April 4th: Awww such a butiful scene ^_^

Astral · Post by **Astral** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:33 am

Couldn't have said it better myself Dude... no I really couldn't. To be honest that looks like a fantastic spot for a brake point if Ralph ever makes a TotQ book. The main plot is well patched up, but there are a lot of smaller loose ends that will make people want to read the next one to find out where those ends grow on to ^_^

Bengaley · Post by **Bengaley** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:26 pm

TOTQ Book... @.@

If our esteemed (HAH! *SNRK*) master ever makes one, I'm buying one.

As soon as I have spare cash.

SolidusRaccoon · Post by **SolidusRaccoon** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:36 am

We are now at 99.23% chance of a book.

Astral · Post by **Astral** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:50 am

*tumbs at solius* He's got his own supper computer, thats my bet.

SolidusRaccoon · Post by **SolidusRaccoon** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:13 am

No, I just have my CIA/FBI cameras planted in Ralphs place.

Astral · Post by **Astral** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:22 am

Aww! I want one

SolidusRaccoon · Post by **SolidusRaccoon** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:36 am

I will talk to my friends at MI5 and see what I can do.

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:57 am

It is interesting to put this one next to this previous one:

http://npc.keenspace.com/d/20030511.html

Sometimes a boy just needs his Mama.

SolidusRaccoon · Post by **SolidusRaccoon** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:00 am

maxgoof wrote:It is interesting to put this one next to this previous one:

http://npc.keenspace.com/d/20030511.html

Sometimes a boy just needs his Mama.

Yup, very good point.

Ann Vole · Post by **Ann Vole** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:29 am

Yuoofox wrote:I've been playing with story idea, a story about a human from our world who somehow adopts a baby Racconan and raises it as their own son or daughter.

I like the premise. I am doing something similar with my own comic (in development) where people have mixed feelings and different reactions as they realize the unidentified rodent they have been caring for or forcing to be captive is really a sentient being with strange abilities and eventualy that he is an alien to our solar system. Also, communicating with non human earth animals (mind-meld style) and also with humans, there are different reactions as they realize (or refuse to acknowlege) that those animals are not given the respect by the humans as being also "sentient" (self-aware, have the potential for dreams and goals and sentiments like faith, hope, and love).

I think those lectures on humans and "magic" in TOTQ
http://npc.keenspace.com/d/20040105.html
would suggest that humans generaly do not see the same stuff. Some blind people have developed the ability to perceive colours and other things that seem physicaly impossible without sight so "seeing" in non-physical ways seems to be possible but not generaly practiced in human brains.

maxgoof wrote:Sometimes a boy just needs his Mama.

It has been a while away from his mother for Quentyn too. Wanting his own mom has probably been on his mind and so seeing this kid needlessly denied a mother's touch must have been on his mind a lot.

RHJunior · Post by **RHJunior** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:29 am

Racconans don't "mind meld."

Especially not with nonsapient animals.

What Nessie does is a form of direct conditioning--- picking at the creatures' instincts and responses until she gets the desired result.
She can sense their emotions and communicate emotions to them, but so far as having "the potential for dreams and goals and sentiments like faith, hope, and love"---- no, they dont. They have some emotions, but animals are animals, sapients are sapients.

Mother Nature worship, eg "we are all brothers with the forest creatures" stuff, doesn't sell well with people who can actually poke around inside an animal's brain and see just exactly how dumb they really are.

Bigdude · Post by **Bigdude** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:42 am

Ralph is right.

As much as I loved the various furpeople I've lived with (esp. ferrets) the hard fact is that there's a huge gulf between them and humans (or theoretically, other sentients), and it's NOT about language like you'd think: rather, it's about the ability to plan for the future and recognize the consequences of actions.

A ferret will run off chasing a butterfly or something, follow yet another whim, wander off and die somewhere if they're let out on their own. Animals that do tend to come back on their own are doing so out of instinct, not planning.

Bengaley · Post by **Bengaley** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:19 pm

I dunno, my cats sometimes seem like they're planning something...

Oh, and ever seen a grinning horse? If you do, run.

@.@

Seriously, I don't think that my cats are sentient, or that they really are planning anything... but I've known two cats that hold grudges..

We're talking I'm just walking near them and they run up and swat at me, and I havn't bothered them all day.

Anyhow.

Good luck with the stories, guys!

If it wasn't for the fact I never finish a story I'd throw one in myself ^_^

Anthony Lion · Post by **Anthony Lion** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 2:09 pm

A cat we had once used to ring the doorbell when she wanted to get in....
(She jumped up onto a handrail that ended below the button)

SolidusRaccoon · Post by **SolidusRaccoon** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:47 pm

If your cat was big enough it will try to kill you and eat you. Devious creatures.

Bengaley · Post by **Bengaley** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 10:01 pm

They try it at the size they are now... O.o

Ann Vole · Post by **Ann Vole** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 12:58 am

RHJunior wrote:Racconans don't "mind meld."

Yes, and my comic is not anything like TOTQ either. I was just compairing Yuoofox's idea to my own.

RHJunior wrote:but animals are animals, sapients are sapients.
Mother Nature worship, eg "we are all brothers with the forest creatures" stuff, doesn't sell well with people who can actually poke around inside an animal's brain and see just exactly how dumb they really are.

I guess the difference in thinking here is between binary (your either Sapient or your not) and variable (everything has some degree of sapient-ness). I've been "poking inside animal brains" for a few decades now and come to the conclusion that you see what you are looking for: if you are looking for proof that animals are dumb, you will find it but if you are looking for self-determination, self-awareness, planning, etc as hard as I am, you will find it (to a lesser degree then humans of course). I have taught several kinds of insects "tricks" and seen their microscopic brains make choices (and you can't get much "dumber" then an insect). I am in no way one of these tree-huggers but I don't see much difference in the reason for a brain in an animal or human: it is to make choices. Those choices are strongly influenced by chemical-induced "emotional states" in dumber animals so they are more likely to make the right choices with that tini brain but the choices are still individual and never 100% predictable.

Mjolnir · Post by **Mjolnir** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:55 am

There are times when I think my dog is smarter than most people I know and then there are other times when he doesn't have the sense of a brick. It's all in the observation, really. When he does things I don't think dogs normally do, I think he's smart. Then, when he does something that a human would not do, he's an idiot.

- Mjolnir

Bengaley · Post by **Bengaley** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:59 am

Mjolnir wrote:There are times when I think my dog is smarter than most people I know and then there are other times when he doesn't have the sense of a brick. It's all in the observation, really. When he does things I don't think dogs normally do, I think he's smart. Then, when he does something that a human would not do, he's an idiot.

- Mjolnir

Isn't that the same, in the end?

I mean, how many humans would you see walking the street, sniffing everything, then taking an opportunity to pee on a nearby bush?

...>.> Shutup... >.>;;;

Mjolnir · Post by **Mjolnir** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 4:32 am

Bengaley wrote:I mean, how many humans would you see walking the street, sniffing everything, then taking an opportunity to pee on a nearby bush?

You obviously haven't met a few of my fraternity brothers.

- Mjolnir