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Twice over the years, I've had dreams that were basically fully plotted stories. I wrote down everything I could remember immediately after waking up . . . unfortunately, I was unable to find the paper with the notes tonight, so they may be dead in the water. But just for the sake of sharing the ideas with you folks:

[the one where zookepers secretly worship an ancient nature deity]
After discovering something primal and powerful buried underneath their land, the higher-up zookeepers begin to follow a dark path, and the lives of neither the animals they once cared about, nor their own human coworkers, hold much value to their rapidly slipping consciences. But then again, their new god holds their lives in equally low regard.

[the one that I barely remember but basically looked at a haunted property from a historical perspective throughout many decades]
Before it was restored and remodeled into the modern-day community center, that building has been many things over the years. The warm, safe home of a broken family. A hideout for Prohibition-dodgers. An ostensible dormitory that morphed into a college party house. A sanctuary for the homeless. But two things have always been constant: the deaths, and the black cat.

So yeah. If I don't find those notes, I'll need to do some serious focused thought on these to be able to recreate all the details from the original dreams. And I'm more focused on my PPC fiction anyway, so. Probably don't count on seeing these published ever? But here's a just-for-fun poll, all the same.

—doctorlit, found by stories in his sleep

So, if any of you have heard of Mark Oshiro (of the Mark Does Stuff series - where he experiences media for the first time, for our entertainment! Though he's also been doing some writing of his own, including Anger is a Gift), he has covered all of the Young Wizards books to-date, and the Interrim Errantry novels. The clips are available on YouTube for those interested.

He has also shown interest in reading the Feline Wizards books... but since he does this through commissions, he won't be able to read the whole trilogy in one go! So if you'd be interested in having him read To Visit the Queen and The Big Meow, poke around the site, send some emails, and help commission the rest of those chapters! ;)

Or just listen to him read what he's done so far; that helps, too.

Although I love the Laura Davidson concept just that little bit more.

So two things: 1. I don't understand music on the same deep level of notes and such that twistey does, but there's some cleverness to the songs in this game I still want to bring up.

and 2. I realize this is a super tiny, minor fandom no one else here cares about but uh . . . I think this is at least somewhat interesting anyway?

So, for being an ultimately sub-par game, Epic Mickey has an utterly gorgeous and creative soundtrack, composed by James Dooley. The basic mechanic of the game is that you can advance past obstacles either by using paint to create new objects, or to brute force through things by dissolving existing objects with thinner. Most of the game levels (themed around Disney park attractions) have a music theme with five separate variations: the "base" version, a version where you're mostly using paint to get through, a version where you're only using paint to get through, a version where you're mostly using thinner to get through, and a version where you're only using thinner to get through. The paint-oriented versions tend to be focused on high-pitched chimes, and are generally gentler and more light-hearted feeling than the base version. The thinner versions tend to become very slow, with creepy violins and deep baritone notes added.

This feature was also used to hide musical easter eggs in the soundtrack. One level has the Micky Mouse Club March hidden in its music, at 1:02. It's identifiable, but the notes and tone are way off. Using lots of paint restores the tune to a more recognizable form. (Same point in time.) Using lots of thinner, though, appropriately wipes that tune completely out of the song!

—doctorlit hopes this is at least marginally interesting to anyone else . . .

Because I've got a bunch of different spin-off ideas running around, and no clue which one I want to write most. Here's my favorites!

Friday the Thirteenth

Grace Trouble Hopper Byron Null knew it was going to be a bad day when she found the first note. It simply read Sorry, in her own handwriting.

(Time shenanigans. Grace Null is many things: slacker, bartender, HQ kid, time traveler… and she and her TARDIS are often the thin line between HQ and Emergencies. This is made slightly more complicated by the nature of HQ, time, fandom, and the part where her moms are around in the present.)

