Post Your Concept

Okay, here's my concept.

In the empire of Vistoria (think Industrial Revolution Britain but with Magitek), magic is a science, based on the manipulation of an elementary particle called a materion that is present in everything. Thanks to a combination of magic and technology, society has advanced rapidly, with the typical Vistorian having a 19th to early 20th century standard of life.

Among the many wonders of the Empire is a massive city dedicated to learning and the advancement of magic and technology. This city is Sicaresia, and its Grand Academy is the most prestigious institution in the land.*

Mikhail Solaris is sent to the Grand Academy to prepare him for life as heir to the Solaris shipping empire. On his first day there, he runs into a strange, white-haired boy named Gabriel Lucian Elcarios. Mikhail attempts to talk to the boy, who seems friendly enough if a bit distant. As the two boys go through the triumphs and tribulations of learning in Sicaresia, they quickly become friends— and in time, their relationship becomes something more.

What Mikhail doesn't know is that Gabriel is part of a group that seeks something at the Grand Academy, and that by the bonds they share Mikhail would soon be drawn into a labyrinth of forbidden mysteries, ancient plots and long-lost magic within Sicaresia— a maze of plots within plots that hides a secret that would shake the very foundations of the world.

edited 2nd Apr '13 10:56:52 AM by Icarael

"Stealing is a crime and drugs is a crime too BUT if you steal drugs the two crimes cancel out and it’s like basically doing a good."

So in essence, I want to play around with all the tropes of the Yaoi Genre— and give the finger to a few of the more Unfortunate Implications-filled ones. The "rape is love" thing? Nope. Melodrama? Nuh-uh. Will They or Won't They? Yes, but less melodramatic to the point where you could see Mikhail and Gabriel's relationship working out if they were friends rather than lovers.

And at the same time, I want to have a mystery plot with magic duels, secret cults, revolutions, and all of those good Steampunk tropes.

edited 3rd Apr '13 12:51:45 AM by Icarael

"Stealing is a crime and drugs is a crime too BUT if you steal drugs the two crimes cancel out and it’s like basically doing a good."

here's mine: my main character Johnathan still has an imaginary friend despite being in his second year of high school. the imaginary friend appears to be a perfectly visible, perfectly real person to him but is undetectable to others. Johnathan has learned to keep the hallucination to himself for fear of being seen as crazy and has told his family that he has grown out of it. near the beginning of the story he and his imaginary friend get into an argument that culminates in him finally deciding to get psychiatric help. the imaginary friend is understandably pissed at the idea that Johnathan is trying to get rid of him and proceeds to make as much trouble for Johnathan as possible. as Johnathan tries harder and harder to get rid of him the imaginary friend becomes more and more aggressive and violent making Johnathan more and more desperate to be rid of him. things really start goin down when the imaginary friend begins attacking him physically as well.

Edited out.

edited 9th Apr '13 12:18:08 PM by ConnorBible

A Magical Girl story where the main character is genderqueer and their costume for fighting is a pink lolita dress.

A war between a homosexual nation who are staunch Pro-Lifers, and a nation of rigidly gender-conformist homophobes who are avid abortionists. The former reproduce by cloning, and view unwanted pregnancy as a problem of reckless straight people. The latter is a society run by evil sorcerers who have set up the entire society to maximize the number of abortions performed in order to fuel dark magical rituals. The two are fighting for control of a larger, weaker neutral nation, from which the protagonist hails, with a political climate resembling modern-day America.

edited 12th Apr '13 9:47:58 PM by DAStudent

I'd say I'm being refined Into the web I descend Killing those I've left behind I have been Endarkened

If that is a parody of this thread, it tip my hat to you. If not, more power to you.

Keep it breezy!

So one of my ideas that isn't the most fleshed out of all of the ideas I have:

• Fantasy setting (post industrial, slightly steampunk) many people have control over magic, which provides them with a variety of skills, including the ability to (if they die) for their soul to enter another recently 'vacated' body (Body Surf / reincarnation type thing) Their society and culture has been shaped heavily by this (yay worldbuilding) In addition to humans, there are a few other sentient, magical races, including vampires (but Our Vampires Are Different so they're born, not bitten along with a few other differences) Vampires have been often persecuted by society. But when a powerful ruler disappears soon before his coronation, conflict arises when a Vampirist extremist group appears, along with socery that can kill someone permenantly. Our heroes go on an epic adventure to fix these problems.
• It's lighter than some of my other work (although it can get pretty dark) I'd just like to know if anyone thinks this is interesting, or that it might be a little too busy. Thanks

@Zardoni: LOVE that idea! I'm into psychology and psychological thrillers, so you get bonus points for tapping into audience desires!

