What if homo sapiens sapiens weren't the only hominids on the planet? |
Some time ago, I was binge watching an older History Channel show called Monster Quest. One of the episodes dealt with a cryptid found in Sumatra, Indonesia, that locals call the Orang Pendak, or Man of the Woods. One of the narrators speculated that if Orang Pendak existed, he might be Homo floresiensis (sometimes nicknamed the Hobbit, due to its diminutive size). Homo floreiensis was initially thought to have survived as late as twelve thousand years ago, though that time line has since been pushed back to fifty thousand years. But what if homo floreiensis was alive and well on Sumatra? Some of my favorite speculation has dealt with the possibility of other hominids, such as Neanderthals, existing into modern times. Two great examples of this are Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead and Harry Turtledove's A Different Flesh. But there are other great fictional stories dealing with humans sharing the planet with nonhuman hominids. Raymond Feist's Faerie Tale is a horror/fantasy tale about a family erroneously inheriting what is basically a nature reserve for faeries. Speaking of fairies, consider the 1917 photos of the Cottingley Fairies. Even though the cousins who took the photos eventually admitted the photos were fake, the cousins still insisted they had seen fairies. What would it be like to live in a world openly cohabitated by fairies? Or perhaps the giants of old were still around? Or consider the possibility of your best friend being an anthropomorphic wolf? These are the possibilities that this interactive is going to explore. With a few rules, of course! 1) It's a human world --- Regardless of the setting, humans are the dominant species on the planet. That is not to say that, one-on-one, the hominid couldn't take a human one-on-one but, at the end of the day, humans are still collectively the top species on the planet. But that doesn't necessarily mean humans abuse their position. 2) No aliens -- In other words, no plot twists to undermine rule number one. 3) Write in the second person perspective -- In the second person perspective, the reader becomes the main character and is addressed as "you" throughout the story. 4) No "more choices" options -- I absolutely hate seeing an interactive with 100 chapters, and 95 of them are all on one thread, with all of them being a list of choices that NO ONE ever goes back to backfill. I really don't want to see that here. 5) Consistency -- Please make all subsequent chapters consistent with the preceding chapters. 6) Rating of Content -- Just because it's 18+ doesn't mean it has to be 18+ -- The 18+ rating is to allow adult themes to be explored, if the thread evolves in that direction. It doesn't mean you need to feel the need to move a story immediately to an 18+ rating. 7) Final say -- I reserve the right to edit or delete entries as I feel necessary, I also reserve the right to add rules as I see necessary. I'll try to do both sparingly. 8) Have fun -- 'Nuf said |