Writing Discussion

[Conserative Morality]

Hm? Like?

That leaves a lot of leeway, my friend.

I've got two constructed worlds at the moment.

One (My main one) has a country with basically turn of the 19th/20th century technology, save for problems with easily extracted sulfur which makes gunpowder very expensive (As well as some medicines, but not all explosives), and another group of countries who have basically resisted a lot of the technological progress due to the social upheaval it would lead to, and are now starting to feel the increased amount of pressure (Of course, even that group of countries is really late-Renaissance, with significant variations between them) from the rapidly overwhelming force of industry basically killing their long-valued ideas of heroic leaders and the thought of war as a struggle between warriors rather than between great organizations and their ability to produce materials and field soldiers.

"In the fires of industry, heroes die."

Also, no non-humans.

The other is standard late-Renaissance with plenty of proper matchlocks and a little magic here and there.

[The Nuclear Fist]

Soooooooooooo... what genre do you guys usually write?

Extremely grimdark, black humour, filled with declining powers and a lack of anyone really 'good', but the higher ups absolutely black morally, with the whole thing laced with absurdism and surrealism. This composes a whole laundry list of genres, although I tend to write soft science fiction, fantasy, cyberpunk, and a sort of 'Steampunk/Dieselpunk vs Mid Fantasy' type story.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Hm? Like?

That leaves a lot of leeway, my friend.

I've got two constructed worlds at the moment.

One (My main one) has a country with basically turn of the 19th/20th century technology, save for problems with easily extracted sulfur which makes gunpowder very expensive (As well as some medicines, but not all explosives), and another group of countries who have basically resisted a lot of the technological progress due to the social upheaval it would lead to, and are now starting to feel the increased amount of pressure (Of course, even that group of countries is really late-Renaissance, with significant variations between them) from the rapidly overwhelming force of industry basically killing their long-valued ideas of heroic leaders and the thought of war as a struggle between warriors rather than between great organizations and their ability to produce materials and field soldiers.

"In the fires of industry, heroes die."

Also, no non-humans.

The other is standard late-Renaissance with plenty of proper matchlocks and a little magic here and there.

Contemporary fantasy then?

[Conserative Morality]

Contemporary fantasy then?

19th/20th. As in, before WW1 but just after the US Civil War. Not as in 'right now'.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Contemporary fantasy then?

19th/20th. As in, before WW1 but just after the US Civil War. Not as in 'right now'.

I know. Hm. Don't know what it would be called.

As for myself, well... I believe I've explained my novel before here. I think. Let me check.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Soooooooooooo... what genre do you guys usually write?

Extremely grimdark, black humour, filled with declining powers and a lack of anyone really 'good', but the higher ups absolutely black morally, with the whole thing laced with absurdism and surrealism. This composes a whole laundry list of genres, although I tend to write soft science fiction, fantasy, cyberpunk, and a sort of 'Steampunk/Dieselpunk vs Mid Fantasy' type story.

Vlad, you know how boring autobiographies are.

[Conserative Morality]

I know. Hm. Don't know what it would be called.

Industrial non-Steampunk Fantasy?

I just go with Low Fantasy because of my hatred for black or white morality. If the sides are clear, who'd pick the bad one?

Cardboard cutouts, that's who.

[The Nuclear Fist]

Extremely grimdark, black humour, filled with declining powers and a lack of anyone really 'good', but the higher ups absolutely black morally, with the whole thing laced with absurdism and surrealism. This composes a whole laundry list of genres, although I tend to write soft science fiction, fantasy, cyberpunk, and a sort of 'Steampunk/Dieselpunk vs Mid Fantasy' type story.

Vlad, you know how boring autobiographies are.

What?

[Nationstatelandsville]

I know. Hm. Don't know what it would be called.

Industrial non-Steampunk Fantasy?

I just go with Low Fantasy because of my hatred for black or white morality. If the sides are clear, who'd pick the bad one?

Cardboard cutouts, that's who.

I don't know. Star Wars is pretty black and white, but I've always sided with the Darth.

