Guess what? My local tv station is repeating season one of Twin Peaks! And I'm rewatching the first episode now Gosh, this really brings back some memories~~~~
Okay, Talia. For your sake, I'm not going to reply to Ralhag anymore *hugs*
In any case, there is nothing more to reply to someone who's very obviously trying to put me down now because he thinks I've humiliated him before. I've known people like Ralhag, most unfortunately. And therefore I know he doesn't know he's sounding more and more ridiculous and childish with each succeeding post so I'll forgive him.
So don't worry, Talia! I don't have dealings with him prior to this, I never read his entries and barely even noticed his existence most of the time until now So peace will return to Santharia and Ralhag will just slide through my consciousness as he've always had.
I resisted but I couldn't stop it anymore, I have to roll my eyes.
How does one respond to a post by the Superior Ralhag whose's worldview firmly believes that everything he says is a nugget of inoffensive truth and therefore people who dare to take offense at what he says must be:
1) overly sensitive 2) busybodies 3) defensive because lo' the Great Ralhag is only here to make the Dream a better place so therefore he is licensed to behave like an arse by dispensing what he calls 'inoffensive truths'
In regards to the motives behind my posts to you, I told you that you're behaving badly because I see someone behaving badly and so I tell him. Cause and effect. Simple as that.
Humiliate you? Hardly since your ego is obviously big enough to let you think that just because I called you out as a brat means that I MUST have appointed myself as the Shining Champion for the Downtrodden of Santharia. So you think my posts telling you to stop acting like a jerk is because I am, as you say, the Mighty Dala, and I am exercising my so-called power over you to make sure you stay quashed in your place? LOL!
The idea of me as Mighty is mightily laughable since my rate of posts here at the forum is like 0.05 per day and half of the newbies here don't even know who I am.
And just because I've openly said that you've been behaving condescendingly and ill-mannered, so automatically I MUST have posted something 'bizarre and shocking'? Interesting, as you say. And it does say a lot about how you perceived things actually.
Oh my dear Ralhag. Sighs.
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But when I tell you that I feel as though I have been offended, that makes me wrong and a brat?
When did I ever said you were wrong to feel offended? Do me the courtesy of reading my words carefully which is something you don't seem to be doing. I am replying to your statement that you are on the offensive because someone has offended you. I am replying to you by asking you who has offended you because I frankly did not see how anybody here has put you in the offensive when even those who oppose your views have tried to give you their explanations why they oppose your idea to the best of their abilities. I cited Vesk's reply because that was the only reply I see that directly told you to stop being condescending.
Did I say you were wrong because of that? I said you are behaving like a brat in reference to your condescending replies to others and implying that those who agree with you must be 'educated' and those who didn't agree are ignorant and then going off in a huff when you didn't get universal approval and calling people proud.
So next time, read what I say before going on a long soliloquy of how you have been wrongly assumed by the Mighty Dala (this really amuses me anyway. The Mighty Dala!!).
I don't assume anything. I just call it as I see it. Which is something you should be familiar with. The only difference between you and me is that I don't hide behind a disclaimer of 'no offense meant' when I get called out on my remarks *roll eyes again* And before I do post anything, I always make it a point to carefully read everything that has been posted here before. Which is obviously something you are not doing.
Sighs.
As it stands, I have told you that I think you have behaved badly. *shrugs* Fine, you don't think you have. I think you have. You don't think so. Etc etc etc. Then we agree to disagree on your behaviour is all I can see.
Ralhag, just because you said 'oh don't be offended by what I say, I don't mean it that way' doesn't automatically absolve you. You seem to think that gives you a 'pass, do not go to jail' ticket and therefore a right to lambast and bully others who disagree with you as long as you put that disclaimer of 'no offence'.
Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Stop behaving like a brat who's miffed because his suggestions to standardize English and ban contractions in compendium entries was met by less than universal agreement.
You say you didn't call anyone stupid but outright accusing them of ignorance is as good as calling them stupid. Worse, it's condescending.
You're entitled to your own opinions and to try and convert people to your point of views but I expect you to be CIVIL when doing so. And that goes for everybody else in this debate.
Saying 'whatever, this is a silly argument and people are too proud' just because you didn't get your way in this debate only emphasizes your own childishness and immaturity.
And don't make me further quote instances of your incivility back to you. I don't like doing so but you seem to labouring under the illusion that it's okay to tell other people they're ignorant and proud as long as you disclaim, hey no offence meant. So don't give that truth is never offensive crap. That's a cop-out if I've ever heard one.
