Peredhil

"It sucks" is never a valid criticism, it is only abuse. In my original conception, posting a posting post immediately in the thread was just to let people know you were reading, and that you had a feeling response to the piece. It can be pretty lonely and dangerous putting your heart out in black and white and wondering if anyone can relate - or is even reading. I had great sympathy for Falcon's Reply Raven. The reason I made the Critic's Corner was for 'negative' criticsim or indepth criticism. I have this terrible us/them view of the world sometimes which I picked up in theater. All corrections are made in rehearsals or behind the scenes. The show is presented to the audience and the cast present a united front. Thus, spelling/grammar corrections - Critic's Corner. Anything that might be construed as negative MUST have a reason attached, and be expressed as your opinion. Try to include an option or solution as well. "In my opinion, thought it sucked because in my experience people just don't react like that, they usually react like this" or, "in my opinion, it would've been stronger in the 7th and 9th lines if you added a syllable - try reading it out loud when you're done as a double-check." In my opinion, that's the sort of reason Nyyark made his Draft Room - to show allow people to develop a finished product that could be displayed at the Pen, and to show the interactive growth/feedback process so everyone could learn. If the Critic's Corner was used properly, there would be no need for his Draft Room. None of us are professional critics. But all of us are sensitive, creative people, with life experience that we can share. And that's one of the foundations the Jechum and I built into the Pen when we moved it here. Just my two cents. I'm a retired harried Ancient with no vote, and you listen to me at your peril. -Peredhil

Dark Fenix!!! Peredhil is lured out for his last post before going off the net for a while. Seekers of Babylon, Scholar's Division Unite! (to the sounds of Thunder Cats - HO!) RAh, glad you showed up. -Peredhil

Peredhil has a good laugh at Wyvern's parody of Archmage. For the non-Archmage community out there - what was parodied. 1) Archmage: A formerly free on-line turn-based fantasy war-game. Players took the part of a mage specializing in one of five different 'colors' of magic. Drew heavily on Microprose Master of Magic, Wizard of the Coast's Magic:The Gathering card game, and a number of fantasy novels and Role Playing Games. The Archmage player juggled limited resources to gather land, recruit or magically summon armies of fantasy creatures, store up geld (gold coins), and mana (magical energy necessary for casting spells. For some odd reason, this very flawed game attracted a number of the intelligent and creativity of the world, who met through the small text "War Arrow" which could be sent with each attack, through posting on the Universal Bulletin Boards (UBB), and through internet chat programs such as IRC and ICQ. The game allowed for friends and like-minded people to form Guilds. Although a war-game, an Archmage culture grew up within to make the game more 'fair', and many many posts were written defending varying points of view. Diplomacy, and therefore the ability to write creatively and well outside the game, became nearly as important as the ability to manage resources in the game. 2) Colors of Magic: Ascendent (White) - Angels, Healing, 'Good' spiritual magic. Nether (Black) - Undead, decay, 'Evil' spiritual magic. Verdant (Green) - Nature-based Druidic theme, Flora and Fauna, creature intensive Eradication (Red) - Fire-based, Dragons, direct-damage spells. Phantasm (Blue) - Water/Psychic based magic. Noted for high-spell level and the ability to use difficult spells from all the other colors. 8.) Stacks/stacking: All units formed armies. depending on abilities, primary attacking type, the power of the attack, and the number of units in an army, armies would be given a numerical value of inate worth. Thus a creature with a melee attack with the Flying ability would normally have a greater value than a comparable unit without Flying. Each Army had it's own total value, so 10 Dragons would have a much different value than 10 Faerie Dragons. A mage could normally use 10 Armies in a combat. Stacking is summoning/recruiting or disbanding(firing from the job) individual units in armies so that all the armies would enter combat in a specified order. This was important because game mechanic resolved the fight in a fixed manner, biggest valued flying vs flying, biggest valued non-flying vs non-flying, 2nd biggest vs 2nd biggest, all the way to the Ranged attackers (Archers, Magic Users) who attacked Flyers. By juggling the values of your Armies (also called stacks) so that their order (stacking) was to your preference, you could match up your strengths against the enemy mage's weaknesses. 9) Guilds: groups of Mages who ganged up for Role-Playing, mutual defense or offense, and/or friendship. 10) C.O.S: Contract of the Soul. A very deadly Nether spell which often killed the mage casting it. It provided ultimate defense/revenge for the caster however, as it was the only way to summon thousands of Devil units during a combat. These Devils normally destroyed the top (most powerful and expensive) armies(stacks) of the attacking mage. 11) R.D: Red Dragon. The Ultimate (most powerful) Eradication Unit. Very expensive cost in geld and mana, even ate people too. But resistent to nearly all spells, and had a huge firey attack. 12) Nixes: Short for Phoenixes, the Verdant Mage's Ultimate Unit. Not nearly as strong as a Red Dragon, one out of every five would regenerate after the combat, plus they immolated the first melee (hand-to-hand) army to attack them. 13) Magewar: Another name for the game Archmage. 14) MARI: the Korean-based company that owns and operates the game Archmage. 15) Multimager: The game rules allowed each player to only have one mage. Some people sought an advantage by creating and playing more than one mage. Yes, this was cheating, but the perception of how 'bad' multimaging is tells much about the person and how they perceive and relate to rules and authority. 16) Descent of Holy Being: An Ultimate spell for Ascendant mages used to summon their high-end unit, the Dominion. Not knowing what the DoHB spell did, or asking for help on how to summon Dominions was the sign of a 'Newbie' and often viciously attacked by those either jaded or fresh out of Newbie status themself. 17) AAs - Arch Angels. A Complex unit available to Ascendants, Verdants, and Phantasm Magi noted for it's ability to absorb damage. Fairly good resistances, Flying, good Hit Points and its Healing ability all lent themselves for making this a nice defensive unit.

