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Super-Earth
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2014
What is a Little Box of Embers?
It's a metaphor. OK that's a terrible explanation; think of stories as a fire, they need fuel and oxygen and an ignition source. So, while not all the story ideas below will be fully fleshed out, hopefully they'll spark an idea that can be fully realised.
About me
I've writing on various sites for more years than I care to remember or admit to. Which means I've got a firm grasp on what I don't like and maybe a more open mind about what might work within a story. Which means if you look at my f-list, as a general rule stay the f away from anything marked 'No' and closer to 'No' it is the more persuading I'd need for it to be included in any story.
Writing guidelines
- First off, I hate calling them rules. If for no other reason I'm no saint and don't stick them 100% myself.
- OOC chat, kicking round ideas, asking questions? All good, particularly if something isn't working, maybe there's a solution we can come with.
- While I'm all for stories going off in directions I didn't expect, in fact the most fun J have is seeing a reply and thinking "I would never have written that!" But if it's a story about a feudal society having a post appearing that ends with "..and then the Death Star arrived!" might be worth talking that one through first?
- I'm not worried about particular post lengths, if you can write everything you need to in 2 words and it all makes sense then that would be impressive. Although if it's only ever 2 words that's not a good omen.
- I like to stick to the improve rules of "Yes, and…" within reason. The 'yes' part is where one person accepts what the other as fact (see 'Death Star'). The 'and' part then adds to that, but if you can't see how I might add to the story after your contribution, why would I be able to?
- As much as I'd like to see replies to my posts appear 3 milliseconds after I send them, we all have lives so that's dumb expectation. But if you're losing interest or know you won't be around for a while, just say so.
Now for the good stuff!
Story ideas
Settings without stories
The D&D theme park – Every D&D campaign has villages like this one, it's 3 weeks ride from the big city but has a strangely well supplied apothecary and the local blacksmith has a seemingly endless supply of Holy Sword's. The village is less than a day's walk from a castle with a powerful evil undead lord, how has this mudhole survived this long?
Because it's fake; the village is part theme park, part trap. Geoff who runs the stables? He also looks after the wolves for the local orc horde, the orc horde that the latest band of adventures will save the village from. Mandy the barmaid? Turns out she's a powerful necromancer who reanimates the undead in the nearby dungeon every week.
Actual Story Ideas
Next time believe the locals - It was supposed to be the vacation\honeymoon of a lifetime, a week in the most perfect desert island resort. Fantastic weather and beaches and food and... the list went on and on. Then one of the guests heard of a local legend, a tiny island that was little more than a rock "Motu o le Itupa" a place where couples went to strengthen their feelings of intimacy but in local legends if more than two people set foot on the tiny island it would end badly. So of course the entire group decided to take a trip to the tiny island.
Was it something in the air or the water? Who can say? But the little trip turned into a hedonistic party where everyone's inhibitions were reduced and their attractions were amplified.
What happens to the party goers once they get back from the tiny island, with the memory of what they did and to who still fresh in their minds?
Jail break - The sorority wanted to try something different this year, sure the car wash was always a decent charity money spinner and the date auction always generated lots of interest but they'd been done so many times before. This year the girls of Beta Epsilon Alpha were determined to break their previous record fund raising by holding a "Jail Break". The idea is simple enough, each pair of girls gets sponsors to pay them for each mile they can get away from campus in 72 hours. Sounds simple but the girls are only allowed to take the clothes they're wearing and a phone for emergencies, no money of any kind. How far can a pair of girls get using just their wits and charm?
Zoey's Extraordinary PornList - A sexed up version of this TV show. While going for an MRI, there is a strange power surge that links the MRI machine to a large collection of porn videos stored on a hospital server. The result being that Zoey, occasionally sees the biggest pornographic desires of the people around her, played out in front of her eyes but nobody else can see it. How does she navigate this strange new world?
Undercover Rookie - She was a new recruit, barely out of the academy but law enforcement was the family business and she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her shiny new badge. But coming from that type of family comes with obligations. A friend of her father's who moved out to LA a decade needed a favour, one of the cities most wanted criminals had surfaced briefly at a club that was a known as a meeting place for the cities underworld. No matter how many times the LAPD had tried to get someone undercover they were discovered. But a fresh faced rookie from another city? Young enough to be hired as topless waitress, cop enough to get the intel the LAPD needed.
Cancel Vulture - She was just famous enough to attract the attention of gossip columnist and tabloid writers. But one unguarded comment taken out of context threatened her promising career. He could fix this problem but what was the price for his intervention? (What she did, who he is and how he can help? All up for discussion.
What happens in the limo, stays in the limo - She'd turn up at the events her management team told her to, look glamourous and chic enough to keep her clients happy and her name in the gossip columns. He would have found a way to get himself discretely invited to same event. She'd spend an hour mingling and shaking hands, while he watched from the other side of the room. Then they would quietly slip out of the back, into the limo he had waiting to whisk them away to......
Genie at the music festival - Her lamp had been owned by the Jones family for over 100 years but none of them really believe there was a genie in the lamp. Their lack of belief wasn't the problem, it was they all rubbed her up the wrong way. Until one day the 74 year old James Jones discovered the lamp and rub her the right way; his desires were simple, he wanted a chance to recapture his youth by going to all the places he'd have love to have gone in his 20's. On the itinerary was a huge music festival where James wanted to enjoy the feeling of being young, even if it was just vicariously. But on the 2nd night of the festival James had a heart attack and passed away, leaving her without an owner for the first time ever trying to blend in
Uninspired Images
"What the hell is an uninspired image?" I hear you ask. Simple, images where I know there's a story in there somewhere, I just haven't found it yet.
"What the hell is an uninspired image?" I hear you ask. Simple, images where I know there's a story in there somewhere, I just haven't found it yet.
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