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#gwen is right out. writing a death scene for her would send me to real catholic hell
july-19th-club · 7 months
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ive realized that the only one i’m even remotely comfortable killing off in a fic is leon. not because i don’t like him i do. but if you said to me you’re allowed to revoke all major character deaths on the bbc fantasy show merlin but you HAVE to keep one in reserve and give it to someone to balance all the deaths you undid. then it would have to be leon that’s all
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Superior is INDEFENCIBLE Part 2: Odds and Ends
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Part 1
As a little follow up to this post I want to wrap up some defences I have encountered for both Superior #2 and the Superior storyline in general.
To start with we have more hypocrisy from the man I once admired as he tried to defend his position on Superior.
He was challenged on his primary argument that Peter and MJ’s separation justified her obliviousness now that they are back together; for further details see the above linked post.
In response to this challenge he said:
“I think there is more to my argument then "They've lived apart for a year" and her relationship with him during that time doesn't have to hold relevance to their relationship after being apart.”
Like…this guy was for fucking real.
OF COURSE their relationship back then is going to hold relevance to their relationship after being apart.
Obviously with the benefit of hindsight Nick Spencer’s run proves this to be the case. And you can refer back to my prior post where I dive deeper into the topic.
However, in that post I was talking about the specific nuances of Peter and MJ’s relationship.
What’s mind boggling is that in the above quote he’s making an even bigger reach. Jesus Christ OF COURSE their past relationship is going to hold relevance for their then-current one.
That’s how relationships work!
FFS, romantic or otherwise everyone’s relationship with everyon else is shaped by the past. This is like arguing Peter hating Norman for killing Gwen Stacy doesn’t have to be relevant to their relationship after his return to the Clone Saga.
I mean shit dude, Peter’s high school romance with Betty Brant was relevant to their romance after he graduated college!
This is how all types of relationships work. You don’t just jump in after awhile, start fresh and then nothing from the past has any bearing on the present. Even in the most positive of scenarios the fact that you are getting together again  would still be shaped by the fact that you liked each other in the first place.
And for the life experiences those two shared that’d go a thousand fold.
Now let’s move on to some over miscellaneous comments sent to me a  looooooooooooong time ago.
I’ve had this stuff in my drafts for years! 
For the sake of catharsis I’ve decided to clear it out. It revolves around Superior Spider-Man and the comments I’m responding to were made before the original volume ended in 2014.
“Rob Wrecks wrote:Why would Aunt May even react to it? She doesn't even know the identity of Spidey now.”
In Civil War she was able to tell that the Chameleon, a MASTER of disguise who was being more subtle than Otto was, was not her nephew.
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Whilst she might not know he is Spider-Man she knows her nephew so she should react and become questionable regarding his change in demeanor and behavior. What’s the old saying ‘A mother always knows’.
“As for MJ, they aren't even married anymore either. Sure she remembers who is under the mask. But I doubt she's gonna bring trouble on herself for prying.”
I address a lot of this in this  post.
Basically, not being married anymore has nothing to do with it. This woman lived with this man for years (five to be precise) and had a very close relationship with him which involved countless tragedies and traumas. That doesn’t just go away. This is to say nothing of the fact that she has known this man for about 10 years and has been his friend and girlfriend during that time. In fact in Stern’s run when she knew who he was but didn’t let him know, she was depicted as knowing him better than anyone and was able to read him as a book. This was back when they weren’t as close as they are now, hadn’t known each other for as long and she didn’t know him as intimately as she would later come to down the road. In ASM #290 Peter himself says MJ knows him as well as he knows himself and this was before the marriage.
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Even in Slott’s run this depiction of Mary Jane knowing Peter better than anyone else was highlighted in various stories like Spider Island, a time travel arc, Alpha, and a Lizard arc at HORIZON labs. 
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In JMS’ run Peter and Mary Jane were shown to be somewhat in synch even though they were separated at the time and had been for a long while going back. This was showcased in ASM V2 #50 and they had been effectively separated with minimal interaction as far back as ASM V2 #13; arguably even issue #1.
And yet she understood him and knew him very well, falling back into synch with him when they reconciled. Yes there was some awkwardness and them getting to know each other again but it was not on the same level of Otto guzzling champagne, creating spider bots, talking in a manner which was unlike the way he’s ever spoken before and MJ just wondering passingly then dismissing it. This woman has lived through the Chamelon, robot parents and clones and lives in a world where friggin Skrulls have invaded.
This out of character behaviour should send off alarm bells. She DOES clock something is off in Superior #10 but only when he says a phrase she’s never heard him say before. He was doing shit MUCH more out of character before then and she was dismissing it.
Later she was STILL dismissing the notion that Peter wasn’t himself as merely crazy on her part.
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Again this woman knows Peter can be/has been cloned  repeatedly. This woman even for awhile believed Peter himself was a clone so she knows even memories can be replicated. But Peter is acting so obviously NOT himself that it’s practically SCREAMING at her that she should get this. In fact Peter’s ghost point this out which is Slott lampshading the situation. That doens’t make it good writing that’s just pointing out how bad your story is.
“Hasn't she (I'm guessing he's referring to Aunt May?) been focused lately on her new marriage though? I don't read enough of Spidey these days so I'm only going with bits and pieces I've read about here and there.”
What does being married recently or focusing upon it have to do with anything?
In Civil War she was focused upon not dying because Peter’s ID reveal had upended her life.
If you are someone’s MOTHER and have raised them all their life you will absolutely  be able to tell when something is wrong, when they are in fact not the real deal.
“As for MJ, who would she go too? Not like anyone would likely believe her unless she had a telepath scan her mind.”
Who would she go to? I dunno maybe the fucking Avengers or Fantastic Four who are Peter’s friends and team mates. Or maybe not go that far why not go to Black Cat, Human Torch or Daredevil . These are all people whom she knows (at least vaguely in regards to Daredevil) personally and have access to technology that can prove things one way or another.
Even if you argue that it’s not fair bringing in the wider Marvel Universe, Black Cat, Carlie, HORIZON labs, the Bugle staff and Scarlet Spider are all Spider-Man franchise characters.
“Now there could be a possibility she's making a list of his behavior and the like and is just waiting for the right time to say something when she knows she's less likely to die from it.
Maybe Slott's just got something going that'll eventually be revealed? Who knows.”
Oh boy, that didn’t stand the test of time did it?
This is just shitty analysis on principle. It hinges upon blind faith and writing stuff in your head about what characters are doing behind the scenes.
There was NEVER an indication MJ was doing anything like that and her actions actually contradicted event he idea of her doing any of that stuff.
The net responses are to the statement that Doc Ock was a gentleman who would treat women with respect.
“Keyword there, 'was' a gentlemen. I can imagine after years of defeats at the hands of Spidey, certain habits would change and he wouldn't care anymore.
It could have just been a subtle change that no one really noticed. He did try and end the world before #700 if I recall right.”
You need to SHOW those habits changing. The last major Doctor Octopus story before BND was in JMS’s run when he was very much a gentleman. You can’t just say his illness and defeats suddenly transformed him into a would be rapist. It’s utterly out of character for him. It’d be like bringing back Ben Reilly and making him a mass murderer. WHY is he a mass murderer.
