Q: When will WHATSE be finished?
A: Haven't a clue. . .
Q: I thought I was downloading a story. Why do these files have number names when I unZIP the ZIP file?
A: The numbered names refer to the act numbers. I consider each chapter of the WHATSE story arc to be an individual act. Click here for information about each numbered WRI or DOC file.
Q: What is the system of organization?
A: Highest is the "Story." All of the files so far belong to Story 1: The Unification and the Conquest. I've completed this story and am currently working on Story 2: The Universal Empire of Koopa. However, as I'm currently editing these stories before I convert them and post them, only two thirds of Story 1 is currently up.
Below the Story is the "Section." Each section can contain one to five units that one can call "stories." Section 3, the smallest section, is included in the part of WHATSE that is currently on the Unofficial Captain N Homepage. To give you some idea about how widely the section size can vary, Section 5 is larger than Sections 1-3 combined, and Section 5 is a novel, for all practical purposes.
Below the Section is the "Part." In Sections 1-4, each part is a story in itself, be it big like "The Reunion of the Mushroom World and VideoLand," or small like "The Near (but not quite) Victory of the Brain-Team." Later, when the Sections become stories in themselves, the Parts are "substories."
Below the Part is the "Division." In earlier stories, they serve the role that Parts come to serve later.
The lowest unit is the "Chapter." I will often divide Stories into chapters before I divide them into Divisions. Some Parts have only 1 chapter; Part 1 of Section 4, though, has 42 chapters.
The basic unit is the "Act." Consider each Act like a Chapter, except that it's like a Chapter of the whole WHATSE Story Arc.
The initial reason was because the initial stories, the ones in Sections 1-3, weren't originally conceived as a part of a story arc. However, since they fit chronologically, and since the events in them can help understanding the characters in later stories. So, I developed this system over time to place the stories in relation to one another.
Q: What's that "Date" or "Dates" thing that's at the start of each Act?
A: The date or dates presented are the date or dates of the action in the story. The same is true of the dates posted before some location names.
Q: You say "Characters" at the start of each act, but you don't seem to be listing character names. . .
A: It would be silly to have lengthy character lists at the beginning of each act. What I list under "Characters" is the groups to which the various characters belong. Consult 0008, the character list, for details on who's in what group.
Q: What's with all these spelling mistakes? It should be (for example) "center," not "centre"!
A: That's true in American English. However, the spelling system used here is British English. That means I use "centre" rather than "center," "honour" rather than "honor," "analyse" rather than "analyze," and "manoeuvre" rather than "maneuver." I'm American, but I decided to do this just because. It's bearable. :-)
Q: What's the difference between the Write version and the Word version?
A: In the Word version, the Act number and the Date are placed in the first page header, which cannot be done in any other word processor of which I know. Also, the text in the Word version is in two columns to reduce the number of pages that the stories occupy. (It does work; the Word versions occupy fewer pages than the Write versions.) In addition, the Word version makes use of footnotes. Most superscript numbers refer to footnotes.
Q: What's with all this metric!?
A: As the metric system is superior in user-friendliness to U.S. Customary and British Imperial units, all the technically advanced societies in this story use metric units. All the conversions in metric are based upon multiples of 10. I provide conversion formulas, though, and most of the time I also provide the U.S. Customary equivalent. I just wish that the metric system were based on Customary units. :-) (Nothing personal against the French. . .)
Q: What's with these spaces between the numbers?
A: Numbers over a thousand are expressed with a space divider rather than a comma divider. (For example, 1 000 instead of 1,000.) I didn't do this to make it look weird. It's used by the advanced societies in the stories, so I'm using it. The space divider is currently in use because many countries use a comma for a decimal point rather than a period.
Q: What's this funny stuff I run across in the � � marks?
A: That pairs of marks are certain foreign language equivalents of the quotation marks in English. The � � marks are used for French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and the rare, occasional Russian.
Inside each of these marks, the usual sequence is: ITALICIZED TEXT {PRONUNCIATION} [LANGUAGE] (TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH).
The ITALICIZED TEXT is the actual phrase or sentence that's stated in the foreign language being used. All languages that don't naturally use the Roman alphabet are Romanized.
The LANGUAGE is pretty self-explanatory. I sometimes state the dialect of the language as well, such as "Metroidian Portuguese."
The TRANSLATION, as well, is self-explanatory. You can just skip to here, if you wish.
The PRONUNCIATION is based on a phonetic system that I concocted based on American English pronunciation. Syllables within words are divided by hyphens, while syllables linked between two words is usually indicated by an apostrophe, though not always. I also use the pronunciation in English at times to demonstrate how a word or name is to be pronounced; it's always in braces {}.
Sound equivalents:
a = A as in cAt (General American pronunciation)
ah = O as in lOt (General American pronunciation)
ahy = I as in I
áy = long AY sound as in mAY (General American pronunciation), but without the glide on the end; NOT the Australian pronunciation, which is more like {ahy}
b = B as in Bat
ç = h, aspirated with the back of the tongue rolled close to the rear roof of the mouth but not quite touching
ch = CH as in churCH
d = D as in Dog
é = E as in mE, or I as in machIne
eh = E as in bEt
ehy = AY as in mAY and WITH the glide on the end (General American pronunciation)
er = UR as in fUR (General American pronunciation)
euh = like {er}, except the tongue is not as far back
f = F as in Far
g = G as in Go, never G as in garaGe
h = H as in Hat
ih = I as in fIt
j = J as in Jet
k = K as in cooK
kw = QU as in QUick
l = L as in Lamp
m = M as in Map
mh = not pronounced; nasalize the preceding vowel
n = N as in Nap
nh = not pronounced; nasalize the preceding vowel
ng = NG as in thiNG; never NG as in daNGle
ngg = NG as in daNGle
ó = O as in Odor
or = OR as in OR
p = P as in Pirate
r = R as in Rat
rr = {r}, trilled
s = S as in Sock, never S as in fleaS
sh = SH as in finiSH
t = T as in Truck
th = TH as in THink
th = TH as in THat
u = OO as in fOOt, never U as in Under
ú = OO as in bOOt, never U as in University
ü = like {ú}, but pronounced with the lips rounded as if to say {é}
uh = U as in Under
ur = UR as in fUR
v = V as in Victor
w = W as in Won
z = S as in fleaS, Z as in Zip
zh = S as in meaSure (zh is to j as sh is to ch)
Any further questions? Please e-mail me at [email protected].