FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS


What is the TCATGR?
The TCATGR is an email-based club on Yahoo for Thundercats fans. If you want to join click here:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcatgr/join


What does it stand for?
It stands for the Thundercat Group.


What happens in the club? What do we do?
This is not an easy question to answer and if you spend enough time in this insanity, you'll quickly learn why it's impossible to completely explain what we do here.

 In short: We write stories (the comedies are called 'riffs') that star characters from the show, our own, author-based characters, characters we invent or any of the above combination. If we are the subject of a riff, we counter-riff. We write comments and leave feed back. The club is not an RPG and although we have rules, they don't have much to say about what we can and can't post. (see the club rules)

NOTE:  Some of our members have provided profile descriptions for themselves or for their characters so that authors can use them as point-of-reference when writing stories.  Members who do not have profiles are subject to horrors beyond all imagination! (j/k)  (see profile questions)


Who is RD?
"First of all, RD is the creator and original moderator of the group. That makes him our dictator. Second of all, he is a really sick and twisted author Third, he's bald and so, among other reasons, including his exaggerated sense of self-worth, we mock him relentlessly." -- Silvercat

Thanks, S'Kat. Yeah, I confess, everything she said is true. I created the club after the failure of several other Thundercats clubs. I am its owner and absolute ruler, mwahahahaha!!! Anyway, members who are especially active are given moderator status, but that's just a distinction of honor. They get a yellow star next to their names and have no real power what so ever!


How did Imhotep get in here?
He first appeared in RD's Revenge. He's now the spokesmummy for Viagra.


What are riffs?
Riffs are what we tend to call humorous stories, but in fact, like the 'weird story' of ToT fame, a riff has a very specific meaning. To get the gist of it, let me explain how it came about.

The riff was invented by Fianna, one of our original members, back in November of 2000.  At the time Thundera Tiger (one of our very first members!) was writing a comedy series called 'Thunderballs: The Travesty.' One day Fianna (being the bad dog that he is) thought he'd do a little spin-off of Thunderballs. In his riff he used the characters and situations of Thunderballs in a way that it did not interfere with what was going on in TT's work. Thus a riff is a spin-off of an existing or on-going story that does not interfere or affect the story it's based on I hope you got that. Otherwise, the best thing to do is see one in action.

In general, though, a riff can star anyone and anything and tends to be comedic.


What should I do when I first join?
Come up with a character and introduce yourself. The character could just be your own author-self, or it could be several characters (if you can keep track of them). They don't have to be Thunderian or even human.


Do I have to post?
"Yes, damn you! How are we supposed to riff you if you don't post? You should make comments at least once a week, and post something at least once a month. I know I don't, but I should! What do you have work/school? That's the perfect time to write!" -- Silvercat

Hehehe, yeah, we prefer active members but that's OK if you like to stay quiet, as long as we know a little something about you.


Do I have to write a story with everybody in it?
"No. You can write a story set in your own private universe and post it Just use us too."  -- Silvercat


I don't agree with _______, do I have to accept it?
"No. The TCATGR is a shared reality group, but everybody defines it in their own way.  For example, I think Thunderians are just a cat-like race while some people think they're genetically engineered by humans. Whatever." -- Silvercat

Exactly, there are no boundaries here with respect to creativity. There are no rules, mostly because I'm so unrespected that no one would even bother to listen to me, anyway. You can create your own, alternate Thundercats universe or borrow elements from others.  No holds barred.


How do I post my profile?
Post your profile to the group or send it to me (RD). I'll have it up in the Member Profile section ASAP. If you want to make a change to it or wish to add more characters, just follow the same procedure.

The profile should have the following format:
-Name:

-Aliases: (if any)

-Gender:

-Description: (that includes physical description, species, likes, dislikes, weapons, specialties, etc., etc., or anything else you think we might need to know if we write you into a story)

-Affiliation: (again, if any) You can be neutral or you can have a bias (good or evil) or you can opt to be a member of a particular group (see group questions) or groups.

-A website, if you have one, or anything else you want us to know that doesn't fit into the previous categories.


