ForumsArt, Music, and WritingGantic (Nec)Romantic - on hiatus

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Gantic
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Gantic
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Gantic Romantic offers an intimate look into Armor Games' most mysterious moderator beginning with his early writing experience, through his innovative and subversive contest entries, his subsequent inclement vignettes set in the subconscious, and his lean but pithy literary stylings and reserved humor that forever cemented his aura of mystique. In a riveting series of autobiographical interviews conducted by himself in third person, the lexophilic moderator explores his enlightening three years on Armor Games. By drawing on his past experiences and indirectly encouraging others to see beyond the word during the time he has spent in the community, the eclectic writer unknowingly shrouded himself in impenetrable sesquipedalia and Gantitudinal platitudes but in [i]Gantic Romantic[i] now seeks to cut through the clutter capitalizing characteristic incisiveness to unveil the truth. The interviews revel in his sense of wordplay and whimsical subversion of language transparent in his dialogue as both the interviewer and interviewee. While too often are writers, and other artists, too vain to recognize their own failings, this impressive collection of verbose and laconic conversations is both an inflationary and humbling commentary--on himself and the community in which he seems hermetic.

Unravel the mysteries Friday nights at 11 pm, starting June 10th.

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Gantic
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Gantic
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In Which Gantic Has a Busy Year

"Looking back, it's rather nostalgic. Those were the good old days, you know? Back when everything seemed so fresh and new. What makes me sad is that there are few of us regulars left who remember those times." The rabbit appeared wistful as we walked along the white halls of a gallery lined with art and poetry. We passed by many unfamiliar poems and images. "It almost seems as if Kai is the only one left, but I didn't really know him back then. Well, he's Cen now, but that's not the point. Since Beta comes around every so often. The Mysterious Swordsman pops in and out. The Toad is about as active. Yazz is not longer Yazz and then she disappeared, but she's still aroundish. Straw Pony is going to hang up his ninja mask and only comes on when he has the time, but he was always busy. Everyone else is mostly gone, you know? Haven't seen them in a long time."

Some of the users who had disappeared had been forceably shuffled off the mortal coil. Others went on to other things and just never found the time, or did not care, to come back, but they all lined the white halls in the rabbit's memories. We stopped at a repeated black-and-white pattern. The loops in hte image were alternately filled with a dark blue and dark lime green.

"I think I had first timer's luck. My first entry in the Weekly Poetry Competition and the Art Skills Competition both won me a merit. I like my first art entry better though. It was the first time I ever used GIMP. I was thinking at the time why no one had done what I did yet and I think that's partly what got me up there. It's my favorite entry. More than my username, it really is what I am about. The minimalist stylings, the ambigrammatic wordplay, I don't know how better to describe me."

His barebones approach persisted in both poetry and art entries, most notably his Books entry "in College" and his Food entry "The Essence of Apple and a Peeled Orange". It wasn't long until we came across these two. They were both second wins in their respective contests and they were both favorites.

"I really like the 'in College' poem. It summarized what I feel about college education. It was succinct and the judging really hit the nail on the head with the interpretation. I only have a few things to add. I specifically chose The Old Man and the Sea and Stuart Little not only for the open-endedness of their endings, but also to contrast the symbolism and the lack of an end, respectively. Did the Old Man die? No one knows for sure, but you could argue either way by looking beyond the literal value of the words. Did Stuart Little ever find Margalo? That, no one knows at all. There are no hints, no interpretations. Beyond words, it leaves the ending to the imagination. Of course, it was an unsatisfying ending, but maybe that's why that book has stuck with me for so long."

"'The Essence of Apple and a Peeled Orange' was an idea I was toying with. I had no idea what I could draw. I don't remember why used MS Paint's line tool, but I started with the apple first. It wasn't as simple as it looked. While there are a some stray lines, the lines had to be in the right place going in the right direction to make it look like an apple. if you really look at an apple, the coloring and patterning radiates from the stem and from the part where the flower used to be. It wouldn't look right to me any other way. The only course of action after that was to draw an orange. By the time I stopped, there was also a banana and a dragonfruit. They didn't turn out too well, so I just used the apple and the orange. Once I was finished, it really got me thinking why the lines were the way they were and how many lines I could take away before they didn't 'look right'. That's how I came to the title I gave it."

