HELP: Future writing plans after Chaos Rising (Canceled)

[CynthiaLover]

As those who have been reading Chaos Rising knows that we're entering the final season. And this time I intend to finish it unlike Psychic Duelist Django (that will eventually get finished but I've been a bit put off by how Yugioh has become such a mess ever since the "introduction" of Link Monsters). So, as a result, and because my brain is a very strange place, I've been (unintentionally) brainstorming my next project. It'll be similar to Chaos Rising, being an isekai of sorts, but it'll have different events.

For starters, it won't be an RPG verse world. There will be magic, monsters, and such, but no levels, stats, etc. It'll be more of just a regular fantasy world like you'd find in earlier isekai-like anime such as Digimon Adventure 01 and Monster Rancher. Secondly, the main protag, Hub Glitch, won't have access to pretty much all the magic that exists in this world, thus is more of a normal human compared to the "natives". He does, however, have a very dangerous power that he obtained on his world by accident, which is a transformation power that turns him into a G-Beast MegaMan-like form, but rarely uses it because of how dangerous it is, which becomes one of the main driving factors for certain factions. He will also have his own weapon that came along with him so he can defend himself (it'll be basically a Praetorian OmniWrench clone called a Magna Wrench with the same functions), which he built because he's more of a cowardly lion compared to someone like Celtic. The series will also have more lighthearted and even comedic moments compared to the more gloom-and-doom Chaos Rising, while still being no less dark overall. The main cast will be roughly 6 characters, 4 men and 2 women, though that final number may change depending on certain elements.

Another major factor is that from the get-go there will be three factions fighting each other: the Alliance, the Empire, and the Nightmare Army, with the Alliance being the more-or-less "good guys", the Empire being more of a chaotic faction with their own agendas, and the Nightmare Army being the de facto "bad guys". The Alliance and Empire have been in on-and-off cold wars with each other for centuries, with a ceasefire currently in play (though it doesn't stop the Empire from causing problems for the Alliance), while the Nightmare Army has been resurrected by the main villain of the series, the Goddess of Destruction: Medea, after several millennia of dormancy, seeking to finish what she started back then with her monster-based Nightmare Soldiers and Nightmare Generals.

Now, the one factor that I'm still debating over is the main female lead: Maylene. Specifically, I've got two separate ideas on her but I'm not sure which one is better. The first version of Maylene is that she's an exiled princess from the Starbolt Elves because she was unable to learn or use magic, and tried to compensate by practicing swordsmanship, which got her banished because that's a big no-no to her people. Her meeting Hub enables her to learn and cast her latent magical powers, thus turning her into a magic knight-type individual. The second version of Maylene is that she's a Lunar Nightwing (lesser devil-type monster, think similar to Pixie from Monster Rancher) turncoat from the Nightmare Army (she's a former Nightmare General) and seeks to destroy Medea and her army out of hatred/revenge. Her meeting Hub helps her overcome her inner darkness/hatred and find something more important to her than revenge.

Both Maylenes serve the same purpose: female lead, shameless fanservice girl, love interest, primary offensive spellcaster, and keeper of one of the two main McGuffins (Hub being the other) that certain groups want. Outside of species, the only other differences between the two Maylenes is that Lunar Nightwing Maylene is often distrusted by others as she hasn't been able to remove her Nightmare Emblem, the symbol of the Nightmare Army, from her body prior to the start of the journey, thus most regular people and higher-ups see her as a possible threat despite her fighting off her former "allies" on their behalf, has more insight on Medea's army and plans, and has a certain verbal tic that's normal for her species. My question is which version of Maylene sounds more interesting/better? Let me know in the comments below.

That's about the bulk of what I've cooked up while planning the final season of Chaos Rising. What do you think? Since this is just the early stages a lot is subject to change but for the most part this is the main foundation for this future series. Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a series name feel free to leave it in the comments. That'll do for now. Until then more Chaos Rising content will be coming this way, so stay tuned for that.

 

[CynthiaLover]

A new update to mention regarding this future series.

