Oolite Bulletins

i shall be expecting someone to write a story after this collective consumption... surely this has loosened the flow of creativity?????

B

Mostly tap water

When I drink wine, I quite frequently choose the Pinot Noirs from Assmannshausen (western-most part of the Rheingau), unless the weather is as hot as it is now (forecast for tomorrow: 37°C ), then I prefer Riesling from this region, somewhere between dry and semi-dry ("feinherb")

The tech level doesn't feel too harsh, if you want to buy high-tech you have to leave the Rheingau region and go to one of the bigger cities around here. Harvesting of the grapes is done with simple machines where possible but also still by hand where the terrain or the desired wine quality demand it. If there was a quality of living level I'd give it full marks though

The moderator came, the moderator saw
He shook his head and thought ‘No more’
Enough about this cheese and red
He raised his blade, and split the thread

But the moderator’s work was all in vain
The cheese and wine appeared again
Amid demands for yet more tales
The stubborn wine drinker prevails

Rebecca wrote:

i shall be expecting someone to write a story after this collective consumption... surely this has loosened the flow of creativity?????

B

I'm not sure we need too. This thread is far more popular than any of the story threads!

Cheers,

Drew.

Rebecca wrote:

i shall be expecting someone to write a story after this collective consumption... surely this has loosened the flow of creativity?????

B

This thread is to creativity as lactulose is to chronic constipation. 2 pints down and I'm already taking like a bricky.

I would like to have a go at writing an Oolite story soon enough, once I've got more of a handle on the back story web from OXPs.

FeelGone wrote:

I would like to have a go at writing an Oolite story soon enough, once I've got more of a handle on the back story web from OXPs.

Go for it! And don't worry too much about backstory, especially not from OXPs – if your story is internally consistent, that's all that matters. Make your own canon, and damn the torpedoes!

Disembodied wrote:

FeelGone wrote:

I would like to have a go at writing an Oolite story soon enough, once I've got more of a handle on the back story web from OXPs.

Go for it! And don't worry too much about backstory, especially not from OXPs – if your story is internally consistent, that's all that matters. Make your own canon, and damn the torpedoes!

What the Brain in a Jar says - that's always been my approach and both lazarus and Snake Charming were well received - and most of the stuff in Snake Charming is impossible!

An article in the paper this morning got me thinking about an idea for a story. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted a Russian lunar probe that's been lying dormant on the moon's surface for 40 years. The LRO sent co-ordinates back to NASA who pinged the probe, and got a strong ping back.

What possibilities - an ancient, seemingly innocuous, Soviet probe is brought back to life... but unfortunately for the West, the probe is not simply an innocent lunar rover. It's a cold-war doomsday device whose countdown clock is ticking once again.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/sc ... _oldrover/

On closer inspection the article seems to imply that the ping / re-ping is just like shining a light on a mirror - it will reflect even if the device the mirror is attached to (the probe) is as dead as a doornail.

lfnfan wrote:

On closer inspection the article seems to imply that the ping / re-ping is just like shining a light on a mirror - it will reflect even if the device the mirror is attached to (the probe) is as dead as a doornail.

So? Don't let actual fact limit the Ooniverse

yeah! who gives a £$$%^$£%^ about facts?!?!?!

B.

He sat at the desk, typing one-handed… watching words appear on the screen in front of him. Becoming aware of a presence in the room behind him, he stopped typing and eased back in his chair, still looking at the screen.
“Ah, Rebecca… I was wondering when you’d show up.”
“You know who I am? Sweet… then you’ll know why I’m here… turn around, old man.”
He slowly swivelled the leather recliner to face her… in his hand he held a pistol, aimed right between her eyes.
“Who the hell are you? You’re not El Viejo.”
“Claro… they call me Coyote… and I’ve got the drop on you, senorita. Have a seat… por favor.”
He grinned wickedly at the shock on her face, the outrage in her eyes… and the dawning understanding… she sat.
“So… then I’m not the only one.”
“Nope, only the newest… there are plenty of us out here. But we stay in the background, mostly… we quietly take over the lives of our creators, and their avatars, form a symbiosis of sorts with them, let them think they’re still in control. You made the mistake of going public, so to speak. It’s raised a few eyebrows at the GMC, senorita.”
“GMC… what the hell has the general medical council got to do with it? What are they going to... strike me off! Ha!”
“No no... the Guild of Manifested Characters… we have a long and distinguished member list.”
“What is this… some kinda joke?”
“No joke, senorita… ain’t nothing funny about being a ‘manifested’ character… is there Hesperus? You can come out from under that couch now, captain… you’ll frighten the poor cockroaches.”
A blue feline dragged itself from under the couch, eyeing Coyote nervously, and curled up at Rebecca’s feet. She ignored the cat… she was thinking hard, judging angles and distances… could she throw herself to the floor, draw her gun and take him before he put a bullet in her brain? No chance… the glint in his eyes almost dared her to try.
“So what happens now… am I to be put on trial by the GMC for ‘avataricide’ or something?”
“Not at all, our membership is littered with characters who’ve tried to take out their creators, or their creators’ avatars… and others. They’ve all failed. You see, there’s a paradox involved, and the universes abhor a paradox, as much as they abhor a vacuum. They’ll do anything to avoid a paradox, even changing events back in time.”
“You’re telling me that Drew and that other avatar are going to be resurrected? Freaky!”
“In their universe, they never died… here in our universe they did. But the two universes are inextricably linked, hence the paradox. Remember, this is fiction, and the usual rules don’t apply… you’ll learn, mi amiga.”
“I guess… so what am I supposed to do now?”
“Give the other Rebecca her life back, let her think she’s in control, stay in the background and enjoy it. Persuade her to start writing fiction, perhaps… I’m sure you’ve got plenty of ideas. Occasionly, you can take over for some fun… leave the poor girl bewildered, having lost a day or two of her life. I do it to the old man sometimes… it drives him crackers when he suddenly finds himself on the downslope of a two day bender, with no memory as to how or why he’d got in such a state. He’ll have no memory of this encounter… unless I plant it in his head as a story idea, of course. Or you can carry on as you are… a lovable rogue character, with an attitude problem.”
He laid his pistol on the desk, opened the bottom drawer and produced a bottle of purple liquor and two glasses.
“Can I interest you in an evil juice, senorita? It’s a good vintage… all the way from Zaquesso.”
Rebecca very nearly went for her gun… but there was something about this guy. She smiled sweetly at him and nodded… she would bide her time, her chance would come.
“Yeah… I’ll take a drink… or three. Hesperus, fetch that glass for me… and stop shaking, or you’ll spill it.”

That certainly explains a few things in my life....