#and it sucks to not be a person 6 days a week... just an NPC existing to work and sleep

[apollo-zero-one]

Singing employment paperwork be like "I, Legal Name I Don't Identify With, of not particularly sound mind nor especially able body, agree under coercion of society and so not exactly of my own volition, to give This Job all of my spoons and then some 5-7 days a week, in exchange for not enough money to move out of my parents house."

[onslaughtsixdotcom]

Scaling Up Dragon Heist

Around April or May of 2019, I started to run Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, one of the official WotC 5e hardcovers. I’m still not done with it, although that is largely the fault of COVID and my own extensions to the campaign. 

I think Dragon Heist is one of the better 5e modules by WotC. I think it’s got a strong playground for the characters, and Waterdeep has 30+ years of publication history to draw on. The release of the module also heralded in a HUGE amount of third party extension content, including the famous Alexandrian Remix. I hadn’t heard of this before I started running my campaign and having ideas about how to do it, so it didn’t influence me--although I’m sure we came to a lot of similar conclusions and ideas, based on common perceptions of what the actual flaws are of the module.

Still, despite those flaws, I think they help the module rather than hinder it. It gives the DM a shitload of room to improvise and draw in the margins, rather than some other 5e adventures which feel like they can’t be fucked with in the least.

Here’s the kicker: I started my adventure at level 4. We had a pre-existing party that I had run through the classic N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God. (Fun fact: A map that I drew is the 3rd Google Images result for that. Woah.)

The party spent a few real-world weeks traveling across about 7 days of overland travel where I ran some drop in one shots; including Mike Krahulik’s Dusk (a Twilight parody) and a really fun 2 hour diversion where the players saw an ancient blue dragon take off the roof of a church during a wedding. Then they arrived in my city: Dawnharbour.

I don’t run the Forgotten Realms. I find it not to my taste. Most of the names suck. The lore is invariably boring or weird, and not the fun kind of weird. I was going to run Dragon Heist, and I was going to put it in my own city. I gave the players some justification previously for why they would want to go there: The cleric’s sister had been kidnapped by the Cult of the Reptile God and turned into a Yuanti; a snake person. The bard had stolen a golden statue of the Reptile God and wanted to melt it down and plate his violin with it. I told the cleric that they would need a high level magic user and someone in Dawnharbour could probably help them; ditto the bard needing a highly skilled magical blacksmith. The third player didn’t really care where they went since he was on the run from his home country. So, off to Dawnharbour. They reached level 4 when they got to the city.

I won’t bore you with the rest of the details of my city or everything I changed for the campaign. Instead, I’ll talk up some hard and fast ways to make the adventure work for a higher level party. Most of them revolve around the encounters. I’m assuming the party will start around level 4 or 5.

Chapter 1

The book opens with the players in the Yawning Portal, a famous tavern with a big ass well to a megadungeon underneath. (More on this later.) They’re hanging out doing whatever when a troll and some stirges pop out of the well. The book says that the players get attacked by the stirges while the owner of the bar, a typical Forgotten Realms 15th level Fighter running a fucking bar for a living deals with the troll.

A troll is CR 5. They can handle a troll. If they can’t, you have a bigger problem.

Next up the book leads them to a Zhentarim warehouse. When they get there it’s abandoned and there are (ugh) 3 Kenku. Kenku are like tengu if they sucked. They’re bird people who can only speak in mimickry, like parrots. They can only repeat words they’ve heard before. This is stupid as fuck (especially when a player wants to be one) but more importantly, they are incredibly weak. I think the kenku are just hanging out or they got captured by the Zhentarim who left them there after they bail or something like that. Whatever.

I put the Zhentarim there instead. I put like 20 Zhentarim. I used the Spy statblock; they don’t have a lot of CR and at level 4 or 5, the players are real slice and dicey about killing them. They can basically carve through two of these dudes in a turn. It was *really* fun to just have the players mow down these mooks. They used the 2nd floor to their advantage, casting Grease on the stairs and creating a bottleneck and then picking them off with ranged attacks and spells. I think I might have given the Zhents 1hp and treated them as minions (see 4e). 

I think I had the police show up after they were all dead; someone heard the commotion and called the cops. I think I also put an NPC there; I shuffled around a bunch of the NPCs the module uses. (They got their quest to save Volo from Bigby in the Yawning Portal; instead of finding Volo here, I think they found my equivalent of Renaer Neverremember.) There was a day’s break between this and them going into the sewers in the next part.

The sewer introduces the Xanathar’s minions. I believe a Duergar is actually there and I took this as a sign--I made most of Xanathar’s mooks Duergar, and then decided--this dude is a Beholder and he has a Mindflayer for a lieutenant. The Xanathar’s forces should ALL be classic D&D dungeon monsters, like rust monsters and umber hulks and ropers. This gives you a wide variety of weird shit you can throw at your players at different CR levels, and the idea of a gangster Beholder who thinks hiring a bunch of umber hulks to go shake down a local deli is fucking hilarious. But, it doesn’t make them any less dangerous. Throw some umber hulks or something in this lair. Go nuts--the weirder, the better. Xanathar’s crew should have no qualm about hanging out with a gibbering mouther or a carrion crawler.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is the least developed chapter in the book. It also revolved around a bunch of Forgotten Realms faction nonsense that I wanted nothing to do with. I used this time instead to formally introduce the Xanathar, the Cassalanters and Jarlaxle. After they foiled his plans to rig a goldfish competition (think a dog show but for fish), the Xanathar became convinced the players worked for the Zhentarim and invited them to have a sit down about their intentions; if they worked for the Zhents he wanted to formally declare war. The players hated the Zhents--they killed an NPC they liked back during N1, partially to set this all up. Xanny was cool with that.

The Cassalanters were a way to introduce a new player. They call up the Blackstaff to say, hey we have a magic item, can you send a guy here to deliver it? (Magic item possession is illegal on the streets in my setting, but if someone important hires you to transport it, then you can do it. This makes being a courier a very lucrative job; lots of people are just carrying around other people’s stuff for a living.) They almost immediately knock out the new player sent to pick up the item, and replace him with their dofflegagher. The idea was that the dofflegagher player would then infiltrate the Blackstaff’s organization.

Blackstaff is no dumbass and hired a random dude off the street--my new player. Then, Blackstaff hired the rest of the party to go rescue him--mostly as a ruse to snuff out the Cassalanters and get evidence that they were shitty.

When they encountered the Cassalanters, I used a Cambion; one of their servants turned into him. This guy slowly became a recurring lieutenant; he was basically the Goldar for the Cassalanter’s Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. At the time, I hadn’t read any lore for Cambions; I’m not particularly concerned with monster lore the way the guys who make the game write it. I literally thumbed through my deck of monsters, saw this winged devil horn dude, and said, “Right on, he looks like he’ll work.” A Cambion is CR5, more than suitable for the encounters the party will have with him over the next few levels. The Fiendish Charm ability is fun and can really fuck with the players; I ruled, of course, that anyone under its affect would obviously be free if the Cambion was killed. Even after it was killed, he just kept on coming back, because he’s from Hell and killing him on this plane doesn’t really do anything.

As the players continue to face the Cassalanters, a go-to seems to be spined devils. This is fine but not very powerful for a level 4, 5, 6 party. Therefore I suggest supplanting it with barbed devils. They’re CR5. Adding one or two of those to an encounter with spined devils can make this a real fun encounter that isn’t too horribly overwhelming, especially if at least one of your martial characters has a magic weapon (which they fucking should; they’re level 5!)

IMO you can also introduce Jarlaxle in this chapter; a fun way is through his Zardoz Zord persona. It could simply be that Jarlaxle knows Volo (or any other NPC the players know) and wants to invite them to a free meal to get to know them. In my game, Jarlaxle operates openly as himself (I found it would just complicate things if he was someone else) and invited the players to his yacht shortly after they met the Xanathar, to formally tell them all about the Vault of Dragons, the Stone, and how everyone they have met in the city is after it.

Chapter 3

I am not the biggest fan of this part of the module. I think nimblewrights and similar creatures are really dumb and don’t fit my D&D world. A lot of the stuff in this chapter is investigation stuff, and you can play that out however you like. It doesn’t drastically need scaling up, though you may have to account for something like Zone of Truth that they might not normally have access to. It also helps if you do the opposite of the book, and make the police a bunch of shitheads who don’t care about the city--this way the players are actually motivated to help. I’ve seen a LOT of posts that open with “the fireball happened and my players shrugged and said they would let the police handle it.” Horrible! The police should either be incompetent, apathetic, or (best case) both. They don’t care who did this and if they did, they wouldn’t be able to catch them. Now it’s completely on the players.

IMO it also helps if you do the leg work to make the NPC someone they actually care about. In the book it’s an NPC they’ve never met but they have a mutual acquaintance through--it would be nice if they get invited to a dinner with this NPC or something similar prior to this. Or, change it to be any NPC they like who you don’t mind killing. Hell, they’re level 5 or 6 at this point--if they got a cleric, they can even cast Revivify and wake the dude up. They could even cast Speak With Dead and immediately find out who blew him up or what he was doing here!

Moving on, there’s the Gralland Villa. I retooled the name to actually sound like a good name; sue me. 

The book has a bunch of Zhents hanging out here. A simple way to make this dramatic and hard is to pull the trigger and make the players fight their way in. The stone is right here at the villa and they need to steal it. Sounds simple enough.

Things got complicated for my party when a recurring NPC appeared. She was an ex girlfriend of the bard in our party; they were both Tieflings. She now worked for the Zhentarim and was basically their second in command. And she was here to steal the stone, come Hell or high water. The bard, still in love with her, was perfectly content to let her steal it and even cover her getaway. The rest of the players, not so much, but when the chaos was ensuing and she was literally running past them with the stone in hand, made the decision that it was smarter to try and help her escape and then figure out how to get the stone from her later, than try and get it from her now.

This led literally directly to chapter 4.

Chapter 4

By now it’s obvious: I used all 4 bad guys.

I ran through the chapter and picked the coolest maps and best encounter ideas, including the rooftop chase, the theater, the sewer and the courthouse. I weaved them together carefully, and all the changes I had made to the groups paid off when they entered the theater, chased by barbed devils and our Cambion friend, only to have an Umber Hulk with the Xanathar’s logo painted on his face crash through the stage, flanked by two Duergar. Add in some Drow gunslingers and it was a fucking party.

(the large hexagon is where somebody cast Darkness; the big scuffed circle is a grody spot on my grid tiles. I still need new ones...)

The courthouse had a great scene where the Cassalanter dofflegagher impersonated the chief of police, interrogating the players for the code word to activate the stone (I added one; who cares?) until the real chief of police showed up! The players had to do an entire encounter with this guy while handcuffed; thank god for verbal only spells, right? 

From here the stone ended up with the players, and then it ended up with Jarlaxle who they are working for. Jarlaxle attuned to it and told them the Vault of Dragons is inside Undermountain; 3, 5 levels deep? Who knows? And it requires 3 keys: The Crown of Asmodeus, the Ring of Winter, and the Robe of the Archmagi.

I gave these 3 magic items to the Cassalanters, the Xanathar and Manshoon. This is a pretty common hack and it means the lairs in the book actually get used. I made up one of the magic items (Crown of Asmodeus) and stole another from a module I don’t intend to run as written (the Ring of Winter is, I believe, in either Tomb of Annihilation or Storm King’s Thunder). They’re fun!

So the rest of the campaign has been the players bouncing between going deep into Undermountain, the megadungeon underneath the Yawning Portal, and going to the 3 different villain factions to steal their shit. 

The villain lairs are NOT statted for level 5 players AT ALL. The players have no hope of actually killing ANY of the villains at level 5; to fight the Xanathar is a pure TPK at level 5. But at level 8, like where my players are now? One of them died and then got Revivified; the others all survived or made their saves when they were hit by death or disintegration. (In the spirit of the Xanathar, I rolled every eye beam randomly, rerolling if I had used that ray in the last round.) That’s about the best you can hope for with a Beholder IMO! 

The rest of the lairs you can mostly run as-is. Any very low CR mooks, basically anything lower than 1 or 2 CR, I would probably replace with a higher CR variant. We’ve already discussed what you can replace them with above, and if you’ve made it this far into the module, you should have a pretty good sense of what your players can handle.

[hunnybadgerv]

SWTOR Short Fic Weekly Challenge Prompt List

I found this list and was really intrigued by a lot of the prompts, they are really in depth and thought provoking. So, I linked the original location where I found them and am going to squirrel them away for those times when I really need inspiration. Or just really want to write in that fandom.

I’m wanting to write some Doc fic for @alyssalenko, but I can’t really get my brain in gear right now.

It is super long, so I tucked it under the cut.

SWTOR Short Fic Weekly Challenge Prompt List

Week of 6/1/2012 Culture Shock - The galaxy is a big place, and it's home to a wide variety of different cultures and species. It's not easy working with someone who may look similar to you, but comes from a radically different culture - not to mention being friends or even spouses with them Week of 6/8/2012 Allies - When something huge is going down, or just when you need a hand, who can you call that you know is going to have your back? Whether it's someone completely unlikely or exactly what you'd expect, who can you ultimately always rely on? Week of 6/15/2012 Confessions - Everybody has things they don't like to admit. Sometimes it's big, sometimes it's just something small. Sometimes it's nice to finally let it out. What does your character need to admit - and to who? Hidden Talents - All of our characters are good fighters, but people are good at more than one thing. What else are they good at - and how do their friends and family react to learning about this hidden skill?

