The Saga of Emiko Station - Complete

[Kerbinchaser]

MOAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!!!

[Just Jim]

19 minutes ago, greenTurtle1134 said:

Ah. I was thrown off by the alternate spelling, e instead of a.

Oh, crap... that was a typo! My bad! I'll go fix it in a bit.

19 minutes ago, greenTurtle1134 said:

I love how, millions of years and untold layers of infospace away, they still have annoying girlfriends. Anytime there is death and destruction and the end of worlds, tenuous romantic relationships are there too.

Two things about this.. first, Carlenna/Mary-Sue/Asanath/Crazy-Kraken... lol... hates him just as much as he hates her... but again... they're all each other have, and stuck.

Second... when I read this, one thing immediately popped into my head:

Spoiler

 

 

19 minutes ago, greenTurtle1134 said:

So it would appear that Krakens are seen to take on the names of their hosts, at least in the eyes of those who know what they are (the Professor and the author). Is this a cultural thing, or does it hint at some deeper connection between Kraken and human?

I would say mostly camouflage... trying to assume the name and identity of the host in an attempt to blend in and remain unnoticed... if possible. Unfortunately the dead-white and/or glowing eyes seem to be a giveaway.

19 minutes ago, greenTurtle1134 said:

"By the way, I'd like to be called αγάπηχειροτεχνία".

I used a translator... too funny!!! I'm out of likes, but you get one tomorrow for this.  

Edited June 29, 2017 by Just Jim

[DualDesertEagle]

Not that [snip] annoying enclave propaganda again!

*Pulls out the Rock-it launcher and pelts the eye-bot with a nuka cola bottle, a plate, a burned up teddy bear and half a dozen scorched books, but it doesn't care one bit*

"Damn, only useless trash for ammo right now, and I hoped I didn't have to waste any actual bullets!"

*Drops the Rock-it launcher, takes out the combat shotgun and fires a few rounds, still with no effect*

"[snip], will u damn thing ever die???"

*Throws the shotgun aside and instead pulls out the Gauss rifle found in the armory bunker that some of the expelled of the brotherhood wanted to be opened*

"Kick the [snip]' bucket u [snip]!"

*Fires, the projectile rips through the eye-bot's body with such force that pieces of the shattered internal circuit boards and even of the front armour come flying out the exit hole and it finally drops to the ground and goes silent*

"Aaaah, finally! Nothing better than the silence of the wasteland!"

Edited August 22, 2017 by Snark
Inappropriate content removed

[obney kerman]

Oh boy! Zombies!

[Kerbinchaser]

7 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Second... when I read this, one thing immediately popped into my head:

  Hide contents

 

 

Ohhhh... Yes...

[Just Jim]

3 minutes ago, DualDesertEagle said:

*Fires, the projectile rips through the eye-bot's body with such force that pieces of the shattered internal circuit boards and even of the front armour come flying out the exit hole and it finally drops to the ground and goes silent*

Wow... I take it you don't like those things... Well, it's not really supposed to be an eye-bot... but this gives me an idea... 

Edited June 29, 2017 by Just Jim

[DualDesertEagle]

On 6/28/2017 at 5:34 PM, Just Jim said:

Wow... I take it you don't like those things... Well, it's not really supposed to be an eye-bot... but this gives me an idea... 

Ad don't forget the "kick the [snip] bucket" line!

Edited August 22, 2017 by Snark
Inappropriate content removed

[greenTurtle1134]

14 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

I used a translator... too funny!!! I'm out of likes, but you get one tomorrow for this.  

You're welcome! Some serious thought went into that joke...

15 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Two things about this.. first, Carlenna/Mary-Sue/Asanath/Crazy-Kraken... lol... hates him just as much as he hates her... but again... they're all each other have, and stuck.

Yes, they hate each other. Yes, they want to see each other destroyed and strewn across space and infospace. But still, boy and girl, last of their race, stuck together in a place they don't want to be, they hate each other now but might have been involved in the past --> SHIP SHIP SHIP.

[Just Jim]

Awww crap... big storm just popped up right on top of us... that was fast... I think I'm out for tonight. 

ttyl everyone

 

[greenTurtle1134]

3 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Awww crap... big storm just popped up right on top of us... that was fast... I think I'm out for tonight. 

ttyl everyone

 

When I read this and I think of a rapidly moving weather system of feces on Just Jim's head...

[obney kerman]

19 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Awww crap... big storm just popped up right on top of us... that was fast... I think I'm out for tonight. 

ttyl everyone

 

Bye. Nice chapter.

[Mjp1050]

On 6/25/2017 at 3:18 PM, Just Jim said:

One screenshot I did a couple days ago... one stupid screenshot.... totally, completely, 100% changed everything I had planned. And right now I'm not sure what I'm really doing, and more or less making stuff up as I go along.  