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And Dala, I hate to point this out, but if I was being offensive, it was in response to offense
And Ralhag, I hate to point this out to you but no one here was being offensive to you. I read through all the entries and all I saw was a direct reply to you from Vesk asking you not to be condescending and to stop calling people 'uneducated'. Is that offensive? I didn't think so, I thought it was a reasonable request by Vesk couched in very reasonable language even if you thought you weren't being condescending.
Did anyone call you names? Did anyone say Ralhag, stop being a jerk? Or Ralhag, you're behaving like a despot? Yes, no? Simply put, I honestly see no justification in you lashing out to those who don't see your POV here.
We, who are not a Bard Judith or a Dalá Valánnia , regardless of if we are a native speaker or not should try to live up to a higher standard. And that would be an easy way, a tiny little bit to improve ourselves.
Eh, no no! Hardly, Talia! My grasp of the English language and grammer can be quite tenuous at times too! I can't remember the difference between a passive and active verb most of the time :X
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People can pretend that I am making too big a deal out of this, but that is because they are ignorant and do not see the same problem as I do. I know what I am talking about.
The rule is firm, we can't choose which rules to obey and which to ignore. That is childish, at best. I expected people to agree with me outright and immediately, and the intelligent, educated people have.
My good Ralhag, so people who don't agree with you are, by your definition, ignorant and not educated?
You're lucky most of the Santharians here involved in this debate has been quite tolerant of your escalating hostile behaviour. I'll be kicking your arse from here to Sunday if it was up to me.
Ralhag, I think you need to take a step back. Your passion for good English in Santharia is commendable but the same passion is making you rather draconian. Frustration isn't a good enough reason for you to start being offensive to others who don't agree with your POV
I dont know if it's just me but in my compendium entries, I switch into auto 'scholarly' formal mode and I don't use contractions much, if hardly, haha.
In my stories though, I do use contractions in character speech to convey a sense of intimacy for readers. That's what I use contractions in language for anyway mostly, to create a sense of informality and realism in order to allow readers to identify with my characters. When I'm blogging, I do the same to establish a sense of community and connection with whoever is reading my blogs.
So in a nutshell, I guess what we're saying is that contractions in compendium entries are okay depending on CONTEXT and as long as they're NOT USED IN LIBERAL ABUNDANCE. Yes? That sounds fine to me. Just make sure if it's a scholarly entry, then please adopt a scholarly mode of language.
Bad and sloppy grammer and horrific spelling are still a no-no for me though! NEVER!
Edit in referral to Talia's Edit!
If there's some confusion about what contractions and abbrevations are. Here's some examples (enjoys examples =P):
WORDS (negating a verb) CONTRACTION is not = isn't are not = aren't was not = wasn't were not = weren't
and abbreviations are shortened words like: Here is a list of abbreviations:
e.g. - for example, for instance. From Latin "exempli gratia". etc. - And so on; and so forth; and the other ones; and the rest. From Latin language "et cetera". i.e. - that is. From Latin "id est". a.m. - ante meridiem, before noon p.m. - post meridiem, afternoon c/o - in care of B.Sc. - bachelor of science LL.B. - legum baccalaureus M.P. - Member of Parliament p.t.o. - please turn over P.S. - post scriptum
Mina>> Actually, my examples of sloppy English wasn't that Singlish, lol. Just lazy grammer, text speech and weird capitalization.
Now, presenting an example of Singlish! (except also copied and pasted from a local forum conversation)
that's xialanxue lah. Read the url lah.
Then why she's still liddat after that incident?? Man her ego is darn high...
Not nice hor.
Like wat???
maybe bah.... i got cup bigger then that but they dun pop up liddat anywayz.... ROFL
next time want to post like dat make sure u'r some miss world promotion for the GAHMEN... geez... the future of singapore so BLEAK liao, this kind of ppl juz make it worse.... *sighs*
I use my pragmatic particles of lah, leh, ah and hor as much as any self-respecting Singaporeans do in daily speech but I need my Singlish to be still understandable at the end of the day
I don't use contractions either when writing my school essays so I agree that if Compendium entries are meant to present a scholarly view, then we should adopt the scholarly mode of writing where contractions are hardly or not used at all.
For those used to contractions when writing entries, they might feel offended though if we were to tell them to stop doing it, so all I can say it's very easy for language to degenerate if we don't pay the necessary attention to it, unfortunately.
This is not a contraction example but if Ralhag says contractions are sloppy and lazy...they're nothing compared to THIS travesty of the English language...
(extract copied and pasted from a local Singaporean forum)
trying to pity people. ahahaha. never mind. at most next time i be hard-hearted. ahahaha. no more the good mendy. all bad. lols. jus kidding.
Another example of sloppiness in the English language. n i oso hate text speech, u noe? bcause i dun noe wat pple r sayin'
aNd wHY dO SoMe pPLe tHInk TyPIng LikE ThIS iS cUTe?!?!