Week of 6/22/2012 Rites of Passage - Sort of related to the cultural theme, there are tons of different rites of passage our characters go through. Some are common across cultures, like weddings. Some are specific to a culture, like coming-of-age ceremonies. And sometimes they are just an internal realization that your life has changed. Feel free to take this in any direction you would like. Week of 6/29/2012 Health - Jet-setting around the galaxy means exposing yourself to a ton of different viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Let's go, biology nerds! First Impressions - Our characters meet tons of people on their journeys. What are their first impressions of each other like? Are they accurate, or did someone put up a front? Write about it! Week of 7/6/2012 Communication Breakdown - Trying to communicate with each other when things are going well is hard enough, but our characters have plenty of other things that can get in the way. Bad com channels, language barriers, broken holo feeds - all those can mess up a conversation. Not to mention people who just plain don't understand each other... Week of 7/13/2012 Catching Up - Pretty much all of our characters have pasts that might catch up with them in the future. Sometimes that's not a good thing, like seeing an old enemy. Sometimes it's great, when an old friend comes to help you when you need it. Either way, it's bound to be interesting. Mix It Up - For this challenge you can write anything you like. The catch? Someone else's character has to be in it along with yours. It can be your friend's or someone else in the thread as long as you have gotten their permission and as long as your story involves your character and another player character that you don't play - NPCs, companions, etc don't count. Get creative with this one and see what cool stuff you can come up with. We have some really talented minds in here and I'm sure people will come up with some awesome stories. Week of 7/20/2012 Exploration - You could travel your whole life and not see all of Earth - so what about people who have an entire galaxy to explore? What new things have your characters uncovered along their journeys? Thank you bright_ephemera for this prompt. Dreams and Nightmares - Sometimes these are literal - a horrible nightmare or a pleasant dream that you don't want to wake up from. Sometimes it's a metaphor - your desires for the future or your greatest fear. Either way, they're a part of everyone's lives. Thank you Striges for this prompt! Week of 7/27/2012 Family - Dealing with a war sucks. It's already complicated enough, but family complicates things even more. Some of our characters' families are different species, or have different alligiances. How do they deal with the complications that family can bring? Suggested by Eanelinea. Discovery - In our characters' journeys, we make some surprising discoveries. Sometimes they're things about ourselves or our friends, other times they're discoveries about the world around us. Either way, they usually take us by surprise. Suggested by Crezelle. Canned Response - When we click on our companions, they give us one of a set of responses. Unfortunately, that's all the endgame interaction we get with them - but let's make the best of it! Pick a phrase (one or more) a favored companion says to you and write a fic around why they are saying it. Suggested by Morgani. Week of 8/3/2012 Celebration - There are many things to celebrate in life: from weddings to birthdays to holidays. Write about a celebration your character has been a part of. Prompt suggested by SveinEternity. Guilty Pleasures - We all have them. Does your bounty hunter love The Bachelor (or whatever the SW equivalent is)? Or your Jedi Consular love romance novels? What secret thing do they love - and would be mortified if anyone knew it? Week of 8/10/2012 Mission Accomplished - Ever wonder what exactly goes down when you send your companions on those crew skill missions? How does Khem handle diplomacy missions, for example? Write about your character sending one of his or her crew members on an assignment - your character can only appear when giving the mission; focus on a companion. Suggested by Morgani! What's In A Name - Names are special, they almost always have some meaning behind them. First names, family names, nicknames - none of them are ever arbitrary. Write a story explaining a name given to your character or a companion, whether it's their personal name, nickname, or alias. Week of 8/17/2012 What If? - Most characters have some major event in their past that changed the entire course of their life. What if that event never happened? Would they even take part in their class stories, meet all their companions, or be the person you played? Suggested by Morgani. My First - Firsts are usually special - first items, like Jedi and Sith's first lightsabers or an agent or smuggler's first gun. First times, like your first time connecting with the Force or your first time stepping onto your ship. Firsts can change a person and solidify who they are. Write about a special "first" in your character's life and how it shaped them. What's in a Name 2 - Extended for the week because it was so popular. If it still inspires you, keep writing it! All the stories were just that good. Week of 8/24/2012 Turning Point - Last week we wrote about what life would be like if major events didn't happen. This week, we're writing about major events that DID happen. Pick a particularly important moment for your character, one that solidified their path. Write about what they did and why that moment was crucial. Worst Day Ever - Everybody has a bad day. So do our characters. Maybe it was in their class story - like getting your ship stolen on your birthday - or maybe it was something that happened before or after. Whether it genuinely was the worst day or your character was just in a bad mood and something happened to make it worse, write about a day that made them call it "the worst day ever". Week of 9/1/2012 (Un)invited Guests - Things get complicated when you're visiting someone else, or have someone visiting you. Even if you want them there! Of course, things are extra complicated when your guest is someone you didn't want or expect to come around. ...Like No One's Watching - When we're alone we often indulge ourselves in things that might embarrass us if others knew. Bad music, bad dancing, whatever it is, we'd be pretty mortified if someone caught us. This time, write about your character's secret indulgences - and how they react when it's discovered. Week of 9/7/2012 Changes/New Paths - Week of 9/14/2012 Brotherhood/Sisterhood - Ceremony - Week of 9/21/2012 Parenthood - Many of our characters either have issues with their parents, are parents themselves, or both. Parents can make things complicated, whether it's simply the generational gap or the fact that they aren't great parents. Affection - It's more than just a game mechanic. How do your characters show it, whether to their lover or their family or to their friends? Does it always have the intended effect, or do things get lost in translation? Week of 9/28/2012 Fame - Your characters all end their class stories with a lot of newfound fame. How do they deal with it? Being recognized on the street, being on the news, finding themselves mentioned all over the HoloNet - it's got to be stressful. Alternatively, what if your characters met another famous person and had to deal with being starstruck? Bad Timing - Sometimes, the worst thing about something is when it happens. Even a good thing can end up being not-so-great if the timing is wrong. Write about a time when your character had to deal with something that just plain came at the wrong time. Week of 10/5/2012 Sacrifice - What are your characters willing to sacrifice to achieve their goals? Good/Bad Memories - Sometimes good memories can get your characters through hard times, sometimes bad memories are the extra push they use to move forward. What memories move your characters? Week of 10/10/2012 Teachers and Heroes - Everyone has someone they look up to, or someone who's taught them something important. Or a hero that they strive to be like. Who does your character admire and look toward when they're not sure what to do? Who has had an impact on making them the person they are today? Week of 10/17/2012 Xenobiology - Different species means more than different skin colors. It means different entirely different physiologies. Having friends whose bodies work so differently from your own can make things complicated, as everything from how you relax to how you dress and what your beauty rituals are (what is "lekku buffing", anyway?). How do your characters deal with differing biologies that they encounter? Best Day Ever - We've written about our characters' worst days; now write about their best days! A day when something wonderful happened, like finally beating your nemesis, or just a day when everything went really well for them, and how they reacted. Week of 10/24/2012 Disguises - Sometimes our characters have to gain entry to places that it's not easy to get into. What's a good strategy? A disguise, of course! Write about a time in which your character had to pretend to be someone or something else, and how they dealt with trying to be convincing. Worlds Colliding - Our characters fly all over the galaxy and meet people from many different worlds - metaphorically and literally. Relationships, friendships, and partnerships can develop, which often results in those two very different spheres of living coming together - which can be tough to navigate. Write about a time when your character's world met up with another's, and how they reacted. Week of 10/31/2012 Food - Everyone has to eat, and food is a major part of many cultures. It's part of your heritage and the memories you have of your family and friends. In a diverse galaxy, there are thousands of different things to eat and ways to prepare them, as well as traditions and customs involving food. Write about your characters' experiences in those realms. Loneliness and Solitude - Our characters end up with crews of interesting folks, but that doesn't mean they never feel lonely. When you're up against some of the biggest forces in the galaxy, it's hard not to feel alone. That said, sometimes being alone is a blessing - some well-deserved solitude is a wonderful thing when you need it. Write about a time in which your character felt lonely - or when they finally got some time to themselves. Week of 11/7/2012 Seasons - In space there are no seasons. But in a galaxy of thousands of worlds, it's every possible season at once, and not just the four temperature-variation ones. Write about some of the seasons your characters have experienced. Tools of the Trade - We all use tools in our everyday lives, whether it be a skill like one's persuasive powers, equipment like one's weaponry, or the right bit of knowhow to solve the problem without the need for that weaponry. Write about the tools that your characters depend on...or the ones they avoid using. Week of 11/14/2012 Deadly Sins - Everyone struggles with one of them at some point: wrath, pride, envy, lust, gluttony, greed, and sloth. Sometimes they spur us on to do good things. Other times, they hurt us and others. Write about your characters' struggles with the worst sins of them all. Seven Virtues - We're not just sinners, here. We all have our virtuous sides too, and many of our characters take one or more of the traditional "seven virtues" to heart: wisdom, justice, restraint, courage, faith, hope, and charity. Write about a time in which your characters embraced one or more of these virtues and how it affected them. Week of 11/21/2012 Home Ec - Our ships and everyday living arrangements have to keep running somehow. Maybe a slave or ship's droid handles it all for you; maybe...not so much. How do your characters manage cooking, cleaning, budgeting, ship maintenance, appliance repair, and more? Do the Math - On a more abstract level, tons of things in life can be reduced to, or perhaps just unhelpfully compared to, the math that rules our worlds. Write about your characters or things in their lives adding, subtracting, dividing, or multiplying. Or do they ever have to integrate? Or deal with binary logic? Or try to keep a limit on their eccentricity? Or handle something that's just...odd? Write about it! (Somewhat off-the-wall, but I hope y'all find something fun to play with in there, not necessarily strictly math-rigorous!) Week of 11/30/2012 I Love This Bar - We all do our time in the watering holes of the galaxy. What's your character's favorite memory of things seen, heard, done, purchased, insinuated, shot, kissed, imbibed, discombobulated, or otherwise rendered memorable in a cantina? Night of the Living Prompt - Remember all those ideas or half-finished scraps you had for earlier prompts? You know how it feels way too late to post it now? Resurrect your favorite prompt - let us know which it is! - and give us a story! (Kudos to kabeone for maintaining the master prompt list!) Week of 12/7/2012 As Time Goes By - No matter where you are in your character's story they are probably quite different from when they started. Maybe some are ready to settle down and others are starting to feel the passage of time. (All that Force leaping can't be good for the knees!) Has your character noticed any changes or have they stayed the same while others changed around them? Tell us about it. Week of 12/14/2012 First Day on the Job - Some of our characters have very long, very colorful employment histories. Others picked a job or had it picked for them when they were very young. Pick one of the jobs your character has held and describe the day they came to it. Loyalty and Betrayal - Two loaded words that can have major impacts on a person's life. Which characters of yours always follow orders? Which never compromise in loyalty to their friends or cause? How do your companions (not just that one) deal with challenges to their loyalties? Week of 12/21/2012 Laws and Governance - Our characters pass through a huge number of jurisdictions with a huge variety of regulations, forms of government, fine print, and - eek - legal penalties. Write about an interaction your character has had with government and/or the legal system. Failure - Our characters have flaws. They have bad days. They do it wrong. And sometimes they don't win. What failures have your characters experienced? What, if anything, did they learn from it? Week of 12/28/2012 Alternate Perspectives - Something a little different, most of the time we tell a story from a single character's perspective. But what were other characters thinking at the time? Rewrite one of your past pieces from another character's perspective or write a new fic from two characters perspectives. Use any prompt or just make something up. Week of 1/4/2013 Stomping Grounds - Our characters all have favorite places. Somewhere they grew up, somewhere they spent a lot of time, someplace that feels like home or might as well be. Someplace they’d rather be any day of the week. Somewhere they dream of when things go wrong. Tell us about your character’s favorite stomping ground. Week of 1/11/2013 Goals and Ambitions - Everybody has something they dream of, something they're working for in the future. For a lot of our characters it's a defining part of who they are. What are those goals? Who do our characters want to be? Behind the Scenes - Things aren't always as they seem, some events never look obvious, and wherever there's a curtain there may well be a man behind it. Write about what's really going on behind the scenes of your character's story. Week of 1/18/2013 The Story So Far - Let's step back for a moment to consider our universes. Write a summary for your characters, storyline, or entire universe as you would introduce them to a beginner. Week of 1/25/2013 Legacy - Legacy is an important part of the game, and a running theme throughout several of the stories. Is your character a part of a particular legacy, be it of family or ideology? What does your character want to leave behind when they're gone? Backfired Plans - ported from the AU thread. No good deed goes unpunished, and sometimes blessings come in disguise. What if something meant for good had bad effects, or vice versa? Week of 2/1/2013 LF1M - Dating site profiles are full of the good, the bad, and the ugly. If your character got lonely and tired of his/her designated love interest, what profile would you write for them to submit to the HoloNet's matchmaking services? Week of 2/8/2013 Climate - Our characters visit a dazzling array of planets, moons, and extremely large ships with a wide variety of climates and weather conditions. Write about a time when your character had reason to notice. Week of 2/15/2013 Working Out the Kinks - When has any device, excuse, or plan ever worked on the first try? Write about a time your character's efforts met reality and didn't go as perfectly as intended. Week of 2/22/2013 Enemies, Rivals, and Nemeses - Everyone has them. Each class story hands you a number of them, and we create more in our Legacies. So, how does your character deal with his or her enemies--quick death, public humiliation, something else? What about rivals, professional or otherwise? Does your character dream of destroying them or use them as motivation to exceed? Is there a nemesis lurking in the wings somewhere? Tell us about it! Week of 3/1/2013 Mirror, Mirror - Images and reflections can tell you a lot. Sometimes they give an accurate perspective on what's going on. But sometimes they don't quite reflect the truth of things. Distorted or un-, write about mirrors, reflections, or echoes that your characters have encountered or left. The Morning After - What seems like a good idea at night may turn out to be terrible in the morning. Or the other way around. Write about the morning after some event great or small that your character has experienced. Week of 3/8/2013 Life and Death - Throughout our stories in the game, some NPCs (and some of our own OCs) died and others survived. When did a critical death - or survival - make a difference in your character's tale? Your Song - Music is a tremendous force in many cultures, human and otherwise. Some people ignore it, some listen, some create, some sing really loud in the shower. Write something involving the music in your character's life. Week of 3/15/2013 To Market, To Market - To tread close to a game mechanic, or perhaps just to enrich/contextualize what game stuff we see: The Cartel Market brings tons of unique weapons, speeders, pets, funny-looking gear, and more to our in-game characters. Do any of those items have a story? Week of 3/22/2013 Myths, Legends, and Heroes - Everyone grows up with stories. Stories of fantastic people doing amazing things and having wondrous adventures. Our characters are well on their way to becoming heroes to the following generation. So who did your character look at as a role model? Whose footsteps did they want to follow? Whose stories did they read? Whose adventures did they follow on cheesy serialized animated holoprograms? Why are they so special to your character? Oh, Well That's Awkward - The class stories are full of interesting coincidences, especially when you take all the companion stories into account. Legacies, as part of the game structure, encourage even more strange situations and relations. So, what’s something about your characters’ legacy or story that makes family get-togethers interesting. Or impossible. Or just really unlikely. Week of 3/29/2013 Hide and Seek - Sometimes our characters need to find something they just don't have. Sometimes they need to keep something hidden from somebody else. Write about a time your character was hiding, seeking, hidden, or