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Subject: "GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
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Gryphonadmin
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Sep-28-20, 03:28 AM (EDT)
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"GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
 
   Remilia's experience at Château Saint-Ulrich has brought her to some new conclusions—but to act on them, she needs to be sure a few key people know where she stands. Meanwhile, another member of the Scarlet Mansion's company notices an inauspicious detail.

Act III: "Déclaration de Position"

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
  RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position MuninsFire Sep-28-20 1
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-28-20 16
  RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Star Ranger4 Sep-28-20 2
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position MuninsFire Sep-28-20 3
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-28-20 18
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Star Ranger4 Oct-02-20 39
  RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-28-20 4
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position MuninsFire Sep-28-20 5
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-28-20 6
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Peter Eng Sep-28-20 9
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-28-20 10
             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Peter Eng Sep-28-20 11
                 RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-28-20 13
                     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Star Ranger4 Sep-29-20 27
                         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Peter Eng Sep-29-20 30
                             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Star Ranger4 Oct-02-20 40
                         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-29-20 32
                             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Peter Eng Sep-29-20 34
             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-29-20 36
                 RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-29-20 37
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-28-20 12
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-28-20 15
             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-28-20 17
             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Peter Eng Sep-29-20 26
                 RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-29-20 29
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Hazard Sep-28-20 19
             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-28-20 20
                 RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Hazard Sep-28-20 21
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Star Ranger4 Oct-02-20 38
             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Proginoskes Oct-02-20 42
                 RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Oct-02-20 43
                     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position rwpikul Oct-04-20 44
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position zwol Sep-28-20 14
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Star Ranger4 Sep-29-20 24
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-29-20 25
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-29-20 28
             RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-29-20 35
                 RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Star Ranger4 Oct-02-20 41
  RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Peter Eng Sep-28-20 7
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-28-20 8
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Peter Eng Sep-29-20 31
         RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-29-20 33
  RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Astynax Sep-28-20 22
     RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position Gryphonadmin Sep-28-20 23

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MuninsFire
Member since Mar-27-07
382 posts
Sep-28-20, 03:52 AM (EDT)
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1. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #0
 
   Oooh. The tone of that letter is just -delicious-

--
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome
decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river,
ran
Through caverns measureless to
man
Down to a sunless sea


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Gryphonadmin
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Sep-28-20, 04:21 PM (EDT)
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16. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #1
 
   LAST EDITED ON Sep-29-20 AT 02:32 PM (EDT)
 
>Oooh. The tone of that letter is just -delicious-

Thank you, I enjoyed putting that together.

One thing that the English "translation" doesn't quite capture is the fact that it is written with excruciating formality in a way that the Gallic language does far better than English, with the exception of one single slang word that was very deliberately chosen for its impact. Gallic correspondents do not use slang in formal letter-writing, at all, and so the fact that Remilia deliberately dropped the word sangsue ("bloodsucker", previously established as an in-universe slur against vampires) will have struck a man as well-educated as M. Auriol like a brick to the forehead.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Star Ranger4
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Sep-28-20, 11:50 AM (EDT)
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2. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #0
 
   Well. Some mysteries solved, others declared but probably not important.

Wanted to make some snarky comment about how many people seem to be able to pierce the veil, but realised it was facts not in evidence. After all, eventually they have SCHEDULED RAIL SERVICE through it. So it is not HARD to do, save maybe to know where the veil is in the first place. It seems like both Azula and Meiling just have that kind of weird luck that way in that they find it without realizing it.

I did not find the thought that Count Victor coming off as slightly mercenary in his journals surprising for two reasons. 1) Houses COST, especially great houses like his. 2) People value what they pay for. Not charging might leave them thinking they should call on Victor and his compatriots at a moment's notice; leaving them possibly out of position investigating minor threats when a major one erupts elsewhere. It does raise the spectre of a town being wiped out because they fear they can not afford to bring them in, but I somehow expect that Victor used a 'sliding scale'. On the gripping hand though... I'm probably investigating this too closely. :)


Of COURSE you wernt expecting it!
No One expects the FANNISH INQUISITION!
RCW# 86


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MuninsFire
Member since Mar-27-07
382 posts
Sep-28-20, 11:59 AM (EDT)
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3. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #2
 
   >Wanted to make some snarky comment about how many people seem to be
>able to pierce the veil, but realised it was facts not in evidence.
>After all, eventually they have SCHEDULED RAIL SERVICE through it. So
>it is not HARD to do, save maybe to know where the veil is in the
>first place. It seems like both Azula and Meiling just have that kind
>of weird luck that way in that they find it without realizing it.

Well, there's that, and then there's the law of large numbers - e.g. if someone's one in a million then there's at least half a dozen just like 'em in LA alone - and the fact that if someone's involved in a story as a named, participating character....well, narratively, there has to be summat interesting about 'em, otherwise why would they be -in- the story?

--
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome
decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river,
ran
Through caverns measureless to
man
Down to a sunless sea


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Gryphonadmin
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Sep-28-20, 04:49 PM (EDT)
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18. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #2
 
   >Wanted to make some snarky comment about how many people seem to be
>able to pierce the veil, but realised it was facts not in evidence.
>After all, eventually they have SCHEDULED RAIL SERVICE through it. So
>it is not HARD to do, save maybe to know where the veil is in the
>first place.

Exactly. Actually crossing isn't hard at all, you literally just have to walk through the nexus. But first you have to find a nexus, and know what it is you're looking at. (Or not see it.)

>It seems like both Azula and Meiling just have that kind
>of weird luck that way in that they find it without realizing it.

How Meiling came to encounter such a thing without realizing it will be clearer once the mini covering those events is out.

>I did not find the thought that Count Victor coming off as slightly
>mercenary in his journals surprising for two reasons. 1) Houses COST,
>especially great houses like his. 2) People value what they pay for.

It's not so much that they got paid as how that rubbed Remilia the wrong way, and she's the first to admit that she may be misreading the situation based on her own somewhat more modern sensibilities. After all, the 1200s were a long time ago, and a lot of western Europe was a howling wilderness in those days.