(Fun fact. The stuff I bolded about Ben Reilly was something I wrote at the time. I kept it in because of how sadly ironic it wound up being…fuck Clone Conspiracy seriously)
Ending the world before #700 is one thing IN Doc Ock’s character. He is egotistical and wants acknowledgement of his genius.
Superior depicted him going against a character trait he’s always had. In his origin story, when he was ‘courting’ Aunt May, when he was involved with Stunner and Lady Octopus and the like he has always been show to have a respect for women and not had to resort to cheap ploys to woo them.
In Superior he was trading off of MJ’s relationship with Peter and Peter’s memories to basically abuse this woman. That is beneath Doctor Octopus. He is an intellectual a man for whom such actions are debase, the realm of the common thug whilst he is much more he is DOCTOR OCTOPUS.
BTW in Web of Death it was established that Doc Ock probably would not target MJ or Peter’s family even though he knew Peter’s identity.
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So for him to suddenly switch to ‘I’m gonna fuck his girlfriend to get one over on him” is again utterly out of character.
‘Web of Death’ was co-written by Tom DeFalco btw, who established Otto’s origin. Thus the argument is flying in the face of someone who helped define the character with no explanation at all.
Slott had done this with other characters like Ashley Kafka.Suddenly the most naively compassionate woman in the world who believed she could redeem CARNAGE is saying this lesser serial killer is a complete monster. That is piss poor writing.
Even if Slott WERE to establish and show how Ock went from one extreme to the other it doesn’t make it a good idea. Doc Ock would be rapist is a lot less interesting than Doc Ock the lone super villain who is part gentleman and part humanitarian with a respect for women. If this was Norman Osborn in Peter’s body, or Electro, or Shocker I’d believe these actions.
The topic then changed to Carlie Cooper’s depiction in Superior as a goddam idiot who isn’t even telling MJ Peter might  be evil. “Red Hood wrote: Carlie and Wraith followed Ock’s paper trail because she knows for fact that peter parker doesnt have the money to fund his own private army, the reason she hasnt said anything is because it's not such a good idea to go pointing fingers without absolute truth, remember eddie brock and how he was so sure about the sin eater?”
Carlie’s investigation was going incredibly sloooooooooooooooooowly. Not only was it dull reading, but it made her completely unsympathetic. Why not warn Mary Jane by saying “Look before he died Doc Ock told me he and Spider-Man had swapped bodies. I’m not saying Peter IS Doc Ock but just....be careful MJ”.
Or why not inform the Avengers or Fantastic Four about this. Sure the Avengers gave him a physical but they wouldn’t know what to look for. And why is Carlie Cooper all of a sudden saying “Wait I KNOW Peter doesn’t have this kind of cash so this is a big clue that he isn’t himself.” When her first big clue should have been that time Spider-Man SHOT SOMEONE IN THE FACE!
“also peter and mj arent married anymore.”
See above.
You don’t just suddenly fall out of knowing someone if you’ve been THAT close to them and known them for that long just because suddenly you are not married anymore. She has deduced subtle differences in the Chameleon and clones before this but Ock is NOT being subtle whatsoever. He isn’t even talking the same way he normally does. And Mister Red Hood even says so himself, Carlie can tell right way. His co-workers whom he’s known for LESS THAN A YEAR can tell something is up. But the woman who’s been closer to him than ANYONE in his life, she can’t tell. That is bullshit of the highest order.
“1. mj and peter arent married anymore, idk if they were married in identity crisis but remember how after the deal with mephisto they were separated for x amount of years before she even came back to new york, i can see her not being able to tell peter is acting different at that point. aunt may and the avengers though don't get a pass especially when carlie who knew him the least could tell right away.”
See above.
You don’t just suddenly fall out of knowing someone if you’ve been THAT close to them and known them for that long just because suddenly you are not married anymore. She has deduced subtle differences in the Chameleon and clones before this but Ock is NOT being subtle whatsoever. He isn’t even talking the same way he normally does. And Mister Red Hood even says so himself, Carlie can tell right way. His co-workers whom he’s known for LESS THAN A YEAR can tell something is up. But the woman who’s been closer to him than ANYONE in his life, she can’t tell. That is bullshit of the highest order.
When you separate from someone you’ve been that close to those feelings don’t just disappear. This is especially true of people who’ve been through immensely traumatic events together. Soldiers often find that only fellow soldiers, specifically ones who were with them in combat, can truly understand what they went through and how they felt. It creates an emotional/mental bond. Same thing here. Peter and Mary Jane went through Venom, Kraven’s Last Hunt, the death of Harry, Gwen, aunt May, Ben Reilly, the clone saga as a whole, Civil War, Peter’s OWN death, Maximum Carnage and so on. They’d have that kind of connection I was speaking about, you don’t just forget it to the point where you let MASSIVE differences in behaviour slide, especially massive differences in behaviour which are different to the way he was acting LAST WEEK!
“3. Also i don't think his  [Doc Ock’s] actions are entirely out of character, i mean he was dead, then revived, beat down for several years into a dying body. given time to think about all the things you would do if given another chance i dont think its out of the question for doc to say "great, second chance at life with a movie starhottie gf". also if you'll threaten the city, then the world, then mind swap with someone i dont think having sex is that big a stretch.”
See my comments above why this IS out of character for Doc Ock. Again this isn’t just him wanting to get laid this is him potentially date raping an innocent woman. You need to SHOW the progression of that change
And rape in comic book fiction is understood to be worse  from the reader’s POV than the various Saturday Morning Cartoon style crimes he’s pulled.
The next comment was in response to the public’s indifference towards Spider-Man shooting Massacre in the face! “7. As far as no one caring about massacre, didn't he break out a few times and inflict his namesake? no one is going to care that a killer like that gets shot, humans aren't dignified at all. i can see aunt may saying something but no one else is going to be like "oh great that killer is back in jail, too bad all criminals break out" no they're going to be like "finally someone put down this thug, maybe my life or someone i care about will be spared from him at least in the future" and maybe it was caught on security cameras or phones but maybe they deleted it, i mean spider-man just shot a dude in the face and if he wanted there would be nothing anyone could do to stop him from putting the hurt on someone else”
This is just rubbish.
No one is going to care? For God’s sake the police in real life get reprimanded for using unnecessary force.
The law is the law you CANNOT publically execute an unarmed man. And my point was no one, not even Mary Jane or Jonah, were reacting to this mind-blowingly out of character action on the part of Spider-Man. Maybe they do not care that Massacre was killed but they should be wondering “Jesus that’s not like Spider-Man at all”. This was Spider-Man becoming absolutely EVERYTHING Jameson ever falsely accused him of and no one reacted. And I am sorry but the attitude of ‘human’s aren’t dignified so they’d react like THIS” is extremely broad and generalised. This would be a major talking point and a major issue. This is EXACTLY what the entire ‘Civil War’ debacle was about. Super heroes running unchecked doing as they pleased. It’s been what, a year tops Marvel time since Civil War? If that stuff was deleted YOU NEED TO SHOW IT. The cover story is that EVERYONE in that massive crowd covered for him. That is in no way shape or form how humans actually act. And who would there be to stop like a teenager or a kid or a lone person in the crowd from tweeting “OMG Spider-Man just shot this dude” or uploading a video or picture. They were CHEERING him on they wouldn’t be afraid of him being reprimanded. Once something like that hit the internet it’d spread like wildfire, it wouldn’t be something that if immediately taken down would die away, especially when THE NEWS was stating Spider-Man had ‘neutralised Massacre’ and then Massacre shows up dead, WTF would the public THINK happened?
