Unwritten Imaginings: Recent Episodes
Aetheo and Unice5656
Aetheo and Unice5656 (with the occasional guest) talk about story, worldbuilding, character, and plot ideas to lay out the bones of a story, once a week.
Aetheo introduces the idea of a psychic private detective who can read emotionally charged conversations imprinted on objects by touching them. What starts out as a housewife's suspicion her husband is cheating on her quickly escalates into uncovering a drug cartel manufacturing psychic boosters - made of other psychics' brains. Aetheo and Unice5656 discuss prion disease and argue about the nature of bigotry.
Guest Elliot Staude introduces the idea of a world where people's emotions manifest as physical charms that can be stolen, destroyed, and transferred to others, which evolves into the story of an emotional crimes detective uncovering an insidious criminal organization whose manipulation of world powers and average citizens alike is pervasive to a terrifying extent. Special Guest: Elliott Staude.
Unice5656 introduces the idea of a magitech mercantile society where leaders regularly disguise themselves and pose as entry-level employees of their commercial empires in order to uncover problems and scout talent, which cascades into a world of corporate espionage and incipient rebellion.
Aetheo introduces the idea of a used-to-be artist who is kidnapped by elder beings to create art and Unice5656 goes on various tangents involving the principles of negotiating with kidnappers and the scariness of centipedes, among other things.
Unice5656 introduces the idea of a half organic medic robot put in charge of taking care of a crew navigating the dangers of a newly discovered planet, then spends the rest of the episode relating too much with robots rather than going into plot details.
Aetheo introduces the idea of a classic team sport underdog plot with a magical twist, producing a hybrid of ball sports and combat in a 3D field. Throw in a cast of characters with interesting personalities and no teamwork whatsoever, make them a team, and watch them reach for the top (but get second place because the world is a harsh place).
Unice5656 introduces the idea of two very powerful mages waking up one day with their unique - and very different - magics swapped, and having to deal with controlling an entirely new set of powers while fulfilling the other person's governmental responsibilities and trying to figure out how to switch back.
In this writing rehash of the Heralds of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey, Unice5656 attempts to introduce the idea of cool magical horses while Aetheo points out all the dystopian elements of the original story's system of governance and they end up with a story of creepy magical happy-land where magical horses subtly influence everyone to feel unnaturally positive about their country, and a main character who breaks through the rose tint.
Playing off a Unice5656's previous comment of wanting to have her consciousness uploaded into the computer world, our hosts design a virtual world created by a genius eccentric who gently guides humanity away from dystopia, watched over by a Caretaker who holds the reset switch to the entire world, and has been designed to be trusted with it. Only, a personality-altering virus has been running amok, and if the Caretaker is affected, humanity is doomed. Aetheo and Unice5656 go on a lot of philosophical/psychological tangents about the consequences of immortality and the disappearance of many limits in a virtual world.
Unice5656 uses a random word generator to form the basis of a sci-fi story about genetically modified acidic rabbits accidentally released into the wild of a newly terraformed planet and the race to prevent worldwide ecological collapse.
Aetheo introduces the idea of spontaneously generated not-Pokemon that can mix mysteriously in magical inventories to create new species. An eccentric scientist accidentally creates a creature that acts as a cosmetic fountain of youth, then has to rally their collection of unusual creature friends to defend against the unscrupulous corporation that comes to acquire the obvious money-maker. Unice and Aetheo argue about Pokemon for a while.
Unice5656 introduces the idea of an afterlife soul-laundering business which evolves into a comedic horror that alternates between a workplace comedy following the trials and tribulations of a team given unrealistic targets by Management and the hellish experiences of the souls undergoing stain removal.
Aetheo introduces the idea of a Journey to the West-style travel story which evolves into the story of the delivery of a mysterious box containing a mysterious creature across the land, with fun biology learning snuck in. Unice makes an unwise Google search.
Unice5656 introduces the idea of an atheist vampire hunter who can repel vampires through the power of self-confidence, which expands into a world where the placebo effect works so well it can be classified as magic.
