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Wow, it's been a while since I was last on this area of the forums. Anyway, let me cut to the chase. My current story series: Psychic Duelist Django, is nearing completion. I'm on the fifth and final season of the series, although I'm only about a quarter done with what Final Numeron needs to cover, if not less, so it'll be a long one. However, since writing helps relieve stress for me, and while I'm taking a small break from PDD (I tend to do things in bursts, like writing 13 chapters within the span of two weeks as of recent), I've begun to try planning out my next project. And this is where I need some help. For starters, it'll be completely original, though it does borrow elements from certain series (Rising of the Shield Hero and Dragon Quest, to be exact), along with borrowing elements from a long-dead series that failed to get off the ground during my early college years. It'll also be one of my darker series, given the setting and nature of it, though it'll still have lighthearted moments, too. This is the general groundwork I've got so far:
While I haven't come up with a name for the series (especially one that isn't so... obvious as the previous one), it basically is about a 19 year-old name Celtic (who is bit of an oddball to others, as well as a "jerk with a heart of gold") who is forcefully summoned into another world (along with four others) by a rather nasty kingdom run by ambitious Light Elves, to become the Five Heroes in order to stop an inter-dimensional demon from returning. Each one of them is "assigned" to one of five Legendary Gear: Sword, Spear, Axe, Bow, and Shroud. Celtic, of course, get's the Shroud, which instantly earns him the ridicule of the other four Heroes, as the Shroud Hero is not only generally associated with darkness (something that Light Elves actively hate, and it is called the Shroud of Shadows), but it means he's not "designed" to be an "attacker" type of fighter, as such is considered a liability. Plus, the rules of the Legendary Gear prohibit him from holding a weapon (which he gets around by modifying his robotic prosthetic arm of his own design to transform into various weapons at will a la MegaMan.EXE, thereby exploiting a loophole in the "rules"), but is still rather looked down upon.
He is then tricked and accused of a terrible crime by the Light Elf princess, Veronica, having his name dragged through the mud and generally portrayed as a monster, thus the entire kingdom shuns him, further jading him and crippling his ability to trust others. Plus, as he needs comrades to fight off the waves of enemies that the demon, known as Infinator, produces every so often, no one wants to help him because of his "crimes", and the other four Heroes (especially the Spear Hero) see him as worthless and believe his "crimes" as truth. His first "comrade" is actually a slave girl named Skye, also a Light Elf, that he buys with what little resources he has, as he doesn't have any other options available. However, it turns out that Skye is not only the "discarded" Light Elf princess (betrayed and sold to slavery by her family because she kept "getting in the way" of their "get-more-power-quick" schemes), but has a very personal agenda against the Light Elf Kingdom, especially her older sister: Veronica, and when she realizes Celtic is Veronica's latest "victim", she agrees to work with him and help clear his name.
Thus, because they've both been victimized badly, they share a white-hot hatred for the Light Elf Kingdom and seek it's downfall (something that the rest of the world shares, mind, as the Light Elves have caused a lot of damage/trouble over the years), as well as both knowing that Infinator is a serious problem, they bond quickly, helping ease some of Celtic's misery and giving him the ability to start trusting others. Skye suggests that they abandon the Light Elf Kingdom entirely and go to one of the "true" kingdoms, in this case Delgunner, for support, as not only are they the largest central power, but they also have greater resources and have actively stopped many of the Light Elf Kingdom's "get-more-power-quick" schemes in the past. Plus, she knows that the Shroud Hero is virtually a linchpin to 30 different races and even more nations, boarding being considered a deity, thus having his name dragged through the mud could spark a global war with the 30+ nations/races on top of the current crisis. Agreeing to that, they start their journey to Delgunner in hopes of clearing Celtic's name, uproot the evil Light Elves, and still fight against Infinator's armies, as well as the other Heroes, at the same time.
Okay, this is what groundwork I've gotten so far. Yes, as you can see, Rising of the Shield Hero gets a fair amount of reference in it, though I haven't decided on what the "crime" is and such yet, plus the previous dead series of mine from years ago had similar elements, too. And, like I said, I haven't even thought of a title for the series yet (chapter titles I can do just fine, series titles I have trouble with, hence the rather... dumb name for my Yu-Gi-Oh series). Other groundwork that I've already ironed out are the main characters (there will be seven of them, not including the other four Heroes), their races (as they'll each be a different species), side characters (including the four other Heroes), main antagonists, and so on. Also, unlike Shield Hero, Celtic won't end up with a harem (he had no desire for one anyway), with Skye being "his" girl, as well as the fact that Skye is the only "slave" in his group. Also, there will be a fair amount of fanservice/sexual innuendo in it (Skye's outfit of choice, for example, is almost identical to Princess Solonge from Code of Princess, plus she uses her appeal to trick and immobilize monsters for easier kills a la Jessica Albert). Plus, like any fantasy adventure series, blood, gore, violence, and so on will be common, so it'll be at minimum T-rating, potentially M-rated as a result. There will be lighter moments (including a running gag or two), but overall it'll be darker and gritter than most of my works.
