Random Questions Thread

Almost anything can be made to seem plausible if it's well written.

Are there any mythological/supernatural creatures that are usually associated with disease/able to spread disease?

edited 1st May '13 7:43:34 PM by Conumbra

Traditionally, the Basilisk has been associated with bringing death to everything around it (although it's most remembered for making things who look it in the eye drop dead), which is pretty close to disease. Can't think of a creature associated explicitly with disease off the top of my head, though.

edited 1st May '13 7:47:49 PM by Yomegami

Vampires. Early vampire myths (far far before getting burned by sunlight or being noble monsters) had them as plague carriers.

Demons. Folk medicine, around the world, almost always attributes disease to being cursed, and healing is often a form of exorcism.

Wyverns.

The bunyip is somewhat associated with disease and poison I believe.

Totally sick. Thanks for the info!

edited 2nd May '13 7:49:02 AM by betterthanstrawberry

Draugar, if I recall correctly.

Oh, yeah, of course, ghosts. Back in the day, harbingers of death, they were.

Hmm...I'm thinking Draugr would fit the bill, thank you.

Marq - to return to a somewhat abandoned topic... I don't know if this would interest you, but if you want to be really original you could use a different codification of vices as your inspiration. (This is what made me think of this, but Virtue/Vice Codification contains several similar lists.)

So I know that obviously women had methods to keep 'things in place' before the invention of braseires, but exactly WHAT did they use? (I haven't been able to find anything that explains well online) I think corsets may have been also used for that, but I haven't been able to find anything. Could anyone give me some good resources?

That depends entirely on the place, the time, and the social class of the character concerned. Corsets were worn for that purpose by a certain class of women in North American and Western Europe during the Victorian Age. Other solutions were found in other times and places. Where is your story taking place?

Thanks everybody for the help with my last post. Just writing another story set in a fantastical version of China. There's super kung fu masters and rudimentary schizo tech like batteries and Babbage machines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbage_machine). Have written 2 versions of the story. I'm curious to know your opinion, which do you think is more awesome a villian, wisecrack uttering badass kung fu master implacable man that hunts the heroes (there's 4) or a Babbage machine, schizo hybrid of electrical and clockwork parts covered in steel skin that hunts the heroes (he's got kung fu programmed in and retractable claws)?

It's all in the execution. We need to read.

My story takes place in a constructed world, but much of their culture is similar to Medival Europe.

edited 3rd May '13 7:58:00 AM by TheMuse

Side note: analytic engines are very sensitive to jarring and deformations. I think if a model were to be programmed for martial arts, it would be better-suited for judo or other styles that emphasise fluid motion and indirect attacks and defenses.

edited 3rd May '13 8:12:57 AM by Noaqiyeum

Question here removed.

edited 3rd May '13 9:26:07 AM by HollowHawk

Leonidovich for a man, Leonidovna for a woman.

Thanks, and sorry about removing my question, I thought no one would reply in time, do I reinstall the question or not.

Whatever floats your boat and you're welcome

edited 3rd May '13 9:46:05 AM by montmorencey

@Muse: [1]

Essentially, they would use tightly laced undergarments, and if that didn't provide enough support, they would add cloth bindings.

So something like a corset, except perhaps without the boning?

Also, if you have the surname "Milyutin," the feminine form is "Milyutina," right?

Sort of; it sounds like these were whole shirts, essentially (which makes sense, as you would need the over-the-shoulder support to keep the tension, given that the fabric wasn't stiffened).