Possible story idea.... a Felaryan on Earth?

It sounds crazy, but.... while Felarya is known for sucking people from all over the universe into it through space time wazzits, what if it, instead, spit someone out? What if a Naga or Fairy or some other Felaryan who was accustomed to their life was suddenly dumped into our world?

Some people have told me that this idea HAS been casually glanced over before, but I'm being serious about it. What if the creature in question was human sized and pretty much helpless? What if they were a giant and had to hide in the rainforest, and came to be known as a beast of legend? What if they got really sick and almost died upon being exposed to our diseases? What if they came under the care of a human who had to help them grow accustomed to this world, and tell them about age, illnesses, STDs and (most importantly) eating habits? What if all we could here from them was nonsensical babble, since there is no real "language" in Felarya and they had to find other ways to learn to communicate? Should they "land" in a slum or a countryside? What if the general populace discovered this being? Would some people be accepting of them? Would some people see them as demonic, or a gift from the heavens? Would some see them as a scientific wonder to be celebrated, or exploited? Could it become a love story? Should the stakes be high and lead to tragedy, or should the focus be simple day to day character interaction? Should the viewer have the freedom to project themselves upon earthling characters and wonder what they would do in such a situation? What would you do?

Anyhow, the more I think about this, the more keen I am on eventually making a story out of it. Some people tell me the idea has been done to death, but hey... I think I might still be able to pull it off, barely, somehow.

I actually thought of writing a story like this, and may still do it sometime... I had started a story about a harpy who falls out of Felarya and into a more modern, realistic world, and ends up admitted to a hospital to receive care for their injuries from suddenly crashing into the world where trying to fly is a struggle against realistic laws of physics. I might go back to it sometime and try to put it together into a finished story, some day. ^^

Whether it actually be Earth, or simply a similar human-dominated "modern" world, the idea has a lot of potential. I'm rather partial to it being a human-sized character (rather than a giant) who "falls through". (Or else a tiny; why not? That's an idea I once considered.)

In addition to the language barrier, there would indeed be massive culture shock. I can imagine the Felaryan's awe and fascination at all the things we take for granted: from "complex" technologies to fairly "simple" things like houses. Disease is also something that would inevitably feature.

French snack wrote:

Whether it actually be Earth, or simply a similar human-dominated "modern" world, the idea has a lot of potential. I'm rather partial to it being a human-sized character (rather than a giant) who "falls through". (Or else a tiny; why not? That's an idea I once considered.)

In addition to the language barrier, there would indeed be massive culture shock. I can imagine the Felaryan's awe and fascination at all the things we take for granted: from "complex" technologies to fairly "simple" things like houses. Disease is also something that would inevitably feature.

Whoopsie! I could've sworn I threw in mention of the character possibly being smaller, which is what I would prefer, as well. Oh well.

My original plan involved a human-sized harpy getting caught in a rift and landing in the more ultra-modern, low-sci-fi world that my spouse and I write. Going from a more natural-dominated world to a very technological world would be enormous culture shock-- as would the hospitalization that would inevitably occur from disorientation during the jump leading to a loss of flight and a crash.

At least the character I intend to write would have the benefit of the people of Crossroads being mostly used to non-human creatures. Although I almost want to shift it to taking place on Earth, to factor in the non-human element.

As one of the last remaining cynics on this forums, I must bring doubt to this idea being taken seriously by adding dark morality into it. About the prospect of being giant, how exactly are they going to hide considering our level of technology? We may not have monitors set up everywhere, but I'm fairly certain sudden quakes in a rainforest would trigger investigations. Also, how exactly can the giant hide? 100 ft is taller than the trees around here. Even so, wouldn't something that big or clearly doesn't look human be perceived as a threat and be hunted on the spot, especially if they are man-eaters? And for that matter, how do you expect it to survive? I think the idea is that Felarya has some weird physics, so if you were to bring a giant to a real life environment, barring square-cube law, he or she would asphyxiate because the air molecules are too small its lungs. And if you bring about the fairy, what say she can even use magic? Do they need to be in a magic rich environment to cast spells? Do their wings store magic like some kind of tank so they have limited reserves? Can they even survive in total absence of magic? Leppy does not count.

