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edited 11th Apr '18 6:31:51 PM by dRoy
That's way too broad a question. To an extent, it depends on what kind of mystery you are writing. Off the top of my head, I can think of examples that range all the way from those that insist the reader could have solved the mystery with the clues provided in the text, all the way to detectives who solve mysteries based on their intuition. Your protagonist could suspect foul play for almost any reason you care to give her: it should actually depend more on her character than on any element in the plot. What kind of person is she?
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.Sure, depending on culture. The "with superpowers" thing has me pause for a moment and wonder if there's a random chance for everyone to have superpowers or if it's something unique to the aristocracy, but whatever.
There are examples throughout history of noblesse oblige and similar traditions causing aristocratic youth to take up military service. In some cases this is a sinecure and in others it's deadly serious. So in short, it is highly plausible.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Some say aristocracy originated from martial leadership of ancient societies. So, serving in the army could also be part of tradition.
Edited by Millership on May 5th 2020 at 8:37:40 PM
Spiral out, keep going.I'm pretty sure hanged is only for people who got executed that way. I'm not a native speaker though so I may be wrong, but I have seen an explanation of the difference of this in a Terry Pratchett book.
Edited by C105 on May 6th 2020 at 10:10:15 AM
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.That is correct. "Hanged" is a unique tense specifically referring to the act of hanging by the neck until dead.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I'm designing another supervillain. Her backstory is intentionally unrevealed and she has a plague doctor theme. I was originally going to name her "Butcherbird" but i didn't really like it and it was also the name of a bird genus, and i'm trying to not to give my characters one-word names of actual things. Suggestions?
Edited by Nukeli on May 8th 2020 at 5:14:51 PM
~*bleh*~I gots an oddly specific question: you know auction houses? When they hold an auction, do they keep all the stuff that's being bid on in a storehouse out back or something, or do they keep it in a completely different building and transport it to the auction house on the day of the auction? Furthermore, if they do keep it on the premises, would they have some kind of secure 'vault' or would it just be a regular-arse room?
I ask because I'm plotting a thing which involves a two-person team pulling an impromptu Caper on a high-end auction house - like a fictional version of Sotheby's, say - and they're on a strict schedule, because they only have a couple days at most before the MacGuffin they're after is sold off and taken to who-knows-where.
Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on May 8th 2020 at 6:08:45 PM
Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!![]()
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Perhaps something like "Gorecrow"? (It is, I think, more or less an old name applied to crows, but I don't think that it's current at least.)
So, like in Superman? Abject terror and eventual worship. I assume that "cannot stop" includes tanks, cruise missiles, nuclear weapons, etc. If none of that kills them, then they fit the definition of a Physical God for all intents and purposes.
Edited by Fighteer on May 11th 2020 at 10:16:13 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Basically, the world is inhabited by evil versions of superheroes, ranging from Physical Gods to Badass Normals, who rule Earth by terrorizing and tyrannizing humanity with their powers since their first emergence.
Think medieval society mindset, where the common folks believed the King was of divine right. There would probably be cults centred on the supervillains, sycophants trying to sell out the dissidents (which would most often simply be innocent people they are jealous of or want to take revenge from), the governments, or what's left of them, would mainly be puppet ones trying to cater every whims of the villains, and there probably would be some kind of resistance, but it would most likely take the form of trying to find a place free from the villains' rule.
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.
x6 Thanks for answering earlier, I've made a lot of progress since then.
I have another crime-related question; I'm struggling to wrap my head around how money laundering works. I know the basic idea of laundering money is to disguise the source of ill-gotten funds, and one way of doing this is to use a front corporation or a middle-man to convert the funds into financial assets, which can include high-value items or investments. There's one character I'm writing, a wealthy businessperson with connections to organized criminals, whose chief involvement in their activities is taking their money and investing in a number of legitimate businesses they own. The thing that's confusing me is how the original criminals get their money back after it's been cleaned - do they take it off the profits of their partner's investment, in exchange for said partner getting a cut of the action? That feels like it could be risky, if for whatever reason the money is wasted. I feel like I'm missing a step here. :V
Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!They take it off the profits of their partner's investment. A drug baron may launder money through restaurants, earning the money from the restaurants but paying the restaurants' expenses from drug money. This way drug money becomes clean money.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanThere are several ways to do it, depending on how effective law enforcement is. There has to be some degree of connivance or at least incompetence by the law, or money laundering can't work. One way this can work is when the restaurant hires some of the gangs thugs as "employees", who only show up to collect their money. A more sophisticated way: The leader of the gang registers a "delivery service" as a business, then the restaurant hires the delivery service to deliver, and pays them (except nothing is ever delivered, and the delivery service actually owns no vehicles or hires any drivers). Even more sophisticated: the gang registers a public corporation for doing anything and offers shares for purchase—the only shareholder is the restaurant (and other cooperative businesses)—the public corporation does nothing and never pays out any dividends, it only accepts money for newly issued "shares". I'm sure you can come up with some ideas of your own.
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.I've been reading up on wendigos for a Gravity Falls fanfic, and I found that one of their weaknesses is silver. This got me thinking. Why is silver such a universal kryptonite to creatures of the night? Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and now wendigos. If anyone could help me understand the origins of people believing silver to have amazing monster-slaying properties, I'd much appreciate it.
Semi-related, how long would paint take to dry on a wooden surface in the middle of Winter? I ask because I'm thinking of having Dipper coat a cabin in the forest with silver paint to deter the wendigos.
RIP KissAnime.

The protagonist is a friend of the cook, and knows they should not make that kind of mistake?
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.