“Aaron Alexander Luthor wrote: Superior is an excellent title, but I feel you approached it having already made up your mind. Doc Ock NEVER attempted date rape, and I don't know where you get that from”
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Boy, I wonder where I got the idea of Otto trying to rape MJ from? What an obviously ‘excellent’ title.
Trying to sleep with Mary Jane whilst tricking her into thinking he is Peter Parker then that is categorically trying to date rape her. He didn’t go through with it because he discovered he could just wank off to her memories (I can’t believe I wrote that) but that is exactly what he was trying to do. Maybe to HIM he didn’t think of it as rape but yeah that’s exactly what it was.
“He ripped off his own shirt, not hers.”
I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about here btw.
“Mary Jane had/has mentioned several times that there is something wrong with him and that she thinks there is something strange going on, he also hasn't spoken to her in weeks in the time frame of the comic.”
Yes MJ has noticed passingly things are wrong but then he feeds her a line and she buys it or otherwise she dismisses it herself. This in monumentally out of character for her given her history and makes her incredibly stupid, which is the ONLY way this title could have worked out. Again, she lives in a world of Skrulls, clones, LMDs and shape shifters one of which is literally an enemy of Peter’s and has tried impersonating him multiple times (targeting her specifically twice). But she either doesn’t clock anything is wrong or doesn’t really react when she does. And he HAD spoken to her within weeks by the time or Superior #2.
“Same goes for Aunt May, he visited her the first few weeks as Parker, and hasnt spoken to her since. He is basically ignoring the people in Peter's life, and they have taken notice.”
See my response about Aunt May not knowing. Again, this woman RAISED him and she could tell when the master of disguise who was being a lot more subtle about impersonating Peter was not her son/nephew.
Also he wasn’t exactly ignoring  the HORIZON labs staff was he?
“When he killed Massacre, some of the civilians were shocked and appalled, but when the police investigated all the officers on the scene lied for Spidey, because they think he did the right thing. That is why the only officers still interested are Carlie Cooper who does know, and is ACTIVELY trying to prove it isnt Peter, and Captain Watanabe aka The Wraith”
My point about NO ONE taking photos, tweeting, facebooking or whatever still stands as does the security cameras thing and the fact that Massacre was TRYING TO GET PUBLICITY. Again with Carlie why is she not warning SOMEBODY at this point. It isn’t like they wouldn’t believe her after Massacre. It isn’t like Spider-Man isn’t acting weird. It isn’t like body swapping is a legit THING in the Marvel universe. For God’s sake this happened to Captain America!
Kaine, the CLONE of Peter Parker with identical memories and everything. In the Sibling Rivaly crossover between Scarlet Spider and Superior Team-Up even HE couldn’t tell that Peter. Was an imposter This guy doesn’t just know Peter well, he IS Peter. And Otto was ranting none too subtley about how Kaine has bad blood with HIM. He doesn’t say he’s Doc Ock but he’s conveying unsubtly to Kaine that he is not Peter Parker and he is not TALKING like Peter Parker either. When his CLONE is still operating under the delusion that he is Peter Parker that’s put it beyond doubt this was ridiculously contrived.
“BTW, Carlie and MJ have talked about the suspicious way Pete has been acting, Carlie just hasnt told MJ directly.”
WHY didn’t Carlie tell MJ! And WHY were she and Peter noticing Peter’s different actions yet being totally blasé about them.
FFS in ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ MJ and Peter had been married for just 2 weeks and in that time she was able to deduce from his actions that the guy in the Spider-Man suit was NOT Peter. In the Mark of Kaine an identical clone of Peter approaches her and she is ultimately able to tell (twice) that he is not her husband. And she did this whilst pregnant and stressed out from a life or death situation to say nothing of the fact that Aunt May had recently died which would be weighing on her mind. Yet in Superior her mind was clearer and she was still buying this was Peter. This is enormously bad out of character writing for her
“As for the Avengers scans, it wasnt that no one could read them, its that they all came back NORMAL.”
No, the scans DID NOT come back normal at all. Doc Ock looked at the scans and could TELL something was not normal because he saw ghost Peter was in his mind. Yeah there was a tiny inconsistency in the brain waves but why the heck weren’t there people on the Avengers team that day to take note of stuff like that. Cap, Wolverine, Black Widow and Thor are obviously NOT going to be able to properly read this scientific equipment like Iron Man or Hank Pym or the Beast. ANY of those guys would’ve been able to tell but no only the Avengers who categorically would not be able to properly read the brainwaves were there. Why? Why get the unscientific Avengers? Because of plot contrivances is why.
And where were the telepaths? One telepathic scan from SOMEBODY should have told all. And again these tests come back normal....no one thought he could be a clone? Spider-Man has joked to these people about his clones, they know about them. Correct me if I am wrong but at the time of the Avenger’s physical of Peter wasn’t there a character involved with the Avengers who was supposed to be the living universe? SHE couldn’t tell Doc Ock is Spider-Man? The universe literally didn’t know this?
“Even Dr. Strange and Wolverines tests all came back regular.”
If Dr. Strange with all his power wasn’t able to deduce the truth that’s even MORE contrived!
And what the heck were Wolverine’s test? That he smelt the same? Of course he would.
“There was a tiny inconsistency in the brainwaves, it wasnt that no one could read it, its that it was so small that no one would even take notice of it, except for Peter or Ock if they were to look for it.”
See above for why this is bullshit.
“And the Avengers are STILL very suspicious, if you read the current titles.”
At the time a ‘current title’ was  Superior Team Up #1.
In it the Avengers told him they were wrong to put him in probation and are still just ‘suspicious’ when he INVADED SHADOWLAND WITH AN ARMY!. Because THAT’S so usual for Spider-Man right?
“You're entitled to your opinion, but you cant just make up facts and call it a discussion. I get the impression that you a)Havent read the whole series; b) Had already made up your mind before reading the issues you have read; and c) Havent read the companion stories (i.e. Avenging Spider-Man, Superior Team-up, Hickman's Avengers titles). If you look at the story as a whole, its actually quite good.”
Said the guy who got all the above information I outlined WRONG.
From a technical point of view it doesn’t make sense, it uses contrivances and out of character writing to keep it going. You want to write Doc Ock as Spider-Man. Okay then don’t surround him with people who should be able to figure this out. Or say there is some kind of device redirecting their attention.
