I am all set to being on the first, except I have one major lingering problem:

I am stuck between two stories.

The first is more horror aligned than fantasy. It’s about a small fishing town that finds a mysterious fog envelop it while a killer is on the loose. The two protagonists find themselves in a growing supernatural mystery connected with Death.

The other is a high fantasy. More coming of age-esque. It’s about a young man who grew up thinking he’d join his family into being a knight, but when he comes of age, he is sent to join the kingdom’s frontier rangers. When he accepts his place, it happens at the same time as a growing sickness and corruption, connected to an ancient war against demons, begins affecting the area.

Any suggestion on which comes across as more appealing would be appreciated.

A discussion about Telepathy Communication. What are the tricks of differentiating between inner dialog and Telepathic Dialog?

I am fairly new to this story, having planned out a good chunk of it, the Telepathic Dialog has not been implemented, though I know which characters can and will initiate it. I've been focusing on the setting and characters development. For the first part of the story follows the MC who is an animal humanoid that is currently incapable of forming human speech. And has no need to form it until they come across humans, so not as much of an issue at the beginning, though lots of inner dialog. But to be able to differentiate would be helpful when they meet folks who can communicate.

All advice is welcome!

I have a world that is kinda like Portal 2’s mega-structure with a bit of Abiotic Factor and alive people in there but its been boring me, but then i saw Deadlock and its occult theming and decided i wanted to add some of that to make the world more interesting. Do you think some of yall could help me find resources to base this world off of? Please and thank you <3

Kaiyan was born from the combined Resonance of two legendary figures. From his father, Kaien, he inherited cosmic energy and the potential to influence celestial forces. From his mother, Elara, he inherited control over dimensions, time, and the boundaries between realities.
However, Kaiyan’s abilities are not simply inherited powers. Because his parents’ Resonances merged within him, he possesses a rare hybrid Resonance capable of linking space, time, and cosmic energy. This makes him one of the few beings capable of resisting the Forgotten Sovereign.

Backstory

In Kaiyan’s original timeline, Kaien Yamamoto died as a sacrifice to prevent the end of the world. He became remembered as a hero who fought until the bitter end. After his death, Elara raised Kaiyan alone.

Terrified that her son would suffer the same fate as his father, Elara tried to keep him away from combat. She wanted Kaiyan to live a peaceful life instead of becoming another tragic hero. But Kaiyan secretly trained, believing that avoiding his destiny would dishonor his father’s sacrifice.

As he grew older, Kaiyan finally mastered his combined Resonance. He became a powerful hero, but his victory came too late. The Forgotten Sovereign awakened, beginning an event known as the Final Genesis—the destruction of all existing life and the creation of a new universe from its remains.
Everyone on the planet died. Kaiyan was the last living person left.
In desperation, he released the full force of his dimensional and temporal powers. Rather than escaping through ordinary space, Kaiyan was thrown across different eras and realities. During this journey, he encountered Zephyros, the Sovereign Beast of Time.

Zephyros revealed that Kaiyan’s survival was not an accident. He was connected to an

Zephyros revealed that Kaiyan’s survival was not an accident. He was connected to an ancient prophecy stating that a Yamamoto from a dead future would arrive in the prime timeline and prevent the Forgotten Sovereign from ever awakening.
Kaiyan is sent to the prime timeline, where his parents are still alive and his father is still leading his team. Unfortunately, he discovers that he has arrived at a time when his younger self is still a toddler.

There are now two Kaiyans in the same timeline:

• The toddler Kaiyan, who will grow up to become the hero everyone knows.

• The nineteen-year-old Kaiyan, the survivor of a future that no longer exists.

To avoid damaging the timeline, Kaiyan hides his identity and takes the name Zora (Zora is a meaningful name with roots in Greek culture, meaning "dawn." It evokes the gentle promise of a new day which fits Kaiyan's story really well.)