Short story idea: Our protagonist, let's call him Shuu. Shuu, a reclusive, Jerk with a Heart of Jerk, Hikkikomori, lives alone in an apartment where he spends his time watching anime, blogging, the like. One day, somehow his most precious laptop broke down, and so he goes out to find a technician to fix it(Because he doesn't need a phone). Strangely, along the way he encounters many troubles and obstacles, many that made him wish he never came out of his hole. He (reluctantly) encounters many people, weird people, fascinating people, sane people, and more on this 'journey and finds himself going to convenience stores, bookshops, a bar, among other alien and foreign places he'd never wish to have stepped into, all to get his laptop fixed so he could go back home and ignore those bastards outside

I could see this idea working, but maybe that's just me.

"And you must be Jonathan Joestar!" - Sue

I'd appreciate if someone could comment on my concept :) Thanks

@Muse: It sounds very interesting. :) I'm not really into fantasy but I might give it a read just to see how you describe the world you made.

Ten Minutes in the Closet as a horror/suspense story. Two people who are sort of into each other get kidnapped by people who want one or both of them mentally broken and/or dead. They must learn to survive in their prison and plot an escape while combating their captors' attempts to kill them.

Looking for some stories?

@Zardoni: Excellent idea. And strangely similar to mine, although the executions will probably be entirely different.

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I've posted my concept here before in one of its previous incarnations, but here's what I'm going to use as the "blurb" for it. It's going to be written in the protagonist's handwriting - which will be recognizable from illustrations in the story - in the final version.

Is it effective? Any squick aside, does it sound like something anyone would read?

edited 21st Apr '13 7:07:08 PM by Wheezy

Project progress: The Adroan (102k words), The Pigeon Witch, (40k). Done but in need of reworking: Yume Hime, (50k)

I would! :D

Thank you. Are you already familiar with this project, though?

Project progress: The Adroan (102k words), The Pigeon Witch, (40k). Done but in need of reworking: Yume Hime, (50k)

I think I may have seen you mention it somewhere on the fora once or twice before. :o

Good enough. I just wanted to make sure that summary alone - even though it's intentionally vague - is enough to draw people's interest.

edited 21st Apr '13 7:05:10 PM by Wheezy

Project progress: The Adroan (102k words), The Pigeon Witch, (40k). Done but in need of reworking: Yume Hime, (50k)

Here's two of mine:

1. 1: An animesque webcomic parodizing anime/manga, especially mecha/harem. Our hero recieves a hi-fi equipment from his long lost father. But this in not an ordinary electronics: it has built after the schematics found at the Dead See, and can wipe humanity out.

The hero's father main goal is the Father-Son Instrumentality Project which he fails. The hero also wants to live a normal college student life but constant battles around him and the girls doesn't let him. Also will makes some satirisation of politics, censorship, and both western and eastern society.

1. 2: An animesque graphic novel taking deconstruction up to eleven.

The hero is a guitarist and a college student at the day. But at night he takes the name Prometheus, and becomes the infamous arsonist and vigilate associated with The Brotherhood (a secret society that altered some historical event with great justice, hated by almost everyone by false accusions of building a world-level dictatorship, and blamed for a lot of things), who also happens to fight with a guitar that doesn't brake, and can shoot fireballs from itself. Have I mentioned his memory reading and altering skills (if he has a contact with the target) that also can used to control people if used right? Basically he's a superhero but unlike others he lives in a Central European country where the far-right became too strong. And he's the only hope for the country. Our (byronic) hero goes home one day to an another city from college when he saves an albinistic girl from a horde of skinheads. In the battle he losts his mask, but don't worry he erases the enemies memories so no one can track him. Except the girl who also happens to posses special powers, and she happens to rewrite his memories to live at her in exchange of saving her. Not only he later figures out this, he also manages to make the girl fall in love with him (because she has inferiority complex about her look, and almost no friends or family), despire he has a long lost love, also she becomes his teammate because of her healing powers, amongside others. After this, the deconstruction begins: The hero has no clue about his old love but still pursues her while there's alreadily a beauty around him (not to mention his fangirls). He also not sociopathic to handle killings and manipulating people without remorse. Working besides school, playing in a band, being a hero at night is really exhausting even with a load of caffeine. Making a contract with a record company is far worse than contracting with Kyubey. The girl starts to show yandere tendencies but it worsens her position. The badness of nazism will showed in an unorthodox way, by concentrating on the (anti-)villains and their issues (don't worry, there will be true bads, and a complete monster too) thus deconstructing their ideology from their point of view. There will be also a lot of symbolism as seen in eg. Evangelion. Mostly these will run around political and social issues.

