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Ok, I admit that I've failed somewhere before. But anyway welcome. Just a brief intro on what you should expect here:
1. Football. Not gonna post much of that any soon since season is over. :S
2. Anime, Games, etc. Just abt anything conceivable under the Japanese radar barring anything and everything Rule 34. Now that's illegal. Period. -.-;
3. Music. Everything to do with it is listed under the tab.
5. Unacceptable humour: Anything and everything is fair game here. As long as I don't get rounded up by the ISA. -.-'

6.
The Known World=Fantasy world building in process. I: Used to be glossary, now devoted to random rambling; II: Character Concepts; III: Lore.
7. der Wolf=my Fictionpress account under the moniker Tsumujikaze no Soujutsu. A Ranger's Tale is hosted under this page. :)
8. New section now upped. Maybe I should also gun for upping A Ranger's Tale here since I do have this funny feeling that traffic coming to here is way more than whatever I'll get in FP.

Statement of intent: Everything said here is a figment of personal opinion, be it me or anybody commenting. I try to be responsible, but my parents=/=parents of the world.

@Druid of Luhn: Crap. Should have remembered far earlier to give you the credit for your CSS text box code. :(

A/N: But sadly, it seems that your CSS text box code has now been halved efficiency wise. :(

That most important note I should have added: Any images posted in this blog are NOT my own stuff. I got them from Google image search, I don't earn any shit by being a thief and liar. Those responsible for the pictures, rest assured that you all are great artists in your own regards. Sadly, we all know what limited space means in terms of posting.

Latest Note: Changed alignment for my page widgets due to my worry that I can't centre align the thing.

Note on A Ranger's Tale: In case any complaining fella wants to have a legal case with me, let this be known that A Ranger's Tale is rated M by default. I've upped the swearing and somewhat a bit on the dark/gritty factor. You all have been warned, let no little boy and girl enter the forbidden realm.

Latest on ART: A Ranger's Tale now starting to kick back in gear. But I really hate the insanely fluctuating climate here in S'pore.

P.S: Oh, and one more thing. Vid below is yet another ideal OP for A Ranger's Tale.

Saturday 30 August 2014

Tis scientifically proven, guys and girls... Epilog

Okay, gonna try making everything count here. Apart from that... well, nothing else I guess.

A/N: Heartfelt congrats to our Lions XII for winning Pahang 2-1 at away. Quintessentially, this means Boro will either lose or draw against Reading at home tomorrow. Simply put, basic footballing pragmatism still demands from me a prolonged trip to Teesside, no matter what. At least the Riverside faithful have plenty more to lose worst come to worst...

Add A/N: Since we Singaporeans have our own unique culture for our own Lions XII, I might as well try pulling a rabbit out of the hat as a form of pre-match motivation for our lads at the good ol' Teessside. Hopefully Patrick "not Kluivert" Bamford will join us after the match, no matter win, lose, or draw.


Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine
How do you define single genre fiction? More oft than not (or rather more than 9 times out of 10), you'll end up having sub genres lurking beneath the shadows. Don't understand me, never mind. Let me first ask you this:
Would you consider the Twilight series as supernatural or supernatural romance?

Supernatural is supernatural, romance is romance. It might not matter much for Stephenie Meyer's critics, but I firmly believe this should be a sensible question to each and every hopeless romantic embroiled in this particular series which inexplicably managed to eclipse Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. No disrespect to any random A-lister celeb fan who managed to read this mini-rant by a freak twist of fate, but seeing Edward Cullen being more popular than Lestat de Lioncourt is surely the greatest blasphemy ever.*
*It must be noted, however, that I've yet to touch either series. Let alone both. So please allow the Deadpool in me to bask in that 60 secs of fame.

Rant over, let's continue. Try switching your brain around ans ask yourself this:
Would you consider Tolkien's works to be epic fantasy ONLY?

Let's paraphrase this question in terms of 2 exact scenarios w/2 diff personalities.
Suppose you ask Xiaxue, the Queen of Bloggers, on what she know about romance in Tolkien's works, chances are that she'll answer "Aragorn and Arwen". Maybe even Faramir and Éowyn as well, but more likely Kili and Tauriel.
Then you try asking the EXACT question to Emma Watson. Chances are that she will mention first Beren and Lúthien. After that, she might start rattling off names like Elwing and Eärendil or Túrin Turambar and Niënor before reaching Middle Earth itself lol!

Enough of trolling. My challenge is this: If you can't even regard Tolkien's works as 100% single genre, what makes you think that more than 20% of contemporary fiction should be anywhere diff?

And since I enjoy being a self-wanking bastard at times...

G.R.R Troll got Sandor Clegane and Sansa Stark, poor local troll only got Arondight and Ceres.
G.R.R. Troll created Robb Stark and Jeyne Westerling, poor local troll can only create Guy Cody and Alestrial Eliaden.
G.R.R. Troll outed Renly and Loras, poor local troll has only outed Eliador de Lioncourt and Lukas Brun.

Polish Troll has Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer, poor local troll only has Aeranath and Kagetsu no Hyo'Ah.
Polish Troll always pairs Geralt of Rivia with random sexual indiscretion, poor local troll can only try pairing Lars Alterfate with Lolyx or whoever unlucky enough.