Still, reading about it made her slightly uneasy, because it made plain to her how much about that part of her father's life, and the world in which he lived it, she knew nothing about.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Star Ranger4
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Oct-02-20, 05:13 PM (EDT)
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39. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #18
 
   >
>It's not so much that they got paid as how that rubbed
>Remilia the wrong way, and she's the first to admit that she may be
>misreading the situation based on her own somewhat more modern
>sensibilities. After all, the 1200s were a long time ago, and a lot
>of western Europe was a howling wilderness in those days.
>

eheheh.... feeling like I should make some sort of quip about "emphasis on HOWL(ing)"?!?!?!?!?!?


Of COURSE you wernt expecting it!
No One expects the FANNISH INQUISITION!
RCW# 86


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Astynax
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Sep-28-20, 01:21 PM (EDT)
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4. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #0
 
   I had not expected to see this on a Monday morning. A welcome surprise.

> She didn't generally utter an incoherent scream and just summarily tear the
> whole business off the wall, though, so he found that startling when it
> happened. Rising, he turned and saw her standing by the wall, shoulders
> hunched, breathing hard, while the device she'd been wrestling with lay
> scattered in various mechanical bits on the floor in front of her.

In Meiling's defense, I've sometimes felt like doing that to recalcitrant equipment without the added stress of resurgent unhappy memories. And that thing had it coming anyway.

> "You mean when you told me I couldn't go out and see the world, and then
> immediately went out and saw the world?" Flandre interrupted, but
> with a mischievous smile rather than the scorn implied by her words.

I believe there's an iron clad rule in the sibling handbook that mandated some form of this exchange.

> "He can do whatever the two of you like, within reason," Remilia said,
> reflecting inwardly as she did that Flandre would probably have enjoyed
> the frightful machine Gryphon called "The Belv" more than she had herself.

The legend of the Belv retains its potency.

Also, it seems that Flandre has perhaps just a hint of competitiveness with her sister when it comes to G's affections, in magnitude rather than type at least, which is another of those sibling handbook rules I think.

> "And no one there had ever heard of the Earth Kingdom, or the Fire Nation,
> or... or anything from the world I knew."

There's Meiling's point of origin generally confirmed. I do sort of wonder if she knows how familiar G actually is with her home realm (such as being friendly with no less a personage than the Avatar herself.)

> Although our origins and powers are supernatural, nevertheless we must
> always bear in mind that we are people, not monsters.

"Vampires are people too" continues as an on-going theme (not that it already wasn't, but the explicit restatement brought me a chuckle at least.)

> She'd take being uncontrollably revolted by licorice over being unable to
> enjoy half of Gallic cuisine any day.

The reaction of any properly reasoning sentient being that enjoys Earth foods. Also, recent news stories have brought back up the fact that licorice is potentially lethal even to people who somehow enjoy its taste.

> Except vichyssoise, and was that really even cooked? Cold onion soup, blech.
> Who thought that was a good idea?

Food snobs? And I have to note, I was already a bit on Team Flandre when it came to 'if you had to pick a favorite character at gunpoint' purposes, but her sequences here have managed to solidify that (I suppose that makes me a Flan Stan... and yes I'm prepared to dodge the rotten produce about to be launched in my direction for phrasing it that way, it was too good to pass up.)

> "By the government, not the people they're directly protecting. It's...
> different." Remilia sighed.

Would the government of the area in question in the 1200s have really been set up to be, or interested in, paying a monster hunting squad?

> "Not really." Flandre grinned. "A lot of it's pretty common-sense stuff, you
> know. 'Stay out of direct sunlight, remember silver hurts, and don't randomly
> attack people, it's rude' isn't exactly high arcana."

The phrasing on the last bit earned a hearty chuckle. Not sure if some personal bias is involved in my interpretation but it almost strikes me as Addams-esque.

> "... Wow," she said at length, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the
> back of one hand. "How can you eat those by the handful like that without
> an instantly regenerating tongue?"
> "I grew up with 'em," Meiling said.

This actually left me wondering, everything so far about Meiling has screamed earthbender, or at least that culture, to me but I was under the impression fire flakes were rather specific to Fire Nation territories and settlements (or deliberately cosmopolitan areas, but I'm not sure if Meiling is from Korra's time period) so now I'm nursing renewed curiosity about just where she hails from.

> Meiling put a sheepish hand behind her head and said, "I'd love to, but the
> only instruments I can play are the erhu and the tsungi horn—and I'm not
> very good at tsungi horn."

I feel like she may not be good at it, but she'd certainly be entertaining, if only for the reactions of onlookers. Sometimes poor performance can be good in its own way, like the fellow from American Idol a ways back.

> "I haven't got much, and what I have got mostly isn't great, but I can make
> you three promises. One: I'll always look this good. Two: I'll carry all
> the heavy things. And three: I'll always let you have the last baozi in the
> bag. So what do you say? You and me forever?"
> Further silence while Sakuya considered her answer, and then, with a soft
> chuckle, she said, "Only a fool would turn down an offer as good as that.
> Yes, Meiling, I'll marry you."
> Meiling grinned at the shadowed ceiling and pumped her free fist in the
> dark. "Yessss."
> "Once we're in a time and place where it's legal," Sakuya added.
> "Oh. Right." Meiling considered this. "In the meantime, can we shack up?"
> "We already have, you adorable fool," Sakuya pointed out. "Go to sleep."

These two are almost frighteningly cute together, and Meiling has really come into her own on the page, something of a dark horse contender to the 'if you had to pick one at gunpoint' stakes among the characters.

> On the other side, the letter was addressed to him in a firm, rounded, quite
> old-fashioned hand, and though it bore no stamp, it was postmarked from the
> central post office in Colmar... two days ago?!
> "C'est impossible," Auriol mumbled.

For a world quite aware of its reliance on magic for some things, they have clearly forgotten a lot of the more mundane utility is can provide.

> "Get me Septième Bureau," he told the operator. "Urgently. Yes, I know what
> time it is in Paris! I don't care who you have to get out of bed."

This sort of scene always gets a grin, though I am somewhat concerned about this "Septième Bureau." IRL there was a Deuxième Bureau that was military intelligence in its time, but I haven't found any real life analog to Septième, and I'm really hoping it's more of a diplomatic or historical records arm of government than darker alternatives.

