Random Questions Thread

I'd argue that the answer depends on the ubiquity of the usage: if it's broadly used in the second sense, then that second sense is now a "proper" usage, regardless of whether it was originally misuse.

Indeed, misuse that becomes normalised is part of how language evolves, as I understand it.

[edit] As to the specific case of the word being used in titles, I'd guess, in line with what Noaqiyeum says, that it's being used to signify "an account of great import". But that is a guess.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Apr 12th 2024 at 10:37:48 AM

How do I give the impression of time passing (decades in fact) in a rather surreal location?

The final introspective conversation between the main-character-turned-villain and his vampire ex-girlfriend takes place inside of an Eldritch Location made from the combined memories of every person who has ever been infected by the werewolf-creating parasite over the centuries. Since the villain is now this entity, he can shape it however he wishes and he uses it to create an entire world the two of them can traverse while they talk and settle things between them.

The two of them spend decades there, around 40 years, even though a very small amount of time passes in the "outside world" while the Final Battle is raging.

I'm trying to find a way to convey that huge amounts of time are passing even though the two of them don't really age (well she stays in her actual late teen/young adult while he occasionally fluctuates between his own young adult form and other stages of his life).

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Apr 12th 2024 at 1:55:50 PM

Maybe you can introduce an "imaginary baby" that grows from one scene to the next, from a child to a teenager to a married adult, showing that time passes.

Edited by jawal on Apr 12th 2024 at 6:03:46 PM

@ jawal:

That's an interesting idea, I certainly hadn't even considered adding a third "person" to the mix, let alone a child. I wasn't even sure if I'd have any except the two of them wandering a beautiful and detailed but completely unpopulated landscape.

Apart from the child, you could have nature evolve around them: trees grow, rivers overflow and occasionally change course, seasons pass... You could also have your characters taking a long trek across this world, and describe how the landscape changes gradually.

to add you can also add in details like how settlements developed. A lot can change in 40 years. villages could become metropoli, or they could become destroyed by rubble. Constriction projects could begin in the first year and be finished a decade or so later. Even a grand city can fall within the span on 40 years.

I am about to ask about the name for an injury here.

Basically, you end up rubbed against something so quickly and smoothly that the top layers of your skin gets wiped off but without breaching any blood-vessels or the layer containing them in the process, leaving a smooth gap in the skin without any distinct edges and the inner area red and raw.

Is there a specific name for this kind of injury?

It's for story reasons, as one of the characters in the middle of a sword fight, ends up having their face pushed against and swiped down the broadside of a sword, leaving a red smooth mark on their cheek in the process which they only realize later is an injury when they touch the red area and twitches in pain as a response.

Edited by Trainbarrel on Apr 13th 2024 at 11:36:24 AM

I think that it would be a mild abrasion, or simply a "scrape" or "graze".

Huh, didn't know that.

Thanks for the answer. Much appreciated.

Would it be stupid or at the very least unrealistic for a teenage boy to play The Corruptor to a grown man?

My main character's father undergoes a mini "arc" wherein he is continually tempted by the leader of the cult that worships the main character as a god. The leader implores the father to just sit back and relax on the cult's island base and enjoy a life of luxury while his son destroys the human and supernatural worlds. He cites that the father has gone above and beyond his duties as a parent and protector of his family and so deserves to sit back and relax, and a number of other points that appeal to this character's personal history.

The issue is that the cult leader is a teenage boy who is lifelong friends with his son. He's known this kid since he was literally in diapers. I just wonder if that makes him less effective and persuasive in terms of trying to make the father stand down and let his son exterminate supernatural beings and absorb all of humanity.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Apr 13th 2024 at 12:13:28 PM

Well, Johan Libert (from Monster) managed to do it, and he corrupted at least one adult into becoming a serial killer at the tender age of 11; as do many of the The Antichrist chidren in horror stories.

So there are precedents in fiction.

Anyway, "corruption" here seem to be encouraging the man to do something that is pleasant to him, so it doesn't matter much if The Corrupter is an adult or not.

