llama as well!
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Aww thanks, I'm glad you like it. You're more than welcome.
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No problem, I've been meaning to do it for a while but I forgot at some point. I've recently had a rush of creativity and I've been writing a lot more, so I think that helped me remember.
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You're welcome! I've recently sat down and had a look, and I really like her character, it fits the image of her I had in mind well. I thought her being a soldier was quite nice as well, it fits in with her tough look.
And she's really into BDSM isn't she?
On a side note, sorry I haven't replied recently. I haven't been feeling particularly creative, that and a group of modders created a mod for a space strategy game that brings in the two Halo factions; the UNSC and Covenant, which has been really fun.
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Oh, thank you!
Yeah, she is. Kara really doesn't like doing "normal" things as she finds them to be boring. I've tried to provide a realistic depiction of BDSM when interacting with Kara and to really cut through a lot of the stereotypes. In general, I wanted to deconstruct cliches about depraved, sex-crazed villains. Kara comes off as less villainous than a lot of SnB werewolves despite the fact that she kills people for a living and works for some very unpleasant werewolves. She's just got a whole lot of unresolved issues, though her love of BDSM isn't one of them. If anything, sex is keeping her sane.
Don't worry about it!
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Kara certainly didn't come across as being a villain or sex crazy. In fact, she seems like she's one of the more normal and sane werewolves, at least compared to a few others, like Seiberling for example. Unresolved issues in characters histories can be used in very creative ways when done right, and she's an interesting character so it should be fun to see where that takes her.
Speaking of sanity; I've been messing around with the idea of sleep deprived psychics since I've recently gotten over some insomnia of my own. I think some madness would fit in with that well since sleep deprivation would make them go a little bit crazy.
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Oh, good. Seiberling is relatively normal compared to the likes of Hayden. We've talked about it a bit and in a world full of bloodthirsty, sadistic killers, someone who just kills for money comes off looking not so bad.
I didn't get psychic powers when I was sleep deprived, though I did start hearing voices that weren't there. Unfortunately, they had nothing interesting to say. But it's not entirely unreasonable and it seems like having psychic powers is bound to cause all sorts of psychological and neurological problems, including insomnia.
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Yeah, I read about Vance Hayden as well, nice guy! Although Lola (that was her name, wasn't it?) still seems like one of the more sadistic ones. Autumn's berserker form description was also quite creepy since she doesn't blink and her eyes are black. Not something you'd want to run into in the dark...
I think I started hallucinating too, although it felt really tripy. Most psychics eventually get over their psychological problems after a while but insomnia is there to stay, although sleep deprivation can make them hyperactive and anxious which gives their powers a little extra kick to them. A lot of psychics tend to use drugs to enhance their abilities. Marijuana for one helps them relax and get a rest, but because they're so relaxed they can focus a little bit better, meaning some of their less dangerous powers, such as changing the atmosphere of a room full of angry people or lifting something heavy with their minds, are easier. Most just stick with weed, tobacco and caffeine, but some of the more experimental individuals use more dangerous substances like LSD and even one recorded case of Bath Salts, which had the scary effect of making him almost god-like before rapid burnout set in and just about killed him.
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Vance is... not nice. Both he and Lola are deeply sadistic, though they also have masochistic tendencies and enjoy getting a little rough with each other. In any non-human form, Autumn has black eyes... though I'm pure sure that only her berserker doesn't blink. Autumn and Jonas have had something of an unwritten debate as to which of them is cuter when transformed, though I find black eyes creepy too rather than cute.
Hallucinations or no, it does always feel really trippy. Speaking of hallucinations, mixing psyhic powers with powerful narcotics seems like a bad idea. A special mention should be made of Jimson Weed, which even hardcore acid freaks tend to find a bit too much.
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Holy heck, it's been a while since I've replied! Sorry about that!
I assume that getting rough means either something kinky or a punch up? Normally I'm okay with glowing or unusual looking eyes, but completely black eyes? That's creepy. Now throw in eyes that never blink? *Shudder* Jonas doesn't look as scary, but compared to Autumn with her black, unblinking eyes, then he's definitely got a not-creepy-pass in my book.
Ugh, it's horrible. I can usually stay asleep just fine, it's the falling asleep part that I have the occasional trouble with. It usually is unless it's done in a controlled environment or if they're combat drugs which have been tested prior to use. Oh God, Datura... Yeah, I think most psychics would stay away from that stuff.
