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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.

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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

edgewalker22 Lawful neutral Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Lawful neutral
#8276: Sep 27th 2013 at 1:44:15 AM

Well, there's a couple ways you could go about it- depending on what he destroys the McGuffin for, she could change her mind ("he valued such-and-such more than me") or just make things better ("he was willing to give up what he wanted for big exalted good-ish thingy!") Also, there's a difference between lacking power and being trapped by it: royal marriages were typically matters of politics rather than affection, and a princess's hand is extremely valuable. She'll know this, and it might be a tearful "I love you, but I can't marry you. I need to put the good of the realm above what I want, just like you did." (Of course, that rather risks a "Shaggy Dog" Story, so maybe not the best advice.)

Also: pet peeve: if you don't have any plausible claim to a throne yourself, marrying a princess should not make you king, at least not in a place where a woman can hold the monarchy in her own right. If he marries her, he should become the royal consort- the Albert to her Victoria. Alternatively-alternatively, you could make that the ending- his destruction of the McGuffin means that the king refuses to name him as successor, but the princess has taken a shine to him and marries him of her own accord. So while he doesn't get to be king, he does get to be prince consort, and one of his kids will be the next monarch. You could do worse as a consolation prize.

edited 27th Sep '13 2:13:16 AM by edgewalker22

Kesar Since: Jan, 2013 Relationship Status: Hoping Senpai notices me
#8277: Sep 28th 2013 at 4:29:21 AM

@KSPAM: Try eggs Benedict. Or you could completely subvert it and show your character eating fruit loops :D

What logical reasons are there for a character being crowned king at the age of eleven, without the relevant authorities appointing regents?

edited 28th Sep '13 4:29:34 AM by Kesar

"Suddenly, as he was listening, the ceiling fell in on his head."
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#8278: Sep 28th 2013 at 4:44:40 AM

A deep distrust of regents due to previous bad experiences would be my first thought.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
ArsThaumaturgis Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
#8279: Sep 28th 2013 at 4:50:38 AM

I might also see it happening if the kingdom in question had extremely strict laws regarding rulership and lacked a precedent for so young a king: the laws insist that they crown the successor immediately, and that [i]only[/i] the successor may rule; decisions issued by anyone else attempting to use the authority of the throne are not considered valid.

My Games and Asset Packs
MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#8280: Sep 28th 2013 at 8:24:26 AM

Kesar: A strong belief in divine right?

Read my stories!
Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#8281: Sep 28th 2013 at 8:27:03 AM

How about "there are no relevant authorities"?

In most cases, in Real Life, a regent wasn't appointed by any one particular, consistent set of people. He/She was agreed to (grudgingly, enthusiastically, happily, with great misgivings, or otherwise) by a group made up of "everybody who thought that they had sufficient power/pull/influence/right to have their way."

edited 28th Sep '13 8:30:38 AM by Madrugada

cityofmist turning and turning from Meanwhile City Since: Dec, 2010
turning and turning
#8282: Sep 28th 2013 at 9:16:23 AM

What if the main candidate for power-behind-the-throne was a woman, and it wasn't possible to have a woman as regent? I'm picturing someone like the young king's mother wanting to be regent but not being able to, so instead ensuring that no one else gets the job and the king just rules directly and hoping that she'll be able to influence him.

Scepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom. - Clarence Darrow
alethiophile Shadowed Philosopher from Ëa Since: Nov, 2009
Shadowed Philosopher
#8283: Sep 28th 2013 at 12:25:22 PM

Alternatively, if the king himself is precocious and has the plausible ability to do it (loyalty of the army, or some such), he could just refuse to have any authority supplant his own. Of course, this implies some things about the king's character which may or may not work in context.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)
HallowHawk Since: Feb, 2013
#8284: Sep 28th 2013 at 1:06:36 PM

One question about applying for military academies, especially the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York: Can you apply after graduating from high school?

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#8285: Sep 28th 2013 at 1:12:58 PM

Aye, it seems.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Kesar Since: Jan, 2013 Relationship Status: Hoping Senpai notices me
#8286: Sep 28th 2013 at 1:18:42 PM

I'd use a lack of precedence, but that's already a factor later in the story, and I don't want to overuse it. A distrust of regents could do it, along with natural inclination- I could see the character being told 'we're going to make you King, behave yourself now', promising very solemnly to behave himself, and then ignoring his advisers and doing whatever he wanted. (And getting away with it for a good while, because he's an Adorably Precocious Child and his people love him.)

"Suddenly, as he was listening, the ceiling fell in on his head."
HallowHawk Since: Feb, 2013
#8287: Sep 28th 2013 at 2:04:57 PM

[up][up] Thanks, but what about those living in other states, like New York State?

Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#8288: Sep 28th 2013 at 2:37:20 PM

If you're talking about the US Service Academies — (West Point (Army), Annapolis (Navy), The Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs), King's Point (Merchant Marine) and The Coast Guard Academy (New London) — they're national. The entrance requirements are the same no matter what state you live in: You must be nominated for attendance by a member of the US Congress for all of them but the Coast Guard Academy, and you're expected to go right out of high school.

