Random Questions Thread

Considering the connections drawn between the character of Count Dracula and the real life Vlad the Impaler, would the following be considered Beethoven Was an Alien Spy?

In my story, the vampire Count Dracula was a powerful and dangerous real figure, with Stoker's book being a highly fictionalized and edited version of true events.

In-story, the reason for the Vlad the Impaler and Count Dracula connection is because the human warlord created an alliance with a powerful vampire and history mixed and matched their various deeds.

Does this count as that trope?

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace

I brought up my question because my aforementioned crossover involves Magia Record (a Madoka gacha spinoff, which come to think of it is possibly another case of Misaiming considering the usual MO of gacha and lootboxes) and Arknights (a different gacha, devoured in China and thus carries some anti-capitalistic messages, that I think are rather interesting and germane)

On a related note I think that blending both settings together might also enable an interesting bit of fantastic intersectionality, as Arknights' setting of Terra is a setting that has both post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk elements and aesthetics, and is so prone to human rights abuses that it makes a perfect harvesting ground for the weasels' plots.

---

A different scenario this time. Ahem, how do desert prates work? I'm assuming they have a different culture compared to the sea bound "yar-har-fiddle-dee-dee" crowd and by extension the already distinct hackers and thieves of cyberspace. I ask this because said crossover is also one with Generator Rex, one character from such is described as a "desert variation of a pirate" and I want to see if I can interpret that literally. To makes things easier, assume he has a large vehicle that can fit about a thousand or so men plus equipment, food, booze, plunder and smaller vehicles.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jan 7th 2022 at 9:23:43 AM

I would think that a desert version of a pirate is, in general, just a desert bandit.

That said, one could make them more piratey—employ "Sand Is Water" and give them sand-ships, or have them be taking to banditry in part as a means of rebelling against an oppressive society, or suchlike.

However, I don't know the specific settings or characters that you're referencing, so there may be better approaches available from the sources.

My Games & Writing

The rebelling against oppressive society part is already taken care of as per the Arknights crossover, the GR character in question is affiliated with Reunion, an Infected advocate groupe turned terrorist fighting a different infected advocate group (alsoa pharma corp that wound up looking like a PMC, long story). The sandships were already also covered (and mentioned in my previous post, but granted its a miedium-ish sized Base on Wheels in practice). That said I think said character would be more of a grifter-type anyway (but my memory of GR is as hazy as Sword's memory of Madoka), in it for the plunder rather than any cause.

Worth nothing, if I wasn't clear enough that Reunion are one of the antagonistic factions here.

Not sure I can apply Sand Is Water at anything beyond a symbolic level though.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jan 7th 2022 at 9:41:46 AM

Is the combination of Super-Strength and Nervous Wreck a reasonable combination for a character to have?

(For context, the character in question turned into a Nervous Wreck after gaining the Super-Strength rather than being that way before getting it.)

Edited by TitanJump on Jan 7th 2022 at 7:13:54 PM

"would the following be considered Beethoven Was an Alien Spy?"

I don't think so, because you are making them two separate people.

@Morning: What you are describing sounds a bit like "Mad Max", except with piracy. The main thing about pirates is that they attack other vehicles of similar function to the one they are in.

Edited by DeMarquis on Jan 7th 2022 at 1:27:23 PM

@ Titan Jump:

Oh, most definitely. In fact I'd say it's more than a reasonable combination.

I'm not sure what the exact trope is (and honestly can't be bothered to look it up right now) but there is an archetype of a person who has immense strength and lacks the Required Secondary Powers to manage that immense physical power.

Someone like that is a danger to themselves and others; they could intend to shake someone's hand and crush the person's appendage into gruesome jelly or intend to smash through a wall but put too little force behind it and crack it instead.

A person suddenly gaining Super-Strength without the knowledge of how to apply it would naturally fall into constant anxiety about how to move through space and physically interact with people and the world without doing damage to others and the environment.

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace

@ x2 @ De Marquis:

I see. I guess it is different from him actually being Dracula himself, but I wondered since it was still a historical figure involved with the supernatural (Vlad the Impaler striking up a profitable alliance with the infamous vampire).

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace

@MorningStar1337: Ah, fair enough, and my apologies! (Especially for having missed the reference to sand-ships!)

(With the "sand is water" bit I was, I think, more intending to suggest the presence of sand-ships, rather than any actual change to the nature of sand.)

DeMarquis makes a good point about pirates attacking craft like their own, however.

Hmm... I suppose that you could also apply the old business of pirates burying their treasure.

Now, sand isn't much good for that—but then, stereotypically speaking pirates don't (often) bury their treasure at sea. (Or at least, not intentionally. ;P) Rather, they bury their treasure on islands.