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Don't worry about it. I have plenty of overdue replies myself.
Oh... "playing rough" is a piece of American slang. They like to hurt each other while they screw - like hardcore sadomasochism. No, I don't pretend to understand why, only that some people like scratching and biting in bed for whatever reason, including Lola and Hayden. Berserker Autumn has a lot of problems. The lack of blinking is probably the least of those. Jonas tended to feel the same way about Autumn' black eyes - they're kind of off-putting. Jonas' scariness tends to stem from the fact that he isn't all that scary-looking as a werewolf and his puppyish looks juxtapose with his monstrous behavior.
Aww... I'm sorry. That sucks. So, you're familiar with the stuff? I think that ANYONE should stay away from it, not just psychics.
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Oh right, that's what that means. I always thought it had something to do with BDSM. I don't understand it much either but whatever floats people's boats, within reason. I read Jonas' character sheet (or bio?) and he seems like a lovely sort. At least Aunt Broken Fang is there to teach and guide him, although that's still a deadly combination coming from her.
That's okay, and it's becoming more of an annoyance to be honest. My brain's just a picky sleeper and I believe I was tired when I wrote that since I don't know why I said it, I was just repeating what I said a few comments above! (Probably going mad, as usual.) I've actually never done drugs before, and I will especially avoid Datura because hallucinating and talking to deities doesn't sound like my idea a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
A question out of the blue if you don't mind me asking; what sort of music do you think would fit your post-apocalyptic universe? Something along the lines of the Fallout 1 and 2 soundtracks, or something else entirely?
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Well… it’s a sadomasochism thing (the “SM” in BDSM), it’s just that Lola and Hayden go a little farther than most. A lot of SnB werewolves are into it as their transformations involve a lot of pain and an endorphin rush happening at the same time. Kara is notable in that she really, really dislikes it despite her vast array of kinks. Jonas needs a lot of help, though he’s become a lot less of a brat as I’ve RPed with him. RP characters can be a lot of things, but they can’t be completely unsympathetic brats.
Why do they call it “going mad?” The Mad Hatter is such a cheerful fellow, not to mention the Joker, who’s always smiling as he kills people and sets things on fire. But I hope you’re feeling better rested. I’m really not a drug guy at all… I’m actually downright terrified of the mere thought of trying hallucinogens.
I hadn’t really thought about it. Maybe something more “medieval fantasy” but I’d hate to look like I’m riding Game of Thrones’ coattails. I’m just not a music guy at all and I’ve actually asked… and gotten all sorts of suggestions from Fallout to German Metal. If you’re talking about what music they have in-universe, they’re very limited to what plays. There is a lot of older music, stuff that can be played on still-functioning mechanical phonographs. The werewolves often like instrumental music as they can find it hard to identify with lyrics though quite a few of them are very, very fond of love songs owing to their pair-bonding instinct. The Ravens use a lot of German military marches, though that’s really not what they listen to in their free time. One of the notable gaps I’ve noticed in the Post-Apocalyptic genre is that no one seems to writing new songs. The Post-Apocalyptic world is bound to be a very boring
place and people are bound to find time to write songs. Struggle has always been a source of creativity and culture. That and I can’t believe that after a generation of people live and die without ever seeing a working light bulb that anyone is going to be able to identify with songs about consumerism, excess, and expensive technology that no longer exists… not to sound too much like a hipster.
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Yeah, those two scare me... a lot. A lot of the werewolves are into it? Yikes. So Kara isn't into sadomasochism then? Jonas reminds me somewhat of a guy I used to know while I went to high school a while back. This guy was the son of someone important, and he really did act like it. Although he never actually bullied me at least, he seemed to think he was better than everyone else.
I'm going mad! Yay! Yes I am, thank you. After my brief trip when I hadn't slept, I really don't want to know what any of these hallucinogens are like, so I totally agree.
Medieval fantasy could work, although I suppose it depends on if you want there to be different kinds of music for different groups and cultures, or one kind of music for the whole thing. Maybe both. When you say you're not a music guy, do you mean you don't really listen to music much, or something else? There's a music mod for Fallout New Vegas called Digital Nightmare and made by a guy called NeptuneUK. I'd say some of those tracks would fit parts of your post apocalyptic universe fairly well, especially if you have a character reminisce about the old world to the track "There Are No Heroes". He has a SoundCloud if you want me to give you the link to it. So people still play music on phonographs? I suppose the classics never die. So they like love songs? Aww! I listened to some German military march music on YouTube, I can see why they'd use it. That's a thing that's bugged me as well. Why don't people write new songs? Aside from tribal music, even scavenging an old guitar and learning how to play that would inevitably produce something new. Yeah, I don't think anyone in a world like that would ever identify with songs like those. You don't sound like a hipster, don't worry!