If they are small, then you do you expect them to hide their non-human features? Just put on a coat and shades and they're now indistinguishable from people who do not wear a coat and shades? If you go by staying at home, how long before someone walks in and spots the creature? And if the creature, let's say it's the ever overused naga, eats the visitor in self-defense, how would they explain the sudden disappearance? There would be investigation, with which it's only a matter of time before the Felaryan is found, or the host is arrested as a suspect. You can't really use the sit-com joke of the guy acting really weird trying to hide the masquerade with people noticing but not making the connection, that's just unrealistic and contrived. A harpy is even worse because what can they do without hands? She can't possibly fly because her form is unaerodynamic, not to mention that she'd be too heavy for flight, and if she lived in complete isolation, it'd only be a matter of time before someone or something finds her.

As for the tiny, can she even communicate with a normal person outside of Felarya? Can people hear her fine and can she take the loud booming voices? Again, ignoring square-cube law, can she even breathe with the air molecules now being too large? What are the odds, if she's on the streets, that she won't get run over by a car? They're a much bigger obstacle than pedestrian traffic, I'll tell ya that much. From a glance, what are the odds that someone won't mistake it for a rodent? Can she even survive in places where actual rodents are rampant?

I'm just saying, there are a lot, LOT of factors you and Mukat are overlooking that can break the premise of such story apart. If it's just for what-if, then go nuts and use artistic licensing liberally, but if you're intent on making it accurate and serious, you have to think of the little details as well. They can come a long way to make the premise seem either more legit or ultimately weak. They may not seem like it, but they do matter.

Shady Knight wrote:

As one of the last remaining cynics on this forums, I must bring doubt to this idea being taken seriously by adding dark morality into it. About the prospect of being giant, how exactly are they going to hide considering our level of technology? We may not have monitors set up everywhere, but I'm fairly certain sudden quakes in a rainforest would trigger investigations. Also, how exactly can the giant hide? 100 ft is taller than the trees around here. Even so, wouldn't something that big or clearly doesn't look human be perceived as a threat and be hunted on the spot, especially if they are man-eaters? And for that matter, how do you expect it to survive? I think the idea is that Felarya has some weird physics, so if you were to bring a giant to a real life environment, barring square-cube law, he or she would asphyxiate because the air molecules are too small its lungs. And if you bring about the fairy, what say she can even use magic? Do they need to be in a magic rich environment to cast spells? Do their wings store magic like some kind of tank so they have limited reserves? Can they even survive in total absence of magic? Leppy does not count.

If they are small, then you do you expect them to hide their non-human features? Just put on a coat and shades and they're now indistinguishable from people who do not wear a coat and shades? If you go by staying at home, how long before someone walks in and spots the creature? And if the creature, let's say it's the ever overused naga, eats the visitor in self-defense, how would they explain the sudden disappearance? There would be investigation, with which it's only a matter of time before the Felaryan is found, or the host is arrested as a suspect. You can't really use the sit-com joke of the guy acting really weird trying to hide the masquerade with people noticing but not making the connection, that's just unrealistic and contrived. A harpy is even worse because what can they do without hands? She can't possibly fly because her form is unaerodynamic, not to mention that she'd be too heavy for flight, and if she lived in complete isolation, it'd only be a matter of time before someone or something finds her.

As for the tiny, can she even communicate with a normal person outside of Felarya? Can people hear her fine and can she take the loud booming voices? Again, ignoring square-cube law, can she even breathe with the air molecules now being too large? What are the odds, if she's on the streets, that she won't get run over by a car? They're a much bigger obstacle than pedestrian traffic, I'll tell ya that much. From a glance, what are the odds that someone won't mistake it for a rodent? Can she even survive in places where actual rodents are rampant?

I'm just saying, there are a lot, LOT of factors you and Mukat are overlooking that can break the premise of such story apart. If it's just for what-if, then go nuts and use artistic licensing liberally, but if you're intent on making it accurate and serious, you have to think of the little details as well. They can come a long way to make the premise seem either more legit or ultimately weak. They may not seem like it, but they do matter.

