1. Elhanan

    Elhanan Banned

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    What behavior could be expected of someone who can now shape shift others

    Discussion in 'Research' started by Elhanan, Jun 11, 2015.

    By others I mean "stick hand on apple tree, an orange grows out of it", or "turn a dog into a violin made of tendons". How would knowledge that one can do this affect that person?
     
  2. daemon

    daemon Contributor Contributor

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    Can this person turn an object or an animal into a human? An attractive human of the preferred sex? With no free will?
     
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  3. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    LOL :) Because, yeah... the answer to this will have a big influence on what one can expect. ;)
     
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  4. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    A person who could do that would do anything and everything to better themselves. Turn leaves into money. Turn sterling silver into gold and sell it. Make rocks turn into diamonds.

    I really hope you've thought of limitations to this power. o_O
     
  5. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    this sounds like an awesome power!
     
  6. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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    I'd be turning everything to gold. This just seems like too much of a power that would make it difficult to keep a story realistic.
     
  7. Elhanan

    Elhanan Banned

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    It has to be organic.

    The story that I am writing is not about heroes or villains. It is about an artist struggling to create. The world becomes a canvas to him.

    But I want to know how to get him from "This cat looks like a cat with a human face!" to "I am the sculptor of the world!"
     
  8. BrianIff

    BrianIff I'm so piano, a bad punctuator. Contributor

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    Usually, by historical reasoning, people with unlimited power get narcissistic and arrogant, like Nero as an extreme example. There's a psychology researcher who is gather evidence that affluent people believe that their privileges and exception from law is deserved. But I don't know if that's your angle, with a power motif.

    Eta: Just read your post, sorry.
     
  9. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    The trick here is context. Now if he is alone with this power it is very powerful. Actually the organic aspect is very powerful it means he can kill anyone by touch really. Right you don't seem to mention any limit beyond organic. Which means he could turn some ones heart into a apple and they die!

    Like Brianniff said powerful people do tend to be arrogant but we don't have context. If half the world can do this then he isn't all powerful. If half the world has powers even if different he may or may not be all powerful. So I can't really anwser without more context.
     
  10. Reilley Turner

    Reilley Turner Active Member

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    I like the power, but, to add my two cents, there needs to be some kind of limit to this. Anything really, from something minor like a "cool down" to something kind of serious like "You can only use this so many times" or something super serious, like "You can only use this so many times or you will die". I guess that was more then two cents but either way, there needs to be limits in my mind. :)
     
  11. Stacy C

    Stacy C Banned

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    Seems like it would be an example of, "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". I can't imagine any character who can do as you describe not becoming a tyrant, assuming he/she is human.
     
  12. Reilley Turner

    Reilley Turner Active Member

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    And sorry to jump off your post, but that's why I suggested limits. Unless @Elhanan you want them to become a tyrant. :)
     
  13. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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    That reminds me of an Eddie Murphy movie where he was limited to the number of words he could speak.
     
  14. Reilley Turner

    Reilley Turner Active Member

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    That movie was based on a good concept, but, in my opinion, it was poorly portrayed. But I did like this scene;

    *eddie flicks off the tree*

    *two leaves fall off*

    That was probably the best moment in the movie (to me). But if someone died from overextending themselves, that would cause them to control it.
     
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  15. Elhanan

    Elhanan Banned

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    That is precisely the point.
     
  16. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    I'd say it depends super heavily on the kind of person they already were.

    Is it someone who's always sort of secretly thought they were better / smarter / cleverer than everyone else? Man they're gonna be insufferably smug now. Immediate power trip.

    Someone who's spent their whole life thinking they're shit and they deserve shit? Maybe this is sudden self-esteem which launches them into megalomaniac territory, maybe they have a period of crushing self-doubt - "why did this happen to me, I don't deserve this, someone better than me should have this power" etc.

    Maybe they're really righteous and they decide they have to use their power for good - turning discarded, rotten old food into fresh fruit for homeless people. Maybe they're more selfish (maybe the world has been bad to them) and they decide they don't owe other people anything. Maybe they think they're going crazy for a while, they're hallucinating, they try to ignore it or they try to get help.

    I mean, it's really all up to who this character already is before they come into this power that'll inform you as to how they behave once they have it. If you already have an endgame in mind, you can work back from that - they become a tyrant drunk on power but what led them there? Was it JUST the power? Did someone wrong or betray them along the way? Were they ever a simple struggling artists but they became heartbroken and disillusioned with themselves or the world? Did they start out on top and this power was just the icing on the cake, just more kindling to the fire of their existing, natural power (eg they're rich, privileged, whatever beforehand)?
     
  17. Elhanan

    Elhanan Banned

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    Yes. This is just what I needed. 10Q.
     
  18. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    Put "izzybot said: something really smart" on my headstone. Hahah.
     
  19. Sunny1000

    Sunny1000 Member

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    If it were me and I was immature it would be shenanigans all the way.

    I imagine that if I were the only person with such power I would quickly be ostracised and if in modern society: captured and experimented on or killed.
     
  20. EmptySoul

    EmptySoul Active Member

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    In my opinion, they would become like a kid with a Lego set. Initially, they would make minor changes to things - maybe a rat that is slightly bigger or with somewhat human features. Overtime, they would experiment more and more and more to test the limits of what they could create. Eventually, they would make things and destroy their creations over and over as they became increasingly bored with any one stagnant thing. After a while, they might even start absently creating preposterous, insane creations which would get little more than yawn from them while the living things they altered would be in absolute hell.

    Damn - didn't realize OP was banned. Still it was a fun exercise.
     
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  21. Woof

    Woof Senior Member

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    You just saved me from wasting my time; I hadn't noticed either! :D
     
  22. Miss Lonelyhearts

    Miss Lonelyhearts Member

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    He would be God like.
     
  23. Geckolover

    Geckolover New Member

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    If you're looking for help with this, I'm no psychology expert, but I'd definitely read Holly Black's trilogy, The Curse Workers (the three books are White Cat, Red Glove and Black Heart.) The central character has powers very similar to what you describe, although he does not know this at the beginning of the first book- he has to discover it, and the process he goes through after this discovery may be very helpful to you. Also just a great series!
     

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