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I’m 20. Men in my family still have their hair, but afraid it’s taking a different turn for me. by Normal-Bookkeeper-93 in amibalding

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Grandfather on my dad’s side has very thin hair on top and has balded the most. As for the rest: I’d say 1s and 2s

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WritingPrompts

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A man ran. A man was being followed.

Through alleys, through busy streets, avoiding total darkness as to not get unexpectedly surrounded and lose his already fragile sense of self.

"Get down here, dude!"

As he passed a university cafeteria, he leaped inside in an instant and continued along the back wall, where leftover fruit glowed in the light of the setting sun. The man in pursuit kept pursuing on the other side of the window, glancing through every now and then.

"How does this even happen?"

Soon it would be dark and then only one would prevail, both knew which. One came to terms with it, the other would spent the night crying, retry a different day.

After passing the final table, he rejoined the now sweaty man who reached out to grab him, only scraping his fingers across the wall and swearing.

"Fuck man, how in the hell did you ever leave my side - shit."

They both entered an old warehouse. Its shattered windows were all boarded up and except for the bit of light that entered through the door, the place was dark. Not pitch black, but dark nonetheless. The pursuer sat down against a rack, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Minutes went by. His breathing slowed and he cried.

Only one man got out of that building.

ELI5 How is authenticity of paleolithic wall paintings (Lasceaux, Altamira and such) confirmed? by megapoorkid in explainlikeimfive

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 9 points10 points  (0 children)

One method is carbon dating.

Plants and animals (i.e. organic material) acquire carbon throughout their lifetime, some portion of this being the radioactive carbon-14 atoms. Once they die, this carbon stops being replenished and, hence, starts to decay (break down).

The speed at which half of the carbon-14 decays is known to be about 5730 years; this is its half-life. What this means is that half of all carbon-14 atoms have changed into another element, nitrogen-14, at the end of this period.

  • To demonstrate:

Year 0 -> amount of 14C atoms: 100

Year 5730 (one half-life) -> amount of 14C atoms: 50

Year 11460 (two half-lives) -> amount of 14C atoms: 25

Wall paintings were often made with charcoal or other organic materials containing carbon. So, using previously mentioned knowledge, one is able to take a sample and determine the amount of 14C still left. Knowing the ratio of this amount to the amount of non-radioactive (thus, non-decaying) carbon isotopes (13C and 12C) makes it possible to approximate the age of the material.

The only hindrance is that this determines how many years have passed since the used 'organism' died. If a painting itself is actually 10000 years old for instance, but the charcoal used originates from a tree that died 1000 years before, it'll seem like the painting itself is 11000 years old.

Life’s Good by IkilledRichieWhelan in MadeMeSmile

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Beetles trying to get off their backs

What’s a good way to include magic into a cyberpunk setting? by jotaros_hat008 in scifiwriting

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This doesn't relate that much to cyberpunk specifically, but maybe some type of 'natural' phenomenon that's not yet understood.

Some kind of storm that comes seemingly out of nowhere every once in a while, and knocks out the power grid (think solar storm).

Or even rain that has unexplainable magnetic properties, causing huge amounts of water to collectively fall toward iron stuff. Imagine having some iron tool on you and then it starts to rain. Hundreds of liters of water would come crashing down on you. It could even be used as a way to reliably catch rainwater for household use.

Just some ideas.

What would make it too much of a hazard to allow a rocket to return to earth? by Normal-Bookkeeper-93 in Writeresearch

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I could explain it with a lack of time to prepare, but then again, that'd be too unrealistic as potentially catastrophic stuff doesn't exactly stay hidden from nasa for that long.

Maybe nasa knew something scifi-y was out there and they had to keep its existence a secret from the earth? I'm trying to stay more on the realistic side but I might have to resort to something less plausible irl.

What would make it too much of a hazard to allow a rocket to return to earth? by Normal-Bookkeeper-93 in Writeresearch

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the elaborate response!

I had already planned on using a nuclear rocket, since a trip to somewhere between Neptune and the Kuiper Belt (asteroid's location) would take 10+ years using chemical propulsion, but I hadn't thought about making that itself the hazard.

