❛ the lazy writers ❜ Collab Story Planning

[The Worst Username]

I have to go somewhere, so I'll have to respond to all the worldbuilding stuff later, but I tried to make a map (excuse the ugliness, :p). I added in some plains and mountain ranges and stuff, but I could definitely edit them out!

[gankwizard]

I really like the map

[The Worst Username]

@Shanks
Do you think there should be more than one rebel faction? EDIT: and thank you for the compliment!

Worst wrote:
-Which religions do the people in the city and the people in the rebel faction(s) follow?
Maybe we should make some up? I mean, religion doesn't have to be a big focus or anything, but maybe part of the city's propaganda is making the people worship a God designed by the city to sort of give the people something to follow, if that makes any sense? We could also have a monotheistic rebel group, to balance out evil monotheistic city, and maybe a polytheistic group, an atheistic group, a group that worships sprits/ancestors...
Do you think we could do something like in Luther's time, or something? The city rulers could be like the churches back then: 'thou must stay/work here and giveth us thy riches or thou shalt be damned 4eva'. The rebels disagree with this harsh teaching bc the entity everyone/most believe in is actually pretty okay, and whatever rulebook/doctrine/I don't know the correct word/whatever they read/follow says nothing of the kind, anyway. I think it could be interesting, playing with that, but if you're not comfortable with it then that's okay >^.^<

That sounds pretty cool, actually! What if the city destroyed all the original religious texts and made a new one based on that religion, but some of our rebels have a copy of the previous text, and they use the stories about holy people, heroes, and selfless prophets to inspire them or something. I definitely like the idea of a theocracy. We could take even more inspiration from the Martin Luther era and have the city convince people to buy their way out of sin, or something like that.

[Woogwoo Wren]

You guys have some really good ideas! I currently don't have anything to add.

heh...

[Ranger of the North]

Ooh, I'm liking the look of that map!

Worst wrote:
-Which religions do the people in the city and the people in the rebel faction(s) follow?
Maybe we should make some up? I mean, religion doesn't have to be a big focus or anything, but maybe part of the city's propaganda is making the people worship a God designed by the city to sort of give the people something to follow, if that makes any sense? We could also have a monotheistic rebel group, to balance out evil monotheistic city, and maybe a polytheistic group, an atheistic group, a group that worships sprits/ancestors...
Do you think we could do something like in Luther's time, or something? The city rulers could be like the churches back then: 'thou must stay/work here and giveth us thy riches or thou shalt be damned 4eva'. The rebels disagree with this harsh teaching bc the entity everyone/most believe in is actually pretty okay, and whatever rulebook/doctrine/I don't know the correct word/whatever they read/follow says nothing of the kind, anyway. I think it could be interesting, playing with that, but if you're not comfortable with it then that's okay >^.^<

That sounds pretty cool, actually! What if the city destroyed all the original religious texts and made a new one based on that religion, but some of our rebels have a copy of the previous text, and they use the stories about holy people, heroes, and selfless prophets to inspire them or something. I definitely like the idea of a theocracy. We could take even more inspiration from the Martin Luther era and have the city convince people to buy their way out of sin, or something like that.

Ooh, yas! That sounds great!
HhhhhyEs then when Cassia runs into the rebels she can have a big inner-struggle over whether she believes the 'religon' she was brought up to believe or this 'new' one mwAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!

You guys have some really good ideas! I currently don't have anything to add.

heh...

*pounces and drags your opinion into the open air* How many rebel factions do you think there should be??

[The Worst Username]

Worst we shall be famous

Indeed
I actually laughed out loud when I read this and I have no idea why

But yeah, I guess this is what we've got so far:

After some big disaster, probably a war, lots of people moved to a concentrated city where strict laws were put in place to keep everything under control. Some rebels escaped/rioted/rebelled somehow, realizing the city's evil potential, which caused the city to put stricter and stricter laws in place. City-made religious texts, propaganda, fear mongering, and so on were used to keep the people complacent--by this point, the city's leaders were probably so up to their necks with controlling people that if the people realized what was being done to them, they would kill the leaders, so the leaders just kept brainwashing for fear of rebellion. More and more children disappear into the wild every month. Rumors spread of primitive, savage people kidnapping children for witchcraft/cannibalism/what have you spread across the city; everyone is afraid all the time, and tensions run high even among neighbors, friends, and family members. This is where our story begins.