sought. Week of 4/5/2013 April Fool! - Some of our characters and companions enjoy jokes more than others. Has your character ever played a prank or practical joke? Did it work or did it backfire? Perhaps your character is the eternal butt of someone else’s pranks. Do they get even? How? The galaxy isn’t all doom and gloom; write about about fools, jokes, and general silliness. Week of 4/12/2013 Membership - Our characters grow into and out of all kinds of clubs, orders, cults, fellowships, schools, social circles, and professional organizations. Write about your character's membership in - or exclusion from - some group. Week of 4/19/2013 Children - we've had Parenthood, now look at it from another perspective: your characters may have kids or want them. What kids do they meet? Do their kids play nice together? What do their kids want and how do your adult characters help or hinder? Groomed - Presenting oneself to the world is a complicated thing. There are soap products to select, then hair to style, shaving to do, cosmetics to apply...alternately your characters might ignore some or all of the above. Write about your character's hair and/or grooming style. Week of 4/26/2013 Head of the Class - Our characters have been to academies, universities, boot camps, and the universal school of hard knocks: as students, as teachers, or maybe as maintenance, assistant, or thief. Write about your character's education. Week of 5/3/2013 Fashion - Most of our characters wear clothes. Do they follow fashion? Set it? Actively offend it? Are they more collars and cuffs or sweats and monkey-lizard slippers? What's their favorite thing to wear, what have they saved for years even if they don't fit into it, and what would they love to wear if they could just find the occasion for it? Write about your characters' clothing and how they relate to it. Prompt courtesy of iamthehoyden. Week of 5/10/2013 Planes, Trains, and Thrantamobiles - It's a big galaxy out there and we all have to get around somehow. Our characters encounter ticketing, hyperspace calculations, docking fees, late-running rides and more on ships, banthas, landspeeders, thrantas, troop transports, tauntauns, and/or whatever improvised modes of transportation they can get. Write about your character's transportation experience. Week of 5/17/2013 Cross My Heart - Honesty isn't exactly espoused by most organizations in the galaxy, but some individuals and groups still strive for it. Write about your characters encountering (or handing out) the right or wrong truth at the right or wrong time. Week of 5/24/2013 The Droids You're Looking For - One of the hallmarks of the Star Wars universe is the presence of droids: astromech, protocol, combat, and more. Write about the droids that support (our hinder) your characters. Week of 5/31/2013 Anniversaries - In honor of the SFC reaching the one-year mark, think about Anniversaries. Some dates are remembered and celebrated; others are remembered and reviled. From the fresh anniversary of something that happened just a year ago to the enduring remembrance of holidays for cultures and nations, people often mark the date and do something to observe the occasion. Write about an anniversary or significant holiday in your character's life. Week of 6/7/2013 Defenses - Sometimes our characters defend what's theirs. Sometimes they defend the things they care about. Sometimes they're asked to defend things they really don't like. Whether in combat or conversation, write about your character's efforts to defend something or someone. Week of 6/14/2013 Mea Culpa - Our characters have probably done a lot of wrong or perceived wrong, one way or another. Sometimes they think an apology is necessary. Sometimes they really don't. Sometimes they may want to apologize even when they didn't do anything. Sometimes the wronged party accepts it; sometimes they reject it; sometimes they're not there to hear it. Write about a time when your character or someone they know was prompted to apologize. Week of 6/21/2013 Animal Kingdom - Animals are all over in Star Wars, be they beasts of burden, metal-devouring parasites, mounts, showcase pets or underfoot vermin. Write about the animals your character has encountered. Week of 6/28/2013 Gifts - Gifts serve a multitude of functions, from hospitality, diplomacy, housewarming, affection, celebration, to manipulation or poison. They can be big or small, expensive or free, expected or surprising, public or private. Write about a gift your character has given or received. Week of 7/5/2013 Navigation - Our characters often find themselves navigating toward a goal by means of maps, tracking signals, advisors, or instinct. Write about some guidance that pointed the way. Week of 7/12/2013 Collections - This wide galaxy is a great place for hoarders...or definitely not hoarders, I don't know what you're talking about. Where would your character put all the random things you can accumulate, all the speeders, random pets, the copious crafting mats, countless outfits, armor sets, saber hilts.... or does your character only collect one thing in particular, a couple of things, or nothing at all? Prompt courtesy of Kitar. Week of 7/19/2013 Vacation - Our characters have traveled hither and thither over a dozen or more planets for work, politics, personal vendettas, and more. But where do they go to relax and what do they do when they've got some time to unwind? Write about your character's vacation time. Prompt courtesy of alaurin. Week of 7/26/2013 If I were a Rich Man - Our characters come from all walks of life. Were credits just a means to an end, or did they ever dream of wealth and how they might get it? Make it on their own (legal or otherwise), inherit from family, or play the Cartel Lotto and hope? In the course of their stories they become wealthy and powerful. What do they do with all those credits? Did money buy happiness? Did they fulfill their dreams, or was their monetary success empty and hollow? Prompt courtesy of Striges. Week of 8/2/2013 Lurkers - This is your chance to get in on the fun. If you’ve been reading this thread but never posted or commented, take a chance and post something! Write on anything you like, any length, any character, original or established in game. For inspiration, visit the prompt archive, but don’t feel tied to it. Not brave enough to share? Let us know what story (or stories) or character (or characters) you liked. Page one of the thread has several indices to the stories to help you. Out of the Limelight - his is the flip side of Fame. Through the course of their stories, our characters become famous. Household names, even. Would they have prefered to stay anonymous? What things are easier when no one knows your face? How do they deal with the need for privacy? Do they ever wish they hadn’t become heroes? What made them take the plunge instead of staying safely in the background? Veteran Writers - Tell the lurkers why you chose to post. What gave you the confidence to share your fiction with the community? Week of 8/9/2013 Wishes - Wherever our characters go, whatever they do, it's likely they have an eye on something more. Some people keep their fondest wishes a secret; others announce it to the world. Some wish on a star, a falling leaf, a found coin, or other totems. Some find a way to make it happen, and some haven't quite reached it yet. Write about your character's wish. (Prompt courtesy of Eversteam.) Week of 8/16/2013 Play Within A Play - (alternately titled My Immortal) - In a world where there are people, there are stories. And where there are stories, fandoms are likely to follow. And where fandoms go...well. Do any of your characters or their companions write fiction? Imagine what they would write in the way of thinly (or not at all) veiled fanfic. What stories do your characters tell about each other? (Keep it forum friendly, of course!) (I blame this prompt on kabeone.) Paying the Piper - There might be a couple different meanings to this, but in the end nothing comes for free, and one's choices have costs and consequences. Write about a time your character had to pony up the payment...or end up on the receiving end. (Prompt courtesy of Kitar.) Week of 8/23/2013 Mysteries - There's a lot out there we don't know. There's a lot out there some of us do know and some of us don't. Our characters are faced with many mysteries, some perhaps explainable by science or the Force or another sentient's mind, some not. What mysteries have your characters come across? Are they comfortable with not knowing or do they insist on uncovering the truth? Prompt courtesy of frauzet. Week of 8/30/2013 Competition - Life is full of competitions, formal and informal, friendly and unfriendly. Whether it's with siblings, neighbors, colleagues, or strangers met at the intergalactic traffic light, it's human (sentient?) nature to find something to try to be better at. Sometimes there's a clear goal, sometimes there's not. Sometimes there are rules, sometimes there aren't, sometimes there are but nobody follows them. Sometimes there's a prize at the end, and sometimes it's just about bragging rights. Write about a competition your character has participated in – or tried to avoid. Prompt courtesy of alaurin. Week of 9/6/2013 Technology - One of the great things about sci-fi is the futuristic technology. Star Wars boasts all kinds of innovations, from droids, tracking beacons, tractor beams, super lasers, lightsabers, blasters, and omnipresent (or not?) links to the Holonet. Some technologies date from ancient races, and their secrets are forgotten; some new technologies are just in the prototyping and testing stage; some are deployed on every street corner. Write about your characters' experiences with the tech of Star Wars. Prompt courtesy of Kitar. Week of 9/13/2013 The Sure Bet - Sometimes things just fall into place, and the goal is in easy reach just an action or two away. Sometimes there's a choice between long odds and a safe bet. Or sometimes a surefire proposition walks right up and make an offer. Write about your characters' experience with a sure bet. Did it turn out the way they expected? Week of 9/20/2013 Fitness - Let's face it, the jobs and adventures our characters go through are physically punishing. How do your characters hold up? Do they specifically work out and train, or do they rely on natural prowess? Do they ever fall out of practice? How do they compare to others, or do they go out of their way to avoid comparison? Prompt courtesy of Kitar. Week of 9/27/2013 Pimpin' Threads! - This week, a special one-time offer: Many of us have written additional SWTOR fic on this forum or elsewhere involving the characters that we've introduced or mentioned here on the SFC. Here's your chance to post a link and write a description about these extended stories! Please tag nsfw links as appropriate. Week of 10/4/2013 Words, Words, Words - It’s a big galaxy, and the big galaxy hosts a lot of languages. Some people are polyglots, switching among languages easily; some have enough trouble mastering one. Sometimes whole conversations go on in a foreign language, and sometimes only critical words that resist translation are used. Write about a time that certain words proved critical for your character. Week of 10/11/2013 Irresistible Urges - Cravings can happen for lots of reasons: addiction, pregnancy, a reminder of a favorite creature comfort, or it just being 2 AM right after all the takeout places have closed. What can’t your character do without? Write about a time when cravings struck. Suggested by irishfino, iirc. Week of 10/18/2013 Advice - In a galaxy this big there are a lot of problems to solve and there’s plenty of wisdom, given and received, to help deal with it. Your character is experienced. What advice would she give a newcomer seeking to follow her footsteps? What would he tell his children? Did a mentor give good advice? A rival? Did your character follow it? Was it useful? Prompt courtesy of Striges. Week of 10/25/2013 Superstition - Both cultures and individuals can hold superstitions, little practices and beliefs that are supposed to put some spin on reality, make good luck or ill. Then again, some people say it’s all nonsense, and some even tempt fate by crossing superstitious lines. What superstitions does your character hold to? Has any experience seemed to prove or disprove the rule? Week of 11/1/2013 Goodbye - Would you believe we haven’t had this prompt yet? Goodbyes come in many forms, from the quick “see you later” of an everyday contact to permanent loss. Write about a time your character said goodbye…or couldn’t. Week of 11/8/2013 Congratulations/Awards - Sometimes everything goes right, and sometimes our characters are recognized for it. Write about a time your character received an award or congratulations. Do they feel they earned it? Did it make a positive difference for others? Week of 11/15/2013 House of Something - The many and various worlds of Star Wars have many and various buildings (or large vehicles) that reflect their builders’ culture. Sometimes the style of architecture is really striking. Sometimes it’s less interesting than the events transpiring all over it. Write something involving a building or monument your characters have encountered. Week of 11/22/2013 Thank You - Gratitude is a big thing. People give thanks for gifts, social niceties, kind words, significant favors, for being offered company or for being left alone. Sometimes there are specific holidays or times dedicated to gratitude, and sometimes it just comes up on the way. What is your character grateful for? Do they admit it? Week of 11/29/2013 Shopapalooza - Whether it’s clothes, supplies, trinkets, spaceships, or groceries, our characters shop for a lot of things. Sometimes it’s a spending spree; sometimes it’s just window-shopping for what they can’t afford. It may be in a big chain mall, a backwater planet’s marketplace, an artisan’s gallery, or the Holonet. Write about your character’s shopping experience. Week of 12/6/2013 Heritage and Antiques - Star Wars is full of special things. Old things. Things with personal meaning, things revered as holy. The lightsaber your father wanted you to have when you were old enough. Your grandmother’s silver (or silver ship) you hope one day to give to your grandchildren. The insignia of your squad’s first commander, the one whose bravery won her (or him) a medal and gave your squad its reputation. The holocron that corrupted (or redeemed) your master. What things, places, or heirlooms are special to your character? Week of 12/13/2013 Signed, Sealed, and Delivered - Our universes see a lot of contracts made, whether verbal gentlemen’s agreements, electronic documents, or witnessed formal pacts. Sometimes contracts are entered into willingly; sometimes they’re coerced. Sometimes they’re broken; sometimes they’re protected against outside challenges. Sometimes old agreements come back at an unexpected time. Write about a contract your character made or avoided. Week of 12/20/2013 Snatched from the Jaws of Defeat - Our characters get into a lot of scrapes, a lot of desperate situations. Sometimes it may look like there’s no way to win…but a surprise might be in store. Write about a time your character had a success they weren’t expecting. Week of 12/27/2013 Altered States of Mind - Unlike dreaming, some altered states of mind happen while you’re wide awake and definitely doing things that affect the real world. Lots of things may affect the consciousness, from aggression-inducing biological agents to hypnotic music to spice to plain old alcohol. Write about your character’s experience with an altered state of consciousness. Was it fun or scary? Did it lead them to do something they always wished they could? Or was it more regrettable? Week of 1/3/2014 Why Are You Still Here? - Companions are bound to you in game but your head canon may be very different. Did a companion reach the breaking point with one of your characters? Did any of them leave or even subsequently rejoin your crew? Is there a particular reason an unlikely partnership is working, or a reason that a great-on-paper partnership gets badly strained? Prompt suggested by Striges. Week of 1/10/2014 You're Invited - Last week we talked about the companions who don't make much sense on our crew. This week let's look at other characters. We meet many NPCs during the class stories, and only some of them get to join our crews. Who would you have brought if the game let you recruit anybody? What NPCs did your character connect with but had to leave behind? Did you headcanon them as companions anyway? These need not be from the class story. Pick anyone and write about why they’re on your personal version of your character’s crew. Prompt courtesy of Striges. Week of 1/17/2014 Marketing - Somebody’s always trying to sell our characters something. Ads, promotions, coupons, flashy events, and more try to attract footsteps and wallets. Sometimes our characters are trying to sell something – be it services, unwanted equipment, or a cargo hold’s worth of hot merchandise. Besides all that, somebody’s got to be the face of advertising campaigns. Sometimes the advertising is right on and sometimes it’s…exaggerated. Write about your character’s experience with marketing. Week of 1/24/2014 Synchronicity - Sometimes coincidences happen up close and sometimes they happen lightyears away. Sometimes it’s a plan clicking into place and sometimes it’s totally unintended. Sometimes it makes things seem like they’re meant to be…sometimes it makes it seem like they’re really not. Write about a time very similar events happened to your characters at the same time and possibly at a distance. Week of 1/31/2014 Boring Conversation Anyway - Our characters talk to a lot of people. Sometimes these conversations end well. Sometimes they end...less well. Conversations may culminate in agreement, anger, happiness, thoughtfulness, kisses, or bloodshed…or get cut off before any satisfying conclusion is reached. Write about the way one of your characters' conversations ended. Week of 2/7/2014 Achilles' Heel - Our characters are powerful combatants, talented tacticians, clever diplomats and all-around legendary figures. However, everybody has that one "thing" that gets to them, that hurts them, or that proves their vulnerability in some way. A fear of heights... a particularly sensitive spot or old injury... an intolerance for bright sunlight... an irrationally severe dislike of womp-rats... what's the one thing that gets to your character, even on a good day? Prompt courtesy of TrystanLaryssa. Week of 2/14/2014 Love Letters and Secret Valentines - How do our characters stay in touch with the ones they love when they are far apart? Did they write romantic messages while they were courting? Has a new companion stumbled on some cherished correspondence with an old flame? Perhaps they never worked up the courage to express their feelings except in unsent letters or anonymous notes. In a romantic mood, what would your character write and to whom? Prompt courtesy of Alaurin. Week of 2/21/2014 Where are they Now? -- As our characters move through their stories they change the lives of many others, most of whom we never see again. The Force-sensitive Flesh Raider on Tython. Seh-run, the Abyssin on Korriban. Zi’am on Hutta. Paul and his elderly parents on Ord Mantell. That's just a few examples. Whatever happened to them? Did they became stalwart allies or bitter rivals? If they died because of our character’s actions, do they have relatives looking for revenge? We often remark about how characters from early on in the stories show up later to help or hinder our characters, or how characters from different class stories make cameos in others. How about some of these forgotten ones?