If you're talking about private military academies, entrance requirements are going to be as varied as the school.

Flanker66 Dreams of Revenge from 30,000 feet and climbing Since: Nov, 2009 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Dreams of Revenge
#8289: Sep 28th 2013 at 3:16:58 PM

Late, but I'm going to answer anyway!

A question of my own: how do soldiers, SWAT teams, et cetra keep from getting stunned by their own flashbangs?

Soldiers don't generally use flashbangs, if memory serves. They're far more likely to be equipped with fragmentation/smoke grenades. So "eating"*

the flashbang isn't much of a concern for them.

Secondly, as Night said earlier, they'll generally lob them in through gaps in doors or windows and then face away from the opening to lessen the chance of getting affected. They will, however, generally aim to get into the room as soon as the grenade detonates in order to maximise surprise and get the target(s) while they're still overwhelmed by it.

Don't quote me on this, but I think*

that they also get exposed to flashbangs in order to inoculate themselves against its effects, which allows them to enter and clear a room even more quickly. They aren't going to be 100% immune*, but they will cope much better.

Whew. Hope that helps!

Locking you up on radar since '09
PsychoFreaX Card-Carrying Villain >:D from Transcended Humanity Since: Jan, 2010
#8290: Sep 29th 2013 at 9:18:37 AM

Hi got a physics question. How well does smoke conduct electricity as opposed to air and why? I know there can be different kinds of smoke, but how about ones just burned from air? Smoke can contain different properties depending on what it was burned from, so would it be possible to make less conductive smoke if it was burned from certain materials? Such as the wood of a type of tree. Even then how conductive would it be?

Sorry this is a lot of question I know. -_-

Help?.. please...
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#8291: Sep 29th 2013 at 9:22:35 AM

I've found this on electrical conductance. I can't check much more right now.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
m8e from Sweden Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Wanna dance with somebody
#8292: Sep 29th 2013 at 9:53:10 AM

Burning wood and other stuff that contain hydrogen also releases water and give a more humid smoke. So smoke from wood would probably be more conductive than smoke from (char)coal.

edited 29th Sep '13 9:55:03 AM by m8e

SabresEdge Show an affirming flame from a defense-in-depth Since: Oct, 2010
Show an affirming flame
#8293: Sep 29th 2013 at 12:04:12 PM

So far as I can tell, smoke is no more conductive than dusty or humid air—so if in a given circumstance arcing can form between two objects insulated by air, then it will also form in smoky air, and vice versa. Looking at the article and what it cites, the main thing about smoke is that the soot deposited can have adverse effects upon electronics.

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
PsychoFreaX Card-Carrying Villain >:D from Transcended Humanity Since: Jan, 2010
#8294: Sep 29th 2013 at 3:22:51 PM

Well air is relatively conductive, albeit not that much. Which is why it takes really high voltage for electricity to travel through it.

EDIT: Sorry, I think i get it now. But I'm guessing that humid air is more conductive and dusty, less. Would that be wrong?

edited 29th Sep '13 3:37:51 PM by PsychoFreaX

Help?.. please...
SabresEdge Show an affirming flame from a defense-in-depth Since: Oct, 2010
Show an affirming flame
#8295: Sep 29th 2013 at 4:18:22 PM

Actually, as materials go, air is very insulative. Lightning strikes require monster amounts of voltage.

The question isn't the dryness of the air. It's the amount of stuff that floating in it. So clear air would theoretically be less conductive than humid/dusty air. Practically, however, the difference is miniscule, since even very dusty or very humid air doesn't hold enough particulate to make a real difference.

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
PsychoFreaX Card-Carrying Villain >:D from Transcended Humanity Since: Jan, 2010
#8296: Sep 30th 2013 at 4:20:29 AM

Hmm, I read somewhere that air doesn't conduct well because it's a gas and the particles are more spread out. But then there are solid materials such as Teflon that is even more resistive than air. So would air be more resistive than every kind of smoke?

Help?.. please...
nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#8297: Sep 30th 2013 at 12:13:57 PM

Does anyone know of a useful generator for internally-and-scientifically consistent exoplanet data? Googling "planet generator" just turns up map and image-making sites, while I'm looking more for things like size, year and day length, temperature, and so forth.

SPDUDE48 Michael G. Since: Apr, 2011
Michael G.
#8298: Sep 30th 2013 at 4:40:12 PM

What do you think are the essential elements that make up a witch?

Feel free to visit my yokai blog.
alethiophile Shadowed Philosopher from Ëa Since: Nov, 2009
Shadowed Philosopher
#8299: Sep 30th 2013 at 5:33:42 PM

CHONP, if they're at all like the rest of us.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)
SPDUDE48 Michael G. Since: Apr, 2011
Michael G.
#8300: Sep 30th 2013 at 5:36:41 PM

CHONP?

Feel free to visit my yokai blog.

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