Author Topic: PC200: In the Stacks  (Read 37721 times)

ElectricPaladin

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Reply #50 on: March 23, 2012, 04:45:03 PM
Aw, I-9s are easy to tame. They've just got a big ego since they're suddenly oh-so-important after being an afterthought for so many years.

Now, the health insurance forms, THEY'RE the really nasty ones. Like ninjas or those....whatever they are from D&D, those pumas with the tentacles that phase in and out of existence. Slipperly and you can't look at them directly or they explode.

A couerl?  At least that's what I think of when I hear tentacled pumas, though I know them through Final Fantasy games.

Displacer beasts.

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Reply #51 on: March 23, 2012, 04:47:48 PM
Aw, I-9s are easy to tame. They've just got a big ego since they're suddenly oh-so-important after being an afterthought for so many years.

Now, the health insurance forms, THEY'RE the really nasty ones. Like ninjas or those....whatever they are from D&D, those pumas with the tentacles that phase in and out of existence. Slipperly and you can't look at them directly or they explode.

A couerl?  At least that's what I think of when I hear tentacled pumas, though I know them through Final Fantasy games.

Displacer beasts.

That is a weird name for an animal. 
Though it makes enough sense, according to Wikipedia "it is described as a vaguely puma-like beast that always appears to be two feet away from its actual position"

And also according to Wikipedia, it was inspired by the couerl which was first created by A.E. Von Vogt in a 1939 story.



ElectricPaladin

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Reply #52 on: March 23, 2012, 04:58:12 PM
Aw, I-9s are easy to tame. They've just got a big ego since they're suddenly oh-so-important after being an afterthought for so many years.

Now, the health insurance forms, THEY'RE the really nasty ones. Like ninjas or those....whatever they are from D&D, those pumas with the tentacles that phase in and out of existence. Slipperly and you can't look at them directly or they explode.

A couerl?  At least that's what I think of when I hear tentacled pumas, though I know them through Final Fantasy games.

Displacer beasts.

That is a weird name for an animal.  
Though it makes enough sense, according to Wikipedia "it is described as a vaguely puma-like beast that always appears to be two feet away from its actual position"

And also according to Wikipedia, it was inspired by the couerl which was first created by A.E. Von Vogt in a 1939 story.

Displacer beasts are part of a hilarious era of D&D monsters, things that looked EXACTLY like what they said they were and usually had nothing to do with mythology of any kind. Beholders are... giant eyeballs. Displacer beasts are... beasts, that are visually displaced. Lizardmen are men, who are also, you know, lizards. I love it.

I'm even more fascinated by the fact that some of these monsters have entered our collective imagination with basically the same strength as creatures that have basis in mythology! Did you know, for example, that the lich - the iconic undead wizard - has no mythological basis? None, whatsoever. And yet, I challenge you to find a single reader of fantasy who doesn't know what a lich is.

I mean, you could probably find one. But not five. Unless they're all friends, and then it doesn't count.

There are a hundred other examples. Beholder-like monsters, born in the U.S. out of Gary Gygax's imagination, found in Japanese video games alongside other monsters from East, West, North, and South, all of them with serious mythological pedigrees. More serious, literary, mythological roleplaying games like Vampire: the Masquerade using the word "liches" to describe a cabal of vampiric magicians - and again, in one of their new lines, to describe semi-living magicians who must eat souls. This, in a game founded on mythologically sound principles of Gnosticism! It's amazing.

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« Last Edit: March 23, 2012, 05:01:25 PM by ElectricPaladin »

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Reply #53 on: March 23, 2012, 06:42:16 PM
Heh heh. My D&D Nerd Detector is still working. You've all fallen into my clever trap! Bwa ha ha!

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smithmikeg

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Reply #54 on: March 24, 2012, 07:32:15 PM
I loved the reading, and I loved the story even more.  This is the first episode that's held my full attention for a while.  I can't help wondering where the stacks in the story connect to the library in the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork.  They just have to!