Week of 2/28/2014 Inheritance -- We’ve looked at antiques and heirlooms our characters possess. We’ve looked at legacies, both as a game mechanic and as something your character hopes to leave behind. But what about things they inherit? The things that follow them whether they like it or not. A noble or reviled name? Some nebulous family curse (mother never did say what it entailed). Maybe they’re heir to a throne they don’t want, or were passed over for one they desperately did. Perhaps it’s the family farm, the family business, or perhaps it’s literally nothing at all. What sorts of things or have your characters inherited, and how did they deal with them? Prompt courtesy of LaxKnight.

Week of 3/7/2014 Why They Fight--and Why They Don’t -- Characters manage to get into all kinds of altercations, large and small. Fights. But why? Not the easy answers: for the Empire, for the Republic, for family or the Force or bad luck any of the other reasons they might give to themselves or others. Why does your character choose to fight? Under what circumstances do they choose violence as a solution, and where do they draw the line? Even the cowards and the pacifists have reasons for their choices, and borders they will not cross. Explore it. Prompt and link courtesy of Kabeone. For a more complete essay, read Why We Fight by Michi on tumblr. Week of 3/14/2014 Life has no Reset Button -- Your character makes decisions every day, from minor ones, like what to wear, to vital important ones that change lives. Whether to capture or kill a prisoner. To stay with a partner or break up. To follow an order or disobey. They do the best they can under pressure and with limited information. What choices do they regret? Which ones might they do differently, now that they’ve had time to reflect? Would they make the same choice, knowing the consequences? Or are they even more sure now that they made the right decision? Week of 3/21/2014 This week, another prompt in two parts: Part One: Luminous Beings We Are -- Life is bound up, figuratively and literally, with light. Whether it's the physical study, the Light Side, or the dawning at the most unexpected times, we may find light altering the living space, illustrating the spirit, or showing the way. Write about your character's interaction with light. Prompt courtesy of BrightEphemera. *Sneak preview for next week: Darkness! Week of 3/28/2014 Forever Will It Dominate Your Destiny - On the other hand, darkness is the figurative and literal opposite and complement to light. Whether it's the physical state, the Dark Side, or some kind of ignorance, we may find darkness concealing what we need, dirtying what it touches, or hiding on the unexpected flip side of something. Write about your character's interaction with darkness. Thank you, BrightEphemera, for this pair of prompts. Week of 4/4/14 Passing On - “How we face death is at least as important as how we face life.” No one is truly immortal. Even those who have conquered aging and disease still have to deal with the inevitable dangers of combat and the perils of an adventuring life. What happens when death finally catches up with your character? Maybe a near miss gives her pause, an unwelcome reminder of mortality. Does he go out with a bang, a whimper, or quietly in his sleep? What happens to the ones left behind? This prompt courtesy of Mirdthestrill. (Quote courtesy Star Trek 2, The Wrath of Khan, at the risk of crossing fandom streams and interrupting The Princess Bride. It seems I picked the wrong movie to quote this week.) Week of 4/11/14 Laughing Fit- Humor is universal and yet also individual. What leaves one person in stitches falls flat for another for reasons of cultural or personal experience. Everyone’s funny bone is a little different. What about your characters? What makes them laugh? Do they have favorite comedians? Favorite parodies? Farce? Cat videos? There’s plenty of humor in everyday things as well. Maybe an amusing juxtaposition of events sets them off, a misspelled or misread sign, or a companion taking a pratfall. Write about a time when your character couldn’t stop laughing. Prompt suggested by Frauzet for Alaurin, who needs some laughter this week. Week of 4/18/2014 ...And Taxes- It’s said that death and taxes are the only certainties. We covered death in a recent prompt, so how about taxes? Both the Empire and Republic are huge, with countless fees, license requirements, and just plain old taxes. Hutt space is independant, but it still has to run. Does your character accept taxes as part of the cost of doing business, find ways to minimize the bill, or skip it altogether and hope no one notices? Write about your character’s encounters with taxes, fees, tariffs, and other means of government fund-raising. Week of 4/25/2014 Bushido - The seven classic Western virtues--see this week’s NotLP--are very individual-oriented. By contrast, the Bushido code stresses community and interaction: Rectitude (gi, righteousness or justice), Courage (yuu), Benevolence (jin), Respect (rei), Honesty (makoto), Honor (meiyo), and Loyalty (chuugi). Write about the presence or absence of bushido virtues in your characters' lives. Thank you, BrightEphemera, for this prompt idea. Week of 5/2/2014 Tests and Examinations - Tests are almost as pervasive as credits: Jedi or Sith trials, ship or vehicle operator’s license exams, weapons certifications, advanced intelligence analysis, basic maths. What kind of tests has your character taken? Did she prepare well or wing it? Pass or fail? What about retakes? Write about your character getting through some of the various testing and certifications he’s encountered. Week of 5/9/2014 Miracles and Wondrous Things - Star Wars is a universe with amazing high technology and an equally amazing mystical Force. Is there room between these two for a miracle? How would your character explain what defies explanation? Has he ever had to? What would she say to someone who disagrees? This prompt courtesy of Frauzet. Thanks, Frauzet! Week of 5/16/2014 Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be. Whether borrowing money, your sister's clothes, your mother’s starship, or living on borrowed time, everyone borrows things. What happened when your character did? Did he lose it? Break it? Have a heck of a time giving it back in one piece? Or was your character the lender? Was the item ever returned or the credits paid back? What kind of condition was it in? Write about a time your character borrowed or lent out something. Prompt courtesy of Mirdthestrill. Week of 5/23/2014 Obsession: Everyone has interests. Occasionally, they devolve into fandom, or even obsession. What things obsess your character? Is it a favorite holoshow? A musical group? Perhaps swoop racing or huttball? Maybe something more esoteric--akk dog breeding, archaeology, perfume making, fine-tuning hyperdrive engines, or something else. Love feels a lot like obsession in the early infatuation stage. Or might it be a true obsession: intrusive thoughts or actions your character can’t ignore. Write about some of them and how they affect your character. Week of 5/30/2014 HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY SFC!!! Monuments: Beings everywhere create monuments. They can be statues or walls or great tomes or endowments to museums. Made to heroes, to wars, to governments, to benefactors, to saints, or even stupidity. They may be ancient or recent or forgotten. They may be revered or reviled, or maybe even both at once. Perhaps monuments to your character, desired or not, known or not. Write about your character’s interactions with monuments. Or: Serendipity: Merriam-Webster defines serendipity as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; also : an instance of this.” For many, stumbling on this thread was an instance of serendipity. Not all surprises are bad, and sometimes good things happen when you least expect it. When has your character experienced serendipity? Week of 6/6/2014 Something Borrowed-writers find inspiration everywhere, sometimes in other people’s fic. Not necessarily characters, though we had a prompt for that, too. Sometimes it’s a scene or a description, a side character or a setting. The name of a bureau, what the hyperspace vortex looks like, a slogan, or something else! We’ve been host to a number of collaborations recently, so let’s make it official. Write your story and be sure to note what you borrowed and from whom. Add a link to your inspiration if you can. Week of 6/13/2014 The Sounds of Silence-Tell a story without dialogue. Perhaps the characters are cannot speak or choose not to. Maybe the characters are incapable of speech. Maybe communications are cut off. Thoughts don’t count unless they’re audible in some way, and while journal entries or written correspondence fit the letter, they miss the spirit. Challenge yourself! Week of 6/20/2014 Background Music and Leitmotif: Imagine Darth Vader’s entrance without the Imperial March. It’s hard. His music is as much a part of his character as his black cloak and mask. Many writers have playlists for their stories, or at least particular songs that apply to certain characters or situations, or that help evoke a character or a sense of place as they write. This week’s challenge: Write a story and link the background music that goes with it, or a story centered on your character and link their leitmotif. Prompt courtesy of Mirdthestrill. Week of 6/27/2014 A Punny Story:-Often derided as the lowest form of wit, some of our most respected writers --like Shakespeare and Alfred Hitchcock--adored puns. Making and understanding puns requires a large vocabulary, a vital thing for writers. This week’s challenge: write a pun story; a story that exists for the sole purpose of setting up a pun. See this TVTropes link for some examples (click at your own risk), a wonderful music related one here by Peter Schickele (the story begins at 4:48, but the intro is totally worth it). Sadly, puns rarely translate well outside their native language. Regardless, if your story ends in a non-English pun, please include both the original and a translation/explanation. Week of 7/4/2014 Dialect and Accent: Everyone has one whether you're aware of it or not. Your words and how you say them reveal a lot about where you were born, where you grew up, what you like to read, or where and how you learned another language. What do your character's word choices tell about them? Does it mark them as ruling class, streetwise, coreward, rimward, immigrant, outsider, insider, or something else? Do they try to hide their unique pronunciation or revel in it? A source of shame or pride? Are they right and everyone else talks funny? Explore it! Week of 7/11/2014 A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Pictures can also provide inspiration. A photograph, professional or otherwise, a scene in a movie, a well-known painting, a screenshot, a character portrait, if you’re lucky enough to have one. Write the “thousand words” (figuratively) behind the picture and share both if you can. Prompt courtesy of Jokad via the SWTOR forums. Week of 7/18/2014 There's No "I" in Team: As you play you pick up companions aplenty, maybe make friends in groups, and head-canon a lot of NPC involvement in your personal story. Over time, you wind up developing a team of players who work together in some fashion. Without that team, your character would never have the level of success they've achieved. Write about either how your team learned to mesh with each other, how they function as a unit now, or how they bond in the aftermath of a mission. Prompt courtesy of SillyMonkey71 via Tumblr. Week of 7/25/2014 Out of Time: Often, there seems not enough time in a day to get done what we need or want to do. Time management gurus to the contrary, sometimes there’s just too much going on. What about your characters? Everyone has to prioritize and has different reasons for setting priorities as they do. In fiction you can avoid all schedule conflicts, but where’s the fun in that? Write about a time your character had to make a choice about what gets done and what gets left for later, or not done at all. This prompt courtesy (in a roundabout way) of BrightEphemera. Week of 8/1/2014 Missing Something: We have things we’re good at and things we’re not. What happens to your character when something they rely on is suddenly useless or unavailable? The obvious is if your Jedi or Sith cannot call on the Force for some reason. But what about a sniper without their trusty rifle, a smuggler without their contacts, or a trooper without their squad? How did it happen? What does your character do? Week of 8/8/2014 Recurring Events: The rakghoul event is in full swing again. What other kinds of things happen to your character on a regular basis? Hyperdrive not working? Lightsaber lost? Ship stolen? Escape in the nick of time? Maybe something more prosaic, like problems with laundry. Give us a peek into one of those ongoing things your character deals with. Week of 8/15/2014 A Matter of Public Record: Every character is a wealth of information, and it's probably to someone’s advantage to know it. Everything from basic information like name, species, and gender, to more specific things, like school records, close relatives, or their favorite snack food. So what do they know about your character? What's on their public record and is any of it accurate? Has it been changed, erased, or confused with someone else’s? Who might want to know? Why? Week of 8/22/2014 Coming Home: With the advent of strongholds, what or where does your character consider home? Do they have an apartment on Coruscant, a stronghold in the wilds of Dromund Kaas, a sky palace on Nar Shaddaa? Is their ship their home, wherever it travels? Maybe home is more about the beings they’re with--their squad, their crew, their companions. We had a prompt for “Stomping Grounds,” which was more nostalgia, a childhood or imagined home. This is more at the present. At the end of the day, where does your character come home? Week of 8/29/2014 Can’t Get There From Here: Travel--or any plan--doesn’t always go smoothly. There are delays, changes in schedules, barriers blocking the way. What does your character do when their usual route is impassable? Do they follow the detour signs? Do they know--or think they know--a much better alternative route? What happens? Thanks to Frauzet for this prompt. Week of 9/5/2014 Downtime: Our characters have plenty of responsibilities. But what do they do when there’s nothing pressing? What fills those little spaces between committee meetings, the time between jobs or assignments, the days in hyperspace en route to the next big crisis? We’ve looked at both hobbies and vacations, let’s take a look at something a little less organized. How does your character fill their downtime? Prompt suggested by DoctorToDannyBoy. Week of 9/12/2014 Another Day on the Job: Our characters lead pretty interesting lives. Things they consider routine are anything but. So what does one of those days look like? What’s a regular day in the life of a special-forces trooper or Dark Council member? What problems do they face on a day-to-day basis? What unique occupational hazards do they avoid--or what perks do they enjoy? Even an ordinary day for your character is bound to be extraordinary in some way. Write about it. Week of 9/19/2014 Fish Out of Water: No one fits in everywhere. Even a well-travelled character, or one accustomed to shifting identities, can feel out of place. So how about yours? When has your character been in a truly alien, uncomfortable situation? Why were they so far out of their comfort zone? Did they wander into the wrong neighborhood? Did they miss important social cues or misinterpret what they saw? Write about a time when your character was the fish out of water. Week of 9/26/2014 Words of Wisdom: We’ve explored mentors and teachers and learning and advice. Now specifically: what words of wisdom did your character take to heart? Was there a particular quote he or she remembers? Why was it important? Because it proved true or was so abjectly wrong? Was it an intentional statement, or an offhand remark they’d be surprised anyone remembers? Write about it and why it’s important to your character. Week of 10/3/2014 Description: In the Short Fiction Weekly Challenge, we generally leap right into our characters, relying on quick sketches and familiarity to carry a reader. After all, that's how short stories usually work. How about we take a step back and really describe a character. How do they look? What kind of mannerisms do they have that a casual observer might notice? How do they dress? Go nuts giving a detailed description of what you'd see, looking at one or more of your characters. Week of 10/10/2014 Crossovers and Mashups: Imagine Captain America in the Clone Wars (Captain Republic and the Howling Commandos! Captain Empire!). Or the adventures of Han Solo, dashing rogue, and his best friend Chewbacca the genius-inventor-gorilla in a steampunk galaxy far far away. Padmé as Sleeping Beauty. Star Wars, the soap opera. Star Wars itself is a hodgepodge of bits and influences from ancient mythology, old-time serials, modern sci-fi, and everything in between. Explore some crossovers with other properties or genres and either OCs or canon characters. Week of 10/17/2014 Writer’s Revenge!: “Do not annoy a writer. They may put you in a book and kill you.” When looking for inspiration for a minor or background character, or even an important adversary, why not borrow the aggravating habits of someone familiar to you? The chatterbox co-worker who can’t stop telling stories--but none of them are interesting. The neighbor whose garage band meets daily--and loudly--at six in the morning. This week, take the best revenge on someone who irritates you: make them a character in a story. Death, of course, is optional. Have fun! Week of 10/24/2014 Write a Theme: Star Wars is unusual in its almost universal appeal, and much of its success has been attributed to the Lucas’ incorporation of universal mythological themes in the story. Good stories (and modern myths) often have these kinds of themes tying the narrative together. The fall from grace, the epic journey, love conquers all, finding hidden treasures, discovering inner strength. What recurring themes weave through your characters’ stories? Sometimes these ideas aren’t obvious at the outset, but become so as you write or review previous stories. This week’s challenge: pick one specific to your character and write a story featuring it. Week of 10/31/2014 Breaking the Fourth Wall: Addressing the Audience: Characters aren’t supposed to acknowledge their audience. Suppose they did? How would they speak to all those who’ve been reading and enjoying their adventures? What might they say to the complainers? Addressing the Creator: If your character could say something about their writer, what would it be? Would they complain about something? Take the opportunity to give you a piece of their minds? Maybe ask for a favor? Or would they be grateful and thank you? This one’s a lot more meta than we usually explore; roll with it and have fun. Week of 11/7/2014 That Didn’t Happen!: Or, alternately, It Didn’t Happen That Way! Whether you follow the class and planet stories in your fic or consider them more of a springboard, the dialogue wheel still helps tease out your character’s motivations and actions. And then, there are those other times. When none of the options are in-character. No matter how many times you exit out of a scene, what combination of responses you pick, there’s no way your character would act like that. This week’s challenge is to choose one of those moments and write what really happened. Inspired by Striges' own recent experience with a Bounty Hunter quest. Week of 11/14/2014 Exactly as Planned: Last week, the challenge was to rewrite an in-game event that your character would never do. This week, it’s the opposite. Were there any quests--class or otherwise--that fit your character’s story perfectly? Maybe something happened during combat or while exploring. Flashpoints? Even a bug, glitch, or mistake can become part of your character’s story. How did that go down? Write a story about a canon event that really is part of your character’s personal canon. Week of 11/21/2014 Weapon of Choice: Ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster: What weapons does your character favor? Is