Random Questions Thread

@Ars Thaumaturgis Just another possible suggestion if you're still contemplating: maybe make up a word for it, or make it out of a combination of words? But I guess sometimes though there's no other option.

edited 20th Apr '15 7:00:27 PM by Coujagkin

While I'm probably going to stick with "magic", your suggestion is worth some thought, I do think; thank you.

Is it possible an ad for Uncle Drunkie gets unnoticed?

edited 21st Apr '15 12:20:05 PM by Teenlyokofan7777

Well, yeah, because we all have school, work or anything else that pertains to life. And critiquing someone's work takes time and energy, so it might go unnoticed for awhile. It's also nearing Finals season in a lot of schools and colleges, so people tend to stay offline.

If I sounded a bit mean here, it's just out of my own stress. It's also reality. Try to be patient.

It can also take a while. I got a response about a year and a half after I first posted, long after I had forgotten. It's a good place to find editors, but don't treat it as the be all, end all solution.

Okay

Also, did I end up killing the Whamise game?

Games tend to have quiet spells, so probably not.

Are all Contrived Coincidences bad?

edited 21st Apr '15 5:53:52 PM by Teenlyokofan7777

No. Admittedly the later they happen in a work the more Deus ex Machina -ish they are.

EDIT: Or some other member of In Dex Machina.

edited 21st Apr '15 6:44:21 PM by Luthen

Basically, there are four ways to make a Contrived Coincidence work:

• It's so subtle that the audience doesn't notice until they're at the fridge.
• It's explicitly the result of outside intervention (though make sure that this explanation itself doesn't seem like a Contrived Coincidence).
• It's part of a joke.
• It's the set-up for the story in the first place.

edited 22nd Apr '15 7:51:31 PM by Discar

Like, a person who lost their talent for skiing finding his old skis when he gets his talent back (MLPFiM) is a contrived coincidence?

There's not nearly enough context there to say whether that's a CC or not.

Well, this guy got his cutie mark taken away and was equalized as were everypony else. Then, when he got it back, he and three others were chasing after the Big Bad. He stopped when he found his skis where he first met the Big Bad.

So the "cutie mark" is necessary for his powers, which basically amounts to being really good at skiing, and he gets his powers back while chasing the Big Bad, and suddenly finds his skis in some random, not-foreshadowed and unjustified location?

I'd say that counts as a CC. Just be sure your example write-up clearly explains how it's a CC.

edited 23rd Apr '15 3:16:50 PM by SolipSchism

I mean it's already happened in the show. I was just wondering if Contrived Coincidences were bad and if that makes an episode bad.

Tropes Are Not Bad. "Bad" itself is subjective, anyway.

Going by the trope description, it doesn't fit at all.

Contrived Coincidence describes a highly improbable occurrence in a story which is required by the plot, but which has absolutely no outward justification

First off, it wasn't required by the plot, it was pretty much incidental.

Second, it's not really improbable at all. Double Diamond presumably gave up skiing when he entered the village, so it makes sense that he'd have left his skis nearby. And there probably aren't that many snowy mountain paths out of the village suitable for skiing (I think it's implied this is the only one). So it actually makes sense that he'd find his skis on the path.

edited 23rd Apr '15 6:42:18 PM by storyyeller

*hands off conversation to the person who has obviously actually seen the show*

Any ideas on how a person with a face concealing helmet could make their expressions clear? For example I though a slight head tilt could stand in for a raised eyebrow.

The mask part of the helmet is emotion/expression neutral but the glowing eyes brightness can be adjusted.

If the eyes are glowing, they could also change colour and intensity to represent various emotions. One of them could turn dark to represent a wink.

Like the wink idea. Already using the colour change one, although it was a compromise on the characters part, he thinks it looks tacky and tries to avoid it, but the other choices were worse.

edited 28th Apr '15 7:29:57 AM by MCE

Gestures. Lots of gestures.

Facetious suggestion: They could talk like an Elcor, and verbally preface everything they say with its intended emotional subtext.

For a lighter-hearted touch, if the mask's eyes are essentially a display screen, emoticons are also handy.

I neither confirm nor deny that my Star Wars droid character was up to such shenanigans with her holoprojector.

This. As someone awful at reading faces, I can tell you body language is a life-saver. Look for people who "talk" with their hands a lot - you hardly need to look at their faces.

• A hand flung up, then dropped: exasperation/disgust
• Hand obscures eyes: depends on other factors, but generally negative emotions such as shame/embarrassment/upset/grief
• Hands raised near to body then held still: surprise/shock/fear
• Same but hands a bit further away: anticipation/surprise/forestalling/eagerness

That's besides all the deliberate signals like a hand held up for "wait", waggled to mean "so-so", moved in a circle for "go on"...

The downside is that body language is easier to fake, especially if you don't use it enough to make it habit. Seems like the honesty of the signals would be an issue with your character, too, if he's deciding when to change the glow colour.

Edit: Oh damn, that would be brilliant.

edited 28th Apr '15 11:04:47 AM by LongLiveHumour