Don’t have Doc Ock not act like Doc Ock because that defeats the point of the exercise. Don’t go for deliberate sensationalism or crass storytelling which was essentially everything revolving around him hooking up with Mary Jane and then the oh so lovely page of the Superior Spider-Wanker.
That issue in particular even resolved itself in a contrived manner. Doc Ock begins uttering gibberish which recalled One Moment in Time about “we cannot be together because it’s an unsolvable equation blah blah blah”.
Basically he is saying “I can never be with you because of the danger I put you in”; which is Slott using the character as a mouthpiece.
In the next issue Otto began courting a student at his college because consistency rocks. Even Ghost Peter is out of character at this moment “WOW Ock you did the one thing I could never do and walked away from Mary Jane”. Peter is right he probably can’t walk away from Mary Jane but...does he WANT to? Where the heck is this coming from? What is worse is that it’s so unnecessary. There was a MUCH better explanation for Ock breaking up with MJ. If Ock were in character he could just come to the conclusion that sleeping with MJ under these circumstances would be wrong and beneath him hence he wouldn’t go through with it. If Ock was out of character as he was in their issue but still vaguely in character he could just come to the conclusions that since accessing Peter’s memories he’s begun to have genuine feelings for MJ and doesn’t just want to fuck her, it would involve him having a relationship with here which at this point in time he is incapable of, he doesn’t know how to handle it. I will wholeheartedly admit I was not jazzed about the concept of Superior from the outset. If nothing else I want to read about Peter Parker not Doc Ock and if I did want to read about Doc Ock AS Doc Ock, not as Spider-Man and not as an rotting body.
An arc in a comic is one thing doing this long term all the problems I foresaw have come up as well as some I didn’t even predict. This could have worked if Doc Ock was separated from Peter’s supporting cast who should be able to tell something is amiss but then that defeats a lot of the point of the story. It was a lose-lose situation.
People can enjoy garbage if you want but don’t call it gold.
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zeroconnectionn · 5 years
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been writing braime au drabbles on my priv acct for fun but i cant finish any of them so..... to those looking for ideas, here are some au’s that i can’t get off my mind and would love to see more of in ao3/tumblr (under the cut bc it’s so long im so sorry):
crimson peak - i mean c’mon... it’s perfect guys.....i have no idea who would play dr. alan though. maybe the hound??? but like platonic
real steel - lisTEN i couldnt stop thinking about this all day... selwyn is jaime’s former boxing coach... which makes brienne his old-and-soon-to-be-rekindled flame that practiced w him back in the day... cersei + robert are dead and there’s a custody battle over lil tommen.... jaime, his “nephew” tommen, and brienne teach Oath, the sparring robot some killer boxing moves and fight their way to robo championship, becoming a family
pacific rim - i found only one on ao3!! braime would totally be drift compatible and the best part is that cersei doesnt have to be evil here. in my drabble, jaime loses cersei and his right hand to a category 5 kaiju attack. cue angst. he retires as a pilot but decides to stay at the base to train cadets (the real reason he cant pilot anymore is because he keeps chasing after cersei in the drift, clinging onto her memory desperately ohoho). brienne is one of the cadets he trains but jaime cant stand her naivete and b/w outlook on the world (deep down tho, its because he once held the same ideals as she did that resulted in cersei’s death. he sees her as a liability to her future co-pilot) so he picks on her a lot. brienne, sick of his shit, boldly challenges him to a duel, setting the terms that if she wins, jaime has to stop picking on her but if he wins, she has to quit the jaeger programme. to NO ONE’S SURPRISE, the duels ends w a tie! i named their jaeger Ursa Maiden because... you know... 
battle: los angeles - is there enough military fics?? lance corporal tarth kicking alien ass and saving staff sergeant lannister gives me strength
harry potter - WE COULD DO SO MANY THINGS WITH THIS... brienne the halfblood hufflepuff prefect and jaime the pureblood gryffindor troublemaker. rival quidditch captains? best duelers of their respective years? eventual auror partners? all three, because destiny has fated them to be together always? also consider: jaime was said to have murdered the then minister of magic but was not sentenced to azkaban thanks to tywin pulling a few strings. and honourable, hardworking brienne, the first hufflepuff and woman to get an Outstanding in DADA for NEWTS, the first person to best jaime aka the lion of gryffindor in a duel, and the one lucky enough to be mentored by auror!Renly. also i think we can all agree jaime would say “wait til my father hears about this” to get out of trouble
the walking dead - dudes i have not been able to stop thinking about this au too, like jaime and brienne from opposing communities, meeting each other during a supply run and fighting over a jackpot supply of Useful Things but when they’re just about to kill each other over it- SURPRISE! a convenient horde appears! they become temporary allies to survive, somehow saving each others’ asses along the way, jaime getting bit on his hand trying to save her and brienne repaying the favour by chopping off his hand to stop the infection, they spend a week in an abandoned cabin in the woods to recuperate, jaime bathing in the river with her where he explains why he had to kill the twd!aerys + possible romance, confusion w where they stand w each other and whether or not they can continue this fragile alliance if they go back home, jaime selfishly telling her they could just stay here in the cabin, start a new life together and never go back to their respective communities, brienne saying she can’t bc there are people to protect back home (from his people) so she leaves, jaime leaves too because cersei’s back home but he’s worried that the next time he meets brienne, it’ll be as enemies.... do y’alls feel this
superheroes - jaime is the perfect charismatic speedster?? and brienne w super strength??? if u guys play ttrpgs, jaime would be The Legacy or The Reformed and brienne the Transformed in Masks
kingsman - brienne is lancelot and tyrion is merlin AMIRITE
dragon age - (da:o timeline) brienne, a templar from lothering saves jaime, one of the commanders of king cailan’s army and survivor of the Battle of Ostagar who was captured by howe’s men and labelled a traitor (he’d be in one of the cages like Sten!). eventually they get conscripted into the grey wardens by the Warden, becoming the Warden’s travelling companions. would be cute if the Warden wanted to save time and send them off on a treaty mission together. also how perfect would it be if the couslands were the starks... rendon howe could be littlefinger too...
mass effect - i friggin loved me3 multiplayer so i can totally see brienne as a n7 destroyer and jaime as a n7 slayer. the two of them would’ve made such a good team that they were considered instrumental to the reaper’s defeat on earth. also they totally survive the war and settle down in the citadel and adopt a bunch of alien + human orphans. maybe before the war, they were spectres who butt heads a lot bc of diff mission interests. 
the proposal - I NEED TO KNOW, HAS ANYONE DONE THIS YET??? bc if there is, i wanna read it immediately. in my head, jaime could be the jerk boss who begs brienne to marry him to avoid getting deported. but instead of going back to tarth that weekend, they go to casterly rock to meet jamie’s family. same premise as the 2009 film, but slightly different and way more fun with cersei and tyrion around. also consider: the image of gwen dancing and singing to Get Low
to all the boys i’ve loved before - okay... hear me out... lara jean is brienne, kitty is arya, and sansa is margot but younger than brienne and instead of college, she’s in paris for a highschool student exchange programme. brienne is also a step-sister to the girls, cat took her in after her parents’ deaths. MEANWHILE josh is teen!sandor who sansa broke up with before she left for paris but is still best friends with brienne, peter is jaime(!!!) who kissed her during truth or dare years ago, and lucas is of course renly!! also gen is cersei but jamie’s cousin instead of sister. this is so complicated but i find it so cute still?????
