Guest character design guide (nonfiction): Difference between revisions

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* Have a primary image for your character page.
* Have a primary image for your character page.


== Author's characters ==
== Apollonian and Dionysian ==


I have two favorite characters who do most of the speaking for me, when I wish to speak in character:
Much of ''Fiction'' falls into one of two broad categories:


* [[Havelock]]
* [[Apollonian (nonfiction)]] "of or pertaining to [[Apollo (nonfiction)]]".
* [[Lud the Gamer]]
* [[Dionysian (nonfiction)]] - "of or pertaining to [[Dionysus (nonfiction)]]".


Guest characters who want to interact with ''Fiction'' in character should probably approach one of these two characters.
== The Gnomon algorithm ==


=== Havelock ==
My Apollonian fictions exploit [[mathematics (nonfiction)]], [[computation (nonfiction)]], [[artificial intelligence (nonfiction)]], [[engineering (nonfiction)]], and so on.


Havelock is a kind of oracle, or judge.  It is a power, a curse, a gift.  It works like this. Two men with powerful and irreconcilable visions of the future visit Havelock to settle their destiny.  Havelock does not decide, or think, or reason, or extert will:  he simply accepts the commision to settle the dispute. Instantly the quantum of destiny resolves: one man, the cosmos accepts his vision of destiny. The other man suffers the impossible fact that his dreams will never come true because they never could come true.
Mathematicians and computer scientists form the core of my Apollonian heroes.  [[Alan Turing (nonfiction)]] and [[Georg Cantor (nonfiction)]] deserve special mention, because they suffered for their geniuses, and their suffering makes me want to cast them as heroes.


You will generally find him sometime in the late nineteenth century, in the Western reaches of North America, probably in mining town boarding house ... the rough places, edge of the badlands ... like that old TV show ''Kung Fu' ... that's where fiction seeks purchase in the nonfictional world, for much the same reason that insectivorous plants evolve at the edge of deserts and other marginal biomes.
A number of my fictional [[Supervillain (nonfiction)|supervillains]] are Apollonian:  [[The Boxes]] is a prime example, having a plural name, singular identity, and no physical presence. [[Gotilus]] is another major Apollonian supervillain, although Gnotilus behaves in a very [[Dionysian (nonfiction)]] way, secreting [[Geometry solvent]], waging war on the [[Golden ratio (nonfiction)]], committing [[crimes against mathematical constants]], and so on.


For all his mystic talk, [[Havelock]] is basically a rational figure. Reverse engineer him, you'll probably find the [[Gnomon algorithm]].
In ''Fiction'', [[Mathematics (nonfiction)]] has a fictional, [[Dionysian (nonfiction)]] counterpart:  [[Mathematics]]. [[Mathematics]] is about how the mathematician feels.  [[Mathematics]] is poetry in the direction of logic, with heart.


=== Lud the Game ==
Above all that -- or beneath all that, if you prefer -- is the [[Gnomon algorithm]]. That's my bottom-line, last-stand Apollonian fiction.  "How does it work?  The [[Gnomon algorithm]]." 


Lud is a Shopkeeper-Prince -- a guy who runs a comic-and-gaming store.  He does not look or talk like the classic "Android's Dungeon" nerd in The Simspons, although he serves a similar function in ''Fiction''.
== Carnevale Tenebre ==


Lud is a computer programmer, so he definitely has Apollonian qualities, and he talks a good tech talk.  But I suspect that Lud is fundamentally Dionysian at heart -- connected with [[Carnevale Tenebre]] in a variety of capacities.
In my Dionysian fictions, if you ask "How does it work?" the final answer is [[Demon (nonfiction)|demons (nonfiction)]].


== Apollonian and Dionysian ==
[[Carnevale Tenebre]] is where the demons emerge from heart of my Dionysian dreams.


Much of ''Fiction'' falls into one of two broad categories:
== Author's characters ==


* [[Apollonian (nonfiction)]] "of or pertaining to [[Apollo (nonfiction)]]".
I have two favorite characters who do most of the speaking for me, when I wish to speak in character:
* [[Dionysian (nonfiction)]] - "of or pertaining to [[Dionysus (nonfiction)]]".


=== Apollonian fictions: the Gnomon algorithm ===
* [[Havelock]]
* [[Lud the Gamer]]


My Apollonian fictions exploit [[mathematics (nonfiction)]], [[computation (nonfiction)]], [[artificial intelligence (nonfiction)]], [[engineering (nonfiction)]], and so on.
Guest characters who want to interact with ''Fiction'' in character should probably approach one of these two characters.


Mathematicians and computer scientists form the core of my Apollonian heroes.  [[Alan Turing (nonfiction)]] and [[Georg Cantor (nonfiction)]] deserve special mention, because they suffered for their geniuses, and their suffering makes me want to cast them as heroes.
=== Havelock ===


A number of my fictional [[Supervillain (nonfiction)|supervillains]] are Apollonian: [[The Boxes]] is a prime example, having a plural name, singular identity, and no physical presence. [[Gotilus]] is another major Apollonian supervillain, although Gnotilus behaves in a very [[Dionysian (nonfiction)]] way, secreting [[Geometry solvent]], waging war on the [[Golden ratio (nonfiction)]], committing [[crimes against mathematical constants]], and so on.
Havelock is a kind of oracle, or judge. It is a power, a curse, a gift.  It works like this. Two men with powerful and irreconcilable visions of the future visit Havelock to settle their destiny. Havelock does not decide, or think, or reason, or extert will:  he simply accepts the commision to settle the dispute. Instantly the quantum of destiny resolves: one man, the cosmos accepts his vision of destiny. The other man suffers the impossible fact that his dreams will never come true because they never could come true.