I expect we'll find out soon enough, so if it is meant to tease important things I understand not spoiling anything, but I'm mostly commenting to see if I'm reading a bit too much paranoia into this last bit.


-={(Astynax)}=-
"This Space For Rent."


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MuninsFire
Member since Mar-27-07
382 posts
Sep-28-20, 01:39 PM (EDT)
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5. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #4
 
   >> She'd take being uncontrollably revolted by licorice over being unable to
>> enjoy half of Gallic cuisine any day.
>
>The reaction of any properly reasoning sentient being that enjoys
>Earth foods. Also, recent news stories have brought back up the fact
>that licorice is potentially lethal even to people who somehow enjoy
>its taste.
>

Well, I'm so far from 'sane' that I can't even see it on a good day, but I will note that:

- licorice -when properly balanced- is lovely
- Glycyrrhizin -is- problematic in large quantities, yeah, but so is salt
- anise/licorice flavor is utterly essential for certain liqueurs (but it usually gets mixed with a lot of other herbs, except for Ouzo, which is -lovely- but, I admit, an extremely acquired taste)

>> Except vichyssoise, and was that really even cooked? Cold onion soup, blech.
>> Who thought that was a good idea?

I would gather "the French" - inventors of mayonnaise, you know. ;-)

>> "By the government, not the people they're directly protecting. It's...
>> different." Remilia sighed.
>
>Would the government of the area in question in the 1200s have really
>been set up to be, or interested in, paying a monster hunting squad?

I think a better question would be "how many wandering Van Helsings were in the area who would take a bounty on the local vampires" ;-)

--
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome
decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river,
ran
Through caverns measureless to
man
Down to a sunless sea


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Astynax
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Sep-28-20, 02:07 PM (EDT)
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6. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #5
 
   >Well, I'm so far from 'sane' that I can't even see it on a good day,
>but I will note that:
>
>- licorice -when properly balanced- is lovely
>- Glycyrrhizin -is- problematic in large quantities, yeah, but so is
>salt
>- anise/licorice flavor is utterly essential for certain liqueurs (but
>it usually gets mixed with a lot of other herbs, except for Ouzo,
>which is -lovely- but, I admit, an extremely acquired taste)
>

A hint of anise can be tasty, but something as potent as a black licorice candy is another matter. And anyway, the point was that, if forced to choose between licorice and garlic, garlic would be the winner in Planck Time.



-={(Astynax)}=-
"This Space For Rent."


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Peter Eng
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Sep-28-20, 02:32 PM (EDT)
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9. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #4
 
   >
>> "And no one there had ever heard of the Earth Kingdom, or the Fire Nation,
>> or... or anything from the world I knew."
>
>There's Meiling's point of origin generally confirmed. I do sort of
>wonder if she knows how familiar G actually is with her home realm
>(such as being friendly with no less a personage than the Avatar
>herself.)
>

For all we know, she may be from the era of Avatar Roku.

>
>> She'd take being uncontrollably revolted by licorice over being unable to
>> enjoy half of Gallic cuisine any day.
>
>The reaction of any properly reasoning sentient being that enjoys
>Earth foods. Also, recent news stories have brought back up the fact
>that licorice is potentially lethal even to people who somehow enjoy
>its taste.
>

The danger is in the dosage. A guy drank something like a gallon of soy milk a day for months, and started having hormonal shifts.

>
>> "... Wow," she said at length, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the
>> back of one hand. "How can you eat those by the handful like that without
>> an instantly regenerating tongue?"
>> "I grew up with 'em," Meiling said.
>
>This actually left me wondering, everything so far about Meiling has
>screamed earthbender, or at least that culture, to me but I was under
>the impression fire flakes were rather specific to Fire Nation
>territories and settlements (or deliberately cosmopolitan areas, but
>I'm not sure if Meiling is from Korra's time period) so now I'm
>nursing renewed curiosity about just where she hails from.
>

Another viable hypothesis is that she hails from Aang's time as Avatar, and that Ba Sing Se kept a few Fire Nation restaurants.

>
>For a world quite aware of its reliance on magic for some things, they
>have clearly forgotten a lot of the more mundane utility is can
>provide.
>

Magic, sure. Time travel? Maybe not so much.

>
>> "Get me Septième Bureau," he told the operator. "Urgently. Yes, I know what
>> time it is in Paris! I don't care who you have to get out of bed."
>
>This sort of scene always gets a grin, though I am somewhat concerned
>about this "Septième Bureau." IRL there was a Deuxième Bureau that
>was military intelligence in its time, but I haven't found any real
>life analog to Septième, and I'm really hoping it's more of a
>diplomatic or historical records arm of government than darker
>alternatives.
>

That's probably it; similar to the real-world U.S. Army's G-1 through G-5, but G-6 and G-7 deal with magic-specific intelligence work. G-6 is probably Magical Personnel, while G-7 covers Magical Civilians of Importance.

I'm just guessing, though.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.


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Astynax
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Sep-28-20, 02:42 PM (EDT)
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10. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #9
 
   >For all we know, she may be from the era of Avatar Roku.
>

A bit of post-commentary Googling indicates the general she mentioned, Hao, seems to feature in an Aang era story post the main series, though the summary of that doesn't fully match up to what we do know about her past (admittedly not a whole lot, but I'm still guessing it served as inspiration a bit more than groundwork.)


>The danger is in the dosage. A guy drank something like a gallon of
>soy milk a day for months, and started having hormonal shifts.
>

True, anything in enough quantity can become a problem. I was mostly trying to be humorous about somewhat sharing the Scarlet's opinion of licorice, if for vastly different reasons. Clearly that didn't hit the mark.

>Magic, sure. Time travel? Maybe not so much.
>

I didn't think the letter was time traveling, just some light teleportation to ensure prompt delivery where ever the intended recipient might be in the world.


-={(Astynax)}=-
"The magical, and reliable, equivalent of that old parcel service Guaranteed Overnight Delivery."