she a traditionalist or does she prefer the new hotness? Does he choose something typical for his class, role, or species, or something wildly different and unexpected? Why? From Corso’s Torchy to Lord Zash’s first saber, weapons play an important role in your character's story. Take a moment and share it. Week of 11/28/2014 Traditions: Everyone has traditions. Family, cultural, or personal. Some we keep out of habit or societal pressure, others because they hold special meaning. What about your characters? What traditions do they follow? Why? Something as complicated as an elaborate religious festival, or as simple as shredding every completed contract? Maybe your character specifically avoids certain traditions they grew up with. Or adopted new ones from an alien culture. Whatever the case, there's a story in it. Week of 12/5/2014 First Impressions--of someone else: Our characters encounter many others during the course of their stories. Some become strong allies, loyal companions. Others implacable enemies. Some end up just plain useless. Still, it’s hard to size up someone in a glance. Write about your character’s initial encounter with someone who becomes important later in their story. Week of 12/12/2014 Tall tales and exaggeration: Our characters’ adventures are exciting enough, but even the most entertaining true tale gets better with a little embellishment. Has your character ever improved on the original events for cantina entertainment? Or to impress someone? Enhanced their reputation by bending the facts a little? A lot? Or has someone else on their behalf? Is it odd overhearing someone else telling stories about them? Are the tales even a little bit true by the time they come back? This week, let’s have some boasting, aggrandizement, and hyperbole. Week of 12/19/2014 A Good Villain: Every hero needs an antagonist, someone who thwarts them at every turn. This week’s challenge: write a story centered on your character’s main villain. This might be an enemy the game made for your character or one you invented in your character’s story, but either way, this is their time in the sun. Make it good. Or bad, as the case may be. Week of 12/26/2014 Parties: Every culture has social functions. For celebrating holidays, for marking special occasions, for fun. What does your character think of them? Are they an avid participant or a wallflower? Throw their own party at the drop of a hat, or have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to a not-exactly-optional affair? Arrive early and stay late, or put in a brief appearance and slip away as soon as possible? Are the parties they host the place to be seen, the talk of the town, where anyone who is anyone simply has to be? Or are they low key, private, and invitation only? What about crashing a party--or dealing with the crashers? A combination of any and all these things? In this week of celebrations of various kinds, write about your character’s social scene. Week of 1/2/2015 Resolutions: Has your character ever resolved to change a bad habit or start a better one? What prompted the impulse? Did they make a private vow or did they enlist the help of friends or family? Were they successful? Or did they slip back into old ways after a while? For this New Year Week, write about your character and resolutions. Week of 1/9/2015 Baggage: “What’s in there?” “Only what you take with you.” What kind of baggage does your character carry with them from early experiences? Good or bad. Are they mistrustful because someone took advantage of them? Insecure because of past criticism? Confident because they've overcome obstacles? Sure of their destiny- or afraid of their fate? The past shapes your character's present. Tell a story about how or why. Week of 1/16/2015 Colors: Republic Blue. Empire Red. Sith Black. Jedi Brown. We associate nations, religions, companies, families, and even emotions with certain colors. What about your character? Do they have a favorite color? Do colors mean much to them? Do they abide by the color conventions for their affiliations? Or do they choose something different because they prefer it? Why? This week, write about how your character navigates the visual spectrum. Week of 1/23/2015 Lifespan: A human in the Star Wars universe might easily live to 100 standard years. Wookiees live four times as long. Chiss, on the other hand, typically reach only 80, and Talz are luck to get to fifty. In a galaxy where beings of such differing lifespan can meet, interact, become friends, enemies, partners, or more, how do they deal with the knowledge that one of the pair will outlive the other? Perhaps by a significant amount? Does your character accept their (or a loved one’s) natural span or desire more? Were they reckless in their youth and less so in age, or the reverse? The Force is known to prolong lives--perhaps even to immortality or near-immortality. How does a character plan for that? This week, write about how your character approaches differences in expected lifespan. **Many thanks to Bright_ephemera for this handy Species Lifespan Chart! Week of 1/30/2015 Pick-up lines: Use them? Been used on? Turned down? Accepted? Laughed at? Good ones, bad ones, sincere or stupid and everything in between. Write about how your character deals with a classic (if dubious) way to connect with someone else. Week of 2/6/2015 Religious differences: Unlike most science fiction/space opera, Star Wars and SWTOR put religion and belief front and center. Jedi and Sith are the most obvious conflicting ideologies, but they are not alone. The Witches of Dathomir. The Trandoshan Scorekeeper. Voss' Mystics and the opposing Gormak Shaman. A quick perusal of Wookieepedia will find even more. How does your character view all these belief systems? Do they subscribe to any of them? None? How do they reconcile the differences among them? In a universe where the Force is undeniably real, where it inspires both hope and horror, what does your character think of those "hokey religions" and "sorcerer's ways"? Week of 2/13/2015 Cupid’s Arrow: According to legend, any heart pierced by Cupid’s golden-tipped arrow--human or deity alike--filled with uncontrollable, all-consuming desire. Classic love at first sight. But Cupid’s quiver also contained lead-tipped arrows with the opposite effect: provoking disdain and aversion. Has either arrow ever wounded your character? Or perhaps one of their close associates? An object of affection? Cupid’s influence covers the gamut of passions--from the sensual to unrequited all the way to bitter animosity. Tell a story where your character experiences irrational love or irrational hate. Or both. Week of 2/20/2015 Preparation: How does your character approach a competition, a blind date, or a delicate mission? Are they a meticulous planner? The one who has contingencies for the contingencies? Rehearsing their lines or moves until they can do them asleep? Or are they more of a “never tell me the odds” sort, walking in with an outline--if that--and winging it? Whether gathering intel and supplies or getting into the proper mental state, show your character getting ready. Week of 2/27/2015 Good/Bad Habits- We're all creatures of habit, whether it be actions (speaking before thinking, gambling, looking for all exits whenever entering a room), rituals (sleeping in the buff, wearing a particular color/article of clothing for luck), or substance use (caf, stims, alcohol, spice). Write about a habit your character has. Thanks to Alaurin for this prompt! Week of 3/6/2015 Propaganda: Regardless of their affiliations, it’s inevitable your character encountered propaganda or disinformation of some sort. Did they recognize it at the time? Later? Not at all? Did they challenge it or write it off as ridiculous? Were they offended? Shocked? Some classes--Agent and Trooper come to mind--might even be active participants. Write a story about your character and questionable official truth. Week of 3/13/2015 Who?: Remember that character? That original character? You know the one. The one you wrote a story for or maybe several and then petered out? That one. This week, resurrect them. We had “Night of the Living Dead” for prompts, this time, it’s Night of the Living Dead character. Pick any prompt and give a patiently waiting character a story. Week of 3/20/2015 What About That Guy?: Stories usually concern major characters. Sometimes the main plot is from the game, sometimes not. Regardless, stories also contain a number of incidental characters and minor plots as well. The guard at the door, the customs official who broke up the fight, a convenient corpse, the character (probably in a red shirt) who dies in the first scene to prove the situation is serious. Not to mention why was there a guard, how did the fight start, where did the corpse come from, what made the situation serious. Every story has places to explore behind the scenes. This week, pick one of your favorite works and fill in one or more of those spaces. (This prompt suggested by Feldraeth) (apologies to Galaxy Quest’s Crewman #6) Week of 3/27/2015 Incongruity--A wookie with curlers, troopers in armor dancing to a popular tune, a toddler with a lightsaber. Some things just don’t seem to go together. The result may be funny or tragic. When has your character encountered incongruous things or odd juxtapositions? Week of 4/3/2015 Japes, Satire, and Parody: Beings of every kind tell jokes, often about each other. What about your character? Do they delight in mocking those who desperately deserve it? Maybe they’ve been the butt of someone else’s spoof. Or perhaps they just enjoy seeing authority taken down a few pegs. This week, have a little fun at the expense of your character, their friends, or enemies. Week of 4/10/2015 Mistaken Identity: A classic literary device employed in drama and comedy alike. Has your character ever been mistaken for someone else? Have they made an error about another’s identity? What happened? Did hilarity ensue, or was it a more serious situation? Week of 4/17/2015 Paranoia: “Is it paranoia when they really are out to get you?”-- every Agent ever, and a healthy number of Sith besides. So how about your character? Are they reasonably cautious, just planning for the worst, or outright paranoid? Or is everyone really out to get them? Thanks to Frauzet for this prompt. (And credit to Joseph Heller for the paraphrased quote) Week of 4/24/2015 Scent: Humans as a species aren’t known for having a particularly good sense of smell. Despite this, perfumes and scents are incredibly popular, either to hide, replace, or enhance natural odors on both their person and possessions. Does your character care? Do they have a favorite scent? A soap, a perfume, an incense? Do their species’ preferred fragrances turn off others--or smell really good? How do their companions (some of whom may have better olfactory abilities) deal with the profusion of clashing or complementing scents? Or do they prefer your character au naturel? Credit to Alaurin’s story for inspiring this prompt. Week of 5/1/2015 Dance: We’ve had music prompts before, but what about dance? Whether formal or informal, group, alone, or in pairs, most cultures accompany music with dance. How does your character relate? Do they sit on the sidelines watching others or do they command the attention of all on the floor? It’s May Day! Write a story about your character and how they dance, even if it’s with two left feet. Week of 5/8/2015 Over Your Head- Interesting stories happen when your character is least expecting it, and least prepared. Maybe they misread the situation. Maybe their information was incorrect or incomplete. Perhaps an enemy (or friend!) arranged the whole thing. Or maybe they stumbled into the villain's lair on accident. Maybe the villains stumbled into theirs! What do they do? How does your character handle being in over their head? Week of 5/15/2015 Ships that Pass in the Night: Sometimes, two important characters miss each other completely. Perhaps they’re actively avoiding each other: hiding, in disguise, or incognito. They might notice one another, but without recognition. Perhaps their circles are so different they don’t realize who they've seen. Maybe they don't even do that much, passing like ships in the night. This week, write about the encounter that might have happened, but didn't. Week of 5/22/2015 You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Every character wants something. It might be tangible: food, money, an ancient artifact. It could be intangible: respect, success, fame or infamy. Often, their entire story is the pursuit of their desire. But something always gets in the way. What happens when something or someone thwarts your character? Gets in between your character and what they want? How do they deal with it? Week of 5/29/2015 Lost and Found--Characters lose things: keys, rings, treasures, friends, their way. They find things too: rings (again), companions, their courage. This week, write about what your character has lost, or what they found. Or both. Week of 6/5/2015 Happy 3rd Birthday SFC!!! Milestones:Milestones are more personal than Rites of Passage or Turning Points, both previous prompts. It's something significant for your character, something they might mark, independant of holidays, formal anniversaries, or rituals. The day your character finally paid off a loan--or the day they took one out to finance their dream. The first time your character felt like they belonged among their peers--or when they realized they never would. Their last drink, their first dance, moving out, moving on. Tell a story about your character reaching or remembering a personal milestone. Mixed Doubles: Combine any two prompts you like and write a story! For added fun, choose randomly. Three years of prompts means more than 150 prompts to pick from. Week of 6/12/2015 You Were The Chosen One! Or Were You?: Game stories often cast your character as The Chosen One, the One destined to Fix All The Problems. But not every character fits that trope, and not every one should. Does yours? Or not? Emphatically not? Or maybe they are, but not in the way anyone hoped. Bringing balance to the Force by reducing its practitioners to two Dark and Two Light certainly fulfils the prophecy, but probably wasn't what Yoda expected. Where does your character fall on the Chosen One continuum? Express it in a story. Week of 6/19/2015 Best Buddies: Does your character have a best friend? The one they’d like to hang out with just for fun, whether fun is cross-country skiing on Hoth or downing shots in a Nar Shaddaa Huttball cantina? The person who completed their sentences long before they met their significant other? Maybe became their significant other? Did your character stay in touch? Have they grown apart or away, the friendship almost remembered, but not quite important enough to restart? This week, write about your character being with, losing, forgetting, or reconnecting with their best buddy. Week of 6/26/2015 I Dare You!: Few phrases in the English language have gotten people into more trouble, except possibly “Hey watch this!” So how about your character? Do they feel obliged to accept any dare? Do they dare others? Or do they regard the whole concept as ridiculous, an excuse to overrule common sense in exchange for a fleeting moment of acceptance or popularity? I dare you to write about it. Week of 7/3/2015 Sight: Humans are a visually-oriented species, so sight is one of the easiest senses to evoke in a story and most writers use it automatically. We describe how a room looks or our character’s physical appearance. We tell the reader what our character sees. It is the most basic scene setting tool. This week’s challenge: make the character’s vision a central part of your story. Having trouble? Take it away. Maybe it’s too dark to see. Maybe they’re temporarily blinded. Maybe they’ve always been blind. Experiment! Week of 7/10/2015 Sound--Sound is the second most often used descriptor. At the most basic level there is spoken dialogue or ambient sounds. Beyond that, a character may have a distinctive quality to their voice: nasal, raspy, or with a peculiar accent. Maybe they yell. Maybe they whisper. Ambient sounds might be soothing--a waterfall, soft music, leaves fluttering in a gentle breeze. They might be loud--machinery, nearby traffic, raucous neighbors. Used well, sounds tell the reader about the setting and the characters without the writer spelling it out. This week, try to use sound in a creative way. Week of 7/17/2015 What an Incredible Smell You’ve Discovered!-Sense of smell. In the real world, scent can conjure up some of the most vivid memories and strong associations. It adds a dimension of realism to descriptions. At the same time it’s a very difficult sense to evoke in text. This week’s challenge is to make a scent important in your story, as well as doing your best to help the reader imagine it. It might be a perfume; an aroma specific to a place, thing, or event (pleasant or otherwise); or something with significance to your character. Some species or characters might be more aware of or sensitive to smells than others. Experiment! Week of 7/24/2015 Blech!--How you Get So Big Eating Food of This Kind? Sense of Taste: Taste is almost as difficult to evoke as smell, and just as subjective. A pleasant flavor for one character might be revolting to another. While this prompt ties to food, taste can also include medicine or even objects. Look beyond the obvious and try to use the sense of taste in a story this week. Week of 7/31/2015 It Doesn’t Feel Like Rock: Sense of Touch: Touch is a bit easier to evoke than smell or taste, but it’s often overlooked when setting a scene. Touch is a basic sense and every part of the body can experience it. How things feel help immerse a reader in your world and make it more real. Does your character’s armor fit well or does it chafe? Is the furniture smooth and well-polished, soft and padded, or rough and splintery? What was the food like--crunchy, spongy, chewy, tough, or silken? Does your character have a means of sensing or interpreting touch that is different from human? Explore it! Week of 8/7/2015 Followers, Companions and Hangers-on: Whether your character is The Chosen One or just charismatic, they’re bound to attract attention. How does this affect your character? Do they try to maintain their privacy, do they reach out to those interested in them like a group of not-very-close friends, or do they treat everyone like family? Maybe a particular follower (or group!) seeks to change the nature of their relationship with your character--wanting to become closer or move farther apart. This week, consider your character and the beings watching their adventures. Week of 8/14/2015 But I won't do that-is there a line your character won't cross ever? Some act they would never do under any circumstances? Has it been tested? Have they been dragged to and over each line step by step? Or did they hold firm? Even the bad guys have standards. What are your character’s? Week of 8/21/2015 Souvenirs: They’re everywhere. Especially at cultural or historical attractions. Models of famous buildings or statues, clothing with maps or slogans, super-slick guidebooks, posters or postcards. Things for visitors to take home. But at its heart, a souvenir is a physical reminder of another place or event. It might be Official or it might be something ordinary that reminds them of where they bought it. It might even be a scar or injury. What kind of souvenirs does your character have? How and where did they get them? Week of 8/28/2015 Distractions- Some characters are more focused than others but everyone gets distracted sometimes. It might be the garden-variety distraction--an urgent message, children, colleagues, someone who desperately needs six pig’s livers while your character is on their way to save the world. Or your character might distract themselves--endlessly exploring Encyclopedia Galactica instead of completing their research paper, or obsessing over shoe details rather than exercising. This week, write about how your character--Ooo, shiny. Week of 9/4/2015 Violence is the Only Option-When interests collide, some characters resort to violence to get what they want. Even if you want to avoid it, combat is inevitable. This week, write about a time your character has to fight with another in order to a to further their goal. Thanks to Oliverthefighter for this prompt.

