And so it seems that more things have been salvaged from the Fragments pile.
Working Title: Storm Clouds Rise
Genre: Fantasy
Protagonist: Thunder, a woman in her twenties appearance-wise, with deep blue, cat-like eyes and straight, platinum blonde hair that reaches to the middle of her thighs. Like the other Clouds, her skin is white to an albinic level. She's very tall and large enough to fill out her frame, but she's not particularly busty. Rather mischievous, she'll happily abuse her powers for amusement, but others can keep her in line with a little convincing.
Other Main Characters: Lightning, Thunder's older sister. She's even taller than Thunder, although her hair is shoulder-length and rather staticky. Her eyes are a pale green, and she's very slender. Quite competitive and somewhat of a braggart, she enjoys any and all things that boost her self-esteem, although she's not strictly narcissistic and can take some criticism without blowing [anything else] up.
Rain, a younger-looking Cloud with dark hair kept in a low ponytail. Her eyes are a very bright blue, and she's usually rather expressionless. She's softhearted but rather weak unless provoked.
Antagonist: Onyekachi, a young man furiously dedicated to protecting his clan. He cares little for those who threaten his kin or could be outright used to protect them.
Setting: Something akin to 1600s Africa.
Plot: Onyekachi and others have grown tired of playing to the Clouds' whims to get the rainfall they need to survive. While a few overwhelming losses of battles have been fought before, Onyekachi decides that the recent import of guns may tip the tides in his favour. With their help, he seeks to enslave the Clouds and help his homeland stay quenched and fed.
Point of View: Third-person, limited to Thunder.
This is a really interesting concept; I love the idea of the personified clouds and especially the unique time period (I can't think of a single other thing set in 1600s Africa.)
ReplyDeleteTwo things you may want to think about: first of all, Onyekachi might be a little /too/ sympathetic of an antagonist (unless he's supposed to be, in which case go right ahead). Especially knowing how badly the African peoples will be oppressed within the next couple hundred of years, having the audience be opposed to this tribe just getting enough water seems a little callous. It's probably not your intention, so maybe you could do something to make Onyekachi more overtly villainous? (Again, if he's not supposed to be a 'hero antagonist.')
Also, I know from Tumblr that a lot of people on the internet can get quite worked up over how people of a certain race are portrayed - for example, I've seen some humanized!Lion King character fanarts get a lot of hate because they made the characters white. Since these Clouds are African, maybe you should make them dark-skinned and haired? I personally don't think it's that big a deal; they are supposed to embody white, fluffy objects, of course, but I wouldn't want you to get flamed by anybody.
I don't know; in general, he's a good guy, it's just his ruthlessness that makes him an antagonist.
DeleteOh, whatever I do will be called racist by somebody. And probably sexist, and anti-non-Christian, and anything else. That doesn't mean I *should* actually write that type of thing, but everyone's sensitive to everything these days.
And the Clouds are not really African, per se; they run around the world, and they probably have their own origin story. Thanks for the concern, though.