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Post by themirrorthief on Oct 18, 2017 3:09:17 GMT -5
thats my goal, to write the weirdest stories ever...even more bizarre than Weird Tales if possible. However, I labor under the dread thought that everything has already been written and that intimidates me to no end. I guess what I am really asking is...could you point me in the right direction and possibly give me some ideas or maybe even suggest some themes? Now I dont want shock, gore, or excessive gore. That stuff is just bad taste IMO...by weird I mean themes that maybe nobody else has thought of...now if you are going to write it yourself, thats cool...I dont expect you to waste your idea here. However, if you arent a writer but have some really weird idea...would you share it?
What I am really looking for is some idea of what people really and truly think is a weird tale...what makes it weird, you know?
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Post by themirrorthief on Oct 18, 2017 3:11:45 GMT -5
sorry if I am not coming across clearly or my previous post.topic makes no sense. It is very late and I am brainstorming after a very long day
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Post by BlackHeart on Oct 18, 2017 6:09:54 GMT -5
Im a writer, and I would share a couple ideas with you 😊 if I had eny on this subject 😒 I always look for some dark & grimm elements but, let see... What about that old story (I forgot the name of it as well the writer) where all humanity becomes a vampires - and only one man remain human? Vampires has learn how to produce blood, so humans are no longer needed. In that world, they are no longer vampires. They are "normal" population on planet, but in their eyes He is a "vampire", cause he starts to hunt them in a way of reversed food chain style. He is anomaly in that new world. There is some fine elements in this to be used as an inspiration. Also, if you ever watched Supernatural, there was an episode where Lucifer wins over Heaven, in an alternate future. Earth is his at last. And, he doesnt destroy it, but starts to behave as an new God. Humanity is destroyed, though. No good guys wining in that one. Fine elements. I also recomend you to watch JL: Crisis on two earts. Fine plot and greatly developed theory of infinite earths (only one is earth prime). It gives the man some ideas, and if you change advanced science with some unnatural element, you could use it (not story but idea) as a labyrint of wierdnes in yarn or a novel. Not that much of a help, but, try. I think you'll find what you seek in those. Best of luck, my friend 😎
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Post by buxom9sorceress on Oct 18, 2017 9:31:39 GMT -5
hi weirdos and weird imaginations. actually, when i really ponder it, most of the weirdest 'wildest' tales and ideas are already there: here, all over the net. >>>> eg - search youtube for kandahar giant = several very interesting claims from the 'real military world'. fascinating possible stuff? [ and it has deeper wider implications about human ancient history? and there are lots of good progs about the cover up of remains of giants [ from all over the world ] >>>> search youtube smithsonian cover up grand canyon = plenty info on ancient finds, disappearing after 'official' digs. Forbidden zones are massive clues to deeper secrets. so these are some of the better examples of 'conspiracy cover ups' which are crying out for fiction tales based on them. [ they would also make great cinematic films too, but i dont think the very powerful cover up organisations would want or allow them to be made? [they own most of the big film industry too] >>>> science fiction, horror, lovecraftian, detective thriller, bandit adventure, military thriller... all these are possible genres for your new weird tales? the weird possibilities are endless? [ develop your own new different kind of 'indianna jones' character? [male or female? or part alien in disguise? ] there are many more weird theories and world mysteries to inspire your new twisted tales? Go for it. Have a ball. Make your readers really open their minds much wider?
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Post by themirrorthief on Oct 18, 2017 13:12:01 GMT -5
much thanks guys...you have already made the rusty wheels in my head start turning...I have an idea about a religious cult that is actually kidnapping the female members and selling them off to foreign perverts. Oh my...at least I have an idea for a soft porn tale!!!
or maybe a story about a televangelist who is a vampire
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Oct 18, 2017 14:01:09 GMT -5
Might find some helpful ideas for writing horror/macabre here, Thief. The adage truth is often stranger than fiction is often true. I love Mark Twain's quote about it: "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar"Look for articles from real life that are completely bizarre and maybe spin for a piece of fiction. I know it won't involve Night-gaunts or Yog-Sothoth, but you can add those on your own - substitute real-world personalities with your fantasy characters.