How many characters can I have?
As long as you can keep track of them, there are no limits to how many characters you can have. And if you're going to use a lot of them in stories (or wouldn't mind if others do) then they should have profiles up.


Groups, what are they?
We've created groups to protect or destroy certain people. As far as I can recall, the groups were first defined in Thundera Tiger's Thunberballs. The original two groups were the ATB (Anti-Tygra Base) which is led by me, RD and is dedicated to torturing Tygra and Team Tiger, headed by Thundera Tiger (and in her extended absence by Silvercat) and its purpose is to oppose the ATB and defend Tygra.

In addition, we created and invented other groups. The Ferocious Females (who are now not entirely female!) were created in a story I wrote called 'RD's Revenge'.

The Fianna Must Die group (FMD) was formed to get revenge on Fianna.

Team LFS (Liono Flake Syndrome) is a support group for people afflicted with that Liono-related disorder (I forget what it is, exactly, ask Purrsia)

And Silvercat has the CAUTA (Cat's Against Uber-Tool Addiction).

One can also be neutral.


Who's in these groups?
As of now, here's the most up-to-date roster:
-Axelle               Neutral

-Chanur              Ferocious Females (FF), Fianna Must Die (FMD)

-Dr. Zhie             Neutral

-Hoax                 Liono Flake Syndrome (LFS)

-Kaniini              Neutral

-Kaseko             Neutral

-LD                    Anti-Tiger Base (ATB)

-Peachyra          Ferocious Females (FF)

-Purrsia              Anti-Tiger Base (ATB), Liono Flake Syndrome (LFS)

-RD Rivero          Anti-Tiger Base (ATB)

-Servali               Anti-Tiger Base (ATB), Liono Flake Syndrome (LFS)

-Shark                Anti-Tiger Base (ATB), Fianna Must Die (FMD)

-SherKahn          Team Tiger (TT)

-SilverCat           Team Tiger (TT), Cats Against Uber-Tool Addiction (CAUTA)

-Spark                Anti-Tiger Base (ATB), Ferocious Females (FF)

-ThunderWolf      Anti-Tiger Base (ATB), Fianna Must Die (FMD)

-Thundera Tiger   Team Tiger (TT)

-TygrisHawk       Team Tiger (TT)

-Zhyan               Anti-Tiger Base (ATB), Ferocious Females (FF)

 
Who are these strange people?
You'll have to read their profiles or chat with them, it's just too insane.

 
What are the relationships?
Shark and TW are a pair, in real life and on-line. Thundera Tiger and Tygra were/are on-line Grune and RD (as well as Pummra and RD!) are also together. Other authors are married or are in relationships and their significant others may or may not be part of the continuum.  Dr. Zhie has Faero and he's appeared once or twice. Purrsia is married but he doesn't like Cat's Lair so we've never seen him.


How do I join a group?
Just tell us and we'll put you in the right place. Also, include your preference in your profile!  Another way to get put in a group is to side yourself with them in a story or riff.

 
How do I make my own group?
You can write it into a story or you can fill out this form and send it to Smithers: Just request a form via the mailing list and Smithers will send it to you promptly


What are these strange places?

-The ATB is a bunker located in the countryside.

-The Ferocious Females have a fort run by Peachyra.

-Team Tiger and some of the LFS crew reside in Cat's Lair.

-Fianna has a pub, although it's exact location has never been fully revealed.

-Silvercat also has a pub:
"My pub. Um... I've got a fic that explains it....Basically, at the end of the show, in the credits, when you can see the lair through that spooky forest, that's where it is." -- Silvercat

-King Kat Avenue appears a lot, it's like a main street.

-Kamanchee's Bakery

-The Recreation Center

-And in addition there are other places that we've created in our stories.

-Also, we have all of the original show places.


What sort of gadgets do we have?
-Snarfer's Character Copier

-Silvercat's Instant Hybrid Maker

-RD's Particle Accelerator


Useful Links:
Official TCATGR Web Page:  http://www.thunderwolf.org/tcatgr.html
Unofficial TCATGR Web Page:  http://www.snovelor.net/tcatgr.html
2003-03-03, version 5, written by Silvercat, ThunderWolf and RD