Fish and Feathers

“Talia,” Sarah said, oddly calmly, without looking up from the shattered display case that a tense shift had thrown her into. “I am probably going to burst into flames in the near future.”

(Department of Redundancy Department - who are now very overworked by the load of time-loop fics. Sarah thought she was from World One. She thought she was human. And then she got chucked into a magical artifact from her homeworld, and now she's trying to balance being an Agent, being the partner of a very polyamorous Trekkie, and being a phoenix, too.)

Procedural Codes

“You should just kill her,” Nala said, not breaking eye contact with the black-clad figure in the interview cell, as her fingers itched to hold the lightsaber at her hip. “She’s Sith, it’d be a kindness.”

On the contrary, the Tiger Lily said. We’ve recruited her. Nala Sage, meet Beshaura Kell. Your new partner.

(Department of Internal Affairs - Nala Sage was a Jedi. Then she was a fugitive, then she was a DIA Agent. Now she just has to worry about not murdering her partner. Or getting murdered by her. A procedural, with lightsabers.)

Duct Tape

“I’m sorry,” Julia said, pointing across the lab, “I’m actually over there right now.” The agent turned, saw Agent Dann in profile - and in that moment, Julia ducked and scuttled under the workbench. Out of sight, out of mind, and she breathed a quiet “sorry” in the direction of her doppleganger as the agent who had been bothering her set off across the Lab in pursuit of Dann.

(Department of Sufficiently Advanced Technology! Newbie Julia takes on the multiverse, asking fun questions like “why is this broken?” and “how does that work?” and “why does this ‘Dann’ guy look just like me?”)

The survey!

Maybe I'll try to dig it out. It did look helpful for providing starting points and I think also explaining what kind of feedback (positive or constructive) authors would love to get.

~Z, very tired after a good but exhausting day

I try, a good chunk of the time? But I'm pretty sure there's a lot of issues, especially large-scale ones, I tend to miss. But I think that critiquing things is something you get better at with practice, same as with writing.

I just feel like I'm bad at criticism. And if I don't have anything to say, I don't see much point in saying it.

Of late, I've missed a lot of people's stuff between schoolwork, homework, and my own readimg and writing (Jeez, I still have a mission to work on! Paaaanic!). It is summer, so that may cool down, but OTOH, I've got a job lined up...

Also, I never really got into Ix's stuff. Just... didn't happen? I'm sorry, Ix. :-/

We've noticed here that, as a general trend, a decent chunk of the writing on the Board (for example, Ix and Delta's recent mission) hasn't really gotten much of a response. So, I'd like to ask: why aren't people leaving more responses?

For my part, I've run into cases where I really don't have the time to read some longer work until it's fallen off the front page and responding seemed silly or I'd ended up giving up on actually getting around to reading the thing. (There's also the case, like with Delta and Ix's mission, where I was a beta reader, which means I'd already left my comments and repeating them again felt rather redundant.)

My current hypothesis is that a noticeable part of the problem comes from the community is drifting older and real-life-having-er (due to a slowdown in the number of newbies because we're hiding off in a near-invisible corner of the internet) which has left us collectively with less time to read stuff.

- Tomash

I've always been one to trust in the advice to write for yourself rather than for others, but even so it's become disturbingly common nowadays for more than a few Boarders to have devoted days or even weeks of effort to writing, proofreading, and the complex business of beta-reading, post the final product on the Board in the hopes of receiving reader compliments and feedback, and be met with utter silence while everyone else pays far more attention to other Boarders, events, or things. It's happened several times in my case as well, much to my chagrin, and although I have yet to have my writing inadvertently upstaged by drama I'll gladly second Tomash's sentiment regarding this issue. Reader critique is essential for writers to move forward and failing to provide it may result in the risk of stagnation on the author's part and a decline in work quality - something I myself know from experience over the past few years as a PPC writer.

