Hello, fellow writers! Got any question that you can't find answer from Google or Wikipedia, but you don't think it needs a separate thread for? You came to the right place!
Don't be shy, and just ask away. The nice folks here, writers and non-writers, experts and non-experts, will do their best to help you.
The folder below contains links for special interest threads, mostly at OTC, but also from Yack Fest and Troper Coven.
- Aircrafts and Aviation
- Computer
- Economics
- General Religion, Mythology, and Theology
- General Science Thread
- Chemistry
- Earth Science, including Meteorology
- Medicine
- Physics
- Space - Just don't talk about space warfare over there; use Sci-fi Warfare thread below instead.
- Chemistry
- History
- Martial arts
- Military
- Police and Law Enforcements
- Politics - The opening post of the linked thread includes links to political threads on specific countries as well.
- Philosophy
- Psychology
- Sci-fi Warfare
Also take a look at Useful Notes on various topics. They can be pretty useful.
Now, bring on the questions, baby!
edited 11th Apr '18 6:31:51 PM by dRoy
Ah, then add 6 hours 20 minutes to that result and you'll get 07:40 of the next day ETA. The plane thoretically would catch the sunrise in the latter stages of its flight, but the thing is, it'll be flying over Mongolian and Chinese territories by that time, not Russia. It's depends on what path was chosen.
edited 3rd Aug '17 8:18:00 AM by Millership
Spiral out, keep going.
the Pro from Dover
(1) If Wm Shakespeare were to witness a film presentation of, say, King Lear for the first time, what sort of words would he use to describe the visual and auditory experience? (Would he be amazed? frightened? curious? enraptured? perplexed? offended? awe-struck? enthused?) (2) If Ben Franklin were to witness a Boeing 747 take-off for the first time, what sort of words would he use to describe the physical experience? (Dittto the possible reactions) (3) If Abe Lincoln were to witness a Donald Trump rally in person, what sort of words would he use to describe the emotional and intellectual experience? (Ditto the possible reactions)
Jo Anne
The Best Worst Psychonaut
I'm thinking of possible settings for my hypothetical Police Procedural-esque game, set in a fictional town or city, and I'm very tempted to eschew a typical American setting in favour of a European one; specifically, Germany. However, I'm not German, I'm British - I had considered Britain, as well, but eventually decided against it.
Since I'm not German, what are the key things I'd need to know about German law or the legal system? I've done some research, but as always, reading about law tends to be quite impenetrable for a layman such as myself; I'm thinking more of what the most relevant things would be for a member of German law enforcement.
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
I can't actually answer that, but the tropers on the German Politics thread may be able to. And here's a primer on German Heat and the tropes of a German Police Procedural.
MIA
in a world where the mad wolf virus ( that turns humans into not as hairy wolf man under the moonlight or though stress, lust, or anger),how would people in this small town deal with individuals who have the virus?
this also takes place in modern day.
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it isn't to broad of a question.
edited 9th Aug '17 5:55:49 AM by ewolf2015
MIA
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I don't know if this can help you, but I would recommend you also to watch an actual german police procedural. There is one, Tatort, which is very famous in Germany; being a TV show, I cannot guarantee that it is 100% accurate, but I think it can help you to get the 'atmosphere' besides the mere facts that you can find doing the research.
About the facts, I think that the most important thing to keep in mind is that Germany is a federal state, so the situation can be different from one Land to another. I hope some German troper would help you with this.
MIA
realistically speaking, would it make sense for a college freshmen's parents to file a divorce after all these years?
MIA
It's certainly possible. Some relations, no matter how strong they may be, can still fall apart at the seams with just the right push. Hell, maybe there was always some sort of chink in their relationship and it's slowly been growing into a gaping chasm over the decades, with one particular offense being the last straw that neither of them can look past. (Cheating on your spouse is always a good one.
)
MIA
well, this might sound cliche, the mother of the main character met her father when they were in their twenties. they thought they were meant for each other until disagreements began arise and they felt like that spark they had was gone. The father had sneaked out sometimes for a smoke without knowing what the consequences will be for him (which he's been doing since he was 21) and he never bothered telling her about it. this had a bit of a effect on their son and the main character who feels like her father doesn't seem to care all that much.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Does the neologism "muscluptuous" sound like a good blend of "muscle/muscular" and "voluptuous" to describe a woman whose attractiveness is due to being both muscular and plump at the same time?
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
minus the smoking. You might have to explain it. I, at least, didn't immediately pick that up as a possible meaning. (My mind went to straight to scientific names of fungi actually).
edited 9th Aug '17 9:05:58 PM by CenturyEye
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Fantasy writer turned Filmmaker.
Some parents recognize their incompatibility but decide to stay together "for the kids," so it would stand to reason that once the kids are grown up and out of the house, they'd start talking about a divorce.
edited 9th Aug '17 9:18:06 PM by AwSamWeston
Award-winning screenwriter. Directed some movies. Trying to earn a Creator page. I do feedback here.
