thisbluespirit: (dw - individual daleks)
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The 100 Things Challenge continues!

3. Random Generators
The below icons are from the Random Icon Pairing Meme the other week - apparently I lied about the 100 Icons part of this challenge. There will be more than 1 per post sometimes, if it seems appropriate. Yes, look, I made Random Pairing Icons!!


Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
Pairings: Silver/Liz, Harry/TARDIS, Nyssa/Orac, Ruth/Five, Eight/Elizabeth Bennet, Jenna/Steel.


I love random generators. I love them for two main reasons, and the first is that I just do and they amuse me. Simple things please simple minds, perhaps? The second is that, for whatever reason, as a writer, and especially a fanfic writer, I respond well to prompts and games and other stimuli. It's fun, it leads me to unexpected places, gives me challenges (because it's all got to be in character and in keeping with the fictional universe in question). Whether it's the randomness of certain memes (like the 15 characters meme, I Surrendered, or the icon pairing meme) or actual online generators, it works for me. I think it's a little like the good part of exams - that moment (where assuming you did your revision, of course) when it's just you, the questions, a pen or pencil and a blank sheet of paper and a certain thrill of the challenge. (And then you see the questions are IN WELSH and PANIC, but that, again, is another story). And now it's me, my notebook/PC, a pencil and an unlikely prompt. I like writing for people in exchanges and things even more, but that's a different matter. I'm someone who often needs an excuse to write something - that I would like it really isn't enough. Random Generators can provide me with that excuse. (The website told me to do it!!) Random Generators make me smile, they sometimes make me laugh aloud, and sometimes they inspire unexpected writing and so they are among my very favourite online toys.

So, here are some of my favourites. Please do go and play with some, and bring me back your best results, if you have a moment - as I said, these things never fail to amuse me. Or, even better, link me to your favourite generators, too. Or tell me about a connected meme. Or make one up. Or write a ficlet and bring it back here! After all, this 100 Things Challenge is designed to inspire more posts and comments and content for LJ/DW in general. Why not?

Pairing Generators
Even though I tend to wind up with gen fic from them, I do always like X meets Y suggestions:

The Doctor Who Random Pairing Generator
Random Character Mix Generator (Multi-fandom. You can select which characters/fandoms to include and avoid the multitudes of unknown characters.)
The Almost Totally Random Pairing Generator Index (at Pale Shadows)
The Almost Totally Random Pairing Generator (Various, seems to include Harry Potter, Star Trek, Buffy, Marvel, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and the X Files.)
Brain-Hurting Fanfic Pairer (You have to work hard to find two characters you know together, but the sheer range and craziness is addictive for just that reason...)


Story Ideas
They Fight Crime! (example result: He's a leather-clad amnesiac barbarian from a doomed world. She's a mentally unstable impetuous barmaid with the soul of a mighty warrior. They fight crime!)
Seventh Sanctum has an amazing amount of random generators of all kinds, and links to more elsewhere. My faves include:
The Envisioner (e.g. The legend of the Flying Dutchman envisioned as a supernatural horror tale.)
Romance Story Generator (eg. This story starts in a magical universe. In it, a rat-catcher who has seen parts of the universe few have attends a religious event and meets an unbalanced boatman. What starts as hate becomes a passionate affair.)
The Symbolitron (e.g. The fantasy story where major magical artifacts map to the nine circles of heaven in the Divine Comedy: Paradiso.)
History Scrambler (e.g. Agatha Christie - Space Pirate or Saint Paul - Paranormal Investigator.)


Really Random Random Generators
The Random Pairing Machine (at Creative Combinations). (This pairs a random noun and adjective seems to be aimed at business/man't writing, judging by the words. The mind boggles. But I'm sure there could be fic from the idea of a "desperate archive" or "precise scrap".)
The Shakespeare Quote Generator (Shakespeare quotes with random words in. I have the link set on 'giraffe', which is the fault of [livejournal.com profile] pitry. Giraffe works very well as a word to insert into Shakespeare quotes, I have to say.)
Fanfiction Cliche Generator (Very simple, but if you want a random cliche to go with a random pairing you've acquired, here you are.)
As I mentioned, Seventh Sanctum has a ridiculous no. of generators - here's an index of evil generators You can make yourself a minion or conjure up a typically evil name. (Indeed, there is, of course, a whole page of Name Generators.)
Fantasy Novel Title Generator

And so on and so on...

***


I also made textless versions of the icons in case anyone preferred - out of habit before I realised they were random ships and it would be highly unlikely for anyone to want to use them. But they were pretty, and pretty things don't have to have a use, isn't that right?

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket



Also I started by making this: Photobucket. Even though I knew it would be harder, take longer, give me a headache and not turn out as well. I was completely right. You might have had this post on Friday if I'd listened to myself, but sadly, I so rarely do.

Date: 2012-04-22 09:56 am (UTC)
ext_3965: (David Collings - Silver Sapphire & Steel)
From: [identity profile] persiflage-1.livejournal.com
Liz/Silver is the best random pairing EVER!! It's totally made of Win :D

Date: 2012-04-22 04:05 pm (UTC)
ext_3965: (Foyle's War - Foyle/Sam OTP)
From: [identity profile] persiflage-1.livejournal.com
:D

I shall do my second Person of Interest later - I've spent much of today listening to Michael Kitchen and Honeysuckle Weeks in the R4 dramatisation of 'Bleak House'. (Marvellous stuff!)

Date: 2012-04-22 07:30 pm (UTC)
ext_3965: (Foyle's War - Foyle Reading)
From: [identity profile] persiflage-1.livejournal.com
It was!

And then I topped the day off with the final ep of 'House of Cards' - which means mucho Michael Kitchen (oh yeah!) again tomorrow when I start 'To Play the King'... *is happy at having MK in her life*

Date: 2012-04-22 07:54 pm (UTC)
ext_3965: (Foyle's War - Foyle Love a Man in a Hat)
From: [identity profile] persiflage-1.livejournal.com
*hugs back*

Yes!

(Damn I need more Michael Kitchen icons!)
Edited Date: 2012-04-22 07:56 pm (UTC)

Date: 2012-04-22 07:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pitry.livejournal.com
(And then you see the questions are IN WELSH and PANIC, but that, again, is another story).

LOL. "I knew I forgot to revise *something*!!!" :D

And LOLOL at the giraffe link. I think every thesaurus should start from the word 'giraffe'. It can help you clear your mind and, er, be more aware of the dangers. Yes. Did you know that giraffe in Welsh is 'siraff'? How uninspired.

Date: 2012-04-22 08:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pitry.livejournal.com
It does, it does!

And haha @ the university. The real problem here is actually that both English and Welsh are written left-to-right. If one of them was written right-to-left, you wouldn't have had that problem!
*starts the campaign to write English right-to-left. It would make switching languages so much easier on computers!!*

And haha, yeah, I know. It makes sense, of course, seeing as all Welsh speakers are also English speakers. But yes, I remember a couple of times we had our teacher telling us "and you'd never catch this author using "licio", nono, it will always be "hoffi", because that's WELSH!".

Date: 2013-12-22 11:07 pm (UTC)
clocketpatch: A small, innocent-looking red alarm clock, stuck forever at 10 to 7. (TARDIS Blue)
From: [personal profile] clocketpatch
Following random links to crack and candy. :p

I think I've read Nyssa/Orac... were you the one who wrote that? Or is this an extrememly strange coincidence? In which case I'll have to track that fic down again and pm the author and make them look at your icons.

Unless it is you, in which case: I enjoyed that fic.

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