Creation Daily

[Quiver]

So... I could kind of use some feedback on a character concept.

I've been batting around an idea of a society based on musical magic. Not the most original of ideas, but I'm not an original guy.

Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to do some short stories, since I'm still batting around setting ideas; figure it out that way.

One of those ideas was... I was thinking it might be interesting to do a cliché idea; female rogue. Think Vin, I guess.

The...twist, I suppose is the best word, is that I was thinking of making her deaf. Which is where I'm running into some trouble.

I'm tying to do some research into deafness, and Deaf Culture, but I admit, I'm finding it hard to work out how to translate that onto the page. My typical stuff defaults to a lot of dialogue to keep things going...which obviously wouldn't be an option in this case.

Advice?

[Oversleep]

The cat chess descibed by Pratchett, improvisation art, LARPs, performance art/happenings and Eldritch gods sort of blended into a half-formed weird idea. I'll wait until it forms and decide what to do with it.

[Kered]

A world with no magic or mysticism, a world dedicated to swordsmanship. There will be 10 paths, a path must be mastered before moving on to the next. The 6th path and on will be shrouded in mystery, as will the knowledge to master a path. Trails of some sort will be involved, maybe a quest as well. Leaning more towards 6th order, Blood Song type trails.

There will be regular swordsmen, but Path Swordsman(even ones that have no Paths mastered) will be regarded as the "special forces" of the world. Serving as strategists, generals, battle captains, and sell swords. Leaves me a lot of room to create interesting lore about famous swordsmen and how the paths were formed, also the vague mysteries of the upper paths will be interesting to unveil. A person that masters all ten Paths will be referred to as Master of Paths, or maybe something less melodramatic. Becoming a Master of Paths will be a rare thing, and at the outset of the story their will be none. 

[Zathoth]

3 hours ago, Oversleep said:

The cat chess descibed by Pratchett, improvisation art, LARPs, performance art/happenings and Eldritch gods sort of blended into a half-formed weird idea. I'll wait until it forms and decide what to do with it.

Eldritch God of Weirdness approves, even if I have no idea what it is.

Meanwhile in Skyverea a prison break is happening. I dont know how that could be boring to write so I am obviously doing it wrong.

Oh well, soon I'll get to the interesting parts.

I had an idea for a somewhat grotesque magic system inspired by the game Severed, the comic Monstress and Pokemon. I'll just post a short thing I wrote. As goes with everything I create: don't read if you are sensitive.

Spoiler

The inductees of The Temple of Demila, The Crippled Goddess - walked down the flowery temple grounds. Around them their fellow Severed cheered on as they proudly marched, led my music played by Golems and the Priests and Priestesses.

Everyone was naked, not hiding their sacrifices on this sacred day. Everyone, above the age of 16 were missing limbs, eyes, ears, lips, noses, fingers and so on. The ones who had lost their limbs in accidents and not through the ritual had strange replacements made.

The temple grounds was made out of smooth rock that had been painted with artwork treading the lines of grotesque and beautiful, it was made out of woods and flowers grew where more orthodox art did not.

The children reached the Statue of Demila, the cheering and the festivities stopped here, replaced by a more somber and respectful kind of worship. Demila was a beautiful woman made out of marble. Sometime in ancient history her arms had been broken off and she now watched over the ones who had lost pieces of themselves.

Before Demila there was an altar made out of thick, brown wood. Contrasting it even more from the Goddess it looked new. There was thick, leather straps tied to it and buckets of water.

The first one to lay down upon this altar was a young woman of a dark complexion. She was short and slight, but muscular for her build. Her face was shifting between nervous, happy, anticipating and resolute. She was strapped to the wooden altar by large Golems. A large, muscular, armless man grunted to her "Sacrifice?"

The girl swallowed "Left arm. Take it off as high as possible" she said, sounding less nervous than she probably was.

One of the armless mans Golems tied a rope around the girls arm while the other one picked up an ax.

She did not close her eyes as the ax fell, she did not scream as the ax chopped through her flesh, she did not bleed as the Golem unstrapped her. She sat up and grabbed her left arm. She opened and closed her left hand. Good, it was still hers.

Then she knelt in front of The Crippled Goddess with her arm in front of her and went to work.

The girl did not know when she had fainted. She was lying in a soft bed, her stump burnt to prevent infection. Beside her laid a metallic doll in the shape of a girl. She tried to move her left arm and the Golem sat up awkwardly. The girl let out a cheer, it had worked, she was a Severed.

