In the beginning...

I'm a storyteller at heart. I may not have the best tales to spin, or the best voice for spinning them, but I love to tell stories and I love to hear them. There's something wonderful about being involved, as audience or storyteller, in a world invented specifically for the excitement, the wonder, and sometimes even the education of the people involved in it.

I reckon that it's this love of story-telling that first drew me to roleplaying, an activity that has at various times led me to associate with actors and with gamers, but that's peripheral to what's been on my mind today, and perhaps that's a topic I'll delve into at another time.

As a child, I can remember deriving no greater pleasure than to become completely engrossed in a story. I was an avid reader (I still adore books, but my rate of consumption has plummeted since I "discovered" the Internet!), even to the extent of tackling some of the modern "classics" (most notably "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth") long before I was able to appreciate their impact, just because the stories that played out between the covers were so exciting to me. And when I first found out about audiobooks, I can remember spending an entire afternoon sitting in my bedroom with a tape recorder reading one of my favorite Pee Wee Scouts books. I only had one cassette, and I remember how disappointed I was that I wasn't able to fit the entire book onto it...I had the entire book except for the last chapter on that tape! There's no stopping a devoted 7 year old, though; I'm pretty sure I remember reading the last few pages out loud to myself.

So my love of storytelling runs deep, and it runs early. By accounts I've been told, I was a pretty bright kid, as well, always questioning and wanting to learn more about the world around me. And I love my parents because when I would ask them questions, they'd always try to answer them for me, and as often as not that question would come in the form of a story, a fable, a tall tale...or even sometimes just an invention of pure fancy.

I remember especially a time when I was a youngster, probably also 7 years old, although I might have been 6, when I was in the garage with my dad, and I could see the trees blowing in the wind through the open garage door. I asked my dad what cause the wind, prepared to refute the oft-cited Sneezing Trees Hypothesis with a resounding "nuh-uh!" (even back then I was suspicious of this common explanation. You have to have a nose to sneeze, and I never in my life have seen a tree with a nose). But rather than the expected response, my dad must have noticed what had caught my attention and provoked my question - he gave me a simple "the wind is cause when trees move". Now how much sense does that make when you're 7 years old? You're old enough to know that trees make food from sunlight with their leaves, and the sun moves across the sky. And mom would always turn the houseplants sitting next to the windows because they would always lean toward the sun and she didn't want them to look lopsided. So of course it made sense that trees would move their leaves to follow the sun, thus creating wind. Voilà, the story of wind was created!

It wasn't until some years later I learned more of the details of photosynthesis, and that, although trees do shift to follow the sun, the movements are too slow and too slight to cause any sort of atmospheric interferance, even in a large forested area.

But even after all these years, the impact of the story of photosynthesis and the wind has stayed with me. It's helped me come to appreciate all the stories we hear, we tell, and we come up with every day. A story doesn't have to have unicorns or flying turtles to be fantastic, and oftentimes a plausible story can be far more exciting than the actual facts.

And sometimes, all it takes is a little story to reveal just how mysterious and wonderful the Truth can be.

Today is Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. Today is the day we've set aside to recognize and honor the men and women who've died in military service. But Memorial Day is a federal holiday, and my greatest fear is that as soon as someone implies government to something, that thing becomes immediately politicized.

As a matter of personal philosophy and moral code, I call myself a pacifist and even a conscientious objector. I do not like violence and war, and fundamentally disagree with many of the justifications offered for both. However, even though I'm strong in my convictions, I'm not blinded by them. Although it pains me, I see that violence and war are integral parts of the social fabric not only of our country, but of all the nations on Earth, and while that is true, no matter how much I protest it, I must acknowledge that conflict occurs, militaries are created, and wars waged. And as a result, people die.

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. Today is the day we've set aside to recognize and honor the men and women who've died in military service. No matter one's political leanings, no matter one's convictions about the waging of war (or the reasons for doing so), today is a day of remembrance. Whether wreathed in tragedy or heroism, the death of every man and woman who's had their life cut short while in service to their country has impacted us. Hold the memories of these men and women in the light. Hold their families, friends, and loved ones in the light. Today of all days, I think we should be able to put aside partisan philosophies and vitriolic opinions, and come together with fellow Americans to mourn the lives that have been lost, and celebrate the cause they served - protecting the United States so that this country can work to become the best nation it possibly can.

We still have a long way to go, I think, but some day I hope the men and women who died in service to this country will be proud of us.

What do all villains have in common?

