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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

RandomChaos No Dragon Power from My own little world Since: Oct, 2011
No Dragon Power
#276: Apr 27th 2011 at 4:33:26 AM

I would say a weak or two. If you want to speed up the proses use lava soap.

With the power of a dragon I can make up for my inability to spill.
TheBorderPrince Just passing by... from my secret base Since: Mar, 2010
Just passing by...
#277: Apr 27th 2011 at 7:55:06 AM

Can someone give me a noaord or two for the European predators? A noaord is a word similar to an euphemism. You say it instead of a 'dangerous' word, like a predator to prevent it from believing you called for it.

An example is the Swedish ulv/wolf which had the noaord varg/warg meaning killer. I need English, Finnish and if possibly Scotish Gaelic examples.

I'm most interested in words for wolf, bear and fox.

edited 27th Apr '11 7:55:41 AM by TheBorderPrince

I reject your reality and substitute my own!!!
Wheezy @TheCSJones on everything else. from West Philadelphia, but not born or raised. (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: How does it feel to treat me like you do?
@TheCSJones on everything else.
#278: Apr 27th 2011 at 11:51:18 AM

The Minor Kidroduction to my story takes place in 2006. The protagonist is 12, and she's watching a fantasy anime on TV when her mother interrupts her and tells her to go outside.

I need some suggestions on which one it could be - I'll probably end up using a Bland-Name Product version, but I still need to know what to base it on.

Also, later in the story, she can be heard singing a song to herself when she's alone. This one's even harder to figure out.

It could be any song, but the criteria are the same.

  • Existed in 2006.
  • Something a 12 year-old Occidental Otaku might reasonably have heard of.
  • Preferably has something to do with escapism.

Also, I'd prefer both not be terrible.

Any suggestions?

edited 27th Apr '11 11:52:01 AM by Wheezy

Novel progress: The Adroan, 110k; Yume no Hime, 98k; The Pigeon Witch, on pause at 40k.
BetsyandtheFiveAvengers Since: Feb, 2011
#279: Apr 27th 2011 at 3:16:09 PM

[up] In 2006, the second season of W.I.T.C.H. was airing...

MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#280: Apr 27th 2011 at 3:18:09 PM

Naruto was airing, which was REALLY huge on CN when it was,...but I don't know if that's what you wanted.

Toonami also had a month of miyazaki that year.

Holy shit, that was in 2006? Damn. I remember that.

The top ten albums in 2006 were:

  • High School Musical
  • Justin Timberlake's Love Sounds
  • Nelly Furtado's Loose
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium
  • Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts
  • P!nk's I'm Not Dead
  • Beyoncé's B'Day
  • The Beatles' Love
  • Daughtry's Daughtry
  • Taylor Swift's Taylor Swift

Sad to say, but I think HSM might have your best uplifting song needed...maybe. tongue

Most of the top songs are pretty...sexsexsex. Heh. Temperature. I remember that song.

wait...

I WAS TWELVE IN 2006.

WHOAH. MIND FUCK.

Well, technically twelve. It was my 13th year...

edited 27th Apr '11 3:32:13 PM by MrAHR

Read my stories!
melloncollie Since: Feb, 2012
#281: Apr 27th 2011 at 6:19:31 PM

^ Whoa, you're younger than me o___O

If you manage to hang a person without breaking their neck, how long does it take before they suffocate? Would they thrash around until they were dead, or stop at some point before?

edited 27th Apr '11 6:20:15 PM by melloncollie

MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#282: Apr 27th 2011 at 6:22:53 PM

Once they are completely gone of oxygen, only a couple of seconds at the most.

How much oxygen they have currently running through their veins prolly varies on the person, but since it won't be able to reach the head, I'd guess it still might be only a couple of seconds.

Especially since your flopping around like a fish and you're being held by your neck.