 

 

I like the feeling of this world, I should do something with it. Maybe more magic systems would be cool, all body horror XD

Edited November 20, 2016 by Zathoth

[ManWithTheMetalArm]

While I'm currently working on a sci-fi novel, I'm also working on ideas for another novel that I have in mind, set in my fantasy/steampunk world of Icarus. Surprisingly, one of things about this world I've spent the most time on are the orcs. Yeah, I know, "Orcs have been done to death." But, I'm aiming to put some life back into them by making some different ethnicities and cultures among them, because I am a smart writer who knows not to make monolithic races/delegate creatures like orcs to just being "the bad guys".

Speaking of which, I have to talk about fantasy/alien races for a moment. Just bear with me. This has always kind of bothered me, when we look at fantasy and science fiction, we often see a wide variety of different sentient creatures; however, while humans still retain our variety of skin tones and physical features, a single alien species will look the complete same all throughout. So, why? Why wouldn't they develop different ethnicities depending on the different environments either of their home planet or the different environments this certain species settles upon your fantasy world? They'd develop different physical characteristics depending on the environment they live in. "But doesn't that mean they're a different species now?" No, not necessarily, it's the equivalent of the diversity humans have developed in our time upon this pale blue dot we call home. Think on that.

Okay, where was I? Right, orc ethnicities upon the world of Icarus. There are four orc ethnicities: Duullesh, Krek, Muuban, and Lashri. I'll talk about the Duullesh for now, since they're the ones I have the most fluff thought up for. Duullesh tribes mostly occupy the fairly northern part of Latreous, the first of Icarus' two main continents. These are the orcs the rest of Icarus' inhabitants think of when they hear the word "orc".

Another quick note, "orc" is actually not the proper term for their species, and depending on who you're talking to, it can actually get taken as quite the insult. The Duullesh word for their species is "drol", which essentially means "green", as in green skinned, not to be confused with "druul" which means the color green. The word "orc" is the shortened form of "orccum" which is the old Droggresh (the dead language once used by the telkhines, more on them later) that roughly translates to "barbarian" or "savage". Since most of the other species have not had very pleasant experiences when it comes to interacting with our green skinned friends, the name "orc" stuck.

Okay, I promise that's the last time I go on a tangent, I swear. So, the Duullesh orcs are what you would physically identify as your "typical" orc: really tall, lots of muscle mass, large tusks that protrude prominently from their bottom jaws, olive-green skin, the works. They live in lightly fortified tribal villages of about 70-100 individuals, in which it is uncommon to marry outside of. A common household contains an extended family, in which the eldest orc (male or female, called the "Fulti") is typically the head. Lineage is passed down to the child who succeeds the trial of "Maatherun" (the proving), completing a specific task given to them by their Fulti, and the child that completes the task the best gets to pass down the lineage of the family, indicated by a red ribbon they braid into their hair. The other children become the lineage of another family that they marry into.

They have a polytheistic religious belief system consisting of a trinity of gods: Ocenia, the harvest mother, protector of families, and fertility goddess; Malguntor, the teacher, the hunter, and the blacksmith god; and, last but certainly not least, Jakarro, the law-bringer, the hammer of judgement, and justice incarnate. Jakarro is their chief deity and they live by his code: the strong survive and the weak die, all transgressions are to be paid in equality, and always seek to right wrongs done to you or your family. The Duullesh heavily structure their society on this code, ensuring that it is always followed. They believe that is the code is not followed, then Jakarro will punish not only the transgressor, but the victim and/or the victim's family as well for failing to carry out justice. He's more to be appeased and placated rather than worshiped, but he's less of an actually deity and more the embodiment of the concept of "justice".

