General themes
A brief review of 'notes' that I hope to hit with each story:
Lost in the Woods:
"I wish that I had cherished you more, when you were still here" [Jehann and Mateel reflect on arguments and disagreements they used to have, not knowing if they will survive to see each other again]
Hopefulness vs despair.
Crooked Wings:
"If not us, then who?" [Veezal, Kaiyara, Zelrik, and Tawnette have to take care of each other because nobody else will. This leads to them developing empathy for helping others outside their Found Family]
Satire; Muppet-esque chaos.
Falling Nest:
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend... for now" [A great evil can make for strange bedfellows. But what lies next?]
Plots within plots. Possibly done with great satire.
Here and Now:
"I still believe in you"
Redemption; self-love
Chaos and Silence:
"They ignored him, because he was a problem for tomorrow. Now tomorrow is today, and we must pay for their choices"
Environmentalism(?)
QUICK OVERVIEW OF DESIGN STORY QUESTIONS:
Lost in the Woods:
Do we want Mateel's rescue attempt to be a (relatively) solo endeavor, or not?
If yes...
If no...
If it's not a solo endeavor, how dysfunctional are the factions?
The more dysfunctional they are...
The less dysfunctional they are...
Crooked Wings:
lol idk where to even start
Falling Nest:
what timespan of the Russian Revolution of 1917 (or of 1904) is being mirrored?
Here and Now:
How did Rahil hear of Ravawk's fate?
How do the protagonists gather?
Chaos and Silence:
How many characters do we want attempting to stop Jelvan?
The bigger the number...
The smaller the number...
Themes that show up in multiple or all of the works:
STATEMENTS/ARGUMENTS:
-environmentalism is important
Second chances are good
not everyone makes the best use of second chances
Monsters are made, not born
with a few possible counterexamples?
'Might makes right' is a principle that results from scarce resources and a lack of accountability
How do people act when their accountability changes?
PPL DONT THINK RATIONALLY
Anxieties don't always make sense? Why are people anxious of some things?
Fear vs rational concern?
QUESTIONS:
-the real enemy isn't some individual person as much as it is INSTITUTIONAL ROT?
-what forms of indirect and direct violence(if this is the right word) should a group permit, and to what extent?
-what freedoms trample on what other freedoms?
Themes emphasized for Crooked Wings
Themes emphasized for Lost in the Woods
Themes emphasized for Fallen Nest