our own Turkey city list

[Kveto from Prague]

our own Turkey city.

Last month annis pointed out the wonderful turkey city list.
The Turkey City Lexicon
http://www.otherworlds.net/turkey.htm

I was thinking of a few to add and thought it might be fun (all in fun of course) to have our own list for HF. Feel free to add to the list or modify mine as you see fit.

Here are a few of mine:


"Where's Cicero?" when a well known historical personage makes a cameo type appearance which does not advance the plot in the least. just a "hey, look who it is!" like a cameo in a film. ie could also work with a famous historical event.

thomas a beckets appearance in "pillars of the earth" felt like a cameo to me.


"Victorian Amazons " the need to make women into "warriors" even if theres no historical basis. As if there werent enough dangers for women in the past.


"Clyde Caldwell syndrome" Each character must be the best of the best of the best of what ever skill is needed. For example a sniper who can shoot the eye out of a fly from another country. You never find a character who is, say, just recently qualified in sucba diving.


"Missed her by that much" A very annoying tension builder in some HF where just before a female character is about to be raped (or ravished) she is saved by the hero and/or she knocks the villain out. Usually it is when the dastardly villain is positioned to do the deflowering. A very cheap tactic for building tension.

In the novel "Taras Song" theres a scene where just before a viking is about to "violate" the heroine she conks him on the head with a frying pan, killing him. From what was presumably a very difficult position. Then she jigges his dead body as it lies on top of her so his fellows think hes alive and "performing".


"CSI Constantinople" mostly in historical mysteries, when the protagonist uses ridiculously modern techniques to solve a mystery.

Brother Cafdel picks up the knife and says "Hmm, the patterns of blood on the handle look remarkably similar to the patterns that are on the tips of my fingers. Amazing!"

Rather than just applying a hot iron to a random peasant's feet till he confesses.

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

[quote=""keny from prague""]o
"Missed her by that much" A very annoying tension builder in some HF where just before a female character is about to be raped (or ravished) she is saved by the hero and/or she knocks the villain out. Usually it is when the dastardly villain is positioned to do the deflowering. A very cheap tactic for building tension.
[/quote]

Ha, Keny, one of the things I appreciated about Into the Wilderness, the current BOTM, is that things happened more 'usually' -- although tragically. She killed him afterwards, when he was off his guard urinating because she was throwing up.

But on the other hand, I help do write-ups for an organization that fights the human sexual trafficking problem, and I can tell you that when hearing these stories there is a very deep longing for some hero to show up just in the nick of time and stop it all. We have a few like that, and believe me, they make better fund-raising messages than that of the woman (teenager) that got rescued -- with her five kids -- after a decade of dehumanizing abuse in some sex-tourism brothel.

When it doesn't work out the way it 'should', people tend to put the letter down or click on to the next web page.

[LoveHistory]

Melrose Court way more sex than necessary, al a "The Tudors."

[Leo62]

[quote=""keny from prague""]"CSI Constantinople" mostly in historical mysteries, when the protagonist uses ridiculously modern techniques to solve a mystery.

Brother Cafdel picks up the knife and says "Hmm, the patterns of blood on the handle look remarkably similar to the patterns that are on the tips of my fingers. Amazing!"

Rather than just applying a hot iron to a random peasant's feet till he confesses.[/quote]

LOL I like that one Seems to be pretty prevalent at the moment, too.


I'd like to add a variant of Victorian Amazons: Feisty Female Syndrome

In which female protagonist displays anachronistic feminist tendencies and don't take no s*&^ from her man, despite living in the most rigidly patriarchal of societies.

[EC2]

Oh my goodness. I read the url and laughed. I have recently read a historical novel in a group discussion that includes just about every one of those points mentioned! Great stuff

[Kveto from Prague]

[quote=""LoveHistory""]Melrose Court way more sex than necessary, al a "The Tudors."[/quote]

good one

[Kveto from Prague]

[quote=""Leo62""]LOL I like that one Seems to be pretty prevalent at the moment, too.


I'd like to add a variant of Victorian Amazons: Feisty Female Syndrome

In which female protagonist displays anachronistic feminist tendencies and don't take no s*&^ from her man, despite living in the most rigidly patriarchal of societies.[/quote]

yeah, ive seen this one. it kinda makes you think the author thinks the olden days were just like today except with fancy dress.

[Miss Moppet]

[quote=""keny from prague""]

"Where's Cicero?" when a well known historical personage makes a cameo type appearance which does not advance the plot in the least. just a "hey, look who it is!" like a cameo in a film. ie could also work with a famous historical event.
[/quote]

This is the one which really annoys me. It takes me completely out of the story when a random historical character shows up for no reason other than that they were alive at the time the story takes place.

[Kveto from Prague]

new one

"Dude, this is like totally ancient Greece" When modern sounding language jars you right out of the narrative.

[annis]

I'm enjoying the HF additions to the Turkey City Lexicon Still seeing those turkeys everywhere I read---