Ideas are powerful. This is a truth that has never been forgotten; perhaps it is unforgettable. The great forces of nature had tried to obscure this truth, yet the inherited memories of humanity still held to it. And, one day, they manifested this truth back into reality.
It was the day the bombs flew. Humanity had managed to crawl its way near to the middle of the 21st century without stumbling into oblivion, however they had set up the building blocks for their own damnation. Climate breakdown, global inequality, geopolitical tensions. Natural disasters and political horrors increased, friction between the lowest and the highest increased, bloodshed and bullets and then, yes, one day, the bombs.
Humanity had been dreaming of nuclear armageddon for well over a century. The idea had been analysed so often from so many angles, with many near misses throughout that time, that the whole concept had grown somewhat tired. But no one was sleeping once the bombs started to fly. A network of silos, criss-crossing across the globe. The Earth atmosphere was now native to thousands of metal hornets that, when they came to nest, would spell the end of life. Every person in every nation looked up as one, and realised at once: this was the end. Their fate was sealed.
There was not a person alive who was not considering their own mortality in that moment, the fleetingness of life, the random, chaotic nature of death. All of their hopes, dreams, and aspirations that would never be achieved. All of their past exploits, that would never be remembered. Everything that had ever been accomplished, that ever could be accomplished. Everything that lived or was going to live. All of that was to be erased, at once. The Idea of human mortality struck the entire globe, and the collective psychic resonance of ten billion people gripped by collective horror managed to unlock the ancient seals built in the time before history began, and created The Moment.
Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire
The Moment stood on an infinite glass pane, which looked to it like the universe. Below, a flat disc, was Earth. Ten thousand nuclear missiles stood hanging, unmoving, as the world as one held its collective breath. This was the Moment - the Moment everything stopped, everything ended. The Moment mused its own creation.
"
What am I?
" The Moment asked. And when it did; it realised it was not alone.
"Something that should not be," said one being. The Moment perceived it as Order. It was human Order, yes; that of nation states, and laws, and house rules and exams and traffic light systems. But it was also the natural order; death following life, lesser masses giving way to greater gravity, the crashing together of particles that births starlight. "Something that is forbidden."
"A saviour," said another being, Chaos. The random Chaos of life, of anarchy, decay, destruction, chance. But also fundamental chaos, the primordial stew of the universe's macro and micro poles where no law could dictate the outcome of chemical chains. "And something greater. A Concept."
"It is not a Concept," said Order. "The Idea is strong, but the Belief is fleeting. Once this Moment is over, they will lose all their power."
"And yet in this Moment, It has all the power in the world," replied Chaos. "The power to save everything."
"
I cannot stop the warheads
," said the Moment. It could sense its own tremendous power; and yet it had no ability to utilise it. It was paralysed.
"Our kind cannot interact with the physical world," said Order.
"Not unless you choose a human Avatar to bond with," added Chaos. "Then you will have the ability to stop this disaster."
"
How?
"
"An Idea is most powerful when taking actions in accordance with its nature," Order explained. "You can stretch this Moment out - out into infinity - and give humanity time to reverse their mistakes."
"Yes," said Chaos, in a way that almost resembled glee - if a fundamental Concept of the universe be capable of such an emotion. "That is the Seal. Order and his flunkies imposed it on the world millennia ago; it prevents Ideas from manifesting in the real world."
"Chaos and the forces he governs nearly destroyed this world," responded Order. "In order to preserve it, we had to stop humanity from being able to spawn Ideas into existence."
"And your cohort has done so much better," said Chaos, and the attention of the three deities was once again brought down to the planet beneath them on the precipice of global annihilation.
"
So... Order must break the Seal. Then I will bond with a human, and stretch this moment into eternity. What then?
"
"You're not meant to exist," said Chaos. "The ability for a deity to miraculously spawn and stop time - that isn't Orderly. You need me, and what I represent, for such an uncharacteristic event to take place. And I will not assist unless the Seal is broken fully - not just for you. I want all Ideas to return to Earth."
"
You will unleash Avatars onto the planet,
" noted the Moment. "
Ideas will bond with humans and gain abilities, and these abilities will allow them to save their world.
"
"Avatars, and worse things," said Order. "But, unfortunately, there is no other way. Chaos and I will work in tandem, and grant the Moment the ability to stop this disaster. Then, the fate of the world will be decided the old way,. By the ancient powers."
"
Then let us be done with this. I do not care for your petty squabbles. I care only for this Moment. I have been born to give humanity its mortality back. What happens after, is for forces other than I to deal with. Let us begin.
"
Rodney Pickett sat alone in his dishevelled apartment; as always. Not that he saw it as dishevelled. Sure there were some pizza boxes lying about, and empty bottles, and clothes and wrappings and plastics and cardboards and papers and plates and cutlery and decomposing foods and the rest of it. But they weren't intrusive. You could walk about the apartment.
Not that his kids believed that; that's probably why they never came. Now Rodney would never see them again. It had been announced on the news, and not just the lame-stream media perpetuating fake news by the globalists. All of the true media outlets were saying it too. Nukes were in the air. Life was over.
Rodney did not regret his sixty three years of life. He didn't regret his wife divorcing him, or his kids leaving him, or his friends abandoning him in his frantic pursuit for the truth. The only regret he did have was that he never proved his theory. His theory- pah! his fact - that pterodactyls were alive. They were alive and living out in the creaks in Florida. Plenty of UFO sightings were just modern pterodactyls. Rodney always thought he would catch a live specimen one day, but never managed. That was his one regret.