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Peter Eng
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1698 posts
Sep-28-20, 02:55 PM (EDT)
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11. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #10
 
   >
>>Magic, sure. Time travel? Maybe not so much.
>>
>
>I didn't think the letter was time traveling, just some light
>teleportation to ensure prompt delivery where ever the intended
>recipient might be in the world.
>

Oh, you're right. Still, Remilia didn't do anything fancier than putting the letter in the post. Maybe it'll make sense later.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.


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Gryphonadmin
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Sep-28-20, 03:16 PM (EDT)
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13. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #11
 
   >>I didn't think the letter was time traveling, just some light
>>teleportation to ensure prompt delivery where ever the intended
>>recipient might be in the world.
>
>Oh, you're right. Still, Remilia didn't do anything fancier than
>putting the letter in the post. Maybe it'll make sense later.

Dropping the letter into a postbox was just the ritual part. The magic is in the seal. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
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Star Ranger4
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27. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #13
 
   >
>Dropping the letter into a postbox was just the ritual part. The
>magic is in the seal. :)
>
>--G.

...


...


Oh!!! it is one of THOSE seals... kind of like a sihide's majic coin that disappears the second you take your eye off it? though in this case the sealed letter appears where it NEEDS to be rather than the Sihdie's pocket?


Of COURSE you wernt expecting it!
No One expects the FANNISH INQUISITION!
RCW# 86


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Peter Eng
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30. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #27
 
   >>
>>Dropping the letter into a postbox was just the ritual part. The
>>magic is in the seal. :)
>>
>
>Oh!!! it is one of THOSE seals... kind of like a sidhe's magic coin
>that disappears the second you take your eye off it? though in this
>case the sealed letter appears where it NEEDS to be rather than the
>Sidhe's pocket?

Are you thinking of the spre na skillengah, or "shilling fortune?"

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.


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Star Ranger4
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40. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #30
 
   >
>Are you thinking of the spre na skillengah, or "shilling
>fortune?"
>
Yes, I am.


Of COURSE you wernt expecting it!
No One expects the FANNISH INQUISITION!
RCW# 86


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Gryphonadmin
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32. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #27
 
   >Oh!!! it is one of THOSE seals... kind of like a sihide's majic coin
>that disappears the second you take your eye off it? though in this
>case the sealed letter appears where it NEEDS to be rather than the
>Sihdie's pocket?

Pretty much, yeah. Remilia the Elder's particular specialty as an alchemist was medical preparations, but she was also a keen inventor, and her passion was making substances and artifacts that had spells built into them, so that even non-magic-using people—or people, like her husband, who had innate magical traits but weren't spellcasters in the usual sense—could use them to do magic things.

The perpetual ink is one example; the corresponding ink in A Name to Call Her Own is another; this "witch postal system" is a third, and one that was once in common use (among people who could afford the materials) all over Europe. In D&D terms, the wax in the seal is the material component in this particular spell; writing the address with the correct ink is the somatic component; and putting it in a mailbox is the ritual component.

(And the address is really only symbolic, as we see here. It's addressed to President Auriol at his official residence, but it reached him where he actually was.)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
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Peter Eng
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34. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #32
 
   >
>(And the address is really only symbolic, as we see here. It's
>addressed to President Auriol at his official residence, but it
>reached him where he actually was.)
>

It strikes me that this could be the reason it took two days; one day to get to his official residence, after which it was packed in a diplomatic bag and took one day to get to Brandenburg.

Peter Eng
--
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Gryphonadmin
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36. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #10
 
   >A bit of post-commentary Googling indicates the general she mentioned,
>Hao, seems to feature in an Aang era story post the main series,
>though the summary of that doesn't fully match up to what we do know
>about her past (admittedly not a whole lot, but I'm still guessing it
>served as inspiration a bit more than groundwork.)

Oh, I just noticed this. Different guy. It's a relatively common name.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
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Astynax
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37. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #36
 
   >Oh, I just noticed this. Different guy. It's a relatively common
>name.
>

Hmm, that might throw out my theory about her home town then, since the story he features in has one that would definitely fit the bill (I suppose she could still be from there, just not from then.) Also puts which era she hails from up for grabs again.


-={(Astynax)}=-
"Insert 'Curiosity Intensifies' meme here."


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Gryphonadmin
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12. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #4
 
   >> "You mean when you told me I couldn't go out and see the world, and then
>> immediately went out and saw the world?" Flandre interrupted, but
>> with a mischievous smile rather than the scorn implied by her words.
>
>I believe there's an iron clad rule in the sibling handbook that
>mandated some form of this exchange.

I am prepared to regard that as a virtual certainty, yes.

>Also, it seems that Flandre has perhaps just a hint of competitiveness
>with her sister when it comes to G's affections, in magnitude rather
>than type at least, which is another of those sibling handbook rules I
>think.

Hmm. Perhaps? "Competitiveness" implies a certain underlying insecurity that I'm not sure is there, although the fact that she seems specifically keen on duplicating experiences may suggest otherwise. To be fair to Flandre, she's only been having meaningful interactions with other sapient beings for about five weeks. She's still feeling her way along. As it were.

(As you can probably tell from her internal monologue in this scene, Remilia is aware that they're probably going to have to have A Conversation about this at some point, but, well, one bridge at a time.)

>> "And no one there had ever heard of the Earth Kingdom, or the Fire Nation,
>> or... or anything from the world I knew."
>
>There's Meiling's point of origin generally confirmed. I do sort of
>wonder if she knows how familiar G actually is with her home realm
>(such as being friendly with no less a personage than the Avatar
>herself.)

She didn't at the beginning of that conversation, but, you know, it came up. :)

>> She'd take being uncontrollably revolted by licorice over being unable to
>> enjoy half of Gallic cuisine any day.
>
>The reaction of any properly reasoning sentient being that enjoys
>Earth foods. Also, recent news stories have brought back up the fact
>that licorice is potentially lethal even to people who somehow enjoy
>its taste.

Heh, I just realized something: Eila is used to non-Suomi being put off by salmiakki, but she probably won't be expecting the Lamprey Hiss. :)

>And I have to note, I was already a bit on Team Flandre
>when it came to 'if you had to pick a favorite character at gunpoint'
>purposes, but her sequences here have managed to solidify that

I was a little unsure how I was going to handle Flandre when I started this project, but I have to say I think she's coming along nicely. It's always fun to have a character who's finding out so many things about herself in the mix.

