Sounding Board

I can't be the only one who wants feedback on ideas. Just respond to any ideas you think are cool and/or have inconsistencies. Feel free to post your ideas too, i promise I won't steal. I'd really love to read some new ideas.

Earth? It's really an experiment. Another race of intelligent beings set up the planet and all its inhabitants for scientific endeavors. These aliens (sorry, no name yet) are a cross between a person and a cat. They have the ears, eyes, and nose of a cat, along with the tail and feet. They stand upright like people, but more on their toes, like cats, and come in may other colors. Humans weren't independent, instead just a pet for these creatures. In a test to see what we would become, these cat-things placed us on earth to watch but the experiment is at an end and they have come back for us, which includes having thousands of people disappear as part of a computer program.

Thoughts? Comments? Other ideas? Please don't steal, as this is an idea I am seriously considering writing in the near future. I can't wait to hear your ideas

Kli

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I love alien sci fi. Your aliens sound cool as well, but do you mean paws instead of feet?

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@AmberGovier Like cat paws for feet, how cats stand with only their toes on the ground? Sorta like that but it sends back to human-style legs. I think I forgot to mention that they are covered in fur. They are more cat than human. Is that more clear?

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So like anthromorphs, then? Are you going to write it from the point of view of the aliens or the humans or third person?

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@AmberGovier anthromorphs? as in shape-changers? (I haven't read any outstanding sci-fi in a while) I mean they look like cats that stand on their back feet but are closer to 7/8 feet tall.

I'd be writing in 3rd person but probably the humans. It would be more interesting and give me a chance to figure out some of the lingo.

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@Cheadarchesse Antromorphs, or "Furries" as we call them. But I think you need to approach your aliens more realistic. It's a bit dull if they look like cats, so make them look like something strange.

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I have a race of semi canine creatures with psychic powers, but a lot of their features are highly exaggerated. I'm struggling to think of a logical explainanation for how their powers work. One has the ability to create hallucinations and the other has telekinesis.

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@AmberGovier The brain sends messages, basically using electricity, and the way a person's body reacts is affected by chemicals in the body, sorry if this is too vague. The one that creates hallucinations could manipulate the electricity or the chemicals so that the "victim" experiences these hallucinations

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All living things are made of C, H, and O right? What if some other element was introduced into the make up of things? If properly planned and stuff, would this have the potential to be an interesting story? this idea just popped into my head about five seconds ago and I would like feedback from the sounding board

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@TheLocalGuerilla They would be strange colors too, mostly purple. Tall, lithe, human hands. The lips would have to be different to allow for normal speech. I wanted to go off the idea that house cats could be spies, maybe? I'm not sure. The idea is still a fledgling. If you have any idea of how to make them still cats but more unique, let me know.

@AmberGovier I really can't think of anything more than what @CamiCobalt already said. Sorry if I'm no help =/

@CamiCobalt That sounds cool. I'm not sure how well that would work, might need a few more details. I'd love to hear more about this, it's somehting I've ALWAYS wondered.

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@Cheadarchesse well it would depend on how detailed I got I guess. what I'm trying to get at is if the new element I chose was a metal or a gas or one of the manmade elements I could just make strange things happen or I could try to incorporate how that new element normally reacts with C, H, and O

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@CamiCobalt thanks. Cool :)

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@CamiCobalt so, you're saying that in current days, this element was introduced? I think that would be cool too, especially seeing how the element was found/introduced. On the other hand, trying to find the differences between element Q and whatever is around already would be interesting too.

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@Cheadarchesse that would be interesting. and yes that is what I meant. a fourth element introduced to the make up of living things

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Um....in my mind us being their pet humans anddddd there being some computer program triggered disappearance clashes O_o

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@jamilla_ I did that so there wouldn't be a billion humans that these aliens have to find homes for all of them. I was toying with that or either setting it farther back in time where there were fewer humans but I don't like that idea very much. Thanks for your imput!

@CamiCobalt I'm kinda liking this idea. =)

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Um, sure...glad to be of service...a disease could work just as well...or a meteor / nuclear apocalypse those are always fun.

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@Cheadarchesse Cool, there's a lot there if you really think about it

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@Cheadarchesse Yeah, you could have the cat aliens create a disease that kills off say 75% of humans and they take the survivors with them. (Because its genetically engineered to kill those with whatever genotype.)

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@AmberGovier @jamilla_ ohh.....disease would be interesting too, especially picking what it wiped out. The biggest problem would be trying to decide what to take out. I mean, the point of the experiment would be to see what naturally survived. Although it is set in the future so the sickness could be just before they land, like a new black plague. Thoughts and ideas about that?

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@Cheadarchesse You can actually alter microbes DNA, meaning that it shouldn't affect certain species (like the cat aliens for example.) Or it could be a series of plagues that affect different species of animal.

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Usually you'd want to think that a disease would kill the weak but leave the strong...you could do a reverse of that, Malaria for example doesn't affect persons with sickle cell anaemia/ sickle cell trait, which are both quite debilitating diseases at times...anywho just an idea.

You can also choose to make it like an um....alien disease...take this scenario : The aliens send some sort of physical communication, but it has a bacteria/virus that though useless in the cat people bodies, is deadly to like 70 % or so of humans...this way there like two plots..the disease almost eradicating all of humanity and the aliens coming in to finish the job....positively devious >:)

@Cheadarchesse

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Hmmm... I think I got a bit carried away.....

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All of this has been done before, sadly.

Look up the "Chanur" saga by CJ Cherryh (feline aliens, humans secondary).

The originators of human life returning: Arthur C Clarke's story "The Sentinel" which was later turned into the film (and novel) "2001: A Space Odyssey". Also from Clarke, "Childhood' End" & "Rendezvous With Rama".

Earth as an "experiment" has been done to death, it's in the movie theaters right now, "Prometheus". But it goes as far back as ER Burroughs & "Warlord of Mars" where it was first suggested in fiction. I'm re-reading the SF classic that first truly explored this concept, "At The Mountains of madness" by HP Lovecraft, written in the 1930's! Also check out his "The Colour Out Of Space". And "The Starmaker" by Olaf Stapleton, also fom the 1930's. It has even been spoofed, in "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy". As you can see, a very old idea in SF.

The viral aspect of biology has also been explored & re-explored. For an application similar to yours check out Octavia Butler's "Xenogenesis" trilogy. Experimental breeding of humans was also covered thoroughly in Frank Herbert's "Dune" sequence.

Okay, don't take this the wrong way :) You are obviously enthusiastic about the genre, and that's great, I don't want to discourage you. But it doesn't seem that you've read much SF. I recommend you go to the library and take out anthologies of classic SF, nothing published after 1985, and just start really getting familiar with the genre.

I have a story up here that plays with these old themes but it's more of a knowing homage. If you want to publish one day, especially in the incredibly shrinking genre niche of SF, you'll have to come up with something more contemporary and unique to get the attention of an editor. We're past even the cyber-fiction era in serious SF. Since we are now pretty much "living in the future" SF has to be really relevant and address issues that will be increasingly important in the 21st Century.

Hope that helps :)

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@VincentAsaro It's funny how different minds can think up similar ideas without knowing of the other people's ideas isn't it? For example, one of my characters is a psychic with highly destructive powers and goes on a wild rampage. I was asked if that was based on Stephen King's book Carrie. I'd never even heard of it! When I read it, I can see a few similiar things.

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