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Reply #55 on: March 25, 2012, 11:44:35 AM
I enjoyed it overall (tone and setting and whatnot), but I found the whole Sudden but Inevitable Betrayal to be a little weird.  I mean, he was basically broadcasting Evil Beams through the whole story.  (I swear, if we'd had ONE MORE comment about how mysteriously he was suddenly composed and happy again...)  But I thought that would come up, y'know, in the dramatic final fight.  The way it played out, it felt like a half-unraveled sweater, where it comes to an end abruptly, but kind of keeps on going in a trickle until we get to a final little lump of yarn down on the floor.  And I agree that the whole setup of "Yeah, we leave those security holes open on purpose in order to preemptively kill anyone who might eventually try to take it over," felt a little bit... needlessly cruel and complicated?  A little Grimtooth-esque?



eytanz

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Reply #56 on: March 25, 2012, 01:51:32 PM
I, too, found the handling of the betrayal bit somewhat odd - mostly, because it was so unconnected to everything that actually happened in the library. And the whole concept of a trap designed to capture exactly those people with ulterior motives who are clever enough to hide their intentions until an opportunity arises, but still too arrogant and/or stupid to assume that everyone around them is incompetent. I mean, what happens when a student comes by who is evil, ultra-competent, subtle *and* paranoid, so that she'll assume that everything might be a trap and account for that in her plans?

I was kind of hoping that there will be a true twist in the story; for instance, discovering that Casimir was not actually planning a betrayal, or that his experiences in the library somehow affected his plans. Oh well.

On an moderately unrelated note - has anyone here read both of Lynch's "Gentleman bastard" sequence that have been published so far? I read "The Lies of Locke Lamora" and found the first half great and went and bought the sequel, and then didn't really enjoy the radical tone shift in the middle (especially since so much of what was set up in the first part became irrelevant) and never really started it. Is the second book closer in tone to the first half of Lies, or to the second half?
« Last Edit: March 25, 2012, 01:53:35 PM by eytanz »



WalkinPneumonia

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Reply #57 on: March 25, 2012, 09:04:38 PM
Wow, what a great way to celebrate episode 200.  I loved the story, and enjoyed hearing everyone's voices even more.



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Reply #58 on: March 26, 2012, 02:44:42 PM
One could make the argument that the porn is one of those things that grew wild on the Internet. A wise man I once knew said this: "The only thing the Internet has done is proven that no one is alone in their perversions."

Wise man indeed.

I like that.  At the risk of mixing metaphors like Dr. Moreau mixes animals, porn is the Internet's invasive plant species.



childoftyranny

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Reply #59 on: March 26, 2012, 10:52:59 PM
I like that.  At the risk of mixing metaphors like Dr. Moreau mixes animals, porn is the Internet's invasive plant species.

Considering some of the ways that invasive species spread, porn spreading that way is a bit concerning.



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Reply #60 on: March 27, 2012, 12:06:44 PM
I like that.  At the risk of mixing metaphors like Dr. Moreau mixes animals, porn is the Internet's invasive plant species.

Considering some of the ways that invasive species spread, porn spreading that way is a bit concerning.

Compared to infectious Internet diseases like the GIFT, I'd say a porn invasion is pretty tame. But it certainly does have a kudzu-like effect. And of course, being an organic thing, Internet porn has evolved in response to outside forces. There are sites out there that cater to fetishes so specific that they're barely classifiable as pornography in the traditional sense.

...erm...or so I have heard...


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Reply #61 on: March 27, 2012, 12:15:39 PM
I thought this was a really great story.  The full-cast narration..I thought it was going to bother me at first, but then as we got into the library, I realized that wasn't the case at all.  It definitely added to the listening pleasure of the story.  Very, very nicely done!

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Reply #62 on: March 30, 2012, 07:32:43 AM
I absolutely loved this one! It reminded me of a fantasy version of the Dr Who episode Silence in the Library, which I believe someone has already referenced in this thread. I am also really intrigued by the world itself, not only by what is in the rest of the alive library but also the other 6 worlds we heard nothing about! Oh, and what drinking games wizards play after passing their exams...

It took me a while to get used to the full cast narration as it was very new, but as soon as I did I loved it. It really gave the characters their own personalities. Also, Dave needs to be a villain again.



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Reply #63 on: March 30, 2012, 02:42:08 PM
Dave needs to be a villain again.

What do you mean 'again'? :)

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Reply #64 on: March 30, 2012, 08:59:31 PM
Utterly loved this one.  Great reading from everyone and a great story.  Couldn't ask for more.