i found this au from a prompt list on tumblr and its perfect: “single parents whose children are rivals in a talent show/ sports competition”. the children are tommen and arya, but brienne is arya’s foster mum since cate and ned’s death
naruto - ok so they’re both from different villages but become allies for a dangerous mission.... or brienne is hunting jaime bc he’s a missing nin from her village (catelyn would make a great kage holy shit).... whatever it is, you could totally work in a bath house scene :)
bleach - BRIENNE IS ASSIGNED TO JAIME’S DIVISION AS HIS NEW LIEUTENANT IMAGINE THEIR DYNAMIC sometimes i lay awake thinking about how tite kubo would draw brienne and jaime. [holding a butter knife] he better not give her ginormous boobs
where rainbows end/love rosie - y’all feel this too or is it just me, like just the idea of brienne opening a beach hotel in tarth... i need more brienne by the ocean fics in my life tbh. also im such a sucker for fics made up of purely texts between the characters then ending it with them meeting ahdasdjadsjad anyway Jaime is Alex and Hyle as Greg.
I Wish I Could Write These But Should You Find It Equally Interesting To Write About, Please, By All Means, Take My Brain Juice And Make It Beautiful And Let Me Know So I Can Give You Kudos And Comments Full of Squealing and Love
0 notes
shadowfollowweb · 6 years
Text
Serology, Murder Timeline, and Scrivener 3
November 20, 2017
This week in the WRITERSDETECTIVE Q&A forum on Facebook had some great questions and discussion that I wanted to expand upon:
STORY SCIENCE: Serology Dan asked a great question about blood on clothing, and whether modern Forensic Science could determine how long the droplet of blood had been there. Terri quickly found a link on chemistryviews.org that revealed researchers have developed a laser-based technology, called Raman Spectroscopy, that can determine Time Since Deposit (TSD) if the blood stain is less than two years old. This is a pretty exciting and promising technology. The most important passage in this article is in paragraph four, "At the moment, crime scene investigators have no single validated approach to determine when a blood stain might have been deposited." I would take that to mean it will be possible to use in Court in the very near future. The term Forensic Science literally means Science applied to Law. So while the technology is here (or nearly here), we have to wait for the Courts/Attorneys to argue its acceptance into law. This is what delays its admissibility in Court. So if you want to include Raman Spectroscopy into your own story, your investigators should realize that this cutting edge technology can point them in the right direction, but it will be a hard fought battle in Court to prove the science behind it admissible. This study of TSD has been pursued for a while now. I found this article from 2011 about TSD on WritersForensicsBlog.com, which is another site you should definitely bookmark for all things CSI-writing related! As I suggested to Dan in the Q&A: Whenever you find a particular research area you want to delve into, especially emerging sciences, don't be afraid to send an email to the scientists behind these discoveries. Many people in science are happy to share knowledge when someone outside of the science community shows an interest...especially when it may end up in a book!
STORY SCIENCE: Serology Part II As I was researching Dan's question, I also discovered other emerging serology techniques that will soon help crack whodunnit cases wide open. Researchers at the University at Albany have, in addition to determining TSD, been able to determine the approximate age of the blood's originator using the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as a marker. These researchers are working on creating a real-time CSI kit that will one day provide approximate suspect age, and even gender, without the need for a Crime Lab! I also discovered that researchers at the Department of Pharmacy and Forensic Science at King's College London have used machine learning via artificial neural networks to crunch DNA data (I am WAY oversimplifying here), to improve age estimations of DNA originators. These researchers have been able to estimate the age of a person, based on their DNA sample, to within a 3.8 year accuracy!
STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES: LINING UP YOUR CLUES Heather posted a comment about the troubles of lining up and following the clues within her story. Here’s what I had to say: ​
I wish I had writing advice for you, but alas, that is not my expertise. I can, however, offer some advice on how we really work cases...which may help you fill in the outline of your story. We all obviously understand that the goal of your investigator (likely your protagonist) is to find the truth of the matter: what exactly occurred (determine the crimes), who was responsible (who to arrest and prosecute), why it happened (motive), etc. HOW a Detective goes about that is by forming a timeline of what happened, based on the totality of the knowledge at hand. This means every interview, every piece of evidence discovered and analyzed, the data dumps from cell phone search warrants, the time stamp on video surveillance, -all of it- is plotted on a giant time line. I mean this literally. We have a "war-room" (a conference room with a lockable door) in our Detective Bureau that we use during active homicide investigations, where a time-line is drawn on a white-board. (There is also a task-list that shows what task each detective has been assigned and whether it's been completed.) As new facts are discovered, they are plotted on the timeline board for everyone working the case to see at a glance. Obviously, this dry-erase board drawing isn't the formal document - all of that is done via the written word in dozens or even hundreds of reports and a Crime Analyst will likely create a formal visualization of the timeline as a document. But you get the idea. That timeline often starts with the first 9-1-1 call that notified us of the crime. My goal, as a Detective, is to fill that timeline in. By doing so, it will paint the full picture of the crime and not only point to who is responsible, it will also show alibi factors for other suspects/conspirators/accessories/witnesses at a glance. It will also help us spot inconsistencies in stories quickly. I'd suggest Authors try working this process BACKWARD. Since you're the omnicient storyteller (sorry, Pantsers...this may be tough if you can't stand planning out your stories), I'd start with creating the entire timeline of the events leading up to the crime, the commission of the crime, and then what happens after the crime in chronological order. This is all reference material for you to use as you create the story. Your story, most likely, won't start at the beginning of your Omnicient Timeline. It will probably start with the inciting incident of either the commission of the crime, or the discovery of the crime. From there, your story will be about the order in which the earlier bits of the timeline are discovered by the Detective. Does the Coroner/ME provide a time of death window? Plot it on the time-line. When was the victim last seen alive? Plot it. When was the last phone call made by the victim? Plot it. When was the last ATM/Credit Card use by the victim? Plot it. Sooner or later, the window of unknowns on the timeline starts to narrow...allowing your Detectives to gain some insight into where the case is heading. Obviously, take this advice with a grain of salt...being as I have not been in your chair as the author (tip of the hat in respect, BTW). However, I hope some explanation of how real investigations happen may help you form your own way of having characters discover the clues/events in your own story. I hope this helps, -Adam
WRITING TOOLS: Scrivener 3* My favorite writing software got a long awaited update today! I know many of you already use Scrivener to compile your research, characters, scenes, and drafts. Today, Literature & Latte released Scrivener 3!*  The look is still very much what you are used to seeing in Scrivener 2, but updated with more modern appearance, and they have added some great new functionality. Best of all, if you are upgrading from Scrivener 2, you will get a $20 discount (making Scrivener 3 only $25.) As always, L&L still offers a 30-day trial of Scrivener...and that's an actual 30-days of use, not thirty calendar days. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you purchased Scrivener 2 through Apple's Mac App Store (instead of the Literature & Latte website), you need to send a copy of your App Store proof of purchase to: [email protected] If you are even considering upgrading to Scrivener 3 and you bought v2 from the App Store, send your discount request in NOW. They are sending out Discount Codes in the order they are received. I sent my receipt in early (yesterday, before the v3 release today) and I received my discount code mid-afternoon today. I forwarded the email I received from iTunes when I purchased v2 back in 2015. If you are better at clearing out your inbox than I am, you may have to request a copy of your receipt from Apple by going to: http://ift.tt/2anigg0
WRITING TOOLS: Free Training for Scrivener 3* Gwen Hernandez at ScrivenerClasses.com offers online courses for learning Scrivener. She just created a FREE mini course for those of us upgrading from Scrivener 2 to Scrivener 3. It's called Jump into Scrivener 3: Your transition guide for Mac. Even if you just want to see a few videos on what the new version looks like, it's worth checking out. You don't need to provide any info to view the mini course.