In this writing rehash of John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series, unice5656 and Aetheo take the idea of a legendary order of rangers and expand it to a kingdom where 60-70% of the population belong to a secret society with highly specialized skills, all except one being completely unaware of the other orders. They must band together to defeat the ultimate evil: pyramid schemes.
Aetheo brings the idea of an urban fantasy world where the magic that keeps supernatural incidents hidden has failed and the Powers that Be have decided it's time to reveal their existence to the mundane world. Introducing the main character, an overworked elf with the worst PR job in the history of the world.Aetheo brings the idea of an urban fantasy world where the magic that keeps supernatural incidents hidden has failed and the Powers that Be have decided it's time to reveal their existence to the mundane world. Introducing the main character, an overworked elf with the worst PR job in the history of the world.
Unice5656 starts off a story where an unsuspecting human picks up an egg and hatches it. The resulting magical duck pulls the main character into a world of elemental creatures, where suddenly the elves' respect for nature makes a lot more sense.
Aetheo introduces a strange magic system where people send copies of their mind off on nonphysical Trials, during which they gain magic powers. The catch? Those copies are unable to return to their original body and must instead make deals to trade with others, taking residence in a stranger to provide them with magic. Unice5656 and Aetheo spend most of the episode arguing over who would make good characters in this scenario.
Unice5656 introduces the idea of a contemporary romance based on the "36 questions" romance experiment in which a dating site promises to help its users find true love as long as they follow its dating prompts. The algorithm then evolves into a slightly creepy but benevolent AI masterminding a classic romance novel plot
Aetheo introduces the idea of magical beasts that can form contracts with people to share powers in exchange for varying perks, which turns into the story of a bard dragon picking a likely-looking individual and transforming them into a legendary hero.
Unice5656 introduces the idea of a virtual reality MMORPG designed to encourage studying, where your avatar's stats are based on your grades in different subjects. With exams for all classes being open to all students regardless of year and extra-curricular assignments being exchangeable for equipment, the game developers must scramble to deal with the myriad ways clever high school students are constantly breaking the system. Unice5656 and Aetheo reminisce a lot about their high school experiences.
In this writing rehash, Unice5656 describes Sharon Shinn's Samaria series where bioengineered winged people sing prayers to a spaceship to calm violent weather patterns while Aetheo complains a lot.
Aetheo and Unice5656 vehemently deny being vampires prior to talking about Aetheo's idea of magical books that are inherited based on who has specific traits rather than blood and created when someone discovers a new branch of magic. When a trainee in a magic House accidentally creates a new book and an unknown outsider inherits the House, the two must team up to survive against threats inside and out. Hilarity ensues.
Unice5656 introduces the idea of a doctor crash landing in the harsh environment of the Sea of Sand, where they save the life of an injured ranger. What the doctor was not expecting was the ranger suddenly pledging their life and loyalty to the doctor under the concept of "life debt" in a humorous clash of culture.
Going basic, Aetheo proposes a contemporary romance between a stuttering singer and a gruff-but-secretly-fluffy audio engineer while Unice5656 throws in all the tropes and talks about how cute members of the weasel family are.
Unice5656 proposes a world where food can provide powerful boosts and even magical abilities for a short duration, and gourmet chefs are to be feared.
In our first returning guest episode, sunflowerofice introduces the idea of an alien race that seeds Earth and other planets with superpowers and then kidnaps the most powerful individuals to fight in gladatorial combat where matches are to the death, but death is by no means permanent. On comes along an intrepid, orphan-collecting hero who climbs the ranks through the literal power of friendship Special Guest: sunflower of ice.
In a rehash of Meg Cabot's Mediator series, a medium who specializes in forcefully exorcising lingering ghosts comes across a cute child ghost and embarks on a journey to uncover the negligence of a prominent charitable organization. Unice5656 goes on a tangent about how she literally wants to become the family jewels.