However there has been some schism amongst the Duullesh in their homeland of Nogduul, as a significant number of them have given up their tribal lifestyle to live as the other species south of them do, turning their village-forts into cities, installing paved roads and railways, converting to southern religions such as Titanism and Allism, outfitting their military with firearms (which more traditional Duullesh consider ranged weapons as a whole as particularly dishonorable), and many more southern practices. As you can imagine, this did not sit well with more traditional Duullesh, who see the southern species and their ways as weak, calling their kin who follow after these weak ways "balkrup", or weaklings, following the false ways of the "suthran balkrup", southern weaklings. It doesn't help the fact that these "balkrup" look down upon their traditional kin as primitive and backwards, mocking their lifestyles and spitting on their beliefs. This resentment boiled inside the "traditionalists" for decades, until the day when a Duullesh chieftain named Skallethraan, leader of the Jakor, had gotten fed up with a nearby military outpost abusing his tribe by taxing them too heavily to ever pay up properly and taking a significant amount of their harvest, so much so that the village was almost on the brink of starvation at one point. So, what he do? He attacks the fort, manages to take it over, executes all the remaining orc soldiers inside, and calls upon all "true" Duullesh to join with him to rid Nogduul of the "balkrup" once and for all. Unsuprisingly, many traditionalists flocked to his banner to swear their loyalty, and have been a thorn in the Nogduulan government's side for years now. This has lead to more and more harsh treatment of traditionalists all over Nogduul, even if they don't support Skallethraan. This often just ends up fanning the flames, and makes Skallethraan harder and harder to bring down. The bounty on his head is said to increase by a hundred griftars (their currency) monthly, and people often joke that the one who finally turns in that bounty will empty the Nogduulan treasury of every last ounce of gold and silver it has.

Okay, I think I'm done for tonight. Emperor on Terra, I ended up writing more than I thought I would. See you later, fellow hue-mans!

       

Edited November 25, 2016 by ManWithTheMetalArm

[Oversleep]

I need some tips on writing a news report. Like you I did in my sig. Obviously I don't intend to spend hours watching news on TV, no time for that kind of thing.

Basically I want to know specific phrases reporters use or how would they structure their sentences, how would the whole thing be structured, that kind of thing.

I plan to intertwine it with proper story.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Oversleep

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

1 hour ago, Oversleep said:

I need some tips on writing a news report. Like you I did in my sig. Obviously I don't intend to spend hours watching news on TV, no time for that kind of thing.

Basically I want to know specific phrases reporters use or how would they structure their sentences, how would the whole thing be structured, that kind of thing.

I plan to intertwine it with proper story.

You might still want to watch or listen to a few news stories anyway, just to get a feel for how those reports are structured. I might be able to give you a few tips, having originally majored in journalism before switching, but I'm not sure how to phrase it all. There's probably a guide for young reporters online somewhere; that would definitely help. 

[Oversleep]

On 20.12.2016 at 10:26 PM, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

You might still want to watch or listen to a few news stories anyway, just to get a feel for how those reports are structured.

The thing is, I don't want an usual news report - more like something being reported from the scene with things happening all the time. Like... like a hostage situation, perhaps. Some crisis.

I know usual news would also help but that's not quite the thing I'm looking for.

Meanwhile, I figured out vampires... I think. I have an idea but I'd need to write it down and see whether it fits into the system. On another note, I reinvented the Wandering Jew: I was thinking about Bronze Compounders, then I threw Allomantic pewter into the mix... a little while later I realized there already is such a person in folklore :|

I think I'll go with subverting that: ageless man who wanders the Earth (and doesn't sleep/is cursed not to sleep) with such strong body powers that is also effectively immortal. I'll have him as the source of the legend but leave unclear whether he exists since Christ or did he arose in 13th century giving the birth to the legend. I was looking for something or someone who created a very old organization of body mages and now I think I can have him as the founder. Now I need to give them agenda or a reason he found the organization for.

All of this (and more) came to me as I was falling asleep yesterday. I usually have those bursts of inspiration when my mind starts to wander (and usually I can't write it down)

[Pagerunner]

So, I've started NaNoWriMo a couple of times, and I never get anywhere. I think a novel is just too long for me to write; I don't have the time or the experience. So, I'm doing something different: planning a collection of short stories/novellas set in the cosmere. I've got some new Shardworlds with magic systems, expansion of a couple existing Shardworlds, and a couple Shardworlds without Shards that I think can make interesting stories. Here are my ideas:

• Scadrial: Story focuses on a prisoner of an Inquisitor scientist. He's trying to escape, while the Inquisitor is exploring the metals of the secret fifth quadrant, the Shadesmar metals (Mercury and Titanium). As they learn what these new metals and alloys do, the prisoners (who are being experimented on) need to put together a plan and escape before the Hemalurgic experiments come to fruition. Powers granted by Shadesmar metals include gateways to Shadesmar, listening/talking directly to minds, and making yourself functionally invisible. Lots of combat, and I'll probably try to do a detailed blow-by-blow style like Brandon does in Mistborn.
• Sel: an Elantrian who tries to do good but can't do anything right with his new powers. He exiles himself to a far-away region of Sel, where his powers aren't as strong (and less able to cause damage). This region is basically inspired by the old MMO Runescape, and the magic involves collecting/crafting Runestones and combining them to make new spells. I've got twelve kinds of Runes (not counting God Runes, which will probably be a thing in the system, if not in the story), combining for a total of 98 spells. (Of which I've only identified like 30. I'm still filling out the chart, and I'll probably leave a bunch of spells involving the Spiritual Realm blank for now, and just say they haven't discovered the Spiritual rune yet in-universe. 'Cause we have a lot to learn about how the Spiritual Realm works). Anyone who can find Runes can use them, so the country is pretty much in total anarchy, which really goes against the selfless Elantrian's personality. Not planning on a ton of combat, but there will be some. It's more a growth journey for the Elantrian.
• New Major Shardworld: a simplified version of my Elemental Tetrahedron. This story is an aspiring Elemental, all of whom are ascetics, playing off of a worldhopping explorer with all kinds of magical 'toys' who's also trying to join. Is the Elementals' life unnecessarily hard? Or has the worldhopper's soft life left him unprepared for the trials of becoming an Elemental? Lots of talking; I'll have to try very hard to show, not tell, as the two main characters will be arguing their viewpoints.
• New Major Shardworld: suffering from an interplanetary invasion, need to discover why they're being invaded and put an end to the war. Magic users are called Temporal Monks, and they have the power to revert something back in time while they are in contact with it. (Kind of like Siri's power in Brandon's unpublished Mythwalker.) A good amount of combat, very high stakes (trying to avoid the end of the world).
• New Minor Shardworld: Armor that everyone believes drives you insane, but what if what you see is real? An old story idea of mine, largely inspired by Rand from the Wheel of Time. Another combat-heavy story.
• New Minor Shardworld: A world where reincarnation is real. The story is a courtoom drama where someone's trying to use a reincarnated animal as a witness.
• New Minor Shardworld: Everyone has their place determined in the world since before they were born. And that's meant literally - the Book of Life records your place in the world, your duties, who you will spend your life with, almost everything important about you before you've even done it. How can someone unsatisfied with his life rebel against the universe?
• New Minor Shardworld: A 'witch trial,' but the charge is reading. No one reads, on the whole planet. Take all the tropes for townspeople being afraid of witchcraft, and twist them to fit charges against reading. This is another really old story idea of mine, and there's nothing about it that necessarily says 'cosmere,' but I'm planning on using it to introduce a character who's relevant to the last story:
• Conflux: an Avengers-style teamup of main characters from many of the above stories. At this point, I would like to tie everything into Silverlight, but we don't know enough about it yet. Since this will probably simmer for a while, it's possible we'll learn more about them by the time I would actually get around to writing this (if that even happens). It has one new character, a 'pristinely ungifted' who is suffused with counter-Investiture, so they're immune to magic. (It's a concept I really liked from Sword of Truth, and I think it could fit really well into the cosmere.) I haven't done a ton of planning of this story yet, because the hints I have planned to lay in the other stories can allow the actual story to go in a lot of different directions.

So, I'm hoping that having a bunch of smaller stories will actually help me get something finished. I'll probably start off with the two new Major Shardworlds (since there are some secret connections between those two worlds and stories that I'm toying with). But I'd like to be able to get all of these done somehow. I'm thinking of calling it Arcanum Extrapolated.

[Jedal]

On 12/20/2016 at 3:01 PM, Oversleep said:

I need some tips on writing a news report. Like you I did in my sig. Obviously I don't intend to spend hours watching news on TV, no time for that kind of thing.

Basically I want to know specific phrases reporters use or how would they structure their sentences, how would the whole thing be structured, that kind of thing.

I plan to intertwine it with proper story.

I actually take a journalism course, so I'll try my best to explain. In articles, journalists always try to use the least amount of words necessary to get a story across. Unlike writing, where you should try to expand as much as possible, in journalism, if you can tell something in one sentence, then one sentence you shall write.

The beginning of an article is called a lede, and it is usually one sentence long, attempting to properly summarize whatever is being covered in the article.

You should come up with a system of naming for your paper. With some papers, an interviewed person will originally have a full name, and then go by the last name from then on. Find something like this for how you keep names short.