Week of 9/11/2015 Change of Venue-Few characters--or stories--stay in one place. Your character moves from familiar places and things to new and strange ones. Does your character relish the excitement of change, or do they prefer the predictable? What do they do when they have to move, regardless of preference? This week, pick a new place for your character to be, or write about how they got there. Week of 9/18/2015 Fasting or Going Hungry - A character may go without food for a number of reasons: poverty, crash dieting, disciplines of faith or duty, declining weird alien food, forgetting to restock, or even forgetting to eat. What about your character? When have they experienced hunger? Was it intentional or accidental? Why? We had prompts for taste as well as favorite foods. This week, consider the opposite. Week of 9/25/2015 Looking Forward/Anticipation - There’s always something new on the horizon, be it an opportunity, an event, or even just a well-earned rest. What is your character looking forward to? What do they anticipate happening? Are they excited? Anxious? A little of both? Something else entirely? What future thing or event is your character eagerly awaiting? Week of 10/2/2015 I’ve got a bad feeling about this - Last week our characters were looking forward to something good. This week, they’re just as sure it’s going to be bad. When has your character known something wasn’t going to work out? How did they know? Past experience, premonition, general pessimism? Did events turn out as bad as they expected, or were they better? Worse? How bad were those bad feelings, and was it justified? Week of 10/9/2015 ...and counting- We’ve had prompts for math, but how about plain old counting and numbers? Does your character worry about how many ration bars they have? How many days (or weeks...or months!) since their last contract? Whether they have more artifacts than their nearest rival? Does your character have a lucky number? How do they show it? Maybe they just count their credits--but not before they’re in hand. Week of 10/16/2015 Promises - It seems like such a small social contract, but a promise can be a big deal. It might be a promise to a child for a treat, to communicate with a loved one on a regular basis, or to keep a secret--state or personal. How about your character? What promises have they made? Have they kept them? Did another character break a promise to your character? Some are quick to give their word and just as quick to break it. For others, their word is their bond and never given lightly. Week of 10/23/2015 Missing You: Your character relies on friends and companions, but they can't be there all the time. A companion takes a vacation. Maybe they had an appointment, ran an errand, or stormed off in a huff. Maybe they grew apart, took a job or a post in a faraway place. Maybe they just went to work for the day. Sometimes you don't realize how much you depend on someone until they're not there. Who does your character miss when they're gone and why? Week of 10/30/2015 Day of the Dead- celebrated in Mexico on the first and second of November, the modern Day of the Dead celebration has its roots in ancient Mesoamerican traditions. Returning spirits of the dead are welcomed and honored with food and stories. It is a happy festival, all about retaining and celebrating connections with family who have passed on and and less about mourning them. So who would your character remember and why? If, years after their death, your character’s spirit returned to their relatives for just one night, what would they find? There are story possibilities on either side of death’s gateway, find one this week. Week of 11/6/2015 Cheering Up- Into every life a little rain must fall, and our characters are no different. Who or what cheers them up when they're down? How would they help a friend with the blues? Whether as the cheer-er or the cheer-ee, write about some happy characters this week. Week of 11/13/2015 Strange Relations- Every character has an assortment of friends and companions. As writers, we usually pick types or occupations that fit logically with them. But what about an oddball? Obi-Wan Kenobi was friends with a smuggler-restaurant owner, hardly a likely pair. Who among your character's compatriots has unusual skills, occupations, or backgrounds? How did they meet and become friends? Why do they remain friendly despite obvious differences? Week of 11/20/2015 The no-win scenario - Sometimes, every choice is bad. Every option has unacceptable consequences. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Has your character faced such a situation? How did they deal with it? Did they pick the lesser of two evils or try to find a better solution? Or did they, like Kirk, cheat their way out? Do they regret their choice? Week of 11/27/2015 Insomnia - Everyone’s had a sleepless night. Maybe more than one. What about your character? Do concerns keep them awake? Are they too excited for sleep? Maybe they just chose the wrong time for a stimulant beverage. Perhaps they were so engrossed in an activity they only realized they stayed awake all night when the sun rose. A bout of insomnia could be a single event or a recurring problem. How does your character deal with being unable to sleep--assuming their species even needs to. Week of 12/4/2015 That's Cheating! - Some characters are honest and trustworthy to a fault. Others less so. The vast majority are somewhere in between. Where does your character fall? Do they play by the rules or make up their own? Have they been the victim of a cheater? At cards, a merchant, or even a relationship? Do stakes or situation matter, or will your character cheat (or not) any time? Week of 12/11/2015 The Mundane - Never mind flitting about the galaxy and fighting (or furthering) evil. How does your character handle buying supplies? Doing laundry? Repairing or replacing their gear? Homework? Housework? Reports? Letters? There's an awful lot of routine things in a hero's life that rarely make the big story. This week, pick one that should. Suggested by DoctortoDannyBoy. Week of 12/18/2015 The Times, They are a-Changin' - Even in a galaxy far far away, things change. The world, the galaxy, doesn't look the same as it did when your character was younger. How does your character feel about it? Do they take it in stride, or are they more a 'back in my day' lecturer? Was the past as good-or bad-as they remember? Or are those rose-colored glasses blinders? Week of 12/25/2015 Merry Christmas SFC! The Gift of the Magi - not the biblical reference but the short story by author O. Henry, describes gifts given out of true love and at great personal cost to the giver. Has your character given such a gift? Did the recipient appreciate it? Was your character the recipient? Did they understand the value of what they were given? Week of 1/1/2016 Happy New Year SFC!! Starting Over - Rarely, your character may get the chance to start over. To try again. Do it right this time, or at least differently. What would your character do with such an opportunity? Would they take it or are they content with their current situation? What might they pay, give up, to start over? Or have they already done so? Did it work as well as they hoped? In most cultures the new year is a time to get a fresh start. What about your character? Week of 1/8/2016 Return from Holiday - However nice the vacation, eventually your character comes back to their regular job. Is it a difficult change in mindset? Did your character leave the phone off the hook or did they check in all the time? What happened in their absence? Did everything fall apart? Did things hum along smoothly, no one noticing your character was gone? What do they find when they return? An emergency, a slow simmering crisis, or nothing at all out of the ordinary? This week, write about your character dealing with the transition from holiday to everyday. Week of 1/15/2016 Under the Weather-everyone gets sick, even the most hale and hearty character. How does yours deal with illness? Tough it out and hope no one notices? Or do they turn into a baby at the first sign of a sniffle? Whether the treatments in your world are high-tech or top out at chicken soup and herbal tea, write about your character feeling poorly. Week of 1/22/2016 Snappy Comebacks - in real life, people rarely have the perfect response to a rude question or comment. It usually occurs hours or even days after the conversation that prompted it. But fiction is different. Your character has the advantage of time-your time-to devise a fantastic zinger. This week, write about your character winning (or losing!) a verbal joust. Week of 1/29/2016 Bad luck- Sometimes things go wrong. No reason. It just happens. For some characters it's an occasional annoyance. For others, well, without bad luck they'd have none at all. Or, like Obi-Wan, your character might believe “there's no such thing as luck.” Given that for a writer, it's fun when our characters get into trouble, write about a time when things didn't go quite right for them, how they dealt with it, or how they felt about it. Week of 2/5/2016 Good Fortune- Last week we told stories about our character’s bad luck. This week, things are looking up. Maybe your character finally won the lottery, a game of poker or pazzak, or just won the flip and doesn’t have to do dishes. Maybe they found a parking meter with time left, or maybe they managed to catch the last transport off-world before the quarantine. Maybe something that looked bad on the surface turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Luck can be about big things or small. With Chinese New Year just around the corner, give your character some good fortune this week. Week of 2/12/2016 Star-Crossed Lovers - Back when most marriages were arranged, falling in love with someone wasn't always wonderful. It caused all sorts of complications. Love can be an all-consuming fire, beautiful and terrible at the same time. People in love were prone to ridiculous acts-and that hasn't changed. Cupid's golden arrow doesn't always choose a wise or appropriate match. This week, write about a time when your character or someone they care about loved not wisely, but too well. Week of 2/19/2016 Largess - A gift, usually of money, though in English the word retains its older connotations of generosity and charity. Characters often become wealthy over the course of their stories. Does yours spread the wealth or keep it for themselves? Do they make sure everyone knows all about their generosity, or are they quiet and anonymous? Maybe they were the recipient early in their careers. Did it help? Or do they see other's largess passing them by? Week of 2/26/2016 Losing Confidence - everyone has a crisis of confidence at some point. For a character, it might be a minor setback early in their story, setting them off on their path. It could occur later, where overcoming the self-imposed obstacle is the dramatic moment. Or it could even be a recurring theme throughout their story. This week, write about a time your character lost confidence in their skills or abilities, and what they did about it. Week of 3/4/2016 Theater - A movie, a play, a puppet show. A 3D holographic immersive experience. Their child's first school pageant. Your character's first school pageant. This week write about your character's experiences with the theater. Week of 3/11/2016 Taboos - some things are off limits, be it for cultural, personal, or legal reasons. How do they relate to your character? Do they not even realize the restriction? Notice, but abide by the rules? Or do they flout society's conventions and laugh? Why? Does their attitude cause trouble for them, or does it grease the wheels? Week of 3/18/2016 Pretty Things - They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and certainly people find beauty in different things. What about your character? Where do they find beauty? In artwork or song? Unusual landscapes? Stunning outfits? Well-crafted arguments, equations, or formulae? Animals, insects, or minerals? For this week's challenge, surround your character with pretty things, however conventional or strange they may be. Week of 3/25/2016 Cross Purposes - some characters are allies, others indifferent. Then there are the adversaries. And sometimes two character are at cross purposes and don't' even know it. Protagonist- antagonist is one of the most basic story structures. Give it a twist with two main characters working against each other, knowingly or otherwise. Week of 4/1/2016 Good Things Come in Small Packages: write a drabble, around 100 words, on any previous prompt or none at all. Some sources put drabbles at anywhere from 53 words on the low end to 500 at the upper end. While I don’t have BrightEphemera’s Massive Statistical Number Crunching Data of Awesomeness, I recall the majority of our stories being in the 500-1500 word range. Let’s push that lower limit. We had an unofficial drabble week a long time ago. This time it’s for real. Week of 4/8/2016 Bigger is better- write something long. 2000+ words. Use any previous prompt or invent your own. Long works have a different set of challenges compared to short ones. In the former, every word counts. In the latter, it’s hooking the reader and keeping them entertained for the duration. Go for it! Week of 4/15/2016 It Takes Two: Write a story in two parts. Use any previous prompt (or pair of prompts) or choose your own topic. The reason for the division is up to you. Switch perspectives, follow a different character, or leave the reader with a cliffhanger. Publish on successive days or in separate posts. Each section can be any length but they can’t stand alone! They must need each other to be complete. Week of 4/22/2016 Menage a Trois: Brevity is the soul of wit. Tell a story in three sentences. Stop reading and write! Week of 4/29/2016 Spring Cleaning: May Day is Sunday, time to clean out the WIP folder. Pick something and finish it, whether it’s old and cobwebby or just a few sheets down from the top. Even if you thought it solidified into a shale-like mass under the pressure of all the other WIPs. Crack it open and see. What’s inside that document you haven’t opened in ages? Sometimes pressure and long aging makes a diamond. All it needs is some polishing to shine. Week of 5/6/2016 The Hard Way--No one is good at everything, even The Chosen One. What skills or subjects did your character have trouble with? Did they work hard and eventually master them, or did they bail as soon as possible? What happens when they need to rely on that skill? Is it still a struggle for them, or have they incorporated it into their repertoire even though it’s difficult? This week, consider something your character had trouble learning or still finds difficult, and how they deal with it. Week of 5/13/2016 Nicknames--Does your character have an in-story nickname? How did they earn it? Was it accidentally bestowed or deliberately cultivated? Do they prefer it to their given name or hate it? Give it out or hope no one ever finds out? Do they even know they have one? Maybe their enemies (or friends!) only use it behind their back. Or is your character the one giving nicknames to everyone else? Week of 5/20/2016 Current Events--Events in the larger fictional world shape your character’s little slice of it, whether they want it to or not. What things are in the news for your character? What do they hear about on the Holonet or from the town gossip, read about in the paper or posted on boards? How do these events affect them? Are they concerned about current events or blissfully unaware of anything outside their immediate experience? Maybe your character is the one making headlines. Write about it! Week of 5/27/2016 Birthdays--Does your character celebrate their birthday? What do they do? Have a big party or an intimate gathering with a few close friends? Or do they hope no one notices? Perhaps they eternally claim some age they like the best, whether it’s a birthday past or one yet to come. Maybe they neither know nor care. Living another year might not mean much to them. Maybe they mark a day of different personal significance. Or maybe a significant other throws a surprise party whether your character wants it or not. Consider birthdays this week, and what they mean for your character. Week of 6/3/2016 Happy 4th Birthday SFC!!! Why Didn’t I Think of This Sooner? Character Version- Who hasn’t come up with a great idea well after it’s useful? Probably not your character, since they aren’t actually under real-world time