Messages

1

General Manga writer discussions / Re: How do you write characters that are smarter than yourself?

« on: December 09, 2018, 04:04:37 PM »

As far as intellectual ability, I'll refer to Jackie Chan when speaking of his own physical prowess displayed in his films: "You [say] 'Wow, Jackie's good.' It's not good. You can do it. Except, do you have the patience or not?" It's obvious to us that it's very good. But he also makes a good point. Given less ability, one could accomplish the same things he accomplishes in a certain amount of takes given more takes. In the realm of actual logical ability, you can theoretically come to the same conclusions your smarter-than-yourself characters come to by just spending more time thinking about it. Sometimes that length of time exceeds what is actually practically possible, so just know your limits.

As far as education level, that's much tougher. You should learn as much as you can about the field in which they're educated, but prioritize the essentials plus a few obscure concepts or facts that only someone educated in the field would know. Most importantly, you should ask someone in that field to review it to make sure your info is accurate and its delivery is natural.

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Music / Re: What are you listening to

« on: December 08, 2018, 09:00:40 PM »

Lol my top artist was Asian Kung Fu Generation who I don't even like that much. Only listened to them for 4 hours (in one sitting; I was in a weird mood). Also listened to David Garland for 4 hours because of that one album, but it didn't count, I guess because it was only one album.

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Music / Re: What are you listening to

« on: December 08, 2018, 08:28:59 PM »

Mine was 7 hours long lol.

Have you done the Spotify Wrapped thing? https://spotifywrapped.com

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General Manga writer discussions / Re: Writer Discussion Table

« on: December 05, 2018, 01:39:30 PM »

You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave

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Welcome Center / Re: Returning and Forgetful

« on: December 03, 2018, 06:09:37 PM »

Nah, nothing to be sorry about. I told Tony in the first place that I was sort of just trying it out. It was fun for a moment, but I started to feel like I was spending too much time on writing and that chat and it was eating up my time for music and other things I was and am more interested in, which was starting to depress me. I sort of learned my lesson about priorities then. Tony and I butted heads a lot as far as opinions on writing, too. Doubt that would have really worked out, though I imagine me being one of only three writers leaving may have only set the group further back. Sorry about that. My memory is fuzzy when it comes to some of the members, but I enjoyed talking music with Mike and calling Tony "Pink Wang."

Also, didn't JackMelancholy join and leave the group sporadically? Or is that someone else I'm thinking of?

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Welcome Center / Re: Returning and Forgetful

« on: December 03, 2018, 05:42:55 PM »

Oh hey there, cookie. I was in SaltyMango and was pretty active in the chat for a short-ish period. It was a huge time waster for me and I wasn't %100 on joining in the first place as fiction-writing is more of a hobby for me, so I quit relatively early, but I remember you. I did stay long enough to get to know most of the people who would end up staying.

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General Manga writer discussions / Re: Writer Discussion Table

« on: December 03, 2018, 10:15:39 AM »

That's probably where most of my posts are these days. My interest in manga was sorta short lived.

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General Manga writer discussions / Re: Writer Discussion Table

« on: December 02, 2018, 08:53:54 PM »

Yeah, delivery is the main thing. Also, it reminds me of that certain infamous Hopsin line about college...

There's something there that's worth honing, though.

9

MR Pub / Re: Chit Chat 2018

« on: November 24, 2018, 02:23:52 PM »

Noice.

It'd be neat to see a full list. Post-punk was my home base for a good while.

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General Manga writer discussions / Re: Writer Discussion Table

« on: November 22, 2018, 08:54:50 PM »

Hmm. I've admittedly only read passages and short stories, but he's never struck me as super colloquial, but I guess that means he's doing it well. Occasionally, he falls into that sort of Harrison-Ford-in-a-Spielberg-film-like sarcasm that feels a little outdated, I guess, but that's pretty standard for baby boomers, especially from the northern US.

Also, if you guys do make a rap track, I request that we play it on the 2018 Musicsode, even (especially) if it's a homemade beat on FL studio with vocals recorded on a laptop mic.

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General Manga writer discussions / Re: Writer Discussion Table

« on: November 22, 2018, 07:24:29 PM »

We all know what writing on cocaine is like from Stephen King's bibliography.

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General Manga writer discussions / Re: NaNoWriMo 2018

« on: November 18, 2018, 04:50:19 PM »

I've barely made any progress whatsoever, and I've been busier than I expected this month, but slow and steady...

doesn't win any races, in my experience. It's always the fast and steady ones.

At any rate, it will take me longer than the end of the month to get this done, so I will keep posting here until then.

Here is my premise:

Basically, a semi-successful murder mystery writer struggles to solve his mystery of a best friend who goes through an inexplicable change in personality. The exact mechanics of said change is never to be explained in the story, only vague possibilities offered, but it's more about how it challenges the writer's cynicism and confidence in what or who he thinks he knows.

13

MR Pub / Re: Chit Chat 2018

« on: November 15, 2018, 10:51:42 AM »

A Hulk Hogan rant, but he says "Onii-Chan" instead of "brother."

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Music / Re: 2018 In Music

« on: November 14, 2018, 05:06:35 PM »

TFS is not really a band I'd consider a poster child for indie rock. They're a good bit weirder and darker than most of that stuff coming out these days.

15

Anime Talk / Re: Which Anime series you are watching ?

« on: November 13, 2018, 11:05:37 PM »

It is, of course, a matter of preference, but, in my experience, dubs are almost always awkward in ways I can't ignore, 10s dubs notwithstanding. The biggest issue is timing. You have lines which are obviously padded with unnecessary words because it takes longer to say in Japanese than English and the opposite, as well as lines which are rearranged in strange ways. Of course this is the case with text too, but to hear that discrepancy spoken elicits a far more visceral reaction from me. This affects even the best dubs, Cowboy Bebop and Fullmetal Alchemist included, perhaps excluding The Cat Returns. But beyond that inherent challenge dubs have to face, many of them just seem poorly executed. I often find myself thinking "there are 10 more natural ways to say that line." I don't doubt that most of them a produced as fast as possible to save studio time ---> money. And then there's the issue of everything before the 10s, which is most of all dubs ever. The dub of Grave of the Fireflies, for instance, almost makes what's known as the saddest anime film of all time a comedy. It's that bad. Not to mention the fact that, in every dub, somebody has to have a "New Yoik" accent, whether they're in feudal Japan or medieval Europe.


There is the drawback of having to read the screen. Sometimes I choose to watch the dub, particularly if I watch with my youngest sister, who struggles with reading. Too, there are a few dubs I prefer to some degree, maybe because there's something special about them, or maybe because they're what I watched when I formed an emotional connection with the series or movies. But, on the other hand, sometimes the original cast is really good. After all, if we stepped outside the world of anime for a moment, it would seem strange and sacrilegious to me to dub Bergman's Winter's Light and Persona, which have some of my favorite performances in any movie. Where the movie or series can be said to be the sum of the director's artistic choices, the original cast can be very important if you want to experience the work as close as possible to what the director intended. After all, dubs are not just "English audio" but completely different casts with rewritten lines. Of course, there are things lost because I don't know much Japanese, which is why the emphasis is on "as possible."