As Rodney looked out the window to watch oblivion - he saw instead salvation. A winged beast flew through his window - quite literally, passing through the glass like a ghost. It was much larger than Rodney and landed on his crusty bed with a grace that could only be mastered by an ancient reptilian flyer.
"I knew it!" Rodney said, sobbing. He had searched for decades. But here, in his final moments, the pterodactyl had come to him.
"Yes Rodney, I'm real," said the pterodactyl, half-real, half-fading. "I'm real and I need you to accept me into your heart of hearts."
"The wokeists were wrong," said Rodney. "And the lie-intists at NASA. You are real."
"Uh," said the pterodactyl. Several seconds passed in silence. "Sure?"
"Oh I know Rodney," whispered the being, which was not a pterodactyl at all but the very remote - yet now utterly tangible - Idea that pterodactyls had lived to the modern day. In the moment after the Moment had paused the nukes - the Idea had soared past one some 200ft out from colliding into New York City's skyscrapers floating in stasis - the Idea had sought out its greatest practitioner. There were a good hundred of so believers; most were mentally fragile which made the easiest Avatars, but many also believed in other conspiracies with a wider conviction. Rodney Pickett on the other hand, he ran the Pterodactyl Sightings website. He was the real deal.
The Idea entered the willing body of Rodney, and the two became one. An Avatar. Rodney felt power flowing through his body; his youth returned to him, he grew taller. A half cape, like pterodactyl wings, fell about his shoulders. The man had achieved his destiny, and knew that God himself had granted him powers as a result. The Idea, meanwhile, had found a pliant servant through which to activate his will.
"
Now Rodney,
" purred the idea in Rodney's head. "
Let's start showing the world just how real pterodactyls are.
"
--------------------
Welcome to The Moment. In this thread, Ideas are living spirits created by human belief. The more people believe them, the more powerful the idea. These Ideas can fuse with humans to become Avatars, granting them powers (usually related to the Idea,) whilst others will choose to influence their followers in other ways.
The thread is set in New York City, in the not-too-distant future. Time has stopped, (watches and clocks don't work, no one needs to eat or drink, nuclear missiles do not land,) and soon humanity will become embroiled in an ancient blood feud between the most powerful of the Ideas led by the opposing forces of Order and Chaos.
An Idea is a thought given consciousness. Their ability to interact with the world and influence it is dependent on how many believers they have. Below is a quick guide.
Thought
A Thought is the lowest form of Idea, usually created by a single person or else a small group. Thoughts are usually not powerful enough to become visible to others, and often disappear from existence altogether after a few days if the Idea doesn't gain traction. They can sometimes speak to their believers, or appear to them, but only ever fleetingly. Imaginary Friends are the most powerful Thoughts, as though only one child believes in them they believe in them quite strongly.
Other Ideas can see Thoughts and interact with them. Demons or greater are also able to invest belief into a Thought and give it substance, should they find a particular Thought interesting or otherwise worthy of life.
Belief
A Belief is more powerful than a Thought, and is usually held by a small community or passed down through families. A Belief takes a viewable form, though it is non-corporeal and cannot touch items. A Belief can also speak to others. A Belief is able to fuse with a willing human and become an Avatar, however if the Avatar is killed the Belief is usually weakened so much that they cannot reform for many years and exist as a Thought.
Beliefs do not have enough followers for them to have a great amount of free-will. A Belief will almost always act in accordance to how they are imagined by their believers, though becoming an Avatar gives them more freedom in that sense.
Daemon
Greater than a Belief is a Daemon. Daemons have a mass following and enough interpretations to gain true free-will and act with some independence from their base Idea. Daemons can cause large illusory projections which they use to encourage their following to grow. They also encourage their followers to act in accordance to their whims and are less likely to become avatars.
Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire
Daemons that become Avatars tend to be very powerful magical users.
Deity
Above a Daemon is a Deity - an Idea with so much power invested in it by its believers that it is able to interact with the physical world without forming an Avatar. Though a Deity in Avatar form is tremendously powerful, their ability to access magic without a human host means Deities rarely form an Avatar bond.
Note: I am unlikely to let folks play as a Deity. I am open to someone playing the human host to a Deity Avatar, if I were the one in control of the Deity itself.
Concept
So rare that even amongst Ideas they are considered mythic, a Concept is an Idea so fundamental to the course of the universe that their power is considered unrivalled. Order and Chaos are prime amongst the Concepts, and have been waging war against each other for millennia.
Avatar
The fusion of human and Idea. When a human becomes an Avatar, their appearance can change quite wildly in accordance with the Idea they are bonding, (though are almost always still recognisably human). The bond gives humans access to magical abilities, usually in keeping with the theme of the Idea, (a human bonded to the idea of Air Travel is likely to be able to fly, for example), but the human is not fully in control of their body.
Ideas tend to pick Avatars whose views align with their own to avoid friction - if a human and Idea disagree on an action then the body becomes inert until a compromise is made. Sometimes the human is more in charge, sometimes the Idea. Ideas in Avatar form gain the power to change the world, and potentially win over more believers to increase their power when not an Avatar, but an Idea that is killed as an Avatar is likely to be severely weakened and may take some time to reform. The killing of an Avatar can also be enough to shake people's belief in an Idea and cause the Idea to lose potency and die out.
Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire
I recommend you start your character in New York City, and assume that for all intents and purposes it looks like current day New York City, outside of the nuclear warhead dangling in the sky above it.
Feel free to join as non bio. If you want a bio, find one below