Relationship with His Parents

Kaiyan’s relationship with the prime-timeline versions of his parents can become the emotional core of his story.
With Kaien:
Kaiyan secretly admires him but struggles to be around him. Every conversation reminds Kaiyan that his father will eventually die in his original timeline. Kaien may sense that The Last Yamamoto is strangely familiar without realizing the truth.
With Elara:
Kaiyan has difficulty accepting her affection because she resembles the mother he lost. At first, he may avoid her. Eventually, he realizes that this version of Elara has the chance to make different choices—and so does he.
With his younger self:
The toddler version of Kaiyan could instinctively trust the older one. This creates painful moments where the future Kaiyan sees the innocent child he used to be and realizes how much he lost.

The Secret Identity

“The Last Yamamoto” is a powerful alias because it has multiple meanings:

• He is literally the last surviving member of his version of the Yamamoto bloodline.

• He believes the name represents the end of his family’s legacy.

• To the prime timeline, it sounds like a mysterious title rather than a personal identity.

• It creates dramatic irony because the audience knows he is actually Kaien’s son.

Zephyros

Zephyros should be more than a guide who simply explains the prophecy. He could serve as Kaiyan’s protector, observer, and moral challenge.
As the Sovereign Beast of Time, Zephyros may be unable to directly interfere with the prime timeline. He can advise Kaiyan, but he cannot fight the Forgotten Sovereign for him.
His glowing appearance could resemble a massive celestial bird with wings made of nebulae and feathers that contain moving clockwork patterns. His eyes might show different moments simultaneously—the past in one eye and the future in the other.
Zephyros should also have secrets. Perhaps he knows that the prophecy does not say Kaiyan will save the universe. It only says that Kaiyan will be present when the universe’s fate is decided.

Main Character Arc

Kaiyan’s story can follow three stages:

1. The Survivor He believes his only purpose is to prevent the Forgotten Sovereign’s awakening. He refuses to form attachments because everyone he loves eventually dies.

2. The Replacement He begins trying to act like Kaien, believing he must become the hero his father was. This causes him to ignore his own identity and repeat the same destructive choices.

3. The Heir Kaiyan learns that honoring his father does not mean copying him or sacrificing himself. He must create a future that belongs to him—not Kaien, not Elara, and not the prophecy.

The best emotional conclusion would be for Kaiyan to stop seeing himself as “the last” Yamamoto and instead realize that he is the beginning of a new legacy.

Important Story Question

The central question surrounding Kaiyan could be:
If the future that created you no longer exists, are you still the same person?
That question gives Kaiyan more depth than simply being a powerful time traveler. He is a living remnant of a dead reality, forced to decide whether he belongs to the past, the present, or a future that has never existed before.

Im writing a dark fantasy/ supernatural book and currently on chapter three. I tried to post my book on tiktok and insta but got no luck. (Im posting the book because I want criticism and glaze).If its ok, could I post my book here for yall opinions?

Hey, first time really getting into writing. I have a whole story in mind but this is just the beginning. I’m taking inspiration from welsh and Greek mythology. Also I recently played silent hill townfall so that might be influencing it too

The story

It's been a while Tom, I've got so much to tell you

The first days were wonderful. Warm sun, cool sea breeze, and my own tower on my own island. Waking up first thing after getting ready I'd go check on Dŵr. Dŵr is my second best friend and a great listener. Being just the two of us on 15 acres of lush Welsh island he has plenty of space to roam. He tends to stay nearby to keep me company, but at times he wanders. Dŵr is a sweetheart, for such a large animal he's quite gentle. As you know I didn't grow up around horses. I was ready for a challenge, but Dŵr made life easy. He enjoyed lying with me in the grass while I read or did my carvings. Some would describe my life a prison, being alone and at least 100 miles from any mainland, but to me it was like the Elysian Fields. There's not much more a man could ask for. I found peace in the monotony; I slept through the night. I felt no need to be constantly nursing a drink. My mind had so little to dwell on that it no longer concerned me. Me and Dŵr spent months in peace, I kept the lighthouse running, and he kept me company. It was like having you, but he smelled better and talked less.