They monologue right before the protagonist whups the tar out of them!

And on the topic of bad-guy monologues, this may be one of the most "villainous" ones I've ever heard; it rides that beautifully fine line between truly evil, and utterly campy. It's spoken by Galactic Boss Cyrus in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (and probably Platinum as well), so if you'll bear with me please and try not to ridicule me too much for quoting a Pokémon game...

"...I see. You must be the Trainer I've been hearing about. The foolhardy one that's trying to stand up to Team Galactic. Although I'd hardly expected to see that the Trainer is a mere child. I'd heard that our Commanders had a rough time with you..."

((here's where it gets good!))

"I know why you're here, I can sense it in you. It's about UXIE, MESPRIT, and AZELF, correct? You want to save them... I no longer have any need for them. I am finished with them. If your heart aches to save them, go right ahead, I could care less. It will save me the trouble of disposing of them. But I must say... You are a remarkable specimen. Those Pokémon have nothing to do with you, do they not? But still you came to rescue them out of pity? Such pitifully useless emotions... It's illogical and irrational. Pity and compassion are products of the weak and lacking human heart. You were compelled to come here by such vacuous sentimentality! I will make you regret paying heed to your heart!"

Not bad for a kid's video game, huh?

PLUR!

GraphViz first run, Daeva draft

Social network "wheel" created using GraphViz for the Daeva clan in Venture by Night game. Image is draft, and has since been updated and edited.

Blue arrow = clan connection
Red arrow = work on the same team
Green arrow = covenant connection

click image to enlarge

Eden history - London

Although I haven't felt much motivation to do so recently (I recently stopped playing a long-term RPG character who was very word-intensive, and took a lot of my creative energy), I write occasionally. Back a couple years ago, I got a spark of an idea for a "probable future" idea in which many of the world's major urban centers had become, or were becoming Soleri-esque arcologies. I wrote a few short pieces, then got super-busy with coursework and set it down for a while. The idea's never left my head, though. Every once in a while, I go back to it, try to take a fresh perspective, write something new. In my head it's become less of a story than a hypothetical documentary. This is one of the first pieces I wrote, and it takes place in the city of London. Please observe all applicable copyright rulings.



It started in London. When the Labour “dynasty” of the end of the 20^th and beginning of the 21^st century finally fell to the increasingly popular Conservative party, things changed. There was no telling whether it was for the better or the worse the way things came together. The middle classes’ xenophobia blossomed, and entwined itself about the heavily promoted Future London conservation movement. Heavy emphasis was put on making Greater London a more sustainable city, and much work was done to make London’s infrastructure more sustainable for its residents. However, immigrants were less than welcome in the city, and many moved north and east, if they chose to come to England at all.

In spite of slowed immigration into the city London’s population was at its highest point in history, but Londoners stoically resisted plans to expand of the city. Ecological consciousness had been so ingrained into the minds of the people they consistently voted down proposals to “sprawl” into productive arable land. Petitions were created to limit urban growth and protect the surrounding environs. By June of 2012, London’s preparations for the Olympic games were complete. The city had never before been so clean, efficient, or state-of-the-art. The city’s infrastructure was sufficient for its burgeoning population, there were factors city planners had failed to consider. The 2009 capture and execution of Osama bin Ladin and the United States’ subsequent relaxation of their vigilante War on Terror sparked overwhelming expressions of international goodwill and a tremendous increase in international travel. The addition of several million more Olympic spectators than expected taxed London’s systems to their limit and beyond, quickly causing tensions to mount.

The riots started on 2^nd August, 2012. The summer heat ignited tensions that were already smoldering from severe overcrowding and delays on the Tube (in spite of the London Underground’s decision to operate their trains 24 hours a day), the Central London congestion charge, rolling blackouts, and food shortages in supermarkets and restaurants. Several local organizations banded together to protest the unexpected large Olympic crowds, but angry demonstrations flared into violence between protestors and police as one protestor was shot dead by an unknown killer, and a car bomb exploded mid-afternoon outside the BBC. The bomb hurt no one directly, but it smashed open the floodgates for citywide chaos. The riots lasted for most of two days and resulted in over £8.6 million in property damage – much of it in upscale Central London – but were getting less severe, and almost died out entirely. Then on 4^th August, a water main in Greenwich burst, depriving a large section of eastern London of running water. Fueled by this tragedy, the riots redoubled their intensity and raged on for another three days.

