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The Practice War [Complete]

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Snowfire said:
I have, at least once, thrown a Shiny directly in your path and you've walked past it without blinking. I was very impressed at the time.
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You're going to have to be specific. Most of the shinies I remember are like:

Snowfire: "Okay, and if they get this roll then this happens."

Dice: *Nat 100 Miracle* "Sup."

Snowfire: :cry:
Snowfire said:
I need an adult :V
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Don't worry, everyone is a cute anime girl on the internet.
 
Axel Fones said:
So I was rereading the quest for giggles when I found this. Snowfire, have you seriously been sitting on this since the beginning?
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*Raises glass in Toast from Pining for Reyvateils club on the Discord* We might not have known, but dammit, we believed.

Also I've been calling for Singing since the first time she Spoke, I just got here really late.

... Well I was going to Sentences first, but it sounds like Singing might actually come first/be easier.
 
Snowfire said:
Maybe :V

I've always had most of the more metaphysical qualities of Practice defined in my head, and where they might take Amanda. So far you have yet to surprise me.

Take from that what you will ;)
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Quick, everyone! Predictability kills! Vote to learn how to Practice via Interpretive Dance! :V
 
Snowfire said:
Amanda: I'm not a meatpuppet that you can just steer around, you know.
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I mean, it doesn't have to be Amanda coming up with new exciting ways to Practice all the time. Other characters have agency too! Characters who might just happen to be sitting around, wondering when their degrees in Underwater Basketweaving will ever actually be useful...
 
Shwaggy said:
I mean, it doesn't have to be Amanda coming up with new exciting ways to Practice all the time. Other characters have agency too! Characters who might just happen to be sitting around, wondering when their degrees in Underwater Basketweaving will ever actually be useful...
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In the end, though I know you're joking, this kinda misses the point on what Practice is and how it works. Amanda isn't using Practice by speaking a word, she's investing Practice into that word and having to work hard to assign the right definition. There was a lot of pretty justified fear from folk like @TheEyes when Purify won the SBOS Word vote, due to the darker connotations of the word. One of the major reasons that they ultimately came to nothing was due to how Amanda phrased the Word in her mind; what it meant to her in that moment when channelled through the lens of her Focus.

I think this is where what @MTB has called the Dresdenesque aspects of Practice are most present. A word can mean a million different things depending on context and how it's spoken. When Amanda Speaks, she has to take all of that into account and add power not just to the right things, but in the right way.

There's a reason that the number of Speakers is so low, even now. Investing Practice into a Word is the easy part, really.
 
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Snowfire said:
In the end, though I know you're joking, this kinda misses the point on what Practice is and how it works. Amanda isn't using Practice by speaking a word, she's investing Practice into that word and having to work pretty hard to assign the right definition. There was a lot of pretty justified fear from folk like @TheEyes when Purify won the SBOS Word vote, due to the darker connotations of the word. One of the major reasons that they ultimately came to nothing was due to how Amanda phrased the Word in her mind; what it meant to her in that moment when channelled through the lens of her Focus.

I think this is where what @MTB has called the Dresdenesque aspects of Practice are most present. A word can mean a million different things depending on context and how it's spoken. When Amanda Speaks, she has to take all of that into account and add power not just to the right things, but in the right way.

There's a reason that the number of Speakers is so low, even now. Investing Practice into a Word is the easy part, really.
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Oh yes, I understand...sorry if the silliness has gotten out of hand, I'm doing the "stay up more than 24 hours to try and fix my sleep schedule" bit, so I'm slightly punchy atm.

I do like the Dresden analogy, in that you also have to believe in the thing your doing with your power, or nothing will happen, and the personal consequences that has if you manage to make yourself believe in something unhealthy.

Kinda reminds of a bit of The Will and The Word, from the Belgariad, too.
 
Shwaggy said:
Oh yes, I understand...sorry if the silliness has gotten out of hand, I'm doing the "stay up more than 24 hours to try and fix my sleep schedule" bit, so I'm slightly punchy atm.
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Not a problem. Just wanted to explain a bit - I do some of my best work with off the cuff replies.

Shwaggy said:
I do like the Dresden analogy, in that you also have to believe in the thing your doing with your power, or nothing will happen, and the personal consequences that has if you manage to make yourself believe in something unhealthy.
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The funny part - as I've said before - is that I'd only read Cold Days at the time of coming up with this world. It's a good analogy, but my use of it definitely didn't originate there.
 
Snowfire said:
The funny part - as I've said before - is that I'd only read Cold Days at the time of coming up with this world. It's a good analogy, but my use of it definitely didn't originate there.
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Great minds can independently arrive at the same excellent ideas. (Not as pithy as "think alike", but never liked that saying)
 
Also, any idea David Eddings was capable of coming up with, someone else can come up with.

(Don't get me wrong, Eddings was in many ways a competent fantasy author. He just wasn't an original fantasy author)
 
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Simon_Jester said:
Also, any idea David Eddings was capable of coming up with, someone else can come up with.

(Don't get me wrong, Eddings was in many ways a competent fantasy author actually IMO. He just wasn't an original fantasy author)
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Oof, taking shots at one of my favorite authors here. I'm honestly not sure where that criticism is coming from. (I may be somewhat biased since it was my very first real fantasy series, and I've gone back to reread it at least a dozen times. But it's held up enough that I've been able to reread it that many times, over various ages, and still enjoy it.)

However, I'm also now realizing I shouldn't start a big ol' discussion about other authors here. So I'll just reiterate...oof, dude.
 
Snowfire said:
In the end, though I know you're joking, this kinda misses the point on what Practice is and how it works. Amanda isn't using Practice by speaking a word, she's investing Practice into that word and having to work hard to assign the right definition. There was a lot of pretty justified fear from folk like @TheEyes when Purify won the SBOS Word vote, due to the darker connotations of the word. One of the major reasons that they ultimately came to nothing was due to how Amanda phrased the Word in her mind; what it meant to her in that moment when channelled through the lens of her Focus.
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This is a point I think needs emphasizing, because Purify really could have gone so much worse than it ultimately did. Part of the reason it didn't was because of decisions made by the Elder First (and therefore @Snowfire), but a larger part was on decisions made by the players, both before and since. @Snowfire's a great writer, which means to me that I'm sure he'd be just as capable of writing an Amanda who became beautiful and terrible as the dawn, treacherous as the sea, stronger than the foundations of the earth, and whom all loved in despair. But we didn't do that; we didn't fall into the trap of selfish, neverending gainz that so plagues most SV quests, and I think everyone here deserves credit for that.
 
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