Random Questions Thread

Three more suggestions might be people who enjoy solitude, people of a romantic bent, and those who are somewhat melancholy.

The first might include certain artists, presumably with a bias towards non-visual artists (writers, musicians, etc.). One way or another, however, night may be a quieter and less populated time than day.

edited 11th Oct '15 8:16:31 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

Also, for fairly obvious reasons, astronomers — which you could extend to cover scientists and/or mystics in general. (Especially in a world where the distinction is academic.)

edited 11th Oct '15 7:29:15 AM by KillerClowns

Depending on the era, soldiers. Most Western armies actually prefer to fight at night since about 1990. Infrared and low-light gear means they actually see better at night than in the day.

Astronomers....melancholy and solitude....soldiers...boat people...

The human character I had in mind just happened to be a retired naval officer with hobby of stargazing and severe depression.

Awesome, thanks folks.

Is there any job that is a custodian, mechanic, (low level) IT guy, and other (perceived) menial jobs rolled into one?

Generally a custodian might also have to do maintenance like that (janitors do more than just clean).

You've basically described being the building super of an apartment block.

As in building superintendent?

-checks-

Huh. That works.

Okay, thanks.

Need help for my Infinite Stratos fanfic Senjou no Kodoku na Shounen. I'm already writing notes for a story arc after the current story arc set in Sabah, and the notes for said story are have Ichika on a date with his wife, original character Mikuni Kakizaki, and that Mikuni's aunt recommended that she wear a Western-styled (i.e, not Kimono) dress. What style should I go for: Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baroque, Rococo, or Victorian?

You might want to go and ask people in Fan Fiction or Anime & Manga thread.

Aside from this, which is supplementary material for the fanfic, there are no threads pertaining to Infinite Stratos fanfics. Plus, it's just suggestions for dress styles I need, and I'll never ask a question like this again. Promise.

Keep it simple, just say that the dress is western and that's it, maybe one or two minor details. Exccessive attention to clothing is one of the worst aspects of Mary Sue, which I suppose your character is.

Very well, thanks. Also, further explanation will come in a PM I'll about to send to you, since I'm going off-topic at this point, and that I promised dRoy at that I'll never talk about something like this ever again here.

edited 15th Oct '15 4:45:02 AM by HallowHawk

How do I hide hair and eyes of a character?

The context: One of the stories I'm working on has a woman on the run, accused of cutting down an entire company of soldiers by herself. The problem is that she is an albino, with full red eyes, white hair, skin and vision problem and whatnot her wanted description includes that as well.

The story is a Medieval European fantasy that is based around late middle ages Mediterranean Europe. What are some clothings I can use to hide a woman on the run's hair and eyes?

I thought of turbans and hoods, but the former wouldn't work because she has no facial hair and the latter might make her too suspicious. Eyes, I got nothing.

Hooded cloaks were fairly common in medieval Europe in general, especially for women who wanted to protect their skin from the sun. She could just pull her hood lower so her eyes are shaded, and try not to make eye contact or look at people. Veils are also an option for hiding her face, since women also used veils to protect their faces from sun and wind, and they're mentioned frequently in Greek texts.

Of course, she'd probably have to find a way to obtain or make these, as well.

edited 16th Oct '15 12:43:02 PM by CrystalGlacia

She could dirty/die her hair too, so that it's not so obvious. Henna would be most likely I feel, but plain charcoal might work if she's desperate.

Oh yeah, hooded cloaks, that was a thing and I forgot about it.

Hmm, dying your hair. I did not even know that. Very interesting.

Hmm...I wonder if a woman wearing hooded cloak and veil traveling alone might raise any suspicion? I know that she would be a good target to robbers.

Historically, any woman traveling alone would have been a target for almost anyone. Then again, disguising yourself as male isn't that hard. But then you have to ditch the veil idea.

I'm assuming she has to travel alone? I'm not sure what your story entails but is it possible that she could go among a group of veil-wearing women traveling with men and dress up like them?

I also have a Translation Convention muddle if anyone has time to look at...I have no idea this makes sense.

So, a kid is alone in forest and meets a bunch of squirrels; she's really young and can speak to animals but hails from tropical region and has never seen or heard of a squirrel before (or any animal in this forest for that matter). Because of TC going on in the kid's head, the squirrels say to the kid "We are squirrels" when really they're saying the squirrel equivalent of that phrase, like "Squeee weeeee eeek" or something.

If the kid doesn't even know the word "squirrel" (let's just hypothetically say), would readers believe that the kid could still hear that word for the first time? This goes for all the animals in the forest too that the kid is unfamiliar with.

edited 20th Oct '15 2:00:50 PM by Coujagkin

I'm not quite sure, but... I think the situation would be similar to learning a foreign word that doesn't have an equivalent in your native language. Sо I think yes, the kid would understand the word, but only in "squirrelese", she would still be unable to translate it to "humanese".

So then would I maybe have to make up a word for the kid? But how would the readers know they are squirrels? If I called them squirrels for the sake of the narrative, could that maybe work?

But then I guess I'd have to do a side-note specifically for the readers, and I'm currently trying to avoid that. Ah well...maybe I'd have to though.

It's not perfect but maybe leave "untranslateables" in italics or something. Maybe have her use the Squirrelese word to a person later on (as italics in normal font) and have people respond - why did you squeak mid sentence? Though that's generally emphasis. Making the conversation something like "We are not monkeys, we are squirrels."

You could go with a bit of Calling a Rabbit a "Smeerp", and just get the "raw" etymological break-down for their name. Like "acorn-buriers" or something.

If the character only has the "Squirrelese" term, you might be able to nevertheless convey what the creatures are via description. This is perhaps especially feasible with squirrels, given their rather distinctive tail and behaviour. (That said, I imagine that this may incur some proportion of readers who don't recognise the animals by their descriptions.)

edited 23rd Oct '15 5:37:37 PM by ArsThaumaturgis

Hey, thanks all! Basically I'm going to go with generic terms for the animals based on how they describe themselves, which the kid's brain will conveniently translate for her (e.g. "acorn-burier"). And then hopefully people will be able to guess through description.

Yeah, it's confusing. But I love the concept of TC with animals.

edited 23rd Oct '15 9:04:56 PM by Coujagkin

Silly question.

I got a character who is such a voracious eater that he will practically eat any thing organic enough.

Now, what are some things that this character can eat in front of average people and freak the hell out of them? I'm thinking of live octopus, to start with.