[OOC][Info]Nothing Better Than This Wiki

[robkelk]

Bob, since you;re starting to develop the residence beyond "someplace for these displacees to sleep", I've added a bit to a couple of character writeups. I even managed to connect Asahi Sakurai (from Comic Party) to the bands from K-On! for you.

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, cool. I'll have to check that out ASAP. Thanks!

(And come to think of it, now that I've settled on the location of the place, I should probably rename the page to "Douglass Gardens".)

[robkelk]

Just leave a redirect until all the character pages that link to it have been updated, please.

[Bob Schroeck]

Don't worry, I've got some basic familiarity with being a good wiki user. <grin>

[robkelk]

I have a reason for putting together this list...

[robkelk]

Adding those new character pages that I added today wasn't a spoiler if you've been looking at my working notes on the wiki...

[robkelk]

Oh, cool.  I'll have to check that out ASAP.  Thanks!

(And come to think of it, now that I've settled on the location of the place, I should probably rename the page to "Douglass Gardens".)

Just did that for you.

[Bob Schroeck]

Thank you. I was in yesterday and thinking to myself "I should rename that page..." but didn't.

[robkelk]

Last Wednesday's events have soured me on writing for the moment... but I wanted to do something for this project.

So I tossed a page for Aoi Sakuraba onto the wiki, since I had discovered her canon birthday. (As appropriate for her situation in the story she's from, her birthday is Tanabata.) I just added the canon information - any changes to her in the Metacontinuity are up to Brent, not me.

[Labster]

I can understand that.  In a weird way, it's actually helped me along in my story, at least in characterization of my SI.  I now know the conditions under which I would be willing to fight for my country, and before last night I had always thought myself too cowardly to do that.  There might be a smidgen of heroism in me after all, which might be useful in writing a more exciting self-insert.

[robkelk]

Just tossed some more terms onto the Glossary page, including some that I don't expect we'll get to before Arc 2.

EDIT: And added a few more. ("A few" being bringing the count of glossary terms from 6 to 47.)

[robkelk]

Just started a new Talk page on the wiki, for all the tropes that we don't use yet but could. Here it is.

As yet, it has one trope/plotbunny.

Bob just came up with a trope on ATT (or, rather, it would be more accurate to say that a trope Bob came up with was just launched).

I just added it to the "Tropes we haven't used yet" list as a possible plotbunny.

[robkelk]

If somebody has a few minutes to spare, could you fill in the holes on this new page, please?

[Black Aeronaut]

If somebody has a few minutes to spare, could you fill in the holes on this new page, please?

Done.  Though if others can tell me if I missed something or got something wrong, I'd appreciate it.

[robkelk]

Thanks.

[Black Aeronaut]

I've been a busy little bee in sourcing new profile pictures for my characters.  I've set the following standards for myself.

• Must accurately depict the character in as close to the original style as possible
  
• Must be at least a full-length or a three-quarters length profile shot
  
• Must be simple and uncomplicated - the focus is the character, not the artistry
  
• Must accurately convey the character's essence and persona
  

Additionally, I'm making it a point to cite the sources for the images as effectively as possible, and make sure that the appropriate artist is credited.

Character profile photos I've updated thus far are Madoka Kaname, Homura Akemi, and Hotaru Tomoe; previously I've done this for Nanoha Takamachi, Fate Testarossa, and Hayate Yagami.  I intend to do this for others as I go along, as well as fill in more character profiles.

[robkelk]

... in as close to the original style as possible

That defeats the purpose of a crossover, IMHO. But I'm just one person with one opinion.

[Black Aeronaut]

Just because the setting is a crossover doesn’t always mean the character’s appearance will change much. Besides, this is a wiki. They’re supposed to be recognizable at a glance. If we want to add additional pictures to go with the write up, then there’s no reason why we can’t. It’s just the main profile picture that should be close to cannon.