Because of how my extra crispy omelet of a brain works, literally last night I had a brain spark involving this series. While I still haven't come up with a name for said series I did cook up an interesting idea regarding swordswoman Maylene which is making me lean more toward her now (along with the fact that my thing for elves is creeping into the equation). As anyone who as read my past works knows that my male/female leads tend to hit it off right away. That won't be the case with swordswoman Maylene. Because of some alterations to her character I had thought of she'll be rather bitter about her situation, causing her to lash out, while also having an inferiority complex. When she and Hub meet he offers to help her learn magic despite now knowing anything about magic, which both bruises her ego and makes her feel even more worthless, causing her to lash out and form a poorly thought-out bet with a blood contract to spite Hub. Needless to say, she loses the bet and is forced to keep her end of the deal lest her life and soul be forfeit, with the only way for the contract to be broken is if Hub dies. As a result of this she'll take verbal potshots at Hub out of spite for a bit, mainly regarding his cowardly lion nature, as it's all she can do against him as the blood contract prevents her from actually physically hurting him. It's only after two particular incidents: one involving her greatest fear and the other involving the Empire, that she warms up to him and falls in love with him, respectively. As a result of this change it's made me feel that swordswoman Maylene is the better path, as it would introduce an interesting dynamic between the two main leads, but let me know what you think.

Also, one more small idea I want to mention is that, unlike past series where the male leads are the leaders of the group/party, Hub won't be the leader. This is due to his own inferiority complex and lack of confidence, thus the role of party leader will be one of his comrades: Sir Arron, who is an experienced knight and General of his kingdom's army. Hub will be playing more of a Lancer (second-in-command) role (for bonus points in that regard, Hub will wield effectively a polearm-type weapon, given how the Magna Wrench looks, which is a common cliché weapon that second-in-commands tend to wield).

That's all I've got for now. Hopefully once September moves on, or at least the weather shift stabilizes, I can finally get back to work, as writing is a stress relief for me. See you next time.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Update time.

In regards to this series, I actually came up with an interesting idea for Maylene. I decided to fuse elements from both versions into one, taking key aspects, traits, and quirks from each and creating a new version of Maylene. For starters, she'll be the Lunar Nightwing version of her, still retaining her turncoat history and that people don't trust her because she can't remove the Nightmare Soldier emblem on her own. This is so the party can have at least one member from each faction in it for diversity and conflicting views. However, I've added certain aspects of swordswoman Maylene into her. For starters, like with the earlier plans for swordswoman Maylene, she won't think highly of Hub at first, looking down at his cowardice. She only expresses an interest in him when she realizes he can get her into places she'd normally be prevented from entering due to her past history as a Nightmare General. It doesn't stop her from taking a few verbal potshots at him but she decides to work alongside him to further her own agenda. She'll later see him in a more romantic light after he reveals his "virus beast" to defend her from a high-ranked Imperial soldier who wants to kill her purely because she's a "monster", which is a similar scenario to how swordswoman Maylene would fall in love with Hub. After that she'll shift to playfully ribbing him instead of outright insulting him, with some flirting undertones. Also, similar to swordswoman Maylene, she'll have a negative opinion of her race, as she's an outcast among them because she's "different". She'll also have to deal with the general negative stereotyping that comes with her kind.

Moving on, I've also ironed out the rest of the party. It will remain as I said it would earlier, being 6 members with 4 males and 2 females. The party members will be Hub, Maylene, Sir Arron, Chris, Galvin, and Violet. I won't reveal anything else about them now so I don't spoil things.

Anyway, that's the update for now. Stay tuned in for any new updates later on.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Heyo.

Just a small update on the future series. For starters, I've decided to expand the main cast by one. The final party member to be added is Edyn (although in terms of order-of-appearance, she'll be fourth, after Hub, Maylene, and Sir Arron), who will not only act as Sir Arron's love interest, but she'll have a "special" connection to one of the two main McGuffins of the series. She'll also be the first one on the hero side to figure out that Maylene is the keeper of said McGuffin (which both the Nightmare Army and Empire will have figured out beforehand). She'll also act as more of the "heart" of the group akin to Holly from the Monster Rancher anime and Nina from Breath of Fire 4, being sort of the glue that holds everyone together and will be the first one to give a newcomer to the party a chance. This will, however, clash with Maylene's somewhat hard-hearted, more forceful, and somewhat cutthroat approach, especially when it comes to Nightmare Soldiers, due to Edyn being something of a pacifist.

