The Type-Moon Miscellaneous Thoughts Thread

[Deathhappens]

Language and Literature, yes. And that's actually quite a difficult thing to establish! For instance, I do like the Harry Potter series up to a point, and I do think Rowling's prose was enjoyable up to that point; but it's also very structurally flawed (mostly by virtue of trying too hard to convince the reader that no, it really is written for grown-ups!!!1!, which doesn't mesh at all with the fairy tale-like trappings of the earlier books - although Rowling's editor also apparently stopped telling her "no" after the fourth book), so I wouldn't recommend it as anything more than a pastime. On the other hand, many so-called classics are mind-numbingly boring, even those that are deemed classics by more than just meta-textual reasons.

Still, I'm never one to turn down a request for book recommendations! I'll try to stick only to works readily accessible in modern English and also try for something more personal than just listing the entire Western Canon. In no particular order:

Ernest Hemingway, The old man and the sea
Gabriel García Márquez, A very old man with enormous wings (it's the name of both a short story and a collection of short stories which includes it)
Nelson Rodrigues, Life as it is (collection of short stories)
Nikolai Gogol's short stories in general, but particularly The overcoat (look for any collection which has it)
Shakespeare in general, both the plays and the poems, but I'd particularly recommend MacBeth and King Lear (especially if you can see them acted! And speaking of MacBeth, I heartily recommend Kurosawa's Throne of Blood movie); if push comes to shove, Charles Lamb's Tales of Shakespeare is an acceptable substitute
Friedrich Schiller, William Tell
Mark Twain, The prince and the pauper
Charles Dickens, A Christmas carol
Howard Pyle, The merry adventures of Robin Hood and his various novels about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
Joseph Conrad, The duel (it's a short story, but I've seen it published as a standalone book)
Giovanni Guareschi's Don Camillo books (they're mostly collections of short stories)
Michael Ende, The neverending story
Rudyard Kipling, The jungle book and The second jungle book
Maurice Druon, The accursed kings series
Terry Jones, The saga of Erik the viking
Frank Herbert, Dune (specifically the first novel; the sequels are more take-or-leave)
Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels, especially The murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, and Hercule Poirot's Christmas

I could go on and on and on, but I think that list - while not nearly as diverse and encompassing as it could be -, provide a good balance between a pleasurable reading experience and depth of content.

*Expressions of fervent approval*

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A Certain Magical etc does IIRC

ToAru has the thing with different Ages (or Aeons) having different physical properties, but I believe that's different from what world textures are supposed to be.

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Are you kidding? I'm pretty sure my computer would blow up if I even tried to install it. :-P
On a more serious note: if I didn't like either 1 or 2, is it really worth it investing time on the third one? Why do you recommend it?

Videogame-wise, Witcher 3 is leaps and bounds ahead of 1 and 2. Now the story... doesn't really veer far off from where the previous games left off, but I also didn't really think the videogame's story was as far off from the books as you seem to (I've read the first four or five, iirc) so your mileage may vary.

[SpoonyViking]

You did play the third game right?

Yes.

Videogame-wise, Witcher 3 is leaps and bounds ahead of 1 and 2. Now the story... doesn't really veer far off from where the previous games left off, but I also didn't really think the videogame's story was as far off from the books as you seek to (I've read the first four or five, iirc) so your mileage may vary.

Hm. Well, I'll try and grab the game when it's on sale and give it a chance, then. I mean, my computer runs Metal Gear Rising, it can't be that hard for it to run The Wild Hunt.

[Ratman]

Otherwise he writes about basic folklore ideas, and it just so happens that CDPR made it famous and did it better and now he's a salty jackass.

let me just

[Bugs]

Sounds like a simp.

Or maybe your average author.

[Ratman]

The point is that after surviving the soviet union, he's liberal but actually. He used to be with it, but then they changed what it was, and now he's no longer with it and what it is now is strange and alien to him. It will happen to you.

People in the east have trouble grasping liberalism in the first place. People in the west who have no idea about totalitarianism can't understand where he's coming from, and translate any sort of social injustice into black people. It's gotta be tough.

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Saying he writes about folklore is wrong anyway. That's flavor.

[SpoonyViking]

The point is that after surviving the soviet union, he's liberal but actually.

His novels don't seem to be anything like "but actually", though.

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If anything, I think he'd be "salty" at the same people who claim it would be "historically inaccurate" to have black people in the setting, for example.

