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==IMPORTANT NOTES== | ==IMPORTANT NOTES== | ||
| + | *Have the black skinned people model around Apocalypto - hunter society in the jungle, tatoos and peircings... most importantly language... try to make it sound similar to the ancient Mayan tongue used int he movie. Very interesting. | ||
*Have some cultures address their names with the surname first, given name last. Rather than Matt Gagnon, make it Gagnon Matt (similar to the Bajoran style from ST or from many Asian cultures). | *Have some cultures address their names with the surname first, given name last. Rather than Matt Gagnon, make it Gagnon Matt (similar to the Bajoran style from ST or from many Asian cultures). | ||
*Somebody should be dressed like Oscar from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - www.path-of-radiance.info/image/dl/oscar.jpg (or at least similarly, with the emerald green shimering armor, especially the shin plates... I love that. | *Somebody should be dressed like Oscar from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - www.path-of-radiance.info/image/dl/oscar.jpg (or at least similarly, with the emerald green shimering armor, especially the shin plates... I love that. | ||
| - | *Legend of the Headless horseman - don't let time take away how cool this idea is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Hollow_%28film%29 ''"Ichabod is skeptical, but proceeds to learn more about the ghostly Headless Horseman: it is the ghost of a Hessian mercenary (Christopher Walken), a horseman who rode a great black stallion named Daredevil. He and other mercenaries were sent by German princes during the Revolutionary War. The Hessian came because of his love of killing and | + | *Legend of the Headless horseman - don't let time take away how cool this idea is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Hollow_%28film%29 ''"Ichabod is skeptical, but proceeds to learn more about the ghostly Headless Horseman: it is the ghost of a Hessian mercenary (Christopher Walken), a horseman who rode a great black stallion named Daredevil. He and other mercenaries were sent by German princes during the Revolutionary War. The Hessian came because of his love of killing and battle����¯�¿�½���¯���¿���½����¯�¿�½������¢����¯�¿�½������¯����¯�¿�½������¿����¯�¿�½������½����¯�¿�½������¯����¯�¿�½������¿����¯�¿�½������½he was renowned for cutting off heads at full gallop. The Horseman was killed in the winter of 1779 in the woods west of Sleepy Hollow where a group of soldiers overpowered him, decapitating him with his own sword"'' - the story then goes on to tell how the headless horseman returns to Sleepy Hollow to terrorize those (or perhaps the descendants of those) who killed him. Adapt it... make it a tale to further the mystique of the northern territory where you will already be working with the "day of the dead" adaptation of the halloween festival coupled with the "day of the dead". It'll have to be adapted so its not obvious, but it'll be fun. (keep in mind the actual reason was that a woman captured the horsemans head, and he wanted it back... or the head gave her the power to control him... doesn't matter... and that the major theme of this story is the inspector's belief in reason and logic being the right bath, where the supernatural and occult is a fraud. You can perhaps turn this into an entire book, similar to the "horned king" maybe of the Prydain series. |
*Think of the possibility of twin suns, as a binary solar system - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_star_system - also multiple moons... maybe one or the other, but make them only side notes, don't make them focal points to put this story too far out of touch with the reader. We want it to be foreign and interesting - not so alien that its "weird". None the less, the idea of incorporating some science-fiction or otherwise space in general is intriguing. | *Think of the possibility of twin suns, as a binary solar system - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_star_system - also multiple moons... maybe one or the other, but make them only side notes, don't make them focal points to put this story too far out of touch with the reader. We want it to be foreign and interesting - not so alien that its "weird". None the less, the idea of incorporating some science-fiction or otherwise space in general is intriguing. | ||
*Great idea for a part of the woods... call it the "Wailing Woods"... make up whatever mythology surrounding that you wish. | *Great idea for a part of the woods... call it the "Wailing Woods"... make up whatever mythology surrounding that you wish. | ||
Revision as of 08:04, 26 September 2007
Contents |
IMPORTANT NOTES
- Have the black skinned people model around Apocalypto - hunter society in the jungle, tatoos and peircings... most importantly language... try to make it sound similar to the ancient Mayan tongue used int he movie. Very interesting.