An island in a desert, then, might then be one of two things: an oasis (perhaps with a stone under which treasure might be kept), or a rocky outcropping (perhaps with caves in which treasure might be stashed).

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Jan 7th 2022 at 9:23:19 PM

My Games & Writing

@Swordofknowledge @Titanjump @Morningstar1337

What about my question about avoiding Nietzschean subtext in superhero stories?

~ * Bleh * ~ (Looking for a russian-speaker to consult about names and words for a thing)

I again think it would be an idea to portray the capes as rulers of a dystopian hellhole because they operate on that philosophy. But I'm not sure if it is avoiding it entirely.

With the context of it being the same work as the one with your Hydra!Cap expy (), it might be an interesting idea to bring up how Fred's philosophy was co-opted by the Nazis and to have your protagonists refute that interpretation. I think there might be an interesting potential in havign a protagonist be the Last Man who evolves into his own ideals without becoming an Ubermensch. As the Last Man is an antithesis to the Overman.

I'm not sure if it can be avoided entirely, but it might be closer to the kinds of goals you seem to have in mind.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jan 7th 2022 at 2:56:34 AM

@MorningStar1337

Refute what? The nazi version of Nietzsche, and not the actual Nietsche?

Tom doesn't really sound like a Last Man either (except maybe when he was a street child).

Edited by Nukeli on Jan 9th 2022 at 5:01:00 PM

~ * Bleh * ~ (Looking for a russian-speaker to consult about names and words for a thing)

Is it practical for a mafia group to hire an actual doctor/nurse to serve as a midwife for The Don's pregnant wife? For extra context, this is for a story, whose setting takes place in mid 1920s New York City and that the wife plans to have a home birth.

I'll figure to ask that because mafias prefer to keep their businesses a secret afterall.

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Jan 8th 2022 at 10:16:34 AM

Victor of HGS S320 | "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."

Well, a midwife works mainly with the mother and only for I believe less than a day, so it would be pretty easy to hide the father's work from the midwife.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

@ Cutegirl920fire:

It's extremely practical, since one could argue that the benefits outweigh the risks. A rival mafia group might try to kidnap and hold the wife (and by obvious extension The Don's unborn child/heir or worse, kill her to strike a psychological blow and/or destroy the family line. Then again, there is a code of honor that may prevent that sort of thing, but it's best not to take chances. Anyway, to answer your practicality question, it is absolutely a pragmatic and worthwhile goal.

As for keeping it secret...

It depends on a lot of factors. Keeping the medical professional out of it is relatively simple; if the boss is as loaded as most stereotypical mafia overlords, but approaching a doctor or nurse and offering them an inordinate amount of money to take care of one specific patient for a certain time period is generally something that would guarantee the doctor/nurse/midwife to keep their mouths shut about anything suspicious that they see. It wouldn't even have to come to that point; any number of lies, along with the hiding away any criminal activity when the nurse is there would suffice.

This of course assumes the wife knows what is going on. If she is ignorant of her husband's true nature and dealings, then it becomes far more difficult.

TLDR: It is definitely practical to hire a medical professional to privately treat a patient in these circumstances. The benefits far outweigh the annoyances and accommodations needed.

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace

I'm wondering if the following reaction is a little "over-the-top" and needs to be toned down a notch, or if this character's behavior is understandable.

One of my antagonistic characters has spent a little over a century as a Professional Killer for a shadowy organization, disposing of the group's enemies and anyone else who gets in the way of its goals. He was raised to take this path by a beloved family member who put him through Training from Hell from childhood onward, and half of his motivation apart from loyalty to the organization, is to please this now deceased family member.

However, he later finds out from a 100 percent reliable source that he was never intended to become an assassin; the family member who pushed him into the life of a killer was forced into training him by one of the story's major villains. In fact, that family member wished for him to just live an ordinary childhood and adult life.

The character's reaction to this is to fall into a downward spiral of depression and existential crisis, which results in his eventual death by choosing to sacrifice himself to buy the heroes time to escape a large group of enemies. I just wondered if his reaction seems too dramatic or unnecessarily angsty.

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace

The reaction seems a bit extreme to me. However it could work if the character had come to resent or regret his life as a killer, for instance if some of the contracts he had to recently fulfil caused him some emotional pain (because he liked the target, or found it had caused some orphans, etc). In short, the revelation could work as a straw breaking the camel's back, but it does not seem enough in itself, unless I misunderstood the situation.

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.

I have questions about my crossover and two songs.

Okay to explains I had decided to name the chapters and subchapters of my fic idea after several forms of music, usually Video Game or doujin music. This I have two specific pieces of music in mind.