Something i've been thinking about (a serious, grounded story, despite my usual ideas being anything from Middle Fantasy to even more stock schlock, or just remakes of old cartoon series), a novel detailing a middle-aged businessman who was raised in a non-religious family (not overtly atheistic, just non-religious), and then his elderly mother dies suddenly, and he struggles with the concept that she just sort of disappears after death, ending like a closed computer program.

essentially the story would be a mouthpiece for my agnostic religious views that works to reconcile a need for spirituality with the desire to not embrace "religion" as we know it.

My trouble is that i want to execute the story without making me seem too anti-religious, as i'm not one of those "screw organized religion" guys, it's just not for me, and i want to communicate it more that way, with him eventually arriving at my own beliefs (that just because we may not go anywhere after death does not make life meaningless)

@Connor Bible: Thanks this is my first go at a psychological thriller so here's hoping i can do it justice.

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@Wheezy: thank you also. your little blurb definitely grabs my attention, its something i would probably read if it were on the back cover of a book. the initial bit about the anime character had me fearing for our originality but it seems you've got quite a bit more going on than me, supernatural wise, so no worries.

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@Ogodei: i can sympathies with trying for a more grounded work for the first time. the concept i posted above is probably the least fantastical Ive ever tried. your idea appeals to me but that's probably mostly because I already agree with your point of view(so far as i can tell). your gonna have to work pretty hard to avoid being preachy or Anvilicious, especially since you are setting out specifically to get across your point of view. Im not saying you should avoid the issue just that you should be careful. so long as you avoid using strawmen or an Author Filibuster you should be fine.

One of my novel stories is a contemporary one in where a security specialist company intervenes in situations where governments and individuals either hesitate or turn a blind eye to because they don't want to risk getting to a bigger problem. Since someone here in the site claimed that the work was plagiarized and I'm a cheat and I got to a shouting match with the idiot, I'm temporarily abandoning it. Although my work is floating somewhere on the net though...

The second one is a work in progress with a Philippine law enforcement post-cyberpunk story. Basic gist is a Chinese-Filipino was known in the news for joining the Philippine National Police after disappearing since he was suppose to be one of the few sons on a dead Chi/Fil businessman to run part of the empire. After he joined the Special Action Force, he eventually had a big case when he was ordered to lead a raid on a suspected hideout of a hacker terrorist group before it turned to a big disaster. Suspicious of why the attack failed and with the media coverage on him after being accused of botching the raid, the man leaves the SAF. He then gets called by the National Counter-Terrorism Action Group to lead an elite anti-terrorist/crime unit (despite having less than 5 years of experience as a commissioned officer) as the first LE unit to take on cases that involves unique cybercrimes, including the smuggling of military/black market prosthetics and investigating rogue officers in various law enforcement agencies. This unit consists of personnel from the police to the military, coast guard and the anti-money laundering council alongside the bureau of immigration. This posting gave him the opportunity to go after the peeps after a series of attacks are attributed to the same group.

My concern is that the 2nd story may fall into accusations that it totally rips cyberpunk stories like the Ghost in the Shell series. There are others, but the former is my main concern. If anything, I probably will post it in a separate thread.

edited 28th Apr '13 1:45:40 AM by Ominae

"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"

The normal world of the setting is linked to another - the world of the gods - through a rift in the sky. Magic comes from storms of energy from this other world which transform ordinary minerals into nigh-indestructible crystals of power.

The protagonist is a mage, one of the few who can manipulate this energy to warp reality. He works for the Arcane Institute in a mansion overlooking the town of INSERT NAME HERE, which contains one of the largest remaining mines for these crystals. When he is called to a meeting (or something) in a nearby town, he is plunged into a conspiracy that will shake the world to its very core...

edited 28th Apr '13 4:23:42 AM by JimmyTMalice

"Steel wins battles. Gold wins wars."

my W.I.P. follows a group of 5 people, one is a Chosen One who I kill off at my first opportunity because of my intense hatred for that trope (he's replaced quickly), another is a famed Mongol (Fantasy Counterpart Culture) warrior, another a prolific Viking (another of many Fantasy Counterpart Culture), an insane Celt wizard, the Chosen One's replacement, a Celt, and my Venetian fairly normal point of view character. they are originally tasked with assassinating the Big Bad, but that fails and my wizard is a part of a group of 5 powerful wizards, 4 of which die off screen, and they need to find some replacements to kill off my The Dragon

'All shall love me and despar!'

@ Zardoni

I think the best way for me to approach it would be with the aesop that we should not embrace religion just because we want simple answers to complex problems, which is a way to avoid bashing the religious as a whole, while suggesting that going religious just to feel better about the death of a loved one (or where you yourself might go) cheapens the religious experience and cheats yourself of seeking actual closure