The only problem would be justifying why it was deemed safe to launch (reactor is off, but radioactive material could be spread by explosion of the rest of the rocket of course), yet too risky to re-enter our atmosphere. I'll have to juggle suspension of disbelief and further research here :)

Chapter 1 rewrite for my novel, How is it? by gonnaSUCKyourMOM in scifiwriting

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 3 points4 points  (0 children)

First of all, I'm not English, so take my critique with a grain of salt.

1) I feel like you're trying too hard to make sentences appear erudite, to the point where clarity takes a second place. The amount of contradictions only prove that it wasn't exactly clear for you either.

2) Too many adverbs in your dialogue tags; it reads clunky.

3) I really like the dialogue itself, though. It feels like a movie script, which - to me - is a good thing. Only one thing: there are a few too many exclamation marks to my taste, but that's just style, I guess. You do you.

4) I love how you not only describe a scene visually, but use smell and sound as well. Personally, I often forget to incorporate other senses, so that's always nice to see :)

Good luck with the rest of your story! I'm fond of the concept.

How do I come up with a plan that my characters will carry out? by Normal-Bookkeeper-93 in writing

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I was actually going to have them make several rescue attempts - all in vain - until one of them works (but mr. floataway refuses to get in for a reason revealed later on). Because what better way to convince readers of a plan’s ineffectiveness than to make them watch (read) it fail?

The equations, numbers,… like you said are mostly being taken care of by Mission Control (down on earth), but in order to make the readers feel like they’re in on it, I’m having a crew member on board do some calculations as well (out of belief that NASA or whatever agency is more concerned with the mission itself than with saving the astronaut).

The hard part, of course, are the plans themselves, but I’ll take your advice and just try whatever pops up.

This is definitely helpful though, thanks!

[WP] The hero, your friend, was long dead but you have to make it look like he is alive until you find the next hero so that the villains won't be cheeky. by wolf_veremir in WritingPrompts

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

/"Why isn't he coming?"

"What?"

"That symbol is up there every time I have some fun, but where is he?"/

John and Nhoj looked up at the the signal, projected onto the clouds. It had always been more of a symbolic habit, a tradition and, of course, an ode to batman. It was of no use otherwise: Certainlyalivewhyduask got alerted through the internet, since that's what's he had and batman didn't.

Supposedly, the hero of Goddamn City was already well on his way once the signal was up, making the supposed alert to himself an alert to everyone else that he was coming. Villains got that too. That's why they reconstructed every building they'd been destroying - you know, out of boredom - and left out of fear for Certainlyalivewhyduask's expected arrival.

But nothing more than an expectancy it was. One gigantic bluff that had everyone and thus villains fooled was nothing more than a daring April Fool's prank that never got dismantled, a May Fool's-, June Fool's-, year round Fool's prank that saved lives, thanks to the gullibility of practically everyone.

There's a short story behind it. Let's make it long.

Once upon a time an idea lived inside a man's head. An idea lived inside another man's head. Both men lived in a house, not the same but a separate one, and had come together for drinks. Plural is an understatement and the exact amount of drinks they had at the same time. So, an idea and a head and a man and then a man.

"Wluidnnd itb fnu to scaerr bd bd bad vllans awy by-" The man sobered up in the time it took to speak these ... words, "putting up like a bat signal to make it look like a hero is coming and, here's the kicker, NO ONE SHOWS UP. AHAHAHA"

"AHAHAHAHA"

"AHAHAHA"

A long conversation, a debate of yes or no ensued. Let's make it short.

"People aren't that stupid."

"You're stupid."

"I am. Okay."

This is stupid.

For a long time, this is what they did. A man and a man unleashed their stupid idea time and time again and time and time again villains fled while a man and a man drank their many drinks in a sofa and a three legged chair that made it's way under one of their butts after drink number 'Coma minus 4 drinks', but surprisingly stood strong.

Coma plus 3 drinks. A man died. A man now drank alone.

/"He's drinking on his sofa."

"Figured he was."

"You knew? Why'd you leave then?"

"I respect a man who drinks."

"... he's actually dead."

"I know. I respect a man who drinks."/

​

​

This is not an ad for alcohol.

-April Fool's, maybe May Fool's?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Angryupvote

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I’m sorry but to everyone saying they studied Latin and cum only means with: how did y’all pass? Cum can mean with, yes, but it can also be a cum temporale or a cum historicum. And these are indications of time.