Vlad, you know how boring autobiographies are.

What?

'Twas a joke.

[The Nuclear Fist]

'Twas a joke.

Mind if I describe one of the stories?

[Nationstatelandsville]

'Twas a joke.

Mind if I describe one of the stories?

Shoot.

[Conserative Morality]

I don't know. Star Wars is pretty black and white, but I've always sided with the Darth.

That's just because he's damn cool and Luke whiiiiiiiines too much.

I'm talking about ideas of self-determination vs. progress, unity of a state vs. unity of a culture, a greater good for a lesser evil vs. A greater evil for a lesser good.

[Norstal]

I know. Hm. Don't know what it would be called.

Industrial non-Steampunk Fantasy?

I just go with Low Fantasy because of my hatred for black or white morality. If the sides are clear, who'd pick the bad one?

Cardboard cutouts, that's who.

Sounds a lot like Spanish-American war. Well, at least I think it would.

[Conserative Morality]

Sounds a lot like Spanish-American war. Well, at least I think it would.

Yeah, that's about the time period I'm operating at.

[Nationstatelandsville]

The story follows the adventures of an exasperated, bored, and somewhat volatile accountant, Dan, and his child prodigy daughter, Anna, whose wide-eyed naivety clashes with her vast genius and genre savviness. Dan's wife and Anna's mother died several years prior, and the two have grown distanced since. In order to mend their relationship and advance the plot, Dan takes them on a cruise and tour through a fictional Central American nation called San Pedro. The ship is raided by pirates, the coast is bombed by a rival nation, etc, etc, and Dan and Anna end up traveling across the vast, Cloud Cuckoolander-filled wasteland that is San Pedro's deserts. Their companion is Frankie, a mysterious car enthusiast with a criminal past, balls big enough to eclipse the sun, and too much sarcasm for a healthy human being. Oh yeah, and there is no fourth wall, having characters frequently converse (or more likely, argue) with the all-knowing and all-powerful rambling Narrator. Lampshade-filled hilarity ensues.

That is only the beginning of their epic, and meta as all hell, quest through time, space, and ridiculousness.

[Conserative Morality]

The story follows the adventures of an exasperated, bored, and somewhat volatile accountant, Dan, and his child prodigy daughter, Anna, whose wide-eyed naivety clashes with her vast genius and genre savviness. Dan's wife and Anna's mother died several years prior, and the two have grown distanced since. In order to mend their relationship and advance the plot, Dan takes them on a cruise and tour through a fictional Central American nation called San Pedro. The ship is raided by pirates, the coast is bombed by a rival nation, etc, etc, and Dan and Anna end up traveling across the vast, Cloud Cuckoolander-filled wasteland that is San Pedro's deserts. Their companion is Frankie, a mysterious car enthusiast with a criminal past, balls big enough to eclipse the sun, and too much sarcasm for a healthy human being. Oh yeah, and there is no fourth wall, having characters frequently converse (or more likely, argue) with the all-knowing and all-powerful rambling Narrator. Lampshade-filled hilarity ensues.

That is only the beginning of their epic, and meta as all hell, quest through time, space, and ridiculousness.

You see, I tend towards ultra-realism.

This is your novel, not your short story, right?

[Nationstatelandsville]

The story follows the adventures of an exasperated, bored, and somewhat volatile accountant, Dan, and his child prodigy daughter, Anna, whose wide-eyed naivety clashes with her vast genius and genre savviness. Dan's wife and Anna's mother died several years prior, and the two have grown distanced since. In order to mend their relationship and advance the plot, Dan takes them on a cruise and tour through a fictional Central American nation called San Pedro. The ship is raided by pirates, the coast is bombed by a rival nation, etc, etc, and Dan and Anna end up traveling across the vast, Cloud Cuckoolander-filled wasteland that is San Pedro's deserts. Their companion is Frankie, a mysterious car enthusiast with a criminal past, balls big enough to eclipse the sun, and too much sarcasm for a healthy human being. Oh yeah, and there is no fourth wall, having characters frequently converse (or more likely, argue) with the all-knowing and all-powerful rambling Narrator. Lampshade-filled hilarity ensues.