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I think that’s what their creators were going for… not that they can’t be adorable while cuddling and scratching each other with their claws. The problem tends to be that a lot of these characters are prone to inflicting their sadomasochistic tendencies on unwitting partners and find them all the more amusing. Though Hayden is particular is known for being brutal even by the standards of masochistic werewolves. Kara decidedly doesn’t feel that way and is far too protective of her lovers to consider purposefully inflicting pain, even the ones who do swing that way. I’m still having some trouble properly figuring out Jonas character, but there’s obviously no shortage of arrogance. It helps his family stay together if they view everyone aside from a very small handful of important werewolves as being their social inferiors. It’s a carry-over from their days as nobility.
I prefer to think of it as “hyper-expansion of your consciousness beyond the shackling limitations of social norms.” Despite my joke there, there is a well-documented link between creativity and mental illness. Not to say that you can’t be creative without going insane.
What I meant by not being a “music guy” was that I really have very little understanding of composition and scoring and that I don’t listen to all that much music.
Well, I would presumably want various cultures to have their own “feel,” since one of the points of that world was to have a non-human species who had taken control of everything, but are a heavily fractured collection of factions rather than just one big collection of bad guys. I found it, actually. It’s not that it’s bad music, but I really don’t like it as a New Vegas soundtrack. It’s a little too “clean” and futuristic for the setting, especially since New Vegas features a “Wild West” type setting. I think the same goes for my setting – it’s just not what I had in mind.
The advantage that some older phonographs have is that they don’t require electricity to run. They also tended to be designed to be repairable as these were rather expensive items and did break relatively often. I don’t think that there would be many phonographs that would survive the 75-100 years leading up to the End, let alone the apocalypse itself, but those that did would be very carefully protected and maintained. I don’t think it’s something that you’d see very often, but where they did exist, it would be a particularly memorable luxury. Yep, mated pairs tend to positively adore love songs. The slower, the sappier, and the more melodramatic, the more they like it. The example that usually comes to mind is “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which is about as melodramatic as a love song can possibly be… and it’s apparently supposed to be about vampires, oddly enough. A lot of pop songs since the 80s have been about ugly breakups or “I don’t need your love.” But change a few words and suddenly, the song is all about how breaking up is impossible. I suppose we don’t see an new music because the Post-Apocalyptic genre is supposed to emphasize that it’s the End and no new culture is being created unless you count all of the new religions and cargo cults springing up. Otherwise, you’re limited to pre-apocalypse music, books, and (maybe) films. New Vegas is actually a bit of an exception as the Lonesome Drifter sings a few Western songs with altered post-apocalyptic lyrics. Otherwise, it seems like a glaring oversight. Even if musically inept writers like me can’t compose music, why not at least write lyrics? Not like I can put the music in a written story anyway. I’ve always felt that some music manages to be a lot more timeless while other songs aren’t and tend to be quickly forgotten. Oh good… because I’m really not a fan of hipsters. No one is a fan of hipsters though. Even hipsters hate hipsters.
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I think their creators got it right then, they're quite freaky and yet really interesting. I think the idea of making love with someone you think is nice only for them to turn into a werewolf and tear you apart is frightening to say the least, although in supernatural universes (at least most of the ones I've read) those types are usually vampires, so it's quite nice to see a change in this type of horror. As far as the werewolves go, Kara doesn't seem all that bad. The Stidolph family struck me as the kind who think they're better than everyone else, but you certainly wouldn't want to cross them.
They say genius and madness are two sides of the same coin. Vincent van Gogh certainly comes to mind in that regard.
Yeah, I don't know much about it either. I don't know how I got into it, but I generally listen to all sorts of music from both game and movie soundtracks to proper music albums, especially music from around the Middle East for some reason.
