Random Questions Thread

Do you think glowing red teeth in the dark could be scary and would it just look stupid?

It depends on how it's executed. If done well, red teeth would startle the audience through well-applied makeup effects. However, it can also fail if done poorly such as unintentionally garish coloring or poorly-done makeup effects.

Attack the Block does something similar quite well, for example.

I'm inclined to agree with the above, I believe: I think that it could be done well and thus be effective, or be done poorly and look pretty cheesy.

Is seeing one's own reflection a stupid "jumping off point" for a Heel–Face Turn?

In the backstory of my WIP one character is literally inches away from bringing horrific death and destruction on the entire world out of pure spite for a very real injustice committed against him and his loved ones. However, he catches sight of his reflection and sees how twisted and distorted his face is, like an evil monster filled with hatred. This stops him in his tracks.

There is much more to his decision to stop than just how he looks (such as the Disproportionate Retribution of his actions) but I wondered if this is something that works as a good trigger for those second thoughts on his actions.

Was there something that made him see hideous creatures as evil and seeing himself as hideous what would trigger that?

@ Lone Courier 0:

Not exactly. Here's more context:

He is finally confronting the people responsible for wronging him (killing his family) and telling them how he's going to destroy the entire world just to spite them (something they really were trying to prevent).

He looks at his reflection on a nearby wall and sees how horrible he looks due to his anger and his Game Face. It's a trigger point for him to realize that he is an even worse monster than they are, since he will be destroying billions of innocent lives who had nothing to do with the conflict.

Ah.

I guess you should enhance that by showing teammates talking him out if he had any.

@ Lone Courier 0:

Hmmm. Well, he doesn't exactly have any teammates at this point (he's a lone avenger lol) but I wonder if one of the things I could use was the memory of his murdered kids—-they thought of him as a heroic figure and were cheering for him when he was drafted for war, the last time he saw them. I guess that could add to his decision to reject becoming a literal monster.

That can work.

Could you plausibly survive jumping off a mountain while everybody who was there thinks you died? How?

For context, the character and their group has been confronted with an enemy squad. They're going to kill the character on the spot or capture them and kill them somewhere else later. They (at least mostly) don't have beef with the rest of the group but know they're associated with the character, which is bad for them but getting the character is the enemy's main concern. So the character has three options; get captured and be murdered now or later, jump off the mountain and die, or jump off the mountain and somehow survive.

Edited by Nukeli on Jan 10th 2023 at 7:45:26 PM

Do they have gadgets or skills that allow them to survive a free fall?

How far is the drop, and also do they have any tools with which to survive, and why would the other people not check if they're dead or just look down and see "yeah they're alive" or "yeah they're dead"

For a human, a 20 foot drop is about 50% to cause fatal injury, and it increases to upwards of 90% at 25.

Drops become effectively unsurvivable at higher ones, though after terminal velocity is reached they don't get any worse, though a 99%+ chance of death being described as "not being able to get much worse" is a bit of a pointless point to make.

The main reason someone would jump off a cliff to escape is that it makes it harder to follow them. But generally, no one's going to say "well, they jumped off a cliff, guess they're dead, going to go home now without making sure they are dead."

Oh no, most definitely not. After all, realizing what horrible things they have done or horrible beings they have become tend to be one of the most common instigators of HFT.

@ dRoy:

That's good; I was worried that it came off as too cheesy or overdramatic, and one of the things I try to go for is some measure of psychological realism when it comes to the actions undertaken by the characters.

Is it theoretically possible to create radiation-proof aircraft that can travel through an atmospheric radiation belt using 1960s tech?

You'll probably get more help in the the Sci-fi technology thread.

What, you mean like the Van Allen belts?

Because the space programs were in the 50s and 60s and no one got fried there. They're not really very dangerous, as long as you're inside something reasonably good at reducing exposure and don't stay in the belts for more than a few days, they're probably not going to kill you unless you do something really stupid.

Though aircraft can't travel through them obviously, they're far too high up for aircraft to get there, what with there being virtually no atmosphere out there for the plane or whatever to fly with.

Edited by Florien on Jan 10th 2023 at 9:59:19 AM

So, a bit more of info for how the Darwinist Aliens and Earth work in my setting.

In major cities, the Aliens divide them between "Evolved" zones and "Evolving" zones. The former are presented as rebuilt zones striving with their techonlogy and the latter are described as zones used for the "development" of beings that need to "evolve" and "grow" into better ones.

Of course, given what I described before of the Aliens in my setting as downright esoteric Darwinists, the willing collaborators being far-right nutjobs, then you can read between lines in what the "Evolving" zones really are.

The question is, what sort of groups and people would help in maintaining the facade of the "Evolved" zones for propaganda purposes?

When people are descriped as having "a straight nose", does it mean like this◊ or like this◊?

Edited by Nukeli on Jan 13th 2023 at 5:55:18 PM

I think the first one would do.

Also, How well does this speech sound? It works well or too long or rambly?

"You and I, we are the same. We are the outcasts, the rejects, the ones who never fit in. We've been cast aside by society, deemed too dangerous, too unpredictable, too uncontrollable. But in this world of war, we have found a purpose, a reason to exist. We fight for the ones who would never fight for us.

But even as we stand here, ready to face each other in this final duel, I cannot help but wonder what the point of it all is. The Zlocu, they talk of a new order, an order where the weak and peaceful are no longer the dominant force. They speak of an order where technology and evolution have surpassed us, where we are no longer the masters of our own fate. Only those with the purest of strength.

And I cannot help but wonder, is that really such a bad thing? Humanity, with all its flaws and weaknesses, is it really worth preserving? We have caused so much destruction, so much suffering, and for what? Our own self-interest, our own greed. We are a cancer on this planet, even a threat to other species too, and perhaps it is time for us to be eradicated.

But even as I say this, I know that I am not fit to live in this new world. I am a product of humanity, a creation of its flaws and weaknesses. I am a weapon, a tool, a machine. And even as I stand here, ready to fight for the Zlocu, I cannot shake the feeling that it is all for nothing.

But you and I, we are not like the others. We are not bound by the same rules, the same morals, the same beliefs. We are free to make our own choices, to create our own destiny. And in this final moment, as we stand ready to face each other, I know that we will not be remembered as heroes, as defenders of humanity. We will be remembered as outcasts, as rejects, as the ones who never fit in. But perhaps that is all we ever wanted, to be remembered for who we truly are, and not for who society wanted us to be."

@Lone Courier 0

My suggestion is to re-read the text, remove or change certain lines, add spaces between paragraphs, and read again if the main subject can be articulated with the alterations. It makes the text easier to read and removes lines that are unneeded clutter.

So I heard.

Which parts do you think the repetition would work best?

I'm thinking of practicing my editing skills by making trailers.

Does anybody have advice about making dramatic trailers from existing material?

@Nukeli:

Trailers should be short, effective, and generally summarizes the premise within the one minute mark. Too many trailers go on for too long (e.g. various trailers for second-rate films from the 1970s), spoil too much of the plot (i.e. Trailers Always Spoil), or just too boring.