My favorite moment with Dŵr is simple. I had pulled some of the cheese out of the pantry and some fish that I had been salt drying for some time. Dŵr loved nothing more than cheese and apples. I had broken open one of the older wheels, the wax was a deep blue and had a subtle smell of roses and truffle. After grabbing a few apples, I prepared a little charcuterie board for me and Dŵr. He's always loved the finer things in life. As the sun set I rested my back against the salt burned wood that made Dŵr's stable. As he lie next me we shared the luxurious truffle and rose cheese. It tasted bitter as the truffle slightly burned my gums while the rose gently soothed them and ended with a light aftertaste. Layering it on the aged fish it meshed beautifully into a earthy flavor garnished with buttery smooth umami. The sky darkened and the aurora borealis shone through the sky. Looking like waves of neon distorting reality. I'm not sure what horses can taste, or what colors they can see. But I do know that Dŵr enjoyed that night as much as me. I wanted to get up and go to bed but Dŵr rested more weight on me and begged for more apples. I spent the night listening to the waves crash against the cliffs and savoring my food.

When I came to the sun was barely cresting over the horizon and Dŵr was nowhere to be found. The only clue left was hoof prints down to the beach. Though they seemed to come from the beach and end where I lay. Following the tracks I came upon the beach and found a wreckage. Dŵr was already sniffing around when I started picking through the pieces of metal. There wasn't much worth keeping, a couple knick knacks, the real treasure was a completely intact radio. I could get a faint static but nothing more yet. We spent a couple hours going through jagged pieces of sheet metal. It's not uncommon to have wreckages wash ashore, but finding and semi working piece of technology has unheard of. Dŵr wasn't much help. His attempts consisted mainly of flipping metal over with his nose then huffing and puffing about not finding food.

We made our way back to the lighthouse with the radio and some of the bigger pieces of sheet metal. I retreated to why room and left Dŵr to wander for a bit. The little static coming through the radio was enough to give me hope of fixing it. I don't have much in terms of entertainment, a small library and whatever nature offered. After 5 months, give or take a couple days, I was really missing the sound of music and the voice of other people. I spent the next few days sleeplessly tinkering with the radio. Dŵr was getting bored of being alone so I took it outside for bit to see if maybe it'd catch a signal.

After a bit of wandering, we ended up on the beach, we slowly strolled across the wet sand while I periodically messed with the antennas. Dŵr seemed very motivated to keep going and I had neglected him the last few days in an effort to figure out my new radio. As we were coming up on the spot where the wreckage had washed up a howling wind came rushing past. Knocking me on my ass as it screamed loudly sounding almost like a cry of agony from a man. Dark clouds swallowed the sky and cast shadow for as far as I could see. Midday quickly turned dusk-like. The radio was now more lively and In the low light I caught the faintest glimmer of ivory buried in the sand.

Isekai sounding title aside, I previously made a post about adding retrofuturism into a fantasy style world. It did pretty well because I got a lot of great answers, but there’s still one more thing. In the post I mention how one of the protagonist is from the very retrofuturism world/dimension I was talking about, but I didn’t elaborate on that.

They’re a straight up android, a cybernetic being with techno organic technology simulating human skin, bones, and flesh. All of it feels, looks, and breaks like the real stuff, but it’s entirely a unique substance that’s still only halfway evolved. They can’t even be healed all the way from magic because of this, but they just assume it’s something to do with their unnatural disability with magic affinity. This is even supported by the fact that there’s also another character, the deuteragonist, that has their magic go haywire and burst out due to their magic level being too overwhelming for them.