constraints. What if they did? Characters can have regrets or second-guess themselves, too. Perhaps they come up with the perfect escape plan while fighting through guards they didn’t avoid. Maybe they wish they had bought the magical sword from the swordsmith. Maybe they remember the vital clue after setting off the trap. Consider this a chance to try some internal conflict for your character. What do they do when they realize they could have done something differently? Why Didn’t I Think of This Sooner? Author Version- Who hasn’t come up with a great idea well after it’s useful? Every writer ever. Maybe it’s a better way to relate your character to your world, maybe it’s a background event, maybe it’s a change to the world itself. But you already established all of these events. It’s ok: there’s Retcon. Writers retcon all the time. Sometimes it’s major--a reboot of the universe--sometimes it’s not--rewriting or throwing out an episode or scene or adding foreshadowing where you didn’t before. This week, make a change to something in your story you wish you’d done from the beginning. The new timeline can become your new canon or you can keep it as an AU (we have a whole thread for that, too). Stories aren’t finished until the writer says they are. Week of 6/10/2016 Scars--Reminders of old wounds. They might be visible--remnants of a childhood fall, a parent’s rage, an accident, a fire, a careless slip with a weapon or tool. The near miss that wasn’t quite a miss. But scars can be internal or emotional as well. A song that was a former lover’s favorite, a scent that summons a painful memory, a street or neighborhood your character refuses to travel. This week write a story about a scar your character bears. Consider how they acquired it, and how it affects them. Week of 6/17/2016 Special Delivery--Has your character ever ordered or commissioned something? A weapon, an outfit, a portrait, or a story? Are they patient waiting for it to arrive or be completed or do they inquire every day? Do they micromanage? Track their package down to the minute? Or do they forget about it entirely until it shows up? Perhaps your character is the one doing the delivery. Do they get lost? Wonder what’s in the mysterious box? Write about your character’s encounters with deliveries and orders. Week of 6/24/2016 Relaxing--When your character takes time off to kick back and relax, what do they do? Do they have to travel? Go somewhere where they can avoid pressure and constant requests for aid or advice? Do they escape into a good book or other entertainment? Perhaps they indulge in a hobby or visit a spa. What does your character do to relax? Or do they find it impossible? Week of 7/1/2016 Deadlines--Time is running out. Your character has something to do, to complete, to finish, to arrange, and their time grows short. What were they doing? Was it something they put off until it was critical? Did they plan for a long time and only now the pieces are coming together? Did the situation arise suddenly and demand a quick response before the critical time? Was it self-imposed or did another character impose it? A deadline is nothing more than a date or time by which something must be ready or complete. Write about it this week. Week of 7/8/2016 Overindulgence--It is possible to have too much of a good thing. The consequences vary, from a mere stomachache to a hangover to an arrest record or worse. Some characters are more prone to overindulgence than others. Has your character overindulged? Maybe they were the voice of reason while everyone around them consumed to excess. What happened? Did the incident become an embarrassing story? Tell it! Week of 7/15/2016 Wrong Size--”one size fits all” rarely does. Anything can be the wrong size: clothes, armor, weapons, starship or computer components, backpacks or duffels, the bowl of soup your character ordered. The incident could be a minor inconvenience or a major problem. The reason behind it might be a simple mistake or deliberate sabotage. Write a story where something was the wrong size, and how your character coped. Week of 7/22/2016 Lost in Translation--Some of our characters know many languages, some only one. Regardless, there will be times when a foreign concept is difficult or impossible to explain. Perhaps a term is untranslatable, words are insufficient, or maybe they’re using a bad dictionary. The results can be funny or tragic, or both in equal measures. This week’s challenge is to lose something in translation. Week of 7/29/2016 Piercing the Veil--When has your character seen things for what they truly are? Seen past the plots and the machinations of other characters to what was really going on? That sudden flash of insight when the pieces come together and everything makes sense. Was it real? How do they deal with their new-found insight? Do others believe them, or are they alone with the truth? Explore a time when your character’s intuition guided their actions. Week of 8/5/2016 Strength in Numbers: Some problems are too big for one person to deal with. Maybe your character needs specialized help; someone (or several someones) with particular skills to fill gaps in their own. They might want backup, or moral support, or someone to share the blame if everything goes south. Or perhaps they simply want confirmation that others believe they’re doing the right thing. This week, write about a time when your character found strength in numbers. Week of 8/12/2016 Camouflage: There’s more to camouflage than the standard brown and green irregular blobs. Some visual camouflage is meant to deceive cameras or other electronic sensors, not organic eyes. Other types disguise not the presence of an object or person, but its apparent movement. Even ordinary clothing can be camouflage if it lets a person blend in when they would otherwise stand out. At its heart, camouflage is concealment. Consider a time when your character needed some, or was fooled. Week of 8/19/2016 Sleeping Rough: Has your character ever been without a safe place to sleep? No money for a room, no one to share with, lost (urban or wilderness), or run away? Was it part of a training exercise, experiment, or mission and therefore only temporary? Was it indefinite, desperate, with no alternative and no end in sight? Was it voluntary and, despite the difficulties, still preferable to the situation they left behind? Have they been fortunate enough to never worry about housing, and how do they react toward another in poorer circumstances? This week, consider your character sleeping rough. Week of 8/26/2016 Can’t Live Without: Everyone has something, whether literal or figurative. Is is a person? A loved one? A pet? A country, a job, or a purpose? A moral conviction. Is it a medicine that holds a disease or condition at bay? Something less serious, like a favorite book, delicacy, or entertainment. A special item. What one person perceives as necessary someone else might regard as silly--but try taking away a toddler’s Special Blanket. Everyone has something. What is it that your character can’t live without? Week of 9/2/2016 Meeting Old Friends- Some old friends are nearly forgotten, others are close as ever. They might be separated by time and distance or right across the hall. This week, have your character meet with one of them. It could be a planned reunion, scheduled months in advance, as simple as knocking on a door for their daily tea together, or as accidental as running into them at the market. Write about a time when your character met with an old friend, however you choose to interpret it. Week of 9/9/2016 Small Victories--Not every success has to be a big one. The world (or galaxy, or civilization) doesn’t need to be saved from certain destruction every day. Some days, it’s the little things that matter. Your character’s child, who’s been struggling with something, finally gets it. The friend who’s always late, isn’t. The minor repair really was minor. Maybe the toast landed butter-side up. This week, celebrate a small victory with your character. The big ones might be more dramatic, but it’s the little ones that keep them going. Week of 9/16/2016 Promotions-- As characters advance through their stories, they often advance in their (fictional) organizations as well. Has your character gotten a promotion? Was it deserved? Did higher-ups pass over someone more qualified, or did your character work hard for their advancement? Additional responsibilities usually accompany a new position, how does your character handle them? Did they receive any extra training or were they thrown in the deep end? Did things work out for them? Are they pleased with their promotion or do they wish they could go back? Is it, as many things, a mixed bag? This week, give your character a promotion. Week of 9/23/2016 Lawbreaker!--Some characters break laws on a regular basis, others are more law-abiding. But most every character has crossed the line on occasion, if only in a very minor way or on accident. What about yours? Did they know they were violating a law? Why did they do it? Because the law is ridiculous, because it is inconvenient, because the law is wrong, because they knew they wouldn’t get caught, or do they simply not care? What law did they break? Did they pay a penalty? Personal or legal? Write about it! Week of 9/30/2016 Borders: In essence, borders are nothing more than imaginary lines between properties or political entities. Crossing the border might be little more than opening a gate or stamping a passport. It could be an all-day affair with questioning and bribery if the parties involved are hostile to each other. In space or a remote area, there are lots of opportunity for skirmishes. Someone thought the border was a light week over. The navicomp or maps are out of date and need calibrating. The patrol was supposed be gone by now. Those military exercises were planned for our side but someone got trigger happy. Transgressions could be real and deliberate, real and manufactured, or honest mistakes. This week, write about your character crossing a border, and what happened when they did. Week of 10/7/2016 Changes in Appearance--People don’t keep the same appearance their whole lives. We cut or grow hair, change styles, choose different clothes, sometimes even consider surgery, tattoos, piercings, or other permanent alterations to our appearances. Yet written characters often stay the same. This week, make a change to your character’s appearance and write about why it happened. There’s always a reason, and it’s bound to be interesting. Week of 10/14/2016 Coincidence--Coincidences that start or complicate a plot are often overlooked, but those that end it are not. Why? It feels fake. It breaks the suspension of disbelief. In an age of word processors, where adding foreshadowing is as easy as typing a new paragraph, it smacks of poor plotting. This week? Who cares. In a make-believe world where everything happens for a reason, this time the reason is because you need it to. Consider it an exercise in how not to tie up a story, or how to recognize what not to do. Sometimes it’s fun to write bad. Week of 10/21/2016 Forgetting--No one’s memory is perfect. Everyone forgets, even your character. A date or name slips their mind, the password or combination to a lock, maybe they left something at home. It’s not always a bad thing. Painful memories are sometimes best forgotten, or at least put aside for a time. This week, write about a time your character forgot something, and what happened when they did. Week of 11/4/2016 Burning the Candle at Both Ends--Too busy. There’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. Maybe it was bad scheduling or an accident or problems encountered along the way, but whatever the reason, your character has to work hard to do it. What was it? Why are they working so hard? What do they hope to gain? Is it temporary or a chronic issue for them? Can they prevent the situation, or will it happen again? This week, write about a time when your character burned a little too bright. Week of 11/11/2016 Formal Occasion--No matter how informal a character and their story, at some point they’ll probably have to dress up. Maybe it’s a formal dinner, a wedding, a graduation or promotion, or a date at the opera. Different cultures have different etiquette for these kinds of events as well. How does your character fare? Are they as home in formalwear and surrounded by numerous forks as they are around a campfire? Are they uncomfortable? Or are they most at home in high society? This week, put your character in formalwear and at a special function and see what they do. Week of 11/18/2016 Just Desserts--Everyone loves to see the villain get what’s coming to them. Maybe it’s your character who delivers justice. Maybe they’re on the receiving end. This week, hand out some just desserts in your story. Week of 11/25/2016 In A Rut--Doing the same thing over and over. No one wantS to be stuck there. It could be your character, dissatisfied with where their career is going. It could just as well be the writer, bored with what feels like the same plots and situations. Shake it up. Throw in something unexpected. Put your character in a place you never thought they’d be. Try something different and see where it goes. Or, alternately, let your character complain about the sameness. Week of 12/2/2016 Cooperation--Some characters are loners by nature but even so, they can’t do everything by themselves. They’ll have to cooperate with others. Whether it’s a willing partnership where they all gain or coerced and barely tolerated, there’s ample room for conflict. Maybe they plan to betray their partner at the first opportunity. Maybe they prefer to remain on good terms. Maybe it’s an alliance of necessity and they’ll part on neutral ground. Whatever the reason, whatever the outcome, this week write about your character cooperating with others to achieve a goal. Week of 12/9/2016 Trigger Warning-- Everyone--every character--has strong feelings about something. The old standby is “don’t discuss politics or religion” but there are many other options. What sets off your character? What’s that one topic they have to argue about? What’s their position and why? Is it rational? Was it learned and never questioned? This week, push one or more of your character’s buttons. Week of 12/16/2016 Limits-- No character is all-powerful, or at least interesting ones aren’t. There are limits to what they can do, be it legal, physical, mental, or self-imposed. What happens when they come up against them? Do they push past it, accept it, or back away? Limits are often there for a reason and breaking them can have consequences. Explore some this week. Week of 12/23/2016 Making a Mountain out of a Molehill - Some characters are more prone to blowing things out of proportion than others. Maybe it’s just certain situations. Consider a time when something that seemed insurmountable turned out to be minor. Was your character’s preparation or anxiety unreasonable? Or did their actions make the difference between a mountain and a molehill? Week of 12/30/2016 Not My Holiday - This week, most of the Western world is celebrating Christmas and the New Year but no holiday is universal, even on Earth. Are your character’s holidays in line with the culture they live in? Do they celebrate something different at a time no one else does? Do they feel left out on either occasion? Their reasons don’t have to be cultural; they might associate bad experiences with a popular holiday or good ones with something obscure. There are stories in any of the permutations. Write one. Week of 1/6/2017 Luxuries - It’s easy to think in terms of expensive things: fine wine, silk, exquisite meals, and panoramic views. Luxuries don’t have be expensive, or even things. One character might consider time alone a luxury. For another, enough to eat and a safe place to live. Yet another may relish the privileges their wealth affords them. What does your character consider a luxury and how do they indulge? Week of 1/13/2017 Omens and Portents - Whether being born under a Blood Moon or according to the signs in an ancient prophecy or just picking the winning lottery numbers two weeks in a row, our characters’ lives are filled with omens. Do they put any stock in the superstitions or consider it a bunch of baloney? Are the portents more important to their companions who expect them to be the hero? Is it a sign they should buy another lottery ticket? Omens can be good or bad, and the way your character deals with them likewise so. Explore it.