Please keep in mind that I've already gone over most of these things you seem to be assuming I'm completely clueless about.

Here's how the take on the story that I'd be mostly likely to roll with would go.

The Felaryan in question would be roughly human sized, twice as tall at the very most. I'd probably have them land in a countryside, possibly in winter, and they're found by a human who takes them in. The Felaryan is kept secret, but only for a short while, while the Earthling teaches them how to speak and makes them presentable. After a few months, they reveal the Felaryan to the world (a good way to avoid the tired sitcom antics). However, having seen Escape From The Planet of The Apes, the Earthling urges the Felaryan not to reveal their old eating habits, lest people see them as a monster for that. Lots of people want to research the Felaryan and know about them. Some see this being as something to be cherished and celebrated, and some see them as a demonic scourge, a sign of the end times an' whatnot.

It would mostly focus on simple character interaction, with the Felaryan having to grow accustomed to a new life that has its pros and cons (Pros- Lots of food, comfort, people to interact with, endless new discoveries. Cons- No magic, and occasional bouts of claustrophobia and homesickness). They'd have to learn to live with things like age and disease and whatnot, but mostly have a good time.

So, whatcha think, Shady Knight?

Plus, I think the dramatic potential of presenting such a piece as a potential horror story is interesting. We often see a lot of casual horror with humans or human-sized creatures in Felarya-- to present the reverse, with a predator trapped in our world, struggling to survive, having to live with pain, disease, a complete change of ecology and social setting, the prospect of becoming hunted themselves as a monster amongst men-- would be ripe with good story potential.

I really think you're selling the concept short. Sure, if you want to write comedy or humor, you're going to get into a mess of a situation. The amount of problems you'd have to handwave to have a predator thrive in our world would pile up quickly. But if you wanted to write a much darker story, a role-reversal story, you'd have a ton of material to work from.

First of all, bad use of quoting. I posted right before you did. There was no need for the quote function, that's to answer to something specific that was brought several posts ago. Now that I'm down my little soap box, let's bring some more psychology into this, shall we?

1. Your humans who find that Felaryan seems to take the situation of a giant snake lady (twice human size qualifies as giant. Just look at André the Giant and the tallest man in history. Also, both died because they violated square-cube law, so if you're going for actual real life Earth, that premise already doesn't work) pretty damn well. You'd think they'd be cautious that such a thing appeared. They'd also have to be ridiculously strong to bring it back to some home considering how huge that thing is. A single human could not possibly drag this back to some place warm before it dies of hypothermia.

2. I think making sure this thing is not a threat or that it's not carrying some alien disease would be a far higher priority than teaching it how to talk our language. Let's assume they heard it talk some rudimentary language, now how long do you suppose it would take to teach her even basic alphabets? You're greatly overestimating feral people's capacity to learn, or even its desire to learn.

3. How cooperative do you assume this Felaryan would be to basically forget all she learned since childhood? Don't you think she'd be in utter panic that she's in an alien environment, not to mention in custody, and that her first instinct as someone who has lived in the wild for decades would be to find an avenue of escape? Linking it to the language barrier, it's easy for her to assume that what those humans are saying is that they want to torture her or enslave her or whatever. You make it sound like this alien is also taking the situation unnaturally well.

4. Not sure if you know about it, but small predators rarely eat humans because they are big compared to her. A single human would take a while to fully consume, and in the case of a naga, it would leave her slow and vulnerable for a while. Also the fact that in normal circumstances humans travel in group and are armed makes this even more of a non-option. So they wouldn't have to worry about the whole eating habits.

5. Isn't the Felaryan itself taking the situation well? She's being treated as a test subject for years and is now displayed for the world, if only briefly. Wouldn't she resent this or harbor a grudge for humans who put her through this? She had never gone through something like that before, so why would she not mind? For that matter, if she's being interrogated about Felarya, why wouldn't she fear that the Earthlings one day attain inter-dimensional technology and then invade? Why would she be compliant about the whole thing?

6. How could plenty of food be a pro? Let's ignore Square-Cube Law for now, she's very big and so needs a lot of food. This would be a big change of pace for anyone who's sheltering her, unless it's something with intense funding like military research. Furthermore, wouldn't she risk food poisoning and suffer because she's not used to human food? Another detail you seem to overlook.