I empathize with what you're trying to do. I write stories myself and its increasingly difficult to come up with original stuff when nothing original is left to be written. You have to become really clever at rehashing old themes. Good guy, pretty girl, bad guy - those are always winners
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Post by BlackHeart on Oct 19, 2017 3:17:50 GMT -5
Well, Chris, as much as I agree with you, I dont think that good guys always has to win. Reality is quite diferent than fiction in that mater cause in this world bad guys can win. First of all, what make a good guy good? And oposite? Good/bad is a matter of perspective. Martin had that in mind when he wrote GoT. Who the hell are good guys there? Howard has done epuc stuff cause his characters are not exacly good guys. Take Conan for example: drunkard, gambler, thief, reaver, slayer... Does he realy is a good guy? His motives works for his own personal benefits. Shure, he has his code and sence of honor and justice, but that anti hero element is what makes him so great. I my self started a yarn that will have no happy end for main character. Antagonist (should) wins in the end (if something doesnt change my mind). Now, imo for this type of stuff, writer should "bless" his character with tragic end. To make him imortal in an epic type of peerspective. Something like mixture of Beowulf and Leonidas end of story. But, thats just an option on the end.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Oct 19, 2017 7:15:51 GMT -5
Well, Chris, as much as I agree with you, I dont think that good guys always has to win. Reality is quite diferent than fiction in that mater cause in this world bad guys can win. First of all, what make a good guy good? And oposite? Good/bad is a matter of perspective. Martin had that in mind when he wrote GoT. Who the hell are good guys there? Howard has done epuc stuff cause his characters are not exacly good guys. Take Conan for example: drunkard, gambler, thief, reaver, slayer... Does he realy is a good guy? His motives works for his own personal benefits. Shure, he has his code and sence of honor and justice, but that anti hero element is what makes him so great. I my self started a yarn that will have no happy end for main character. Antagonist (should) wins in the end (if something doesnt change my mind). Now, imo for this type of stuff, writer should "bless" his character with tragic end. To make him imortal in an epic type of peerspective. Something like mixture of Beowulf and Leonidas end of story. But, thats just an option on the end. Blackheart, you mistook my meaning. I meant that in a story having a definite protagonist, antagonist and the proverbial 'damsel in distress' is typically a winning combination. Naturally the good guys get their butts handed to them on occasion. Even when the 'good' guy wins the war he may have lost some important battles that will remain with him (maybe he drives the villain away and saves a world from destruction, but the one who is most important to him was spirited away by the evil one who now licks his wounds in some dim universe with the gal/child/parent/whoever in a cage hanging from the ceiling). And the good guy doesn't necessarily have to be 'good' by moral or biblical standards - he's just the guy whom the writer has led you to throw in with. And you will, knowing he's actually not a good person. Take Blacklist for example. Gads I love Reddington although he's a murderous thug. But in Blacklist he's the 'good guy' and you're staunchly in his corner. The point is the good guy doesn't have to be good. And we've all seen shows where there is a bad guy who eventually changes sides and becomes a good guy. Good example is the cop, Finch, in Persons of Interest. He works for the mob, but then the 'man in the suit' forces him to work for him and eventually his heart changes and he begins doing good work fighting criminals because it becomes his nature. Just some examples that I hope clears up my meaning.