[Blastedspider]

He is probably salty about everything. I've read all the books, and there is hardly a sacred cow pan Sapkowski didn't try to butcher.

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Well besides really amorphous type of humanism.

[fire_mountain_30]

His novels don't seem to be anything like "but actually", though.

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If anything, I think he'd be "salty" at the same people who claim it would be "historically inaccurate" to have black people in the setting, for example.

Oh no, he was legit salty.

Have you looked into his one-sided blood feud with CDPR because of his own ego and failing to accept his own bad deal making decisions?

[SpoonyViking]

Oh, no, I did read about that, but that was because of money, not ideology.

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Well, I suppose "video games are dumb" is still an ideology.

[fire_mountain_30]

Musing about True Magic.

A- do you think that someone that can use a partial application of a True Magic (Kojirou for example) is able to grow into having Mastery of all its applications like Zeltrech?

B- do you think that in order to use a partial application of True Magic that a Magician for the Mgic must have existed beforehand (basically, could someone have used the refrection phenomenon before Zeltrech attained the Kaleidoscope)?

[fumei]

A) Yes, because true magic eventually becomes "mundane" (prime example is third magic having become commonplace in EXTRA) as it's only "that which is impossible in the current age", so it's only given that people eventually acquire it, so why not someone who already mastered a fraction of it.

B) No, because the root connection is required to even attain the miracle that is true magic, so if you can just acquire it anyway then it's not really true magic

[ballinamon]

Of all the Archer Servants that ACTUALLY use a bow I have a question, if they are forced in melee situations what is their combat method? A secondary weapon or something more?

Sorry for the rare question. I'm thinking of a fanfic and it have an archer as the enemy, but it seems I just can't write an bowman for this life of mine, at least I have problems thinking about situations in where he is forced in close combat.

Of the ones I remember:

Tawara Touta have a katana and throws of those things to stock rice.
Chiron does pankration.
Tomoe have a naginata and seems she is in fact good enough to be a Lancer?
Orion actually have a axe attached to his bow and a club.
I don't even know if call the stupid thing of Tristan a bow and I don't even know how it works, but it seems it entirely depens on it?
Alkeides actually strike with the bow itself as a club, which I think is cool and my best option even if I don't even know why the bow of Alkeides doesn't break.
Atalante seems she only use her bow and the rest of her limbs to punch and kick? kinda like Alkeides but without smacking with the bow, in fact Atalante is more like my ideal Archer and the best example of what an archer should be.

Now those are the Archer that I can remember. Don't know if I miss someone, also what do you think is the optimal option for a bowman in that situation?

[Hakuno]

Alkeides actually strike with the bow itself as a club, which I think is cool and my best option even if I don't even know why the bow of Alkeides doesn't break.

Being Herk, you should think that the bow of Hydra is strong enough to not break even by the sheer force of its user

Also Robin uses daggers when forced to go cqc in Fate/Extra, and Arjuna could just fire some astras

Depending the Archer, if relies too much in its bow, trying to keep distance would be the top priority

[AmADo VII]

in Fragments, Arash went melee to kill Sphinx using arrow to stab it.

[Clyton]

Atalante was noted by Peleus to be one of the best wrestlers, and he couldn't beat her too. So I'd assume Atalante does have some CQC proficiency, but whether it's applicable to actual combat scenarios is another matter.

[AAM1232]

Arjuna was also losing slowly to Karna in close range combat. Without any non-bow weapons that we know of. So he's not exactly that unfamiliar with close range combat.

[Comun]

Atalante is more famous for her running speed, so if anyone got her into close combat range, I assume she would easily just get out of close combat range.

[ballinamon]

Atalante is more famous for her running speed, so if anyone got her into close combat range, I assume she would easily just get out of close combat range.

Ok, but what if someone is quicker than her?

Arjuna was also losing slowly to Karna in close range combat. Without any non-bow weapons that we know of. So he's not exactly that unfamiliar with close range combat.

So what he does in close combat, energy punches or firing energy of his hands?

[Zurvan]

Ok, but what if someone is quicker than her?

just watch the atalante vs achilles fight

[Iceblade44]

So what he does in close combat, energy punches or firing energy of his hands?

Arrows. Always arrows with Arjuna. The thing is with him is that he kinda has a teleport side step allowing him to get around his enemies and just continue to shoot at them. That is at least how it seems like in his animations in Extella and Fgo.