Chronology Dates...Regarding the Lumiere Archives.

[Rath/Brendan]

Ok, so first thing is, I want to call the bible the Lumiere Archives, by the Lumiere Historical and Preservation Society.

Second....this is just a little plea. I am no way trying to make your life or your art harder, nor manipulate you. When you write your stories, could you please put some sort of date at the beginning or work it into the context itself. It doesn't have to be a specific year if you don't want to, but using phrases like these:

"At the turn of the century."
"Mid-18th century"
Late 20th century,

and other things like that would make my job, and preserve continuity so much easier. I know that you may not want to put dates in your story, so that's cool. If you don't want to work it in, please e-mail or PM me after the story goes up with the general time your story takes place so I can work it into the chronology.

Thanks.

Rath.

[Richard Dickson]

Okay, not to be fussy, but....

I don't want to have to insert some ham-handed chronological reference into the story. In my first story, I figured between the hanging and the reference to the wagon in front of the store that the reader would get the rough time period (1800s).

So if we can't think of some natural way to suggest the time, instead of a phrase like "in the ....", can't we simply make a note in the e-mail as to when the story takes place?

[Richard Dickson]

And nevermind, I didn't see the last paragraph, so please ignore that entire post. Long day at work.

I'll just nip off and shoot myself now....

[Blofeld]

I'm wondering how much a waste of time this "bible" is going to be.

Just the facts, Rath.

The writers shouldn't have to bend their work to fit the needs of the bible.

[Rath/Brendan]

Look. I'm trying to do my job. You wanna see just the facts. Check it out:

PLACES

Big Tree, The-Located next to the LUMIERE CITY COURTHOUSE. First appears in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister). Used as a gallows in the 19th century. Among its victims were JAMES LINCON TASKER, executed for murder. Described as having a gnarled trunk and leaves never as green as they should be. Possibly haunted.

Kennedy’s Store-a store in Lumiere. First mentioned in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister)

Lumiere City Courthouse-Located next to THE BIG TREE. First appears in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister). Working place of JUDGE O’HERLIHY.

PEOPLE

Barrow-victim of JAMES LINCOLN TASKER. First mentioned in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister). Described as “a downright bastard”

Jason-Young boy, first appears in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister). Races home from storm, passing by LUMIERE CITY COURTHOUSE and the BIG TREE next to it. Has a brother, MICHAEL.

Michael-Young boy, first appears in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister). Races home from storm, passes by the LUMIERE CITY COURTHOUSE and the BIG TREE next to it. Swears he hears the tree scream. Has a brother, JASON.

O’Herlihy, Judge-Judge of Lumiere, time unknown. First appears in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson. Condemms JAMES LINCOLN TASKER to be hanged until he is “dead, dead, dead.” Works in the LUMIERE CITY COURTHOUSE.

Sherrif, The-Sheriff of Lumiere, time unknown. First appears in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson. Waits for JAMES LINCOLN TASKER to finish dying.

Tasker, James Lincoln-murderer. First appears in “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister). Condemmed to die by JUDGE O’HERLIY Executed on the gallows by the BIG TREE outside the LUMIERE CITY COURTHOUSE. Killed BARROW.

TIMELINE

19th Century
-BIG TREE next to LUMIERE CITY COURTHOUSE used as gallows. [Deduced from “Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister)]
-JAMES LINCOLN TASKER kills BARROW. [“Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister)]
-TASKER condemmed to die by JUDGE O’HERLIHY at the LUMIERE CITY COURTHOUSE. [“Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister)]
-TASKER hanged on THE BIG TREE. [“Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister)]

20th Century
-JASON and MICHAEL race home to escape the storm. Michael swears he hears THE BIG TREE scream. [“Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister)]

SUPERNATURAL OCCURANCES

-Big Tree, The (Possible Haunting)-MICHAEL swears he heard the tree scream while running home to escape a storm. [“Let Him Dangle” by Richard F. Dickson (Poxy Von Sinister)]

That's what it's going to look like. You got a problem with that, let me know.

I'm not asking the writers to fit their stories to the bible, I'm asking them to help other writers by helping establish continuity.

They don't have to put dates in their story, but I would APPRECIATE it if an e-mail or private message was sent to me regarding the approximate time. All they have to say is "This story takes place in the mid 19th century. They don't even have to say mid.

Problems, tell me.

[Blofeld]

No problems with that. Rath, it just seemed with your frequent requests for voting on names for the bible, and inclusions of dates in the stories ... that it was perhaps growing into an entity beyond it's purpose -- a reference for writers attempting to not contradict what has come before.