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Post by BlackHeart on Oct 19, 2017 8:12:48 GMT -5
Blackheart, you mistook my meaning. I meant that in a story having a definite protagonist, antagonist and the proverbial 'damsel in distress' is typically a winning combination. Naturally the good guys get their butts handed to them on occasion. Even when the 'good' guy wins the war he may have lost some important battles that will remain with him (maybe he drives the villain away and saves a world from destruction, but the one who is most important to him was spirited away by the evil one who now licks his wounds in some dim universe with the gal/child/parent/whoever in a cage hanging from the ceiling). And the good guy doesn't necessarily have to be 'good' by moral or biblical standards - he's just the guy whom the writer has led you to throw in with. And you will, knowing he's actually not a good person. Take Blacklist for example. Gads I love Reddington although he's a murderous thug. But in Blacklist he's the 'good guy' and you're staunchly in his corner. The point is the good guy doesn't have to be good. And we've all seen shows where there is a bad guy who eventually changes sides and becomes a good guy. Good example is the cop, Finch, in Persons of Interest. He works for the mob, but then the 'man in the suit' forces him to work for him and eventually his heart changes and he begins doing good work fighting criminals because it becomes his nature. Just some examples that I hope clears up my meaning.  I understanded you from start, friend 😊 I just took liberty of exploring good guy/bad guy theme. I presume that fault was mine, cause I didnt explain my self best on subject. Thats all.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Oct 19, 2017 9:07:45 GMT -5
Blackheart, you mistook my meaning. I meant that in a story having a definite protagonist, antagonist and the proverbial 'damsel in distress' is typically a winning combination. Naturally the good guys get their butts handed to them on occasion. Even when the 'good' guy wins the war he may have lost some important battles that will remain with him (maybe he drives the villain away and saves a world from destruction, but the one who is most important to him was spirited away by the evil one who now licks his wounds in some dim universe with the gal/child/parent/whoever in a cage hanging from the ceiling). And the good guy doesn't necessarily have to be 'good' by moral or biblical standards - he's just the guy whom the writer has led you to throw in with. And you will, knowing he's actually not a good person. Take Blacklist for example. Gads I love Reddington although he's a murderous thug. But in Blacklist he's the 'good guy' and you're staunchly in his corner. The point is the good guy doesn't have to be good. And we've all seen shows where there is a bad guy who eventually changes sides and becomes a good guy. Good example is the cop, Finch, in Persons of Interest. He works for the mob, but then the 'man in the suit' forces him to work for him and eventually his heart changes and he begins doing good work fighting criminals because it becomes his nature. Just some examples that I hope clears up my meaning. I understanded you from start, friend 😊 I just took liberty of exploring good guy/bad guy theme. I presume that fault was mine, cause I didnt explain my self best on subject. Thats all. No, you did fine. I just thought perhaps you felt I was saying the good guys always have to win, but I was actually speaking of foundational story elements. For instance, a good friend of mine takes umbrage that many of my stories have some romantic element. He says, "Why does there always have to be a girl?". For me, the romance element adds a piece that might seem missing (from some stories). Imagine if no Tarzan story had Jane in it, with the many nuances and plot twists her character brought to the enterprise. Because the Nazis kidnapped Jane, burned Greystoke's bungalo and slaughtered many of his Waziri before disappearing, we have Tarzan the Terrible - one of my favorite novels. Because it was due to her character that Tarzan tracked those Germans down and ended up fighting gryfs in Pal-Ul-Don. Now that's not to say each and every story must have that element (Lovecraft rapidly comes to mind). But to purposely leave it out 100% of the time is silly. I've argued that as big a REH fan as he is (specifically of Conan) how often did REH throw in a saucy love interest? Plenty. He tends to forget that I have indeed written stories without a love interest (On A Winter's Eve, Atlas of the Serpent Men - my Conan tale, Banshee of the Atacama). Other interesting themes are betrayal which I like to explore in my stories. Betrayal plays a pretty heavy roll in this series I'm developing about a character named Ansen Grost, a Norse immigrant who is raised by Arapaho. He finds himself led into a trap in the pilot story, The Blonde Goddess of Tikka-Tikka. Later, he finds out his family was betrayed by an evil relative (leading to their deaths in America by a Shoshone war band), and his best friend in Banshee isn't who he thinks he is. It is an interesting element to thread through a plot, enabling various sudden sideways pieces of action to happen, leading the story in a different direction. Fun stuff.