In this parody/rehash of the typical romance reincarnation story in webnovels and webcomics, Unice5656 and Aetheo create a massive open-world game with almost unlimited romantic plotlines to play through. Enter the MC, an average person who has only heard of the game in passing, but is reincarnated into the world of the game as "the" main character, while a super fan becomes a supporting character. Hilarious shenanigans occur while trying to clear the game and get back home.
Aetheo introduces the idea of a galactic moving company that specializes in shifting planetary orbits. A hapless engineer gets caught up in technical and political issues when the richest organization in the universe hires them to perform the first move of a planet between solar systems.
Unice5656 proposes the idea of a world where the apex predators are tiny, cute balls of concentrated magical energy and builds a coherent ecosystem around them. Humans are sprinkled in for comedic effect.
Aetheo introduces the idea of a romance that takes place through the exchange of terrible poetry left in a hidden nook. Unice5656 says "I can't" a lot while attempting to keep the story from diving off the edge of sanity into corny nonsense.
Unice5656 subverts the trope of the saintly healer with the story of a life mage who concocts a world-ending plague and a death mage who must stop them. Many minutes are spent pointing out how easy it would be to kill someone with healing magic.
Aetheo introduces the idea of a world of magic devices created from human suffering and sold by a witch syndicate with questionable morals. Their magical monopoly is challenged by a idealistic genius who must navigate the world of cutthroat business practices to bring an eco-friendly and ethical version of the product to market. Warning: makes references to torture
Guest Sir Nil brings the idea of a main character whose job it is to play and review all the MMORPGs based on the most popular fictional RPGs in webfiction. Several layers of meta-humour evolve as the story becomes a roast of the genre while the MC deals with all the trials and tribulations of unexpected Internet success and running a business Special Guest: Sir Nil.
Unice5656 brings up the concept of a society where fighting prowess and destructive ability is looked down upon, which evolves into a world where a small island country has access to psychological magic that can suppress violent urges. The rest of the world's solution? Snipers. Unice5656 goes on a tangent about the medical ethics of dating patients.
Aetheo introduces the idea of small planets that regularly collide to crack and spill valuable resources. Only, the supply of planets appears to be dwindling, and it's up to an eccentric researcher (and the sudden horde of grad students they've been assigned) to find where they come from and fix the problem.
In this writing rehash, Aetheo and unice5656 take the ambient magic from Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic series and create the story of a racecar driver and sky diver who must risk their lives to save the world (or at least a continent) from a deadly pandemic.
Guest K.G. Hood introduces a down-to-earth mechanic who gets kidnapped by a group of intergalactic Robin Hoods who have stolen some expensive and highly volatile materials from a criminal syndicate. He must keep the rust bucket they are flying in from exploding while avoiding being shot, all the while helping the intergalactic IRS make sure everyone pays their fair share of taxes. Special Guest: K.G. Hood.
Unice5656 introduces the idea of a main character who has fun adventures in lucid dreaming - then abruptly gets summoned to an alternate dimension where they've become a hero in the war against Dream Eaters, monsters that can destroy people's ability to sleep. The only problem is, when awake, our hero has none of their hero powers.
Aetheo introduces the idea of looped time travel and Unice5656 spends the episode hating everything about time travel plots. Answers the question, How many times can you say "loop" in one episode?
Unice5656 describes a magic system where anyone can become immortal... for a price. Dive into a world of reclusive golems, selfish healers, and soulless undead, where power and sacrifice go hand in hand (and Unice manages to avoid going into romance for a whole episode).
Guest Bebit brings the premise of a world of evil moon gods who grant banes and boons, one of which being mind-controlling zombie seeds. Interesting discussions are had on the technical aspects of creating and portraying horror, and Unice5656 reveals how creepy her own writing is. Special Guest: Bebit.
Aetheo introduces the idea of a world where new fantasy races are regularly introduced to the world every thousand years or so, which evolves into a rebellion against the gods coordinated by a talented administrator. Many tangents along the way explore important questions such as, "What is the correct plural of 'octopus'?"
unice5656 proposes the idea of a contrary type of magic that accrues around individuals who want it the least, which devolves into the story of a cult getting on the wrong side of an orphan-collecting hermit.
