Some.. Major? Changes.

[.:Zodiac:.]

Well, I dunno how attached you all are to the main backstory and such with the spirits and the two cities, but I was thinking about completely re-doing all that. It would still have the same feel and everything, but. Hm. Well let me start at the beginning.

In case you all didn't know this already I am first and foremost an artist, but I also enjoy writing, designing characters, creating stories, and getting to use my imagination in a different way than just drawing. So, a year or two ago I figured the best way to combine art and storytelling would be, well, a graphic novel! (Similar to a comic or whatever, just with more focus on the novel part.) I started with my first ideas last summer, which were completely different from what I have now. By the end of the summer I had come up with some characters who have changed little since, but the plot and setting I had then still wasn't sticking. By the spring of 2011 my plot ideas had changed once again, and I decided that I needed to start writing things down and playing them out before I decided if they were going to work or not. THAT is when I made this site. I created it to help me find out what I really wanted in my novel, what would work, and what wouldn't. What kind of feel I wanted it to have- that kind of stuff.

None of my ideas so far I have really fallen for. They have all had major flaws that I couldn't figure out, or some large element I disliked about them. And if you have been here since the very beginning of this site, in early March, you would have been able to see some of the changes I made just between now and then. Being a part of `LumineEssence has really made me think about some of my favorite things, and what inspires me. I pretty much have a list in my head, that looks a little like this:
- Alice in Wonderland, the movies, books, and songs related to it
- MirrorMask (an amazing movie you should go watch)
- Steampunk (I love love love that style)
- Lolita (Thanks Reii, I now know what to call it, but I've always loved this too, especially paired with steampunk)
- Victorian/Gothic (the clothing was fantastic in that time period)
- The early 1900's/ late 1800's
- Europe (England and France mainly)
- Doctor Who (<3)
- The Hunger Games

I already had all those elements in my mind as what I wanted out of my site and graphic novel, but I just couldn't find the right mixture. I guess as an artist I just couldn't describe to you in words the stories I feel when I watch, see, or listen to any of the things listed above. The old, dusty, vintage feeling. The contrast of Lolita and Steampunk, and all the little accessories are like heaven for a character designer, I mean really. <3 I love the blurred line between light and darkness, where things are just plain random and confusing. *cough* Alice in Wonderland, MirrorMask *cough* Its like all those things are screaming- "There are no rules you have to follow! Make whatever you want, and it will be amazing!"

So I think I've finally found the right blend of everything, but now I am tired of writing and have kind of forgotten what I started this for in the first place. I found a plot that I like for my story, and have been able to make everything in it work smoothly, not that the plot matter too much for the site. That's just for my graphic novel, but I decided on a setting I liked more. I'm not quite sure how to explain why, but I feel it offers more opportunities for members creating their own plots.

I'll just put it simply. Screw the whole only spirits and energies thing, thats a little overused and not as open as I'd like it to be. There's a city in the sky, divided into four kingdoms, and based on the four types of cards you get in a deck of cards. (Yes, totally inspired from Alice in Wonderland). And then there is a city underground, that is very steampunk-like and their job is to make everything the sky city needs. They have their own king and queen and whatever. And then there are the two boards we already have- Paradise and the Nether World.

That's kind of the axis of the setting. Things would be a lot more open to character and plot creation and so on. Now I really need breakfast, so please tell me what you think. Things are still subject to a little change to make it more fit to roleplaying and your needs as members and so on, but thats my main idea. I'll try and clarify a little after I've eaten.

So, change things, or keep them the way they were?
(I do have to tell you I would be A LOT more interested in being on here if I changed those things. The old ideas are making me unhappy.

[.:Kyla:.]

Hi Zodi,

I like the ideas, especially the Alice in Wonderland thing and The Hunger Games one, too. I was thinking that we could come up with a similar temporary plot (after the Summer Carnivale, or just get rid of that one altogether) that goes along with The Hunger Games, and that way members could participate in it to add a wider variety of possible role playing varieties. i.e., citizens of Ost and Est would be chosen to fight to the death but only certain members of the city's government and siblings/close friends of the battlers would be able to see.

Tell me what you think! (:

-- KYLA

[.:Zodiac:.]

Okay, well, here goes some of the clarifying. It won't be Ost and Ess anymore. There will be the four kingdoms in the sky- which would be Heart, Diamond, Spade, Club. And then there would be the factories underground where people do all the working. The sky kingdom would be mostly for middle/upper class people. Children all go to school, wear uniforms, etc. and most people have government jobs. In the Underground city though (need to think of a name) most people are poor and work in factories, or don't have jobs. That place will be more steampunk. Uhm, let me kind of describe with pictures.

In the sky kingdom people would probably dress kind of
like this-click <=(ffff, hot)
or this- click


Underground they would dress more
like this- click
and this- click

(Schmancy yes?)


As for the Hunger Games thing, I don't want to feel like I'm just taking their ideas, but perhaps we could do something like that- involving all four kingdoms in the sky and the one underground. We might want to put a unique spin on it though. And it would probably have to be next month, because it would take awhile to implement these changes.

