Is this idea too silly?

[Naruzeldamaster]

Ok, so, in a game I love to death, one of the characters introduce themselves as "random symbols" and then state that this may be hard to pronounce in human language, and that they could be called "Geno" if we like.

This character named Geno, gives us the main mission of the game, and states that he works for a 'higher power' in the world. And that's, basically all the lore we get on him (besides the plot of the game I mean). He's a weirdly serious lore character in a franchise that is known for not taking it's lore/universe too serious.

I was thinking of doing something similar.
Like the gods have their own language in my story, but that language is (you are about to roll your eyes) wingding font. When that language is translated through a wingdings translator, it actually does say stuff, but very rarely is it super important. (the times where it is, the important information will be 'translated' for the mortal characters so they can understand it)

Do note that I don't plan to use this idea often in the story, unless I want to communicate a plot element to the reader without informing the in universe characters about it.
But even then, I plan to use it VERY sparingly. I am not sure how much I could do it without it becoming annoying though.

Just to note: the gods do have proper names (I'm cheating and using Poseidon as the god of water/life for now) but when they introduce themselves to mortals they do the similar thing.

Another note: this story is a comedy/lighthearted adventure, and unless the situation calls for not doing so, the characters have small moments of 'not following the script' as it were. I probably wouldn't consider this if it was a more serious story in tone.

 

[Finchbearer]

Use pig Latin

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Use pig Latin

Hmm, maybe, not entirely sure though.
Maybe I can use pig latin for the other stuff and when they introduce themselves I can do the symbols the first time they say their name?

 

[pmmg]

Reminds me of katamari damancy


With comedy, I think you can get away with stuff like this, but the comedy still has to fly.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Reminds me of katamari damancy


With comedy, I think you can get away with stuff like this, but the comedy still has to fly.

Yeah, the general tone/atmosphere is similar to monty python type stories. (though a bit more serious when the situation calls for it) so I think it can work? I just gotta be careful about how frequently I use the actual font.

One of the jokes I'm planning on using is that the Goddess of Time/Space (basically the overlord of the universe) is literally named Deus Ex. And her younger 'sibling' the 'head' god I've mentioned in other threads is named Machina. (she's named this as part of an obvious joke, but also because her machinations actually cause Deus Ex machina moments to happen in the story, even if by accident) Both of them use wingdings font to tell others their names at first, but they settle for the human language version.

 

[Finchbearer]

If you’re using Wingdings you could use Lucida in conjunction with it - as how it was intended.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

If you’re using Wingdings you could use Lucida in conjunction with it - as how it was intended.

hmm Lucida? TBH I was only planning on using the wingdings even for the 'god' language (most of the gods speak 'mortal' tongue but the two 'big wig' gods I mention in my previous post use 'god' language occasionally cause they don't interact with mortals let alone the other gods much)

 

[pmmg]

One thing to consider when using different fonts is that other computers have to have the font set to display them. Wingdings is a windows font. It might not be in apple or linux or other systems.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

One thing to consider when using different fonts is that other computers have to have the font set to display them. Wingdings is a windows font. It might not be in apple or linux or other systems.

hmm, are there any 'symbols' fonts that apple/linux has that also work for windows? I only thought of wingdings cause it's the only one I knew from memory.

 

[pmmg]

Most systems come with a large number of fonts preinstalled, but some companies own specific fonts. There are thousands of fonts available on the internet.

Any computer that has the font installed can display it, but it cannot display any font that is not installed (thats when you get things like a lot of square boxes).

Wingdings is owned by Microsoft. It may be on apple, or linux, or it may not. Even if it is, it may not be the current version Windows is using in 2023.


Some are pretty universal. TNR, Arial, Garamond, Trebuchet...

Some are not. You can find and download Tengwar to your PC, and like magic, you can write Elvin symbols just like Tolkein, but...no one else will be able to display them.