Need some help from military buffs (or those who served in one):
I'm still in the midst of getting the kinks of my story worked up. Basically I created a Foreign Legion military unit based in Africa, influenced by the French/Spanish Legions in terms of structure and whatnot.
It'll have a special forces unit that basically has the operators do everything (kinda like the Army Ranger Wing), except that I'm thinking of a formal name. The unit is part of a fictional country called Enoa, which is between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Queen of Neith
Interruption,
Is it unacceptable and inappropriate to create kid's storybooks based on horror movies such as:
- Frankenstein
- Dracula
- Night of the Living Dead (1968)
- The Shining
- Psycho
- Poltergeist
- Pan's Labyrinth
- The Thing (1982)
Unless you actually include the inappropriate elements from these stories without any alteration, I don't see what the problem is.
About how long does it take for a city street to decay naturally, without anyone driving on it? I'm writing a story where humans have disappeared, and trying to figure out how long it would take for a street to be filled with trees or at least basic plant life.
There was a documentary called Life After People that specifically addresses this scenario.
it gal
Yes! I love Life After People! James Lurie, ah, brilliant.
What are the cutest adult animals, in your opinion? It's for a story I'm conceptualizing.
edited 14th Aug '17 11:28:45 AM by TheAphid
they butchered the Punk Punk article >:/
A Gamma Moth
I think seals are so adorable at any age. And Penguins - penguins are perpetually cute!!
Oh and fennec foxes. I saw a fennec fox at the zoo this summer. It was scooting on its butt in the sand of its enclosure. That was pretty hilarious.
Creator of Heroes of Thantopolis: http://heroesofthantopolis.com/
Cuteness is subjective, but naming rabbits and pandas is a safe bet. Pandas' cuteness ensured their survival in some way.
There are also lemmings
◊ and quokkas
. The latter are becoming memetic, too.
Koalas and sloths are pretty adorable. On the slightly more unconventional side, you've got jumping spiders and certain types of octopus, like the flapjack octopus.
MIA
jumping spiders are so cute.
MIA
A Gamma Moth
Oh, I forgot otters! Sea otters, river otters, they're all so cute
Creator of Heroes of Thantopolis: http://heroesofthantopolis.com/
Weasels? Birds in general too.
I was thinking to match each one of four sisters to a certain theme (either the four seasons or the four elements). I'm almost set on the seasons, though. I'm more or less posting some adjectives about them (their full profiles are much longer) and asking an opinion?
- Sister 1
- Oldest sister
- Mature
- Nurturing
- V calm
- Creepily so tbh
- Stubborn
- Likes beautiful things
- Realist
- Likes the arts
- Likes to cook, plant and flowers
- Lazy if she doesn't care about stuff
- Sister 2
- Kinder than she looks
- Quiet doesn't talk much
- Emotionally fragile, hides emotions so she won't get hurt
- Opinionated as fuck
- Pessimistic
- Stubborn, clashes with sister #1.
- Strange fascination with death
- Protective of younger sisters
- Loves fashion
- Overly enthusiastic about her interests
- Never forgets a cut or a kindness
- Sister 3
- Start describing her with "over": overemotional, overly enthusiastic, overthinks, overreacts.
- Subtle as a brickwall.
- V loud and friendly.
- Never stands still ever.
- Rule happy.
- Very pessimistic.
- Hides her negative emotions as not to upset others.
- Feels guilty over concerning others.
- Is afraid to get close to people and lose them. V outgoing and friendly, though.
- Very affectionate.
- Stubborn, tries not to clash with anyone, though.
- Sister 4
- Kind of shy. V friendly though.
- Tends to worry abt hurting others.
- Idealistic
- Most optimistic.
- Assumes the best of everyone
- Wants to help, ppl take advantadge of that.
- Loves sports and moving her body
- Escapist tendences
- Fascination with the sky
- Not as stubborn as her sisters
- The most adaptable though
edited 17th Aug '17 3:56:46 PM by eital
There are ten time zones between British islands and Japan. When traveling and passing a time zone's border, you need to add an hour to the current time if you're traveling eastwards, and subtract one hour if you're traveling in the opposite direction.
So, if one is traveling from London to Osaka (East), started his path at 09:20 and the flight took 6 hours, then with 09:20 + 6 hours of flight + 10 hours from the time zones passage, the time of arrival will be be 01:20 of the next day, and most of the path over the Russian territory will be either at late afternoon or at night.
If one is traveling from Osaka to London (West), arrived there at 09:20 and the flight took 6 hours, then with 09:20 - 6 hours of flight + 10 hours from the time zones passage, the time of start will be 13:20 of the same day. Based on latitude and season, the sun would've already risen during most of the path over the Russian territory.
Technically, each scene in my story of mine takes place in different timezones. In that part of the story where the protagonist is returning to Japan from Britain, a scene takes place six hours after he left, and another scene has him being informed that the plane is approaching Japanese airspace in an hour, with that scene being in a separate timezone. I went with the calculations provided by travelmath.com that a flight from London, United Kingdom to Osaka, Japan is twelve hours and twenty minutes.