That is only the beginning of their epic, and meta as all hell, quest through time, space, and ridiculousness.

You see, I tend towards ultra-realism.

This is your novel, not your short story, right?

Yep.

And the most fantastic the story gets is a little bit of applied phlebotinum plants. Nothing too fantasy, other than the omniscient God-Emperor that narrates their story and fucks with them for shits and giggles.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

You see, I tend towards ultra-realism.

This is your novel, not your short story, right?

Yep.

And the most fantastic the story gets is a little bit of applied phlebotinum plants. Nothing too fantasy, other than the omniscient God-Emperor that narrates their story and fucks with them for shits and giggles.

I'm honored to be in your story.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Yep.

And the most fantastic the story gets is a little bit of applied phlebotinum plants. Nothing too fantasy, other than the omniscient God-Emperor that narrates their story and fucks with them for shits and giggles.

I'm honored to be in your story.

Ironically, I created the plot back in July. Remember when I disappeared for a week? I was in D.C. cooking up that bad boy. I signed up for A World Beyond because Mr. G reminded me of the Narrator. Test-driving Vernon was just the icing on the cake.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

I'm honored to be in your story.

Ironically, I created the plot back in July. Remember when I disappeared for a week? I was in D.C. cooking up that bad boy. I signed up for A World Beyond because Mr. G reminded me of the Narrator. Test-driving Vernon was just the icing on the cake.

Glad to help.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Ironically, I created the plot back in July. Remember when I disappeared for a week? I was in D.C. cooking up that bad boy. I signed up for A World Beyond because Mr. G reminded me of the Narrator. Test-driving Vernon was just the icing on the cake.

Glad to help.

Thank you.

You won't be getting that 20% you TG'd me about though. I have lawyers too, ya know.

[The Nuclear Fist]

Mind if I describe one of the stories?

Shoot.

There exists two worlds coexisting on one plane, our plane. These two worlds make up the entirety of the sprawling lands of Uul, the great blue world. Separated for many years by mountains, oceans, and deserts, these two worlds developed separately, and developed along different paths. The land of Cyrol developed as we did, slowly and with much bloodshed, until it had become a great industrial colossus, with a sprawling military complex. Ruled by the Emperor Franz Praxis, an incredibly old and crippled leader, once benevolent and kind, now despotic and cruel. He has lived for nearly two hundred years, kept alive by being fastened to a great machine, spewing forth fire and brimstone, day and night. With his duties obviously limited, much of the power is now divided unevenly amongst the various lower nobles, most heavily with his relative, the Archduke. The once beautiful land is now poisioned and polluted, covered in factories and refineries, smelting plants and slaughterhouses.

Across the plane is the land of Kae, an arcane and medieval land, populated with many races and ruled by an elven class, headed by the Godking Gaius Germanicus. Kae is a magical land, where time seems to have frozen in the medieval, with arcane alchemy and mancy filling the role of what industry and technology filled in Cyrol. Those non-elven races live little more than enslaved by their elven rulers, a race of rather weak, but magically powerful creatures protected by their guardian race, the Spirit Golems: massive patchwork beasts of stone and iron, held together with the spirit that makes up their core. Gaius Germanicus is brutal and tyrannical, paranoid and psychotic. Generations of inbreeding have left him, well, not in good standing mentally. He has lived for many centuries, protected from assassination by the sheer power of his Golems.

These two powers have, for as long as anyone can remember, warred. Brutally and savagely, they have existed in a state of constant total war, neither side seeming to be able to gain the upper hand.

Meh. I'll explain the rest some other time. Right now, though, I'm focusing on a short story based on the Battle of Ur-Har-Erk, a scorching desert plane of endless sand and dunes, marred occasionally with a rocky plateau or dried lake. Ur-Har-Erk is an extremely potent area, rich in both vital minerals and oil, and extremely necessary for Cyrol. They have held it for centuries, having seized it in a terribly battle some two centuries ago. Now, it is frequently attacked by the forces of Kai, wanting to reclaim it for it's potent magical ability, focused of the seven silver pools, an area so magically powerful that it is said that the greatest mages and mancers can be created simply by breathing in its mist. The story takes place from the viewpoint of three men: Private Jago Kramar, Winston Leibowitz (a miner), and Lucretius Paganus, a mage in the Kaian forces.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Shoot.