• the first is about a track dubbed LAMIA One piece of BGM from Punishing: Gray Raven,a game that isn't involved in the crossover bar maybe having some similar themes to Arknights. However it seems to have a bit of an aquatic vibe and I am intended to use the title for a subchapter in the same chapter that feature the irate sandship thing I brought up earlier. I am considering keeping it for helping with the Sand Is Water vibe that was brought up in the query, but I want to ask here if there are any desert or wastland associations with Serpents as the track is named after one of the archetypal Snake People
• The second one is about a little DanceDanceRevolution track named "The Lonely Streets". I just want to ask what kind of scenarios this song might bring to mind. And how close they are to what I'm intending for the title
  • To elaborate on that I'm considering using the title for a subchapter that deals with three mini plotlines where three separate parties investigate three separate places where the streets are otherwise empty (Two of them were abandoned due to large scaled disasters, the third is the native city of the third party but with everyone else holed out in their homes out of fear of certain people, following a takeover of its local genmarderie's HQ). All three parties will eventually tangle with at least one opponent each during their investigation (a single mercenary with a perchance for mines, a vicious patrol group sent to investigate one of the aforementioned disasters and the guys that took over the HQ, respectively).

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jan 8th 2022 at 4:18:11 AM

@ C105:

That's a fair point, and I did heavily simplify/gloss over certain things for the sake of making a concise point. The various targets he executes vary in the emotiona toll they take on him—-the group he works for is an extremely dark Knight Templar Hero Antagonist faction, which means that the people he murders for them can range from your average Asshole Victim to innocent people who were killed just because their existence posed a threat, or their beliefs ran counter to the organization's. The man himself sees his actions as dark but necessary and he soothes his regret by assuring himself that not only is he protecting the world's peace, but he is also making the family member who trained him proud.

It's being shown that same mentor figure begging and pleading for him to be given a normal childhood and life and then reflecting on the century of bloodshed he's participated in that breaks him down. Not so much a straw that breaks the camel's back, but it's supposed to be more like pulling out the bottom block of a Jenga tower. The foundations he's built his life on are thrown into doubt and he spirals. Plus, he's directly responsible for a world-threatening event that happened because he was following his orders.

It's both these at the same time that push his decision.

...I hope that helped and I didn't just ramble on, but I wanted to see if that makes a bit more sense and provides some context.

---

@ Morning Star 1337:

I'm going to have to reflect on this and give it some thought. I'm sorry I can't answer right now; who knows, perhaps someone will give a good response to this by the time I get to changing this into a worthwhile answer to your question.

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace

There are, I do think.

Indeed, I think that it's not uncommon to find serpents in depictions of deserts: sidewinders and the like on dunes; rattlesnakes on rocky terrain; and so on.

Further, at least one civilisation that is associated with the desert—Egypt—is also somewhat associated with snakes, I believe, whether it be the asp that killed Cleopatra or the cobra on pharaonic crowns.

My Games & Writing

Some more questions about "how social services handle child abuse", if I may!

So, in the fictional story I've written a 12 year old boy has just told the family of two classmates that his parents have sent him to a "conversion therapy" thing that involves corrective rape among other things. Classmates' parents immediately call the police but I am not entirely sure about what would happen then.

[As context because this isn't a real country, a) classmates' father is a somewhat influential politician and they have sometimes carried out emergency foster care and b) sending your child to a conversion therapy there is a fairly serious crime, the kind of crime that can lead to your parentsl rights being stripped]

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

I would imagine that what would ensue is an investigation that either leads to.

• The politicians and his wife being arrested for child abuse in a scandal that does serious damage to his party's reputation
• a story about "finding the truth" as the investigators run into a conspiracy that tries to cover it up. Eventually ending in the above scenario, but with the party's credibility being shot.

Sorry, should have clarified that I want to know if anyone has an idea how such a scenario would proceed in Real Life. And none of these things ^ would happen since a) the politician is only a witness and b) there is no conspiracy.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

It will depend on the laws in place in your fictional country, but I'd say a police investigation would quickly take place, with the boy being taken away from his parents and put into foster care (or the care of another relative) as soon as the investigation starts, especially if conversion therapy is a crime there. Things will then depends on what the investigation reveals about the parents, but I'd say a trial will ensue, with the boy in foster care during that whole time.

Edited by C105 on Jan 10th 2022 at 11:14:28 AM

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.

Would it make sense to have an organization as a whole a Big Bad? One of the four members of my story's Big Bad Ensemble is an ancient and shadowy organization/order.

It has a hierarchy and even has a leader who has controlled the group for centuries and has a personal connection with my protagonist's family. But the "villain' in this case isn't so much that character but the organization's ideology. Case in point; when my protagonist kills the leader, the group still exists and is still a massive threat due to them just picking up where they left off, just slightly more desperate and eager to complete their objective.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Jan 10th 2022 at 10:23:58 AM

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake. — Edgar Walllace