edited 19th Aug '12 10:18:04 AM by Conjure

Dude, people have lives. You already asked about where to pitch it in Quickie Questions and you're currently on the waiting list for critique. You'll just have to be patient. If someone wants to come help you in the meantime and has the time to do so, they will.

edited 19th Aug '12 9:27:09 AM by CrystalGlacia

What sounds like a better private/affectionate nickname for someone named Hobbes Mcfarland?

• Hobby

• Mickey

?

I'm not terribly wild about either, but I'd prefer "Hobby" slightly. Pet names derived from surnames seem somehow contrived to me.

I do, however, have a bit more light to throw on your giant-insects question of the previous page. While the details given by other Tropers were accurate, it's also worth noting that the fossil record boasts many giant arthropods with similar characteristics to insects. True, they were not true bugs, but they did a darn good impression of it at rather intimidating sizes. Arthropleura, Megalograptus, Meganeura, Brontoscorpio, and Megarachne are all good examples.

*_*

Thank you kindly!

edited 19th Aug '12 10:27:05 AM by MrAHR

@amadeuscreed: I'm going to go against the other responses and suggest Cipangu, primarily on the grounds that it doesn't sound quite so obviously "HEY GUYS THIS IS FANTASY JAPAN", which can be annoying when not dealing with an intentionally blatant Fantasy Counterpart Culture.

AHR: The largest modern arthropod is Birgus latro, which grows up to about 40 cm / 4 kg (according to Wikipedia - I think that's length, not legspan) and is believed to be pretty close to the upper size limit for terrestrial arthropods. (I think some of the organisms Mycroft mentioned were larger, but they also lived in a time when the Earth's atmosphere had a different composition, which could affect the body size their 'lungs'/equivalent are capable of oxygenating. B. latro has developed significantly more lung-like breathing organs than most crabs in order to sustain itself.)

...also, I have to second nrjxll's reasoning for Cipangu.

edited 19th Aug '12 1:23:40 PM by Noaqiyeum

Okay. So, telepathic communication in my work is marked by angle brackets. But I'm not quite sure what to do with quotations within the telepathic chatter. I can't decide what looks better, and I'm pretty damn sure there's no "official" rule on this sort of thing. Should quotations be treated as though they were surrounded by quotation marks already — <Define 'paid a visit.'> — or should I put full quotation marks in the telepathic brackets: <Define "paid a visit.">?

edited 19th Aug '12 4:08:28 PM by KillerClowns

Use guillemets! :D

Either works. For plain quotations in speech, the rule is to use the quotes you aren't using for quotation of the containing quote, alternating to nest as necessary; there's no reason not to do that, and just pick either single or double quotes arbitrarily for the top level. Of course, once you pick one you should probably be consistent with it.

Would "Talitha" be a normal-sounding name in a realistic high school setting, or would it sound too out of place? Given what it means, I think it fits the character I have in mind for it, but at the same time I'm trying to avoid Faux Symbolism and it might invoke that.

These days, almost nothing sounds out of place as a girl's name in a high school. People just make up names that they think sound pretty.

This is going to sound racist I know, but it sounds like the name you would give to a sassy black woman. An awesome name for a sassy black woman.

Depends on who the parents are. While the origins and language of specific names are today less of a limiting factor, the choosing of a name would require the parents to be aware of its existence or to be the type willing to 'invent' names in order to help make their child be 'unique'.

The most important part is that it is a 'proper' name and that it exists; even if it is uncommon these days (meaning, there probably still are people named that). If you feel the need to defend the choice, you could simply say that the character was simply named after a grandmother/ancestor or that the parents are of the Hollywood/trendy types who name their children such unlikely names as Suri and Shiloh.

Also, as long as it's not too weird of a name, most readers will probably be willing to accept it and move on since they - at the end of the day - aren't what really matters about the character. Look at Harry Potter... the main female character was named Hermione. Hardly a common name. Some might consider it outright weird. Yet, Rowling went with it and left it at that without much need of rationalising in-story; and people still readily accepted it.

edited 20th Aug '12 5:22:19 AM by peasant

Two related questions: How do you present an entirely incapacitated hero without making him a Woobie? And, what is gained or lost by showing the hero character in full Woobie mode?

