Hitting the Uncanny Valley with an Emotionless Girl, in-text and relying, at least initially, on the Iceberg Principle

Pretty much everyone would be sporting a Thousand-Yard Stare, right?

Er... well, that's only really the case for one of the other characters, the others have goals and/or traits to properly keep them focused/prevent them from being too shellshocked, at least at first.

edited 30th Apr '18 9:51:00 PM by TroperOnAStickV2

The problem with the tropes Dissonant Serenity, Danger Deadpan, Major Injury Underreaction, and Strolling Through the Chaos is those tropes are usually used to designate badasses. Hmmm... Would your emotionless girl exhibit more sleepiness than can be explained by outside circumstances?

Sorry for not replying, I get distracted easily..

Danger Deadpan is, at this point, basically default for everyone, whatever level of emotion they normally show, they've all been fighting on and off for at least two years at this point and all but one of the heroes was already experienced, snarky, or both before the series even began.

Sleepiness, no. Since her brain has more or less become a computer, NOT needing sleep is a valid possibility, one I've thought about.

edited 5th May '18 11:22:39 AM by TroperOnAStickV2

Aha! Now we're getting somewhere... I think? What would she be doing during those bouts of insomnia? Anything that might wake up the other characters? Anything that would get the other characters wondering when she found the time to do it?

... haven't thought that out. Probably nothing, since she's sufficiently emotionless at that point. Which is actuary a great opportunity for uncanny valley-ness, since the narrative could observe her, and break down into ergodic-ness. She wouldn't try to wake people, her brain-computer would just be going near-constantly.

... and I realise now such a scene would conflict with the idea of showing as little as possible, at least if it goes into her head. A shot of her sitting there, not moving, but clearly awake would be a good wham shot though.

edited 10th May '18 3:27:04 PM by TroperOnAStickV2

In addition or alternatively to the wham shot, you could imply something's up by sampling every character's bedtime routine except your afflicted character's.

...Come to think of it, I should take my own advice for a story I have where I deliberately obfuscate which of six roommates is undergoing a transformation into a vampire.

... this is the end of the story, if bedtime routines/downtime habits are going to be touched on I'd probably already have done that, especially since the early part of the story has slice-of-life elements. That said... contrasting what she does with her earlier behaviour is a good idea, and would probably be the best thing to do.

edited 17th May '18 7:42:40 AM by TroperOnAStickV2

Does your afflicted character have a Trademark Favorite Food that she'll stop responding to?

That... hasn't been thought about. It strikes me as more an Out-of-Character Alert thing and less an Uncanny Valley thing, though.

edited 22nd May '18 9:30:18 AM by TroperOnAStickV2

Really? Are you sure about that? Would mechanical chewing and silverware-wielding be uncanny-valley?

Yes it would be. Thing is, at this point in the story, meals are not something that I think I would touch on. Slice-of-life elements would have fallen by the wayside by this late period, at least that's the intent.

That said, such a scene would provide interesting opportunities since it could be done with her family, who is in this version not in on the whole magic thing.

edited 28th May '18 4:46:31 PM by TroperOnAStickV2