Writing Discussion

[Zeinbrad]

The jokes won't appear in the story, I put Nigeria because I thought people would get the joke faster.

What's the point if it's something that doesn't even make sense in-universe?

You know, I could write about what would happen if some of my characters that are from fictional worlds got dumped into our world, but they'd be outsiders. They wouldn't know what was going on. For example, I have a character named Guderian Zang who is the mayor of a 26th century city. She has all kinds of connections to political dissidents and organized crime, and she always knows what's going on, usually better than people who outrank her and work in intelligence. If she turned up on present day Earth, she would still be totally confused because all her connections and knowledge and her methods of making connections and finding out what's going on are specific to the society that she lives in. Knowing how to eavesdrop on people using 26th century technology is only useful in the 26th century.

In other words, you need to figure out how things work in the Gaiaverse and how Nicholas interacts with people in that context. Building a coherent world and developing a character who belongs in that world is more important than us getting the joke.

For weeks I have been trying to think of the Gaiaverse's unique thing.

I just can't visualize it.

[Respubliko de Libereco]

What's the point if it's something that doesn't even make sense in-universe?

You know, I could write about what would happen if some of my characters that are from fictional worlds got dumped into our world, but they'd be outsiders. They wouldn't know what was going on. For example, I have a character named Guderian Zang who is the mayor of a 26th century city. She has all kinds of connections to political dissidents and organized crime, and she always knows what's going on, usually better than people who outrank her and work in intelligence. If she turned up on present day Earth, she would still be totally confused because all her connections and knowledge and her methods of making connections and finding out what's going on are specific to the society that she lives in. Knowing how to eavesdrop on people using 26th century technology is only useful in the 26th century.

In other words, you need to figure out how things work in the Gaiaverse and how Nicholas interacts with people in that context. Building a coherent world and developing a character who belongs in that world is more important than us getting the joke.

For weeks I have been trying to think of the Gaiaverse's unique thing.

I just can't visualize it.

I think you've already done too much work on the Gaiaverse to be able to add an interesting and significant "unique thing" without it feeling a bit out-of-place. Really, the "unique thing" (if there's going to be one) ought to come much earlier in the design process.

[Zeinbrad]

For weeks I have been trying to think of the Gaiaverse's unique thing.

I just can't visualize it.

I think you've already done too much work on the Gaiaverse to be able to add an interesting and significant "unique thing" without it feeling a bit out-of-place. Really, the "unique thing" (if there's going to be one) ought to come much earlier in the design process.

Well, I do have this.

Nephilim's, known by many different names in the various societies of the galaxy, are mortal beings granted with almost unlimited powers waiting to be unlocked by their user. Psychic beings are treated much better than non-psychics, considered to be superior in every way. Which is why in the vast space beyond the Orion Arm Ragon Lords for example born without Psychic powers take powerful drugs or implants to give them at least some power over the metaphysical "Three Rooms". In the Orion Arm, Psychic powers played a more limited role with most being priests of the Jrovaist faith or mental patients.

Of course this Psychic might has it's side effects. Depending on the mental prowess of the user many things can happen. Most report hearing voices in their head, sometimes foreseeing the future or bringing up past events in the persons live. Others are more....hellish. Multiple people, from Ragon Lords to street beggars have gone....insane simply put. They begin to come to much in contact with the "Three Rooms" which leads to hallucinations, mood swings and sometimes demonic possession. The Three Rooms do exist. They are the Rending,The Nether and The Aether. The Nether, the realm of Angst as he is called in Gaian religion, is comparable to hell, limbo and purgatory in Christian belief (I am not knowledgeable in other religions). Most mortals once they die go here, for various sentencing. Angst decides if the mortal goes to the Rending, stays at the Nether or ascends to the Aether.

The Rending is the realm of Hrova, the god of Chaos and Discord. The evil twin brother of Jrova, Hrova first action was to destroy and conquer with his Hora 'children'. The Rending is comparable to hell in Christian belief, if a more extreme one. The Rending is chaotic and appears as a black void to most. To others, which have no official name, the Rending is like a LSD trip, random and strange. These are immensely powerful
mortal beings that can live for eons.