Woobiefication is, at its root, the rendering of a character or person into an object of pity. Presenting a person as an object of pity is a form of othering, a strategy used by all those commercials out there that show children living in slums in, like, Africa to get you to donate money. Othering makes people perceive a group as being fundamentally unlike themselves, not really human. I know for a fact that the disabled don't dwell on their disability or let it define them, so why should this character do that? Showcase not the fact that they are disabled, but their personality, quirks, and what makes them human.

A man challenges four people he believes to be mercenaries/spies on the run (they are). What things tipped him off? So far all I've come up with is "he called you 'sir'", "you have too much money" and "you're never out of breath when you run", and the last two are kind of feeble.

Try more subtle things. Their eyes move around a lot because they're always looking for threats. Changes in their body posture that signify whether or not they're aggressive. They could also have a muscular tone, which, while definitely not evidence in itself, trips some tiny alarm bells when all four of them have it.

What kinds of things do archaeologists do outside of an excavation? Say, what would a professor at a university do in between lectures/classes/whatever?

I had a prof (for World Cultures, but he was based in the archaeology department) last semester whose speciality was in experimental archaeology (or more specifically, experimental archaeometallurgy). He spoke at length about his work with reconstructed Iron Age era smelters, for example.

Not exactly a representative sample, but worth reading up on, I posit.

edited 20th Aug '12 8:06:50 AM by fishsicles

@Long Live Humour:

Are you looking for a Hand Wave or something to something to showcase the man's brilliance? If the former, you can use the method frequently employed in Leverage where Elliot is able to spot guards/mercenaries/etc even when disguised with the excuse that they have a "very distinctive <insert feature>".

If the latter, it would depend on their surroundings; in which the spies missed a critical detail or were unable to conceal something in their disguise. For instance, if they are hiding out in the slums of a third world country, their teeth might be too perfect and/or they've had previous dental work done (i.e. straightening, etc). It doesn't even have to be a complete giveaway and the man only has a suspicion - a suspicion which is then confirmed based on the spies' response to the accusation.

Thanks! You gave me some more ideas. They might also look at faces in a different way. Ooh, and scars, scars is likely.

Re. university professors, do you mean in their spare time? Interaction with students is quite likely, especially if the university is small: guidance and advice, chatting, coffees, even parties. There's also lots of administrative work (especially for course managers) and the stress of research. Many UK universities are putting pressure on their lecturers to max their teaching and their research; gods know how they expect good results from that. An archaelogist might want to do frequent research trips. HALLO FUNDING! Researchers have to spend a lot of time begging companies and the government for dosh, and I imagine this is true for archaeologists as well. Museum work? Restorations? Writing books and/or articles?

Nah, not the first. ("The giant tattoo on your shoulder says I LOVE ESPIONAGE!") The man's bright, but he's not a professional and he's certainly not Sherlock Holmes. On the other hand he could very well betray them to the authorities regardless of how certain he is... Ha! Thank you. They're posing as expats, but they could still be let down by a lack of very basic knowledge of the lake they're on.

edited 20th Aug '12 12:01:49 PM by LongLiveHumour

Spare time or work in between classes. Say, finishing a lecture at 10:50 and having another one at 12; what happens in the time between then? However, I figured it was most of what you said. Thanks.

For such short periods, it would probably be like much of the rest of the world - lunch, socialising, all that boring stuff.

I think LLH hit it right on the head in that archeology would be much like any other research-based study. Much of the lecturer's non-teaching time would be spent writing up the (lengthy) report for his last research/excavation in hopes for publication, developing the proposal for his next research and raising the funds for it (as a researcher, your value is directly proportional to the publications under your belt and inversely proportional to the time since your last publication), peer reviewing a colleague's work prior to publication, and probably some consultation work on the side. Note, excavations aren't just burial grounds of ancient, long lost cultures but often times things like potential construction sites that need to be evaluated to confirm a lack of historical value before construction work can begin (especially in places like the UK).

However, don't forget the 'lecturer' part of 'archeology lecturer'. Meaning, the character is still a teaching. Lots of his time is going to be spent at departmental and university meetings, mentoring and providing pastoral care to students, grading papers and coming up with lesson plans/lecture slides.

edited 20th Aug '12 5:59:22 PM by peasant

Lazy question here: can someone provide me with a link to a quick temperature converter? (As in, something that can convert between temperatures in Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin).

Google does it, just put in what you want to convert from and to.