With all that in mind, she'd have to be have landed somewhere with plenty of human life, medical equipment at the ready to ensure she's not carrying any alien disease, equipment to restrain her and examine her in great detail for an extended period, that every party involved somehow take the whole situation very well, that she can learn English quickly, that she takes being held in captivity for a very extended period of time with utmost calm, and that wherever she lives has both enough room and money so that she and the hosts live comfortably, and hope that alien food doesn't make her sick, or worse, kill her. If you ask me, that's a lot you expect people to buy.

Once again, are you going for real life Earth, or are you going for an Earth-like world? If you're going for the Earth we live in, the premise already doesn't hold water because of Square-Cube Law and other things, which is why Ravana has stated that Jora doesn't come from real life Earth, just that it's similar and happens to share the same name, a parallel universe Earth. And if you go with an Earth-like setting, then you're not technically having a Felaryan on Earth, just a place that looks similar on the surface and happens to share the same name, but is still an alien planet to the one we know of.

And my final point, can you actually pull this off? I'm seeing the same case as with Silent-Eric here. You claim that your story will be this and that and will be about something and whatnot. It's incredibly easy to say, but where it really matters is the actual work, and with all that you brought up, it's incredibly very easy to fail to deliver on that. You have no idea how easy it is to get carried away in concepts, only to hit a brick wall when reality sets in during execution. Silent-Eric may be a good writer, I think, but with all the things he once said in the past, I am very skeptical he can actually deliver on what he promised. I say, talk is cheap, just give results.

>sigh< Fine, it's just a crap idea that's impossible to make a good narrative out of and it absolutely cannot work, for one reason or another. Is that what you want me to fess up and say? Sorry for even entertaining the idea of ever trying this.

I'm not gonna fall for the guilt trip. I can tell that the theme of what you are trying to bring is the concept of alienation from the perspective of a creature with human level intelligence, but whose primal instincts have never left like we did. It is a perfectly valid story and one worth exploring. But what I am bringing to doubt is if it must absolutely be set on Earth. I must ask you this question: Is the concept of the story "what if a Felaryan was on a planet outside of Felarya" or is it "what if a Felaryan was in the real world"? Mentions of Earth and such are usually not advised because, frankly, an avatar for the author as part of the plot is almost always a given. What I am coming at is that the theme of the story has value, but you have to get into your head if the Felaryan arrive on a planet similar to ours, no magic and technology around our level, or if its exactly like the real world? Going back to Jora, I haven't read the rewrite yet, but one thing that distinguished her Earth from our own was the seemingly higher technology.

If I were to sum it up, it would be to establish that the Earth you talk about is fictional in a subtle manner, like making up a few made-upl towns or cities, or that you don't explicitly refer it to Earth, though that one is pretty much impossible. That way the results are the same, but it feels more creative as even for the new setting you have to come up with your own concepts.

All right, all right, sorry. I should've thought more before writing that. It just felt to me like you wanted to needlessly shoot down anyone who could ever try pulling this story off for... whatever reason. I guess that's not what you meant, but that was the only way I could interpret your cynicism at the time.

Anyhow.... my immature outburst aside.... let me break down a few more things.

1. I don't quite know how this scene would go, but I was going to go with the "act of kindness" approach... you know, the human would rescue them... just BECAUSE. Maybe the Felaryan wouldn't be completely immobile, rather simply having lost their way and almost given up. It could be as simple as the human grabbing their arm or letting the Naga's (in this case) human half go over the actual human's shoulder, with them guiding the Felaryan to a place of safety while the Felaryan still mostly carries themselves with the last of their strength. Hypothermia would be a very big issue, but we'll just assume they weren't that far away from this person's dwelling and the human went to great lengths to tend to the Felaryan and stabilize their condition, however many days or weeks it would take them to get better.

2. Again, kindness. Is that really so improbable? After a while of not getting sick from being around this thing, the human would just roll with this. As for language, they don't need to learn how to READ right of the bat, or understand what letters are. It would be as simple as playing memory games, associating certain otherwise arbitrary noises with objects, like teaching a child what this is and what that is. It could take a long time. It's all about baby steps.

