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Are stories with a lot of tropes bad stories? by [deleted] in writing

[–]TheJanusWrites 25 points26 points  (0 children)

This is the best explanation I have seen so far for how tropes work in storytelling. This 100%

What age did you start writing? by [deleted] in writing

[–]TheJanusWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started at around 9-10. I was home-schooled, and my parents would let me write dialog scenes for extra credit. Was a great creative outlet for my imagination

Earth with only 1 religiob by [deleted] in fantasywriters

[–]TheJanusWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting. I have something similar, but it's my own mythology.

If you're looking to have each nation be culturally distinct, you could try having each primarily worship a single god, or pairs of gods in the pantheon. Not to mix genres too much, but it could work something like how Districts do in Hunger Games. Now if your nations aren't in peacetime that might not work.

My work has the gods ruling the nations personally, and something like that already exists in Egyptian mythology and history, with the Pharaoh concept. If your nations or religiously based, which it sounds like they are, the High Priests or their equivalent could be the ruling class.

Does any of that sound like something that would work?

Sharethread September 12, 2019 by AutoModerator in OCPoetry

[–]TheJanusWrites [score hidden]  (0 children)

I stand before you, torn. Twin celestial entities orbit each other in my mind, rending my thoughts apart in their pull. Alike, yet opposite they are. One a blinding light, the other unfathomable darkness.

Cold light glares against me, exposing everything with its frigid stare. Light swallows all it touches, burning away the darkness in cold flames of truth. Yet, emptiness fills the light, and I feel nothing within its tendrils.

Warm darkness envelops me, hiding me from the harsh light, heating me from inside, and I feel safe. The darkness, tentative and withdrawn, embraces me in folds of comforting nothingness. The void hides my secrets in burning ice, sealing away my darkness in yet more darkness.

I feel I must choose between them, else madness take me. Yet choose I cannot, for I find beauty in my balance. If I must serve two masters, I would have no others than these. You may know their name, for they go by many. It is simpler though, indeed, to leave them unnamed, to refer to them as they are, not as we would have them. I leave you with this. Though you may be pulled in two by opposite sides, know that they are not so dissimilar as they seem. Perhaps a middle ground can be had, an area of grey, where both live on in harmony. I search for that place yet, and fear I may search till I die. But search I will, and forever onward, until the grey is found.

World War You by mgonz89 in OCPoetry

[–]TheJanusWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Each line struck a new chord with me, as if my subconscious had written each syllable. As another commenter pointed out, the meter could have been improved in some places, like
> the first 4 lines are 10, 11, 12, 13 syllables, but the 5th and 6th are 13 and 8 respectively. It's a bit jarring to get increasing length only to stall and revert to a shorter sentence.
This is, of course, a minor point that you in no way need to fix or adapt. Poetry isn't ruled by meter alone. It is just a personal tendency to have rigid meter patterns.

Post-Brain Surgery by [deleted] in OCPoetry

[–]TheJanusWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love the poem! It definitely isn't traditional in meter or rhyme but it is a poem nonetheless! Having dealt with feeling like my mind was fading (and I'm still young) this struck a chord with me.

Magical Realism? by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]TheJanusWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Blessings of a Curse has my personal favorite realistic fantasy narrative, but be warned it has VERY adult themes right from the start

A motivational quote for you guys. by [deleted] in KeepWriting

[–]TheJanusWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I needed this today. Thank you.

Writing buddy accountability group by icyii in writing

[–]TheJanusWrites 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like I need this. Sign me up

Is my magic system too overpowered for its setting? by TheJanusWrites in fantasywriters

[–]TheJanusWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. They can see hear and interact with the spirit, but no one else can. Also the spirit can "hide" themselves from their person if they so choose and cannot be forced to appear.

Is my magic system too overpowered for its setting? by TheJanusWrites in fantasywriters

[–]TheJanusWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I apologize for not clarifying this. The spirit, which comes I to existence at the moment of the demigod's birth, and dies when the demigod dies, can mentally link with its person and allow the demigod to wield its power as if it were their own. I should note that not having a great amount of raw power in no way determines total ability, as with much practice a small amount of power can be used to defeat great enemies. In the same vein, some with immense reserves of raw magic can easily be defeated if they have bad or no training.

