Random Questions Thread

What powers/abilities could a snake-themed superhuman/druid have?

Going off the top of my head: Venom abilities, infrared vision, and a Healing Factor to various degrees.

If they have SHAPESHIFTING abilities, too, that would depend on the size and type of the snake.

I think I saw that one before. Thanks though.

Some spells or flexible limbs that aid in strangulation would be a neat twist, too. Or illusions that fake a rattling sound to unnerve people.

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on May 14th 2019 at 1:40:12 PM

How can i have a spider-themed & a powersuited superheroes without them looking like Spider-man or iron man rip-offs?

Well, first of all, Drider(Spider centaur) lower half body instead of spider legs from the back, the spider body can be the power suit part.

Second, the web come out of the back side instead of hands.

Edited by Andermann on May 15th 2019 at 5:30:31 PM

I might suggest swapping out powers a bit. For example, the spider-themed super might not have webbing or wall-crawling, but might have venom and a prodigious leap. The power-suited hero might not fly, and might not carry much by way of weapons-systems, but instead take a more investigative approach, using computerised detection and analysis.

They're two separate characters, not a single one

That's even easier then, if you just want to avoid likeness of spider man and iron man, you can start out by making the spider guy actually more spidery, eight limps, lots of eyes, venom, and actual functioning web.

As for the power suit guy you can go full Fallout, with jetpack, normal guns, military HUD, basically just a power armor or something.

Is anyone interested in another writing contest? It's been (over) about a year. I'm about to send PM's to people who showed interest in the previous one.

I'm thinking of utilizing TV Tropes's database of tropes for a theme. Like something from the Tropes of Legend. Like "Deal with the Devil" or "Red Shirts meet up in an Afterlife Antechamber." Or even something like "Unwitting Muggle Friend discovers their friend has superpowers." I think different themes will generate different interest, but there's time to plan, I figure.

I wonder if ~Millership or ~Aw Sam Weston have any plans or ideas...?

Edited by WaterBlap on May 16th 2019 at 10:13:11 AM

I'm in.

Need writing practice, so I'm for any kind of writing contest with any kind of theme with all my limbs. Can't be submission handler this time, though: have enough free time for writing for a contest, but not enough for running it.

Would someone mind answering this? I just want to know if the term I'm using works.

I've been reading SoYouWantTo.Write A Time Travel Story on here, and it's useful for my characters (only eight characters), but have come up against one problem:

• Year Inside, Hour Outside: Time runs faster wherever they visit.
• Year Outside, Hour Inside: Time runs slower wherever they visit.

I'm trying to work out how to use this sort of thing for comedy, but what's a good way to get this used for comic effect in a work? (my work is Lighter and Softer).

My story is a slightly fun one about the characters trying to get things from the past and have fun seeing things as they were back then and not wanting The Theme Park Version.

It's a one-shot story, as such.

I'm not really seeing any potential issues with that sort of term.

The obvious comedic uses I'm seeing would entail using Year Inside, Hour Outside to go on a vacation whenever you want and not have to actually miss work, or simply drink with one's buddies all night without having to lose a night of sleep, and using Year Outside, Hour Inside to skip jury duty, some irritating meeting at work, or something of the like. Year Outside, Hour Inside can more easily cause actual problems in one's life.

Edited by CrystalGlacia on May 21st 2019 at 12:23:28 PM

Another question: what's a good, quick way to show that a character is not taken seriously by their colleagues? (And it's obvious enough for them to know this.)

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on May 17th 2019 at 8:54:57 PM

Basically have them brush off anything he say and act like he is constantly getting in their way, but politely, they are colleagues after all.

Have them act politely around him, but then depict them forgetting something important he told them about himself, like his proudest achievement.

I'm writing a superhero origin story and I want an originality test to ensure I didn't ripoff any existing superhero.

A 13 year old girl wakes up one night to find a shooting star. She heads to the woods to discover a dying, armored Human Alien who recently crash-landed after fleeing from an aggressor from space.

The Human Alien is a galactic peacekeeper who grants the girl with a bracelet which is a great alien weapon capable of imparting cosmic power, superhuman abilities and generate a combat suit for herself. He wants the girl to keep the bracelet from aggressors from space who intend to use the energies for nefarious purposes

The Human Alien dies, entrusting the girl with the bracelet. Hunted by alien aggressors, the girl must strive to protect humanity, her family and the bracelet from the alien aggressors.

Does the premise sound original?

It's basically Green Lantern.

@kkhohoho: Basically, the character is different than Green Lantern. The bracelet she wears grants superhuman strength, speed, intelligence, perception and endurance, imparts her plasma-based powers, flight, accelerated regeneration and passive resistance, and a combat suit that protects the user. The bracelet cannot be removed from her wrist to prevent her enemies from removing it.

Except you didn't ask about her powers. You asked about her origins. And in terms of origins, they're mostly the same. An alien from a group of galactic peacekeepers crashlands on Earth and bequeaths a device of great power to an Earth-person with their dying breath. Seems pretty similar to me.

And the plot about aliens trying to take the bracelet from her are reminiscent of Ben 10.

By the way, the fact that the premise is close to another one is not a problem in itself, it depends on the execution. But if your main concern is the originality, then I'd suggest you tweak a few details from what you described.

If a character has healing factor or is nigh immortal, how long do you think before their friends will go from "Oh my god are you ok?" to "Eh, he will be fine."

Because I imagine if they are friends, they will still show some degrees of concern, undying or not. And it's not always certain that whether they can come back from this one or not.

Edited by Andermann on May 20th 2019 at 8:55:51 PM

I'd say it depends on how often they witness the character cheat death, and how it happens. If they routinely see him/her getting mowed down, only to go back on their feet after a few minutes, they will probably switch to the "hey, took you long enough" mindset after witnessing a dozen resurrections, or maybe less. If on the other hand, the character takes some time to recover while remaining touch and go for a while, and that these "deaths" are relatively infrequent (every 6 months or so), their friends may never stop worrying about him/her.

It is a lot easier to critique than it is to create. Still, I wonder if you are still creating something if you are a reviewer or a critic? And I know I asked this before but what if someone challenges to make something of your own you are not a writer or artist?