- Have some cultures address their names with the surname first, given name last. Rather than Matt Gagnon, make it Gagnon Matt (similar to the Bajoran style from ST or from many Asian cultures).
- Somebody should be dressed like Oscar from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - www.path-of-radiance.info/image/dl/oscar.jpg (or at least similarly, with the emerald green shimering armor, especially the shin plates... I love that.
- Legend of the Headless horseman - don't let time take away how cool this idea is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Hollow_%28film%29 "Ichabod is skeptical, but proceeds to learn more about the ghostly Headless Horseman: it is the ghost of a Hessian mercenary (Christopher Walken), a horseman who rode a great black stallion named Daredevil. He and other mercenaries were sent by German princes during the Revolutionary War. The Hessian came because of his love of killing and battle����¯�¿�½���¯���¿���½����¯�¿�½������¢����¯�¿�½������¯����¯�¿�½������¿����¯�¿�½������½����¯�¿�½������¯����¯�¿�½������¿����¯�¿�½������½he was renowned for cutting off heads at full gallop. The Horseman was killed in the winter of 1779 in the woods west of Sleepy Hollow where a group of soldiers overpowered him, decapitating him with his own sword" - the story then goes on to tell how the headless horseman returns to Sleepy Hollow to terrorize those (or perhaps the descendants of those) who killed him. Adapt it... make it a tale to further the mystique of the northern territory where you will already be working with the "day of the dead" adaptation of the halloween festival coupled with the "day of the dead". It'll have to be adapted so its not obvious, but it'll be fun. (keep in mind the actual reason was that a woman captured the horsemans head, and he wanted it back... or the head gave her the power to control him... doesn't matter... and that the major theme of this story is the inspector's belief in reason and logic being the right bath, where the supernatural and occult is a fraud. You can perhaps turn this into an entire book, similar to the "horned king" maybe of the Prydain series.
- Think of the possibility of twin suns, as a binary solar system - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_star_system - also multiple moons... maybe one or the other, but make them only side notes, don't make them focal points to put this story too far out of touch with the reader. We want it to be foreign and interesting - not so alien that its "weird". None the less, the idea of incorporating some science-fiction or otherwise space in general is intriguing.
- Great idea for a part of the woods... call it the "Wailing Woods"... make up whatever mythology surrounding that you wish.
- Make one of the realms (maybe more) have some engineering genius involved in their capital... having something like St. Peter's square (named after the first pope) - make it directly in front of a religious structure or a capital building... give it significance (like it facing east, where Christ died for example... I just made that up) ... but something that makes it ominous, overlooking and protecting the city... channeling everything into the city. Obviously it should be a square that hundreds of thousands of people to gather to listen to a religious leader or king... mourne, whatever... here's a picture to play with - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:St_Peter%27s_Square%2C_Vatican_City_-_April_2007.jpg
- You know what, I'm starting to think the jungle stuff might be the most interesting. Perhaps we want to take the black skinned people out of there and shift things around - don't know, think about it. But, for inspiration, keep thinking about the jungle atmosphere of Donkey Kong Country, and things like the Legends of the Hidden Temple, along with some Indiana Jones mixed in. Don't forget about the shrine of the silver monkey.
- Going along with that, listen to Olmec's description of the end game... as he talks about going through the temple... talks about things like "The Throne of the Pretender" and "The Cave of Sighs". Those are bad ass names, incorporate them into the stories.
- Make some of the story, perhaps entire nobles - Tragedies. Classic tragedy. Tragedy requires the fall of a hero, and one of the achievements of these novels will be to show that greatness was within his reach. Probably the second, fourth and sixth novels are the best candidates.
