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edited 11th Apr '18 6:31:51 PM by dRoy
Again on the "trying not to make my main character look like a psychopath" train.
During Part 2 of my story, my main character is able to once again use a small "burst" of his true powers in a dire situation, and he uses this to save his childhood-friend-turned-girlfriend from fatal injuries at the hands of a skilled werewolf hunter.
The problem is that he has no idea what he's doing and so he essentially causes massive collateral damage to everything and everyone around the two of them. The building they are in is obliterated and well over twenty people are killed. Now, a lot of these are vampires and their armed and trained human servants. But others were just human staff doing their jobs and not threatening either of these two teenagers at all.
Here is where my question comes in. My main character is shocked and confused at what he's done-especially as he sees the sea of Meat Moss he brought into existence during the healing-but he doesn't show any remorse or even really acknowledgement of the people who were crushed, suffocated or just burned alive by his actions. His only concern is if his friend/girlfriend is okay.
This isn't even close to the Slowly Slipping Into Evil part of the story yet, so I wonder if I should at least give him some pause or even horror at all of those lives snuffed out in an instant. I don't intend for him to come off as uncaring about it as much as he's just in severe shock and is laser-focused on a single goal.
Edited by Swordofknowledge on Jul 21st 2025 at 7:57:52 AM
Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar WalllaceWarning for (mild) mention of death and decay in this question.
Given a fairly middling environment—neither jungle nor desert; neither icy nor hot; and with no extremes of weather, just middling rainfall, etc.—and presuming no animal or human damage/removal, for how long would human bones last if exposed to the elements? Broadly speaking, of course.
My Games and Asset PacksWell, it depends on what you mean by "last". I'm not being nitpicky, it's just that I have two answers to this question and both of them depend on exactly what "lasting" in these conditions means.
Anyway...
I would say that without animals or humans to carry them away or any significant weather to destroy or scatter them, the bones would likely remain for around ten years, perhaps more. Here is where my question about what exactly "last" means comes into play.
Even without any real outside interference or weather phenomenon, the bones are unlikely to stay visible to anyone who comes across them, and they definitely are unlikely to remain above ground. I have personally witnessed this in my literal backyard that highly durable objects left to sit on the ground will slowly but steadily be "absorbed" into the ground. It happens slowly over the course of years, but the dirt shifts and gradually covers them until a layer covers whatever is sitting on it. Even if that doesn't happen, plants are likely to grow up around the bones and hide them from sight.
Of course this is all predicated on the idea that the bones are sitting on dirt or some other earthen material. If they are on stone (especially if sheltered from the elements and animals) then I would argue that they could sit there indefinitely. Perhaps decades, maybe even a hundred years or more. They would deteriorate somewhat through the natural process of decay as the bones dry out and become brittle and fragile, but that is all.
Does anyone have any thoughts on my question ![]()
Well, I think maybe if you make it clear he's in deep shock? Not sure how that'd work, but I'm sure there are ways you could convey it so that the audience understands he's in a state of shock and needs to focus on one specific thing. Probably a pretty shaky scenario either way though and if nothing else is indicative of his priorities.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
@ War Jay 77:
Sorry I didn't see this. Playing up his shock is definitely a good idea. I suppose people would be more likely to excuse his complete lack of care for the people he killed if I presented it as him being barely able to hold on and just clinging by a thread.
I will say that this is intentional; enforcing a very rigid "barrier" between his loved ones and other people is a defining trait of his character. It just becomes more and more obvious and sinister the worse his circumstances get, so that would definitely be something I'd want the readers to pick up. Just...not view him as evil for ignoring all the collateral, at least right now.
Edited by Swordofknowledge on Jul 22nd 2025 at 6:14:25 AM
Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace![]()
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Aah, thank you for the thoughtful answer!
Hmm, okay, at the least my worst fears are allayed! I was worried that the bones wouldn't last even that long.
(And thinking further, I may not have the time-constraints that I originally thought:
I previously thought that I might need centuries to have passed—long enough for a place to change beyond recognition. But as some fairly severe Ghost Amnesia is involved, that shouldn't actually be an issue.
And I had thought that I might need centuries for the place to have become as hostile as it is at the time of the story—but I realise now that much of that feature comes from some potentially-acute sources. So a long time isn't necessary there, either!
Still, I want long enough that people are by-and-large staying clear, and it seems like that should be viable! ^_^)
My Games and Asset Packswhat would be appropriate attire or theme for a farmer girl turned Magical Girl? Context:
- minotaur girl
- Her backstory is that she traveled to a nearby city to seek help in protecting her family's farm from the equivalent of the Dust Bowl. But she ende dup close to some of the city slickers, one of whom was a younger girl who recently vanished.