Over the course of his contest days, he had accrued six art wins and four poetry wins, or about one in five contests he entered. His style varied greatly with each entry between the two contests, from a simple crayon-like drawing to a remarkably accurate partially painted self-portrait of his human alter ego and from solemn free verse to frivolous meter and rhyme. It would have been difficult to believe the entries were done by the same person if there were no record bearing his name.

"I never expected to win. I didn't enter to win. Heck, I never collected the prize after the first for each one. It was more pride that goaded me to enter. I had an idea I wanted to show everyone. I don't get ideas too often, but when I get one it sticks to me and I want to go through with it. You know how they imagine love's origin as being struck with Cupid's arrow? That's how I imagine inspiration to be. You get struck in the butt and bam! You've got a brilliant idea. Of course, they're always brilliant when they're inspired, even if it's turns out to be the stupidest thing you've ever done."

Stupid things were no mystery to him. For every entry he loved, there were several that he hated. Some were a product of frivolity. Some were faded inspiration. The rest were placeholders for what he didn't have the time or skill to do.

"It's a matter a pride. No matter how bad criticism gets, it's always yourself that's the harshest critic. Only you know, and only you truly know, what your capabilities are and what they could be. You can't help but just hate something when you know you could've done better. You always know you will do better, but sometimes you don't. When you look at something from the past and think that's the best you could've done, then you feel proud because that was the best you could've done and you got better. If it isn't, then you just feel a sense of self-loathing. Even if you've done astronomically better than anyone else, you've still failed because you know you could do better."

"I really like 'It's Time for You Now to Guess Whoses'. It's lighthearted and silly, kind of like its subject. The meter isn't perfect but it's somewhat singsongy and users nonsensical words. I don't mention the theme of the poem as with most of my other entries, but you can still really tell who it is about and sort of how epicly he fails."

"I'm most proud of 'Gabriel's Horn: An Afterword', which was done completely using the touchpad of my then-new laptop and based on the Gabriel's Trumpet tarot card. It was really just an apple pie joke. There are three roots at a point below the ground, one trunk, four branches, each branch was one arm, that ended in five fingers each. The inspiration for the tree was taken from the people on Judgement tarot. The resurrection scene in the picture also prompted me to make a reference to my zombie entry with the raptor and the liter bottle of Mountain Dew. The pi aspect is related to the geometric figure known as Gabriel's Horn, which has a volume of pi."

We had just come across that image. It was visibly more intricate than any entries that he had ever submitted or would ever submit, and it started as a simple branched, black-and-white image that referenced pi. He gradually improved upon his original idea and added more symbols and color to expand the pi joke to include an apple.

"I think the Art Skills Competition was the first place where I carved my niche as being hard to decipher. When it comes to art, I always think, why not this? But I'll admit that I also have a penchant for being tricky. The trickiest entry I submitted was for Resolutions, the last theme Strop judged. It didn't mean much, but I'll tell you what each die represented: LIFE and SEX. That's what the keyboard code spelled. [TAB], [CAPS], and [SHIFT] represented the row on the keyboard and hte number that followed represented the letter counting from left to right. [CAPS] 9 is L. The interpretation is very broad. Basically, the drive behind resolutions is life and sex. It's drawn as cubes for not only the duality but also the die aspect represented by the numbers, because resolutions are so capricious and arbitrary like putting money down on the roll of a die, or a pair of dice."

Symbolism was frequent in his art entries, some of which were more clearly portrayed in his art than in the Freudian Cube. Sometimes context, and sometimes the title, elucidated or held a clue to the meanings. Othertimes, he left red herrings as a self-parodic joke.

"Honestly, the only title I gave my entry just to mess with Zophia was 'Conflux of Divigation'. It doesn't actually mean anything. On the other hand, 'Interfulgent' was the first complex name, though was a bit of a clue to what my entry was about. 'Interfulgent' wasn't entirely about 'stars'. There was no pun there. What it really was was that the brightness of a pixel was the ranking of celebrity. Some points were brighter than others, some were relatively the brightest around, but not absolutely the brightest. It's kind of saying celebrities are the ones who shine amongst the crowd."

The Art Skills Competition had a few celebrities of its own and was a birth place of many AG memes. The overuse of bogan started there with Since Beta. Crossdressing Straw Pony in a pink negligee started with Trick or Treat by Yazz. It was also the birthplace of the Mysterious Swordsman's hairy monster that debuted in the Hair theme and gradually developed into the lovable Domo-kun-esque Sasquatch who had an equally amusing younger sister named Yeti. And these all happened in sequential themes.