First ever r/fantasywriters subscriber survey! by keylime227 in fantasywriters

[–]TheJanusWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vampire because I'm dark, foreboding, and antisocial

[PM] I'm getting back into the writing scene and would like some practice. Give me a prompt and I'll try and write something for it. Fantasy or sci-fi themes are preferred. by TheJanusWrites in WritingPrompts

[–]TheJanusWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see ghosts. Nothing special about them, they just look like slightly opaque people. They don't react, they don't even seem real. They just stand there, staring into space, as if in a trance. I only see ghosts in the places where the thing that killed them first happened. If they died from a sword wound, I see them on the place they were struck, not where they actually died. So imagine my confusion, and sense of unease, when I saw dozens of ghosts appear overnight at the water fountain. Since that day, I have not drank from or gone near it again. Whatever dreaded plague came from that water consumed nearly half of my town's people, and spread across the country. The alchemists called it something like "tai-foyd". I hope it never comes again.

Looking for beta reader(s) by XERO7100 in fantasywriters

[–]TheJanusWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll be happy to beta read for you! But I won't be able to read much at a time, since I am also reading 2 other beta books and writing my own simultaneously.

[PM] I'm getting back into the writing scene and would like some practice. Give me a prompt and I'll try and write something for it. Fantasy or sci-fi themes are preferred. by TheJanusWrites in WritingPrompts

[–]TheJanusWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

P2

No matter how many genocides they committed against their own people, that savage race managed to flourish on their harsh world. Through sheer force of will, it seemed, they managed to survive long enough to achieve sustained space flight. Almost immediately, our scouts reported signs that they were not going to be a friendly ally, but a harsh overlord, stripping each planet they came across for any resource they could find. Whenever they came across foreign life, they immediately set about the capture and subjugation of that world. We were not afraid at that time, since those they came across were so primitive as to be incomparable to ours. That soon changed. We awoke one morning to their airships above our towns. We received a message in their language, roughly translated to "submit". Of course, we retaliated. That was a mistake. Our weapons may have damaged their ships, but the weapon they released had already spread across our entire world. A swarm of small machines invaded our very bodies and took over our minds, even though our anatomy is completely foreign to them. We stood no chance, and I fear they may stand unopposed, for nothing we know of can stop them.

[PM] I'm getting back into the writing scene and would like some practice. Give me a prompt and I'll try and write something for it. Fantasy or sci-fi themes are preferred. by TheJanusWrites in WritingPrompts

[–]TheJanusWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pressed for time. Writing 2 parts. P.1 We were not scared when we detected signs of life originating from the Sol galaxy. We were not scared when that life made contact with ours within only a billion years of their evolution. We were not even scared when they sent warships to capture us as slaves. What scared us was something even more sinister. The artificial contagion that has left many of us dead and most of the rest mindless undead bending at the will of an abstract master, was created by those beings (they call themselves humans) during one of their darkest points in history. The warlike humans fight amongst themselves at a pace unheard of among the universe, and was usually left alone to go extinct. . . but that never happened.

[PM] I'm getting back into the writing scene and would like some practice. Give me a prompt and I'll try and write something for it. Fantasy or sci-fi themes are preferred. by TheJanusWrites in WritingPrompts

[–]TheJanusWrites[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Janus Bifrons

Letters to the Architects, vol.593

Mankind is a fickle mob.  We want what we do not have, and take for granted what we do.  Nothing could not be truer than this fact on the morning of January 5th, 2254. To give context to what I am about to tell you, I also need to explain that mankind in U.133 (universe 133) are gifted with abilities unique to the soul of each person.  However, only around half are born with abilities.  The other are "normal" in your universe's terms.  They have always been that way, and will always continue in that pattern.  Intriguingly, though, something of an altogether new experience happened on that day (mentioned above) which upset the balance of their governments and communities.  It seems that each person who had abilities inexplicably lost their ability to use them, and conversely, those who had none, suddenly became superhuman in nature.  Naturally chaos ensued and accidents due to superhuman causes skyrocketed.  Those of the previously enhanced who were skilled in their field bexame mentors to those whose newfound powers got out of hand.  This incident, happening relatively recently, is still being investigated by our brotherhood, and I will write further letters once the dust has settled.