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Author Topic: A couple story ideas.
Dan_raven
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Recently I dreamed two great story ideas, and I had a third while walking the dogs.

(Well, they seemed great to me, after waking up, not just at 2am)

I've already forgotten one of them. I just haven't had time to write them down.

I'm putting them down here, free to whoever can use them, since I don't have time to develop them, and I'd hate to lose them as the third was was lost.

The First: "Ahl-Zombies"

This is the one I dreamed. Picture the city streets of New York, when a horde of shambling zombies come marching through the streets, filling every street as they shamble forward.

Our hero's are in front of them, but they are not running from the zombies. They are leading them, directing them, avoiding touching them, but tricking them into waiting trains and trucks.

These are not undead zombies, or the results of some dead-raising virus. These people are Alhziem-zombies. A viscous virus wipes away peoples memories, leaving hordes of people as complete amnesiacs, paranoid, scared, barely remembering how to walk or move.

Our heroes are trying to transport them to a location where Pharma-Cure is waiting to give the cure. The cure restores your memory completely.

First part of the story shows what is happening, and how our brave heroes try to cure people from this fast moving epidemic.

The second part has our heroes infected. They are told to keep a journal, so that if they are infected they might be able to read it and understand what is going on. Some don't remember enough to read, or remember to read that journal. The main hero does, but doesn't believe the journal. He creates plausible and less than plausible conspiracy theories to explain his amnesia. He becomes the creeping zombie we saw and pitied in the first part of the story.

If handled with enough mood, and with the right words, this could be the most terrifying part of the book. Many people would see nothing worse than looking their minds, unable to trust their memories. Anyone who has family with Alzheimers or with any amnesia-related problems, would be particularly scared.

The third part we find our heroes (most of them I'm sure) brought back. They are back in the saddle, rescuing the memory zombies when they run across a reclusive village in upper New York state. These people are immune to the virus that affects everyone. This immunity is due to a mold that grows around the village. However, it is not the cure. While it stops the virus from attacking ones memory, it does not restore lost memory, and makes such restoration impossible for the future.

People in this village take in the occasional wandering zombie, cure them, and use the blank memories of their patients to store as much information as possible. One becomes an expert on physics, another on Art, one on the history of war-fare, and another on Shakespeare.

Why?

Because they believe that now that this virus has been let loose on the world, there will be no stopping it. While the virus may be contained at any given point, there will always be someone who will use it as a weapon. Eventually that weapon will destroy those who can stop it, and all of society will be destroyed.

The human race will collapse as its people forget everything. Only those immune through the mold will survive, and they need all the information they can get to revive humanity.

Our heroes don't think this is right, and see the mold as a cure, a preventative. They are forbidden from taking it back to Pharm-Cure. The villagers think that the wider this mold goes, the more likely a resistant strain of the virus will emerge, and then nothing will stop the loss of the human race.

The End--The heroes take the mold and escape back to Pharm-Cure. There the real villain emerges. Pharm-Cure ignores the cure. They are making fortunes, and gaining power, by curing the virus. In fact, they are spreading it wherever they can. They have experts on islands cut off from all contact to other humans, and they will create cures to whatever mutations their pet virus takes.

As long as the virus mutates, they get paid for new cures. Why would they want a preventative?

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Alcon
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I like, though it needs connection. For example how do the heroes get back in the saddle? Captured and cured?

Other than that sounds like an awesome story idea.

Question: The Alzheimer zombies, are they violent? Why would they be violent just because they have blank slate memories? In my experience folks with Alzheimer's don't necessarily get violent. My grandpa's got it, and he just sits in his chair with a vague smile on his face. He can't remember anything, but since he can't remember anything he doesn't care that he can't remember anything.

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ludosti
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Some people with dementia (Alzheimer's is just one cause for dementia) are violent. For example, a great grandmother of mine with dementia would gleefully push her daughter-in-law down the stairs.

And yeah, cool story idea.

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Belle
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I've known people with dementia who became violent, and would throw things and scream obscenities at their caregivers.

In one case that caregiver was a daughter who had to listen to her mother scream at her everyday and tell her she hated her. It was very tough on the woman, who felt a duty to care for her mom but had to listen to abuse every day.

It can be very troubling, and a very sad situation when someone loses their memories of who they are.

Cool story idea!

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Dan_raven
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2nd Idea:

New Athens--The Comic.

I was thinking about retelling the Greek myths as superhero comics. In both cases many heroes/villains/gods are known for one attribute or one facet. In fleshing them out and making them more human, we get better stories.

Now I am not talking a Thor type hero where Apollo and Hercules come to earth to fight masked super villains.