We have to wait and see if Reii agrees too. :3

[Reii]

My my, your head must be one load of "lulwhutisthisidon'tBBQ!"

A fanasinating, trippy, wonderful load of "lulwhutisthisidon'tBBQ!" =)

It still all seems a little unclear, but go figure. Your mixing so much, it'll be amazing when you get there.
I'm not too excited about the cards city idea. I think you should develop that a little further. Go deeper. Or maybe more simple?

With The Underworld, I think you could play the Divine Comedy there, you know the spiraling worlds (personally I love that image of spiraling confusion).

You could play some hierarchy with the cities and if you use it, the levels of the underworld.

The paradise and Netherwordl: Are we waving good-bye to them, are they a link between reality/the two worlds or are they the worlds themselves?

As for the people, would we be saying they could be ordinary people with some demons/angels/darkness/light/something-else-entirely/something-in-development among them or as a part of them?

--
I'm loving the idea of the underworld working for the higher. I'm loving the looks of the characters too. I adore Lolita as you well know and Steampunk is just filled with crazy awesome.
Love doctor who too and Alice.

I'll miss Ost and Ess a little. But too be honest, not too much XoX
And I just threw some more coal unto your BBQ xP Eh.

[.:Zodiac:.]

I love BBQ. XD

But yeah, my head is kind of filled with ideas, and I've yet to really come up with a pretty good plot idea until recently. And of course it could still use some changing, but I think I want to stick pretty close to the idea I have now.

As for the card cities, I kind of liked it. I mean, it wasn't going to be a really big part of the plot or anything, just that each sector of the main city would be classified under a different symbol. Kind of just something people would wear on their clothing showing where they came from. I know four different cities- even if they're smallish- might be a little too much for a roleplay site (I prefer to keep things simple too) but I think it would work well in my Graphic Novel idea.

Could I ask what exactly you don't like about it though? It may seem a bit like a bunch of randomness thrown together, but that may be because I'm bad at explaining things. :/

There was going to be hierarchy within the cities, like one would be the most powerful, followed by the others. I'm not sure about the Underworld though. It might get confusing if we have too many "levels". I was just thinking like, factories, and junkyards and stuff.

As for the Paradise and the Nether World, they will kind of be linked to each of the cities. Paradise in the Sky Kingdom and the Nether World in the Underworld. We may need to do some name changing to make it less confusing, but yes.

The People would mostly be normal people I guess, but I want there to be other stuff too. I think most of the odd people would be living in the Underworld. Oh, I would really love to have some mechanical people/ half-mechanical people. Since they are working in dangerous factories. Robotssss <3 In case a machine takes a bite out of you.
And of course there could be demons and half demons and all the good stuff. Quite open to anything really as long as the number of those characters doesn't exceed the number of human characters.

Its not as crazy as it seems. At least, its not in my head.

Keep in mind, all this kind of jumped into my mind about three days ago, so I've still got some things to figure out. It might be easier to understand if I did a story map for my ideas.

[Reii]

Ah yes, I see what you mean about the city. I was thinking the same, could be a bit much for a RP site. You could make a board called "Heaven's cities" and have the four contained within?
Or if each are signifcantly different enviroments, they'd make very interesting worlds.

I just find the card image a little generic. It's never been one I liked too much, seeing the little card fellows in Alice running around (though I love the names Queen of Hearts and how she wears red).
It's just my opinions, don't ever feel you need to obey them or anything silly like that xD

Well with levels, I simply mean that it could be acknowledged that that is how the world is formatted, but it doesn't need to be incorportaed heavily into the forum.
Just a simple thing like K:anode was visiting a friend on the 3rd level, so he had to drop down a few. lalala, no big deal.
.-. eh, sounds weird now that I write it.

Awesome with the people.
Just, don't get all, "I need people to make more humans to keep the ratio fair!!!!1111!!". That ticks me off when admins get like that. We can all imagine that the world is full of humans even if none us make many human characters. Besides, there can be minor characters, NPCs and such.

=)

[.:Zodiac:.]

Yeahh. What I meant by the human thing was I don't want to say we're open to different characters only to have twenty people join and make generic vampire characters. I don't want one 'species' to take over, basically.

I was planning on having one category for the Sky Kingdom and having four boards, one for each part of the city. (The card thing is generic? D: I didn't know. I wasn't planning on it being overwhelming, just something to separate the sectors, instead of calling them 'Sector 1' 'Sector 2' etc.)

[Reii]

Mmm.. these things rely on people having some sense. I don't think it's right to MAKE people though.

It's a little generic.... I think it could still work, but loads of people play around with the Alice in wonderland idea, so lots of people use that too.
sector is a nice word :3

[.:Zodiac:.]

The Heart Sector, lol. :3 I haven't seen any Alice in Wonderland stuff really. Just Harry Potter. And overwhelming amount of Harry Potter. Then some Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and other tv show based stuff.

I kind of liked the idea though. I think I'll keep it. It won't be so bad.

Ohmygod. Slenderman. D: