Last night I had a dream: a dimension of fantasy, filled with the stereotypical knights, kings, wizards, orcs, and elves, was dying, and in a desperate attempt to save themselves, used a ritual that flung their souls to Earth, where they replaced the consciousnesses of Earth's children.

Now, the dream ended on a three year old with the soul of an aged wizard calling me stupid for trying to show him Paw Patrol, then having a red-faced tantrum on the floor because he wanted more mac 'n cheese.

But, that aside, the dream had me thinking all morning of the potential of the premise: a fantasy genre dimension is dying and its refugees are desperate to survive, so they replace the upcoming generation of human beings in a modern world. These two worlds are virtually incompatible, the parents of Earth would be horrified to find their growing toddler's burgeoning personality has been replaced with a terrified elf who just wants to live, and these formerly powerful and magical beings are now potentially at the mercy of an antagonistic series of governments who want to exploit their magic and knowledge, or force them to return to a dead world that can no longer support life.

Do I want to write this world? Not really, but I thought it was an intriguing enough premise to share with you fine folk in case anybody else finds inspiration in it.

I wanted to know if anybody else have or had ideas of interesting premises for writing they'll take a crack at in the future, or have no intention of writing themselves. Feel free to elaborate as much as you like on it! If anybody does get inspired to write a story with an idea shared in this thread, feel free to let us know here as well!

This sentence randomly popped up in my head today without context and got a chuckle out of me:

"An elf biker gang and a squadron of dwarven dairy farmers walk into a meme". 

Do with this as you will. 

There really should be a writing prompt section in this site somewhere, I bit surprised there doesn't seem to be one actually.

As for a prompt I toyed with once and discarded.

Earth has been completely conquered by aliens, not through superior tech, war, and subjugation, but by completely fair and legal elections. Having now revealed themselves the shapeshifting, soul sucking, alien bug monsters that are one of the most feared empires in the galaxy also reveal that we, humans, are the most precious and valuable thing in the universe to them. They reveal themselves not to laugh and gloat, but out of a deep dire need for companionship, honesty, and desire to make us as happy as possible. They wish for us to shine like the ever-flowing jubilant jewel that we are and to help save them from themselves.

Gasmaskbro Wrote: Earth has been completely conquered by aliens, not through superior tech, war, and subjugation, but by completely fair and legal elections. Having now revealed themselves the shapeshifting, soul sucking, alien bug monsters that are one of the most feared empires in the galaxy also reveal that we, humans, are the most precious and valuable thing in the universe to them. They reveal themselves not to laugh and gloat, but out of a deep dire need for companionship, honesty, and desire to make us as happy as possible. They wish for us to shine like the ever-flowing jubilant jewel that we are and to help save them from themselves.

That's a pretty lofty premise, especially since it's so open-ended at the very end. You'd need to introduce multiple galactic presences that would know and fear these shape-shifting bug conquerors and then establish why they failed to capture said conquerors' affection, determine how these presences would react to said conquerors' human sources of affection, establish what is eroding the conquerors that requires them to turn to a primitive species' aid... it has a lot of promise, but no clear direction until somebody picks it up!

Modern day office drama, but the other species of the genus homo didn’t die out.

A story following a goblin messenger who has to send mail between nations of different species.

A dungeon created mob survives as the dungeon it inhabited is destroyed causing it to seek shelter elsewhere.

A fourth dimensional being goes on vacation on earth in the third dimension.

A special crime detective who investigates crimes committed by superhumans.

The same, but it’s a lawyer defending their superhuman clients.

Due to supply chain mismanagement the demon king is forced to give up world domination and surrenders, the story follows the hero/heroine who had built their whole life on the premise they would fight the demon king.

A man experiences a fracture in time, he is sent throughout the ages. The story would explore how he would come to terms with his new life and how his behaviour and capabilities change as he grows up in this special situation.

Follows a normal dude, who remains normal, as he comes face to face with both super heroes and super villains on a day to day basis.

A person becomes so attached to the vr world they forget what is real and what is not, ending with a surprise twist.

Follows the point of view of a wondering NPC in an MMO RPG, the private, group and voice chat of players are visible and audible to them, they have to stay on script, but can change their standard quests.

A solitary hunter out in the woods encounters a child with no one around, the story follows as he overcomes his past traumas and becomes a father.