[Labster]

I think my criteria for choosing images is:
• Choose good art, where good art is that which causes an emotional reaction from me
• Even if it's good art, we probably want something that works as a portrait (e.g. no black silhouettes of Utena)
• Fan images are more fun

In terms of them looking like the original style... um... people in the real world don't look like an animu.  I mean, Osaka's eyes are like half her face in canon.  (No wonder there's not room for brain in there.)  If someone showed up looking like that in front of me, I would have sooo many questions.  So, do people in this world all look like anime characters?  Or is it just the medium where their story was told, and they look like normal people?  I've been presuming Usagi looks like this or even this.  But I like impressionism thus and any picture that gives me the impression of the character is good enough.

[Black Aeronaut]

Uhhhmmm... not sure if you’re joking or not... but the following runs with the assumption that you’re not joking.

Do you really want to attract writers that hate anime just because they cannot get over the visual style? Really, consider the headache in dealing with someone like that.

The way I see it, if someone is honestly so squicked out that they’re like “Fuck this shit I’m out”, then good riddance. I don’t want that kind of attitude in here fouling up the air.

Now, like I was saying, if we want to have pictures of photorealistic representations of these characters, then that’s fine. I just feel that it shouldn’t be the first thing a newcomer sees. Keep in mind that these days, WE are the Great Old Ones now. We can figure out that a gorgeous odango-atama with Anglo coloration but Japanese features is Tsukino Usagi, but someone who’s just joined the fandom may not know.  Hell, sometimes it takes ME a minute to figure out a photorealistic fan art, and this is because I associate much more effectively with the original style that I saw in the anime/manga.

Question: does MediaWiki support that neat trick of having multiple profile photos you can click through?

[Labster]

I can't think of any way I was joking there, but you seem to have missed the question I asked and went off onto some other tangent. I wasn't saying that we shouldn't use normal anime-ish representations on the wiki, I was asking what the characters look like in-story. Which is also a tangent but a different tangent.

[robkelk]

...  I've been presuming Usagi looks like this or even this.  ...

And I've been presuming Ami looks like this.

Do you really want to attract writers that hate anime just because they cannot get over the visual style?

If we want to attract writers, then we need to promote the story in places other than just this forum. Are we ready to make an All The Tropes page for TNB?

Question: does MediaWiki support that neat trick of having multiple profile photos you can click through?

Not to my knowledge, but there is the Gallery functionality... (looks at your additions to Hotaru's page) ...which I see you've already discovered.

---

(shifts gears, pops the clutch)


Page quotes. Cute or pithy bits of text from other people's works. Do we want them?

We have two, so far - both added by me, both from other fanfics, both providing links to their sources, both doing what I think is a good job of illustrating the canon characters. Should they stay (and be joined by quotes on other pages), or should they go?


Hotaru Tomoe:

In power level rankings, she is above Saffron and below Belldandy Unleashed or Neo Queen Serenity when hitting her stride.
In other words, avoid getting on her bad side.
This is actually fairly easy as she is one of the nicest Angels Of Death that you could possibly run into.
-- metroanime, Hotaru 1/2


Marller:

Ha! You don't scare me, girl! you're just a mortal and I'm a demon first-class, so you ERRGGH NYAAAHHH YOOOWWWIEEEE!
-- Marller, to Kasumi Tendo, The Replacement Ranmas by Angus MacSpon

[Black Aeronaut]

I can't think of any way I was joking there, but you seem to have missed the question I asked and went off onto some other tangent.  I wasn't saying that we shouldn't use normal anime-ish representations on the wiki, I was asking what the characters look like in-story.  Which is also a tangent but a different tangent.

Sorry.  Just... nearly every person that's ever rubbed me wrong had the same or similar opinion on anime, and I got a little triggered back there.  *Sighs*

As for how they look in the setting?  Well, they're gonna look like actual people.  I mean, it's not like we're suddenly walking into Toon Town in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

I just don't like the idea of the profile pictures getting too far away from a character's original appearance because it feels a bit...  I dunno, disingenuous?  Like we're somehow trying to disregard the fact that at one point they were characters.

That said, I think it would be a good idea if we could find ourselves an artist that'd be willing to draw all these characters as they'd appear as actual people.  And maybe even come up with a few illustrations for scenes, like in a light novel.