3. At the beginning of the story, assuming it begins in winter, I'd assume that once the Felaryan starts to recover, they'd be more keen on staying with this person who's gone a long way to take care of them and learn whatever they can about this world than foolishly charging out into the cold that would most likely kill them, into a world they know absolutely nothing about. As Spring comes along, they're able to go outside and enjoy themselves more. And, at some point, once ready, they'd confront the world. Felaryans aren't as "feral" as you make it sound. They're aren't stupid, and they aren't mindless animals. They're just human minded creatures who were brought up in a different lifestyle and a different place.

4. They could still have fed on tinies as a snack or treat. Same thing.

5. I was thinking more along the lines of a cabin in the countryside than some testing lab. The Felaryan may be examined for a little while by doctors, mostly for their own health, but not experimented on. I don't want this to be that kind of story. I'd sooner show them being interviewed than interrogated. I wouldn't want them to wind up locked in some evil underground government lair, where they poke and prod the Felaryan endlessly. Some people may take that route, but I'm tired of the "big bad government tries to abduct the innocent alien" trope, hence why I thought it would be a better idea for our protagonists to just go all out and show the Felaryan to the world in some really dramatic fashion that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the Felaryan to be covered up. It's a boring, easy to use trope that's been done to death, so I'll avoid it if I can help it.

6. Fine, if being twice as big (twice as big doesn't mean twice as tall, if that's what you're thinking) is too much, then they can be perfectly human sized. Geez, why is it such a big deal? I understand it being stupid for them to be giant sized, considering most large dinosaurs would die of asphyxiation if they were around nowadays, but can't they reasonably just be a LITTLE big bigger than an average human? Can't there be an ounce of charm and fantasy to this? Does is have to be perfectly realistic? It's an inherently unrealistic scenario no matter how you look at it. As for plenty of food, I meant there IS plenty of food available to them. It would be tough for the caretaker to feed them at first and get by, but once they and the Felaryan had basically reached superstar status and the Felaryan was seen as an ambassador from the stars or whatever, is it really so hard to imagine that maybe there would be other people tending to them, or that they may have special privileges, to ensure that this "once in a lifetime specimen" doesn't starve to death or anything like that? They'd be the next wonder of the world! They'd be preserved! As for WHAT they'd eat, well, in those early days, it would be incredibly basic. Meat, bread, milk, veggies... is that not healthy?

I was thinking of having it take place in future Earth. Maybe a few centuries from now, only once revealed once we leave the human protagonist's homeland. However, while there would be the usual flying cars and shiny skyscrapers and stuff like that.... but we haven't really advanced THAT much. In this future, there still isn't a cure for cancer. Poverty is still rampant. Movie theaters still boast "3DEEEEEEEEEEE" like it's some huge thing. A lot of the problems we have not are still faced in this future, showing how superficial the advancements we've made by then really are. I won't delve much into the social commentary of the setting much, as I'm not sure where I'd go with it just yet, but there's the gist of it. Yes, I DO want it to be a Felaryan in OUR world. Just putting them in a slightly less fantasy-ish setting seems pointless and like a copout to me.

As for the "self avatar" thing, I'm not even sure what to make of that. I wasn't going to make a character that looked like me, given that I've already done that, but should I make a point of thinking "Well, if this is what I'd do in this situation, then they need to do the exact opposite"? The point of the story is to focus on having the chance to interact on a personal level with a Felaryan, so it's inevitable that I'd inject some of myself into the dialog if I'm the one writing it. Is that bad?


Anyhow, now that I've laid this all out, is the premise of this stupid story at least SLIGHTLY more sound, now?

The act of kindness, I can understand, though it would be better if the human exhibit some cautious behavior. I think one of our first thoughts should we see something like a Felaryan creature would be if it's dangerous or not. It wouldn't be unrealistic if they try to give her a shelter once they see she doesn't have the strength to fight back.

The disease thing make sense, I mean if it's some guy living in the countryside he can let it slide cause he's in a rush and an alien may not always carry such thing, although in the case she's wounded, you could bring this issue to light by having the guy is disinfectant on the injuries. Whether she's injured or not is up to you.