(And Graeme Dunlop voicing the podcast's final phrase was epic!)



Wilson Fowlie

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Reply #65 on: March 30, 2012, 09:41:45 PM
(And Graeme Dunlop voicing the podcast's final phrase was epic!)

Yes, this.

"People commonly use the word 'procrastination' to describe what they do on the Internet. It seems to me too mild to describe what's happening as merely not-doing-work. We don't call it procrastination when someone gets drunk instead of working." - Paul Graham


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Reply #66 on: April 05, 2012, 01:08:05 AM
Nicely, done y’all. Cheers all around!

I feel I need to put in my two copper regarding the “inept” magician. He seemed to be an accomplished swordsman, albeit a mediocre sorcerer. I also got the impression that he did a decent job at charm-making. The librarian who was built like a concrete tea pot (lived that line) seemed to be a better swordsman than a sorcerer as well. Just because you’re not too great at potions doesn’t mean you can’t excel in herbology.

I did read the story when I was preparing to perform Master Molnar, but it was a long time ago and I forgot a lot of details that I was pleased to hear for the 'first' time this week.
 

Is it wrong of me that I was hoping that Master Molnar would identify something as going horrrrribly?

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Talia

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Reply #67 on: April 05, 2012, 01:19:39 AM


Is it wrong of me that I was hoping that Master Molnar would identify something as going horrrrribly?


Ahahahaha. Now that you've put that thought into my head, I can't shake it. Awesome.



Wilson Fowlie

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Reply #68 on: April 05, 2012, 01:29:28 AM

I did read the story when I was preparing to perform Master Molnar, but it was a long time ago and I forgot a lot of details that I was pleased to hear for the 'first' time this week.
 
Is it wrong of me that I was hoping that Master Molnar would identify something as going horrrrribly?

That's hilarious. Amused my whole family!

"People commonly use the word 'procrastination' to describe what they do on the Internet. It seems to me too mild to describe what's happening as merely not-doing-work. We don't call it procrastination when someone gets drunk instead of working." - Paul Graham


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Reply #69 on: April 05, 2012, 01:27:57 PM
I did read the story when I was preparing to perform Master Molnar, but it was a long time ago and I forgot a lot of details that I was pleased to hear for the 'first' time this week.
 

Is it wrong of me that I was hoping that Master Molnar would identify something as going horrrrribly?

Ahahahahahahahaha!   :D



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Reply #70 on: April 05, 2012, 03:49:59 PM
I did read the story when I was preparing to perform Master Molnar, but it was a long time ago and I forgot a lot of details that I was pleased to hear for the 'first' time this week.
 

Is it wrong of me that I was hoping that Master Molnar would identify something as going horrrrribly?


I love you all sooooooooooo much right now  ;D

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ElectricPaladin

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Reply #71 on: April 05, 2012, 04:03:12 PM
I did read the story when I was preparing to perform Master Molnar, but it was a long time ago and I forgot a lot of details that I was pleased to hear for the 'first' time this week.
 

Is it wrong of me that I was hoping that Master Molnar would identify something as going horrrrribly?


I love you all sooooooooooo much right now  ;D

We need a highlight reel. Or a gag reel. OR BOTH!!! (Graeme as Conan shouting TONIGHT WE WILL GET DRUNK IN THE HUMAN FASHION! Wilson as above. Hobson saying...well, pretty much anything.)

"Tonight we will get drunk in the Cimmerian fashion! With women driven before us! Producing controversy for future argumentation!"

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Kaa

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Reply #72 on: April 05, 2012, 04:07:51 PM
Would someone care to clue those of me who have no idea what you're all going on about...what you're going on about? :)

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Wilson Fowlie

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Reply #73 on: April 05, 2012, 04:21:23 PM
Would someone care to clue those of me who have no idea what you're all going on about...what you're going on about? :)

This.

"People commonly use the word 'procrastination' to describe what they do on the Internet. It seems to me too mild to describe what's happening as merely not-doing-work. We don't call it procrastination when someone gets drunk instead of working." - Paul Graham


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Reply #74 on: May 04, 2012, 03:14:38 PM
Just wanted to say that this story blew my mind, and I'm forcing all of my friends to read it.

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