And as for the whole deal with consistent drama, this was the reason for my (admittedly misguided and poorly worded) statement that I was disappointed with the community in the aftermath of a former member leaving and requesting to be locked out as penance for attacking the Board on behalf of someone who was banned twice in a row. For all intents and purposes, consider that statement retracted. I came to the PPC because I thought it to be drama-free unlike certain communities I had left behind (or was kicked out of) over the years, and I've made a lot of great friends thanks to it; in hindsight I should've known that the Ironic Overpower was already setting its sights on my naivete regarding the dearth of drama at the time. As Neshomeh put it, though, "neither [the banned person] nor any other individual has the power to ruin the PPC unless we give it to them by losing our cool over them." I know there have been quite a few slip-ups over the years - some worse than others, as Sergio noted - but from what I've been seeing, The Nameless Admin has done a good job dealing with most of the things that troubled us since. I guess my earlier bitterness was due to a combination of singling out the drama without considering the good things this community has to offer and sealing myself in a mental panic room whenever I see things going south (which is a very real bad habit my family has been helping me to break!).

While I did consider leaving myself not long after the incident Sergio mentioned, I quickly decided against it in part because I still have obligations regarding my PPC characters in the future. I will however repeat my assent with regards to Tomash - in no small part because I too know all too well the feeling of months of hard work being rendered absolutely useless.

The main planet my Cycle of Worlds pitch is set on has basically space elves... except they look like four-armed lizardmen. But still, magitech is so much fun, and the idea of your first pitch kind of reminds me of the premise of Cowboys and Aliens... wild west meets sci-fi. Mashups like that are just a blast.

I pitched the idea at a panel back in middle school, so honestly, it’s probably for the best the publisher went out of business. Can you imagine the sort of dreck I might’ve put out? :P I really do love the idea, though, so one day... one day.

The Heir one is just an idea I’ve made a few notes on at the moment, but I just really love the idea of the Chosen One never actually getting chosen and some poor schmuck gets stuck in their place. ;)

Also, uh, unrelated but... our conversation that's gone off the front page now: are we continuing that? ^^;

Rainbow balrogs! I want! :-P

At least, it works for me. Just change the bit at the end from "viewform" to "viewanalytics".

...I may or may not have discovered this through nosily poking about at all the forms.

No, sadly I haven't found a literal Lego OFUM build (though that sounds kind of cool...). Instead, I have... a crackpot conspiracy theory!

The Lego Elves brand is actually a stealth Lego OFUM.

This is the Elves theme, and straight away you can see that it's stuffed with Mary-Sues and fangirls. Protagonist Emily Jones is prime OFUM material; check out her profile:

Emily is a smart, quirky and creative girl, who is mourning the loss of her grandmother. She is shy in new situations, but quickly finds her place in a group. She is very fond of nature, faithful, a bit of a dreamer and just impossible not to like.

Power: Love

Strengths: Smart, practical and super creative.

Flaws: Gets a bit insecure and clumsy when she finds herself in a new group (especially when they are all elves..).

It actually gets worse from there... she's friends with a stereotypical team of element-aligned magical elves, who all have ridiculously sparkly cute animal friends (actually, because of product turnover, they have multiple CAFs each). So far, so generic... but check out the purported villains of the piece:



Cronan, Ragana, and Noctura... or, as I like to call them, the Elves in Black Leather: Elrond, Galadriel, and Miss Cam herself.

(Okay, we'll need to pilfer a lighter hair for Galadriel, but other than that I think they're perfect.)

Still not convinced? Then check out 'Noctura's' (ie, Miss Cam's) little pets:



She has rainbow mini-Balrogs.

Case closed.

hS

The Pureblades sounds right up my alley, and Cycle of Worlds seems like a riot, but the whole childhood sleepover lost MacGuffin idea is just too charming for me to resist. Plus, I have a soft spot for the reluctant/accidental hero type.

Also the title. The title is just great.

Oh, and I'm guessing the published one was The Pureblades. Just a hunch, really.