The language barrier is something people overthink too much to be honest. It really exists just so we, the audience, can understand what people are saying, and learning the mechanics serves no purpose in the long run. I'm glad that there's some handwave, but how it works and how it came to be isn't all that important. I wouldn't worry about it unless you want to accentuate the fish-out-of-water concept by having seem like she's speaking Gibberish. If anything, I guess the Felaryan could mimic what he's saying, cause she can make the proper sounds and could get the idea that if she tried it would get her somewhere.

Yeah, I should have thought about it, trying to escape in bad weather conditions would be dumb, so you got me good there. Although adapting to living in a house would be unnerving for her and something worth exploring.

Well the thing with the eating of humans is that I don't think it's much of an issue, unless she demonstrates something similar like, if it's a naga, that she can swallow a watermelon whole, and if a dridder, the whole liquefying thing, and then says that she can do the same to a human. I doubt she'd bring it up on a whim, though. For instance, let's say in a moment of weakness, she swallows her whole melon and her host walked in as she was doing so. There would be an incentive of her revealing that doing that on a human is no problem, for the most part, and that she must now take great care not to do so ever. It adds some drama as we saw the glimpse of a possible moment of weakness where she wants to feel as full as possible now that she's living in a much less dangerous environment and how she has to deal with it.

To be frank, I actually prefer it when "small" nagas are noticeably bigger or at least stand taller than humans. I guess it must be from the 3D Final Fantasy games where they're depicted as larger. Same with dridders I supposed, but not by much. But anyway, as for food, it may be good to show that her presence has changed the host's lifestyle and how he deals with her presence. The example of food being the easiest. But anyway, the thing with ambassador of the star, you may want to backpedal. As you said earlier, not everyone is going to appreciate her presence. Being highly publicized and getting some profit from the publicity, that makes sense, but ambassador, that's stretching it a bit, don't you think?

As for the thing about being Earth, I guess what I was getting at but failed miserably, is to try not to put too many references to Earth. Like for instance, Big Macs, Pepsi, specific sports team and such. After a while, it sounds like you're trying to remind people what planet that takes place and it can feel intrusive. The time period doesn't really matter, although making up locales like a fictional town still help bringing in your own flavor. Also, glad you want to avoid the big evil government like the plague. Ignoring that it's cliché, if you think about it, they'd have more to gain if they engage in diplomatic behavior. I mean if you can have the Felaryan perceive you as no threat, then exams and interviews would go more smoothly as she'd be more willing to cooperate.

As for the nigh-ubiquitous self-avatar, I supposed it's more of a case where an Earthling falls in Felarya, as it's pretty obvious that character is going to be empowered in one way or another. Some people managed to avoid this though, but that's another story.

Shady Knight wrote:

Although adapting to living in a house would be unnerving for her and something worth exploring.

But anyway, the thing with ambassador of the star, you may want to backpedal. As you said earlier, not everyone is going to appreciate her presence. Being highly publicized and getting some profit from the publicity, that makes sense, but ambassador, that's stretching it a bit, don't you think?

As for the thing about being Earth, I guess what I was getting at but failed miserably, is to try not to put too many references to Earth. Like for instance, Big Macs, Pepsi, specific sports team and such.

1. Well, like I said, "occasional bouts of claustrohpobia and homesickness". That will be addressed.

2. ....Well, okay, I was fluffing it up a bit.

3. Oh, don't worry. I hate stories that go that far. I may show a scene where they're watching a movie that the human character really likes, and you see all the Felaryan's different reactions to parts of it, but in general, it setup will be removed far enough from today's society to have some charm.

I'm sorry but some of the facts being offered to shoot this story down are ridiculous.

So, from the start, air molecules would not suddenly be too big, afterall they could survive on Felaryan air and nowhere have I read that O2 molecules are smaller in Felarya. They same goes for the inverse argument, if the air is sufficient in Felarya then it is sufficient on Earth. There are creatures a mere few inches tall that have fully functioning lungs and, more famously, the blue whale weighs up to 170 tonnes.

