Wording

[Bramblethorn]

Oddly, not the first time I've seen megalodons used as a metaphor for desire:



[couple of pages of conversation snipped]


(Courtney Milan, "The Devil Comes Courting".)

It works there, partly because Milan spends several pages making it work; it's part of Amelia's characterisation, and the different ways her mother and the Ship's Captain (whose name she's forgotten) react to her megalodon fascination help establish theirs.

I don't think it would work well as a throwaway line, though. Something like that needs to be developed or left on the shelf.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's my takeaway from this conversation.

 

[intim8]

Would it be too far over the line, in the case of a man enchanted by a succubus, to describe him as having ‘megalodonic’ lust?

It's an exaggerated term, and an analogy that doesn't really work. So the question is, do those two things fit the tone of the story?

I just finished up a story where the characters and the narrator use and think in terms that are often rightlly ridiculed here for being juvenile and crass euphemisms. But the characters are young and crass, and the MC is a shallow jerk, so they fit.

 

[SimonDoom]

Okay, that’s a nonstarter and thanks for the feedback. My original thought was that the demon had been teasing him until his lust was huge, hungry and unstoppable, hence the major carnivore.

Appreciate the comments.

tp

Good call.

 

[SimonDoom]

Oddly, not the first time I've seen megalodons used as a metaphor for desire:

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[couple of pages of conversation snipped]
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(Courtney Milan, "The Devil Comes Courting".)

It works there, partly because Milan spends several pages making it work; it's part of Amelia's characterisation, and the different ways her mother and the Ship's Captain (whose name she's forgotten) react to her megalodon fascination help establish theirs.

I don't think it would work well as a throwaway line, though. Something like that needs to be developed or left on the shelf.

Let's amend the answer to TPs question: the use is OK if the character is a marine paleontologist.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Let's amend the answer to TPs question: the use is OK if the character is a marine paleontologist.

Oh, Amelia's not a paleontologist; the megalodons are just a hobby. She's more of a telecommunications engineer, waiting for that term to be invented. At that point in the story, Captain Amelia-Has-Forgotten-His-Name is trying to persuade her that she'd have more fun inventing a Chinese-language equivalent to Morse code than hanging around for the marriage her mother is planning for her.

 

[SimonDoom]

the megalodons are just a hobby.

You do realize how funny that sounds, right?

That's two exceptions: either you're a marine paleontologist, or megaladons are "just a hobby" for you. In either case, you get to use "megaladonic."

 

[ElectricBlue]

You do realize how funny that sounds, right?

That's two exceptions: either you're a marine paleontologist, or megaladons are "just a hobby" for you. In either case, you get to use "megaladonic."

@Bramblethorn is always reliable for pointing out things that otherwise remain hidden, AND providing robust documentation to prove it. Bramble is the Lit equivalent of Wikipedia.

 

[SimonDoom]

@Bramblethorn is always reliable for pointing out things that otherwise remain hidden, AND providing robust documentation to prove it. Bramble is the Lit equivalent of Wikipedia.

But funnier.

 

[Bramblethorn]

But funnier.

OTOH:

 

[SimonDoom]

OTOH:

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Fess up. You're the one that submitted that change.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I think you could perhaps use it to describe appetite. A megalodonic hunger.