The Aether is heaven and the realm of Jrova, the good twin brother of Hrova. Jrova is a vague topic as not much as been written about him besides some rites and commandments from his prophet,Jal. The Aether is a a paradise and keeps the universe alive. Rarely a mortal can connect with the Aether, making them powerful beyond comprehension and some say, immortal.

Of course, as I have mentioned, mental defects are common. Inside the mind of a psychic mortal is a constant battle between the forces of good and evil. Some manage to stay in the neutral room, The Nether, such as Joeda thanks to mental prowess,others, such as Nicholas Drake often...tip into both rooms. Nicholas is known for having mental breakdowns, like most psychic individuals, mood swings and even sadistic tendencies and even downright disturbing thoughts, dreams and nightmares.

Of course, the Psychic drugs and implants user do not experience this.

And now, I feed my cat.

[Nazi Flower Power]

What's the point if it's something that doesn't even make sense in-universe?

You know, I could write about what would happen if some of my characters that are from fictional worlds got dumped into our world, but they'd be outsiders. They wouldn't know what was going on. For example, I have a character named Guderian Zang who is the mayor of a 26th century city. She has all kinds of connections to political dissidents and organized crime, and she always knows what's going on, usually better than people who outrank her and work in intelligence. If she turned up on present day Earth, she would still be totally confused because all her connections and knowledge and her methods of making connections and finding out what's going on are specific to the society that she lives in. Knowing how to eavesdrop on people using 26th century technology is only useful in the 26th century.

In other words, you need to figure out how things work in the Gaiaverse and how Nicholas interacts with people in that context. Building a coherent world and developing a character who belongs in that world is more important than us getting the joke.

For weeks I have been trying to think of the Gaiaverse's unique thing.

I just can't visualize it.

That's sort of a separate issue, though. Even if it's not especially unique, it still needs to be consistent within itself and the characters still need to function within their setting.

[Nazi Flower Power]

I think you've already done too much work on the Gaiaverse to be able to add an interesting and significant "unique thing" without it feeling a bit out-of-place. Really, the "unique thing" (if there's going to be one) ought to come much earlier in the design process.

Well, I do have this.

Nephilim's, known by many different names in the various societies of the galaxy, are mortal beings granted with almost unlimited powers waiting to be unlocked by their user. Psychic beings are treated much better than non-psychics, considered to be superior in every way. Which is why in the vast space beyond the Orion Arm Ragon Lords for example born without Psychic powers take powerful drugs or implants to give them at least some power over the metaphysical "Three Rooms". In the Orion Arm, Psychic powers played a more limited role with most being priests of the Jrovaist faith or mental patients.

Of course this Psychic might has it's side effects. Depending on the mental prowess of the user many things can happen. Most report hearing voices in their head, sometimes foreseeing the future or bringing up past events in the persons live. Others are more....hellish. Multiple people, from Ragon Lords to street beggars have gone....insane simply put. They begin to come to much in contact with the "Three Rooms" which leads to hallucinations, mood swings and sometimes demonic possession. The Three Rooms do exist. They are the Rending,The Nether and The Aether. The Nether, the realm of Angst as he is called in Gaian religion, is comparable to hell, limbo and purgatory in Christian belief (I am not knowledgeable in other religions). Most mortals once they die go here, for various sentencing. Angst decides if the mortal goes to the Rending, stays at the Nether or ascends to the Aether.

The Rending is the realm of Hrova, the god of Chaos and Discord. The evil twin brother of Jrova, Hrova first action was to destroy and conquer with his Hora 'children'. The Rending is comparable to hell in Christian belief, if a more extreme one. The Rending is chaotic and appears as a black void to most. To others, which have no official name, the Rending is like a LSD trip, random and strange. These are immensely powerful
mortal beings that can live for eons.

