Random Questions Thread

this article on robots is relevant to my previous post.

Yes, I realize that was several questions ago, I just thought it was interesting.

edited 5th Mar '13 12:52:45 PM by MCE

My latest Trope page: Shapeshifting Failure

Character is a sickly teenage boy whose father (whom the kid admires) is a detective. Said sickly teenage boys wants to be strong to protect the ones he loves.

Why exactly WOULDN'T the kid want to become a detective like his dad?

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. ~Russel Baker

Detective with the police?

Complicated - because simple is simply too simple.

Yes

For any number of the numerous downsides associated with working as a police - and as a civil servant in general. And there are lots. For starters, there's always the inherent dangers of being a cop and being in regular contact with criminals. Then, there are the regular civil servant woes of long hours and poor pay; which are especially bad for frontline services like the police.

edited 6th Mar '13 3:02:46 AM by peasant

Suppose a species had a significantly smaller hearing range compared to humans; say, an upper bound of ~5 kHz, compared to humans' 20 kHz. Would there be sounds that are painfully high-pitched for them but we wouldn't mind? If so, is there any way to estimate them?

Any suggestions on a Lighter and Softer, not-morally-heinous version of the phrase "rape, pillage, and burn" that is often used to describe pirates and Vikings?

edited 6th Mar '13 8:02:56 AM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Remove the "rape" part then turn them into a mercenary force fighting non-humans ? With What Measure Is a Non-Human? in full effect.

Anyways, so say you're living in a fairly big city. Then monsters disguised as humans start infiltrating it with the intention of killing everyone. Where'd they go for first, and how would the citizens react ?

They'd probably head for wherever your story needs to be set in. That's why both, Tokyo Is The Center Of The Universe and Aliens in Cardiff exist. As for the public's reaction, they can always be counted on to panic and run away while the main characters stay and execute the plot of your story (be it to stand and fight or to run away in as harrowing a route as possible).

Now, for my question:

I have a character whose family is Rich, Aristocratic, and are absolute snobs about it; looking down at both, the Poor and the Newly Rich. The setting is modern day Britain. So, my question is this... what kind of job would fit with these attributes? And no, being the monarch isn't an option.

edited 6th Mar '13 8:56:09 AM by peasant

"Kidnap and pillage", perhaps?

Presuming human-level intelligence, perhaps coordinated attacks on police, military and leadership targets, approaching through one infiltration method or another, depending on their abilities and resources: getting arrested, copying extant leaders, gaining appointments with leaders, etc.

As to the citizenry, I imagine anxiety as the killings start, then fear keeping them in, and finally panic, leading to mass exodus form perceived danger areas.

No job, ideally, I would imagine: the idea would be that they have inherited money and those with either none or who had to work for it are lesser entities. If a job is called for, perhaps something along the lines of land-owner or large-scale city landlord.

My Games & Writing

On second thought, make it a Lighter and Softer version of "rape, pillage, plunder, and burn".

This isn't a Space Opera with Lots And Lots Of Nonhuman Races. It's more of a One Piece-style setting.

No, too criminal of an act. (I really should've elaborated in that post.)

The group of characters that involve this are more or less an Amazon Brigade Ragtag Band of Misfits who became seafaring pirates out of disgust/frustration with The Government's rampant corruption. They're also fairly... liberally-minded, and take the following modus operandi:

