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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

Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#29451: Sep 28th 2024 at 11:15:50 AM

Would it be a bad idea to give an american military officer guy in the 2020s a flattop? Is that done anymore?

~*bleh*~
Marchen Too hot (Hot damn) from Somewhere Out in Space (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Too hot (Hot damn)
#29452: Sep 29th 2024 at 10:24:15 AM

[up] Isn't that the hairstyle Guile has? I mean, I'd struggle to call anything a bad idea, but depending on how it's styled it might be a little silly. As long as it makes sense for the character? For what it's worth, if I were to make some kind of military hard-ass character, I'd probably go with a buzzcut or maybe straight up bald.

Read Otr of the Flame (She/Her)
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#29454: Sep 29th 2024 at 10:58:46 AM

[up] I'm assuming Street Fighter, there was a character there who had a hairstyle that can be described with the word you used.

Of course I also assumed you were talking about something along the liens of an aircraft carrier over hairdos, so...

Marchen Too hot (Hot damn) from Somewhere Out in Space (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Too hot (Hot damn)
#29455: Sep 29th 2024 at 11:36:10 AM

[up][up] as [up] said, this man:

    Guile 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guileportrait.jpeg

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guile_ssfii_5.png

It's highly stylized, but it more-or-less matches what I got when I googled flattop.

Edited by Marchen on Sep 29th 2024 at 8:37:20 PM

Read Otr of the Flame (She/Her)
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#29456: Sep 30th 2024 at 3:03:16 AM

Does anybody know this jacket type is called?

Flight jacket? Windbreaker? Something else?

I think the sleeve ends and the bottom suggest a leather jacket. On the other hand, windbreakers' wikipedia page had a picture of Nixon in a jacket that looked a lot like that (but when i google windbreaker i don't see any that are like that...)

Edited by Nukeli on Sep 30th 2024 at 3:17:10 AM

~*bleh*~
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
#29457: Sep 30th 2024 at 3:14:19 AM

Sorry, there's no way to really give an "overview" of this question, so I'll just go into it.

One of my four villains is the Monster Progenitor of an entire supernatural species (the main character's species to be exact). She claims to be the first to ever exist and is indeed the oldest of them all—to give perspective, she was born in 1449 and is finally slain in 2012—and she has an immense fountain of knowledge born of these centuries and indeed has certain powers and abilities that no other member of her kind has. Due to all of this, she is both revered and feared as an almost religious figure among her people and has absolute authority over them apart from those few who try to rebel.

However, after her death, it is revealed that she is not the "first of them" to exist, not even in the slightest. She simply took advantage of a vicious civil war to slay most of her contemporaries and institute her own order over her kind, "for the greater good".

Here is what I'm wondering—is it really necessary for this revelation to happen at all? It doesn't actually add anything to the story itself apart from the fact that this deception is completely in line with this character's personality and highly arrogant and Knight Templar viewpoint. Furthermore, the powers and advanced knowledge of centuries she has is real, it's just her "progenitor" status that is a lie.

So, I'm wondering whether to even include people finding that she is/was a fraud and perhaps just go with the idea that she was the real thing after all.

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
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
#29458: Sep 30th 2024 at 3:22:54 AM

[up] What would this accomplish with regard to your story? Is that intended to break her pedestal for some characters, or show how manipulative she actually was, or more generally how widespread lies are in the supernatural world?

I am asking this because I am fairly neutral toward the reveal in itself, so I think this kind of reveal should be viewed in the general context of the story. If it does not serve any purpose beyond saying "look she lied to all of you once more bwahahaha" as an afterthought after everything is over, then it could indeed seem irrelevant. Conversely, it can be important if it ties to a character's own arc, or in a general theme of the story, etc.

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.
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
#29459: Sep 30th 2024 at 4:12:26 AM

[up] @ C105:

What would this accomplish with regard to your story? Is that intended to break her pedestal for some characters, or show how manipulative she actually was, or more generally how widespread lies are in the supernatural world?

In-story it shows the main character (who killed her and received her memories) that she is not the absolute moral and paranormal authority she claimed to be. He already rejected her designs and goals (since one of them included exterminating his entire family) but it gives him even more reason to completely disregard her as just another powerful and senior member of his people, no more no less.

From an audience perspective, it breaks this character's pedestal. The readers knew how ruthless and self-assured she was in the essential "rightness" of her actions at all times. Her attitude was never presented as a good thing, but now it has even less legitimacy than before. On the other hand...The Reveal also includes the genuinely altruistic reasons for her centuries long deceptions and tyranny, so there is some nuance as to why she chose to masquerade as the primordial foundation for her people.

