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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.

    Special Interest Threads 

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

Swordofknowledge Spreading literacy with book and blade from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Spreading literacy with book and blade
#26101: Jul 16th 2023 at 3:39:59 PM

Thanks everyone for the help with the proper title of a parent's friend!

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
AwSamWeston Fantasy writer turned Filmmaker. from Minnesota Nice (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: Married to the job
Fantasy writer turned Filmmaker.
#26102: Jul 16th 2023 at 3:42:42 PM

What does a phone's gender mean? How the phone chooses to present themselves.

It would help us if you could explain in more detail how "gender" works with anthropomorphized(?) phones in your story. You're glossing over a lot of important worldbuilding here and the decisions you've made for your setting will color the kind of answers we can give.

Edited by AwSamWeston on Jul 16th 2023 at 5:43:31 AM

Actual Filmmaker trying to earn a Creator page. Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry — available now on streaming and blu-ray.
queenieAG Queenie from Alternate timeline Since: Mar, 2019 Relationship Status: Robosexual
Queenie
#26103: Jul 16th 2023 at 4:30:36 PM

It would help us if you could explain in more detail how "gender" works with anthropomorphized(?) phones in your story. You're glossing over a lot of important worldbuilding here and the decisions you've made for your setting will color the kind of answers we can give.

Gender essentially relates to how the phone is programmed, how they appear, their voice, and how they present themselves. Gender is determined by programming, but the phone can change their settings to appear as a different gender.

Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#26104: Jul 17th 2023 at 3:09:36 AM

Is this a good or a bad physical description? Do you understand it? Does it leave any questions? Does it sound like it could look good?

The character is one of the nazi supervillains in Red Revenge, a WWII superhero story. Built as some kind of an UACV experiment also meant to be able to operate on the ground, meant to have some kind of superpowerful propulsion (rocket?) which failed and became pyrokinesis instead. He developed a mind of his own.

Living Inferno is about 6" tall, human-sized robot whose desogn suggests a hawk, with four-toed feet capable of grasping objects, and a tail and large fixed wings visually similiar to Göbbingen Gö 3 Minomoa's and equipped with formation and navigation lights. The tail and wings can fold up for space, and he can fold out two arms for manipulating objects.

Standing with his arms out he looks humanoid despite his stance being slightly off, but his two-eyed face is vaguely birdlike and incapable of expression. He spends most of his time in this more humanoid shape with his wings and tail folded.

I'm not sure if that's enough to justify him having legs instead of wheels. Takeoff/landing and aerodynamics and all, especially with the original superpropulsion intent (aerodynamics also applying to his general shape). Or where and how the fire should come from so he can get Wreathed in Flames and propulse himself in different directions with the pyrokinesis, including upwards in his more humanoid form. He doesn't have any other engine besides the one that produces the fire, so he's basically a pyrokinetic glider though that wasn't exactly the in-universe intent.

Edited by Nukeli on Jul 17th 2023 at 1:42:27 PM

~*bleh*~
Trainbarrel The Story Supporter from The Star Ocean Since: Jun, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
The Story Supporter
#26105: Jul 17th 2023 at 6:44:39 AM

[up]Let me give it a shot.

...

As we waited at the assembly table to see this "legendary ace pilot" who also kept us waiting for over an hour, leaving us grumbling and muttering over the audacity of this man, a knock on the door caught us out from it.

One half of the double doors opened and we turned our attention towards our late visitor.

The man, clad in dirty overalls with a toolbox in a firm left-handed grip, walked in and casually waved a hand at us, while chewing on a toothpick. Not even his face washed up from the sooth-stain covering it.

"Mornin' folks, sorry for being late. Had a hard time with the landin' today. A little rainier than 'sual."

Our anger and confusion intertwined as we looked between one another and one of us spoke up.

"Herr... Adler? The "Living Inferno"?"

The dirty mechanic glanced back at us and frowned. The toothpick in his mouth flicking up.

"Huh? Oh... nonono!" He laughed and coughed at the end. "I'm just Herr Adler's mechanic."

"Then where is Herr Adler!? We have been waiting for over an hour!"

"Just givin' ya all a head's up!" The mechanic grinned and opened up the double doors wide-open. "Field's clear, Herr Adler! There's plenty of room!"

Our voices silenced as a mechanic clang moved towards the opened doors.

One step, two steps, three steps, and a lumbering shadow stepped inside the line of sight.

We went wide-eyed.