 

Out of curiosity, what screenshot was this? I want to say it was this one:

On 6/27/2017 at 3:58 PM, Just Jim said:

 

 

Edited June 29, 2017 by Mjp1050

[Just Jim]

10 hours ago, Mjp1050 said:

Out of curiosity, what screenshot was this? I want to say it was this one:

No... the paintings were a nice added bonus, and that's a really good guess, but it was this one that got to me:

Now, I'll be honest, I really never played Fallout, or knew what an Eye-bot was until after I posted this chapter...

All I could see is it looks an awful lot like Thompberry.... older, slightly different design.... but in my mind, this is definitely a brain-pod of some sort...

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I could use this to steer clear of the goosebumps plot and stay a little more sc-fi.

Now that I know it comes from the Fallout universe, it still isn't a problem... that part I can easily work into the next chapter.

Edited June 29, 2017 by Just Jim

[Zhetaan]

15 hours ago, Just Jim said:

There is a very old Star Trek TOS story.... two actually...

Heinlein did something a bit similar at the end of his career:  he introduced a concept that he called 'World-as-Myth' (as opposed to 'World-as-Logic') wherein every reality is the work of fiction of another reality, and the solidity of that reality was largely rooted in the readership and the retelling, which was the myth part.  In other words, if I write a rubbish piece of fiction for my creative writing homework, the reality exists, but it's tenuous at best.  On the other hand, if I write an award-winning, long-running soap opera with millions of viewers, then that reality exists just as much as yours and mine...and is hideously predictable, but it exists.  Of course, this meant that the most beloved and enduring stories were not only real places, but that they were also the most likely places that one would visit:  hence holiday trips to the Land of Oz and the like.

This also meant that for any given set of characters who were in on the truth, there were three totally different classes of antagonists after them:  there were the competing groups of people who, like them, were in on the truth but had different views on how to apply the knowledge; there were the Big Bads from all of the stories that everyone's character was a part of (Oz was favoured for holidays because its stories had run through the bad guys; it was a fairly peaceful place that enjoyed the serene tranquillity of Happily Ever After); and there were the Authors themselves, in the sense that no one has plot armour, and in this case, such would need to manifest as literal armour (Oz was favoured for this reason, too, but unfortunately, it also meant that Oz was going somewhat stale).

It was an interesting concept that was mostly explored in The Number of the Beast and fleshed out further in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.  For my part, aside from the fact that it was interesting, I thought that it wasn't really thought through--not to needlessly disparage Heinlein, but deliberately introducing a system that is by definition logically inconsistent is going to make holes in the story that cannot be plugged.  One example would be characters who are brought into World-as-Myth and then rant about superstition ... that, because it is believed, makes it true, which would reinforce that belief, but of course that point did not make it into the story.  Another would be the unanswered question of pretty much anything Lovecraft and where it fits into the larger world, given that so much of Lovecraft's work ends rather badly for the world.  One may imagine a grand effort to burn all horror writing in order to save the world ... and anyone who knows anything about Heinlein knows how he felt about book-burning (hint for the uninitiated:  he was not a fan).

That being said, on the other hand, it all came down to Heinlein's ideas on solipsism, so I suppose perhaps that anything inconsistent in the world only goes to show that the human mind has to process logical inconsistencies all the time.  This time, it's all writ large because those inconsistencies are projected onto the very fabric of reality--but this is all why time travel and the like gives me a headache.

On the gripping hand, there are some hilarious ideas in there, too.  One could imagine the original E.T. universe at war with the remastered version over which one was correct, and of course the original would win that fight because they have shotguns, whereas the remastered characters are armed only with walkie-talkies....

Edited June 29, 2017 by Zhetaan

[Just Jim]

OK, first a quick off-topic update. We took the cat to the vet's again this morning, and he's doing much better. Heart rate is still a little weird, but overall still a 100% improvement!  

1 hour ago, Zhetaan said:

Heinlein did something a bit similar at the end of his career:  he introduced a concept that he called 'World-as-Myth' (as opposed to 'World-as-Logic') wherein every reality is the work of fiction of another reality, and the solidity of that reality was largely rooted in the readership and the retelling, which was the myth part.

This is really fascinating. I've seen shows and lectures on parallel universes that suggested the same idea, and ironically a couple were using the Sims game to illustrate it. If you or I create a Sims universe on a computer... which I have, and I'm writing about it... Some theories suggest it actually exists in another reality... wow!

So if this is true... I have to finish Emiko Station... or my poor characters will be stuck in limbo???

I can't allow that!!!  

Edited June 29, 2017 by Just Jim

[Zhetaan]

Interestingly enough, Heinlein never really got to the point of discussing cooperative, interactive fiction, such as would be found in any kind of a role-playing game.  Total chaos is my best guess for what those places would be like.  Can you imagine a world where griefers are flesh-and-blood people?  I imagine that the only artefacts recoverable from such a place would need to be stored behind leaded glass on account of the radioactivity.  Personally, I'd like to see what happens with the 'choose your adventure' stories.

