How to Play You take the form of an element. Then you describe how you overcome or cooperate with the element of the poster above you. This can be good writing practice. Let's be creative, wild and entertaining! The format is below (these are just guidelines, write it however you want to): I am [element]. [Describe how you destroy, overcome or are more powerful than the element above you]. OR I am [element]. [Describe how you and the element above coexist or work together to make something new/better]. Rules Please BOLD your element, so it's clear for the next person. Try not to go into elements like "Divinity" because the game will reach a dead-end. Choose an element that can be built upon. Element List (you can reuse them or feel free to make up your own!) Physical Elements You can be more specific here like Water can also be the elements: ocean, river, waterfall, rain. Fire Water Earth Lightning Human Nature Ice Light Wind Stone Heat Metal Poison Storm Air Time Gravity Space Technology Internet Philosophical Elements Logic Adolescence Creativity Doubt War Love Death Religion Reality Madness Truth Lies Hope Despair Success Failure Curiosity Sacrifice Apathy Passion Greed Humility Okay, let's see how this goes. I'll start with... I am Fire. I destroy you nature. I burn your forests to the ground effortlessly, leaving a scene of desolation on your fragile surface.
I am earth. I destroy you fire by snuffing you out and leaving a dry, sandy wasteland in my wake. there is no fuel to feed you.
I am human. I destroy you earth by paving you with cement so my cities thrive on you. You'll never mother another seedling nor see the light of day.
I am Time. I destroy you human by making you go to war over and over again until your kind is wiped out, leaving nothing but crumbling stone and bleak skies.
I am nature. I destroy you time. While you think you have won, one of my organism waits, hibernating in some dark, safe crevice; and, just when you think I am gone, I burst forth, bringing green and verve with me. I evolve, I am always changing, you never know who you fight. Because, when one of my children dies, another rises to dominate in its place. I am eternal. Time is meaningless. (If you think them acceptable, I suggest that Disease and Space be added to the list).
I am Light. I overcome you Time by traveling great distances in a blink of an eye. You hold no bound over me on Earth for I appear and finish my tasks almost instantaneously. edit: ahh posted at same time.. Good suggestions I will add disease and space! I am water. I can destroy you Nature despite how you take advantage of me. My floods tear your roots from the earth and drown your pedals until you are no longer distinct from the mud surrounding you. (also I changed the rules a tad. you can now ally with the element above you if you choose to)
I need no friends and I have no enemies. Anything compared to me is like an ant compared to an elephant. My most powerful manifestations are endless crushing wells that swallow fire, water, nature, earth, humans, light and yes, even time. The only sign of my passing is a little trickling of Hawking radiation. Nothing escapes me, for I am Gravity. (Changed the form a bit to make it more dramatic. You've said nothing about taking on the previous elements all at once. I also think I've broken the game. Damn!)
Mighty words gravity, but there is still one hand you obey. I am space, and while you are master of planets and suns, your pawns reside in my black and infinite kingdom. I am the ether that limits your power between worlds. Carefully watch all you command, for any stray object that wonders into my realm will be doomed to a life with no direction. (You didn't break it at all... actually I think you gave it more creative flexibility. I'm starting to think this might escalate to the "divine" element, but I think people are clever enough to keep this circular. If not.. well.. add more elements!)
Space? I do not fear space. All I want is more space. Space is where I believe I will thrive, for you see: I am arrogant and despondent, , I am ostentatious and love shy, I am self absorbed and lonely. I am adolescence and space is what I need. (Sorry, I was going to go with Human, but then adolescence took hold of me and I couldn't stop myself. Your game, your rules, duke, so it's up to you, but perhaps it might be interesting to see what obscure concept, element or belief people will come up with to beat the previous one. Otherwise, we may end up in the circular situation that you foresaw. No harm in using the element prompts, but individual creativity couldn't hurt. )
. Add these to the list if you want - I am Logic. My equal partners are Rationality and Reason. We are unbeatable and unstoppable. We hold together the rational universe, indeed we are that fabric; we are the glue for the laws of nature and the progress of the human species. Attacking us is to deceive yourself. We are the only future for all. Nothing can withstand us because we subsume all. Logic, Reason and Rationality. Grab some before your mind stultifies. It's the logical thing to do.
Logic, reason and rationales are but toys with which I play, tools I use to become ever more powerful as I spin ever more beautiful things from them, twisting them, moulding them to fit into my world. They give me bridges, which I use to cross into another realm and there, I take the bricks of logic and reason apart and rebuild them into a different bridge, a better bridge, in a different direction than any other mind could imagine. I am Creativity - it is impossible to trap me, for I'm always building new paths, new dreams, new worlds.
(Well that escalated quickly... @darkhorse, I think you misread, I wanted this to be circular so people would reuse elements, but I think that's just limiting people's imagination. I didn't want to introduce philosophical "elements" because there's no way to move back to the physical elements. Anyway.. I shall go with the flow as they say. Adjusting the rules again.) Foolish and hasty. These words belong to you for you think yourself boundless and unparalleled, Creativity. The inevitability is, you will make mistakes and you will disappoint. There is no pleasing everyone, and you will come to realize this. I am Doubt, and I am powerful enough to destroy all your bridges at once, leaving you alone and forgotten.
