| Welcome, Guest |
You have to register before you can post on our site.
|
| Online Users |
There are currently 1014 online users.
» 1 Member(s) | 1010 Guest(s)
Bing, Google, Yandex, robkelk
|
| Latest Threads |
Even more oddities spotte...
Forum: General Chatter
Last Post: robkelk
3 hours ago
» Replies: 201
» Views: 22,180
|
Image-Dump Thread 30
Forum: General Chatter
Last Post: Norgarth
3 hours ago
» Replies: 82
» Views: 3,857
|
Fic Update Thread 57: Var...
Forum: Other People's Fanfiction
Last Post: Norgarth
10 hours ago
» Replies: 295
» Views: 20,012
|
The new Seraph's
Forum: The Legendary
Last Post: Dark Seraph
Yesterday, 07:44 PM
» Replies: 139
» Views: 14,258
|
All The Tropes Wiki Proje...
Forum: General Chatter
Last Post: robkelk
Yesterday, 04:16 PM
» Replies: 240
» Views: 11,386
|
The Imperial Presidency
Forum: Politics and Other Fun
Last Post: aku
Yesterday, 03:52 PM
» Replies: 202
» Views: 13,054
|
Crossovers That Should No...
Forum: Other People's Fanfiction
Last Post: classicdrogn
Yesterday, 01:47 PM
» Replies: 205
» Views: 14,544
|
Incidental Bits Thread #3
Forum: My Apartment Manager is not an Isekai Character
Last Post: Dartz
Yesterday, 11:42 AM
» Replies: 133
» Views: 13,742
|
2016-12-27: Time Away
Forum: Stories
Last Post: robkelk
Yesterday, 09:47 AM
» Replies: 2
» Views: 97
|
2025 Election Thread
Forum: Politics and Other Fun
Last Post: robkelk
Yesterday, 05:50 AM
» Replies: 44
» Views: 1,654
|
|
|
| Final (?) Teaser from Chapter Four |
|
Posted by: Bob Schroeck - 06-07-2021, 08:19 AM - Forum: Drunkard's Walk S: Heart of Steel
- Replies (17)
|
 |
As I approach the end of this chapter on an asymptotic curve, it seems to me that it's time to dangle yet another tantalizing treat before your eager eyes. So here's what I hope is the final teaser for chapter four.
Thursday, May 21, 1992, 6:30 PM. Joy Fit.
"Okay," I said. "One last thing before we call it quits tonight
and I let you get to that dinner your mom's keeping warm."
"And what's that, sensei?" Usagi was sitting crosslegged on the
mat, after finishing her magic exercises for the evening. She
didn't look a bit tired, which was great because I'd started her
on simple conjurations -- basic shapes, single materials, easy
concepts -- and if you're not up to it that can take a lot out of
a person. But she was still clear-eyed and energetic.
Which meant she wasn't spazzing out over her test scores, which
were coming out tomorrow. I figured the more I could give her to
focus on, the less anxiety she'd suffer. And it seemed to be
working. But just to be sure, I had one more thing to impart
that evening. I settled in, sitting crosslegged on the mat, too,
a meter or so away. "Tonight's final lesson is an introduction
to banter and trashtalking the enemy."
Usagi tilted her head quizzically. "I thought you told me not to
give speeches while fighting," she said.
"No speeches, that's right," I replied. "But banter is something
else entirely. It's an emotional and mental attack -- not in the
sense of the psychic, but meaning intellectually. You engage the
foe in a conversation that you control, forcing them to spend
some of their concentration on reacting to you rather than on
their tactics."
"Really?"
I nodded. "Really. It doesn't even matter *what* you say,
sometimes. You can insult them, bewilder them, try to undermine
their confidence -- whatever seems like it'll work. Just the
fact that they'll respond to you will interfere with their
ability to fight."
She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and her chin propped
up on her fists. "I don't know, sensei, that seems too easy."
