Worldbuilding idea from a childhood misunderstanding

[ClearDragon]

So part of my fictional universe is a plane of existence that is at the "bottom" layer of reality. What I mean by that is in my universe there are parallel realities, higher and lower realties. This one is the lowest of all.

I got the idea when I was a young child watching the old Bugs Bunny cartoon. The episode Bugs Bunny on Mars. I had already seen real photos of Mars surface before ever seeing that episode, and what they portrayed it like wasn't at all like the photos, so I thought it wasn't mars. Also they way Bugs landed made it look like he "fell" past stars and planets to some kind of land at the bottom of the universe. I always liked that idea and have made it part of my fictional universe.

It is a barren desert, some places have large rock formations and others are just sand dunes. Time doesn't flow in a normal way so cause and effect doesn't apply, at least not the normal way. Also maps are useless because space isn't stable. Objects and whole landscapes move around, especially when your not looking. Also any visitors to this realm can put themselves in extreme danger with an overactive imagination. If you think there are monsters, then you will run into monsters. Also there is only breathable air if you believe there is! Light is weird here, it seems to come from nowhere and shadows are cast in random directions. The "sky" is a very blurred reflection of the ground and sometimes you can see shadows of things in higher dimensions in it. If you try digging, you will find that there are no soil layers or bedrock. Its just all the same until you go about ten feet deep, then you might fall out of reality and into the infinite void. Gravity works only if you think it does, you can fly here if you are cleaver enough. However if you enter the void your just lost forever. One of my side stories will be about a guy who got stuck here for years. He never got tired, thirsty or hungry because time was partially looped back on him. When he finally found a way out, it turns out he was missing for only half an hour of normal time.

So what do you guys think? Is it an interesting idea I should continue to develop? Also any ideas or implications that it should have that I didn't think of?

 

[Prince of Spires]

definitely an interesting idea. Go for it.

Main thing I'm thinking is that you need a fairly clear set of rules. If simply thinking of something makes it happen, then building tension might be hard. After all, any obstacle you run into can simply be made to disappear with a random thought.

 

[ClearDragon]

definitely an interesting idea. Go for it.

Main thing I'm thinking is that you need a fairly clear set of rules. If simply thinking of something makes it happen, then building tension might be hard. After all, any obstacle you run into can simply be made to disappear with a random thought.

Ah, I see. Hmm, maybe it should be like if your not carful your subconscious fears will manifest and to get rid of them you have to specifically focus on overcoming the fear? I can imagine someone panicking and not being able to concentrate.

 

[pmmg]

I'm sold. Sounds like something cool to me.

Tension might come from trying not to think. Try not to think of giant pink elephants that stampede and want to eat you.

 

[Ban]

Seems to me an inventive setting with a lot to work with. I do have a question and a remark. First the question. What are the limits of imagination in this plane? You say the air is breathable if one believes it to be so, but does this change the fabric of the air or just the perception of it? It seems to me that only the latter applies here, for otherwise others residing in this world would no longer have to worry about the air situation, but you also mention that monsters emerge if one believes them to be there. This implies that imagination may also have external effects. Could you therefore conjure things intentionally? And if so, what would stop someone from terraformng the land into a personal wonderland?

Second comes the remark. The troubles with cause and effect would require some rather unorthodox storytelling. If a result precedes a deed, how do you create a narrative? It's not impossible, but does require some ingenuity.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Anything inspired by Bugs Bunny must be worth a shot. It sounds a bit like Porky Pig in the Land of the Dodos or some such... Wacky Land?

 

[ClearDragon]

Seems to me an inventive setting with a lot to work with. I do have a question and a remark. First the question. What are the limits of imagination in this plane? You say the air is breathable if one believes it to be so, but does this change the fabric of the air or just the perception of it? It seems to me that only the latter applies here, for otherwise others residing in this world would no longer have to worry about the air situation, but you also mention that monsters emerge if one believes them to be there. This implies that imagination may also have external effects. Could you therefore conjure things intentionally? And if so, what would stop someone from terraformng the land into a personal wonderland?

Second comes the remark. The troubles with cause and effect would require some rather unorthodox storytelling. If a result precedes a deed, how do you create a narrative? It's not impossible, but does require some ingenuity.

Hmm, I think someone with a good imagination could actually conjure stuff. As for a whole wonderland of their own, maybe they could. But it would get frustrating to maintain it as the land in the realm isn't set, it moves and blends together. I think you could make a wonderland, but right away it would sort of blur and melt into its surroundings. Also I kinda think they would have to have the whole thing in view, anything their not looking at would evaporate.

As for cause and effect, my idea is that lets say someone is walking through the sand, they might see their footprints already there before they made them or no footprints appearing where they walked until they come back to the same area.