Random Questions Thread

Its colored differently, it has a different taste, and its heavier than water (and therefore the sensation of compression will be greater) but otherwise the experience of asphyxiating to death would be pretty much the same.

Might be more tickly since it's carbonated.

Getting something carbonated into your airways is a lot more than just "more ticklish", it really hurts. Which isn't going to make the drowning any more of a pleasant experience.

On the plus side, that's a death that's guaranteed to make it into a medical textbook!

what's wrong with happy endings? some of my stories end with a happy or bittersweet ending of sorts.

There isn't anything wrong with having a happy ending. In fact, I'm pretty sure most people like a happy ending to a story so long as its fitting.

According to a high school Biology teacher of mine, if you leave the body for a long enough time immersed in alcohol it'll dissolve. How long is another story

I asked that question when we were studying cellular structure. It was about the permeability of cell walls, I think? ... Phospholipids maybe?

is it possible to make a cartoon that's aimed for teenagers?

Yes! The answer is definitely yes.

One approach is to make a cartoon that's got enough emotional intelligence and maturity to appeal to anyone, have a protagonist and supporting cast who are teenagers, and treat the challenges and struggles they go through seriously. There's room for any amount of light or dark humor, trouble or fun in a setup that deals honestly with what it's like to get older, get pissed as you learn which truths you were told aren't so, try to work out and define who I am and who I want to be in the world, and in general test yourself and push the boundaries given - by authority, by family, by society. An attitude that treats reality with respect is just a foundation to work from. With a core of real life there, you can take it anywhere else you want to go, and people won't feel like they're being pandered to.

Another way to go is a just pump up a lot of fun goofy stereotypes of what it's supposed to be like to be a teen, push exaggerated characters and situations to comic, absurd or hyperdramatic heights. Kids will recognize it's just entertainment, not a reflection of what their lives are even like, but it can still be a whole lot of fun done right. Nothing wrong with escapism! And bonus: a more outright cartoony treatment can often be a great springboard for unexpected dramatic impact, if you make the character's emotional lives, reactions and development believable.

now that mention it, my series is bit similar in that regard.

When a same-sex couple adopts a kid, is there any "standard" as to how the kid addresses their parents? Say, by referring to them as "Mom Anne" and "Mom Sally"? Or does it vary from family to family to family?

i may know a lot about the lgbt community but i honestly never understand how a family works. but, i did watch a video about this kid who had queer parents and one of them referred to herself/theirself as baba.

anywho, i have question for you guys, how would a deconstructive parody on shonen anime look like?

edited 14th Oct '16 10:14:11 AM by ewolf2015

I'd say it depends on the family- same-sex parents or parents with nonbinary genders are kind of in uncharted territory here. I know that with Neil Patrick Harris's kids, he's 'Papa', and his husband is 'Dad(dy)'. Some couples use 'Dad(dy)/Mom(my) Firstname', or just plain 'Firstname'. Some parents who are from another culture or speak other languages use 'Mom/Dad' in the other language.

I found this if you'd like more ideas.

Three quick questions:

1. Can "Your mother!" be used in the vein of "Goddamn it!", i.e. as an exclamation of frustration and anger not directed at anyone in particular?
2. Which of the following sounds the most natural as an euphemism for "a god (of something)", both in formal and informal speech:
   • epitome
   • incarnation
   • embodiment
3. Is "supermachinium" a correct translation to Latin of the term "overengineering"? If not, then what is?

1: Heck yes it can!
2: I'd say "Incarnation" works best.
3: Not sure on that one. Sorry.

I have a question on authorial intent. I know this maybe going into Death of the Author territory but how do you know you figured out the intent or message that author is trying to convey in their stories?

Generally, you don't. In the words of the late, great Umberto Eco, “a narrator should not supply interpretations of his work; otherwise he would have not written a novel, which is a machine for generating interpretations.”

I see.

how would a 8 year old half demon survive in the wilderness?

Killing and eating whatever else lives there?

Really depends on how much demon is "half" and what kind.

And what does 8 years mean for such a being.

lemme explain, 8 years old is basically same thing as being 8 years old in human years (sort of). they age up pretty quickly when they turned to be 12 years old.

And what demons are like in your setting. And to what extent their non-demon half affects their development. And what your story needs from this demon-kid.

Not everyone does demons the same- they might be immortal or ageless and born as adults and thus not require food at all, they might need to eat emotion which would probably force the character to hang out near populated areas, they might essentially just be monstrous animals that don't talk and hunt with claws and teeth, they might be like reptiles and most insects in that they can survive all on their own without any kind of involvement from their parents. All of that is going to change the outlook of their story. And then there's their halfling heritage- it might make them act slightly more human, or make them require humanlike forms of nutrition, or who knows what else.

But if you consider the needs of your story, you might find an answer. For instance, in The Name of the Wind, the narrator spends a summer living alone in the woods when he's about eight or nine years old. He has to build himself a shelter out of sticks and leaves which serves him well enough for the summer, but when it gets to be fall, he realizes he'll start having trouble finding food and keeping warm when winter comes, so he starts walking and heads into a city and becomes a Street Urchin. The fact that he has to move to the city is important to his story because his experiences on the street change his characterization, and he encounters someone in the city who inspires him to move on and start searching for answers. The author could have had the protagonist find a sturdy cave that he can retreat into for the winter, given him super-awesome survival skills beyond even what he already had, or made him willing to live with the farmer he meets on the way into the city, but none of that would have had the same effect on his characterization, or allowed him to meet that one person who gets him going.

In your case, if your demon-character feeds on emotion, that might lead them to encounter someone who changes their story. f they mostly look like an eight-year-old human and act like an eight-year-old human, passing characters might not take them seriously, they might inspire sympathy, or they can even be manipulated like how a kid might be easy to manipulate. Who knows? Figuring these things about and piecing them together is the fun of writing.

my take on demons are a bit different. the eight year old I've mention is half-succubus or a lust demon. which means she feds off the thoughts of lust and desire. however, she doesn't want to and will rather eat human and wolf food. a lot of it.

Since you're the one familiar with her capabilities, mindset, psyche, decisions, all those things that make up her character, might I suggest that you're in the best position to figure out what decisions she'd make? For instance, moving towards populated places for sustenance versus moving away?