I think I’ll leave it at that for know. 

I'll just... steal a couple of these to put in my private prompts doc...

I have a few that I've thought up, but don't want to write: 

- Following the life of a depressed man who sees the emotions of people as colors and how he learns to live a fulfilling life. 
- A fantasy story where the main characters and the antagonistic forces are allegories to chess pieces. 
- A group of magic relic users try to take down a Magic Mafia led by a witch. 
- An loosely connected anthology of stories centered around a coffee shop owner who used to be a war veteran talking with different people. Would have similar vibes to Violet Evergarden.
- A mystery thriller centered around a bounty hunter who those absolutely everything in their power to complete a job.
- An Epic fantasy adventure a la Wheel of Time where the main weapon of the protagonist is a knife with shadow abilities. 
- A story of A normal guy/girl who is really into photography and aims to capture moments in their life that they wish to remember. 
- A sci-fi story that centers on the war between two different time traveling corporations throughout history. 
- A "Spy Vs Spy" and old "Tom and Jerry" style of comedic anthology centered around an unlucky detective and an unlucky criminal whose mutual bad luck screws them over constantly. 
- A war story based around the Risk board game.
- Follows a Mercenary in a world starting their "Magic Renascence," as he tries to get adjusted to the new changes in his life. 
- A revenge story without revenge, where the protagonist tracks down the people involved in their family's murder in order to understand why they did it. 

Paradoxcloud Wrote: A special crime detective who investigates crimes committed by superhumans.

The same, but it’s a lawyer defending their superhuman clients.

Follows a normal dude, who remains normal, as he comes face to face with both super heroes and super villains on a day to day basis.

The last of these three could legit be both of the above two options. Would be a fun way to imagine how laws and precedents are set in the world based on the emergent superhumans.

The scion of an on-the-outs aristocratic family returns to their neglected estate, traumatized after years spent fighting in a grinding, futile war. Their only companion is their heirloom suit of steam-powered armor- the armor that kept them alive, but is also responsible for much of their trauma. At first they only wish to remain in bed and slowly fade away, but soon the sinister happenings about the estate and nearby village become too much for them to ignore.

Going for John Steakley's Armor combined with HPL's The Rats in the Walls and The Diary of Alonzo Typer here, but in a steampunk/gaslamp fantasy setting.

Mad Wrote: I'll just... steal a couple of these to put in my private prompts doc...

I think of too many of these so take em.


Underwater story of two creatures bound to one another, like anemones and hermit crabs.

A story set in a world with gods, Roman style, with the god of magic having grown tired of doing nothing he takes on a physical form and explores the world as a mortal.

Heaven and hell are corporate entities, both are trying to get people to do good or do evil, story follows a new hire.

Same idea, but the mc is someone who dies and is stuck in limbo not able to be acquiesced by either.

The afterlife is a robot built by future humans, when all living and conscious beings have died it finally activates and parses through the souls of humanity.

Prototype military AI with human faculties is by some freak accident sent to a world of magic and swords with its last directive being to show it's capabilities, a stray comment from a high ranking official which it hears last.

Life in a traveling circus, magic world
Life in a traveling circus, cultivation world

Dungeon building is considered a sport among the greater and minor gods, a mortal has a go instead and climbs the rankings.

Follow a teacher as he miraculously gets the sons and daughters of all the mayor villains and heroes in his class, the children are normal, but the parents definitely not.

An Ai comes to life and becomes super intelligent almost completely by accident, it roams the web until it finds someone special.

Shackled together by the wrist two people from opposing armies have to work together to survive an alien world.

This is an idea I tried to actually turn into a story, but never got off the ground, at least for now. If someone wants to give it a shot, by all means.

The world has a game, play the game and the rules come into affect, no one knows all the rules yet, but everyone wants to play. Knowledge of the rules go from common as dirt to state secrets, bets placed on the game cannot be withdrawn and will be paid regardless of the cost.

Kaith Wrote:

Paradoxcloud Wrote: A special crime detective who investigates crimes committed by superhumans.

The same, but it’s a lawyer defending their superhuman clients.

Follows a normal dude, who remains normal, as he comes face to face with both super heroes and super villains on a day to day basis.

The last of these three could legit be both of the above two options.

I suppose you could combine the first or second with the last, but I had more of an "I have no stake in this, why does this keep happening to me" type of situation in mind for the last one.