  Serology, Murder Timeline, and Scrivener 3 published first on http://ift.tt/2pFdZxI
0 notes
iseeuseepage · 6 years
Text
Serology, Murder Timeline, and Scrivener 3
November 20, 2017
This week in the WRITERSDETECTIVE Q&A forum on Facebook had some great questions and discussion that I wanted to expand upon:
STORY SCIENCE: Serology Dan asked a great question about blood on clothing, and whether modern Forensic Science could determine how long the droplet of blood had been there. Terri quickly found a link on chemistryviews.org that revealed researchers have developed a laser-based technology, called Raman Spectroscopy, that can determine Time Since Deposit (TSD) if the blood stain is less than two years old. This is a pretty exciting and promising technology. The most important passage in this article is in paragraph four, “At the moment, crime scene investigators have no single validated approach to determine when a blood stain might have been deposited.”
I would take that to mean it will be possible to use in Court in the very near future. The term Forensic Science literally means Science applied to Law. So while the technology is here (or nearly here), we have to wait for the Courts/Attorneys to argue its acceptance into law. This is what delays its admissibility in Court.
So if you want to include Raman Spectroscopy into your own story, your investigators should realize that this cutting edge technology can point them in the right direction, but it will be a hard fought battle in Court to prove the science behind it admissible.
This study of TSD has been pursued for a while now. I found this article from 2011 about TSD on WritersForensicsBlog.com, which is another site you should definitely bookmark for all things CSI-writing related!
As I suggested to Dan in the Q&A: Whenever you find a particular research area you want to delve into, especially emerging sciences, don’t be afraid to send an email to the scientists behind these discoveries. Many people in science are happy to share knowledge when someone outside of the science community shows an interest…especially when it may end up in a book!
STORY SCIENCE: Serology Part II As I was researching Dan’s question, I also discovered other emerging serology techniques that will soon help crack whodunnit cases wide open. Researchers at the University at Albany have, in addition to determining TSD, been able to determine the approximate age of the blood’s originator using the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as a marker. These researchers are working on creating a real-time CSI kit that will one day provide approximate suspect age, and even gender, without the need for a Crime Lab!
I also discovered that researchers at the Department of Pharmacy and Forensic Science at King’s College London have used
machine learning via artificial neural networks to crunch DNA data (I am WAY oversimplifying here), to improve age estimations of DNA originators. These researchers have been able to estimate the age of a person, based on their DNA sample, to within a 3.8 year accuracy!
STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES: LINING UP YOUR CLUES Heather posted a comment about the troubles of lining up and following the clues within her story. Here’s what I had to say: ​
I wish I had writing advice for you, but alas, that is not my expertise. I can, however, offer some advice on how we really work cases…which may help you fill in the outline of your story. We all obviously understand that the goal of your investigator (likely your protagonist) is to find the truth of the matter: what exactly occurred (determine the crimes), who was responsible (who to arrest and prosecute), why it happened (motive), etc. HOW a Detective goes about that is by forming a timeline of what happened, based on the totality of the knowledge at hand. This means every interview, every piece of evidence discovered and analyzed, the data dumps from cell phone search warrants, the time stamp on video surveillance, -all of it- is plotted on a giant time line. I mean this literally. We have a “war-room” (a conference room with a lockable door) in our Detective Bureau that we use during active homicide investigations, where a time-line is drawn on a white-board. (There is also a task-list that shows what task each detective has been assigned and whether it’s been completed.) As new facts are discovered, they are plotted on the timeline board for everyone working the case to see at a glance. Obviously, this dry-erase board drawing isn’t the formal document – all of that is done via the written word in dozens or even hundreds of reports and a Crime Analyst will likely create a formal visualization of the timeline as a document. But you get the idea. That timeline often starts with the first 9-1-1 call that notified us of the crime. My goal, as a Detective, is to fill that timeline in. By doing so, it will paint the full picture of the crime and not only point to who is responsible, it will also show alibi factors for other suspects/conspirators/accessories/witnesses at a glance. It will also help us spot inconsistencies in stories quickly. I’d suggest Authors try working this process BACKWARD. Since you’re the omnicient storyteller (sorry, Pantsers…this may be tough if you can’t stand planning out your stories), I’d start with creating the entire timeline of the events leading up to the crime, the commission of the crime, and then what happens after the crime in chronological order. This is all reference material for you to use as you create the story. Your story, most likely, won’t start at the beginning of your Omnicient Timeline. It will probably start with the inciting incident of either the commission of the crime, or the discovery of the crime. From there, your story will be about the order in which the earlier bits of the timeline are discovered by the Detective. Does the Coroner/ME provide a time of death window? Plot it on the time-line. When was the victim last seen alive? Plot it. When was the last phone call made by the victim? Plot it. When was the last ATM/Credit Card use by the victim? Plot it. Sooner or later, the window of unknowns on the timeline starts to narrow…allowing your Detectives to gain some insight into where the case is heading. Obviously, take this advice with a grain of salt…being as I have not been in your chair as the author (tip of the hat in respect, BTW). However, I hope some explanation of how real investigations happen may help you form your own way of having characters discover the clues/events in your own story. I hope this helps, -Adam
WRITING TOOLS: Scrivener 3* My favorite writing software got a long awaited update today! I know many of you already use Scrivener to compile your research, characters, scenes, and drafts. Today, Literature & Latte released Scrivener 3!*  The look is still very much what you are used to seeing in Scrivener 2, but updated with more modern appearance, and they have added some great new functionality. Best of all, if you are upgrading from Scrivener 2, you will get a $20 discount (making Scrivener 3 only $25.) As always, L&L still offers a 30-day trial of Scrivener…and that’s an actual 30-days of use, not thirty calendar days.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you purchased Scrivener 2 through Apple’s Mac App Store (instead of the Literature & Latte website), you need to send a copy of your App Store proof of purchase to: [email protected] If you are even considering upgrading to Scrivener 3 and you bought v2 from the App Store, send your discount request in NOW. They are sending out Discount Codes in the order they are received. I sent my receipt in early (yesterday, before the v3 release today) and I received my discount code mid-afternoon today. I forwarded the email I received from iTunes when I purchased v2 back in 2015. If you are better at clearing out your inbox than I am, you may have to request a copy of your receipt from Apple by going to: http://ift.tt/2anigg0
WRITING TOOLS: Free Training for Scrivener 3* Gwen Hernandez at ScrivenerClasses.com offers online courses for learning Scrivener. She just created a FREE mini course for those of us upgrading from Scrivener 2 to Scrivener 3. It’s called Jump into Scrivener 3: Your transition guide for Mac. Even if you just want to see a few videos on what the new version looks like, it’s worth checking out. You don’t need to provide any info to view the mini course.