There exists two worlds coexisting on one plane, our plane. These two worlds make up the entirety of the sprawling lands of Uul, the great blue world. Separated for many years by mountains, oceans, and deserts, these two worlds developed separately, and developed along different paths. The land of Cyrol developed as we did, slowly and with much bloodshed, until it had become a great industrial colossus, with a sprawling military complex. Ruled by the Emperor Franz Praxis, an incredibly old and crippled leader, once benevolent and kind, now despotic and cruel. He has lived for nearly two hundred years, kept alive by being fastened to a great machine, spewing forth fire and brimstone, day and night. With his duties obviously limited, much of the power is now divided unevenly amongst the various lower nobles, most heavily with his relative, the Archduke. The once beautiful land is now poisioned and polluted, covered in factories and refineries, smelting plants and slaughterhouses.

Across the plane is the land of Kae, an arcane and medieval land, populated with many races and ruled by an elven class, headed by the Godking Gaius Germanicus. Kae is a magical land, where time seems to have frozen in the medieval, with arcane alchemy and mancy filling the role of what industry and technology filled in Cyrol. Those non-elven races live little more than enslaved by their elven rulers, a race of rather weak, but magically powerful creatures protected by their guardian race, the Spirit Golems: massive patchwork beasts of stone and iron, held together with the spirit that makes up their core. Gaius Germanicus is brutal and tyrannical, paranoid and psychotic. Generations of inbreeding have left him, well, not in good standing mentally. He has lived for many centuries, protected from assassination by the sheer power of his Golems.

These two powers have, for as long as anyone can remember, warred. Brutally and savagely, they have existed in a state of constant total war, neither side seeming to be able to gain the upper hand.

Meh. I'll explain the rest some other time. Right now, though, I'm focusing on a short story based on the Battle of Ur-Har-Erk, a scorching desert plane of endless sand and dunes, marred occasionally with a rocky plateau or dried lake. Ur-Har-Erk is an extremely potent area, rich in both vital minerals and oil, and extremely necessary for Cyrol. They have held it for centuries, having seized it in a terribly battle some two centuries ago. Now, it is frequently attacked by the forces of Kai, wanting to reclaim it for it's potent magical ability, focused of the seven silver pools, an area so magically powerful that it is said that the greatest mages and mancers can be created simply by breathing in its mist. The story takes place from the viewpoint of three men: Private Jago Kramar, Winston Leibowitz (a miner), and Lucretius Paganus, a mage in the Kaian forces.

[The Nuclear Fist]

Outside of the military, tech on the Cyrolite side is pretty much just 1870's, but inside, is closer to the interwar period between the World Wars.

Also, the Kaian ruler is modeled after Caligula.

[Ragnarsdomr]

Got a couple of ideas for mine, personally.

One is a steam/dieselpunk post-apocalyptic idea. Not sure of the mechanism yet, but the story would basically revolve around the stiffer social norms of the time clashing with a sudden lack of society. On the other hand, due to a lower reliance on technology worldwide, the world effectively recovers much more easily, because of a higher population being able to teach useful skills to successive generations.

Another idea is a horror/black comedy set in the sewer system of Ottawa, where a sewer worker is trapped with *something*, possibly a Grendel expy. Gives a chance to poke fun at Ottawa's shoddy sewer system, the whole overflow issue we have, and possibly make reference to the *something* being running away from the surface, because it's confused at the lack of joy and wonder in the above-ground population, and sees the number of cynical bastards as an emotional threat.

Final thought is a one-person tragedy of a person who, through attempting to force themself into an ideal, causes their own downfall and the utter destruction of their self. Fairly general, yes, but it'd be more specific as it's fleshed out. I could probably combine this with the first idea, actually.