The teenager hiding behind her layers of make-up, made-up, stake-out, wondering where the slavering jaws wait, shivering, hoping that the police wait, with silvered bullets, in allies, and not the thirsting beasts of night, under stars hidden behind garish nightlights, distant; The Moon shines through the city's veils of light.

The icorous gelid green legumes threw fine hairs into the black turgid brown waters. A fine algae formed a scummed cap on the living liquid.

Billy Shears danced the wild Fandango with the Walrus. They discussed the cosmic significance of Transcendental Zen as a way of life.

(Conversion Confusion, this is actually the second post) post more. I always enjoy reading your 'stuff.'

I KNOW he could. I get to hear them. Shakes his head at the deprived (and some-depraved) readers of the Pen.

Oh... YES!!! Laughs a tired maniacal laugh

Zool, you're STILL one of my favorite reads. I'm having trouble remembering a creative work of yours that I didn't think, "I wish I'd written something that creative/funny/good." Hugs Keep 'em coming, Big Guy.

Appearances can be so deceiving It's easiest to manipulate what others are perceiving because they want so badly to be believing In something or someone good. But truth will out over time And as you said in your rhyme They'll pay their due for their crime. That's just understood. Good song there.

Some people got Monday off? sighs I wouldn't get too hung up on it. The difference between the secular, religion, and Christianity is often blurred, specially to the advantage of individuals. An intelligent person can rationalize anything.

Peredhil reads the varied travelling meter, and lets the words carry him through the journey. Your Pory, err, Stoem, ummm, your thingie that started this thread - I like it.

Ozy', Staying awake for seven straight days playing Role Playing games can give somewhat the same effect. Or driving for four days straight blasting strange musical mixtures. Or at least, they did for me.