I just wanted to see where the votes were without skewing the results, and I had to vote again to do so.

(Gravity's Embrace is obviously the best, btw.)

I wanted to participate here much sooner.

Okay, these two are ideas who have been boiling inside my brains for a while, and would like to write someday. So I'll be writing concepts rather than the elevator pitch. I'll be happy for any comment about them (including which one you prefer, of course).



First one is a fantasy one. The itch I have in mind for now is 'Magic has been used so recklessly it savaged the world. Nine mages pulled out a ritual to bind themselves to the nine (Life, Death, Light, Darkness, Fire , Water, Earth, Air and 'High Magic') different parts of the magic 'spectrum' to stop it, becoming pretty much 'gods' in the processus. And they've to groom successors to take their place eventually, because the monitoring of this monumental energy? Not Good On Your Sanity'.

Includes (of course) at least one of the group feeling not warm and fuzzy at the idea, up to using some sorts of soul-eating demons as an army to help with that disagreement, reincarnation as a feature of the world, not (exclusively) antagonistic use of undeads, desire to build and explore at length an entire world, with culture trying to avoid the 'nation of hats' while eventually having nine major protagonists (the mentionned successors) eventually coming together to take care of the situation.

Including various actors out for their own gains, and said gods become gradually more unhinged, including cataclysms of 'wild magic' when the control slips...



Number Two is a fantasy one too. It's one less developped, by here are the ideas I kept for now. A world stuck in a tug of war between the vile 'demons' and their humans thralls and mankind, supported by the luminescent 'angels'. Protagonist ends up in problems when he shows aptitude to the demon's brand of magic, rather than the humans' elementarism or the holy magic taught by the angels, and something as a pretty surefire sign of demonic allegiance. Cue problems and story.

And eventually a nasty revelation: both demons and angels are pretty much eldritch veings waging a multi-worlds war, with the local planet being only one more battlefield, and none of them as a species (of course outliers exist) care about the local tools.

Even less because... Well, magic is pretty much an extension of the ecosystem as I see it in this setting, and while demons-controlled lands already look like the sort of wastelands they favor, the angels are crafty enough to use humans mages to soften the blow where their presence is the heaviest... Because Bleak Desert of Endless Still Order isn't that sexy of a presentation to the drafted locals liking crops of food and this sort of nice things. Meaning the big stakes become taking care of both sides of this war to make sure the humans can live their own destiny, and have a planet to live it.

... 'aliens invade a magical country'. ^_^

Though that first line for Laura Davidson is spectacular.

hS

At one point my pie graph was a perfectly quartered circle!

It's actually shaken out a little now, with a clear preference for Kraken Knights, and a slightly smaller contingent supporting Gravity's Embrace (and frankly I agree with the majority here that those are the best two ^_^), but it's still not the strong 'one of these is great' result I was expecting.

Which is good! And is also the reason I started the thread! :D

hS

It really saddens me that you're leaving this place for good (and while I'm using it, and had RPs, RPGs and other things on it, when I look at the drama it spawned and Boarders it made leave... Is Discord worth it?)...

Sorry for not reacting more about Blank Sprite (And I was feeling similar feelings when I posted my missions... Pot? Kettle called. He said you're black.). I've been reading the whole story, and fully intends to post a C&C of the final chapter on the site... but Real Life has been getting busy with job searching lately (Welp, eight monthes of being jobless, but things quickened up in June), and I have at least three other C&C for other stories I've been following are on the backburner too. And I'll join your beta-readers, the story is an excellent one.

And I'd very much want to read Teiko's fourth lission myself. And I'm sure other on this Board would want to.

I'll also gladly read that original book, and would really hope I won't miss when it's published.

Duck I hated when the goodbyes began when you left, I hate them as much now. Still, good luck for the future.



P.S.: For the drama... Really? I know I tend to avoid it when it seems like boiling, but every time... I hoped te situation was getting better.