However, yes, by that interpretation, Emiko Station would be stuck in limbo if you didn't complete it--this point was discussed.  One of Heinlein's characters met a story character that she created (how's that for surreal) and, having met him, shaken his hand, and known him for being a living, breathing person, had a problem with the idea of continuing to write the story, which of course was building up to an heroic sacrifice where the hero died defeating the villain.  Who wants to write about the death of a main character after learning that doing so is incontrovertibly murder that results in very real death?  However, it was also pointed out to her that if she didn't do so, then she was denying that character the fulfilment of his great purpose in life and dooming him to a stagnant existence where he does nothing but exist, which would be the worse crime of imprisonment without dignity.  Also, denying the hero his victory would also deny the villain his defeat, and since the villain was in on the truth as well, that meant that he continued to be a very real threat to the world.  More than anything else, the burden and duty of an Author (always with a capital A) in Heinlein's World-as-Myth is to finish the story.

Of course, we're not Heinlein characters, so go take care of your cat.

[Just Jim]

You know, it's funny. Even without taking Heinlein's World-as-Myth into consideration, I find I don't really like killing off characters, and didn't until recently, when I felt I absolutely had to in order to increase the "danger factor", so to speak.

I didn't think I'd feel this way, but I really care for my characters, even if they are pure fiction, and I do tend to treat and write them as if they were real.

However, I have tormented a few characters pretty bad... so if I ever end up in the Emiko reality... I have a bad feeling Kerenna Kerman is going to immediately pin my arms behind my back so Piper can punch me straight in the face.... lmao.... 

[greenTurtle1134]

For NaNoWriMo, I actually tried to write a book about two characters who realize they are in a book, and use cliches to better the world around them. I did a whole spiel about how maybe fictional realities are just as real as we are, and how much we've hurt the inhabitants of those realities, if they exist.

[ProtoJeb21]

On 6/27/2017 at 10:27 PM, KAL 9000 said:

I'd never thought I'd say that something is more evil than Bill Cipher, but now I have to reconsider.

What if...Bill is the one behind the ET/Kraken genocide and orchestrated all the cataclysms in the series?

Either way, I find it hard that anything could be more psychopathically horrific than a floating Illuminati that has killed trillions of innocents and tortures mortals to the brink of insanity just for the heck of it.

[Cydonian Monk]

2 hours ago, Zhetaan said:

Can you imagine a world where griefers are flesh-and-blood people? 

Sounds rather like a typical David Lynch supernatural villain. (Blame Bob.)

Edited June 29, 2017 by Cydonian Monk

[GDJ]

Still absorbing the last chapter......

[Just Jim]

6 hours ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Sounds rather like a typical David Lynch supernatural villain. (Blame Bob.)

 

6 hours ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

I'd never thought I'd say that something is more evil than Bill Cipher

Wait a second.... Bob & Bill???

I'm sensing a pattern here... lmao....   

[greenTurtle1134]

6 hours ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

What if...Bill is the one behind the ET/Kraken genocide and orchestrated all the cataclysms in the series?

Either way, I find it hard that anything could be more psychopathically horrific than a floating Illuminati that has killed trillions of innocents and tortures mortals to the brink of insanity just for the heck of it.

Thank you for sending me on a five-hour journey through the plot summaries of Gravity Falls in order to find out just how awful Mr. Cipher actually is.

[Just Jim]

On 6/28/2017 at 6:32 PM, Pretorian28715 said:

But seriously could it be done even as a one shot?

@Just Jim, @Kuzzter, @Parkaboy, @Cydonian Monk, @Geschosskopf @adsii1970, and who ever we could get interested?

I meant to answer this yesterday.

At this point, I'm sorry to say, it's highly unlikely. 

Getting together to co-ordinate something like this is really hard... and unfortunately I haven't seen @Geschosskopf on here in quite a while. I'm not sure if he's playing anymore or what.

But I've got a huge problem crossing over because of my plot, especially the fact my kerbals are strictly non-military... and I refuse to budge 1 millimeter on that. My Kerbals have absolutely no concept of warfare... or of weapons any more advanced than a fishing pole. Some of them may lie, or cheat, or even steal on occasion... but other than really, really rare exceptions (Thompberry) they would never, ever dream of actually poofing one another. That's just wrong... 

But most all of the other fan-fiction stories have some sort of military, or weapons... or Kerbulans... which right there makes it pretty much impossible for me to adjust.

Plus..... can you imagine combining my version of Krakens with @CatastrophicFailure's Krakens???  OMG.... they'd be unstoppable in any 'verse!  

Edited June 30, 2017 by Just Jim

[ProtoJeb21]

2 hours ago, greenTurtle1134 said:

Thank you for sending me on a five-hour journey through the plot summaries of Gravity Falls in order to find out just how awful Mr. Cipher actually is.

Be prepared to read some book summaries as well, as Bill's most horrific act was revealed in the real-life canonical Journal 3.

It's pretty horrifying, maybe worse than forcing someone to choke and die on their own eyeball.