[Coyote]

They won't. The bible's for continuity, and a reference. Knowing that there's already an old mill up on the hill, or that there's already a sherrif in modern day, keeps duplicates from happening (where there shouldn't be. Of COURSE there's going to be things like more than one bar in town), both on the side of the writer accidently missing something because he hasn't read ALL the stories, and the editor for getting confused and think the writer meant established X when the writer really meant established Y.

If it's a single-author series, there's a damn good bet there's a bible for it, to keep it straight. If there's several authors working on a series, there IS one, professionally. A TV series, for instance, already has one by the creator that's given to the authors before they even start. The writers then add to the bible as the write their stories (although someone else actually updates the bible). In *this* case, there's no series creator, the folks that are here at the start...the town founders, if you will...are writing the bible with the 500 word stories Hastur assigned.
Then, as we write more stories in the future, the bible will be updated with said info.
Without continuity, there is no shared town. There's merely an idea of a town, with each of us going of and writing whatever the hell we want with no regard for what went before. We're not playing Jenga with the same legos, we're sitting in our corners and building our own towers, instead.

A note on continuity: First person accounts can counterdict each other and still have continuity, as long as the different interpretations still center around events that could plausibly produce both accounts...even if the reader never finds out what really happened. The same goes for mythology and history. This means that even if an event happens in the bible, it doesn't necessarily limit you to what the bible says happened. (Landmarks are a tad more stringent...for instance, since we will apparently have the Seawrd River, mentioning that the town is dry and has no access to water of any kind might be a tad unbelievable. Likewise, hard facts about people...mentioning the current Sherrif is Jackson Smith when it's already established that it's Jeremiah Blackadder is gonna take some fancy footwork to not get Hastur to send it back asking why we suddenly have a new sherrif.)

[Coyote]

My response was to Blofeld's first post, btw wink
You youn'uns type too damn fast.

[Coyote]

Including dates WITH (not in) the stories just makes *his* job easier, in the long run. It's like, if the trashmen are going to pick up your trash at your house, it's nice to stick it in a bag for them, rather than just heaping it on the corner wink

[Blofeld]

No. You just think too much before you submit. wink

[Rath/Brendan]

Blofeld:
No problems with that. Rath, it just seemed with your frequent requests for voting on names for the bible, and inclusions of dates in the stories ... that it was perhaps growing into an entity beyond it's purpose -- a reference for writers attempting to not contradict what has come before.Nope. Just worried about the chronology, and just throwing some names around for the title. Wanted it to at least SOUND cool, even if it's rather dull on the inside.

Sorry if I was too pushy there...

[Blofeld]

You weren't. And thanks for showing a "sample." It just seemed like there was a monster on the loose.

[Richard Dickson]

Just to clarify a few things....

-- The tree doesn't exist before "Let Him Dangle." It grows after Tasker is hung, from which stems its haunted state.

-- The Sherriff may or may not be the actual sherriff of Lumiere, as in the actual human being.

[voltes5]

I just LOVE sinister ambiguities. :)

[voltes5]

We need someone who's great with databases. SQL, PHP, yadda, yadda, yadda, <ahem> Ludwig </ahem>.

Rath's compilation is a great start, but I think that we will also need an easy process to navigate through such information. We have to consider writers who will show up down the line who could easily do a refresher course on Lumiere's history.

We definitely need the genius of an indexer. Looks like we have Rath for this. The challenge now is to compile such information with hyperlinks. That will take some work.

[Dan Whitehead]

I've got an idea for a story involving a customised DeLorean and a flux capacitor. How much will this screw up the chronology? :D

[Coyote]

Depends...can you travel back to the 1970's, copywrite the story, and sue Amblin Entertainment? :)

[Dan Whitehead]

Poxy, can you check your e-mail? I've just sent you a quick question...

[Rath/Brendan]

Okay. Poxy, thanks for the clarification. I've been meaning to ask you about that in PM.

Second. Regarding Time Travel. I don't care whether you do it or not, I don't want to impose on your art. BUT. This is how I'm looking at it.

Both the date the time machine leaves lumiere/wherever and arrives in the past will be listed.

I don't know exactly how to handle alternate timelines, so that's that.

And I have no idea what hyperlinks are, so that's that, too.

Rath

[Dan Whitehead]

RathBandu Hits NYC in 30 Days:
I don't know exactly how to handle alternate timelines, so that's that.So my Marty McFly/Doctor Who/Lumiere crossover might cause a few problems? :D