I am thinking of repackaging the Greek Gods and Heroes as modern day Super Heroes--capes and hi-tec armor etc.

Nor am I saying, Superman-Zeus and Hermes is the Flash, etc, etc.

These are new heroes with all the mythical powers and attitudes that make those Greek Myths stand out.

It would begin with a scene of the city. Many tall buildings are scene. These will be identified in later issues as the headquarters of various corporations. Text would read, "In New Athens, LA" (Southern city, since snow, ice, and cold are not really big Greek myth details) "When the Lord of Lightening talks..."

Next frame, same scene but a big blue slash, a cross between a ray and a lightening bolt, cuts down from above, stiking one small building with a loud "Crack". The text reads..."People listen."

Next frame, pile of burning ash in a seedy hotel room... "or they are no longer people"

Next frame, large space station in orbit above earth. Text reads, "Freedom Station 3. Home of Earths mightiest hero's -- home of those that run New Athens." Text in a different color, "Well, that solves the Garbage Strike. What is New Business."

Next frame, inside the space station a large table where a group of labeled super heroes are sitting.

I could go on, but you get the picture.

Some important notes about this comic.

While the gods can be translated into the A-List super-heroes, it is the B-list, the mortals, that may make the best stories.

So these a-list heroes use their great powers to help or hinder the lesser heroes, as the Greek gods did the heroes of the day.

Instead of having various cities that these adventures take place in, one for each city-state from Greek myth, I thought of having them in different corporations. While Chicago rarely invades New York these days, Yahoo and Microsoft are going at it pretty good. Lex-Corp and Star Labs are always at war, etc.

I couldn't decide what to name my people of power. Supes, Supers, Meta's, all have been done to death.

Then I realized that each of these super powered characters would be working for or against the major corporations in the city.

Most would be bought and owned by the corporations hence they get the name--Corps.

And it sounds a lot like corpse.

I pictured Zeus's rebellion from his father as a modern corporate takeover from a 30's era mafia syndicate, with lots of lightening.

Zeus, known here as Lightening Lord, would claim to represent the Government. He would have at his side some legal Corps--the Furies. They would take the Titans into custody. Then Lightening Lord and his associates would divide up the rule of the city between themselves.

Lightening Lord-Zeus would be the most powerful, would take over the Government.

Dread Lord--Hades--would take over the underworld. No, not the dead. The place of the dead in super-hero comics is limited for such a major Greek god. I think the crimminal underworld would be more fitting, although most of what he does leads one to death--hitmen to drugs etc.

Posiedon was another tough one to translate. Aquaman and Namor are both second rate super-heroes. Stories really have to be stretched to have them save the day, or they are all done underwater. So lets get at a more basic Poseidon. Poseidon king of the ships--transportation--trade.

The Trident--Poseidon--controls the big three things that allows for the city to live, the Teamsters, the Dock Workers Union, and the Airline Union.

Mother Superior--Hera--controls not the Church, but the ultra-church that is "Family Values." She doesn't care what church you go to, just as long as you go, and not with you same-sex partner, and that you get married and have children and continue to promote Family Values. Obviously she is not happy with her husband Lightening Lord, or the Dread Lord for their family-unfriendly ways.

I would begin the comic with one of the earlier Greek myths--Theseus. This leaves Jason and the Argonauts as the Golden Age, which we can flash back to for episodes, but it still gives us room to work our way down through the Trojan War.

Theseus was the son of the King of Athens, Poseidon, and lovely queen from one of the rural towns.

Theo was the son of A-Man, born just as A-Man hung up his cape to be CEO of Acme Inc (Athens). He buried his shield and boots under a big rock. Then he told his woman, "When my son is big enough to reclaim my costume, send him to me."

Theseus lifts the rock, reclaims his fathers sandals and shield, and then is given a choice. He can travel to Athens safely by boat, or risk adventure going over the road. He goes over the road and kills three very disturbing bandits.

Theo's uncle Denther (Poseidon) has taught him the ways of the Teamster and Longshoreman. Theo is welcome to either job. He can safely sail to New Athens to work on the dock, or he can drive a big-rig to New Athens where bandits and truck-jackers are known to hide out.

Theo drives the truck.

The three bad-guys that Thesus kills can very easily become three bad-guys that try to kill Theo, but whom Theo sees destroyed.

From there, I haven't thought where to take the comic, but if anyone wants it, I think its a great idea.

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TomDavidson
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While the literalness of the allegory is relatively fresh, the idea of superheroes who run the Earth like a syndicate has been deconstructed a few times in the last decade or so.
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