  Serology, Murder Timeline, and Scrivener 3 syndicated from detectiveserviceblog.wordpress.com
0 notes
harolddetective · 6 years
Text
Serology, Murder Timeline, and Scrivener 3
November 20, 2017
This week in the WRITERSDETECTIVE Q&A forum on Facebook had some great questions and discussion that I wanted to expand upon:
STORY SCIENCE: Serology Dan asked a great question about blood on clothing, and whether modern Forensic Science could determine how long the droplet of blood had been there. Terri quickly found a link on chemistryviews.org that revealed researchers have developed a laser-based technology, called Raman Spectroscopy, that can determine Time Since Deposit (TSD) if the blood stain is less than two years old. This is a pretty exciting and promising technology. The most important passage in this article is in paragraph four, “At the moment, crime scene investigators have no single validated approach to determine when a blood stain might have been deposited.”
I would take that to mean it will be possible to use in Court in the very near future. The term Forensic Science literally means Science applied to Law. So while the technology is here (or nearly here), we have to wait for the Courts/Attorneys to argue its acceptance into law. This is what delays its admissibility in Court.
So if you want to include Raman Spectroscopy into your own story, your investigators should realize that this cutting edge technology can point them in the right direction, but it will be a hard fought battle in Court to prove the science behind it admissible.
This study of TSD has been pursued for a while now. I found this article from 2011 about TSD on WritersForensicsBlog.com, which is another site you should definitely bookmark for all things CSI-writing related!
As I suggested to Dan in the Q&A: Whenever you find a particular research area you want to delve into, especially emerging sciences, don’t be afraid to send an email to the scientists behind these discoveries. Many people in science are happy to share knowledge when someone outside of the science community shows an interest…especially when it may end up in a book!
STORY SCIENCE: Serology Part II As I was researching Dan’s question, I also discovered other emerging serology techniques that will soon help crack whodunnit cases wide open. Researchers at the University at Albany have, in addition to determining TSD, been able to determine the approximate age of the blood’s originator using the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as a marker. These researchers are working on creating a real-time CSI kit that will one day provide approximate suspect age, and even gender, without the need for a Crime Lab!
I also discovered that researchers at the Department of Pharmacy and Forensic Science at King’s College London have used
machine learning via artificial neural networks to crunch DNA data (I am WAY oversimplifying here), to improve age estimations of DNA originators. These researchers have been able to estimate the age of a person, based on their DNA sample, to within a 3.8 year accuracy!
STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES: LINING UP YOUR CLUES Heather posted a comment about the troubles of lining up and following the clues within her story. Here’s what I had to say: ​
I wish I had writing advice for you, but alas, that is not my expertise. I can, however, offer some advice on how we really work cases…which may help you fill in the outline of your story. We all obviously understand that the goal of your investigator (likely your protagonist) is to find the truth of the matter: what exactly occurred (determine the crimes), who was responsible (who to arrest and prosecute), why it happened (motive), etc. HOW a Detective goes about that is by forming a timeline of what happened, based on the totality of the knowledge at hand. This means every interview, every piece of evidence discovered and analyzed, the data dumps from cell phone search warrants, the time stamp on video surveillance, -all of it- is plotted on a giant time line. I mean this literally. We have a “war-room” (a conference room with a lockable door) in our Detective Bureau that we use during active homicide investigations, where a time-line is drawn on a white-board. (There is also a task-list that shows what task each detective has been assigned and whether it’s been completed.) As new facts are discovered, they are plotted on the timeline board for everyone working the case to see at a glance. Obviously, this dry-erase board drawing isn’t the formal document – all of that is done via the written word in dozens or even hundreds of reports and a Crime Analyst will likely create a formal visualization of the timeline as a document. But you get the idea. That timeline often starts with the first 9-1-1 call that notified us of the crime. My goal, as a Detective, is to fill that timeline in. By doing so, it will paint the full picture of the crime and not only point to who is responsible, it will also show alibi factors for other suspects/conspirators/accessories/witnesses at a glance. It will also help us spot inconsistencies in stories quickly. I’d suggest Authors try working this process BACKWARD. Since you’re the omnicient storyteller (sorry, Pantsers…this may be tough if you can’t stand planning out your stories), I’d start with creating the entire timeline of the events leading up to the crime, the commission of the crime, and then what happens after the crime in chronological order. This is all reference material for you to use as you create the story. Your story, most likely, won’t start at the beginning of your Omnicient Timeline. It will probably start with the inciting incident of either the commission of the crime, or the discovery of the crime. From there, your story will be about the order in which the earlier bits of the timeline are discovered by the Detective. Does the Coroner/ME provide a time of death window? Plot it on the time-line. When was the victim last seen alive? Plot it. When was the last phone call made by the victim? Plot it. When was the last ATM/Credit Card use by the victim? Plot it. Sooner or later, the window of unknowns on the timeline starts to narrow…allowing your Detectives to gain some insight into where the case is heading. Obviously, take this advice with a grain of salt…being as I have not been in your chair as the author (tip of the hat in respect, BTW). However, I hope some explanation of how real investigations happen may help you form your own way of having characters discover the clues/events in your own story. I hope this helps, -Adam
WRITING TOOLS: Scrivener 3* My favorite writing software got a long awaited update today! I know many of you already use Scrivener to compile your research, characters, scenes, and drafts. Today, Literature & Latte released Scrivener 3!*  The look is still very much what you are used to seeing in Scrivener 2, but updated with more modern appearance, and they have added some great new functionality. Best of all, if you are upgrading from Scrivener 2, you will get a $20 discount (making Scrivener 3 only $25.) As always, L&L still offers a 30-day trial of Scrivener…and that’s an actual 30-days of use, not thirty calendar days.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you purchased Scrivener 2 through Apple’s Mac App Store (instead of the Literature & Latte website), you need to send a copy of your App Store proof of purchase to: [email protected] If you are even considering upgrading to Scrivener 3 and you bought v2 from the App Store, send your discount request in NOW. They are sending out Discount Codes in the order they are received. I sent my receipt in early (yesterday, before the v3 release today) and I received my discount code mid-afternoon today. I forwarded the email I received from iTunes when I purchased v2 back in 2015. If you are better at clearing out your inbox than I am, you may have to request a copy of your receipt from Apple by going to: http://ift.tt/2anigg0
WRITING TOOLS: Free Training for Scrivener 3* Gwen Hernandez at ScrivenerClasses.com offers online courses for learning Scrivener. She just created a FREE mini course for those of us upgrading from Scrivener 2 to Scrivener 3. It’s called Jump into Scrivener 3: Your transition guide for Mac. Even if you just want to see a few videos on what the new version looks like, it’s worth checking out. You don’t need to provide any info to view the mini course.