1. Find a port town that's hounded by evil pirates, corrupt government troops/leaders, local bandits, or the like:
   1. Beat the shit out of the bad guys hard enough that they won't dare come back.
   2. Convince the locals to hold a rowdy party to celebrate their newfound freedom, during which the girls work off mounting "stress" by screwing the hell out of the local hunks (off-screen, of course) so hard that they — the hunks, not the girls — will walk bowlegged for the next few days, and maybe a bit fearful of how... assertive a woman can be. (Nymphomaniacs, the whole lot of them! XD)
   3. Kindly decline all of the treasures and gifts that the locals try to give them... only to steal all of those (and just those) when they're not looking, preferably such that they only realize what had happened after the crew is too far to pursue. Bonus points for managing to acquire even more wealth either by finding unclaimed/lost treasures in some hiding place, or through technically illegal but morally okay methods, e.g. charming the local Jerkass Handsome Lech out of the greater portion of his unearned fortune as well, while leaving him with empty promises of womanly company, or confiscating the aforementioned bad guys' ill-acquired, no-original-owner-identifiable gains.
2. Failing that, find a Government installation/stronghold that's not too strong to take on:
   1. Wreck havoc upon the poor saps by kicking asses, taking names, and burning down every edifice they can reach.
   2. Raid the local Government arsenal and treasury for new weapons and shiny goodies.
   3. Detain any present General Ripper, Obstructive Bureaucrat, and other unwholesome sorts who are unambiguously and unrepentantly responsible for a lot of the crap that most of the world is going through, and humiliate them... preferably by challenging the commonly espoused-in-universe Government belief that women pirates are "worthless whores" whom the Government's troops should "re-educate via manly physical disciplining" ^note Yeah, misogynistic sexism is a common issue in this world, and in some cases — like women who became outlaws to escape societal oppression/abuse — gave birth to horrific atrocities that The Government uncaringly turns a blind eye to in its pursuit of "Justice". in general, and more specifically their captives' ability to live up to those expectations, literally screwing them to near-impotence, and then laughing at them for being "unable to 'handle' a few 'worthless whores'" like them.

Yes, my mind goes into strange places frequently.

edited 6th Mar '13 3:06:02 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

@ risingdreams, your teenager might be on board with the whole People Protecting Thing and admire his father because he's a really great, moral guy who does the Right Thing, no matter what, but he might be disillusioned with certain aspects of organised police as it presents itself? I don't really know what your story is about, but maybe his Dad even got screwed over by the department. Maybe it was something else. But, basically, maybe he doesn't believe that the police as an organisation is holding up their promise to 'protect and serve' very faithfully.

Complicated - because simple is simply too simple.

Are the phrases "the sir" or "the madam" considered grammatically correct?

I am attempting to apply Translation Convention on some formal-register fictional-language conversations. One of the first steps is addressing people; the basic way is "the <respectful term for another person> of the <descriptive complement, varies based on clan relations> <name of clan>"; the question regards the first blank. "Lord" and "lady" seem a tad much.

edited 6th Mar '13 7:42:09 PM by fishsicles

Not nearly a good enough singer for the Choir Invisible, and the Basement Room With A Synth Invisible is much less prestigious.

"The sir" doesn't sound right; it's a title affixed to a name or used as an address, not a noun itself.

There's any number of things you could use. "Knight", maybe, or some feudal title (earl, baron, count, whatever). It depends on the sort of impression you're trying to give.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

"The gentleman" and — a bit awkwardly — "the gentlewoman?"

Yeah, that is what I need. I cannot believe I failed to think of it. (Feudal titles would be a good translation for leaders, though.)

Not nearly a good enough singer for the Choir Invisible, and the Basement Room With A Synth Invisible is much less prestigious.

Wouldn't it be more accurate/appropriate to say "the gentleman" and "the lady"? Sounds a lot less awkward than "the gentlewoman", most certainly. After all, there is such a phrase as "ladies and gentlemen"...

edited 7th Mar '13 2:04:31 AM by peasant

Does anyone know of any Norse folklore about goblins? (not trolls)

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

AFAIK the word "goblin" only dates from the Late Middle Ages. So there aren't really any goblins in Norse mythology.

Let's just say and leave it at that.

Same here. I asked my friend who majored in Finnish and she couldn't think of anything but dwarves. Germanic Mythology, though, in which Norse Mythology is included, has the 'Kobold'.

Complicated - because simple is simply too simple.

@montmorency: Thanks. I actually meant creatures similar to goblins. Dwarves won't work for various reasons, mainly because if you're a human child raised by dwarves, (as the hero is) you will know that dwarves don't eat humans.

edited 8th Mar '13 2:41:07 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Oh, I dunno. With a bit of RAW editing, the next human caravan to arrive at my fortress can be the guests of honor at the feast.

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.

@Sabre: I meant traditionally.

edited 8th Mar '13 4:58:52 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Would there be any cultures that would be more willing to matchmake cousin-cousin relations?

Read my stories!

In/based on real-life ones, you mean?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.