Cyril Darkcloud Viewer (3/27/02 2:27:10 pm) Reply words receding into silence -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pages of the notebook are blank and his hand trembles slightly as he reaches for his pen. Soon, perhaps, he will write and the expressiveness of his life will place words within the field of possibility these blank pages hold open before him. Writing, he thinks, is nothing other than the placing of words into space. Yes, he nods, without space to receive one’s words there can be no writing, even if the words of one’s writing somehow change the space which receives and holds them. There must be space – the spaces within one’s own life which allow the speaking of what has been unsaid, the physical blankness of these pages and that most important of all spaces, the possibility of an openness within another’s life to the reading of these words. Slowly he draws in his breath, savoring the lingering bite of winter in the air, and, exhaling softly, begins to place words upon the pages. There are spaces between the words he writes, spaces of both physical distance and the temporal span between the following of one word upon the next, spaces within which his own expressiveness will wait for those who read. He carefully removes the page from his notebook and, moving quickly, steps into the empty office. He stands silent and still, slowly reading the words he has written: Silence is the ground of speech. Words rise abruptly out of the unspoken, strike the ear, the heart, the very air that fills the space between two lives, and fall abruptly into the silence of a new unspoken. Tongues become clumsy in silence, heavy with the punctuated movements of breathing turned to words grown strangely small and lost. Silence is the place of the lisping after the grammar of speaking. Speaking is the emptying of grammar into silence. He recedes from view as he reads, his presence pouring into the gaps between words and ideas. Soon there is no sign of his presence remaining in this room save the single leaf of paper bearing his handwritten words and the spaces between them within which he shall wait to hear the speaking made possible by the strange grammar that obtains between writer and reader. The handwritten page drifts in slow silence to the floor, landing with its interplay of words and spaces facing upward. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW POST Archive Note The original post was made by someone who was not registered. As a result the parser messed up when converting. Their post appears above, followed by the next available post here: peredhil31 An Ancient Polite Bard Posts: 1001 (3/27/02 4:09:03 pm) Reply ezSupporter Silence giving birth to words -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mere black and white Small puffs of air You've created someone I swear is there. Brilliant.

Peredhil hugs Judicator hard. 'Bout time! Welcome back!

Doctor, you are indeed Evil. I'm aloving it suddenly. 1. Zool is the reason I posted anything at the UBB. I'd posted a comment in Ozymandias' "Upside-down Crosses" thread, and he and I struck up an e-conversation. Then he threatened to never email me again if I didn't start posting some of my comments, poems, or stories. The threat of a life without Zool was enough to overcome my own valuation of my skill, and I posted... And here we are. Thanks Buddy, Your Friend Always, Elrond Peredhil, 31 Bard of Terra Ancient of the Pen

Goes to write a response, and finds Yui-chan has said what he wanted to say - in verse and better than he would've. Goes to give a Polite Hug, and finds Lord Gyrfalcon has consoled her already. You know, I'm suddenly feeling better about my lack of time. Y'all are wonderfully supportive people. You make me proud. Hugs her hard anyway, because he cares.

Oh... just. just. NEAT!

Peredhil notes that not everyone finds RolePlaying easy, nor writing a breeze. Looking at the Banquet Hall, I THINK there's still a place for poets, but I leave things like that to the Elders, particularly the Elder of Initiates. I liked the poem though.

Peredhil looks very confused. You're not a Saberhagen Vampire. You're not a D&D, AD&D, FARS, GURPS, Runequest, DragonQuest, Arduin Grimoire, Chivalry & Sorcery Vampire. Would you be a Vampire based on the Anne Rice novels? Since I haven't read/played those, that would explain why I don't recognize many of your points. I'm probably most familiar of course with the FARS Vampires, which are markedly different than what you describe. Muses a while on Roz with a whimsical smile. They at least, can't claim to live longer than anyone, being undead, and therefore suspended between death and life, neither one nor the other. Perhaps both sides in this discussion are drawing from different worlds? Looks at his watch and scampers away.

When confronting childhood distortions, I suggest using the eyes of those who love you for mirrors, instead of silvered pieces of glass. The glass only reflects your perception. A loving friend reflects you accurately, while loving you none the less. *hugs*

Peredhil hugs tLotG. That was a really well-written, well-thought out parody! It echoed established works (the Bible, the duel with Ronstar, etc) and wove them together into something new. Clever and fun reading. Of course, you're going to Hell for this...

Ouch. rummages through his things and finds an extra t-shirt labelled, "I love you enough to want what you want for you" on the front, and "Although I want you to want me" on the back, and gives it to her. You're a true friend...

LOL! Peredhil reads through with enjoyments many. Watch out for Dr. Lithium, he'll poison you in a minute.