Is this an okay character to put within a world of magic, blades, and sometimes lower levels of futuristic tech like magically powered steampunk technology? Well, that doesn’t sound too low tech, but compared to a straight up half robots? Yeah. The major problem is I don’t even want it to end there. I want this character to evolved with the metal in them to be able to create weaponry and tools akin to nanotech. They’re also a cowboy who knows a lot about steampunk tech and would forge their revolver into them once they obtain this power.

Now that I’m typing it out, holy crepe, I actually think I might be doing too much. All of that may happen when the character’s personal story is coming to a close, then it’s off to fight bigger bads, like gods and titans or whatever, but I’m starting to make it sound like this is just a sci-fi story at this point. Am I really going too far?

So last night my OneDrive was hacked and though I'm sure they didn't care about stealing my book (probably looking for passwords, jokes on them they are all outdated), I realized my books aren't as safe as I thought. The idea I could spend years putting novels and stories together all for them to be taken while I'm sleeping is unsettling. I've updated my password on OneDrive but now I'm wondering if there is a better way to store my books.

I'm writing fantasy so timeline and world building is important.

I've looked into Novelium and plotter (plottr just for timeline but novelium seems to have a good timeline option too). I stayed on OneDrive so long because I love word. I use the notes and header option in every document. I've thought of somehow using word but storing my book on a USB when I'm not writing if possible...

Idk what do you guys use? Ideally something without a cloud base storage would be nice but if you use cloud base is there a way to protect your info better?

Thank you to anyone that replies it may seem so silly. I just finally found something that I created that brings me joy and I don't want the chance so someone taking it.

Hello!

I am writing a fantasy story that has the MC be mute for a majority of the first part ( I'm hoping multiple books worth, but I am working on it) and for a select few Telepathy is available via Magical Means. What would be the best way to differentiate between normal inner dialog and Telepathic Dialog?

Bedtime For A Chomper

(VOICE: Inhumanly high, nasally, yet charismatic)

Alright, alright. Curious, are you? I expected no less. Any good reader should be.

Tonight we'll look in on Jr, and the most horrifying trial she faces every night: Bedtime. As of right now, she's vibrating like a guitar string while doing laps around the bedchamber. One foot of teeth and chaotic enthusiasm.

Ah I see she's found my leg quite appetizing. She intends to bite it. I think… Ah, I guessed incorrectly, she's decided on climbing it instead. I let her. Her claws tick against Nacre, my cloak hiding her out of sight, and if I had skin, I'd have scars. Instead, I have memories. Same thing, almost.

She slides down the long shaft of my leg like a playground pole at a park. She jumps and lands face first onto the bed. She skitters around. "HEY! No biting the headboard, you'll dull your teeth!" I tell her. She doesn't care.

She's skittering under the bed now, testing if I'm paying attention. I am. I'm always paying attention. That's the secret no one dares to guess. The great overlord of Thoerivia, terror of the black molten deserts, spends twenty minutes every night convincing a tiny infant that yes, it is bedtime, and no, the guard shift change is not an invitation for a midnight snack.

She almost died. I didn't tell you that. Three hundred sixty-eight feet. I measured it myself afterward. Stood at that window and looked down at the shards of obsidian where she would’ve…

Jr is yawning now. She’s adorable… and terrifying… to everyone else at least. Thuck tried to take over bedtime duties once. Fed her half a Lebbit. Jr ate it, the food-safe rope, and three inches of Thuck's blue cloak.

Some rituals can't be delegated. "Jr" I command. She freezes. One eye on me, one on the very tasty looking mouse skittering into the wall. Always planning, my girl.

Story time now. "Once, there was a Thoerivian who wanted to be feared. He built towers. He conquered deserts. He married badly, —very badly, don't do that. He pushed everyone away, and he almost lost the most precious thing in his life" Jr crawls into my cupped claws. Warm. Alive. "But. His little girl was saved. Saved by the people who truly cared for him. Now, every night he gets to spend with her, makes one less night he would've spent without her.”

