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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

C105 Too old for this from France Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Too old for this
#16951: May 4th 2020 at 9:28:40 AM

[up] 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!.
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#16952: May 4th 2020 at 11:14:20 AM

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.
Maslovar_Tiatov Since: Jun, 2019
#16953: May 5th 2020 at 5:59:25 AM

It is plausible that in a Space Opera setting people from local aristocracy with superpowers has a duty to serve in the army for some time?

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#16954: May 5th 2020 at 6:03:43 AM

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!"
Millership from Kazakhstan Since: Jan, 2014
#16955: May 5th 2020 at 7:37:29 AM

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.
Maslovar_Tiatov Since: Jun, 2019
#16956: May 5th 2020 at 2:01:54 PM

[up][up]Superpowers can happen at random, but mostly held within noble families, being passed down genetically.

Anyway,thanks to all who answered.

DelphineTheDelphox I thought sharks were my friends. from The Alola Region Since: Jul, 2019 Relationship Status: Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I thought sharks were my friends.
#16957: May 5th 2020 at 11:47:27 PM

Quick grammar check. "A rotted, wooden gate hung open, the rusted hinges having snapped off..."

Should it be hung or hanged?

Edited by DelphineTheDelphox on May 5th 2020 at 11:51:19 AM

RIP KissAnime.
C105 Too old for this from France Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Too old for this
#16958: May 6th 2020 at 1:09:53 AM

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!.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#16959: May 6th 2020 at 4:38:44 AM

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!"
DelphineTheDelphox I thought sharks were my friends. from The Alola Region Since: Jul, 2019 Relationship Status: Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I thought sharks were my friends.
#16960: May 6th 2020 at 6:01:26 AM

Thank you both.

RIP KissAnime.
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#16961: May 6th 2020 at 6:57:17 AM

Technically, even that usage should hung. There is no "hanged."

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#16962: May 7th 2020 at 1:01:07 PM

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?

She used to be a mortician, "things happened", and now she's a back alley doctor and a mad scientist, her main motivation to satisfy her morbid curiosity by using corpses and sometimes living subjects in her experiments. She's a cheerfully deranged Übermensch, personality-wise somewhat of an expy of a Team Fortress 2 character The Medic. She didn't set out to become a supervillain, but rolls with it because she finds it exciting. Her superpower is regeneration, caused by her strange blood she can also use to regenerate others if she injects them with it or pours it into the wound, but her blood's ability immediately starts "watering down" once outside her veins, rendering the effect on others temporary and the blood itself unresearchable. She wears a metallic plague doctor mask, and on her left hand is a syringe device similiar to the one woren by Scarecrow in Batman: Arkham Asylum. For the rest of her outfit, i haven't really made up my mind yet.

Edited by Nukeli on May 8th 2020 at 5:14:51 PM

~*bleh*~
PresidentStalkeyes Eats moldy bread and flies into windows from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: Do you like me? (Yes ⎕ Definitely ⎕ Absolutely!!! ⎕)
Eats moldy bread and flies into windows
#16963: May 8th 2020 at 10:08:20 AM

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!
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#16964: May 8th 2020 at 2:23:20 PM

High-end auction houses will store the items in secure facilities, given their value. Whether that facility is on-site or somewhere else really just depends on the location and space available.

They should have sent a poet.
ArsThaumaturgis Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
#16965: May 9th 2020 at 4:39:56 PM

[up][up][up] 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.)

My Games and Asset Packs
AdeptGaderius Otaku from the Anime World Since: Nov, 2018 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
Otaku
#16966: May 11th 2020 at 6:26:28 PM

What would the world react to the emergence and prevalence of supervillains, assuming no way to stop them?

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#16967: May 11th 2020 at 7:12:07 PM

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!"
AdeptGaderius Otaku from the Anime World Since: Nov, 2018 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
Otaku
#16968: May 11th 2020 at 9:16:39 PM

[up] 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.

C105 Too old for this from France Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Too old for this
#16969: May 12th 2020 at 1:10:35 AM

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!.
PresidentStalkeyes Eats moldy bread and flies into windows from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: Do you like me? (Yes ⎕ Definitely ⎕ Absolutely!!! ⎕)
Eats moldy bread and flies into windows
#16970: May 18th 2020 at 2:07:31 PM

[up]x6 Thanks for answering earlier, I've made a lot of progress since then. grin

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!
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#16971: May 19th 2020 at 1:26:43 AM

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 Feynman
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#16972: May 19th 2020 at 9:10:00 AM

There 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.
Awe921 eh Since: Jun, 2018
eh
#16973: May 20th 2020 at 5:37:31 PM

is it okay to write some 'side' things like. little silly things like my characters going on a quest for Quality Content to keep it Fresh.. keep my skills Warmed Up?

CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit (Living Relic)
#16974: May 20th 2020 at 5:59:50 PM

That sounds like a pretty good idea. If it helps keep you where you want to be, blow off some steam, or whatever else is good, go for it.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
DelphineTheDelphox I thought sharks were my friends. from The Alola Region Since: Jul, 2019 Relationship Status: Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I thought sharks were my friends.
#16975: May 21st 2020 at 10:42:06 PM

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.

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