In the doorway, a six-foot tall mechanical hawk stepped inside, wings folded, and glimmering golden across its plating. It turned around and its glowing red mechanical bird-eyes swirled and narrowed back and forth as it scanned the room, twisting the head side side.

Chills caramelized our spines as it stepped inside.

The sharp-edged beak glimmered in the daylight and every move it made buzzed mechanically from pistons and gears turning within its shape until it stopped at the far end of the table.

We sat mouse-quiet as this war-hawk of the future turned its attention between us all. And as we watched, two lights on its shoulders lit up once, shut down, and a mechanical monotone clicking stirred within its chassi.

"GREETINGS.GENTLEMEN." The Hawk clicked in Morse-code and our minds went blank in shock. "I. AM. ADLER. OFFICIAL.IDENTIFICATION."LIVING.INFERNO"."

A compartment in its chest switched open like the turn-dial in a phone and a mechanical skeleton of a human hand folded out in an open offer for a handshake towards us.

"COOPERATION.VERY.ANTICIPATED. GUTEN.TAG."

...

Something like that, I would imagine.

And from where the flames comes from, then there are gaps in his surface all over venting it out when in flight.

Edited by Trainbarrel on Jul 17th 2023 at 6:49:07 AM

"If there's problems, there's simple solutions."
AwSamWeston Fantasy writer turned Filmmaker. from Minnesota Nice (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: Married to the job
Fantasy writer turned Filmmaker.
#26106: Jul 17th 2023 at 6:45:36 AM

[up][up][up] Okay, but that doesn't really explain the first hurdle of gender existing at all for phones. Phones, being a piece of technology, are inherently genderless. So if these phones in your story have any kind of gender, that's already a leap that needs some justification.

What's your story about? Maybe knowing that will help with this question.

Edited by AwSamWeston on Jul 17th 2023 at 8:45:55 AM

Actual Filmmaker trying to earn a Creator page. Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry — available now on streaming and blu-ray.
Swordofknowledge Spreading literacy with book and blade from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Spreading literacy with book and blade
#26107: Jul 17th 2023 at 7:38:20 AM

Does the fact that the villain isn't trying to kill the heroes lessen the enjoyment/lower the stakes of the conflict?

The final villain of my story is very much not interested in ending the lives of the characters who are opposing him. In fact, it's quite the opposite; his actions are entirely for the sake of keeping them alive. To be fair he has no problems attempting to kill some of them (who aren't members of his family/friends) but he holds back with the majority of them, apart from a single incident where he almost killed his father, but it was an accident.

Either way, his goal overall isn't to end them, but to subdue and hold them until he's finished his objective, whereupon he'll let them go.

I wonder if that would make the story less enjoyable.

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
Altris from the Vortex Since: Aug, 2019 Relationship Status: Not caught up in your love affair
#26108: Jul 17th 2023 at 8:00:16 AM

Mm. If you emphasize that the destruction he causes is inadvertently putting them in danger from the whole "causing the apocalypse" business despite his intentions, as well as the fact that the villain wanting to save a tiny amount of humans really means nothing morality-wise in the face of killing everyone else on the planet, it could work. Based on your past questions, though, I'm pretty sure the villain is supposed to be sympathetic at least on some level.

From the other side, the heroes acting to prevent the evil the villain is committing even if they're personally not in danger is definitely heroic enough to scan.

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr
Swordofknowledge Spreading literacy with book and blade from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Spreading literacy with book and blade
#26109: Jul 17th 2023 at 8:19:47 AM

[up] @ Altris:

Thanks for the answer, it does give me something to think about.

If you emphasize that the destruction he causes is inadvertently putting them in danger from the whole "causing the apocalypse" business despite his intentions

This is something that I didn't quite think about (well, I did think of it, just not in this way), so thanks for putting it this way. Once the heroes leave the "safe zone" he provided for his followers, they are very much in danger from the chaos he's inflicting on the world, simply because he doesn't have very effective way to "pinpoint" them and spare them from harm.

Based on your past questions, though, I'm pretty sure the villain is supposed to be sympathetic at least on some level.

That is the intent, although I wonder how effective it is sometimes tongue. It's something I've never really explored before; I've had heroes turn to evil in my stories before, but never have I had the main protagonist who we follow the entire time go rogue. The reader essentially is treated to his step-by-step villain origin story, so I hoped it would be enough to garner sympathy. Sorry, a little off topic but that's the intention for this whole thing.

EDIT:

From the other side, the heroes acting to prevent the evil the villain is committing even if they're personally not in danger is definitely heroic enough to scan.