I watched Twin Peaks!!!! It was shown on Singapore tv during the early 90s I think. I was glued to my tv set during the first season because I wanted to know 'Who Killed Laura Palmer?'
The first season was fab, with its mix of murder mystery realism, dream mythos, other dimensions and that dash of bizarre kookiness that Lynch is famous for. I don't think I ever will forget the image of the dancing dwarf. And also, I thought then that Audrey Horne, played by Sherilyn Fenn, had the most beautiful arch eyebrow I've ever seen, lol!
But the second season declined a lot in story and became too obscure and too mired in subplots. I watched the end and when I finally knew who killed Laura, I HATED it! I thought it was such a terribly convenient solution. I also didn't like what happened to one of my favourite characters, Agent Dale Cooper, humph.
Actually, I think 'Lost' suffers from the same syndrome as 'Twin Peaks'. Their first seasons built up a terrific and suspenseful mystery complete with unexplainable occurences bordering on the supernatural but by the second seasons, the writers were unable to substain the momentum of the myriad mysteries introduced and just kept piling more and more obscure incidents, subplots and ridiculous conincidences until nothing made sense anymore.
But I like 'Twin Peaks' if only for the first, most excellent season, and also the gorgeously haunting soundtrack. I loved 'Falling', 'The Nightingale' and 'Into the Night' by Julee Cruise and would play those songs over and over. My soundtrack of 'Twin Peaks' had been a cassette tape so it didn't endure so well over the years! I feel like getting the CD version now if I can find it...
In ancient China, brothels had pretty names like Spring Flower Court, Winter Blossom House, Peony Pavilion, House of Supreme Happiness...you get the idea
Essentially, there were two types of courtesans. In one category were the courtesans known (in Italy) as the cortigiana onesta, or the honest courtesan, who were cast as intellectuals. In the other were the cortigiana di lume, which designated a lower-class of courtesan. Although the latter were still considered better than the average prostitute, the former were the ones most often romanticized and treated more or less equal to women of royalty. It is with this type of courtesan that the art of courtisanerie is best associated.
The cortigiana onesta were usually well-educated and worldly (sometimes even more so than the average upper-class woman), and often held simultaneous careers as performers or artists. They were typically chosen on the basis of their "breeding"--social and conversational skills, intelligence, common sense, and companionship--as well as their physical attributes. It was usually their wit and personality that set them apart from regular women. They were prostitutes in the sense that sex was one of their obligations, but unlike the average prostitute, sex constituted only a facet of the courtesan's array of services. For example, they were expected to be well-dressed and ready to engage in a variety of topics ranging from art to music to politics.
Aaah, the seedy underbelly of Santharia....if we don't want to use the word prostitutes for fear of attracting the wrong kind of searchers here, there's always the option of courtesans *coughs* Although courtesans are still basically upper-class prostitues.
I doubt a common sailor would have the means to upkeep a courtesan tho, heh.
Anyway, I think so too, that prostitution will inevitably exist in any decent city or port. As the saying goes, it's one of the oldest professions in the world! And it isn't just limited to women. Men can be prostitutes too
Also, if there's a Thieves Guild, I don't see why there can't be a Guild for prostitutes too!
Heh, I'm not too sure about the organised part though...
You Are From Saturn
You're steady, organizes, and determined to achieve your dreams. You tend to play it conservative, going by the rules (at least the practical ones). You'll likely reach the top. And when you do, you'll be honorable and responsible. Focus on happiness. Don't let your goals distract you from fun! Don't be too set in your ways, and you'll be more of a success than you ever dreamed of.
And the stealing of the Vial seems really easy considering that your characters are venturing into a territory that is, by all accounts, filled with poisonous air, littered with treacherous swamps and bogs, patrolled by elves that can meld into the shadows on the walls, a confusing huge ruin, not to mention there's a mad Elf queen lurking around somewhere, lol. Even if there's a mystical Ahrhim elf lending a helping hand!
But since this is only an overview, I shall assume the whole Vial stealing episode will be a lot longer and more complicated when the story is written
Actually it wouldn't be all surprising if the Bone Queen just gives the Vial to Rodrim on a whim without causing too much pain to his body She finds the dwarven race very amusing and has one or two as garden ornaments.
Uh, well, yes, I'll appreciate it if you leave the Bone Queen's demise to me since she is my created character and I do have plans for her (slow tho they might be in coming!)
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Gosh, this really brings back some memories~~~~
So peace will return to Santharia and Ralhag will just slide through my consciousness as he've always had.
Hardly, Talia! My grasp of the English language and grammer can be quite tenuous at times too! I can't remember the difference between a passive and active verb most of the time :X 