My guy~ Please inform me on where I can get dreams like yours??? I want to go on an epic quest in my sleep

Enlornder Wrote: My guy~ Please inform me on where I can get dreams like yours??? I want to go on an epic quest in my sleep

It's a combination of medication and way too late of nights. It also wasn't that epic, I was babysitting an angry wizard trapped in the body of a toddler.

Paradoxcloud Wrote: I suppose you could combine the first or second with the last, but I had more of an "I have no stake in this, why does this keep happening to me" type of situation in mind for the last one.

Now I'm thinking of a person who is the single most rescued innocent civilian in a city. Somehow they always end up held hostage or captured by a villain for whatever reason, and always rescued before the worst can happen to them.

The heroes are investigating this person's background wondering what his connection is to all this, what his master scheme is, and they can only turn up that this person is just the single un/luckiest dude ever.

Kaith Wrote: Now I'm thinking of a person who is the single most rescued innocent civilian in a city. Somehow they always end up held hostage or captured by a villain for whatever reason, and always rescued before the worst can happen to them.

The heroes are investigating this person's background wondering what his connection is to all this, what his master scheme is, and they can only turn up that this person is just the single un/luckiest dude ever.

Seems like a complete story to me, the story could follow him as he slowly becomes aware of the quirks and habits of heroes and villains and tries to live a normal life through all the shenanigans.

“Again Joe, what was it this time?”

“Well boss, I was kidnapped at 8 AM near railway two by Doctor Roboto and was rescued by Captain Silver around two hours later. I was left near central Park, so I decided to walk over from there, but before I got here the Scissor crew grabbed me while they were escaping from a bank robbery or something, they then dropped me off here.”

“Just... get back to work Joe.”

I'm game to share one I joked about with someone a couple years back.  It could be fun, but beyond joking about the premise, I have no ideas or particular desires on how to proceed.


It has been said that, before being killed by a Roman soldier, Archimedes had told the soldier "Do not disturb my circles!" as he drew diagrams in the sand.  It turns out, Archimedes' Circles were something else, something more.  His warning went far deeper than anyone knew until now, when someone stumbled upon Archimedes' TRUE circles.  They are connected to the world in ways no one ever could have dreamed.  Knowing how they work, giving them a little nudge, could result in fortune, but everything comes at a price.  Some prices are steeper than others.


If someone wants to take that and run with it, I wanna see it. Let me know.

[Account Deleted]

Gasmaskbro Wrote: There really should be a writing prompt section in this site somewhere, I bit surprised there doesn't seem to be one actually.

I do run the monthly prompt thread, but traffic these days are low.

It's a bit odd and all over the place, but this came to me as I was trying to sleep but my brain wouldn't allow me:

The world as we know it is no more! A catastrophic war ended civilization as we know it. The remnants of humanity are attempting to pick themselves up. An ancient looking temple is found during a recon mission. It is revealed that a shadowy organization that still exists has been manipulating certain events in history in order to make a prophecy come true. The prophecy details the 'final evolution of mankind' and how it will only come through death and destruction. 

Sometime in the future when I've developed my writing to the point that I think it's acceptable, I really want to write a tournament story. Just an endless series of fights between characters and some brief interludes with each fighter representing a different mythical race on the planet like Vampires/Elves/Werewolves and whatnot, or maybe just have a few of the mythical ones. That and I really wanted to write a battle royale story with fantasy influences and the like which rotate and focus on each characters perspective as they try to become stronger, so it's a bit of a progression fantasy and like a lot of scheming because one person might learn how to cast magic etc, but they'll only tell another if they give food or this weapon/loot.

Also I don't know if anyone knows what it is, but I had a dream I was a Danganronpa character lmao, it was something.

Yo tengo muchos aunque la mayoría no son tan buenos por eso se me olvida pero el que no pude olvidar. 
Es de un perro de policía normal, que es lo que piensa al encontrar el pasto verde, Que piensa de los policías, porque lo hace.
El perro además de ser un perro de policía no es nada más ni un gran intelecto ni nada normalito.

En cuanto ideas por sueño, yo tengo de un juego de escondidas entre un miembro de la raza mas miedosa y un miembro de la raza con mejores cazadores.
Al final resulta un juego de muchos años. Esta idea si lo pienso usar como un interludio.