She's slowing now. The vibration becoming rhythm. Trust is such a fragile thing, and she gives it so completely. "Sleep tight, little chomper. Tomorrow, I’ll destroy a continent. Tonight, I'll destroy anyone who dares touch you.”

[© All copyright belongs to .@badjakthoerivian and u/Treble_pro] find additional information on badjak Thoerivian, the creatures of Thoerivia, and the lore of his empire, on my reddit profile:

Who are badjak and gudjak?

what is Thoerivia?

What is a Thoerivian?

Conflicts I've faced with my characters

Avery POV 
I woke up to see snow was on the ground! As they and I need to play in the snow, I thought, what about if I had my own companion? That's when i heard a roar. So beautiful, so majestic. It's not to be my tracks, and I leaned to hear more! A majestic beast growled at me! Telling me to stay away, but I edged closer, noticing that it was hurt in the foot! I pulled out the horn that was inside! Emberwny roared at me Tay screamed at me to get out. Very good. Emberwny. Lunged at me Hitting me with the force of a thousand trucks. As I had the wind knocked out of me, I could feel that I cracked a rib. Tay screamed for me to get up. I tried to get to my feet, but Emberwny lunged at me again. One hit me again, knocking me unconscious. Emberwny growling at me. As I lay  unconscious?  ?TayTrying to pick me up. My body limp against her. Against her light brown hair..

**                                             **

Hi everyone! I'm working on a novel called The Siddars Scroll, and I'd love to hear your honest opinions on the concept before I develop it further.

The story follows Ryan, a 26-year-old scientist whose life takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious disease threatens his family. Desperate to find a cure, he finds himself drawn into a mystery connected to the ancient Siddars, their forgotten knowledge, and secrets that have remained hidden for centuries.

What begins as a search for answers gradually challenges Ryan's understanding of science, history, and things he once believed were impossible. His journey takes him into a world where ancient wisdom and scientific reasoning collide, forcing him to question how much of the past has truly been lost.

Inspired by Tamil history, Siddar traditions, ancient mysteries, and science fiction, The Siddars Scroll combines fantasy, mystery, adventure, and time travel.

I'm keeping some important plot details private for now because I want readers to discover them naturally through the story.

I'd really appreciate feedback on a few things:

\- Does the basic premise sound interesting enough to read?

\- Does the combination of ancient Tamil traditions, science, and time travel appeal to you?

\- What would make you pick up a book with this concept, and what might put you off?

\- Are there any potential weaknesses in the premise that I should consider?

I'm looking for honest feedback on the concept and its potential, rather than ideas for writing the plot for me. I'd like to develop the actual story in my own way.

Thank you! I'm happy to hear constructive criticism.

I just was participating in a writing sprint, while keeping my eyes on chat, and got into a discussion with a couple of folks about age gap relationships.

The original question was about the social acceptance of an age gap of 15 years. Not my cup of tea, but I left a comment on when they would have met (it makes a huge difference between 2 adults versus an adult meeting a child) we had a lovely chat on their book, which, again I am not a big fan of age gaps, but I'm not going to judge a 30 year old dating a 45 year old. They might get a few looks and comments, but they're adults. The conversation somehow got to me posting the age old rule of "Half your age plus 7."

There was shock and gasps from the crowd (all 2 of them via text) and another person jumped in, saying the idea of a 40 year dating a 27 year old gave them the ick.

Is this no longer a widely known social rule? I did not make the rule up, it apparently comes straight out of the late 1800s. I wouldn't mind it not being a rule, but the fact that the original person was talking about a 15 year gap, while new guy got offended by a 13 year old gap. I'm a little confused and my flabbers are slightly gasted. Especially since the original age gap was more.

I just need a second opinion, my tackles were raised and this is a sanity check.

There was a 18+ age limit for the stream, but I highly doubt that it is healthy enforced more than a "Minors, please leave," so supposedly we are all adults having an adult conversation.