EDIT: I just found this thread, right after I posted all of my current stuff on its own. *facepalm* Should I move it over here?

Edited January 16, 2017 by Jedal

[Oversleep]

@Jedal, I didn't mean an article - more like on-going report from the site... you know, like terrorist attack or hostage situation? The thing is happening now.

You don't have to move your stuff here - in fact, here we throw ideas at each other but having your own thread for your stuff is a good idea. For example, I need to comb through Creation Daily for all my posts to get them in one place.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

6 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

@Jedal, I didn't mean an article - more like on-going report from the site... you know, like terrorist attack or hostage situation? The thing is happening now.

You don't have to move your stuff here - in fact, here we throw ideas at each other but having your own thread for your stuff is a good idea. For example, I need to comb through Creation Daily for all my posts to get them in one place.

Usually, with breaking news, what'll happen is the site will publish a short article detailing everything they know about the current situation, like so: 

"MOSES LAKE, WA 8:04 a.m.—A man carrying weaponized gummy bears outside the town Aquatic Center early this morning has taken an employee hostage, authorities say. 

"'He was just standing there,' said George McNabb, Moses Lake Chief of Police. 'Looked pretty suspicious.'

"An employee asked the man what he was doing there. When she did, the man brandished a gummy bear and told her to come with him. 

"They are currently located in the Aquatic Center's lifeguard station." 

Then, as the story develops, updates will be added at the top of the original story, with a timestamp to let readers know when this development happened. 

"UPDATE: 9:12 a.m.—The man armed with gummy bears has been identified as Smitty Wherbin-Man-Jenkins. He has released a statement demanding no fewer than 300 cheese baskets. The MLPD has sent in a hostage negotiator." 

"MOSES LAKE, WA 8:04 a.m.—A man carrying weaponized gummy bears outside the town Aquatic Center early this morning has taken an employee hostage, authorities say. 

"'He was just standing there,' said George McNabb, Moses Lake Chief of Police. 'Looked pretty suspicious.'

"An employee asked the man what he was doing there. When she did, the man brandished a gummy bear and told her to come with him. 

"They are currently located in the Aquatic Center's lifeguard station." 

Now, that's a pretty rough example, but you get the gist.

[Oversleep]

Random thougth: What would have happened to the world if somebody came along and gave an universal moral system which would unambigously value everything? And it would work for everyone, everywhere, always?

Hm... of course it's impossible but let's say we have some psychoemiters on sattelites to enforce this.

[Hemalurgic Headshot]

What if the human body is programmed with pressure codes that activate unnatural processes. Each one is extremely detailed and random, so there is an extremely minuscule chance that an individual will activate one. For example, a certain sequence of tapping and scratching on the left side of your ribs will cause an arm to grow out of that spot. Suddenly you have three arms. This gives rise to all of those strange stories of people with strange powers/body parts.

[Oversleep]

1 minute ago, Hemalurgic_Headshot said:

What if the human body is programmed with pressure codes that activate unnatural processes. Each one is extremely detailed and random, so there is an extremely minuscule chance that an individual will activate one. For example, a certain sequence of tapping and scratching on the left side of your ribs will cause an arm to grow out of that spot. Suddenly you have three arms. This gives rise to all of those strange stories of people with strange powers/body parts.

I feel you should include hemalurgy acupuncture in that.

[Hemalurgic Headshot]

Just now, Oversleep said:

I feel you should include hemalurgy acupuncture in that.

Ah, so the spiking injection would automatically trigger the process? That is an interesting idea... and it would give one with that knowledge incredible power. Of course, these processes won't give you supernatural powers; these are all biological. However, it could allow you shoot fire out of your hands, because of a new organ that produces methane and shoots it from your fingertips, and then makes your fingernails hard and capable of creating sparks. Thus you could shoot fire.

[Oversleep]

Remember when I talked about a world where secret magic societies started revealing themselves and subtly taking over governments due to the world going crapsack?

How about a short story where that part about reveal didn't happen? But world is becoming hellish anyway.

The story would be a mage hunting down and stopping those people who gone rogue and decided to go against Masquerade? I would aim at depressing mood; he knows why they're doing this, he feels the same urge but he upholds the Masquerade over it; becomes bitter and burn out. He understands that nothing good would have come out from a coup pulled by mages... but does he believe that any longer?