For the first time since their inception in 1896, the Olympic games had to be ended early because of the violent civil unrest. England was outraged, and accused several known terrorist groups of inciting the riots and blowing up the water main. Security measures were tightened, and severe restrictions were placed on immigration. Many of England’s critics, including some former sympathizers from the European Union, countered that London’s infrastructure had simply not been sufficient. Whether the critics were correct or not, London had been crippled by the Olympic riots. With billions of pounds of aid from the sympathetic nations, largely the United States and Israel, England began a massive campaign to restore its capitol’s infrastructure. During the reconstruction project the pendulum of political opinion began to swing back in favor of the Labour party, and soon the cry for “restoration” became one of “improvement.”

London had limited her options for improvement, however. Past conservation petitions had become current law, and the city could not expand its boundaries without great turmoil. Expanding the Underground was feasible, but was terribly expensive, and could only be developed so far before threatening the integrity of the aboveground city. In a controversial decision, the boroughs of Inner London decided to build upward rather than out. Foundations and lower stories of the undamaged and restored buildings were reinforced, while many damaged buildings and roadways were simply removed, and converted to service and transport lines to augment those underground. “Conspiracy theory” headlines ran almost weekly in The Sun, and declared that London was moving the Underground onto the surface. The true purpose was revealed when the first of the Great Braces were erected in Hammersmith. Soon huge metal pylons and struts were being erected throughout all the boroughs, and the spaces between were filled in and paved over. The headlines were right: the Underground had been raised to ground level. However, a new ground level had been raised above it. The boroughs had come together and agreed to cooperatively rebuild their boroughs as arcologies, massive structures containing the entire necessary infrastructure for urban life, but didn’t infringe too much on the natural world. Some people, largely fans of science fiction, began to call the new arcologies the London Hive – referencing the multi-storied mega cities in some novels – and the name caught on.

Although weakened by the Olympic riots, it wasn’t long before the London Hive regained its status as a major financial and commercial center. Because of the new construction that was going on, London Hive saw a revival in heavy industries as well. The new infrastructure required constant maintenance, and the demand for unskilled and semi-skilled laborers skyrocketed. Paradoxically to England’s new xenophobic culture, many immigrants were assimilated by London into low-level maintenance jobs…and low-level lifestyles. The wealthier sectors of London’s population moved “up top” to the new construction on top of the Braces, leaving lots of space below the Surface for the service workers to fill up. In less than 15 years London’s population density more than doubled, and crime rates skyrocketed – especially drug and arms trading, and racketeering. The Metropolitan Police Service first partnered with then absorbed the Terrestrial Army, and police presence doubled on the Surface and quintupled below it.

For the first decade or so, London Hive was unique, but as the Hive’s construction neared completion, the model was adapted to New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Atlanta at the encouragement of the FDA, big agricultural lobbies, and a hodgepodge of conservation groups. Shortly following the announcement of Atlanta’s conversion, Paris and Prague announced their own plans, and a BBC documentary revealed that several large cities in the People’s Republic of China had already started their own Hive conversion projects.

Encouraged by the success of the Hive model into existing cities, plans were made for the creation of the first purpose-built hive city on Akilia Island, an island off the coast of Greenland with some of the oldest geological formations in the world. When the UN announced that it planned to move it’s headquarters to Akilia, international support for the city went through the roof. In the midst of the international celebration, Dr. Rhodes of Oxford University and Dr. Shope of Princeton University released a joint report, the Hive Under-Surface Report, detailing some of the gang activity and human atrocities taking place beneath the Surface in London Hive and the newly completed Queens Hive.

By then, however, it was too late; construction of Eden had already begun.

((PLUR!))

I pitched this to some of my gaming buddies last night

I think it'd be funny to play a D&D game where one of the characters comes from the Internet. He'd worship the G0d of In7ern3tz, who would have sent him on a noble quest that, if he achieves epic win, will allow him to become a mini-god (a "mod", you see) who can wield the power of the mighty artifact, the Banhammer, against his enemies. He'd be a multiclass character, a sorcerer that specializes in flame spells, and a ranger who's favoured enemy is "troll".

The most hilarious thing about it is that the character, both in mechanics and tropes, exhibits almost no deviation from the "standard" character types you see in D&D games, so if there was ever a DM demented enough to allow this ridiculous character, it would be completely internally consistent!

PLUR!

Is it contagious?

British pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor has "the skin of a killer". And if not for Stephanie Meyer, I never would have known.

Beware, friends! Vampires walk among us, and not just in the American Pacific Northwest any longer!

PLUR!