"Straw Pony, Yazz/Zoph, Kai/Cen undoubtedly had the best technical skill. You should see their art threads. Amazing stuff. They drew some of my favorite entries, and it's because of their skills but what they choose to depict. Funktastic from the Purple Injection theme has got to be hands down, one of the best inspired entries. The Yaltama Wildlife entry is certainly a picturesque vista. It's too bad she never finished it. I dare say that Cen's Night entry was more nostalgic than the Nostalgia entry, and I love it in that respect. The grayscale and pixellation only add to it synergistically. Beyond the Big Three, I love Since Beta's No Words entry.That is the single biggest WTF entry he's submitted, more WTF than his 'Food' entry. There are literally no words for it. And then there's Sasquatch. Sasquatch is just a favorite. There's no not liking him. He's been a part of the Art Skills Competition for about as long as I have."

"I really didn't stick around for the whole of the competition. No good ideas came to me, or I had ideas but not the time. The Autumn theme was not only my sixth and final win, but it was the last one I entered, and while it was my last one in the Art Skills Competition, it carried with it more nostalgia than even the Nostalgia and Your Username entries combined. It was the last one, you know?" The rabbit teared up a bit. His voice started breaking slightly. "I had entered it just for old times sake as I had gotten too preoccupied to keep up with the competition. Coincidentally, the win also happened to be within two hours of my first post in that thread. Now the contest is gone."

Next Week: "Deleterious Circumstances"

kingryan
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Since Beta comes around every so often


I actually lurk at least every second day...not just every so often :P

The Art Skills Competition had a few celebrities of its own and was a birth place of many AG memes.


I think that fst6's Rawr came from here too...not not entirely sure.

I think I might have to hunt for my 'No Word's' entry now...
Nurvana
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I could have sworn the Old Man died. I don't see how you interpret him surviving.

Strop
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It was really just an apple pie joke. There are three roots at a point below the ground, one trunk, four branches, each branch was one arm, that ended in five fingers each.


You could have left out the bolded bits and I would have spotted the pi joke anyway, you geek :P That's one that I actually would have gotten (but hadn't read until now.)

I think I had first timer's luck. My first entry in the Weekly Poetry Competition and the Art Skills Competition both won me a merit.


If I recall correctly, as the judge of the ASC at the time I believe I described your stuff as "fresh". Looking back and up to now, there's still no other user who revels in puns and symbolism, both prose and cross-media, quite the same way.

Funktastic from the Purple Injection theme has got to be hands down, one of the best inspired entries.


I am honoured.

Actually this reflection made me go back over my archives, and made me realise what I really should be doing tonight.
Gantic
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I actually lurk at least every second day...not just every so often :P


Says the guy who is on here when he should be doing homework. Granted that it's almost three years old...

I think that fst6's Rawr came from here too...not not entirely sure.


I believe it started with his own thread introducing Rawr the Dinosaur and then he entered a Rawr drawing in the contest.

I think I might have to hunt for my 'No Word's' entry now...

It's right here. Strop's reaction, of course, is priceless.

I could have sworn the Old Man died. I don't see how you interpret him surviving.


The lions are too enigmatic to fully decipher whether the end is literal or metaphorical. It seems like he did, but one really can't say for sure.

You could have left out the bolded bits and I would have spotted the pi joke anyway, you geek :P That's one that I actually would have gotten (but hadn't read until now.)


I had to make sure everyone else got it too.

If I recall correctly, as the judge of the ASC at the time I believe I described your stuff as "fresh". Looking back and up to now, there's still no other user who revels in puns and symbolism, both prose and cross-media, quite the same way.


I don't remember you saying that, but my memory's not perfect. You did say something about exploring boundaries. And I do remember you saying I win the Poetry contest a lot, which was not entirely true, and interpreting from the judging it is because you recognize/are familiar with what's going on in the poem. And I just realized I didn't jokingly cover the Zootsuit's Strop=Gantic conclusion after the Moth poem judging. I should, however, get an ironic t-shirt saying "I was hoping to find some like-minded symbolistic punsters but all I got was Strop." :P It seemed like you were the only one to get most of the symbols and jokes.