Finally, over the course of the story, he breaks too.

[StrikerEZ]

I have several ideas for stories that I'll probably never write, but I've thought about a lot. 

 

Spoiler

The oldest idea I can remember has gone under several names. It originally started because my little brother and I were swimming one day and were messing around and pretending we were a group of kids that disappeared in storms, fires, etc. and got transported to elemental worlds. They had to fight this guy who pretty much controlled chaos itself. I eventually posted it as a roleplay on a forum about a video game (not related to the video game). The original name was The Land of the Elements. The roleplay was actually really popular, after we finally got it to start up (of course, it was kind of specialized and never really went anywhere). I later scrapped the idea that Earth was involved and that the elemental realms were all different worlds, and came up with the idea that it was one big continent, with six regions for the six elements. Fire, which also controls lava/magma, Water, which also controls blood, Earth, which also controls metals/crystals, Air, which also controls lightning/electricity, Light, which also controls plants, and Darkness, which also controls ice (not actually water, but it behaves like ice). There was a seventh region, in the center of the continent where the Order lived. It served as the capitol and as a place where all six elements lived in peace. There was a King, who controlled the power of Order (as in the group, not the kind-of element) and, along with his army, protected the Kingdom from The Rim, a magical forest surrounding the entire continent where strange magic and creatures lived; this magic was appropriately deemed Chaos. The King usually had several children, but the firstborn was always chosen as the next King; there were a few Queens, but those were uncommon. But, one king had firstborn twins. The easy solution would be to just ask the doctor which twin came first and make him King later. But everyone who was in the room at the time of birth died, except the twins (the King was away because plot). The King raised them as if they were normal sons, and they didn't even care who became King. Until the King came back from a battle near The Rim and was severely injured. The sons didn't know what to do, and they came to his deathbed. As he uttered his final words, he whispered the name of the son he wanted to take his place. His voice was so weak, their names so similar, both sons heard their own name. Obviously, crap went down. The Kindgdom favored one more than the other, so they chose him as King. The other, who felt betrayed by his brother, left the center region. He ran all the way to The Rim and was never seen again. 

Several years later, the King is about to have a child. Then disaster strikes. A force of Chaos creatures makes it all the way to the center region. They destroy the entire castle, everyone in it. A mysterious winged figure fights the King, but both disappear in a flash of light. 

Centuries later, the Kingdom is in shambles. The center region is uninhabited, and the Elements all fight for control over the Kingdom instead of trying to stop The Rim from approaching closer and closer. The memory of Order is a fairy tale now, with a prophecy that speaks of The Chosen Ones, six legendary warriors from each of the elements. 

Obviously, that's where the story begins. The main character is Kyren, an orphan Air elemental who has been raised by a group of bandits. He's been avoiding his past, because he discovered the leaders of his group talking about him once; they killed his mother and ransacked their small home. They don't believe in killing babies or young children because they can raise them to work for them. 

The story begins in the middle of one of their raids. They're attacking a small village on the outskirts of Light, and Kyren gets separated from the group. He is about to kill an elderly man when the man notices Kyren's birth mark on the inside of his left wrist. He screams and tells him he is a Chosen One. Kyren, desperate for any reason to leave the bandits leaves with the old man and discovers a society of people who believe the prophecy and have been waiting for The Chosen Ones for centuries. They have already discovered the other five, and have been desperately searching for the sixth. 

The rest of the story is a bit hazy, but pretty much involves lots of questing. By the end, he discovers that the prophecy was engineered by the brother of the King, who was the mysterious winged figure from the battle. By completing the prophecy, they free him. There's lots of other little details, like the fact that Kyren is a descendant of the race of Order, and some other stuff, but eh. 

 

But, recently, I had this really cool idea. It's set in the same world, but instead of being set centuries after the fall of Order, it's thousands of years later. Technology is on the level of sci-fi stuff, but not super advanced, if that makes any sense. The Rim is kept at bay with a wall and a forcefield that goes over the entire Kingdom, so the sky is always tinged slightly yellow. The six regions have become separate country-esque forces, and they live in somewhat shaky peace. The center region is literally boxed in. This version is less developed, but I kind of like it better. Lots of the same stuff happens, but future-y.

That was a lot longer than it was meant to be, and lots of details were left out. Like power specifics, environments of the different regions, prophecy specifics, etc.