- Friend of among others, an Alice Allusion character.
- supposed to be klutzy. And her name and title is supposed to be a play on Calamity Jane
The initial idea was a cowgirl (as implied by point four) but I'm saving that for a separate character (the missing child mentioned previously) the lingering idea
Regular attire or magical girl uniform? Also, any teammates for her to coordinate with?
magical outfit (basic one is overalls and an undershirt)
as for teammates (all magical kids BTW)
- the aforementioned Alice Allusion girl (also has a stage magician theme. A prior query was specifically about her)
- An expy of Oliver Twist with water powers
- two circadia themed sisters (who are the protagonists, and fight with a constellation themed tarot deck each)
- pig-eared musicianess with a trumpet and Cute Witch getup.
the reason I ask my question is because I drew a blank on what her MG appearance is as I recently(?) decided on her being a Secret-Keeper aware of the whole magical girl thing who had just contracted.
Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jul 22nd 2025 at 6:24:16 AM
x4 @ Morning Star 1337:
I'm not entirely sure about the attire but I can imagine the powers would have something to do with fertility/plant growth, especially if you consider the dust bowl aspect of things. She could perhaps cause plants to rapidly grow and even change, manipulating their innate aspects for attack and defense. Pollen that clouds the vision of enemies or triggers disabling allergic reactions, vines that can immobilize enemies or form barriers and walls to protect herself and her comrades. She could even create thorns to use as a replenishable source of swords for her to use.
I'm assuming this story is either connected to or inspired by Puella Magika Madoka (or however it is said) due to the phrasing around "contracted" and the overall feel. But I may be wrong, so feel free to disregard this observation if that's true.
Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
inspired by in that case (though even without that, the "contract" term is also a result of lack of other terminology)
And yeah, plant life is a good theme. Maybe something Demeter esque (she did end up with a thing that would let her use ice magic before hand and winter was claimed to be because of the nature goddess secluding herself in mourning over the whole Persephone deal)
(Also might prefer leaning on the ice for pragmatic reasons. I already have an earth aspected minotaur magical girl in another story in the same verse. So having Jane here be using earth magic primarily would feel derivative. That said the plant focus could help distinguish the two better)
Re: matador costume. Not sure if that fits. She's a farmhand/homesteader type not a bullfighter. Speaking of which while cowboys aren't that much better, aren't bullfights considered a controversial practice?
Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jul 23rd 2025 at 6:38:19 AM
Ah, I thought so.
So, I have some thoughts about this if you're interested—if you want to really keep the farm aspect while also exploring the "darker" side of things, the following might work: have her manifest the plantlife and fertility aspects I mentioned but also have her embrace the harshness of farm life. She can induce mass sickness and disease in hordes of enemies. She can manifest hordes of biting flies or plant-devouring locusts that consume all flesh and plant matter in their path before disappearing at her command.
She can create an "area effect" zone where any wound incurred within her radius—no matter how slight—becomes a festering infected sore that will lead to full body infected if the person does not leave the area soon. Finally, her most powerful attack can create a massive dust storm that can siphon the moisture from all flesh around her, killing enemies and allies alike if they do not avoid it (obviously this is a last resort ability).
One of my parents grew up on a farm and I've grown up with many stories of the good things and absolutely horrific things and events that can happen to animals and people on farms and I tried to translate some of that into powers for this character, with the final dust storm thing being a Shout-Out to the situation that led her to become a magical girl.
Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
hm, that would work. The ice thing already means I was toying with an ironic powerset. (And it would give the calamity title more teeth instead of it being just a joke in a historical figure and her clumsiness)
Though the last point wouldn't work in practice beyond a very broad sense, as the situation in question didn't involve her reason for traveling to the city, but instead a conflict with a psionic "Bill Sikes" type.
Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jul 23rd 2025 at 6:44:57 AM
I'm glad that helped! Winter/ice powers do work for a "darker side" of fertility/plant powers in general, but I wanted to really lean into the farm theme if that was what you were going for.
About the last point, that was somewhat my mistake; I just saw "magical girl contract" and "dust bowl" and assumed a Kyubey-type character taking advantage of a girl's desperation in the midst of a dust bowl scenario, so wanted to factor that into her powers.
This is a question about the viability of a certain "battle strategy" (for lack of a better word).
Would a blind person—especially a person who has been recently blinded—be able to fight if a partner plants images of their surroundings directly into the blind person's mind?
To kind of explain because I know that's incredibly convoluted—in Part 2 of my story two of my protagonists are fighting against a mercenary who is an extremely skilled werewolf hunter. The hunter manages to rapidly outmaneuver the werewolf protagonist and blind her, which of course causes both heroes to panic.