Also, I'm thinking that maybe at some point in the story, the city's leaders become so afraid of rebellion that they make a severe clampdown in the rules, oppressing the people so much that it backfires, and mass rioting/crime sprees start. Might be interesting depending on the ending we have in mind, but what do you all think?

[Ranger of the North]

hUGH I'm really liking where this is going

[The Worst Username]

hUGH I'm really liking where this is going

Me too!

Anyways! We have stuffs about the city covered, history is pretty much done, map is made (unless anyone wants some changes to it)...so...new list of stuff!

Code: Select all

-What are the teachings, creation story, and some miscellaneous other stories told within the original holy text?
-How do these teachings and stories differ from those taught by the city's altered holy text?
-How do both texts depict God?
-How many rebel factions are there?
-What are some possible endings and beginnings to the story?
-Should we have a prologue?

After this, I guess we'll just have some character development and plot stuff left over. *excited warbling*

[Ranger of the North]

hhhhhhhh
mOre qUestiOns !
XD

Shanks did the first set and I did the second, so do you want to start these ones off? cx

[The Worst Username]

hhhhhhhh
mOre qUestiOns !
XD

Shanks did the first set and I did the second, so do you want to start these ones off? cx

Sure, makes sense! This should be interesting *vomits random junk into forums*

-What are the teachings, creation story, and some miscellaneous other stories told within the original holy text?

-I feel like a lot of religions prioritize people believing in their God(s) over people protecting/supporting their fellow people, so maybe we could try something different and have the original text's main message be something like "the best way to show your devotion to God is devoting your life to the support and protection of His/Her/Their/Its creations" (did that make any sense? sorry, tendency to ramble)

-Creation story? Ehm...I really like making these, but I'm drawing a blank. Perhaps the people believe that the continent where they live is hollow after a certain point (adventurers found a deep, enormous cave long ago and thought it had to be the home of a god), because God lived within it for eons and then left through a hole, going out to sea. God came up onto the island, and with every step, plants and creatures of all kinds came out of the earth.

-Miscellaneous other stories could be stuff about hope, involving angels/holy people/prophets. The rescuers could use verses to reason against brainwashing/the concepts of fear and complacence that the city is based upon, plus as inspiration (sort of?) for founding a new society? I don't know, really.

-How do these teachings and stories differ from those taught by the city's altered holy text?

-The city's holy text could have an entirely different creation story, possibly something that involves the first leaders of the city. The city leaders could further brainwash by using the fake text to name themselves prophets or angels sent to Earth.

-The city's book could focus a lot on obeying your leaders, especially whatever holy creations the city leaders make themselves out to be (respect the Angels as you would your God! or something like that), also lots of subtle verses about "appreciating what you have/who your are/what you were born with, for that is how God made you" i.e., "stay complacent, stay ignorant, never rebel".

-Some books have been removed from the text, and some have been fabricated entirely (e.g., if the Torah/OT didn't have the book of Ruth, but instead had the book of Sasquatch).

-How do both texts depict God?

The original text might have a much more kind, forgiving God, sort of like Allah or the Christian God, while the city probably has an unforgiving God--this might scare people into acting how the city wants.

-How many rebel factions are there?

I'm starting to like the idea of multiple, so maybe two or three?

-What are some possible endings and beginnings to the story?

durrr...uhh...hm. Big decisions. We could have a happy ending, a sad ending, a cliffhanger, a twist, or an open-ended non-cliffhanger. Maybe the rebel factions could alert the city-dwellers to the city's evil, and mass rebellions start, the end. Maybe all the rebels die/are exiled and the city goes on brainwashing, the end. Maybe the city's leaders are exiled and everyone is left to make a new government, like in Russia after WWI, the end. Anyone have other ideas?

-Should we have a prologue?

*shrug* I feel like it could be interesting. Most of our worldbuilding seems like it could be explained in small infodumps over the course of the story, so we could start out with something else, like a child getting kidnapped (maybe the one that the city girl is trying to "rescue" back into the city?).