In other words, the benefits to people in-story are highly limited and instead it mainly serves the people reading it. It's actually similar to another massive reveal from the same story (the origin of werewolves). In-story it doesn't really benefit anyone but it answers huge questions the readers have had from the beginning. This is like that, but on a much smaller scale.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Sep 30th 2024 at 4:13:26 AM

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
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
#29460: Sep 30th 2024 at 4:28:05 AM

[up] In that case, I'd say the reveal has its place in the story. Especially if there was some foreshadowing beforehand or on the contrary some tantalising tidbits dropped to make the readers wonder what happened in the past.

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#29461: Oct 2nd 2024 at 1:50:43 PM

brainstorming time: what place does the term "Hexenflutch" bring to mind?

Marchen Too hot (Hot damn) from Somewhere Out in Space (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Too hot (Hot damn)
#29462: Oct 2nd 2024 at 1:54:38 PM

[up] Is that a place name? It brings to mind a hypothetical period of time sometime around when it was in to move to America to find your luck, specifically referring to a time when a lot of witches fled the German regions.

Read Otr of the Flame (She/Her)
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#29463: Oct 2nd 2024 at 3:14:14 PM

[up] yes. Specifically for a dungeon (and one associated with a funky cursed mirror at that)

MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#29464: Oct 2nd 2024 at 7:27:04 PM

sorry for the double psot. I'm trying a different tack.

Ahem, I'm looking for ideas for a dungeon claimed to have items that can undo curses. The current concepts are vague but they are

  • A mirror-coated domain: largely because a mirror was recovered from it first
  • A cursed land: because irony
  • A Gingerbread house: Because the story featuring this will take place around the Christmas/new years analog. The kicker here is that it feels too Hansel and Gretel-y and I would like to save it for a different idea.

I'm looking for other ideas besides, the general context is that the protags go there (again for some as several had already visited the place) to try to find tools that would help them free certain people from a curse, it takes place close to the aft-mentoned holiday and Hocus Pocus references and magical girls good and evil will be involved. (leave any Nightmare Before Christmas jokes at the door please)

EDIT: considering a magic crystalline landscape in reference of the game Hocus Pocus as well, but I still appreciate other suggestions.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Oct 2nd 2024 at 7:39:04 AM

Marchen Too hot (Hot damn) from Somewhere Out in Space (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Too hot (Hot damn)
#29465: Oct 3rd 2024 at 3:44:44 AM

[up] When it comes to undoing curses, my first thoughts are of water. You know, rinse off that cursed grime? Could be mixed with most other concepts, like mirror-flat lakes, cursed poisonous waters, or a crystal lake. Drawing on the Ancient Cistern, maybe an ancient holy site made of stone and gold and such, kept clean by the magic of an ancient spring. Perhaps a sewer-like layout made more for the flow of water than human navigation?

Read Otr of the Flame (She/Her)
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#29466: Oct 3rd 2024 at 6:15:20 PM

[up] Ah that would be a good direction. Haven't considered the use of water or sacred ruins here.

I'll look into the Zelda dungeon you mentioned as well.


Now I have to ask what enemies or mobs would befit an crystal decorated waterway like this?

Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#29467: Oct 3rd 2024 at 11:14:53 PM

I have this scifi thriller idea set 15 years after a war where USA was allied with an evil alien faction against a good faction of the same species (motivation: politics, profit, advanced technology, monopoly on space and first contact). USA and the evil aliens won, everybody's stuck on Earth, the good aliens are being hunted down, and USA's propaganda is the world's dominant narrative about what actually happened and what the aliens' war was actually about. The story's actual present day plot is about four kids born after the war, human twins and two young aliens, accidentally stumbling upon loose threads and slowly unraveling the entire deception (and USA's war crimes), which puts their lives in danger.

I was thinking USA's interventionism and proping up dictatorships here would be connected to Cold War ideological proxy wars, which would mean it'd need to start in 1991 at the latest. I thought it'd take place in the present-ish day (2020-2022).

But 1991+8=1999. 1999+8=2007. 2007+8=2015. 2015+8=2023.

That'd propably require four like-minded presidents at minimum. I know more people vote right-wing in a crisis and tend to support the current leaders during wars, but would this be plausible?

In particular, i don't think making the kids, who are supposed to have been born after the war, younger than 14 would be a good idea. They definitely couldn't go anywhere alone...