And the world's tallest man did not die due to inverse square law, he died from a toe infection.

Sorry to bring science into this but I have a mild dislike of misinformation.

Your argument for the world's tallest man would work, but I also brought attention to André the Giant, who also died from a different reason, and people with gigantism oftentimes have health problems, so my point stands. Your argument for air molecules being too small/big, you are overlooking one simple fact, animals of such sizes have a respiratory system adapted to it, thus their lungs can process the molecules. Furthermore, in Felarya, several hybrid creatures, specifically those whose animal half lay eggs such as nagas and mermaids, begin their lives no bigger than a human, before experiencing a growth spurt several years later, until they reach their final giant size. Aside from the impossibility of such growth spurt, this massive change in size would make their lungs too large to process air molecules effectively. After all, they were born very small compared to what their final size. Furthermore, Felarya is a fictional universe where the real world laws of physics do not apply due to being a world rich in magic and other ubiquitous fantasy elements, such as giants standing beyond heights of fifty feet.

But on that note, I'd like to offer an apology to Nick. Looking back, the points trying to shoot down your idea were really, really stupid. I was more upset about the idea of Felarya and Earth crossing over in some fashion, and thus had to find a way to shoot it down. If you take the time to read those points, you can find one thing most of them have in common: they pick at extremely minute details that do not impact the enjoyment of a story or were simply unnecessary. I still stand by that small details can make a work feel more alive, but I was trying to narrow down the details to include fewer options, or would require a very specific scenario to include said details, when a scenario that doesn't involve them is just as valid, and in fact justifies their absence. Your idea of a fish-out-of-water scenario is valid, and is merely the mention of Earth that upset me. It's usually been a bad idea to reference our planet as the characters can sometimes feel like self-insertions, but good writers like Ravana3k has been able to avoid it. In fact, most cases have been somewhere from Earth ending in Felarya, and not the reverse, thus my strong emotions were unjustified. I am sincerely sorry for what I have said. I was trying to find plot holes when there were no plot to begin with. I hope you can forgive me for my behavior and I will try my best not to be so close-minded in the future.

No because that's not how lungs work, lungs work by increasing the volume of the exchange surface for the simple diffusion of air molecules. They in fact evolved to prevent the problem you're describing. Sorry, I know it's me being argumentative I just hate bad science. And the drastic size increase isn't actually that large in terms of proportion, the baby Crucifix Spider for example undergoes a growth spurt of about the same proportions with no problem with how it's body works. Now I'll admit it is a bad example as arachnids don't have lungs but there are some other species which have been shown to do the same, some river eels for example have a crude proto-lung and can travel along land and they also have been known to grow to ridiculous size compared to their original size.

Eh, it's all right. There's nothing to forgive. You were just concerned that I'd mangle and bastardize whatever gives Felarya its charm. I understand.

Personally, I think this story idea could work very well if it were a Tiny getting lost on modern-day Earth. While it would be nowhere near as dangerous as Felarya, it would still be a major adjustment to make as there would be no other tinies and no real refuges from human civilization.

itsmeyouidiot wrote:

Personally, I think this story idea could work very well if it were a Tiny getting lost on modern-day Earth. While it would be nowhere near as dangerous as Felarya, it would still be a major adjustment to make as there would be no other tinies and no real refuges from human civilization.

The idea of Tinies on modern-day earth sounds way too simular to 'The Borrowers' a novel about a family of tiny people trying to live in our world, not knowing if there are any other 'Borrowers' out there and ending up making freinds with normal sized characters. The novel has had four film adaptions and a mini series and so has pretty much covered every angle you can do with the subject, so if it was me I woulden't do the 'Tiny on earth' thing because I can't think how you can write it and make it unique without retreading on what 'The Borrowers' did.

Well, not exactly. I think with an Felaryan based character you could have some other special kind of culture clash; so the begining of such a story would be much different. Beside; whoever it evolves it would come close to the "Borrower"-idea (also read the book and saw the movie). Although the idea has something charming, both; having an Felaryan predator in our world or a tiny. And for the realism and physics ... well I never take them too serious because in the end it's just one thing: Fantasy and so I forgive every author if he changes some setups for the good of the story.