...
I'm up to 5500 words and still have four parts to write. This will surely hit 10000 words by the time I conclude this seven-part series.
Strop
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get an ironic t-shirt saying "I was hoping to find some like-minded symbolistic punsters but all I got was Strop." :P It seemed like you were the only one to get most of the symbols and jokes.


And yet there were still more that just went over my head, such is the boundless nature of your literary and cultural knowledge. For that reason I'm still proud of that umbeliefers victory :3

It's right here. Strop's reaction, of course, is priceless.


Now that I see it again, I'm reminded of this gem.
Gantic
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Gantic
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For that reason I'm still proud of that umbeliefers victory :3


I still can't believe I didn't see that one! If you weren't so busy with prior obligations, I might just challenge you to a round of punnery.

...

And as before, any questions regarding "Written Nothings" must be posted here before this coming Friday to be included in the next segment.

Revisit the rabbit's most ambitious writing thread, Written Nothings and swim in the abyssal soup that gives life to ideas both bad and good. Meet the Writer, ploquie, Gantique, and the mutant chicken. What was the point of the thread? How many people asked that question? Did you just lose the game again? What happened after "Chapter Three"? What is the final elegance?

Delve into the depths.
Next Time on "Gantic Romantic: Deleterious Circumstances" Friday, July 1st @ 11:00 pm.
kingryan
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Says the guy who is on here when he should be doing homework. Granted that it's almost three years old...


Ahhh...you're such a stalker! :P But that is rather hilarious...and hmm, has anything changed? Nope...

It's right here. Strop's reaction, of course, is priceless.


Thanks for the link. Looking at it now, I have the same reaction as Strop. Like wtf!
Strop
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I still can't believe I didn't see that one! If you weren't so busy with prior obligations, I might just challenge you to a round of punnery.


If I wasn't afraid that I'd lose, I would suggest that you said it that way because you were afraid you would lose!

While I make the odd pun now and then (it's all in the delivery anyway), I'm actually more a fan of using the same word/phrase in different contexts, in rapid succession. The WoM brought out this unhealthy fascination with homonyms, homographs, homophones and heterophones.
kingryan
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And Gantic, the scary thing about that post is that it is from EXACTLY three years ago...well my post on the third page is...

Gantic
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Ahhh...you're such a stalker! :P But that is rather hilarious...and hmm, has anything changed? Nope...


Nah, it just came up a couple weeks ago as an old posts that shows up under the Last Post, so I locked it.

And Gantic, the scary thing about that post is that it is from EXACTLY three years ago...well my post on the third page is...

I agree with you Graham! When will I need to know about Quadratics...it wont help me with my Smell-o-puter...(Dont ask!)


Something tells me someone should've made kingryan do quadratics in WOM.

While I make the odd pun now and then (it's all in the delivery anyway), I'm actually more a fan of using the same word/phrase in different contexts, in rapid succession. The WoM brought out this unhealthy fascination with homonyms, homographs, homophones and heterophones.


That's rather difficult to do in a heated pun battle which is why most of them devolve into a smoldering mess of terrible puns. Homonyms are the domain of Shakespeare, the ultimate punny lambaster. He rather makes one hoarse from laughter. I prefer homophones, mostly because I can be subtle about it and no one would notice. After all, to notice would be to know this, but sometimes I like to leave my brand upon my words, just to mark it as such. It's so awesome how the WoM kindled your fire for wordplay.
kingryan
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Something tells me someone should've made kingryan do quadratics in WOM.


Only quadratics? Chuck some (basic) calculus at me too...and some imaginary numbers...I've come a long way since Year 9 :P

He rather makes one hoarse from laughter.


He make Strop hoarse from...wait...dw.
Gantic
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Gantic
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"Deleterious Circumstances" has been pushed back a week to Friday, July 8th @ 11:00 PM.

Jefferysinspiration
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I read through all the work posted in here to pass my time at 4am, and i was pleasantly entertained. You're very talented gantic.

The best part of this thread has to be your running commentary though.

Xzeno
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"Deleterious Circumstances" has been pushed back a week to Friday, July 8th @ 11:00 PM.
The beginning of the end.

There's something about your writing, Gantic. I find it utterly enthralling. This thread so far lives up to its title's promise. I read it as a rosey-eyed look at the past permeated by a dismal nostalgia. It's certainly interesting.
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