- Make certain you have a couple countries that have some form of King-Duke-Count/Earl - these will be deeply fuedal countries... and use the rank system found here: http://www.foreven.com/libdat/libdat/n/NobleRanks.htm Make certain to build into the structure of these kingdoms the idea of "Knights"... creating some amalgomation of knighthood from the history found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight
- The Raeland Republic or whatever other nation is a parallel to America, must have spring from the small island empire. It has to be founded similarly, abolishing all nobility and titles and serving as a merit society.
- Please try to come up with some relationships between kingdoms such as England, when the King of England would claim the title of King of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France... etc...
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_%28novel%29 - Make one of the companions a "shane"... refusing to touch a sword, very mysterious. Can work in the "xena" angle on this one as well. - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/shane/summary.html
- "Scroll of Forbidden Knowledge" and other "unique items" - http://wiki.battlemaster.org/index.php/Category:Unique_Items
- Design the caste system for a realm along Roman lines... Plebian, Patrician...etc...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricians
- "The Common Code" as a set of laws for a realm... basically targets commoners...
- Extremely important that you build in the ambiance while writing - crows cawing, the sound of bullfrogs in a pond/marsh, night sounds, quiet whispers of wind.
- Make use of a lot of actual human legends - Pandoras box, fountain of youth, holy grail, a number of others... but dont make them identical, twist them into something unique and useful for your story.
- City named Severn and other MD and Maine and CA places
- Spark in heros bloodline that will be activated when evil avatar emerges.
- OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH - Okay... so the dark avatar isn't somebody who was just given gifts and became the avatar - he actually obtains an object (similar to the triforce of power) that transforms him into such a thing. This perhaps makes him immortal and allows for him to still be there (possibly sealed away) while the other two peices of the puzzle pass their control of the power they possess down through their descendents somehow).
- VERY IMPORTANT FRAMEWORK TO LOOK AT - Zelda Chronology: http://www.zeldauniverse.net/content/view/383/421/
- Work on scale/miles for the map
- Have a druid like order
- Raiden... use both the name and perhaps the general concept.
- Work in warrior/silva rivalry akin to klingons/romulans
- Extremely good idea - an "Atlantis" civilization, from when the original master humans existed. Something happened, it goes underwater but is more or less perfectly preserved. Have the hero have to go there, and perhaps have to travel to the land of the Marin to have them guide him there, because maybe they are the only ones who know about it, maybe others do, but they're the only ones who can go there because of the nature of thier race.
Prydain
Look into the Prydain series.
Ideas relating to Zelda
- After their work was completed, the goddesses left a magical artifact called the Triforce which could grant the wishes of the user. It consisted of three golden triangles (each also called a "Triforce" ����¯�¿�½������¢������¯������¿������½������¯������¿������½ one of Wisdom, one of Power, and one of Courage), held in proximity by a magic force. However, because the Triforce was inanimate and did not judge between good and evil, the goddesses placed the Triforce in an alternate world called the "Sacred Realm", hoping that a worthy person would one day seek it. According to legend, if the discoverer of the Triforce has a balance of power, wisdom, and courage, they will receive the Triforce as a whole. If they are unbalanced, they will receive the part of the Triforce that represents the characteristic they most demonstrate, with the remaining parts of the whole transferring into the people in Hyrule who most exemplify the other two traits. The Triforce was first distributed as such starting in Ocarina of Time, as the Triforces of Power, Wisdom and Courage were each held by Ganondorf, Princess Zelda and Link, respectively. While the Triforce of Power and Wisdom have been part of the series since the original The Legend of Zelda, it was only in The Adventure of Link that the Triforce of Courage was first introduced, being obtained by Link at the end of his quest. A Link to the Past, released after The Adventure of Link but before Ocarina of Time, featured the Triforce, but made no mention of its three qualities or distribution beyond Ganon obtaining it.
OTHER NOTES
- Babylon 5 - Kosh/Vorlons cryptic nature... asking very vague, metaphorical questions... always filled me with wonder and interest... should have some kind of foreign creater of some kind fulfill that same role, ask cryptic questions, supremely knowledgable, perhaps anciently old.