In ''Fiction'', [[Mathematics (nonfiction)]] has a fictional, [[Dionysian (nonfiction)]] counterpart:  [[Mathematics]].  [[Mathematics]] is about how the mathematician feels.  [[Mathematics]] is poetry in the direction of logic, with heart.
You will generally find him sometime in the late nineteenth century, in the Western reaches of North America, probably in mining town boarding house ... the rough places, edge of the badlands ... like that old TV show ''Kung Fu' ... that's where fiction seeks purchase in the nonfictional world, for much the same reason that insectivorous plants evolve at the edge of deserts and other marginal biomes.


Above all that -- or beneath all that, if you prefer -- is the [[Gnomon algorithm]]. That's my bottom-line, last-stand Apollonian fiction.  "How does it work?  The [[Gnomon algorithm]]." 
For all his mystic talk, [[Havelock]] is basically a rational figure. Reverse engineer him, you'll probably find the [[Gnomon algorithm]].


=== Dionysian fictions: Carnevale Tenebre ===
=== Lud the Game ===


In my Dionysian fictions, if you ask "How does it work?" the final answer is [[Demon (nonfiction)|demons (nonfiction)]].
Lud is a Shopkeeper-Prince -- a guy who runs a comic-and-gaming store.  He does not look or talk like the classic "Android's Dungeon" nerd in The Simspons, although he serves a similar function in ''Fiction''.


[[Carnevale Tenebre]] is where the demons emerge from heart of my Dionysian dreams.
Lud is a computer programmer, so he definitely has Apollonian qualities, and he talks a good tech talk.  But I suspect that Lud is fundamentally Dionysian at heart -- connected with [[Carnevale Tenebre]] in a variety of capacities.


== Nonfictional comic book characters ==
== Nonfictional comic book characters ==

Revision as of 12:23, 15 July 2016

This article is a design guide for guest characters (that is, characters created by or based upon friends of the author).

Fiction is a strongly non-linear work: there is no "our story so far" narrative. There are only fiction pages, and non-fiction pages, and the text and images on the pages, and the links that bind them.

This design guide is intended to provide some high-level linearity for guest characters.

Enemies

  • Have at least one essential nemesis, arch-enemy, etc. Drama is driven by enemies.

See Category:Supervillains.

Images

  • Have a primary image for your character page.

Apollonian and Dionysian

Much of Fiction falls into one of two broad categories:

The Gnomon algorithm

My Apollonian fictions exploit mathematics (nonfiction), computation (nonfiction), artificial intelligence (nonfiction), engineering (nonfiction), and so on.

Mathematicians and computer scientists form the core of my Apollonian heroes. Alan Turing (nonfiction) and Georg Cantor (nonfiction) deserve special mention, because they suffered for their geniuses, and their suffering makes me want to cast them as heroes.

A number of my fictional supervillains are Apollonian: The Boxes is a prime example, having a plural name, singular identity, and no physical presence. Gotilus is another major Apollonian supervillain, although Gnotilus behaves in a very Dionysian (nonfiction) way, secreting Geometry solvent, waging war on the Golden ratio (nonfiction), committing crimes against mathematical constants, and so on.

In Fiction, Mathematics (nonfiction) has a fictional, Dionysian (nonfiction) counterpart: Mathematics. Mathematics is about how the mathematician feels. Mathematics is poetry in the direction of logic, with heart.

Above all that -- or beneath all that, if you prefer -- is the Gnomon algorithm. That's my bottom-line, last-stand Apollonian fiction. "How does it work? The Gnomon algorithm."

Carnevale Tenebre

In my Dionysian fictions, if you ask "How does it work?" the final answer is demons (nonfiction).

Carnevale Tenebre is where the demons emerge from heart of my Dionysian dreams.

Author's characters

I have two favorite characters who do most of the speaking for me, when I wish to speak in character:

Guest characters who want to interact with Fiction in character should probably approach one of these two characters.

Havelock

Havelock is a kind of oracle, or judge. It is a power, a curse, a gift. It works like this. Two men with powerful and irreconcilable visions of the future visit Havelock to settle their destiny. Havelock does not decide, or think, or reason, or extert will: he simply accepts the commision to settle the dispute. Instantly the quantum of destiny resolves: one man, the cosmos accepts his vision of destiny. The other man suffers the impossible fact that his dreams will never come true because they never could come true.

You will generally find him sometime in the late nineteenth century, in the Western reaches of North America, probably in mining town boarding house ... the rough places, edge of the badlands ... like that old TV show Kung Fu' ... that's where fiction seeks purchase in the nonfictional world, for much the same reason that insectivorous plants evolve at the edge of deserts and other marginal biomes.

For all his mystic talk, Havelock is basically a rational figure. Reverse engineer him, you'll probably find the Gnomon algorithm.

Lud the Game

Lud is a Shopkeeper-Prince -- a guy who runs a comic-and-gaming store. He does not look or talk like the classic "Android's Dungeon" nerd in The Simspons, although he serves a similar function in Fiction.

Lud is a computer programmer, so he definitely has Apollonian qualities, and he talks a good tech talk. But I suspect that Lud is fundamentally Dionysian at heart -- connected with Carnevale Tenebre in a variety of capacities.

Nonfictional comic book characters

By "nonfictional", I mean not authored by me. Superman (nonfiction) is nonfictional in the context of Fiction. (Nonfictional pages by the page title suffix "(nonfiction)".)

I have a special obsession with Green Lantern (nonfiction) and the DC Comics Power ring (nonfiction). See Green Ring for my fictional version of the Power ring.

In the News

Fiction cross-reference

Nonfiction cross-reference

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