Edited by jawal on Apr 13th 2024 at 5:16:38 PM

If the kid has a suitable understanding of the adult's buttons, I think it's realistic.

Thank you for everyone who answered this question about the father and the cult leader; it was very helpful!

Sorry to double-post but I do have another question.

How would someone react to the knowledge that they ate their friend? Well...I have a general idea of how someone would react to that, it's more along the lines of how do they move past the fact that they literally ate their friend alive?

My main character and another one of his friends are in a huge accident where both of them are severely injured, to the point that they are near death. Their species has an instinct that, if they are near-death in the presence of another of their kind, they will enter a frenzy and try to cannibalize each other. The one who succeeds is both healed and able to "steal" the unique superpower that the dead one possessed along with a large amount of their knowledge, memories and experiences.

My main character was less injured and was able to prevail over his friend, but due to the frenzy effect has no immediate memory of doing this, he just thinks this other person vanished and is still alive somewhere (he came back to himself aimlessly walking miles away from the site of the accident). He only later regains the memory of what happened and what he did and predictably has a complete breakdown over it.

I'm just wondering how to have him move past this traumatic event? He definitely isn't okay, and to a degree it is one more thing that pushes him down the road of apocalyptic insanity, but I do need him to regain his composure and mental equilibrium since he isn't supposed to be at his breaking point until a couple years later.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Apr 15th 2024 at 7:52:04 AM

then just have him suppress it again to the subconscious and move onward like before.

People who have their traumatic events resurfacing most of the time never deals with them and just goes straight to bury them again using whatever means they have to do so.

Trauma does not get dealt with just because you recall it once.

@ Trainbarrel:

That's an interesting way to deal with it. I will say that this event is pretty important to the story and his development; seeing the "friend's" memories makes him realize that they were a traitor who was plotting against his family, and it gives context into just how deeply in trouble he and his loved ones are. Plus, a large part of his plan later on centers around the fact that he now knows he can eat other members of his species and gain their powers.

So him repressing the memory would kind of hinder that...unless I suppose he could simply suppress the actual "details" of the act, but still remember the fact that he did it along with the memories he gained.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Apr 15th 2024 at 8:11:57 AM

It's basically like this:

You know the event, you just warped the memory of it to make it more endurable to live with.

If someone recalls "My brother died in the war" when it actually was "I accidentally shot my brother dead with two shots to the chest after I, when I was five years old, found a gun in his drawer, thinking it was just a game."

Imagine the trauma when that character realized the full story.

The event at its core is acknowledged. The finer details however are not.

@ Trainbarrel:

Yes, I see. There could be a brief and devastating moment of "clarity" to inform both the main character and the readers of what really happened. But later on the memory blurs and takes on a new and vaguer form to protect his mind, even if he is still overall aware of the fact that he ate his friend.

Just a random thought, you might have the Protagonist distort the memory into "a monster ate my friend".

Oh, yeah that's totally possible. Trauma messes with memory all the time.

What superpowers would you give a magical girl who has a civilian identity as an Shirley Template actress?

Maybe hypnotization through songs?

The power of "De-Aging"

The studio employing Shirley Template lied about her age for ages in order to preserve her image.

The power to "turn back the clock" on others and herself would be rather fitting in this case.

So I asked this question in the Lovecraftian Horror thread and didn't get a response. I'm someone who likes making audiobooks of public domain works on my YouTube channel. I've recently started covering Lovecraft. How's this for a disclaimer?

"Please be aware that H.P. Lovecraft's works contain language, themes, and attitudes that are reflective of the author's personal prejudices, including expressions of racism and xenophobia. While these elements are not reflective of my own views, they are presented as part of the original text for historical and literary purposes. Listener discretion is advised."

I've listened to so many different audio-books made of Lovecraft's work and I've never seen anyone use that kind of disclaimer to them. They are still up and haven't run into any issues whatsoever.

I honestly don't think that a personal disclaimer is necessary when it comes to reading Lovecraft.