Guest sunflower of ice introduces the idea of a trendy overnight diner that promises excellent cuisine that won't burn a hole in your wallet; all they ask is for a small blood donation. Dive into a world of ancient vampires, artisanal blood products, and a confused phlebotomist who's wondering why the chef is asking for such frequent taste testing. Special Guest: sunflower of ice.
Aetheo brings the idea of rogue figures of speech gone literal, which somehow turns into the creation of a coed magical group fighting to save the English language from losing its literary devices while throwing pun-ches and wielding pens.
Unice5656 describes her idea for a pair of twins with truth-seeking sight, one for positive aspects and one for negative; she and Aetheo develop it into a political romance while going on minor tangents into psychology
Guest GuardlyGuard introduces the idea of a set of tales that satirizes the LitRPG genre and unice5656 and Aetheo help out with creating a set of nine stories that span the spectrum from edgy to melodramatic to fluffy in a fun romp full of silly ideas and laughter Special Guest: GuardlyGuard.
In this episode, Aetheo introduces the idea of a pantheon of gods who grant humans powers in order to influence the earthly realm (with a variety of motivations), and a would-be hero who didn't do their homework and made a pact with a chaos god
Unice5656 introduces the idea of a bored god who makes people immortal if they seem like they will be interesting and then argues with Aetheo for the rest of the episode regarding what constitutes an interesting person, with a dash of story-building in between tangents
unice5656 and Aetheo discuss Aetheo's idea for a universe populated by clusters of clones who share legal assets and detail the journey of one individual who is abandoned by their cluster while going on long tangents about the nature of pronouns and marriage in such a society
Guest TMarkos brings his idea for a reluctant incubus going out of his way to avoid seducing the masses, and a smitten game system that wants the world to love him. Special Guest: TMarkos.
In her ongoing quest to take every genre and turn it into a thinly-veiled romance, unice5656 discusses her idea for an amnesia mystery plot where the reveal is a marriage proposal and Aetheo helps make it even cornier.
Aetheo and unice5656 talk about Aetheo's idea for a friendly mage who goes around giving spirits bowls of milk and cookies, among other things, while shattering society's understanding of the fundamentals of magic
Aetheo and unice5656 discuss a flooded world where giant, genetically modified sea turtles are becoming the most popular form of shelter and transportation.
Aetheo and Unice5656 discuss with William Rave a take on the hidden world teenager story- where the narrative doesn't follow the teen prophesied to save the world, but instead their father. Special Guest: William Rave.
Unice5656 and Aetheo discuss an idea for defensive cursing. Or at least, "defensive" cursing, and the story of becoming a better person under duress, but staying there by one's own will.
Aetheo and Unice5656 discuss a magical liquid being monopolized by powerful people- and the creation of it becoming commonplace, or at least fairly regular.
One of the more common thoughts for new writers is "but what if someone steals my idea?" Unice5656 and Aetheo rework a paranormal romance premise into a wildly different paranormal romance story to show you why that isn't something to worry about.
The first guest appears... bringing with him the starting point of "jetpack-wielding vampires." Listen in as Aetheo, Unice5656, and Elliott Staude turn that into the story of a superstore where being dead and leaving your job have nothing to do with one another. Special Guest: Elliott Staude.
Unice5656 and Aetheo discuss a super-powered empath roommate- which quickly becomes a comedy story about an incompetent teleporter supervillain, instead.
The hosts discuss Aetheo's idea for a multiversal "world" where small pocket dimensions and difficulty of traversal turn the plot into a series-spanning chase.
Unice5656 and Aetheo discus one of her first story ideas ever: shapeshifters that she called elves. While quickly dissuaded from calling them elves given the conventions of the genre, the rest of the idea spirals out into a tetralogy.
Aetheo and Unice5656 discuss her idea for a pair of star-crossed lovers in a desert setting.