Also, due to this series being more lighthearted compared to Chaos Rising I've decided to add in a "supporting" character who acts as the comic relief/chew toy of the series: Damian. He's a Casanova wannabe warrior who sees himself as the greatest warrior and lady killer ever but is actually a dirty coward and a total wash-up who tails after the hero group in hopes of gaining fame and glory by stealing credit from them. He'll also have a one-sided rivalry with Hub (and technically the party as a whole, but Hub was the first one to humiliate/expose him so he's his main "target" for revenge) and tries to frequently prove his superiority only to be pretty much humiliated at every turn. He's neither an "ally" nor "enemy", as he's too scared of both Medea's army and the Empire but is too self-centered to actually help the main cast in important (or ANY) battles. Basically, combine the personalities of Captain Qwark from Ratchet & Clank with Kahn from Breath of Fire 4, strip him of any real "redeeming" qualities, intelligence, and competence, give him Monster Rancher Suezo-levels of bad luck and abuse-taking "skills", and you've got Damian in a nutshell.

Also, one final note is that I've managed to think of three different titles for the series but I'm not sure which one to go with. They are as followed: "The Courageous Seven", "Journey of Courage", and "Wings of Courage". As you can see, courage is the main "theme" this time around (especially in Hub's case). Which ones to you all think I should use? Let me know below.

That's all for now.

 

[CynthiaLover]

New update.

Due to the weird night I had last night I've made a few more minor adjustments to the new series coming up after Chaos Rising. They mostly revolve around Maylene (again). For starters, I've decided to change her species from a lesser devil monster to a straight up demon breed. This is because I gained some inspiration from a new anime I've been watching recently during what little downtime I've had; "Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun". I know, it's been out since 2019 but I have bad exposure issues when it comes to new series, be it games or anime, so I often learn of them late. It's a fun series. But, as a result of it, and the fact that I've become more of a demon fan over the years anyway I've adjusted Maylene's species, along with parts of her design, to reflect that. For the most part she'll remain the same, both personality and combat style, but the few changes I've made are as followed.

1) Obviously, she's no longer a lesser devil monster, but a demoness (specifically, a Crimzon Shadow Knight Demon). This would put her conflicts with Edyn in a more dynamic light, as demons and druids are natural opposites. Plus, it would put her in a more grey area in general, as demons are considered chaotic neutrals at best compared to the more black and white humanity VS monsters dynamic. 2) Her horns have been changed from forward facing to somewhat more traditional upright ones, albeit they are flexible and can change position and stiffness depending on her mood. She can also use said horns to fire magical attacks if her hands are occupied by channeling magical energy between them. 3) Nightwing Maylene was going to be barefoot due to having large talons for feet but demon Maylene now has more normal feet, albeit with long toenails, so she'll now wear toeless high-heeled boots. 4) As a Lunar Nightwing, Maylene would always have visible wings, while demon Maylene can summon energy wings whenever she wants in order to fly. This would also eliminate one of Nightwing Maylene's biggest weaknesses. 5) She now wields a weapon: a battle whip akin to Jessica Albert from Dragon Quest 8, as before her main weapon were her claws, though she can still deliver powerful punches and kicks if need be (especially kicks, as she can kill most enemies with just an average power axe kick alone). And 6) demon Maylene will have different weaknesses compared to Lunar Nightwing Maylene. Everything else remains the same.

That about sums things up for now. Until next time.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Update time.

As the newly edited title states, this project has been canceled. There are two reasons behind it. First, I've hit a bad case of writer's block Wil E. Coyote-style, thus any creative juices have been stonewalled. Secondly, while coming up with ideas for this series in planning documents I ended up turning it into one ginormous mess. Ideas started clashing or becoming contradicting to others until it was just a big blend of chaos. When I tried trimming the fat off of some of the ideas it still came out a mess, as now certain ideas had to overcompensate for cut ones. As a result, I just went "Screw it!" and decided to wipe the slate clean. It's better to start with a blank canvas than trying to fix what cannot be fixed.

This is, sadly, a problem I've had in the past, where story series ideas die either in the planning stages or a few chapters in. Looking back, though, I do realize that some of those ideas were too ambitious for my skill level at the time, which was also a contributing factor. But, as a result, this new series that was going to start after Chaos Rising was over has been canned due to the aforementioned factors. Granted, I might take elements from this canceled series and put them in a new one, but until I can get past this writer's block any creative thinking has been halted. Just thought I'd give you an update on my writing ideas and status.