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Total Members Voted: 17

[Akigagak]

Tanya Goli. By man character, you meant human character, right? Cause this is certainly not a male's name.

Actually, I think he meant main. 

And, as you're starting us off, I think you should be the one to chose. Also I am lazy and can only find names to use by cheating using Behind the Name or Seventh Sanctum.

[Digital Hellhound]

I cheated, using Behind the Name. Glad I'm not the only one who thought of that. I suggest Karam Goll - it's a gender-neutral name!

[Akigagak]

Question: Would it be a good idea to have the actual story be in it's own thread in Creative Projects, and leave this one here for suggestions for the unwashed masses and discussion on where/who/what goes/happens next?

[Bdthemag]

I volunteer for the second turn!

[Chaoswizkid]

While we wait, suggestions for what the alien race will be (and what name our man character should use!) would be appreciated!

Wait, if you did mean main character, why only one? Why not more? We should write from the different perspectives of dozens, nay, hundreds, nay, A THOUSAND MILLION DIFFERENT CHARACTERS!

[anzki4]

Question: Would it be a good idea to have the actual story be in it's own thread in Creative Projects, and leave this one here for suggestions for the unwashed masses and discussion on where/who/what goes/happens next?

I agree with this. Maybe have it locked to prevent anyone randomly posting there. So collaborators post their stories here (or PM them to GlyphGryph) and he/she updates the locked thread which has the actual story.

[Dwarmin]

For an alien race, I was thinking we could something like the Etherals from X-Com.

A race that has total command of psychic power, but are physically degraded to the point where they don't even walk anymore-they just hover. Possibly wearing large cloaks that conceal their true form and give them an aura of menace. Uses Alien Mercenaries and War Machines to do their dirty work for them.

Could we work on this idea?

[Digital Hellhound]

We're going with the 'humans as colonist overlords', I think, so the race shouldn't be too advanced. I like the aura of menace-thing thou.

[Dwarmin]

Ahh, I thought it was the other way around lol.

My mistake.

[Akigagak]

"Aura of Menace" explains why humans have been treating this race so badly and with so much distrust. Their general appearance and behavior sparks off those little subtle cues* that human instinct treats as a very bad sign. They hadn't actually done anything when we started mistreating them, but when one group finally stands up for themselves that just confirms our instincts and we start being colossal dickheads to the race as a whole.

So yeah, basically colonial India but in spaaaace.

*Prominent canines, or the way they walk, or the shape of their eyes, etc etc.

[GlyphGryph]

I'm liking all the ideas so far! Even the one that involves this being over in Creative. I was planning on setting up another thread for it anyways, but I didn't even think of how I could do it there (and just link it here).

I really don't that whole having to go through me via PM thing... it might be better to actually post it here, and if it doesn't get vetoed, THEN I'll move it to the other thread. So we'll have a "suggestions and discussion and work in progress" thread, and then a "finished product thread" for easy reading?

Wait, if you did mean main character, why only one? Why not more?

Because its easier to introduce one character at a time, obviously. I'm not gonna throw a thousand characters out right off the bat, then no one else gets to add any because of how crowded it is! (and they might have to essentially write for a thousand characters, no fun!)

[GlyphGryph]

Okay, here's my first post proposal. Suggestions and comments are welcome, I'm not overly attached yet.

Five months and four days
It was raining again. It always seemed to rain here. Howard hated it. Miserable planet, miserable people, and always god damn raining.
"Goli!" he called down the hall, "I'm out, god damn it!"
He spat the remnants of the Lassa leaf into the trash. He hated this planet, he hated his company for sending him here, but by god did he love this crap. Even if it would probably kill him some day. He went back to staring out the window, watching the rain run in rivulets down the pane, drenching the city, each gutter a stream carrying the water to the street, the street carrying it down and away to the ocean.
"God damn it, Goli, get the hell in here! What the fuck is taking you so long?"
He was getting edgy already. There was going to be an important meeting later today. He just needed to... relax a bit. But the useless fucking servants this planet had to offer, by god he wished he could just import some, but everything got tangled up in the goddamn paperwork. To be honest, he was trying, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere.
"Goli!"
With a shuffle of footsteps and long robes, the creature turned into the hall, carrying a tray with finely prepared Lassa. The creature itself stood maybe five feet tall, and wore cloth over the entirety of its body, rustling softly as it walked. Even its face was covered, something Howard was eternally grateful for. In addition to being lazy, slow, and terminally stupid, they were also ugly as sin. He'd stumbled across one uncovered in the streets the other day - it had made him want to vomit, and given him nightmares later that night, lying in bed thinking about how he lived in a house with a dozen of these creatures. God, that creeped him out. He tried to push it out of his head.
"What the hell took you so long?" he demanded, snatching a handful of the leaves and shoving them into his mouth. "Bloody hell."
The creature lowered itself a bit, clearly trembling, and began to say something.
"Bullshit" Howard spat between chews. "What the hell did I tell you about making excuses? God, you people are never going to amount to anything at this rate. Now fuck off."
The servant lowered the tray onto the small table and backed away slowly, apologizing over and over again, already starting that annoying huffing thing they loved to do, but Howard' ignored it. His mind was elsewhere. There was something wrong with his pitch, he needed to...

Goli turned and fled the moment the corner obscured her from sight, trying to suppress her emotions, trying to hold back the huffs for as long as she could. Fleeing into the servant's chambers, closing the door behind her, she slipped onto the bed, snaking a hand under her robe to rest it against her abdomen. There was the slightest of kicks, and in a moment she was at peace. Her huffing subsided, and she leaned back, eyes closed. She was lucky, she thought to herself. Very lucky. The man did not hit her, he was not violent, and he paid well, she just needed to be faster. She couldn't let him realize what was going on, not yet, she knew it would be grounds for termination. But Lucio would come through, she knew he would, she just had to last a few more months.

[Digital Hellhound]

Me likes! I didn't realize the main character would be one of the aliens, but this is even better. I can change a character I planned up earlier into an antagonist now. I don't even have to change him at all.

I'd reserve a spot, but writing with this iPad is a bit annoying.

[anzki4]

I like it too. Maybe describe the scene/surroundings somehow.

I myself imagined and suggest that the man who called the servant was in some sort of balcony watching over some town/city. Town itself would be dirty and full of cheap apartments houses made of concrete. No asphalt, just dirt roads and maybe some mines on the edges of town/city.

[GlyphGryph]

That is pretty much exactly the sort of image I was intending to convey, though with clusters of wooden hovels having sprung up to fill the gaps between the concrete structures, so that went well at least. I will admit I'm generally pretty sparse with description, an unfortunate habit from most of my writing being online hosting where there is rarely enough time for that if you want to keep things moving (and dialogue and brief descriptions must work together to imply a scene rather than describing it)

Shoot, we need a name!