>(I suppose that makes me a Flan Stan... and yes I'm prepared to dodge the
>rotten produce about to be launched in my direction for phrasing it
>that way, it was too good to pass up.)

I have only a limited understanding of the term, in my old age, but I think as long as you don't go around hijacking completely unrelated Twitter threads with demands that everyone buy her album, you'll be OK?

>> "By the government, not the people they're directly protecting. It's...
>> different." Remilia sighed.
>
>Would the government of the area in question in the 1200s have really
>been set up to be, or interested in, paying a monster hunting squad?

In those days, it wouldn't have been "the government" as we understand it today so much as the local gentry—for instance, if Victor and his team went and dealt with, say, a boggart infestation of the vineyards in Champagne, Remilia would have expected them to be paid by the King of Navarre (whose title, oddly, was coterminous with the county of Champagne in the 13th century, despite the fact that Champagne province was nowhere near Navarre, which is in Basque country), not directly by the vintners themselves. The fact that it generally was the latter and not the former gives the arrangement an unpleasant whiff of extortion to Remilia's (relatively) more modern sensibilities.

>> "Not really." Flandre grinned. "A lot of it's pretty common-sense stuff, you
>> know. 'Stay out of direct sunlight, remember silver hurts, and don't randomly
>> attack people, it's rude' isn't exactly high arcana."
>
>The phrasing on the last bit earned a hearty chuckle. Not sure if some
>personal bias is involved in my interpretation but it almost strikes
>me as Addams-esque.

Flandre is much more cheerful than Wednesday, but I could see them having some common interests. :)

While I've never been consciously trying to build exact parallels, the ménage at Scarlet Devil Mansion does give me a little bit of an Addams Family vibe in general—not that they're anything like as bizarre, when you get right down to it, or as interested in matters overtly macabre, but there is that same sense of "these folks would be considered monstrously peculiar by whitebread suburbanites, but are in fact the strongest family."

(I have always loved that little detail about both The Addams Family and The Munsters—the fact that the "monsters" on both shows are the best people in their settings.

>This actually left me wondering, everything so far about Meiling has
>screamed earthbender, or at least that culture, to me but I was under
>the impression fire flakes were rather specific to Fire Nation
>territories and settlements (or deliberately cosmopolitan areas, but
>I'm not sure if Meiling is from Korra's time period) so now I'm
>nursing renewed curiosity about just where she hails from.

Well, with luck, you should have a better sense of that soon. A mini covering the gap in her story this act (i.e., most of what she talked with Gryphon about) is in the works, to be put up as a sort of bookend to A Name to Call Her Own, and it should answer most of the remaining questions about her background.

>These two are almost frighteningly cute together, and Meiling has
>really come into her own on the page, something of a dark horse
>contender to the 'if you had to pick one at gunpoint' stakes among the
>characters.

Yeah, I like Meiling a lot. Well, I like all these characters a lot, or I wouldn't be working with them, but Meiling's special because she's just so not complicated. Not everybody has to be complicated! Sometimes it's OK to have a character like Meiling, or Nyima, whose Hidden Depths mostly have to do with her stomach. :)

(I will now invite you to picture Nyima and Meiling fighting crime. Or bankrupting a dim sum place. Whichever you prefer. Or, you know, ¿por qué no los dos? :)

>> "C'est impossible," Auriol mumbled.
>
>For a world quite aware of its reliance on magic for some things, they
>have clearly forgotten a lot of the more mundane utility is can
>provide.

Mm. To modern politicians like M. Auriol, magic is a thing you strap propellers to and point at the Neuroi. Its subtler manifestations are easily forgotten.

>This sort of scene always gets a grin, though I am somewhat concerned
>about this "Septième Bureau." IRL there was a Deuxième Bureau that
>was military intelligence in its time, but I haven't found any real
>life analog to Septième, and I'm really hoping it's more of a
>diplomatic or historical records arm of government than darker
>alternatives.

To give its full title, le Septième Bureau du Ministère de l'Intérieur ("the Seventh Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior") is the Gallian civilian government's principal agency for managing, coordinating, and recording non-military matters to do with magic and the supernatural—compared to, for instance, the Liberion federal government's Department of Paranormal Affairs. (Matters of military magic are handled by the appropriate department within the Ministry of the Armed Forces.)

It should not be confused with the aforementioned military intelligence agency, le Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général ("Second Bureau of the General Staff"), the intelligence arm of the Third Republic's Army General Staff, which perished along with the Third Republic itself when the Neuroi occupied Gallia, and was not reconstituted by the Fourth Republic (at least not under that name). In its day, Deuxième Bureau was notable mainly for wildly underestimating the potential threat posed by the Neuroi in both twentieth-century Neuroi Wars and blithely assuring President Pétain that Ostmark and Karlsland fell because their armed forces were insufficiently patriotic.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Astynax
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15. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #12
 
   >Hmm. Perhaps? "Competitiveness" implies a certain underlying
>insecurity that I'm not sure is there, although the fact that she
>seems specifically keen on duplicating experiences may suggest
>otherwise. To be fair to Flandre, she's only been having meaningful
>interactions with other sapient beings for about five weeks. She's
>still feeling her way along. As it were.
>

I think it's the replication of experiences that gives off that vibe. Might be I'm not pulling the right word for it from my mental thesaurus though, since it seems less about who 'wins' and more about a certain sense of fairness through the lens of someone who isn't quite past the 'fair means precisely equal, right' stage, for the rather obvious reason you've noted.

>(As you can probably tell from her internal monologue in this scene,
>Remilia is aware that they're probably going to have to have A
>Conversation about this at some point, but, well, one bridge at a
>time.)
>

I look forward to seeing who will be more embarrassed by those proceedings.

>I have only a limited understanding of the term, in my old age, but I
>think as long as you don't go around hijacking completely unrelated
>Twitter threads with demands that everyone buy her album, you'll be
>OK?
>

This being UF, while she doesn't have one yet, she might end up with an album one day.