The Aether is heaven and the realm of Jrova, the good twin brother of Hrova. Jrova is a vague topic as not much as been written about him besides some rites and commandments from his prophet,Jal. The Aether is a a paradise and keeps the universe alive. Rarely a mortal can connect with the Aether, making them powerful beyond comprehension and some say, immortal.

Of course, as I have mentioned, mental defects are common. Inside the mind of a psychic mortal is a constant battle between the forces of good and evil. Some manage to stay in the neutral room, The Nether, such as Joeda thanks to mental prowess,others, such as Nicholas Drake often...tip into both rooms. Nicholas is known for having mental breakdowns, like most psychic individuals, mood swings and even sadistic tendencies and even downright disturbing thoughts, dreams and nightmares.

Of course, the Psychic drugs and implants user do not experience this.

And now, I feed my cat.

OK. Now how does this tie into the story you want to tell?

[Laerod]

Even if you have a fictional world that was partly inspired by RL, your world needs to stand on its own.

The jokes won't appear in the story, I put Nigeria because I thought people would get the joke faster.

The big problem is it's not really a joke to begin with. Rather than give Nick a sense of humor, you've given him a dickish attitude. Essentially, you're confusing being infantile and mean with being funny.

When people have pointed out that in context that might work, it's because comedy tends to work best when you're punching up rather than kicking down (as in: make fun of powerful people rather than the disadvantaged). A list of instances where Nicholas is being a dick really just makes him look like an asshole rather than funny because we have no general idea if the people "deserve" being mocked.

[Nazi Flower Power]

When people have pointed out that in context that might work, it's because comedy tends to work best when you're punching up rather than kicking down (as in: make fun of powerful people rather than the disadvantaged).

In that sense, I don't think context will help. Nicholas is supposed to have a very successful career.

What I meant about the jokes maybe working in context was that, for example, some of them might be funnier as a non-sequitur in an otherwise serious scene, or if they tied into a running gag of some kind. Mostly, I just was giving Zein the benefit of the doubt since I wasn't sure how he was planning to use this stuff.

Zein, another thought: How does this tie in with the discussion from earlier about Nicholas being asexual? Some of the jokes seem inconsistent with the way you characterized his attitude toward women and sex.

[Norstal]

I've been assuming surrealism would be my forte, but I can't remember my dreams if I wanted to, and peyote is very hard to find.

Recommendations?

Deprive yourself of sleep for two or three days, on the third day take some asprin and caffeine, wander out into the cold, and get lost.

It does wonders.

Did...did you actually did that?

[Conserative Morality]

Did...did you actually did that?

Once, and it wasn't part of any grand plan. It just... happened.

[The New World Oceania]

Did...did you actually did that?

Once, and it wasn't part of any grand plan. It just... happened.

A surrealist at heart, I can affirm there are certainly other ways...
I am not going to insinuate, however, that there are necessarily better ways...

[Zeinbrad]

Well, I'm writing a poem without realizing it.

[Respubliko de Libereco]

Well, I'm writing a poem without realizing it.

I'm not sure that bodes well for the quality of the poem.

[Bezombia]

Well, I'm writing a poem without realizing it.

I'm not sure that bodes well for the quality of the poem.

*tries to think of a way to spin this into advertisement for my poems as linked to in my signature*

*fails*

[The Huskar Social Union]

I'm not sure that bodes well for the quality of the poem.

*tries to think of a way to spin this into advertisement for my poems as linked to in my signature*

*fails*

You just did it..

Crafty bastard..

[Bezombia]

*tries to think of a way to spin this into advertisement for my poems as linked to in my signature*

*fails*

You just did it..

Crafty bastard..

[The New World Oceania]

Well, I'm writing a poem without realizing it.

I'm not sure that bodes well for the quality of the poem.

I highly doubt Joyce knew what he was doing until at least 50 pages into Finnegan's Wake.
(On the assumption we're considering FW a good piece...)

[Zeinbrad]

Well, I'm writing a poem without realizing it.

I'm not sure that bodes well for the quality of the poem.

