Quinneapolis
Let's go on a journey about doing research when writing novels
Quinneapolis
There's a novelist by the name of John Boyne
Quinneapolis
and don't worry, it's okay to make fun of him, he wrote a whole book about "the holocaust was sad for the GERMANS too why doesn't anyone talk about THAT"
Quinneapolis
but someone was reading one of his books, a serious historical drama
Snowdrops ﾐ☆
oh good I feel instantly less bad
Quinneapolis
and they noticed this passage
and they noticed this passage
Quinneapolis
inexplicable reference to red lizalfos and hylian shrooms
Quinneapolis
is it an easter egg? a zelda homage?
Quinneapolis
not exactly
Quinneapolis
Quinneapolis
dude just googled "red dye ingredients" and didn't look at the source
Quinneapolis
then put it in the book
dragon time
Oh my god
ғᴏxʏᴍᴏʀᴏɴ
holy shit
dragon time
This dumb butt head didn't even do a follow up to see if any of these were poisonous
dragon time
Even if they were not fictional???
Lightning Bolt
proof that you can get anything by the editors if you stick it in with enough confidence
skerple
"but almost all required nightshade, sapphire, keese wing, the leaves of the silent princess plant, Octorok eyeball, swift violet, thistle, and hightail lizard."
dragon time
Also he just put them ALL in there
dragon time
> sapphire
Lightning Bolt
that also implies he clicked through to the article to see what the red-specific ingredients were and still didn't realize anything wrong
dragon time
"Spicy pepper"
dragon time
U know what a spicy pepper is
dragon time
An odorless, tasteless poison
dragon time
The
dragon time
Spicy
dragon time
Pepper
dragon time
Undetectable to the nose
skerple
right, because when I think of peppers, "undetectable" is the first adjective that comes to MY mind
skerple
man I can't even walk by the peppers in some stores because the smell is so pungent
Quinneapolis
this guy also had characters wearing kimonos in china and having spanish names in pre-spanish argentina
dragon time
This guy doesn't know what a video game OR a pepper is
Quinneapolis
so like... this seems right
RobotApocalypse
wow.
RobotApocalypse
wow.
Echo
Fucking incredible.
oh i'm scary
oh dear god
Niamh Vibes
this is stunning levels of an inability to research
RobotApocalypse
obsessively researching whatever minor detail you need to know is such a key aspect of being a writer that a failure on this level is truly staggering
skerple
it's especially stunning because like
skerple
not only did he have to click through to that article and note all the dye ingredients while somehow never noticing that half of them were not real things or that they were from a video game
skerple
but "what dye ingredients would my dressmaker character have available to make an effective poison?" is a question so interesting I can't imagine losing less than an afternoon to researching it
skerple
how the fuck can you be that incurious, and yet also a writer
RobotApocalypse
right?????
RobotApocalypse
poison research in general can easily lose you a whole afternoon
skerple
right, it's an endlessly fascinating subject
skerple
this is "I have approximate knowledge of many things" as a research method
Niamh Vibes
literally sent this to my girlfriend and watched her vanish for fifteen minutes in dye research
Niamh Vibes
look at how easy this is
look at how easy this is
Niamh Vibes
literally just add one word
RobotApocalypse
incredible
skerple
COCHINEAL
skerple
cochineal alone is such an interesting topic my god I could go off it's so cool
Vehrec
unfortunately Cochineal, while made from bugs, is non-toxic and is actually food-safe.
Vehrec
so our dye-maker character can't poison anyone with it.
skerple
lmao yeah
skerple
I think it's actually still in use as red food coloring even
thetaClysm
John Boyne 📚 on Twitter
dude saw the thread
dragon time
Ok this is probably the best possible response to have
dragon time
"WELP you have me there"
kamikasei
Yeah this dude is a real dipshit and it's disappointing to see that a bunch of people will now think of him as the cute Zelda oopsie guy