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The Small Man
by Dana Shilling 02 Jan '02

02 Jan '02

This is from Diana Wynne Jones' very funny The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, which skewers the cliches of wizards'n'wyverns fics. SMALL MAN can be a very funny or very tiresome TOUR COMPANION, depending on how this kind of thing grabs you. He gambles, he drinks too mucy, and he always runs away. Since the Rules allow him to make JOKES, he will excuse his behavior in a variety of comical ways. Physically he is stunted and not at all handsome, although he usually dresses flamboyantly. He tends to wear hats with feathers in. You will discover he is very vain. But if you can avoid smacking him, you will come to tolerate if not love him. He will contrive, in some cowardly way, to play a major part of SAVING THE WORLD. -(Y)

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Re: [B7L] The Small Man
by Ellynne G. 02 Jan '02

02 Jan '02

On Mon, 31 Dec 2001 19:15:13 -0500 "Dana Shilling" <dshilling(a)worldnet.att.net> writes: > This is from Diana Wynne Jones' very funny > The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, which skewers > the cliches of wizards'n'wyverns fics. See also the entry on color coding. Avon has a problem. 1. Clothing. Black garments normally mean EVIL, but in rare cases can mean sobriety, in which case a white ruffled collar will be added to the ensemble. 2. Hair. Black hair is EVIL, particularly if combined with a corpse-white complexion. 3. Eyes. Black eyes are invariably EVIL; 4. Complexion. Corpse-white is EVIL, and it grades from there. For Servalan, see the entry #4 under QUEENS (old fashioned bad) for necessary details. Cally seems to be a mix of the entries under ELVES, HEALERS, and HIGH PRIESTESSES. As for Blake, check MENTOR. MENTOR. A Tour Official who will be at your disposal until half-way through the Tour, when you will unaccountably lose him. Before that he will guide you, tell you to do in the face of strange customs, and even sometimes instruct you in how to perform minor MAGICS. [Snip age and physical description, which doesn't match] . . . this will give him the right to be bossy, smug, tiresomely philosophical, and infuriatingly secretive about all-important facts. You will be glad to see the back of the old idiot. Unfortunately, you won't have. He will reappear, smugger and bossier than ever, near the end of the Tour, just when you thought you were doing rather well on your own. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

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RE: Re: [B7L] The Small Man
by jacquispeel＠netscape.net 02 Jan '02

02 Jan '02

"Dana Shilling" <dshilling(a)worldnet.att.net> wrote: >Thanks, Ellynne! And let's not forget > >SAVING THE WORLD is something many >Tours require you to do. You have to defeat the >DARK LORD or WIZARDS who are trying to >enslave everyone. It is about the same as a >QUEST, except thre is always a WAR, a personal >CONFRONTATION, and a CATACLYSM before >you succeed. Thousands of troops and DEMONS >must be annihilated. The CITADEL or base of >EVIL must be destroyed (_razed_). This >usually triggers a semi-natural disaster. Sometimes >large parts of the world you are saving go up in >smoke. > >-(Y) > Would Orac (and other computers) have problems with 'raised'/'razed' - sound the same but meaning the opposite? Jacqui -- __________________________________________________________________ Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/

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Julia Vidler
by Steve Rogerson 02 Jan '02

02 Jan '02

We have been talking about Julia Vidler in the discussion forum. She played Avalon (Project Avalon) and Barr (Powerplay). A search on her also finds she was in an episode of Shoestring and in the 1976 film Double Exposure. And that's it, which is a pretty short career for an actress. Does anyone know what happened to her? -- cheers Steve Rogerson http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson Redemption 03, 21-23 February 2003, Ashford, Kent Celebrating 25 years of Blake's 7 and 10 years of Babylon 5 http://www.smof.com/redemption

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Re: names; Vila
by Helen Krummenacker 02 Jan '02

02 Jan '02

> Two sources (Thomas Keightley's _World Guide to Gnomes_, et al, & the Funk > & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, etc.) inform me that the > "vila" (pl. vile) is, indeed a Slavic nymph of the woods, fields, streams, > & lakes, "the spirits of virgins & children, who leave their graves to > dance at night." While "hostile to men," they do help the occasional hero. > (This is why I so enjoy the vile in the 4th Harry Potter book, who are > apparently irresistible to men, but who also display a less sedate side.) > First time I came across this meaning was as Villa (pronounced Vilya) from "The Merry Widow", where there's an aria telling the story. The sight of a villa can enchant a man, but if she kisses him, he'll die. Hardly seems fitting for our Fearful Hero, does it?

