I’ve been rather serious today beyond the Rainbow Unicorn poem and the further adventures of Nyx. So, I’m going to write about a character who is still looking for a series to call his own.
Years ago, I wanted to make a hero with a disgusting power. I had some trouble figuring this out until a papercut gave me an idea. Blood. A hero who could turn his blood into armor, weapons, and even wings. (Then the video game ‘Prototype’ came out 2 years later and I decided Sony was run by mind-reading bastards.) Anyway, this character became known as Serum and I made it that he doesn’t just lash out with his blood. He needs to actually be cut to get his blood out. So, he would bite his tongue or nick his thumb with his teeth. Other ways were waiting until he got hit and using the blood from the wound to help him turn the tide. This made an odd fighting style where the first move was always to receive a non-lethal blow.
At first, I made him really bizarre with a child-like, friendly personality that made his grotesque power rather disturbing. He was found by a girl in a Mayan temple during a time where powerful villains have taken over the world. His role was to free the humans from the villains after he found his trainers and grew strong enough to handle the big bad guy. I really don’t remember much of this idea and my notes on it are vague, which is why I moved onto the second idea.
An international organization was developed to control and utilize a handful of superhumans who were paired with a human agent. Serum was locked up in a giant safe in the middle of the installation and had a cockier, fun-loving personality. His blood was secretly being used to create the superhumans of the program, which would lead to him turning on the organization. The whole point of Serum was that he was created centuries ago to kill gods. A mortal had figured out how to create a being capable of slaying a god and made one to destroy the Greek Pantheon. This mortal shared his secrets with other cultures until the pantheons of old were decimated and the survivors went into hiding. Serum was made by the Mayans, but their intent was to have a weapon that could destroy the god-killers. They had no reason to overthrow their gods and felt that the god-killers would turn on humanity. At least that was one version because I jumped from Serum being the ultimate god-killer to the undoing of the god-killers to the original god-killer to a failed prototype. I just couldn’t get him down and I confused myself out of the project.
Where am I know with Serum? Well, I combined everything into Windemere, so he can’t be a god-killer. He could feasibly be an immortal slayer from an ancient time or the son of Eryx from Project Phoenix. For a time, Serum had the finale of my Super Earth series where he was born from a character whose left had could turn anything it touches into monsters. She touched the shed blood of a demon before she died, which turned all of the blood shed and absorbed by the Earth into Serum. I’m probably going to keep this origin, but I don’t know what to put him up against. I could give him the post-apocalyptic finale of Project Phoenix, which seems to be the smarter move. It’s really frustrating to have a character that you love and not know where to put him.
Legends of Windemere 
Making these alternate worlds is hard work, isn’t it? You might find a place for Serum yet. I cut characters all the time, and they usually fit somewhere else.
LikeLike
I think Serum is becoming a victim of my own confusion. I used to have multiple worlds with Windemere and Super Earth the two big ones. Serum was on Super Earth, but last summer I decided to merge everything into Windemere. It made the world much bigger and deeper, filling in some of the mysterious that I didn’t have answers too. The downside is that it’s a fantasy world with the beginning of some technology. So, any character that was gun-based had to be heavily altered. Also, it no longer made sense for Serum to go up against the Earth pantheons. I’m sure I’ll figure something out for him since I found a place for everyone else. I mean, I figured out where to put my Homunculus-hunting cowgirl in a world of magic. Blood boy shouldn’t be any harder.
LikeLike
Wow! I was completely sucked in to your descriptions! I love created worlds in my head, but I haven’t even started to write them down. I can literally picture the landscapes, hear the sounds, even smell the scents sometimes…but I’m afraid they will fall flat on paper (does that even make sense? lol). Great post!
LikeLike
Thanks. I use a lot of adjectives in my writing to draw out the world and I describe the area as the the action and conversations happen. So, it’s rather easy to make sure your world doesn’t fall flat on paper. Even if it does in the first draft, you can do an editing run specifically to flush out the setting. A trick I used to do (if it is a trick) is to take some time to head out into the backyard or some nature setting where it’s quiet. Then sit and watch the world while my mind wanders. You pick up on the subtleties of nature that you can put into your story.
LikeLike
That sounds like great advice!!! I’ve got a couple novels that I put on the back burner because of my additions that I’m bringing out again so I think what you just said will help me “flesh” the worlds out 🙂 Thank you
LikeLike
You’re welcome. Can’t wait to see what you come up with. 🙂
LikeLike
If I could get through the Reader I might write one of these days! lol
LikeLike
I have to admit that I’ve been away so long today that I just don’t have it in me to go all the way back. I think I’ll do big checks in the morning to get people who in an opposing timezone, but beyond that, I’ll just hope back 2 hours going by the time clocks.
LikeLike
I like the plan!! 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: Poetry Prompt #7 | We Drink Because We're Poets
I could Imagine the post-apocalyptic theme of protecting the first or last of a kind from dark forces on a journey toward sanctuary. It seems the perfect character to either be the protector or the protected depending on the vision of the character.
LikeLike
I’d have to make it a localized post-apocalyptic region because I can’t do it to my entire world. That would undo everything that my other books have set up and there’s no coming back from that. I’ve always been cautious about post-apocalyptic themes because you can’t reset them. Doing it to one continent and not going overboard could work.
LikeLike
Maybe I need to clarify. I wasn’t referring to setting at all. I recently watched “Children of Men” and thought this character might make a similar thematic plot interesting within the world you already have. Besides using a plot from other genres in another can kick start an idea.
LikeLike
Pingback: Unexpected Inspiration at Its Finest | Legends of Windemere