- The B5 Episode, "The very long night of Londo Mollari" and "The Day of the Dead" are two fabulous examples of change up chapters, or even novels. You have to use something like that somewhere.
- Make the arch-villain better/stronger what have you than the hero. Softly spoken, quiet voice, deliberate slow speach, confident, very knowledgable... think mad, brilliant genius, driven criminally insane fighting the hero that had previously gotten the upper hand because of his own greatness... but the evil genius is actually greater than the hero, and so the hero has to fight from lower footing. A la... Batman - The Dark Knight with the joker as a rather serious, maniacle genius. He was scarred by the hero... transformed into what he is BY the hero. Perhaps in my story, the arch villain is MADE by the the hero somehow... perhaps the dictator who I plan on having in the first book is defeated, but in his defeat, the hero channels power through him, but out of anger channels a great deal of the "dark side" through him, and ends up creating a personification of evil. Good plot thread to explore.
- A gray council... what they are a council of, who the hell knows - could be a kingdoms ruling council, could be current users, who cares. Point is, setting of part of the book will be meeting with this council... extremely dark room all around, senses gone, don't know how large the room is - could be extremely small, or spanning an entire building... hooded, cloaked men enter the room standing in direct light that shows only them. No faces are seen, no words are spoken... very similar to the B5 gray council. Very ominous - be very detailed in its description... talk about lack of anything that can be seen, sense of awesomeness and grandeur... sound of crystals, or bass vibrations - possibly extremely deep chanting being heard. Use your imagination, but make it larger than life, mysterious, unknown and ominous.
- Londo Mollari's recurring dream of him on the throne, coughing, echos, very disoriented... make this a dream of one of the characters... not the main hero... well, MAYBE him, but probably not. Have it be a window into the future of his character... him being a king/emperor... but old, poisened, tragic... explore this.
- For the talk of time travel, gateways and platforms - make it a story a couple books into the series (probably at least 3-4 in)... HOWEVER, plant seeds in every single book before it. With the hero believing he saw himself at the corner of the building, or some other odd encounter with one of the characters which he believed was gone/injurued/away or something... making for an odd encounter... but at the same time, nothing is tipped off, and the plot doesn't take it anywhere. Its simply a thread to pull at later when the character is forced to travel through time.
- At the same time, pepper ALL books with LOTS of threads to use later... not just with time travel... but subtle plot issues that will be realized later. PRE PLAN OUT the entire story arch, and plant the seeds in the early novels accordingly, creating an intracately woven web of story threads to use - but again, do not expressly explain any of them, that way if you need to change your mind or go in a new direction, you can simply drop the issue, or change how it works... but at the same time if you do use it, you cause intrigue and interest.
- Make the number of current users very low... like in the hundreds/thousands... not that many more. Imply, or overtly say that there used to be a great deal more... perhaps a large portion of the population, but that peoples ability to harness the current has slowly declined over the years for some reason.
- Have a King named something that sounds like Leonidas... looking for a tense negotiation or discussion where he is addressed with a deep, menacing voice, and a four syllabul flowing name like Leonidas comes out. Great name.
- Have the second main character (probably Therin) dressed exactly like the Immortals from 300... the same angled shoulder pads, two swords, etc...
- Use some ambiguous quotes that pay homage to great move/book/television moments/quotes. Try to make them unrecognizable unless you have a keen mind and have seen the thing in question.
- "the frost, it sometimes makes the blade stick" - from Gladiator
- "...then we shall fight in the shade" - From 300 (but don't make the proceeding quote "our arrows will blot out the sun" make it something else...
- Spoken by character with two swords - "I've got two swords - one for each of you." - Adaptation from Tombstone... Doc Holliday said "I've got two guns, (twirls both guns on fingers) one for each of ya."
- I would gladly kill any of my men for victory." and "...and I would gladly die for any of mine." -Xerxes and Leonidas from 300
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