>In those days, it wouldn't have been "the government" as we understand
>it today so much as the local gentry—for instance, if Victor and
>his team went and dealt with, say, a boggart infestation of the
>vineyards in Champagne, Remilia would have expected them to be paid by
>the King of Navarre (whose title, oddly, was coterminous with the
>county of Champagne in the 13th century, despite the fact that
>Champagne province was nowhere near Navarre, which is in Basque
>country), not directly by the vintners themselves. The fact that it
>generally was the latter and not the former gives the arrangement an
>unpleasant whiff of extortion to Remilia's (relatively) more modern
>sensibilities.
>

Something of a Witcher vibe there, though Count Victor seemed notably more genial than Geralt ever has been.

>Flandre is much more cheerful than Wednesday, but I could see them
>having some common interests. :)
>
>While I've never been consciously trying to build exact parallels, the
>ménage at Scarlet Devil Mansion does give me a little
>bit of an Addams Family vibe in general—not that they're
>anything like as bizarre, when you get right down to it, or as
>interested in matters overtly macabre, but there is that same sense of
>"these folks would be considered monstrously peculiar by whitebread
>suburbanites, but are in fact the strongest family."
>

I am, as the hip saying goes, here for that.
Though I'm also the sort of person who keeps Halloween decoration up around the house more or less permanently, so there's that bias to account for when it comes to a fondness for lovable 'monster' people.

>(I have always loved that little detail about both The Addams
>Family
and The Munsters—the fact that the "monsters"
>on both shows are the best people in their settings.
>

Indeed. Gomez and Morticia are pretty much aspirational figures for how to live life (in spirit if not specifics,) and I don't recall as much of the Munsters but I do recall Herman being basically the equivalent of a huge, friendly dog in sentient person form.

>Well, with luck, you should have a better sense of that soon. A mini
>covering the gap in her story this act (i.e., most of what she talked
>with Gryphon about) is in the works, to be put up as a sort of bookend
>to A Name to Call Her Own, and it should answer most of the
>remaining questions about her background.
>

Looking forward to that. I mean, some of it will being putting Meiling through a bit of a wringer I gather, so not so much that aspect, but the more general 'getting to know the cast' portion.

>Yeah, I like Meiling a lot. Well, I like all these characters a lot,
>or I wouldn't be working with them, but Meiling's special because
>she's just so not complicated. Not everybody has to be
>complicated! Sometimes it's OK to have a character like Meiling, or
>Nyima, whose Hidden Depths mostly have to do with her stomach. :)
>
>(I will now invite you to picture Nyima and Meiling fighting crime.
>Or bankrupting a dim sum place. Whichever you prefer. Or, you know,
>¿por qué no los dos? :)
>

heh, to quote the lady herself, 'I heard that.'
Though I am getting a mental 404 on Nyima, and Google is not furnishing ready results without more details. Not sure if I'm simply spacing on a character, or if I missed something.

>To give its full title, le Septième Bureau du
>Ministère de l'Intérieur
("the Seventh Bureau of the
>Ministry of the Interior") is the Gallian civilian government's
>principal agency for managing, coordinating, and recording
>non-military matters to do with magic and the
>supernatural—compared to, for instance, the Liberion federal
>government's Department of Paranormal Affairs. (Matters of military
>magic are handled by the appropriate department within the Ministry of
>the Armed Forces.)
>

Ah, so not explicitly shadowy and nefarious, well no more so than a government agency with such a remit would have to be. At least so long as they are more MIB than SCP.


-={(Astynax)}=-
"We at the FBI do not have a sense of humor that we're aware of."


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Gryphonadmin
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17. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #15
 
   LAST EDITED ON Sep-28-20 AT 04:45 PM (EDT)
 
>I think it's the replication of experiences that gives off that vibe.
>Might be I'm not pulling the right word for it from my mental
>thesaurus though, since it seems less about who 'wins' and more about
>a certain sense of fairness through the lens of someone who isn't
>quite past the 'fair means precisely equal, right' stage, for the
>rather obvious reason you've noted.

That, or she's not to the point yet where she's having her own ideas about things to do, and is just following the published dance card, as it were. :)

>>(As you can probably tell from her internal monologue in this scene,
>>Remilia is aware that they're probably going to have to have A
>>Conversation about this at some point, but, well, one bridge at a
>>time.)
>
>I look forward to seeing who will be more embarrassed by those
>proceedings.

Oh, I suspect that will be me, when the time comes. ;)

>This being UF, while she doesn't have one yet, she might end up with
>an album one day.

It is entirely conceivable.

>Indeed. Gomez and Morticia are pretty much aspirational figures for
>how to live life (in spirit if not specifics,) and I don't recall as
>much of the Munsters but I do recall Herman being basically the
>equivalent of a huge, friendly dog in sentient person form.

Herman and Lily were more direct parodies of the classic family-sitcom parents—the well-meaning bumbler and the eternally patient nurturer. Markedly less eccentric than Gomez and Morticia, despite the fact that he's a Frankenstein monster and she's a vampire. :)

>>(I will now invite you to picture Nyima and Meiling fighting crime.
>>Or bankrupting a dim sum place. Whichever you prefer. Or, you know,
>>¿por qué no los dos? :)
>
>heh, to quote the lady herself, 'I heard that.'
>Though I am getting a mental 404 on Nyima, and Google is not
>furnishing ready results without more details. Not sure if I'm simply
>spacing on a character, or if I missed something.

Nyima's one of the Air Nomads who appear in The Order of the Rose and The Dìqiú Suite. She's one of the descendants of Aang in that era, an airbending prodigy, and has the same kind of open-book honesty about her (as well as a similar confidence in her physical ability that's offset by an underlying insecurity, in Nyima's case about her looks rather than her intellect).

>Ah, so not explicitly shadowy and nefarious, well no more so than a
>government agency with such a remit would have to be.

Mm. Notably, Septième Bureau is not a secret agency, but an overt arm of the Ministry of the Interior. If you do anything magic-related in Gallia that isn't connected with the national defense (such as, for instance, operating a divination service for the finding of lost objects, or maintaining a church organ that is powered by aeolian spirits), you deal with the 7ème Bureau as a matter of course.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Peter Eng
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Sep-29-20, 00:10 AM (EDT)
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26. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #15
 
   >
>This being UF, while she doesn't have one yet, (Flandre) might end up with
>an album one day.
>

The Scarlet Devil Mansion Quintet?

Peter Eng
--
The name sounds better in the original French.


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Astynax
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29. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #26
 
   >The name sounds better in the original French.

Any band using the mansion's name in its own would probably be required to use its French form by Remilia's decree, and general aesthetics.


-={(Astynax)}=-
"This Space For Rent."


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Hazard
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Sep-28-20, 05:10 PM (EDT)
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19. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #12
 
   >Heh, I just realized something: Eila is used to non-Suomi being put
>off by salmiakki, but she probably won't be expecting the
>Lamprey Hiss. :)

She may be surprised by how much her salmiakki supply is at risk when faced with Dutch colleagues. We eat a lot of licorice here, and 'salmiak drop' is just one more flavour to us.

>In those days, it wouldn't have been "the government" as we understand
>it today so much as the local gentry—for instance, if Victor and
>his team went and dealt with, say, a boggart infestation of the
>vineyards in Champagne, Remilia would have expected them to be paid by
>the King of Navarre (whose title, oddly, was coterminous with the
>county of Champagne in the 13th century, despite the fact that
>Champagne province was nowhere near Navarre, which is in Basque
>country), not directly by the vintners themselves. The fact that it
>generally was the latter and not the former gives the arrangement an
>unpleasant whiff of extortion to Remilia's (relatively) more modern
>sensibilities.

An understandable but mistaken understanding of medieval era politics. The king may've had a lot to say about things, but only as long as he's there. Something like a crew of monster hunters would, in fact, be hired by the local lord or by the baron.

If the king is directly hiring a monster hunting crew and he's not the liege lord of the village something has gone drastically wrong and he's not hiring a crew of monster hunters, he's acquiring monster hunting expertise for his army because his liege men can't handle the situation themselves and need to call upon their lord for support.


Also keep in mind that for a considerable length of time the English crown held Normandy and Aquitaine in fief, and the Netherlands as a region have been part of the Habsburg dynasty for centuries, first the Spanish branch and then the Austrian branch.

Nations as a conceptual thing more or less post date the medieval era here in Europe, during the medieval era there was certainly a king of the Franks, or the English, or the Spaniards, but loyalty was in the end not given to the crown, but towards the one bearing that crown.

>(I have always loved that little detail about both The Addams
>Family
and The Munsters—the fact that the "monsters"
>on both shows are the best people in their settings.

Very good parents too. Sure, they were weird, but in general good people.


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Gryphonadmin
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Sep-28-20, 05:14 PM (EDT)
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20. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #19
 
   >An understandable but mistaken understanding of medieval era politics.
>The king may've had a lot to say about things, but only as long as
>he's there. Something like a crew of monster hunters would, in fact,
>be hired by the local lord or by the baron.

In this particular instance (Champagne in the 1200s), the King of Navarre and the Count of Champagne were the same person. This is weird, since, as I noted, Navarre is nowhere near Champagne, but there you go.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Hazard
Member since Sep-10-20
7 posts
Sep-28-20, 05:57 PM (EDT)
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21. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #20
 
   >>An understandable but mistaken understanding of medieval era politics.
>>The king may've had a lot to say about things, but only as long as
>>he's there. Something like a crew of monster hunters would, in fact,
>>be hired by the local lord or by the baron.
>
>In this particular instance (Champagne in the 1200s), the King of
>Navarre and the Count of Champagne were the same person. This is
>weird, since, as I noted, Navarre is nowhere near Champagne,
>but there you go.

Not weird at all actually. Dynastic inheritance could and did cause that sort of nonsense, the full list of the titles of the King of the Netherlands includes multiple counties, baronies and lordships in Germany and France. You see something similar with things like banks and real estate moguls, especially when an inheritance or corporate takeover brings widely separated properties together under the same owner.

And again, it's likely the local lord or baron that would hire monster hunters, as that's kind of part of their job as the direct liege of the area being affected. If the local liege held a higher ranking title or was just not around he'd generally assign a reliable agent to act on his behalf.


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Star Ranger4
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Oct-02-20, 05:07 PM (EDT)
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38. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #12
 
   >
>(I will now invite you to picture Nyima and Meiling fighting crime.
>Or bankrupting a dim sum place. Whichever you prefer. Or, you know,
>¿por qué no los dos? :)
>

...


...


so...


(movie announcer voice?)

*SHE bends Air*

*SHE Bends Earth!!!*

Together, THEY FIGHT CRIME~~~~!!!!!!! (???)


Of COURSE you wernt expecting it!
No One expects the FANNISH INQUISITION!
RCW# 86


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Proginoskes
Member since Dec-3-09
167 posts
Oct-02-20, 06:53 PM (EDT)
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42. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #38
 
   I think Meiling, given her repeated claims of dragonhood, is just as likely to either bend fire, or bend water as an extension of her frost breath weapon. (What would a breath weapon associated with earth look like, anyway?)


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Gryphonadmin
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Oct-02-20, 06:57 PM (EDT)
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43. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #42
 
   >I think Meiling, given her repeated claims of dragonhood, is just as
>likely to either bend fire, or bend water as an extension of her frost
>breath weapon. (What would a breath weapon associated with earth look
>like, anyway?)

Probably some sort of sandstorm, Pokémon style. (In D&D, they'd likely go for a petrification ray.)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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rwpikul
Member since Jun-22-03
202 posts
Oct-04-20, 09:41 PM (EDT)
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44. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #43
 
   >>I think Meiling, given her repeated claims of dragonhood, is just as
>>likely to either bend fire, or bend water as an extension of her frost
>>breath weapon. (What would a breath weapon associated with earth look
>>like, anyway?)
>
>Probably some sort of sandstorm, Pokémon style. (In D&D,
>they'd likely go for a petrification ray.)

Acid is another choice, part way through the 3.x era there was a linking of energy types to elements:

Fire - Fire
Water - Cold
Air - Lightning
Earth - Acid

--
Chakat Firepaw - Inventor & Scientist (Mad)


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zwol
Member since Feb-24-12
248 posts
Sep-28-20, 03:28 PM (EDT)
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14. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #4
 
   LAST EDITED ON Sep-28-20 AT 03:30 PM (EDT)
 
>> "... Wow," she said at length, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the
>> back of one hand. "How can you eat those by the handful like that without
>> an instantly regenerating tongue?"
>> "I grew up with 'em," Meiling said.
>
>This actually left me wondering, everything so far about Meiling has
>screamed earthbender, or at least that culture, to me but I was under
>the impression fire flakes were rather specific to Fire Nation
>territories and settlements (or deliberately cosmopolitan areas, but
>I'm not sure if Meiling is from Korra's time period) so now I'm
>nursing renewed curiosity about just where she hails from.

Whether she's from the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom or what, I don't know. And someone more familiar with ATLA lore might be able to fix her time period based on the mention of General Hao, but to me that's just a "huh that sounds familiar."

But she keeps saying she's a dragon. I don't think that's a joke.


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Star Ranger4
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Sep-29-20, 00:02 AM (EDT)
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24. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #4
 
   >
>There's Meiling's point of origin generally confirmed. I do sort of
>wonder if she knows how familiar G actually is with her home realm
>(such as being friendly with no less a personage than the Avatar
>herself.)
>
In my own opinion, I don't think she does. In general, though, I think she (Meiling) grew up on a town right on the Earth / Fire nation border, so even if her town might be more Earth nation, something like Fire Nation snacks could easily made the crossing.

Though this begs the question of how Flandre could handle them (though it seems like she had an NC-18 experience as she tried them) while Remilia the Younger could not?


Of COURSE you wernt expecting it!
No One expects the FANNISH INQUISITION!
RCW# 86


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Gryphonadmin
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Sep-29-20, 00:08 AM (EDT)
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25. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #24
 
   LAST EDITED ON Sep-29-20 AT 00:10 AM (EDT)
 
>Though this begs the question of how Flandre could handle them (though
>it seems like she had an NC-18 experience as she tried them) while
>Remilia the Younger could not?

Mulish determination and a higher thrill/regret threshold. :)

--G.
"I feel like I'm witnessing an awakening I shouldn't be witnessing."
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Astynax
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Sep-29-20, 00:19 AM (EDT)
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28. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #24
 
   >Though this begs the question of how Flandre could handle them (though
>it seems like she had an NC-18 experience as she tried them) while
>Remilia the Younger could not?

Some folks just like their spice more than others. Plus she seemed to very much enjoy the endorphins, and since she knows she can regenerate the damage is more than happy to pay the price for them.

I actually expect Remilia could have tanked them if she really thought she needed to, she just didn't enjoy the experience and wanted it done with.


-={(Astynax)}=-
"I thought it was NC-17, or am I that out of date when it comes to movie ratings since I stream everything anymore?"


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Gryphonadmin
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20538 posts
Sep-29-20, 02:30 PM (EDT)
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35. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #28
 
   >I actually expect Remilia could have tanked them if she really thought
>she needed to, she just didn't enjoy the experience and wanted it done
>with.

I would say this is an accurate read. She could handle that much discomfort if she had to, but she doesn't get her kicks that way.

(Also, unlike Flandre, she went into it expecting a different experience. She thought it would be sweet—if you don't know what they are, they look like some kind of flake candy.)

>"I thought it was NC-17, or am I that out of date when it comes to
>movie ratings since I stream everything anymore?"

It is NC-17; possibly SR was conflating it mentally with R-18, the cover tag for adult doujinshi.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Star Ranger4
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Oct-02-20, 05:26 PM (EDT)
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41. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #35
 
   >
>It is NC-17; possibly SR was conflating it mentally with R-18, the
>cover tag for adult doujinshi.
>
Kind of???


Of COURSE you wernt expecting it!
No One expects the FANNISH INQUISITION!
RCW# 86


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Peter Eng
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1698 posts
Sep-28-20, 02:17 PM (EDT)
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7. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #0
 
   "Once we're in a time and place where it's legal," Sakuya added.

Ah, something Gryphon missed in the process of bringing them up to date. Not surprising, since to him it's the normal way of things.

Kindly permit me to introduce myself:

...I am a vampire of wealth and taste... No, wait, that's something else. (Also, anachronistic.)

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.


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Astynax
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856 posts
Sep-28-20, 02:23 PM (EDT)
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8. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #7
 
   >Kindly permit me to introduce myself:
>
>...I am a vampire of wealth and taste... No, wait, that's something
>else. (Also, anachronistic.)
>

Yet remarkably accurate.


-={(Astynax)}=-
"Though a vampire speaking about taste might seem a bit threatening to those unfamiliar with them except in myth."


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Peter Eng
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1698 posts
Sep-29-20, 00:24 AM (EDT)
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31. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #7
 
   "I once knew another young woman who fell into that kind of role in a small farming community," (Gryphon) said.

It took me a moment, but I think this is Tali again.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.


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Gryphonadmin
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20538 posts
Sep-29-20, 00:33 AM (EDT)
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33. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #31
 
   >"I once knew another young woman who fell into that kind of role in
>a small farming community," (Gryphon) said.

>
>It took me a moment, but I think this is Tali again.

Yup, it is.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Astynax
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Sep-28-20, 06:07 PM (EDT)
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22. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #0
 
   If the household is seeking a musical challenge for their next iteration of Not Actually Open Mic night, they might consider this.

(The timing of Youtube's Infernal Algorithm presenting that to me right after reading this segment featuring a duet of the same instruments, with added relevance due to character connection, made this compelling to share.)


-={(Astynax)}=-
"It isn't classical of course, but perhaps in universe one of them composed it."


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Gryphonadmin
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20538 posts
Sep-28-20, 06:43 PM (EDT)
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23. "RE: GG Book 2 Act III: Déclaration de Position"
In response to message #22
 
   >If the household is seeking a musical challenge for their next
>iteration of Not Actually Open Mic night, they might consider
>this.
>
>"It isn't classical of course, but perhaps in universe one of them
>composed it."

Given the title, I would guess Remilia, in a reflective mood.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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