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Re: 5th season ideas
by Helen Krummenacker 02 Jan '02

02 Jan '02

> This time, Servalan contacts the rebels. She killed someone in the > Federation hierarchy, only to have them dissolve into goo. The > Andromedan invaders were NOT completely eliminated... some apparently > crashed and have been imitating humans, infiltrating their way into > society. Now it isn't just rebels vs. the Federation, it's human vs > inhuman, and the question of who to trust becomes all the more > difficult. That sounds wonderful! Are you going to do a story on it? Nico I don't think I will ever have the time to follow up on it. It's fair game for anyone who'd like the plot for fanficcing themselves.

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Re: [B7L] Re: Fanfic character Names - Consonants Fist
by feste＠brandywine.net 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

>Reply-To: "Alison Page" <alison(a)alisonpage.demon.co.uk> >BTW re 'Vila' didn't somebody tell us it was a word for an elf in some >Slavic language? I forget. A female tree spirit? Two sources (Thomas Keightley's _World Guide to Gnomes_, et al, & the Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, etc.) inform me that the "vila" (pl. vile) is, indeed a Slavic nymph of the woods, fields, streams, & lakes, "the spirits of virgins & children, who leave their graves to dance at night." While "hostile to men," they do help the occasional hero. (This is why I so enjoy the vile in the 4th Harry Potter book, who are apparently irresistible to men, but who also display a less sedate side.) Funk & Wagnall then discuss Vili, one of Odin's brothers (the other is Ve), who may be an aspect of Odin, since he can step in for Odin when necessary. He helps to kill Ymir and to create humans; he also helps to take on Odin's godly duties and ... ahem ... enjoys Odin's wife while Odin is thought lost. Vili sounds like a proper inspiration for a tricky guy who's smarter than he appears. feste starting the new year right, with research feste(a)brandywine.net "Figs are sweet, but fictions are sweeter." -- William Makepeace Thackeray

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Re: Season 5
by Helen Krummenacker 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

Jacqi asked Following the recent discussion about S5 - perhaps the only way for a TV series to have been done would be to 'do something completely different' - rather than the same mixture of 'rebels fighting the Federation and each other, and occasionally meeting interesting sentients and others.' Any ideas for such a 'completely new angle'? Sure do: This time, Servalan contacts the rebels. She killed someone in the Federation hierarchy, only to have them dissolve into goo. The Andromedan invaders were NOT completely eliminated... some apparently crashed and have been imitating humans, infiltrating their way into society. Now it isn't just rebels vs. the Federation, it's human vs inhuman, and the question of who to trust becomes all the more difficult.

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RE: Re: [B7L] Re: B7 names
by jacquispeel＠netscape.net 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

"Nico Mody-Nikoloff" <nico(a)farsight.co.nz> wrote: >Meg wrote: > >> Looking at my latest Baby Name book: >> >> Vila: (Czech) wilful. A form of William. >> >> On the other hand, most *short* names have probably turned up somewhere >> sometime. Even if the writer invents them, chances are that someone else >> came up with them before them. Especially if they're variants of a >> common current name. Soolin I haven't found anywhere though. > >Czech eh? I've often wondered if the lower grades were moved around a lot to >meet labour demands, and that's why Vila has a foreign (i.e. not obviously >English) name. Another explanation would be the deliberate mixing of ethnic >groups to stamp out the vestiges of nationalism to form a more homogenous >Federation, though there's not much evidence for that - so few blacks or >Asians. > >I've often thought that Soolin was her family name, as she'd want to keep >that going. > >Nico > 'Vila Restal' sounds almost 'Baltic' Jacqui -- __________________________________________________________________ Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/

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Re: [B7L] Re: Fanfic character Names - Consonants Fist
by Ellynne G. 01 Jan '02

01 Jan '02

Speaking for myself, I look through name books and my odds and ends collection of language dictionaries, play around with things, attempt phonetic shifts, and wait till something feels right. I had one character I wanted to name Lilith. It was a good inside joke. It made her sound as if she was almost named after another character, Lily, while having a name with the exact opposite implications. But the character wasn't listening. Then, I saw a picture of Judith from the Apocrypha (James C. Christensen's. Judith is smiling charmingly, dressed in a feminine medieval style, with a big sword cradled in her arms) and that's when the character had her name. I didn't like it but I lost the argument. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

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