Forum Fiction Troubleshooting/Comments Thread

Smashing - very helpful, that. I'll likely write my piece tomorrow evening.   

Can we use this thread to vomit up ideas about the future of the story? I know that we're trying to straddle a fine line between spontaneity and structure, but already I have plenty of thoughts about how things could fit together.

Fire away if you like, but I can't guarantee that I won't decide to purposefully do the polar opposite

Course Balla! But just expect certain sods to ruin your plans.   

Much more wary of saying anything now!  For now, I'll just say that the story contains a locked box, and that Velli has a key.  Frankly if the two aren't related, and if her plan hasn't somehow gone awry because Harrison now has the box, Chekov would be very upset.  (And if my plans are ruined, the ruiner will need to address how each object fits into the story at large.)

I imagine that John Cleese the king is gearing up for his MacGuffin-related speech now?

Don't be so obvious, my dear balla. The key won't work in the Bix, all will seem list, then it'll work elsewhere

Buska's right; my intention was for the box to be a distraction that the masked man would use to clear the room and put the next part of his plan into motion. If you've done the kind of research on the palace and its goings on that Lucia Velli no doubt has, you wouldn't leave your target under the gaze of a chap like Ronald Harrison, that's for sure.

Buska's gone South African on us! But yes, fair enough. That does leave...

The Mystery of the Key's Purpose

Is it completely irrelevant to the current event? Unlikely: why would she not need to draw attention to it if it were?
Is it the key to the MacGuffin's chamber? Although Lucia's brother could have got hold of it, it seems unlikely that the only seal upon the MacGuffin's door would be a keyhole.
I imagine that it must have something to do with her choice of seating, so carefully arranged by manipulation behind the scenes. But there are no doors at the dinner table...

Just vomiting up all my thoughts here.

I've got a solid idea. I'll sow the seeds of it when I write my next piece.

Them cheeky ficking prawns, man.

Most of that was a flashback, apologies.   

I hope you sort of got an idea of what I planned for the Velli family. Of course, feel free to take it in a completely different direction. Also, I mentioned the Summer Solstice dance, as I feel that it's a solid ending point for our story - what do you all think?

(Also, I hope people got that was Chuck sitting on the other side of Lucia)

ALSO. We need a name! Suggestions?

I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it this week.  It's a horrible period at work and I'm not feeling terribly "writey" anyway.  I'll give it a stab during my three-day period, and if I miss it I miss it, but a pre-emptive apology if I can't.

Would have been easy if Jay had done it yesterday like he said he was going to. 

Sorry, sorry. I fully intended to, but I ended up crashing out earlyish in the evening.

'Sokay, it was still your time slot.  No harm done.

JayMoyles wrote:

We need a name! Suggestions?

A Box and a Key
Copper Horses
Snow and Steam

OKAY I LIED.

My mind was deserting me, so I'm leaving Lucia to her fate for now.  Let me know if I caused any inconsistencies.  A vote for "Copper Horses" from this author, by the way: "Snow and Steam" also good.

Also, I'm guessing that we'll concentrate on about six groups of people chasing after the MacGuffin/its key/whatever when the story proper starts?  This being "Steampunk Rat Race" and all.  I'm assuming:

• The Vellis;
  
• Dick (and Roger?);
  
• Chuck;
  
• Harrison and/or Hieronymus and/or Cooper (because at least one of them's going to die);
  
• The mysterious masked figure;
  
• A.N. Other.
  

You lying, lieful liar, you.

Of your fourth choice, I'd go for Cooper, in an "I'll show them!" kind of way.

I agree with that. An upstart on the palace staff would be a good candidate. I think Hieronymus and Harrison, as well as the royal family should be trying to stop these glory-seekers.

I liked "Snow and Steam" for a name. How about "Behind the Door"?

Not wanting to be harsh, but that sounds like a low-budget horror film.  

From the Random Gaming Thoughts thread:

JayMoyles wrote:

My dad tried playing Skyrim. I think questing wasn't for him - he had more fun killing the tavern wenches and stripping them of their clothes. Don't know what that says about him really.

Balladeer wrote:

Jay's dad to be the villain in the Forum Fan-Fiction.  

JayMoyles wrote:

"Dick walked into the alley, and gasped as he saw the poor maiden, bleeding and naked and dead."

...let's not.   

I fully expect Buska to try and work that quote into the story now.

I just don't want our title to be totally unrelated to the plot. "Copper Horses" is a nice sounding name, but what does it have to do with our story beyond the fact that there's steam-powered horses in there?

I see your point, but - well, Wild Swans.  Tangentially related at best.  Anyway, "Snow and Steam" solves that problem.

I'm trying to think of a suggestion myself, but my ideas are sounding like Donkey Kong levels.  "The MacGuffin Marathon", for example.  It's hard to make a title for a book that doesn't have a plot yet! (Also, "MacGuffin" isn't an easy word to work into a serious-ish title. If we don't mind being a tad ridiculous, there's "The Quest for the Mighty MacGuffin".)

If it's going to finish at the Summer Solstice, then something along the lines of "Before the Sun's Zenith" could work.  But really, I think "Snow and Steam" gets the book's main ideas across well enough for now.


On another topic, there's room for one other main character (or group thereof) in this chase.  I'd like to see another non-human in there, seeing as we've got a variety of different species involved and yet the main characters are overwhelmingly human: perhaps Buska's vampire ladies?  The centaur?  A renegade adopted royal, like Marvel's Loki?  Food for thought.

I'm really enjoying this, if you can't tell! 

Finishing in the summer solstice assumes everything goes according to the vellis' plans, which would be dull. Hopefully other characters will have their own tricks going on.
Also, remember how I said I wouldn't introduce a character? I really want A.N Other to be a mechanical man. If we've made a world full of robots we need one front and centre!

Eh, I imagine some things will go right and some wrong. I can see them thinking they've won, and then being outwitted at the last moment by Dick dropping a bucket on their head or something equally anticlimactic.

As for the automaton, go for it! "Am I alive? What is free will? Why am I bothering my monstrous processing power with such trivial questions when I can shoot lasers from my tummy button?" That sort of thing.

I think I'll write my next part in binary.

Beemoh, are you going to be up for writing something today?