But this is mostly educated guesswork.

edited 27th Apr '11 6:24:18 PM by MrAHR

Read my stories!
RandomChaos No Dragon Power from My own little world Since: Oct, 2011
No Dragon Power
#283: Apr 27th 2011 at 6:28:48 PM

How many before you have theme naming? I got Ai and Yuri both Japanese love words, for a trainer and her Pokemon. Or do I need to name Her Blastose and Magmar also?

With the power of a dragon I can make up for my inability to spill.
melloncollie Since: Feb, 2012
#284: Apr 27th 2011 at 6:36:20 PM

^^ I do recall a scene in Night where they didn't adjust the rope properly for a kid, and they said something like he took a couple hours to die.

I think. I don't remember that book too well.

But I'm thinking of a grown man, not a kid. A couple seconds seems a bit short, IMO, 'cos the rope probably won't cut off all the blood circulation... if I would guess I would say about a minute? How's that sound?

^ I would say 3+ names to qualify as Theme Naming, but why does it matter?

MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#285: Apr 27th 2011 at 6:37:56 PM

Good point. I was just going off of wikipedia, which said once all the oxygen is gone, you go bye-bye. Guess I misinterpreted.

Read my stories!
Wheezy @TheCSJones on everything else. from West Philadelphia, but not born or raised. (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: How does it feel to treat me like you do?
@TheCSJones on everything else.
#286: Apr 27th 2011 at 7:39:11 PM

I'm going to go with either Spirited Away or Rayearth. How likely is it that the protagonist would have the second on tape/DVD? Keep in mind that she's a pretty big anime fan.

(When we see her five years later, she's heavily implied to have Encyclopedic Knowledge on the genre's tropes and art styles.)

If those don't work out, I'll have her play some JRPG instead.

edited 27th Apr '11 7:42:22 PM by Wheezy

Novel progress: The Adroan, 110k; Yume no Hime, 98k; The Pigeon Witch, on pause at 40k.
melloncollie Since: Feb, 2012
#287: Apr 27th 2011 at 8:31:03 PM

I feel like if she's a big anime fan, it's equally likely that she'll have either.

Hey, if you've got a setting where souls can leave their bodies and come back and stuff, would it make sense to have them transport things through the mouth? Kinda like how the Greeks put coins in dead people's mouths as payment for being ferried across the Styx?

chihuahua0 Since: Jul, 2010
#288: Apr 27th 2011 at 8:32:08 PM

[up] Why not? It's not like there aren't a lot of other openings, some of them worst.

dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#289: Apr 27th 2011 at 9:48:01 PM

Is this character kind of contradictory or a hypocrite?

He thinks that all people have their own problem to deal with and have no time to listen to other's problem. So no matter how much pain or sadness he goes through, he never complains and tries to cover it up.

Yet whenever someone, anyone, asks him for help or tells him about his/her problem, he's a pretty good listener and is more than willing to help them out.

Is there are any person like that in real life?

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
Wheezy @TheCSJones on everything else. from West Philadelphia, but not born or raised. (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: How does it feel to treat me like you do?
@TheCSJones on everything else.
#290: Apr 27th 2011 at 9:56:53 PM

There are a lot of people like that in real life.

See Stoic Woobie.

edited 27th Apr '11 9:57:15 PM by Wheezy

Novel progress: The Adroan, 110k; Yume no Hime, 98k; The Pigeon Witch, on pause at 40k.
dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#291: Apr 27th 2011 at 10:14:08 PM

[up] I see. But how would people, especially people who are very close to him or got his help would think when they ask him why he never tells why he never tell how he feels and refuses getting any help, always responding that everyone is too busy with their own problems to help others, despite expressing a surprising amount of altruism? Would that confuse people?

Another question: one of my characters is a street musician (guitarist) who remembers absolutely nothing except his name, how to play guitar, and several songs, who is motivated only by his need to find something that he doesn't even know what it is. Yet he has a lot of social senses and is the resident Deadpan Snarker. Is that plausible? I don't know how much can amnesia affect brain.

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#292: Apr 28th 2011 at 2:48:11 AM

Wheezy: I GET TO USE MY AGE TO HALP!