  Serology, Murder Timeline, and Scrivener 3 syndicated from http://ift.tt/2k7p7z2
0 notes
shadowfollowweb · 6 years
Text
Serology, Murder Timeline, and Scrivener 3
November 20, 2017
This week in the WRITERSDETECTIVE Q&A forum on Facebook had some great questions and discussion that I wanted to expand upon:
STORY SCIENCE: Serology Dan asked a great question about blood on clothing, and whether modern Forensic Science could determine how long the droplet of blood had been there. Terri quickly found a link on chemistryviews.org that revealed researchers have developed a laser-based technology, called Raman Spectroscopy, that can determine Time Since Deposit (TSD) if the blood stain is less than two years old. This is a pretty exciting and promising technology. The most important passage in this article is in paragraph four, "At the moment, crime scene investigators have no single validated approach to determine when a blood stain might have been deposited." I would take that to mean it will be possible to use in Court in the very near future. The term Forensic Science literally means Science applied to Law. So while the technology is here (or nearly here), we have to wait for the Courts/Attorneys to argue its acceptance into law. This is what delays its admissibility in Court. So if you want to include Raman Spectroscopy into your own story, your investigators should realize that this cutting edge technology can point them in the right direction, but it will be a hard fought battle in Court to prove the science behind it admissible. This study of TSD has been pursued for a while now. I found this article from 2011 about TSD on WritersForensicsBlog.com, which is another site you should definitely bookmark for all things CSI-writing related! As I suggested to Dan in the Q&A: Whenever you find a particular research area you want to delve into, especially emerging sciences, don't be afraid to send an email to the scientists behind these discoveries. Many people in science are happy to share knowledge when someone outside of the science community shows an interest...especially when it may end up in a book!
STORY SCIENCE: Serology Part II As I was researching Dan's question, I also discovered other emerging serology techniques that will soon help crack whodunnit cases wide open. Researchers at the University at Albany have, in addition to determining TSD, been able to determine the approximate age of the blood's originator using the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as a marker. These researchers are working on creating a real-time CSI kit that will one day provide approximate suspect age, and even gender, without the need for a Crime Lab! I also discovered that researchers at the Department of Pharmacy and Forensic Science at King's College London have used machine learning via artificial neural networks to crunch DNA data (I am WAY oversimplifying here), to improve age estimations of DNA originators. These researchers have been able to estimate the age of a person, based on their DNA sample, to within a 3.8 year accuracy!
STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES: LINING UP YOUR CLUES Heather posted a comment about the troubles of lining up and following the clues within her story. Here’s what I had to say: ​
I wish I had writing advice for you, but alas, that is not my expertise. I can, however, offer some advice on how we really work cases...which may help you fill in the outline of your story. We all obviously understand that the goal of your investigator (likely your protagonist) is to find the truth of the matter: what exactly occurred (determine the crimes), who was responsible (who to arrest and prosecute), why it happened (motive), etc. HOW a Detective goes about that is by forming a timeline of what happened, based on the totality of the knowledge at hand. This means every interview, every piece of evidence discovered and analyzed, the data dumps from cell phone search warrants, the time stamp on video surveillance, -all of it- is plotted on a giant time line. I mean this literally. We have a "war-room" (a conference room with a lockable door) in our Detective Bureau that we use during active homicide investigations, where a time-line is drawn on a white-board. (There is also a task-list that shows what task each detective has been assigned and whether it's been completed.) As new facts are discovered, they are plotted on the timeline board for everyone working the case to see at a glance. Obviously, this dry-erase board drawing isn't the formal document - all of that is done via the written word in dozens or even hundreds of reports and a Crime Analyst will likely create a formal visualization of the timeline as a document. But you get the idea. That timeline often starts with the first 9-1-1 call that notified us of the crime. My goal, as a Detective, is to fill that timeline in. By doing so, it will paint the full picture of the crime and not only point to who is responsible, it will also show alibi factors for other suspects/conspirators/accessories/witnesses at a glance. It will also help us spot inconsistencies in stories quickly. I'd suggest Authors try working this process BACKWARD. Since you're the omnicient storyteller (sorry, Pantsers...this may be tough if you can't stand planning out your stories), I'd start with creating the entire timeline of the events leading up to the crime, the commission of the crime, and then what happens after the crime in chronological order. This is all reference material for you to use as you create the story. Your story, most likely, won't start at the beginning of your Omnicient Timeline. It will probably start with the inciting incident of either the commission of the crime, or the discovery of the crime. From there, your story will be about the order in which the earlier bits of the timeline are discovered by the Detective. Does the Coroner/ME provide a time of death window? Plot it on the time-line. When was the victim last seen alive? Plot it. When was the last phone call made by the victim? Plot it. When was the last ATM/Credit Card use by the victim? Plot it. Sooner or later, the window of unknowns on the timeline starts to narrow...allowing your Detectives to gain some insight into where the case is heading. Obviously, take this advice with a grain of salt...being as I have not been in your chair as the author (tip of the hat in respect, BTW). However, I hope some explanation of how real investigations happen may help you form your own way of having characters discover the clues/events in your own story. I hope this helps, -Adam
WRITING TOOLS: Scrivener 3* My favorite writing software got a long awaited update today! I know many of you already use Scrivener to compile your research, characters, scenes, and drafts. Today, Literature & Latte released Scrivener 3!*  The look is still very much what you are used to seeing in Scrivener 2, but updated with more modern appearance, and they have added some great new functionality. Best of all, if you are upgrading from Scrivener 2, you will get a $20 discount (making Scrivener 3 only $25.) As always, L&L still offers a 30-day trial of Scrivener...and that's an actual 30-days of use, not thirty calendar days. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you purchased Scrivener 2 through Apple's Mac App Store (instead of the Literature & Latte website), you need to send a copy of your App Store proof of purchase to: [email protected] If you are even considering upgrading to Scrivener 3 and you bought v2 from the App Store, send your discount request in NOW. They are sending out Discount Codes in the order they are received. I sent my receipt in early (yesterday, before the v3 release today) and I received my discount code mid-afternoon today. I forwarded the email I received from iTunes when I purchased v2 back in 2015. If you are better at clearing out your inbox than I am, you may have to request a copy of your receipt from Apple by going to: http://ift.tt/2anigg0
WRITING TOOLS: Free Training for Scrivener 3* Gwen Hernandez at ScrivenerClasses.com offers online courses for learning Scrivener. She just created a FREE mini course for those of us upgrading from Scrivener 2 to Scrivener 3. It's called Jump into Scrivener 3: Your transition guide for Mac. Even if you just want to see a few videos on what the new version looks like, it's worth checking out. You don't need to provide any info to view the mini course.
  Serology, Murder Timeline, and Scrivener 3 published first on http://ift.tt/2pFdZxI
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