Edited by Nukeli on Oct 3rd 2024 at 11:15:40 AM

~*bleh*~
Marchen Too hot (Hot damn) from Somewhere Out in Space (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Too hot (Hot damn)
#29468: Oct 4th 2024 at 12:38:04 AM

[up][up] My first thought when it comes to crystal based areas is the Lucent Hollow from Etrian Odyssey V, so I'll draw from the more interesting enemies featured there. There's small walking crystals, bats of various sizes, leeches (could fit well with the water thing), colorful birds, bugs, turtles, and giant worms. The boss of the Lucent Hollow is a crystal dragon, and I'd personally say slimes could fit in nicely. Maybe clear ones as "pure" as the environment, or something.


[up] This one is tricky, not just because it's about US politics (an illegal topic), but because my answer would draw on current US politics (even illegaler!), so, uh... You know, it's kinda interesting what's happening in the world of politics, you know? Not saying anything in particular, but maybe you could look into that? Probably something applicable to somehow keeping a conspiracy in power for 32 years, maybe not from 1991, but maybe some modern day project could help you out?

Read Otr of the Flame (She/Her)
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#29469: Oct 4th 2024 at 2:19:55 AM

How did the vice president inheritance work? I don't think a president dying in office would allow for anything to be prolonged...

~*bleh*~
Marchen Too hot (Hot damn) from Somewhere Out in Space (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Too hot (Hot damn)
#29470: Oct 4th 2024 at 3:24:39 AM

[up] Not sure what that has to do with anything, but the presidential line of succession was last amended in 1947, and it seems the VP was defined as first in line in Article 2 of the constitution. So it would work the same in the nineties as today, unless your government decides that an Alien war is so unusual that it requires amending the constitution to reinforce the presidency or something.

Read Otr of the Flame (She/Her)
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#29471: Oct 4th 2024 at 3:40:46 AM

[up]

I was thinking if a president died during term, could a vice president be in charge longer. Going by Lyndon Johnson's wikipedia page, the answer is no.

~*bleh*~
Marchen Too hot (Hot damn) from Somewhere Out in Space (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Too hot (Hot damn)
#29472: Oct 4th 2024 at 3:51:52 AM

[up] Ah, I see. I'll just try to not name names here, I was more imagining that the right-wing in your story could do stuff like pass laws that passively favored them and disfavored the left-wing, stack the house in their favor, that one thing where they considered giving a president a third term during war time, just a lot of small pieces that together give them an overwhelming advantage that carries them forward for the next 30 years without letting the left-wing have any real power. With the propaganda going on, the general narrative is just that the right-wing used being on the right side of the war to grab power, not that they're actually evil.

Edit: I think there's some European country that's also had conservatives in power for a very long time? UK or France I think?

Edited by Marchen on Oct 4th 2024 at 12:53:49 PM

Read Otr of the Flame (She/Her)
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#29473: Oct 7th 2024 at 9:24:58 AM

Okay have an idea if a phantom swordsman boss fight. Want to ask about possible move sets, weaknesses and mechanics here.

Context: boss inhabits a dungeon of pure crystal and water. He is the coalesques spirits of sinners sealed in an Unholy Holy Sword. The grudges coalesques into an invisible specter that animates the blade and uses it against opponents, implicitly trying to body Jack them.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Oct 7th 2024 at 9:25:28 AM

Marchen Too hot (Hot damn) from Somewhere Out in Space (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Too hot (Hot damn)
#29474: Oct 7th 2024 at 10:23:45 AM

So, first idea; would it be feasible to cut the "implicitly" from that last sentence? I don't know how late or early this fight is meant to be, but this guy could be a pretty straightforward physical attacker with a "remove a party-member from the fight" gimmick. Maybe as a phase-change thing? First half you just fight the thing, but then it takes over a party-member and uses their body to fight. Or maybe it keeps swapping, Ginyu-style?

Alternatively, it could focus on "your party members become hard to control" status effects. Like, every now and then it'll swarm the party with spirits and inflict status effects, or maybe the sword-swings all have a chance to inflict an ailment?

For weaknesses... Like what? I'll suggest it should be vulnerable to status effects that disrupt the cohesion of the spirits, maybe confusion or something like that? Elementally, it seams a pretty clear case for being vulnerable to some sort of "holy" element, like light or something.

Read Otr of the Flame (She/Her)
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#29475: Oct 7th 2024 at 10:45:30 AM

[up] those are some good ideas.

I'm also considering using the "theme" of the dungeon here, which would mean neutralizing magic and water puzzles.


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