Posts by Mephistopheles
As much as I would like it, both in Worldbuilding and Writing, not every action is logical or "right". There are two types of this: Imperfect information: The character(s) lack vital informati...
Let's look at two characters who are generally considered to be iredeemable: The Diamond Authority (from Steven Universe): The extremely childish leaders of the race of spacefaring lesbian magical...
A is a special snowflake, though for all the wrong reasons. You see, he was born with a special ability that allowed him to see premonitions of his and his loved ones' future in the form of still i...
About 1/3 of the way through my story the main antagonist "wins" and is able to completely remake the world of the story into his notion of an ideal world. The "new" world shares some elements wit...
So, Character d is dying, he got shot in the side with a Pulse Rifle. This is very bad, as Pulse Rifles are in the laser category and their mode of operation is to focus the most energy on t...
Mark mentioned in his answer that plotholes aren't usually the end of the world, and that I shouldn't sacrifice too much of the story and the characters for the sake of logic. But there's a breaki...
I encountered a certain problem while building my world, one that will affect how the story is written: The protagonists never fight by themselves. There are always at least 15-60 military drones ...
This time, I'm not really talking about the legal side (that has already been covered a few times here), but more about what the readers and the critics think. The Inheritance Cycle rips off Star ...
Ah, the good old balance between hard sci-fi and creative liberty question. I can't answer all, as each time this problem occurs, the solution differs. I did create the somewhat useful Mephisto's ...
Most political humor I see on the internet is usually directed towards persons, and the jokes are relatively easy. However, it's pretty much useless, and temporary, besides, poking at the personal...
I think what you're looking for is Emergence. Emergence seems to be a fundamental part of our universe, and it basically means that dumb things can become smarter together. An individual transis...
What do I mean? Well, teleporters: "Every room resets. Remember I told you that? Every room reverts to its original condition. Logically, the teleporter should do the same. Teleporter. Fanc...
The problem with killing off a background character is that their very modus operandi eliminates the most effective advice, because they don't have a long "screentime", and we don't know too much a...
There is a problem with reference jokes in general, and I just couldn't figure out a solution to them. Here's a demonstration: "Watch your step, there could be even more of these." "Mor...
"The reason you suck speech" is a trope, that is described as: A character gives a speech on why someone or something is shit. And here's an example: Well done. Here come the test results: You...
Set up your POV: Omnipotent: Knows everything already, and isn't constrained by the limits of time and space. First person: Focuses on one person, it tells everything through their eyes and leav...
I think, it fairly depends on how much you "remember" your original story. For instance, when I do battles in X-Com: Long War with long breaks, it usually results in a gigantic mess-up with destro...
Rants and ranters are numerous and pretty damn popular, so I'd just like to ask about a formula or general tips for writing them, without making my readers rage.
Why hello there, old sports. I guess we all know the spiel with this one, but I tell you anyway, using this handy-dandy step-list: You introduce a character who is likable. (optional)Keep him aro...
I think there's a problem in my writings, that I can describe as not being fluid, and lacking in smooth transitions. Based upon this, I'm interested in tips at shifting focus smoothly between par...
Deus ex machina is considered by TV Tropes to be a sub-trope to asspulling, and thus, often considered a bad writing trope. Now, unlike most other bad writing tropes, that have their roots in fanf...
There is a way to achieve uncertainty: Everyone is a rabbit The prime example is Watership Down, a movie about rabbits that kills characters left and right like there's no tomorrow, but so does n...
So, I finally began writing my sixtieth or so first draft. And I noticed a small thing: As sunset came the sky became a river of orange and gold. Maybe like a lava stream? Gyvaris might have be...
If I think about the characters I came up with in my mind so far, I usually get a pretty big list: (Gyvaris (ENTJ), Martha (ENFJ), Adam (INTJ. It's hard to describe that you're constantly seeing...
There is a problem with a redemption arc: Anon is an incredibly powerful god with powers of mysterious origin. In the story, he starts out as bad but is supposed to be redeemed later. There is a p...