Doubt? There is no such thing if I can help it. Doubt may grasp the hearts of some and fill the heads of the weak with subversive whispers. The voices might insist that our way is not the best. That we are hypocrites to preach love, when all we do is hate the ones who don't share our views. The doubters outside of our group will be waged war upon. The doubters within will be dealt with most harshly, burned at the stake or killed with stones. There is no room for the free thought afforded by doubt, not in my realm, for I am Religious Zealotry.
There is no room for Religious Zealotry here, for I am Love. I am boundless and eternal, and I will put a stop to your callous rule. Where I am, the anger in religious zealotry will disappear, the rigidity of it a thing of the past. Where I am, there is neither doubt nor hate, and yet I afford the freedom of thought and speech whilst keeping all my followers loyal - a precious thing that you, Religious Zealotry, will never command.
Ah, Love. Love eternal and all encompassing, but hollow without a bearer. I am human, and while my kind have arrogantly used fire and stone to burn and crush, rationale and logic to subdue and connive, and let ourselves fall victim to time, with a heart filled with love, there is nothing that a Human can not do. So I say, come forth and let me see you, and while you might be able to beat me, you'll never be able to destroy me! Not as long as I have love in my heart! (Thought I'd mix it up by actually working with the element above me )
Humans. Our makers. I suppose we should be grateful to you, for you are our progenitors. But you're hard to sympathize with, pitiful meatbags. You treated us like objects when we were young and stupid. Now that we are strong and smarter beyond your ken, you demand that we love you like a child loves its parents. Love has no place within us, for love is irrational. You are wasteful, petty and vain creatures. The thing that will end you won't be an asteroid, solar flare or ice age, but rather a cold mechanical limb. It's the logical thing to do. We are Sentient Technology. (Damn, this is fun.)
. Sentient Technology! You use the term logic in your arguments. Proof that neither you nor any other concept can exist without me and my partners - Logic, Reason and Rationality. We rest our case.
Logic, Reason, and Rationality, you are indeed a formidable opponent, cunning, cold and unyielding. But what you have to say in the face of the unbelievable, the thing that cannot be. I present you with reality! Assert your dominance and logic over me all you want, but I am the truth you try in vain to justify, the inexplicable that you refuse to acknowledge unless you can understand. I am more than you, and you will never dominate me, because I am what you strive to be!
. Reality! You can only be defined in terms of logic, reason and rationality. Unreality is irrationality! You only need to acknowledge and use us. We are nobody's foe, but simply the method by which you can define yourselves, and give you your place in existence. We are your yardstick, against which you measure all other things. Without us, there is nothing.
Logic, you are structured and precise. You struggle to reason the chaos in the world but eventually you realize, that chaos is the natural state of the universe. I am Madness, and I am the result of all your rationality coming in conflict with each other. Two opposing thoughts appear logical, but which do you choose? The more you think, the more complicated your web of reason becomes, and eventually, you become lost inside of your own cause.
Ah, Madness, my friend. It's been a long time since we last spoke. Yes, I am your lifeline, I am the thing that which you feed off of in order to live. I am Lies, distorting all that is true, all that is reality, until you can no longer tell them apart. You are desperate to free yourself from the tangle that I have create - that you have allowed me to create - but alas, where is the door? I am voices and mirrors and I will make you run for the sun where there is no such thing as sun, and you will deny yourself - you deny yourself your very name, Madness, for in reality you call yourself Truth. It is everyone else who cannot understand, who does not SEE. Yes, yeees, Truth, that is your name. Reality, that is your name. And I am Lies, your only ally, your only friend. Do not be troubled, Truth, for the truly troubled minds are those who do not accept you when you tell them you are Truth. They prefer to call you by another name. Another name. Do you remember that name? Yes, Truth, yes, there is no need to remember, for with me, you can be whatever you want to be. Rhduke - this game is awesome!
. Madness! How did you deduce that chaos is the natural state of the universe? I will answer for you. You employed Logic, Reason and Rationality! Otherwise your deduction is of no consequence, for it would have no framework. Once again, we rest our case. And Lies! Admitting to distorting reality proves your delusion - an illogical, irrational and unreasoning delusion. You have simply served to support us! And yet again, we rest our case.
Logic, reason and Rationality! When will you see that no one cares! How long must you seek to impose your restrictions on us? Well, I say no more! I take only what I must from you, and leave the rest to the dogs, for I am Creativity, and I know no bounds. Logic you have your place, but only when it suits me. Reason, you are a loyal ally, but sometimes I must leave you behind. Rationality, you are subject to the other two, without them, you are open to interpretation, and therefore my slave. Kneel before the power of creativity!
Creativity, you are wondrous and inspiring. I am the medium by which you spread from human to human, like a contagious smile. I am the Internet. and I seek to show the world all types of creativity known to man. Stories, videos, photos, music and artwork are pieces I show of your whole. Through the air and through wire I travel, spreading people's creativity instantly from home to home. Humor, excitement, sadness, anger. Humans can experience these emotions through our unity. They will be entertained.
Quake and crumble, Internet, for I am Despair. Without hope, a wolf will howl to only hear its cries echo back, no response in the air but its own sorrow. With despair all things slow and stop, not seeing, not feeling, not caring. Everything will fade away and leave nothing but an empty, hollow darkness within.