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Post by BlackHeart on Oct 19, 2017 10:21:35 GMT -5
No, you did fine. I just thought perhaps you felt I was saying the good guys always have to win, but I was actually speaking of foundational story elements. For instance, a good friend of mine takes umbrage that many of my stories have some romantic element. He says, "Why does there always have to be a girl?". For me, the romance element adds a piece that might seem missing (from some stories). Imagine if no Tarzan story had Jane in it, with the many nuances and plot twists her character brought to the enterprise. Because the Nazis kidnapped Jane, burned Greystoke's bungalo and slaughtered many of his Waziri before disappearing, we have Tarzan the Terrible - one of my favorite novels. Because it was due to her character that Tarzan tracked those Germans down and ended up fighting gryfs in Pal-Ul-Don.  Now that's not to say each and every story must have that element (Lovecraft rapidly comes to mind). But to purposely leave it out 100% of the time is silly. I've argued that as big a REH fan as he is (specifically of Conan) how often did REH throw in a saucy love interest? Plenty.  He tends to forget that I have indeed written stories without a love interest (On A Winter's Eve, Atlas of the Serpent Men - my Conan tale, Banshee of the Atacama). Other interesting themes are betrayal which I like to explore in my stories. Betrayal plays a pretty heavy roll in this series I'm developing about a character named Ansen Grost, a Norse immigrant who is raised by Arapaho. He finds himself led into a trap in the pilot story, The Blonde Goddess of Tikka-Tikka. Later, he finds out his family was betrayed by an evil relative (leading to their deaths in America by a Shoshone war band), and his best friend in Banshee isn't who he thinks he is. It is an interesting element to thread through a plot, enabling various sudden sideways pieces of action to happen, leading the story in a different direction. Fun stuff. Dont worry, friend. Like I said, its my mistake. I had a litle time to write (travel to work) and I made a few hols in explanation. I also put love interest in my work, quite often. Curent stuff im writing, however, doesnt have one. Its man against his own demons tupe of stuff, with supernatural element wich he chalanged in past that lure him to his doom. That element is woman (sort of), but no love interest. How ever dark my writing is, I love romantic and romanse in it. It gives a certain flavor to the story... Then, you remember Beyond the Black River, one of Howards greatest, and becomes avare that love interest doesnt always have to exist for the story to be sucesfull. I also have one unfinished novel with revenge for betrayal motive. Bloody, dark, grimm plot with (now) terminator like main character without mercy in his worst psycho form. Even in that one I put love interest 😵 Foundation of all my stuff always come from individual psychology of character. Tragedy of some sort is something that I used a lot of times. Dont know why... PS I do hope that something of this helps to your inspiration, thief. PPS Hope to soon read you Conan novel, Chris 😎 If its good half as your poems, it will be a pleasure. Best of luck to ya all 😉
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Oct 19, 2017 10:46:11 GMT -5
PPS Hope to soon read you Conan novel, Chris 😎 If its good half as your poems, it will be a pleasure. Thanks man! I hope to make it available soon. Two have graciously volunteered to proof it for me, and now I patiently wait for them to finish. I hate to put it out there and then discover some glaring error I missed.
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Post by BlackHeart on Oct 19, 2017 12:41:15 GMT -5
Thanks man! I hope to make it available soon. Two have graciously volunteered to proof it for me, and now I patiently wait for them to finish. I hate to put it out there and then discover some glaring error I missed.  I know how that goes, unfortunent 😉 Well, BlackHeart of Moravian clan will awaits it patiently, by Crom.
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Post by themirrorthief on Oct 19, 2017 17:17:43 GMT -5
interesting stuff...the good guy bad guy thing is an interesting subject to explore. It does almost seem to be a theme created just for literature and movies, etc. I wonder if we as humans actually need good guys and bad guys or some form thereof in order to help us stay sane...maybe venting is good and that requires a ventee or whatever....hmmmmm the old anti hero who saves the world despite hating it and being an outcast...what is his real motivation???
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Post by BlackHeart on Oct 19, 2017 18:37:54 GMT -5
Maybe anti hero doesnt want all the fun to stop. Such type of man enjoy in womens and drink (as all of us) and hedonism is only comfort, pleasyre or something to call normal in his/theirs life. On the end its their world as vell. Or maybe its just a stubborn pride of some sort. An outcast, man who stood against all others for his belifes or way of life, certanly wouldnt stand and watch something that jeopardize not just some place where he is, or some city or a world, but as well endangers his own way of living. Prideful spirit is strong motive in a place of missing altruism.
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