 

Edited January 30, 2017 by StrikerEZ
I want to eventually post more stuff, and I thought it'd be better if I spoilered each idea.

[Jedal]

I was thinking of a world where the bowling alley above a coffee shop is actually a portal to anywhere. Anywhere. But you can only go that place once. After you leave, you don't ever find that place again.

[StrikerEZ]

On 2/1/2017 at 4:55 PM, Jedal said:

I was thinking of a world where the bowling alley above a coffee shop is actually a portal to anywhere. Anywhere. But you can only go that place once. After you leave, you don't ever find that place again.

That sounds really cool. How does it work? You bowl, and then you get transported? Or is it just a disguise that the room is a bowling alley, when reality it's just a teleported?

[Nashan’Elin]

My crazy little pet idea began in a dream. In the dream, my Latin teacher (for some odd reason, dreams are weird) taught me how to "push" through solid objects. Essentially intangiblility, but only in one direction, like I could push my fingers into a wall and then pull myself up it. It felt like pushing on some sort of thin shell over a thick, viscous substance, as if pushing a piece of ceramic into jelly, if that simile makes any sense. 

That dream stuck with me, and I kept expanding upon it in my mind. Imagining pushing more than just my fingertips into solid matter, even pushing my whole body through it. It would not be the same as intangibility, because pushing through stuff would take more strength, I guess. (I'm going somewhere with this, I promise.) Then, I had a really weird idea. What if I pushed against thin air, and felt the barrier of the very dimension? So it developed into a multiverse idea. 

Now the multiverse idea I have a little bit more of a plan on. It gradually developed into a sort of story in my mind, a character who discovered this power somehow (probably not crazy Latin teacher dreams) and accidentally fell into the space between alternate realities. This, I imagined as an endless field of white, where anything that entered it was in a sort of suspended state (not needing to breathe, eat, drink, etc.) however, I also had the weird idea that this endless space, while still white, was an abscense of light, and appeared dim when viewed from an outside world. I have no idea where I was going with this, but it's been in my head for months. *shrug*

[Kobold King]

Consider the uncanny valley. The inexplicable discomfort and even fear that we feel when confronted with something that looks human but isn't quite there, like puppets, animatronics, clowns, or tax collectors. There's something in our brains that tells us when something is pretending to be human but very definitely isn't one.

Consider biology. Nature is cheap. No animal has an ability that they don't need. You don't find a flying creature that doesn't ever have to fly. You don't find a fast creature that never has to run.

So riddle me this.

What evolutionary pressure made spotting the inhuman so necessary for us?

[Oversleep]

1 minute ago, Kobold King said:

You don't find a flying creature that doesn't ever have to fly.

Chickens though.

As for your actual question, do you know why we love puppies and kittens? Some combination of their features (like big eyes) resembles human newborns.

And there's also that thing when we recognize human faces in random patterns etc.

Edited February 4, 2017 by Oversleep

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Just now, Kobold King said:

Consider the uncanny valley. The inexplicable discomfort and even fear that we feel when confronted with something that looks human but isn't quite there, like puppets, animatronics, clowns, or tax collectors. There's something in our brains that tells us when something is pretending to be human but very definitely isn't one.

Consider biology. Nature is cheap. No animal has an ability that they don't need. You don't find a flying creature that doesn't ever have to fly. You don't find a fast creature that never has to run.

So riddle me this.

What evolutionary pressure made spotting the inhuman so necessary for us?

One theory I heard was that, at its most basic level, we fear the uncanny valley because we fear corpses. Robots, puppets, that oil painting you made in seventh grade art class—those things all look almost human without quite getting there. They look close to real people without being them. And what is the ultimate and most familiar thing that looks like a real person but isn't really one?

A corpse. 

So when you're watching The Polar Express, trying to connect with the characters and story but unable to shake that vague sense of unease coiling in the pit of your stomach, it's just your brain whispering, "Corpses! Corpses everywhere…." 

Of course, there's also room for ancient evil spirits masquerading as people, or aliens doing the same.  

[Oversleep]

1 minute ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

So when you're watching The Polar Express, trying to connect with the characters and story but unable to shake that vague sense of unease coiling in the pit of your stomach, it's just your brain whispering, "Corpses! Corpses everywhere…." 

Of course, there's also room for ancient evil spirits masquerading as people, or aliens doing the same.  

Or... corpses actually being everywhere.

Edited February 4, 2017 by Oversleep