However, due to the two teenagers being Mindlink Mates the main character is able to rapidly "spam" images of their surroundings into her mind on an almost moment-to-moment basis. It is enough to let her fend off his silver blades and bullets long enough to survive the fight.
I should note that the character attacking them is an incredibly sadistic Egomaniac Hunter who is amused at the novelty of what the two teens are doing and so he lets them work out the "kinks in the system" before he goes in for the kill. But I just want to know if it would work or not. I mean obviously it wouldn't work in reality but I wanted to know if it could even be plausible in a fictional setting.
Edited by Swordofknowledge on Jul 23rd 2025 at 10:55:43 AM
Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
@ Trainbarrel:
That is a good point, although I always thought of a superhuman sense of smell as a somewhat "passive" power. In the sense that it would be excellent from tracking or noticing the presence of an enemy or objective but not particularly helpful in the heat of battle.
So while her sense of smell is extremely good and still intact, the lack of sight would make it impossible to predict the hunter's movements moment-to-moment without some kind of assistance.
At least, that is my way of thinking.
Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar WalllaceOkay so there is one bit of context I want to divulge here re: rot and ice themed powers.
The antagonists here include well intentioned extremists magical girls but more to the point, a puritan coded group (of folk that aren't magical girls or buys tbh) who are on the precipice of the equivalent of the Salem Witch Trials. The enchanted farmhand isn't supposed to be the one that set them off, but her becoming a magical girl would coincide with the spark and she would likely be seen as one of the courses as citizens sight her in action.
I was wondering if that means the rot and frost powers would be a factor in her perception and the paranoia that leads into the witch hunts?
Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jul 23rd 2025 at 11:58:16 AM
Well, rampant and unexplained decay of crops, diseases of animals, winters that last longer than they should, etc have been a sign that evil spirits and/or witches are stalking a community since ancient times. I would imagine that her powers would definitely kickstart (or at least give even more fervor to) such a group of people, especially if they are modeled after Puritans. Heck, depending on how much control she has over these powers, I could imagine that accidentally inflicting a localized famine would immediately mark her as an agent of evil who must be destroyed.
Sorry for asking, but do you have any thoughts on the question I asked?
Edited by Swordofknowledge on Jul 23rd 2025 at 3:23:37 PM
Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace
Thanks. It's definitely an ally showing the blinded combatant images of their surroundings through the psychic link. It is a little weird, but it's intended to be an act of abject desperation, and it doesn't last long anyway.
I'm writing an in-universe magazine article detailing a particularly messy and lengthy legal dispute over the ownership of rights for a franchise video game between two companies. It's a sad and sordid tale involving shady business practices in order to keep the rights to a IP they did not create.
The basic overview is that Company A licensed out a video game to Company B for localization and release in a specific country. However, slighted by Company A's restrictions and the desire for Company B to make more money, Company B uses a multitude of dubious and unethical business methods to weasel out profits and weaken Company A's claim to the game.
This results in a lawsuit by Company A. Company A and B argue over court who owns the rights to the game. Company A uses multiple legal shenanigans and their business methods to convince the court to hand over the rights to the game despite how shaky it was. The end result is that the game is extremely rare and is owned by Company A.
What magazine article should I model this story upon? Any thoughts and suggestions on the concept?
Company A pretty unambiguously has the legal rights for the original, but B could conceivably have rights to the localization if they altered the product hard enough and the contract was very poorly written, which I don't imagine it would be, like it would have to be "no lawyers were involved" badly written. In practice, there isn't really a way to snipe the game's distribution rights completely from A as company B unless A sells the distribution rights directly.
Part of the problem here is that business practices can't be shady (in the sense of obscured from view) for business disputes, the information will generally be a matter of public record. IP law is extremely strong in most of the world too, which makes it even harder.
There isn't really a way for B to get a credible claim on anything here, so I'm not clear why they thought they had a chance to snipe the distribution from a game that is owned by A so definitively. Eroding IP ownership is essentially impossible (which is one of the reasons IP law is so broken and damaging today, because it's very difficult to contest IP ownership with any reliability, and it lasts effectively forever)
Okay still need help with the clothing, but I'm gonna take a different angle here.
Ahem. What would a magical girl or Witch Classic type would wear to symbolize her having powers over decay, pestilence, frost and things that would generally threaten crops?
Alternatively what would be ironic garb for such a character?

(I am actually saving the Jabberwock for something. Either a last resort, or a corrupted version of the Alice-like character)
Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jul 20th 2025 at 12:18:27 PM