By the time that month of miyazaki rolled around, that was about the 2nd or 3rd time I had seen spirited away. She could have easily taped it, at the least. Especially since Month Of Miyazaki was pretty heavily advertized.

d Roy: While I think Wheezy sometimes goes into the hard end of reality, I honestly don't know where you are coming from. The biggest helpers in the world are the ones that ignore their own problems. I mean, we've got people like that on this very site. It's a very common trait.

edited 28th Apr '11 3:07:19 AM by MrAHR

Read my stories!
Wheezy @TheCSJones on everything else. from West Philadelphia, but not born or raised. (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: How does it feel to treat me like you do?
@TheCSJones on everything else.
#293: Apr 28th 2011 at 6:40:11 AM

Thank you for the responses. I know it's pretty likely that she could have Spirited Away, since that was pretty readily available even in stores back then.

Rayearth is (relatively) more obscure, though. That's the one I was confused about.

Novel progress: The Adroan, 110k; Yume no Hime, 98k; The Pigeon Witch, on pause at 40k.
MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#294: Apr 28th 2011 at 7:01:59 AM

Never heard about it, unfortunately. But if she was really introverted, she might take refuge in that sort of thing, so long as she had a previous gateway drug, so to speak.

Those were released in the 90s/early 00s, so I recommend her getting them from one of those bargain book sales around 2006 or so, where they would just be in those huge metal basket thingies, for like a dime.

Or, possibly the anime from it. From what I can tell, it never aired on cable here in the US.

edited 28th Apr '11 7:02:39 AM by MrAHR

Read my stories!
OhSoIntoCats from The Sand Wastes Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#295: Apr 28th 2011 at 9:26:12 PM

Hey, if you were going to kill yourself with pills and liquor, what would be the easiest pills to get?

...Yes, this is for a story, before you ask.

Kaxen Since: Jan, 2010
#296: Apr 29th 2011 at 12:22:05 AM

Is it odd to throw in a one-panel flashback into a comic that hasn't had a flashback in 80-something pages and none in the foreseeable future after that particular one? Well, there were three narrations of the past with drawings by the protagonist, but that's about it and there's not a single thought bubble or anything. It's mainly just a short highlight of Immortality Hurts after being asked about the limitations of immortality and followed by being loathe to reveal it.

dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#297: Apr 29th 2011 at 1:40:51 AM

Wouldn't that depend on his importance of the plot and how you had allocated screen, or in this case, panel times on other characters? I don't know how you've progressed your plot so far so I can't really tell.

My own question: Is there any points in keeping things realistic in an universe operated by Rule of Cool and fueled by Hot Bloodedness? One of the characters can punch people through buildings, dodge bullets point blank, and turn an entire blocks of buildings into Storm of Blades and such...yet when it comes to military combats, medicines, mythology, and psychology, I'm doing as much research as I can so their application would look as realistic as possible.

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
Dealan Since: Feb, 2010
#298: Apr 29th 2011 at 2:17:07 AM

I guess it depends on your audience and the tone of your story, but I'd say yes. Supernatural powers are not a good enough excuse to mess everything up for me.

But if your story is mostly comedic, you could play it for laughs.

dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#299: Apr 29th 2011 at 2:41:35 AM

I guess the audience is anyone over 15. I'm aiming the work toward to, in terms of Manga/Anime terminology, dark shonen. It's not a Seinen, but very dark and often Cruel and Unusual Death extremely]] violent, bloody, and terrifying.

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
Dealan Since: Feb, 2010
#300: Apr 29th 2011 at 2:55:12 AM

In that case, it's a certain yes. It'd be frustrating to see such incompetence in a story like this.

My own question: An otherwise normal human's body absorbs electromagnetic waves of all frequencies on touch. Assuming that he spends all his life in a laboratory, possibly underground, and is constantly treated with whatever medicine might help him, how long could he survive that way?

This most probably started happening during his early adulthood, but how different would it be for a newborn baby to survive under the same circumstances?


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