Random Questions Thread

I don't know what to say to that, seeing how I don't know what he does. A mercenary, perhaps?

I have (yes...) another question: How can you build a motorcycle?

I mean, I'm planning to have one of the characters to be a BIG TIME Badass Biker with ridiculous/ly awesomely modified that features:

• Turbo engine that can allow it to go over 300 miles at maximum
• Booster (I don't know the differences...not good in technology) that allows it to jump for a few feet.
• Built in machine gun
• Missiles
• Cable Gun (insert Batpod reference)
• Sword sheath

For your information, it was modified by mechanics genius...who is a direct apprentice of the God of tools. Oh, and my verse runs on Rule of Cool.

Well, that's the ironic part, I suppose: The best description of his job is "librarian," with special attention payed to translation of foreign and/or ancient texts and what amounts to Steampunk computer programming. For the most part, he's a Non-Action Guy whose main strengths are being Awesome by Analysis, extremely manipulative and unbelievably sarcastic.

edited 8th Apr '11 12:30:00 AM by JHM

Well, even if you could make all of that out of some kind of superlight, super-strong Unobtanium, it's gonna be heavy as hell. Allowing all of that with some rule of cool and Applied Phlebotinum is going to mean that bike handles like crap. It'll be balanced side-to-side, sure, but the front-to-back distribution is going to affect cornering and jumping ability. And all of that weight is gonna be really hard on the suspension.

Sorry, I'm an assistant in a motorcycle mechanic shop...

Quick one: which is theoretically less damaging:

• A wound to the shoulder by an M-16 rifle (might change to an M-4, not sure yet)
  • going from front to back
  • going from back to front

I'd think going front to back would be worse, since the exit wound would take a good chunk of the shoulder blade with it, but I'm not an expert in firearms or anatomy

edited 8th Apr '11 12:35:17 AM by animemetalhead

Why the apology? That's the exact thing I wanted to hear.

Nah, I just tend to ramble when I get on a subject I know, and I tend to apologize for rambling.

Also, take my knowledge with a very tiny grain of salt, as most of my knowledge is from dirt bikes and the like, whereas I'm assuming your beast bike is more of a chopper.

If it is a chopper, also take into consideration that those things vibrate like a beep and need constant maintenance to ensure everything stays secure.

...Sorry, I don't know much about motorcycles...at all, really. It's one of the (many, MANY) things that I need to do some research on.

Chopper...I don't know the specifics, but when I came up with the design, I was more thinking about this baby◊ combined with the Batpod◊ from The Dark Knight. It's from Advent Children, btw.

I want to write scenes where the biker engages on sword fight (well, a 6 feet claymore vs a flaming chainsaw sword, to be specific) with another biker and mows down a small army of demons and golems with machine guns/missiles while ramming on an alien Magitek dragon by running on the vertical surfaces of buildings and jumping on it.

I'm high, aren't I?

edited 8th Apr '11 2:43:06 AM by dRoy

Mellon: Late but, mind reading, or them giving consent previously.

Double post:

Which one sounds like a more legitimate faux-french last name?

Zennui or Veneaux?

The latter.

Ok, I've been having this problem with my story. I have a character called Dean, whose basically an Old Superhero, er in the cool Justice Society way. He's basically a jaded cape who combines elements of Superman and Hal Jordan. I pretty much have the character down to a tee...except for the origin. Ya see, during the initial conception of the character, his origin was that he was simple recruited into a Green Lantern Expy Organisation, then I realised just how much detail I would have to invest in this group and how it would disrupt the story.

Naturally I changed: This second origin was basically a retread of Hal Jordan's, with Dean discovering the remains of an Alien and taking responsibility for the visitors junk, using it to become a superhero. It was rubbish, but I thought I could play it for laughs...I was wrong. This was bothering for months till I realised something. Why not go for a middle ground?

I wanna run this by you guys. What if Dean Donlowe, misanthropic NY District Attorney, discovered the remains of an alien ship and its pilot. Near death, the alien tells him about an organisation in the deepest space and assigns Donlowe custody of his jurisdiction. Due to the sheer size of the Universe, Dean literally gets little to no contact with any other aliens or even the organisation itself save for a month of training?

I figure that I'm killing two birds with one stone here, but thats just what I think and I'm at the bed of my rope here. Does this new origin fly?

Does he get any superpowers when that happens, like Hal? If so, I must wonder why an alien gave away superpowers to a random stranger. Sure, someone probably has to take his place, but it still sounds muchc more logical to not do that and just hope the organisation notices fast enough.

He gets a suit of armour. It has the basic functions: flight, strength, zero energy etc. Good point though. Hmmm. What if the alien is slowly dying and decides to look for someone who has potential? I mean, who better than a District Attorney right?

That sounds good, though depending on how fast space travel and communication is, and if the alien was only slowly dying, he could still try to contact his associates.

Ok, what if he makes contact with the Sentinels and, realising he's on an inhabited planet, sends a probe to find any suitable replacements?

I don't see a problem with that.

Sweet! Thanks for the assist Dealan!

Is a Possession Sue or a Black Hole Sue worse to have in a Surrogate Shipping fanfic?

edited 8th Apr '11 10:27:35 PM by Judecca

Possession Sue? I'm not sure.

Does it make my character seem wildly illogical that he considers his mother's death by his birth a source of angst (he is never says "she died from childbirth complications" and phrases it as "I killed her" and contemplates whether it was worth it whenever he is having an existential crisis), but shrugs off every murder he's actually responsible for as a vampire? He justifies it with general "I prefer not to starve to death" and hates being personally acquainted with his victims, but rarely expresses a lot of guilt or angst over it.

It sounds like a warning for a rather... selfish character- as long as he isn't acquainted with his victims, he doesn't mind, their deaths don't matter, they're only food sources.

Meh, he just does what he has to in order to survive. Can't blame him for that, unless there are altenratives. If it's illogical that he angsts because of his mother's death, it's because it's illogical itself, not in comparison.

EDIT:What's a surrogate shipping?

edited 9th Apr '11 2:07:52 AM by Dealan

Anyone got a pet recondition for Kim and Shego?

edited 9th Apr '11 10:48:50 AM by RandomChaos

An armored car (it looks something like this◊) is traveling the wrong way down a highway, and the driver wants to get rid of his door, so he throws it open right in front of a semi. Would that be enough to rip the door from the car?

Probably. It depends on how strong the hinges of the door are. They'd probably be one of the weaker parts of the car, but I don't know how reinforced they are in armored cars. I'm guessing not much.

edited 9th Apr '11 6:32:53 PM by melloncollie

Probably not. The force imparted by the semi will tend to push the door back shut, working in the direction the hinges are meant to act, rather than pushing it forward, against the hinges. The driver is more likely to end up with a broken arm than a doorless vehicle.

Look at it this way. Unless the semi passes so close to the armored car that it's practically scraping it, the impact is going to be on the end of the door. That force is going to be backwards on the unanchored end. Meanwhile, the hinge (anchored) end is moving forward. The two forces are moving in opposite directions, but they're both working in harmony with the design of the hinges.

edited 9th Apr '11 9:31:11 PM by Madrugada

I don't know, never been good at vehicles or physics. Maybe it could happen if you slam the break real hard?

In an unrelated note, would it be possible for a military helicopter (something like Apache) to break through into the building? It's 2020 and military technology is much more advanced while the building's window is not particulary reinforced.

Also, what are some of the really dark crimes you can commit with magic? All I can come up with is something that involves drugs and draining people's soul for commercial purposes and such.

edited 10th Apr '11 1:44:01 AM by dRoy