If I get it back I'll show it.

[Phocidaea]

I'm not sure that bodes well for the quality of the poem.

I highly doubt Joyce knew what he was doing until at least 50 pages into Finnegan's Wake.
(On the assumption we're considering FW a good piece...)

I don't think he ever figured out what he was doing in that book.

[Xeng He]

So, with some help from a friend, I've developed an interesting concept.

You know how, in the movie Lucy, the idea is thrown out fairly often that humans only use 10% of their brains? And it's often followed with a response that this is false, humans use each part of their brain all the time.

Well, my thought here is a way to (partially) alleviate that problem for a character with enhanced brain capacity. Rather than "using more of their brain", per se, they would instead be capable of instantaneously repurposing each part of their brain. So, for instance, they could take the neurons they're using for taste and make them temporarily used entirely for speech activities, or memory, or the like.

Thoughts?

[Bezombia]

So, with some help from a friend, I've developed an interesting concept.

You know how, in the movie Lucy, the idea is thrown out fairly often that humans only use 10% of their brains? And it's often followed with a response that this is false, humans use each part of their brain all the time.

Well, my thought here is a way to (partially) alleviate that problem for a character with enhanced brain capacity. Rather than "using more of their brain", per se, they would instead be capable of instantaneously repurposing each part of their brain. So, for instance, they could take the neurons they're using for taste and make them temporarily used entirely for speech activities, or memory, or the like.

Thoughts?

Still scientifically impossible because different neurons are constructed differently for different tasks.

[Xeng He]

Still scientifically impossible because different neurons are constructed differently for different tasks.

Do you believe it would be impossible for neurons to possess construction suited for multiple tasks?


Also, while we're at that, a neuron can be made into a multipotent stem cell again through certain processes, which can then change into a neuron of a different type. I'm unsure about the exact conditions in which this is viable, but I don't know if it would be impossible to do inside a body.

[Bezombia]

Still scientifically impossible because different neurons are constructed differently for different tasks.

Do you believe it would be impossible for neurons to possess construction suited for multiple tasks?

Multiple? Sure.
All? Hell no, not even close.

Also, while we're at that, a neuron can be made into a multipotent stem cell again through certain processes, which can then change into a neuron of a different type. I'm unsure about the exact conditions in which this is viable, but I don't know if it would be impossible to do inside a body.

Having your entire brain destroy and reconstruct itself while you're awake and functioning sounds painful.

[Zeinbrad]

So, with some help from a friend, I've developed an interesting concept.

You know how, in the movie Lucy, the idea is thrown out fairly often that humans only use 10% of their brains? And it's often followed with a response that this is false, humans use each part of their brain all the time.

Well, my thought here is a way to (partially) alleviate that problem for a character with enhanced brain capacity. Rather than "using more of their brain", per se, they would instead be capable of instantaneously repurposing each part of their brain. So, for instance, they could take the neurons they're using for taste and make them temporarily used entirely for speech activities, or memory, or the like.

Thoughts?

Still scientifically impossible because different neurons are constructed differently for different tasks.

I can give a crash course in bullshitting.

I'm a sci-ri write but I know nothing about science. I just make it up.

[Bezombia]

Still scientifically impossible because different neurons are constructed differently for different tasks.

I can give a crash course in bullshitting.

I'm a sci-ri write but I know nothing about science. I just make it up.

The Alpha Centuari did "bullshit science" the best I've ever seen. Not only did they invent a new field of science that made absolutely no sense, but they then used that new field of science to prove the existence of a deity. And then used that to evaporate every human being in the universe. Scientifically, of course.

[Zeinbrad]

I can give a crash course in bullshitting.

I'm a sci-ri write but I know nothing about science. I just make it up.

The Alpha Centuari did "bullshit science" the best I've ever seen. Not only did they invent a new field of science that made absolutely no sense, but they then used that new field of science to prove the existence of a deity. And then used that to evaporate every human being in the universe. Scientifically, of course.

The game?

I just make all my bullshit science revolve around psychic powers.