Shapeless Knave / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page Shapeless Knave.

Yorick1 06 Jun 2020 16:46

I couldn't help noticing when I translated this article that it looks quite similar to Agent Hat created by carabina30 in 2017.

I'm not implying that there was any kind of plagiarism but it's just that they are quite similar and eventually someone was going to notice it.

Honestly the concept of humanoid shadows is not new, but the fact that they are both used for murder, they both wear hats, and they are both members of a tactical team worries me a bit.

Meta Wonderrat 06 Jun 2020 23:24

I think I can ease your concerns. Maybe they are both members of the same species or maybe they are completely unrelated. This could be a case of convergent evolution (of the species or respective articles). Hats are not unique and were developed across cultures independently (my characters also ware hats (and are arguably incorporeal)). Not being hindered by corporal barriers and working for the Insurgency almost predestines one to be a killer. I am usually not fond of using such abilities in such a primitive way, but I always had strange ideas on what to do with anomalous powers. Lastly, tactical teams are just the natural place for an agent like this to end up. Most of our agents don't work solo.

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Fighting Monsters and Language since 2016.

Last edited on 06 Jun 2020 23:34 by Meta Wonderrat Show more

ScaledDatura 07 Jun 2020 04:53

Honestly, I had no idea that this article existed. I gave it a read through google translate and I'm shocked by the similarities. I don't necessarily think that the fact that they kill people, work as part of a team, and that they wear hats is the freaky part. As meta says, killing is pretty much in the CI job description. And teams are just a good idea when on majority operations. The main reason he's in a hat is because I didn't want him bald and I couldn't figure out a good hair design.

The parts that I find uncanny are these (Keep in mind that this is just through google translate, so I could be wrong on the meaning)

tends to play some pranks or harass new Base-7 personnel

and

Maintenance Required / Armament : Combat knives.

The reason I had the Knave as a prankster was to enforce the childish factor of him. My intention was to have him a fairly young member of his species. Hence why he looks like a teenager in total darkness.

As for the knife part, I figured that if he interacts with shadows, aiming a gun with accuracy might prove difficult.

If any part of this still bugs you, list your terms and I'll see if I can change the article while still keeping the concept of what I was going for.

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Regal blood and autumn leaves provide enough color for me

Last edited on 07 Jun 2020 04:54 by ScaledDatura Show more

Yorick1 08 Jun 2020 01:18

Thanks for answering. At the moment it does not seem that anyone has a problem on this side. The original author has not been back in a while, so there is a chance we could rewrite him - as well as many other agents. This would be done to avoid similarities and to separate it from a widely used trope.

In any case, as I said before, killer shadows are too common in this type of fiction (The Foundation practically has at least three SCPs that are man-eating shadows).

So no problem for now. I will keep you informed of anything that comes up in the future.

DrCaduceus 08 Jun 2020 14:22

Critique

When armed, it is important to stay aware of floating objects.

You'd want to clarify what this means. Who should be aware of the floating objects and what would be the reason for this precaution?

Shapeless Knave has proven efficient in stealth operations and as a scout in standoffs.

I don't think standoff is an acceptably clear term in a report. Maybe these words are more accurate to what you meant: encounter, engagement, skirmish.

The eyes and a mouth are generally still showing, despite it not being possible on a normal shadow.

Very good detail if you can clarify it further. Are there breaks in its shadow that are shaped like facial features? Are they lit anomalously or using present light sources?

The item is also able to shrink its size beyond the scope of the human eye

The phrasing of "beyond the scope of the human eye" is a tad awkward. A reader can understand you mean that the shadow can shrink to a size undetectable to the naked eye eventually, but I advise making it clearer.

This has proven to be useful on reconnaissance missions, of which, the item has carried out seven.

While usage depends on how long the Item has been in the Arsenal and other circumstances, seven may be a bit too low of a number to be notable enough to include in a report. You might want to remove this detail.

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Send Message | Regeneration's a lottery.

Wyatt3D 26 Jul 2020 16:32

A few of my friend's are fans of the show JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and they were urging me to draft up a Stand for their fan fiction comic thing. The Stand I came up with was essentially this, but a physical manifestation of the expelled darkness within a Taoist practitioner who'd accomplished enlightenment after a life of torment and mischief. Peeved that I was beaten to this, but I really enjoyed it.

+1

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ScaledDatura 06 Oct 2020 20:24

Damn, I didn't realize there were so many typos when I posted this.

Baron, do you mind if I ask what the typo you corrected was?

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Regal blood and autumn leaves provide enough color for me

Baronjoe 07 Oct 2020 07:14

In the last addendum, it stated Knave wants to go to Maine for "nostalgic proposes" when it obviously meant purposes instead of proposes. That, I corrected.