The Moorcock Troll boasts of Cymoril and Zarozinia with Elric of Melniboné wedged in between, poor local troll only boasts of Aeranath stuck in between Nanaya no Geun'Jin and Kagetus no Hyo'Ah.*
*Also alternatively known (?) as Aeranath stuck in between Sarel Aphros and Alestrial Eliaden in ways more than just one.
The Moorcock Troll may try necro'ing the romance theme for Elric himself*, poor local troll may end up going one step better by wondering whether Karen Tenias should spend a night or more with Kerstein de Bladefort.
*This is basically nonsense coming from my inner Deadpool since Elric has already became the the devil himself. Literally.

Ní neart go cur le chéile
What is war, you might ask. The normal definition of war is the act of declaring armed conflict. For me, it's just an excuse to have things done via extreme measures. Warring has always been part and parcel of human nature. If you think your faith is peaceful, make sure you check the appropriate historical sources first. For my own Christian faith, I'll never be that stupid to say the Crusaders were a bunch of walking saints decked in metal. Try asking any sane minded Muslim and they will answer you with their merry history of conflict. Not that it's a good thing of course...

War is war, either you win or you die. There are two ways to fight a war. Either you decide to play politics on paper or you play politics with guns. The former case is quintessentially diplomacy, the latter is literally declaring war on whichever mother****er pissing you off.

One cold hard truth I realised throughout my years is that depicting conflict is NOT just about swords or guns, castle or air base. Politics play a major role and I need to remind this cold hard truth to any fellow local bastards out to try his/her luck in writing. You watched Tom Cruise doing Mission Impossible, that's only half truth at best. Take a cold hard look at the cause and effect defining the Red Wedding and you'll know nothing but the truth.

Playing politics in fiction can either be simple or nigh impossible. At the end of the day, it's only down to whether you're cynical enough. If yes, congrats. If no, you better not make a fool out of yourself.

Outright war wise, my advice is this:
Do NOT restrain yourself by one culture's interpretation of war.

What I mean is that when it comes to conflict, there are many ways more than one to fight it. Factors wise, there are also many factors more than one. Ask yourself these questions.

1. What is the terrain planned for the next battle?
2. Am I going to do attrition or skirmish/assault scenario?
3. How do I play about with the troops deployment?
4. Do I actually know enough on the relevant tactics in real life to make things count in terms of logic?
5. What are the influences I'm most comfortable with in creating different approaches to tactics?

Let me touch a bit on point 5. While war in ancient times were 100% swift and brutal, it's also possible to create tactical standoff based on terrain. Do NOT underestimate the importance of skirmishes because attrition warfare will always be about numbers and mentality. In short, skirmishes are there to play mind games with the main forces where disruption and stripping off a few ranks are concerned.
At the same time, attrition warfare won't be that easy as Pepsi Cola 1-2-3. When I was a kid, I could never catch up with my kahkis' speed when it comes to Pepsi Cola 1-2-3. Attrition warfare is mostly about dragging time. He who tires first, dies first. Period. If you're unsure on what to do, try net searching for Roman military tactics because attrition tactics had always been their forte.
When it comes to siege... well it's a no-brainer to be exact.

There are two types of alignment in fantasy writing. You can do a Tolkien or Lewis. That'd be playing straight the black and white separation. Alternatively, you try pulling off your very own Children of Húrin and you won't really change the alignment system much.

Then we have the grey option, which is something I'm more comfortable with atm.

The black and white system is def easier to implement due to the humane instinct to classify individuals and events accordingly. For the grey ver, you need to understand the reality called humane darkness. If you're willing to admit there's a darkness in every one of us, you're well on your way to do a dark fantasy. And to set the record straight, I DO admit there are certain dark areas in my inner self still ever present. Not that it should give me an excuse to break the law ofc!

You can say it's down to my moral imperfections, others can point out my Christian faith as the core. What is truly important is that I've truly understood to a certain extent the destructive nature of man. If nature destroys indiscriminately, you can be very sure man will always discriminate. Religion has got nothing to do with this of course, this is why I'm hell bent to kick the keister of anybody disagreeing otherwise. It's not really fun in RL to do so, but it sure is fun in doing this via writing. Call it my dark years where I have to struggle with sexual frustrations and an overall sense of disillusion, but I'll have to acknowledge that life will always be your finest teacher. For my case, it has also became the finest, if not, my only muse.

If we look back at life, we'd most definitely realise that horrendous decisions aplenty were being done and could never be undone. We'll always be guilty of executing double standards, no matter how hard we try not to. Whenever we start opening that thrice damned trap of ours, there's a risk of hurting other people.
Moral of this [true life] story?
Either we fail to notice our problems or we end up declaring that...
Ironically, above statement tends to be our greatest motivation to gearing forward.
Talk about being moral turtles, super depressing man...

If I sound too perverted in this last portion, be assured that I've never broken the law.
If I sound too personal on this last portion, be assured that this was because basic alignment in fiction writing should be 100% personal in choice compared to most other aspects.

That plus I'm getting too shagged now as well. If this post seems sub-standard, it means your eyes ain't kidding yourself.

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