I'm glad someone thinks this, because that concept (going out of their way to help the world when they derive no benefit) is definitely something I struggled with when putting this together, and making it not seem foolish.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Jul 17th 2023 at 11:21:16 AM

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#26110: Jul 17th 2023 at 9:58:45 AM

I'm revisiting my query about Argo Navis and ghost ships. I recall the answers involved tying it to a dead intergalactic empire, but I think I'll leave that at the metaplot level and ash about how to tie the following aspects of the Argonauts adventures to the ghost ships thing:

  • A place that is strangely devoid of men (based on Lemnos)
  • A placed inspired by Cyzecus island
  • Both the Harpies and the isle of Dia (Stymphalian birbs and all)
  • And Talos.

(For reference I'm already tying in the term "siren" for something at the metaplot level. And some birdlike folk are already involved as well)

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jul 17th 2023 at 9:59:11 AM

queenieAG Queenie from Alternate timeline Since: Mar, 2019 Relationship Status: Robosexual
Queenie
#26111: Jul 17th 2023 at 2:08:48 PM

Okay, but that doesn't really explain the first hurdle of gender existing at all for phones. Phones, being a piece of technology, are inherently genderless. So if these phones in your story have any kind of gender, that's already a leap that needs some justification. What's your story about? Maybe knowing that will help with this question.

The story is about phones adapting to a world without humans; as a result of having existed alongside humans, they naturally adopt human concepts, such as gender, because they only know human society.

queenieAG Queenie from Alternate timeline Since: Mar, 2019 Relationship Status: Robosexual
Queenie
#26112: Jul 17th 2023 at 2:34:36 PM

As a result of this, the gender they were programmed with would determine their place in society, just like with humans.

Florien The They who said it from statistically, slightly right behind you. Since: Aug, 2019
The They who said it
#26113: Jul 17th 2023 at 10:38:39 PM

To answer your original question, to portray them respectfully, you should probably do whatever you'd do to portray humans with those things going on respectfully.

I don't think them being living phones changes too much about the situation.

Everyone else seems to be getting a little tangled in the weeds of "by the way the characters are phones", which is kind of counterproductive. It doesn't really matter that they're phones for the purposes of this question, because it doesn't really change the answer.

Edited by Florien on Jul 17th 2023 at 10:39:47 AM

queenieAG Queenie from Alternate timeline Since: Mar, 2019 Relationship Status: Robosexual
Swordofknowledge Spreading literacy with book and blade from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Spreading literacy with book and blade
#26115: Jul 18th 2023 at 5:58:26 AM

So I'm trying to decide whether the following is an "appropriate" way for a parent to talk to their child. It's a little difficult for me to gauge this since the situation is so completely insane, but here goes:

During the long Final Battle against the Big Bad, his parents are among the team trying to put him down (well, they don't want to kill him, just stop him). Anyway, he almost murders his father via a replica of his father's childhood friend that freezes him in place with horror and almost eats him. This causes his mother to go absolutely berserk and obliterate it with her powers to save her husband.

Where this question comes in is her actions after this—-she goes on a furious rant about how disgusting he is for what he did, and how ashamed she is of him. She then angrily mocks him for picking on the weakest of their group the Token Human.

It just...comes off to me as a parent behaving in a way that they never should towards their own child. Narrative-wise, this is supposed to be a Bookends scenario where it replicates a much earlier incident where his father berated him in a furious and out-of-character manner, but I wonder if this is going overboard.

I should mention that she does forgive him for this; it doesn't actually change how she feels towards her son, and she deeply mourns his eventual death as if this never happened, if that makes a difference.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Jul 18th 2023 at 9:00:10 AM

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
jawal Since: Sep, 2018
#26116: Jul 18th 2023 at 7:28:17 AM

If they are fighting their son, recognizing the possibility that they may kill him, then they are already past normal and healthy parent-child relationships. So scolding him is nothing in comparison.

With that said, I personally think that a battle like that will be mostly silent, with an air of sorrow and resignation from all parties.

I mean, any dialogue should have taken place before the battle started, with the parents pleading with their son to stop and he with them to leave.

Once the negotiation fails, there should be only combat unless the other party surrenders. There will be time for regrets and self-reflection later, when the battle is over.

Every Hero has his own way of eating yogurt
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#26117: Jul 18th 2023 at 7:45:54 AM

Okay I want to focus a bit on the Lenmos thing from my previous question. Ahem.