In any case, if anyone has suggestions for it, such as title names, possible story elements, events that take place in-universe, and so on, feel free to post your suggestions. I still have a fair amount of time before this series actually "airs", as I still need to finish PDD, but I like to get as much planning elements out of the way as possible so it makes actually writing the series easier. Thanks in advance to anyone who decides to post an idea or suggestion.
While I haven't come up with a name for the series (especially one that isn't so... obvious as the previous one), it basically is about a 19 year-old name Celtic (who is bit of an oddball to others, as well as a "jerk with a heart of gold") who is forcefully summoned into another world (along with four others) by a rather nasty kingdom run by ambitious Light Elves, to become the Five Heroes in order to stop an inter-dimensional demon from returning. Each one of them is "assigned" to one of five Legendary Gear: Sword, Spear, Axe, Bow, and Shroud. Celtic, of course, get's the Shroud, which instantly earns him the ridicule of the other four Heroes, as the Shroud Hero is not only generally associated with darkness (something that Light Elves actively hate, and it is called the Shroud of Shadows), but it means he's not "designed" to be an "attacker" type of fighter, as such is considered a liability. Plus, the rules of the Legendary Gear prohibit him from holding a weapon (which he gets around by modifying his robotic prosthetic arm of his own design to transform into various weapons at will a la MegaMan.EXE, thereby exploiting a loophole in the "rules"), but is still rather looked down upon.
He is then tricked and accused of a terrible crime by the Light Elf princess, Veronica, having his name dragged through the mud and generally portrayed as a monster, thus the entire kingdom shuns him, further jading him and crippling his ability to trust others. Plus, as he needs comrades to fight off the waves of enemies that the demon, known as Infinator, produces every so often, no one wants to help him because of his "crimes", and the other four Heroes (especially the Spear Hero) see him as worthless and believe his "crimes" as truth. His first "comrade" is actually a slave girl named Skye, also a Light Elf, that he buys with what little resources he has, as he doesn't have any other options available. However, it turns out that Skye is not only the "discarded" Light Elf princess (betrayed and sold to slavery by her family because she kept "getting in the way" of their "get-more-power-quick" schemes), but has a very personal agenda against the Light Elf Kingdom, especially her older sister: Veronica, and when she realizes Celtic is Veronica's latest "victim", she agrees to work with him and help clear his name.
Thus, because they've both been victimized badly, they share a white-hot hatred for the Light Elf Kingdom and seek it's downfall (something that the rest of the world shares, mind, as the Light Elves have caused a lot of damage/trouble over the years), as well as both knowing that Infinator is a serious problem, they bond quickly, helping ease some of Celtic's misery and giving him the ability to start trusting others. Skye suggests that they abandon the Light Elf Kingdom entirely and go to one of the "true" kingdoms, in this case Delgunner, for support, as not only are they the largest central power, but they also have greater resources and have actively stopped many of the Light Elf Kingdom's "get-more-power-quick" schemes in the past. Plus, she knows that the Shroud Hero is virtually a linchpin to 30 different races and even more nations, boarding being considered a deity, thus having his name dragged through the mud could spark a global war with the 30+ nations/races on top of the current crisis. Agreeing to that, they start their journey to Delgunner in hopes of clearing Celtic's name, uproot the evil Light Elves, and still fight against Infinator's armies, as well as the other Heroes, at the same time.
Okay, this is what groundwork I've gotten so far. Yes, as you can see, Rising of the Shield Hero gets a fair amount of reference in it, though I haven't decided on what the "crime" is and such yet, plus the previous dead series of mine from years ago had similar elements, too. And, like I said, I haven't even thought of a title for the series yet (chapter titles I can do just fine, series titles I have trouble with, hence the rather... dumb name for my Yu-Gi-Oh series). Other groundwork that I've already ironed out are the main characters (there will be seven of them, not including the other four Heroes), their races (as they'll each be a different species), side characters (including the four other Heroes), main antagonists, and so on. Also, unlike Shield Hero, Celtic won't end up with a harem (he had no desire for one anyway), with Skye being "his" girl, as well as the fact that Skye is the only "slave" in his group. Also, there will be a fair amount of fanservice/sexual innuendo in it (Skye's outfit of choice, for example, is almost identical to Princess Solonge from Code of Princess, plus she uses her appeal to trick and immobilize monsters for easier kills a la Jessica Albert). Plus, like any fantasy adventure series, blood, gore, violence, and so on will be common, so it'll be at minimum T-rating, potentially M-rated as a result. There will be lighter moments (including a running gag or two), but overall it'll be darker and gritter than most of my works.
In any case, if anyone has suggestions for it, such as title names, possible story elements, events that take place in-universe, and so on, feel free to post your suggestions. I still have a fair amount of time before this series actually "airs", as I still need to finish PDD, but I like to get as much planning elements out of the way as possible so it makes actually writing the series easier. Thanks in advance to anyone who decides to post an idea or suggestion.