...  I've been presuming Usagi looks like this or even this.  ...

And I've been presuming Ami looks like this.

Okay, first one of Usagi...  YEEE.  For some reason, that one is tripping me out and triggering my "cross dresser" sense. (And that's just how hetero I am - seeing someone recognizably male dressed as a female sets me on edge, like that meme with the honey badger noping the fuck outta dodge.  They're welcome to it, just please god no do not make any passes at me.)

Second one, that's much better.  It makes her look like a bit of a Gyaru, but it's a lot better than some others I've seen.  I'd even say that she looks gorgeous, since the blonde hair and blue eyes somehow has a natural feel.  Probably because she's actually kinda tripping the "Cali Girl" stereotype in my head.

Do you really want to attract writers that hate anime just because they cannot get over the visual style?

If we want to attract writers, then we need to promote the story in places other than just this forum. Are we ready to make an All The Tropes page for TNB?

Not quite yet.  I think I'd like to have the major pieces for Season One in place before we do.  And Season 2 is where we'll definitely need more writers.

Question: does MediaWiki support that neat trick of having multiple profile photos you can click through?

Not to my knowledge, but there is the Gallery functionality... (looks at your additions to Hotaru's page) ...which I see you've already discovered.

Yeah, I'm starting to get into the swing of things.  The Wiki is good to have because I can just go in and add things as they come to mind.

Bit of a tangent, but I think it would still be a good idea if we used something like Google Docs for the live stories.  It'll make it a lot easier to avoid that awkward situation where two people are working on the same story on the Wiki and don't even know it, and then try to submit changes that happen to contradict one another.

With Docs, you can see the changes being made in real-time, so you wouldn't wind up with that situation.  Even better?  You can leave in-line notes and commentary for others.  Stuff like, "Are you sure you meant this and not that?" or "Don't you think this is a bit out of character for this person?"

(shifts gears, pops the clutch)

VROOOOM!

Page quotes. Cute or pithy bits of text from other people's works. Do we want them?

We have two, so far - both added by me, both from other fanfics, both providing links to their sources, both doing what I think is a good job of illustrating the canon characters. Should they stay (and be joined by quotes on other pages), or should they go?


Hotaru Tomoe:

In power level rankings, she is above Saffron and below Belldandy Unleashed or Neo Queen Serenity when hitting her stride.
In other words, avoid getting on her bad side.
This is actually fairly easy as she is one of the nicest Angels Of Death that you could possibly run into.
-- metroanime, Hotaru 1/2


Marller:

Ha!  You don't scare me, girl!  you're just a mortal and I'm a demon first-class, so you ERRGGH NYAAAHHH YOOOWWWIEEEE!
-- Marller, to Kasumi Tendo, The Replacement Ranmas by Angus MacSpon

I am very much in favor of them.  It's a legitimate way to add flavor in a document where you need to be formal and informational.

[robkelk]

Bit of a tangent, but I think it would still be a good idea if we used something like Google Docs for the live stories.  It'll make it a lot easier to avoid that awkward situation where two people are working on the same story on the Wiki and don't even know it, and then try to submit changes that happen to contradict one another.

With Docs, you can see the changes being made in real-time, so you wouldn't wind up with that situation.  Even better?  You can leave in-line notes and commentary for others.  Stuff like, "Are you sure you meant this and not that?" or "Don't you think this is a bit out of character for this person?"

I have a fundamental dislike of sharing information with Google for any reason. I know too much about how they use it.

And we started the wiki because we wanted someplace where we could all edit the live stories, and PiratePad was glitching on us. So far, we haven't had an edit collision.

[robkelk]

I've added some entries to the Calendar, mostly marked "WIP:", so we can keep the overall schedule straight.

I've also done a bit of work on the list of places, moving some "where are these, again?" locations to where we've determined where they should be. Oh, and I took the liberty of deciding the building that houses Callahan's is at the same place it was at in its canon.

And my SI's page finally has a character writeup... and an expanded "relationships" section.