When you go to print, like in an PDF, or on a printer, the Font becomes embedded, so it will show, but if it is being read off the screen, the viewers PC needs to have the font to show.

I dont know whats standard for Apple, and Linux has like a 100 different variants. I do know, Wingdings is owned by Microsoft. They may not share it easily.

 

[JBCrowson]

Reminds me of katamari damancy


With comedy, I think you can get away with stuff like this, but the comedy still has to fly.

It works in the Asterix books - the goths and I think other groups get their own font.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

It works in the Asterix books - the goths and I think other groups get their own font.

interesting, kinda curious what the story of these books is. like is it a comedy or ?

 

[Prince of Spires]

interesting, kinda curious what the story of these books is. like is it a comedy or ?

Asterix is a comic book series. Which is why it works. It's a very visual medium. And yes, it's comedy.

It also works in discworld, where Death (who is a recurring character) always speaks in capital letters LIKE THIS. Also comedy.

On the other hand, it also works in Lord of the Rings, where Elvish script has it's own letters (2 different sets of them even). Not comedy at all. It depends on how you treat it and how often it occurs in the book if it works as comedy or not.

 

[CupofJoe]

Asterix is a comic book series. Which is why it works. It's a very visual medium. And yes, it's comedy.

It also works in discworld, where Death (who is a recurring character) always speaks in capital letters LIKE THIS. Also comedy.

On the other hand, it also works in Lord of the Rings, where Elvish script has it's own letters (2 different sets of them even). Not comedy at all. It depends on how you treat it and how often it occurs in the book if it works as comedy or not.

There had to be a web page for it...
Typography of Asterix

 

[pmmg]

Just want to say, i think my wrong post was quoted, but i never said it didn't work. And the things i did say are still true. Odd fonts add a complication. In digital media, they may not show up. Or…they may be reverted back to a default. They are less likely to have issues in printed media, but it can still arise.

 

[BrittleBones]

Perhaps minimally applicable in this situation, but writing a visual novel is a great way to play around with things like this. If you have the rights to download a font and pack it into the game, you can use whatever sort of script you want. You don't need to worry about it not being supported as it's a direct part of the code.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Perhaps minimally applicable in this situation, but writing a visual novel is a great way to play around with things like this. If you have the rights to download a font and pack it into the game, you can use whatever sort of script you want. You don't need to worry about it not being supported as it's a direct part of the code.

I was thinking of making it a visual novel at some point yeah.
But I need to write the story itself first. Then when I do the actual visual novel, I can add the more visual novel-y type stuff to the story (like multiple routes for a conversation with a particular character etc) I have a feeling that having the bulk of the story.

 

[pmmg]

Just a small follow up, The words you are looking for in using non-standard fonts, are Commercial Use License, and embedding. Some fonts are not free for the taking, and embedding fonts into a PDF (for instance) is a way to get the font to show, even if a remote users machine does not have it.

Tengwar, which is the font used by Tolkien for Elves, is both licensed, and would not show on another's screen without embedding it, as it is not included as a font on any recognizable operating system.

One way around this, might be to use pictures of the text (like if I took a screen shot of it), then they would just show as any other image does, but it very hard to work with in that way.

 

[ReJaymes]

it actually does say stuff, but very rarely is it super important. (the times where it is, the important information will be 'translated' for the mortal characters so they can understand it)

Personally, I don't think it matters what font you use as long as it isn't initially translated. When in doubt, you can make a note to the viewer/reader about it so no one gets caught up on it. It's not silly since overall, its importance is minimal. You can always just acknowledge it as the language of the gods on the off-hand for context and future occurrences.

 

[BiggusBeardus]

I don't think it's silly if you are writing comedy.

Are you planning on using it literally as a font in your book? If so, be careful not to over do it and confuse the readers. Like writing in a dialect and actually spell things phonetically in the dialect instead of using real language. Or using a completely made up language. I mean, some authors have made it work, but I hate it, both in what I read and my own writing.