Guidelines to Felarya

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING NEW IDEAS

Here are some general guidelines and advice about submitting ideas for Felarya It's pretty basic at this point, it will be fleshed out progressively.
Let's start with what my vision of this world is.

Felarya is a world which is, in essence, very dangerous. Humans are low on the food-chain, and many predators are just as clever as them. However, top predators, such as giant hybrids, are not safe from everything either. Many deaths occurs every day on Felarya, for the most part taking place in a stomach. Indeed, because of some long forgotten events that lead to its creation, Felarya is a world where most creatures swallow their prey alive, and are naturally very voracious. When you walk through the jungles of Felarya, you must be aware that most things here might see you as a potential meal.

Check out the wiki to learn more about Felarya:
http://felarya.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

It's obviously very easy to depict such a world, where so many deaths occur daily, as an absolutely hellish and dark place (for example: focus on the families of those who are eaten, their hate, their desire for revenge, etc.) However that's not how I think Felarya should be viewed. I prefer to focus instead on the comedic, light-hearted aspects (often with some eroticism added) of it, the unusual mindset of those predators , the hidden beauty of the world, its legends, mysteries, and the fascinating adventures one can have there.

Trying to depict a man-eating predator as loveable and cute is obviously a big challenge, but it's also what makes Felarya so unique and thrilling to me. Those man-eating predators are generally decent and good hearted characters, even though they eat humans and other small creatures that they see as sweet delicacies, have been used to do so for millenias, and simply can't imagine the world working otherwise.

Let's take one of my recent pictures: http://karbo.deviantart.com/art/Turn-right-then-turn-left-142316367

There is clearly a macabre side to it: the poor man is trapped in a stomach and is going to be digested soon, but at the same time there is humor; and if I have done my work well, the happy, innocent, and content look on Crisis's face is quite empathic. You can't help but feel sorry for the man, but at the same time you can't help but feel happy for the cute naga. ^^
Well somehow, this sums up what I intended the world to be.

The idea of Felarya came to me from various inspirations, but in particular it came from the type of innocent-looking-but-deadly character you often find in some anime. This opposition of “innocent-looking” and “deadly” has always fascinated me.

However, as I see it, Felarya is a sort of balancing act.
On one hand, I don't want people to feel hatred for those predators in my work, who can be genuinely kind and good-hearted characters. But at the same time, the point is not to have Felarya be nothing but a fast food restaurant for these predators, with humans simply being helplessly fed to them by the hundreds. Humans and other prey races know how to fight back and don't go down without a fight.
So, on one side you have those cute and sexy predators looking for a nice meal, and on the other, humans and other prey species trying to escape this fate, living adventures in this wild and untamed land, and reaping the fabulous rewards and treasures Felarya has to offer. And sometimes building strange friendships along the way with the "other side". ^_^


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IDEAS GUIDELINES

People are very welcome to suggest things to add to Felarya to help the world grow.
When you are submitting an idea for Felarya, first you should read and agree with the DISCLAIMER ( https://felarya.forumotion.com/new-ideas-f2/disclaimer-updated-t1452.htm )
Here are some guidelines to help you.

-The first thing is to avoid submitting an idea just in order to get it displayed in the wiki... you should submit it ONLY because you are convinced it would add to the world.

-Then you should think about if your idea is tailored to Felarya specifically or if it would work for just any old fantasy world. If it does, then that may not be a very good sign. Felarya is a rather unique place and what could work perfectly in another fantasy universe, may not work very well on Felarya. There are exceptions of course.

-What I'm primarily looking for are ideas that enhance Felarya as an unique and rich world. Ideas that strike the imagination and mesh well with the rest of the universe. When you imagine an idea, it's always a plus to integrate it into the rest of Felarya, meaning having it overlap with other ideas and elements of the world... BUT this must be done in a sensible and subtle manner. Don't just force it on the rest of the world! It's a question of balance.

-Also, there is no denying the fact that vore is one of the pillars of Felarya. Of course, it's not necessarily needed in an idea, and I'm well aware it's not everyone's cup of tea, and that lots of people in the community are not there primarily for the vore. Even so, I prefer ideas where I don't feel the author somehow meticulously avoided it. Vore is one of the main bases of this universe, so even if you are not into it, please don't act like it just doesn't exist. Your idea must fit with Felarya as a whole.

- I'm looking into ideas to flesh out the world, rather than reinvent or revolutionize it. So please avoid ideas that put everything into question, or are radically different than anything seen there. Moreover, please avoid ideas that take jabs at an aspect of Felarya that you dislike.

- Hard vore is a touchy subject to me ( humanoid devouring another humanoid by tearing them apart, dismembering, chewing them with blood and gore ). I guess it depends on the idea itself, but there is no denying the fact it would start with a real handicap... ( yeah I'm squeamish like that )

- If you submit a new idea, it would be nice of you to keep it relatively concise to start with; it's easier for me to see what you are getting at and details can always be added later. ^_^

- If you idea wasn't accepted, I'm sorry... but in any case, please don't try to FORCE your idea somehow, especially aggressively. I personally react quite badly to pressure, and it's known to backfire considerably with me. Using pressure is the best way to ensure that your idea is not added at all ever...

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CHARACTERS GUIDELINES

I'm not gonna lie here, I'm extremely picky about putting any new characters in the wiki, mostly because there are so many of them already. ^^;
So here are some points that are important to keep in mind when making a good Felaryan character. There are always exceptions of course, these are just guidelines.

-First, try to avoid what I call UPCs (uber powerful characters) as there is a 95% chance that they won't make it. My vision of Felarya is that of a perilous world where one must strive to survive, not a battle arena. A guy able to kill a giant naga in one swing may be cool and all but he definitely won't fit in my vision of Felarya. ^_^;
You can have powerful characters of course, but ones who always take the easy route and resolve every problem by use of their huge natural powers alone may rapidly become tedious and a bit cheap in my opinion. On the other hand, a normal character who triumphs against seemingly impossible odds because of their courage/tenacity/force of will/strength/agility/cleverness,, etc.. would make the readers sympathize and empathize with them much more.

- Generally, having them be involved with Felarya's guardians in one way or another is not a very good idea either.

- Also avoid Mary Sue characters, perfect characters, or characters that impersonate you somehow.

- Avoid characters who have an unbalanced presence. A character which everyone looks up to, who is loved, admired, even worshiped by everyone else at first glance, is artificial, and can become quickly tedious in my opinion.

- On the other hand, don't create a too generic character that has been seen hundreds of times.. In my opinion an ideal character must have a particular feel and uniqueness them, merge well with the rest of the world, and above all: be interesting.

- If you choose to give them a particular trait or ability, try to give them one that makes sense and fits in with the rest of the character. Don't give them one just for the sake of having one and looking cool.

- Also, try to avoid characters from a franchised universe... I mean I have no problem if you wish to make a crossover story, but it clearly won't become an official character at any point.

- Like for general ideas, try to avoid characters that are only there to take a jab at an aspect of the world you don't like.


For predators races :

Try to avoid races that have been over-used, like nagas. I know that, since the main character of the world, Crisis, is one, it's normal to have many of them, but the trend has been accelerating to the point of absurdity.
I have nothing at all against nagas of course! XD Far from it, I love them.
But having your character be one means that your character is handicapped because of all the competition. But if your character is from a little used race (harpy, deerataurs, etc), that would enhance their chances of being accepted because we see so few of their kind.


I hope this can help you. More to come later