"You'd be surprised," I said with a laugh. "Yeah, there are
always opponents who are too disciplined to respond, but it's
amazing how often even enemies you'd think were too smart to fall
for it can be drawn into the most ridiculous conversations while
fighting. And once they do, they're yours. With the right words
you can practically lead them by the nose. And if you can rile
them up, sometimes they'll abandon all their tactics and strategy
just to get you to shut up."
Usagi gave me a flat look. "That doesn't sound good. Usually
I'm trying to keep from being hit. I don't want to get them even
more eager to hit me!"
"Ah!" I held up a finger. "But the more emotional they are, the
less likely they are to think about what they are doing and
trying to accomplish. They'll be prone to stupid mistakes,
giving you openings you wouldn't have had otherwise. And if you
can get them *reacting* to you instead of acting, then you have a
measure of control over them and can lead them. But there's
another benefit, too," I added.
She looked at me doubtfully. "What's that?"
I smiled slyly. "Part of banter is nicknaming -- giving your
foe a name that's insulting or belittling. Again, useful to rile
up the enemy. But for mages like us -- especially for a mage
like you, who uses 'Will and Word' -- names have *power*. And
giving a name to your foe that is both true and *limiting* in
some way *will* diminish your enemy if you put enough force and
belief into it."
Usagi's jaw dropped. "You mean I can just *talk* someone into
being easier to beat?"
I laughed. "If you're good enough, yeah."
She sat up straight and looked me in the eye. "Please grant me
your wisdom, sensei," she said earnestly, but with a wicked
little twinkle in her eye.
|
|
|
| The Faking Hoaxer is back! |
|
Posted by: Bob Schroeck - 06-04-2021, 07:02 PM - Forum: General Chatter
- Replies (5)
|
|
For those of you going "who?", the Faking Hoaxer was a YouTuber back about ten years ago who, using commercially available digital tools, turned out some amazing videos of things that weren't real, but looked like they were -- UFOs, space shuttle accidents, a shattered moon -- and showed how he made them. His stuff was so good that some UFO believers would steal his videos, blur out his logo, and claim that it was genuine footage. He was so well-known in certain circles that even Discovery Channel contacted him for a minifeature about how easy it was to fake UFO footage.
Anyway, five or six years back (maybe a little more? I don't remember now) he abandoned YouTube and took down all his videos; I don't recall if I ever found out why. But I just discovered this afternoon, as the result of a totally random search, that apparently he re-established his channel in 2019, re-uploaded all his videos and posted a couple new things.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this in case anyone was interested. His new channel can be found here.
|
|
|
|
| "That One Boss" |
|
Posted by: Bob Schroeck - 05-27-2021, 08:31 AM - Forum: The Legendary
- Replies (6)
|
|
So I was doing my daily maintenance over at All The Tropes and when I noticed that the trope "That One Boss" had game-specific subpages I ended up wondering which bosses in COX would count as "that one boss". For those who don't want to bother looking it up on the wiki, the core of the trope is:
Quote:And then, there's That One Boss, the boss that falls victim to poor playtesting. You're levelling up normally, plowing through every battle, until you reach this particular battle and suddenly meet a plethora of Game Over screens. Eventually, you Rage Quit, or you go on the Internet looking for assistance. In the event that you stop by the game's message board, lo and behold, everyone else is having the exact same problem, with entire topics asking "how do I beat That One Boss?". Walkthroughs usually list the worst offenders as "the hardest boss in the game", and eventually, such a beast receives a reputation for being just that freaking hard.
So... honestly, over the years, the community gets better and better at dealing with the various villains and archvillains, but I would say that when the Imperius Task Force was first released and for at least a year afterward, Romulus was such a boss. I'm sure there have been and/or are others.
What was -- or is -- "That One Boss" for you?
|
|
|
|
| It's May 23! |
|
Posted by: robkelk - 05-23-2021, 09:06 AM - Forum: General Chatter
- Replies (4)
|
 |
And we all know what that means...
fnord
Yeah, that too.
It's World Turtle Day!
Also, the North-West Mounted Police (the forerunner to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) was formed on May 23, 1873.
And it's Drew Carey's birthday.
|
|
|
|
|