That's a good point. I've been wondering what sort of music my own cultures would have, although some are multinational so for them I suppose it would be mixed and varied? I see what you mean there, it's not vanilla Fallout: New Vegas music that's for certain, although I was playing with a bunch of mods installed that added things from weapons and creatures from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series to completely new (and terrifying) monsters, new weather, and it generally made the game feel a lot more oppressive and wasteland-ish if you know what I mean. I was also roleplaying a character who was a wasteland scientist and archaeologist fascinated by the old world who wanted to know more about the times before the great war, so it fit from his perspective. I can see how you wouldn't like it for your universe, it's probably because I'm a fan of the electronic and industrial music genres that I brought it up. NeptuneUK didn't actually put up all of the tracks on SoundCloud unfortunately, there are a few dynamic dungeon tracks that make the game really immersive for me, one of them, called Binary Ghost, sounds great when you're fighting robots and ghouls in the dark with laser fire lighting up the tunnels.
Finding or fixing up a phonograph after the apocalypse would be amazing, especially if it was something you've never seen or heard before. Would the werewolves play them? They sound like things you'd hear after walking into a human bar in some dilapidated town for a drink, especially since I'd assume that jukeboxes wouldn't be working any more, although since they're so rare would you really want to play them in a bar where people are going to get drunk or keep it for yourself? I never actually realised that the werewolves would like love songs. I've mostly assumed that they had little interest in that sort of thing and that it would have mainly been a human interest, although it makes sense given how they form couples and the culture surrounding it. I've always found it a little strange how, after the supposed end of the world, people who have survived aren't creating their own music and cultures. Unless they're all slowly dying out, I'd think that they'd even create new communities, new religions and eventually new nations, or even try to restore some of the old ones. Even in Cormac McCarthy's book "The Road" had some minor hints to that sort of thing, and that book was grim. Writing lyrics would be good, you could write a lot of interesting bits of lore into them and they might even help the reader understand the culture in question better. I'm not much of a fan of them either, although I can't say I've ever met a hipster in real life, only on the internet.
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Yup! Jonas had a "bedroom transform" happen as an accident and is really, really hoping to do that again at some point, on purpose. In supernatural universes, it does tend to be that vampires do this, but with vampires, it's meant to be sensual as well as horrifying. Being ripped apart and eaten by Jonas doesn't seem appealing in the least. Kara isn't bad at all. Sure, she makes money killing people, but at least she has a reason besides "it was fun" or "I was hungry."
Quite a few geniuses have had weirdness to them and that seems to go double for artists. We even have a vertiable modern van Gogh in the form of Alan Moore.
I like movie soundtracks myself. Since I'm not much into music, I like to have images or stories that I can imagine with my music.
Well... yeah. If you've got all those mods installed, especially STALKER stuff, it's going to feel a lot more like a Sci-Fi universe rather than the Wild West. I feel like your universe would be more inclined towards something modern, epic, and sci-fi. And "big" - defintely "big." One of the things I like about teh Fallout 3 soundtrack is that it does play up the bigness of the setting. I'm not that big a fan of electronic music myself. I don't dislike it, but it's not something I seek out.
It would be a lot easier if you already had it and spare parts. Given that phonograph parts haven't been made for over 50 years, let alone parts for specific older models, they would be difficult to scavenge. But in general, I figured that werewolves would play them, primarily members of their socity's upper class who would have human servants to assist them in playing and maintaining the machines. Humans may very well have them too and would play them in bars. Although there's obviously risk of having the phonograph stolen or broken by drunk humans or violent werewolves, it's important to keep in mind that a big reason of why people went to pubs and taverns in the first place was for the music. Tavern guests often had to make their own music, but that was often part of the fun for the musically inclined - getting to play with new friends and old. That's part of why I wrote them that way - I wanted to avert some of the monster stereotypes and make them more sympathetic. Even the most monstrous of the bunch are gentle and thoroughly dedicated to their loved ones.
That's really vexing. How is there absolutely nothing? I've both read The Road and seen the movie. I assume you're talking about the cannibalistic barbarians who show up sometime after the confrontation with the guys on the truck? I actually wanted to see more of them since they are mentioned to have forges and some kind of metalworking. But if these are the only socities left, it's pretty understandable why the Man and the Boy are on their own. Though in the film, the boy is about 3-5 years older than his book counterpart, which makes him really, really obnoxious. I was watching a Discovery Chanel show about societal collapses and one of the experts immediately disabused the audience of the notion that children are going to keep behaving like children. But I've ranted on that before. I supposed I'd have to actually get to writing some songs. I just always worry that my songs will suck. I'm no songwriter though I've been told I can write poetry.
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