What is a way to explain the disappearance of every male and non-binary person in a given location without the implications that Gendercide plots usually entail, while also involving a haunted or otherwise supernatural location?

Swordofknowledge Spreading literacy with book and blade from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Spreading literacy with book and blade
#26118: Jul 18th 2023 at 7:47:08 AM

[up][up] @ Jawal:

Thanks for the input.

If they are fighting their son, recognizing the possibility that they may kill him, then they are already past normal and healthy parent-child relationships. So scolding him is nothing in comparison.

That is a very good point; the situation is so far gone that guess harsh words are kind of meaningless. One thing I will mention though, is that up until this point, his parents are almost pathologically optimistic about the outcome of the fight. It's at this exact point that they both realize how far gone he is and that shatters the optimism like glass. I guess I wanted to make some huge indicator of that shift in perspective.

As for the rest of it, the part about dialogue in battle is a good one too, although I tend to like the idea of talking between clashing blows [lol]. Maybe it's being a lifelong anime-watcher but I love the idea of dialogue in combat and huge epiphanies and revelations while in combat.

But I may tone down just how much dialogue goes on, or keep it between the characters while they are discussing strategy in this final fight.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Jul 18th 2023 at 10:48:23 AM

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
Trainbarrel The Story Supporter from The Star Ocean Since: Jun, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
The Story Supporter
#26119: Jul 18th 2023 at 7:50:47 AM

[up][up]

The vanishing of the Y-chromosome.

Radiation-damage targeting the Y-chromosome.

Like that?

"If there's problems, there's simple solutions."
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#26120: Jul 18th 2023 at 7:53:20 AM

[up] I'm avoiding Gendercide plots entirely so this is less "no more mutants men" and more that men and enby people wound up trapped somewhere else.

Only brought the trope up because the relevant Argonauts tale involving Lemnos had the female population kill their fathers and brothers (save one, and the woman that spared him got punished for that) at Aphrodite's request and as vengeance for the men going on a banging spree in nearby Thrace. That has its own issues that I want to avoid, on top of the usual issue with Gendercide plots.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jul 18th 2023 at 7:57:26 AM

Trainbarrel The Story Supporter from The Star Ocean Since: Jun, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
The Story Supporter
#26121: Jul 18th 2023 at 8:00:39 AM

[up] Then why not shove them into "Dimension-Y" and call it a day?

Still alive, just somewhere else entirely.

Perhaps even by the Fae-folk, looking for men to play with.

"If there's problems, there's simple solutions."
jawal Since: Sep, 2018
#26122: Jul 18th 2023 at 8:03:09 AM

[up][up]

Maybe those women were transported as slaves on a ship, that crashed on an abandoned planet.

All the slavers died at the crash and the women couldn't fix the ship, so they learned to live there and developed a female-only society.

Edited by jawal on Jul 18th 2023 at 4:05:05 PM

Every Hero has his own way of eating yogurt
ArsThaumaturgis Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
#26123: Jul 18th 2023 at 9:02:59 AM

@MorningStar: My own suggestion: Perhaps the women acquired a highly contagious sex-bound disease. (Something that requires high oestrogen, perhaps? I'm not sure of whether that would work, offhand...)

At first the men and non-binary folk of the setting took care of them—until the first case of the disease jumping the gender-gap.

At this point they quarantined the women in a self-sustaining, enclosed region, providing them with medical care remotely where called for. On both sides, people searched for a cure.

...Until it became clear that there would be no cure; nothing worked against the disease.

For a while, the status quo held. But eventually, little by little, the men and non-binary folk started to migrate elsewhere.

My Games and Asset Packs
jawal Since: Sep, 2018
#26124: Jul 18th 2023 at 9:19:29 AM

Alternatively, maybe they are not normal humans, they are androids made to resemble women for one reason or another.

Then their creator dies, and they continue living there, possibly having amnesia and not remembering their origins, until the heroes come.

Every Hero has his own way of eating yogurt
C105 Too old for this from France Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Too old for this
#26125: Jul 18th 2023 at 10:15:15 AM

Another possibility: due to some unknown factor on this planet (strange radiation, mutagenic virus, superior entity or computer playing with genes,...), something changed the way reproduction works on this planet, allowing females to reproduce without the need of a male (either through parthenogenesis, Homosexual Reproduction, or possibly using some advanced tech gizmo). Of course since males carry the Y chromosome, this means only females get to be born that way, meaning the male population slowly dwindled to nothing. (I am using male/female here in case your want this to apply to the entire animal kingdom, not only humans)

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.

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