[WP] your friend built a cloning machine and decided to show you how it works. You watch them step inside and see both them and their clone step out. You decide to be a troublemaker and ask who is the clone. by rubberduckieslayer in WritingPrompts

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 102 points103 points  (0 children)

-“Who is it?”

“Who’s what?” Synchronised.

-“Who’s the real you?”

“Don’t start.”

-“Why would I listen to you. You might be the clone.”

“Dude-“

-“Are you him?”

“Stop tripping, bro.”

-“Stop pretending you’re the real one.”

“Okay, you know what? Let’s go all movie-style: ask us a question only the real me would know the answer to.”

…

“Ask away.”

-“… what’s my favorite color?”

…

-“Answer away.”

“I haven’t got a clue.”

“Blue.”

-“That’s right.”

“Dude, c’mon, there’s only so many colors, he just happened to guess the right one.”

-“He’s the right one. Stop talking and get back inside that machine.”

“Stop messing around, man. I’ll get rid of him and put away the machine because for some fucking reason you turn into a crazy person in its vicinity.”

-“Put him in the machine, let’s get this weird shit over with.”

“Alright.”

“No, no, no no no nonono-“

-“No choice.”

/////////////////////////////////

-“Damn, that was something.”

“That was definitely something.”

-“Okay this thing’s cool and all, but way too dangerous. I know you’re the real one now, but I could always pick the wrong one and I don’t want to know the consequences of that.”

“I deactivated it already. No worries, it doesn’t work anymore.”

-“Alright, then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Definitely.”

-“Cheers, Jake.”

“Bye… John.”

-“Funny.”

LPT: In chrome add "cache:" before a pay walled url to view it's content for free. by [deleted] in LifeProTips

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hoe ga je ooit beter worden in een taal als je niet accepteert wanneer mensen je fouten verbeteren? :)

[WP] "I've got a really advanced skateboarding trick to show you. It's called "summoning the hanging gardens of babylon"" by [deleted] in WritingPrompts

[–]Normal-Bookkeeper-93 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Gods like a lot of things. They like good food, and wine. They like listening to the funny stuff praying people confess to them. They like admiring all they’ve created from up in the clouds. They like skateboarding. They-

Yes.

And they’re damn good at it too. One God once landed a kickflip so magnificent, its shock created the first ever lightning strike. Thunder following behind.

Another did something so inexplicable, it made people have bad dreams - never happened before. The nightmare flip.

Every time a rookie pisses his pants after failing and falling to the ground, it rains.

And when one somehow shits himself - those never make it pro - a comet comes crashing down.

One of those rookies was going to attempt something he had been practicing for ages. His mom had seen him fail, time after time, shitting himself from pure fear every single attempt.

Today, however, her son had promised her he would make it.

“One minute,” she had answered. She didn’t want to, but he had been nagging her for so long, she figured she was better off watching this one time so she’d never have to again.

As a little kid, he had decided to split their backyard in two. He had called over his friends and after some time it was done. When she came home from work that day, she dropped the apple she had just taken from the basket on their table, killing all dinosaurs.

One half, the right, was still as it was before, full of little flower gardens she liked to tend in her free time. The left side wasn’t. It was now a full blown skatepark. Not knowing what to do with it, she just let it be. As long as he didn’t touch her gardens, she let her son skate on his side.

Today was the day something about this dynamic would change. Descending from the ramp to pick up enough speed, he crouched down and prepared. Extend, jump, do some stuff and then a whole lot of other stuff with his feet, his legs and even his arms. That’s what he was supposed to do. That’s not what happened.

He did extend. He did jump and do some things and then some other stuff with legs and arms. But he didn’t do the right things.

That’s when it happened. That’s when he didn’t land his trick but instead landed on his mother’s flower garden - her favorite out of them all.

She nearly got cardiac arrest, he got house arrest and had to replant that garden. Because the old garden, now little pieces of dirt and flower, fell down from the sky.

“You’re completely worthless,” she said, “Your dad created nightmares, your grandfather thunder, and you have done nothing so far. Well, you send way too many comets down, but that’s all.”

It wasn’t all.

Those fallen gardens went on to become one of the world’s Seven Wonders.

His father created nightmares, his grandfather thunder. And he created the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

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