Week of 4/21/17 Constant Companions–Who’s with your character through all their adventures? Who’s their right hand, the one who’s always there? Who’s Samwise to your Frodo? Why are they there and why do they stay? This week write something featuring the person or people your character relies on most. Week of 4/28/17 Food on the Go–Everyone enjoys a quick snack. What’s your character’s favorite? What food stall do they have to hit whenever they’re in town? What take-away meal do they always bring home? What munchies do they pack along for a journey? Far from meaningless detail, something as mundane as food can tell your readers a lot about your character. Week of 5/5/17 Plants/Gardening–It’s hard to avoid plant life, even on a spaceship. In low-tech societies plants are recognized as sources of food and medicine. In more high-tech ones they provide breathable air as well as beauty. Whether your character has a green thumb or can’t tell a cabbage from a kitten, write some plants into their story this week. Week of 5/12/17 Irritating Habits–Everyone has them. What about your character or one of their companions? Gum-chewing, whistling, smoking, a preference for odiferous delicacies? Who annoys who and how? Consider, too, that rude, irritating, or just plain gross behavior in one culture may be perfectly acceptable or even polite in another. The converse is true as well. Week of 5/19/17 Forgotten Places–A ghost town, an ancient ruin, a hidden valley, an island settlement, now abandoned. Places where people were, but no longer are. What does your character think about them? When has your character encountered one? Did they stumble on it? Seek it out? Read or hear a tale about it? Does it, like El Dorado, exist only in stories? Week of 5/26/17 Titles–Queen, Lord, Baron, Senator, President, Minister, Director, Sir or Madam. A title might be formal, bestowed in a ceremony. It might be a basic term of respect or polite discourse. Or it might be earned by appearance, action, or affiliation: Erik the Red, Catherine the Great, Jabba the Hutt. What titles does your character have? Happy 5th Birthday SFC!!!!!! Week of 6/2/17 History–Personal or World, history informs your character’s actions. What part of the past shapes their present? Are they aware of it? How so? This week, consider your character’s history and its influence. Week of 6/9/17 Hope–Hope, the final thing in Pandora’s Box. Hope is what keeps people going when the night is dark and the journey is hard. Hope for a brighter day and a better way. Or just something different, some change. To fall in love, to find redemption, to find a purpose. Even a doomsday cult has hope, though outsiders don’t understand it. What does your character hope for? Week of 6/16/17 Challenge–If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. What’s hard for your character? What challenges do they set for themselves and what ones do they face? Difficulty often reveals a character’s true self. How do they face a challenge? Week of 6/23/17 Midsummer/Midwinter– It’s the turn of the seasons this week, the longest day for the northern hemisphere and the longest night for the southern hemisphere. What does midsummer or midwinter mean for your character? Alternately, write about your characters longest night or longest day. Week of 6/30/17 Curve Ball–as writers we plan our characters’ encounters. This week, throw them into something new. Something they didn’t expect. Something they never saw coming. Who panics? Who takes it in stride? Who stumbles but runs with it? Week of 7/7/17 Good News Everyone!: What would be good news for your character? Something personal? A promotion? A sale? A marriage, a child, a vacation? A divorce? Maybe something local: a tramway or road finishes construction, a botanical garden opens. Larger? Peace declared between warring factions or nations? War declared against an oppressive enemy? Is it something they expected or a complete surprise? Think of something your character considers good news and how they react to it. Week of 7/14/17 And Now, the Bad News: Something happened, and your character’s not pleased about it. Did they lose a promotion or sale to a rival? Is a local landmark shutting or being torn down? Is a plant or animal they’re particularly fond of in decline? Does an event confirm their pessimistic outlook, or crush their optimism? How did they find out? Are they shocked or resigned? No good news to soften the blow this time. Write about your character dealing with bad news. Week of 7/21/17 Looking Back: Whether it’s with fondness or relief, everyone thinks about their past sometimes. Something that held them back, or something that propelled them forward. They might consider time with a mentor, a formative event, or just a memorable vacation. Write about your character reminiscing. Week of 7/28/17 Looking Forward: No one knows the future, but that doesn’t stop us from imagining what it might hold. What about your character? What do they see in their crystal ball? Good news? Bad news? What do they see as the result of today’s decisions? Or do they live in the moment and deal with the future as it arrives? We’ve done Hope and Goals, let’s look at the pragmatic. Week of 8/4/17 Long-Distance connections – Your character’s friends, family, colleagues, or loved ones won’t always be close at hand. How do they maintain the relationship? Do they enjoy real-time, visual and audio transmissions? Is there a delay for distance – or surreptitious monitoring? Pre-recorded messages? Text messages? Letters? Maybe contact isn’t possible at all. What do they share? What do they hold back and why? Consider time as a separation, and how a character might stay connected to someone lost to them, or discover a connection to the past. Week of 8/11/17 Temptation: It comes in all flavors, all kinds, all things. And it need not be a physical thing at all, but an experience or emotion. It’s usually, but not always, a vice. What tempts your character? What siren song do they find irresistible? Do they crash on the rocks following it, do their friends help them avoid it, or do they manage alone? Not all temptations are bad, of course, and not all can be neatly avoided. Week of 8/18/17 Folk Tales: All cultures have folk tales–the stories people tell each other. The ones everyone knows, or knows a version of. They may be written down, or they may only be told around the campfire, the coffee pot, or in the chatroom. They may be cautionary tales, stories of heroism, or horror. Modern urban legends fall in this category. What ones does your character know? Where did they hear them? Which ones do they share and why? Let your character be the storyteller this week. Week of 8/25/17 Phobia: From Phobos, the personification of fear in Greek mythology, in English a phobia is more than just being afraid. Phobias are rarely rational. The brain is often eager to label anything as a terrible threat regardless of whether it’s logical. A true phobia can be debilitating, where the sufferer avoids any situation that might trigger their fear. Does your character have such a disability? What about one of their companions or someone they meet? Is it a common or reasonable thing to fear? Something others sympathize with even if they don’t appreciate the severity? Or is it something rare or mundane? Some thing or condition, made all the worse by the fact that literally no one else understands why it provokes such a reaction. How does your character deal with it? How do they help a companion through an episode? Week of 9/1/17 Windfall: Something good fell in your character’s lap, something they weren’t expecting. Does it come at an opportune time to fix a problem? Does it cause a headache (or heartache) down the road? Or do they make cider, as one does with windfall apples? Week of 9/8/17 Hero Worship: Who does your character think of when they hear the word “hero”? Is it a specific person? A type of person, or a person in a specific occupation? Have they ever met their hero(es)? Who sees your character as a hero–no matter how venal they really are? How do they show it, and how does your character deal with it? Week of 9/15/17 Flirting With Disaster: Even the most risk-averse character gets into sticky situations, or they should if you’re doing your job as a writer. Then there are others who live their entire lives on the edge. This week, write about a time when things were so, so close to going wrong. When the table shook beneath the house of cards but didn’t quite fall. Or maybe it did. Week of 9/22/17 What Goes Around Comes Around: If the Golden Rule is “treat others how you wish to be treated” then this is what happens when you don’t. Cheaters will be cheated, liars lied to, and bullies bullied. Write about a time when your character’s behavior came back to bite them, or when they had an opportunity to visit retribution on someone who wronged them. Week of 9/29/17 Frustration: Sometimes events (aka the writer) conspire to thwart your character. It might be a series of minor things–the coffee machine broke, the bus was late (so they caught it but were late anyway), and to top it off all the good donuts were gone at the meeting…where the project no one else wanted ended up in their lap. Yay. Maybe it’s a repeated error: the food stall never gets their order right, the clerk always mispronounces your character’s name. This week write about someone or something getting on your character’s last nerve. Week of 10/6/17 Conversion or Proselytizing: You! Yes, you! Can we talk for a bit about…what? What ideas does your character hope to pass on to others? What ideology moves them? Did they convert to their current mindset from a different one? How and why did they make the change? While religion and politics are most obvious choices with this prompt, consider also scientific theories, dietary or exercise regimens, brand loyalty, or comic book heroes. Which version was better, the movie or the book? Why? Does your character have to win the debate, or are they most invested in the discussion itself? Week of 10/13/17 Embarrassment: Everyone has that moment they’d rather forget. The time when every eye was on them, but not in a good way. What about your character? When has the glaring spotlight of public embarrassment shone on them and why? Is it a story they’ll never tell? Is it the hilarious tale told for laughs well after the fact? Or is it one of those things that slips out after too many intoxicants? Week of 10/20/17 Practice Makes Perfect: No matter how skilled your character is, there’s always room for improvement. What does your character do to keep in practice? Are they building on existing accomplishments or learning something new? Is it a skill they need for their main occupation, or something they do for fun? Are they edging toward perfection, or always terrible but having a great time anyway? Practice your own writing this week. Week of 10/27/17 Roadblock: Something’s in the way, physically or metaphorically. Something preventing your character from getting what they want. What is it? Why is it there? What does your character want and who wants to stop them? This week, throw a roadblock in your character’s path. Let’s see how they navigate it. Week of 11/3/17 Goals: Your character is nothing without goals. Pursuing their goal is what propels the story forward. Step back for a moment and consider how and why they set that goal. Did they wake up one morning and know what they wanted to do? Did it grow organically out of life experience? Did they go through a modern, goal-setting exercise? Is theirs a reasonable goal, achievable with a stretch, or are they unlikely to ever achieve it? Do they keep moving the goalposts? Does someone move them for your character? Set a goal this week. Week of 11/10/17 NO PANTS! Relaxing at home. Nothing planned, nothing going on, nothing pending, no crises. No pants. What’s that mean for your character? Is there any place or time when they can truly relax? Do they fantasize about relaxation while dashing between disasters? Are they stuck in the doldrums, praying for something–anything–to happen? Or do they take “no pants” more literally? Week of 11/17/17 Don’t Stop Believing: Countless writers guides council you to include the moment when your character considers quitting. For some stories, it’s the centerpiece, if not the center. Somehow, they go on. Complete the quest, finish the journey, save the world, make a difference. This week, write about your character facing such a moment, and not giving up. Finding the strength to go on. Week of 11/24/17 Success: It’s said that nothing worth doing is ever easy. Certainly your character’s journey shouldn’t be, or it wouldn’t have been interesting. And the writing of it might not be either, but now it’s done. Quest complete, journey over, book finished. How does it feel? Does your character celebrate? How? Is this success just a little one on a much longer road, or is it the big one they’ve been waiting for? If so, is there a bigger goal on the horizon, one they couldn’t even see until they got here? Let your character bask in success for a change, and think about whether their story is really over. Week of 12/1/17 The right way, the wrong way, and my way: It’s said there are three ways to approach a task. What does your character think? Do they follow the rules, willingly break them, or choose their own path? Maybe all three at different times in their story? What about teaching someone else? Are they as inflexible as the saying suggests or will they entertain new solutions? Week of 12/8/17 Accommodation: Does your character need something outside what’s considered typical for their species? Are they more at home in enclosed or darkened spaces–or the opposite? A special diet due to allergies or disease? Something more obvious, like ramps instead of stairs or fixtures and handles being at more convenient heights? What about something basic, like being left-handed in a right-handed world? Week of 12/15/17 Recurring Nightmares: An actual nightmare, one that isn’t real? Or a real nightmare situation occurring over and over? Write your character in a recurring nightmare this week. Or a recurring dream, if you’d prefer. Interpret the prompt as literally or loosely as you like. Week of 4/13/18 Smuggler’s Blues: Has your character trafficked in less-than-legal items? Even by accident or for personal use only? What was it? Drugs? Stolen merchandise? Banned books? People? Translated media that isn’t officially available in that language? Fruit, vegetables, plants, or animals that aren’t allowed to leave their country of origin, or aren’t allowed into the destination? Cheese? Maybe your character purchased smuggled items. Maybe they’re they’re the smuggler. There are plenty of reasons for someone to circumvent import restrictions here on Earth and at least as many elsewhere and when. Surely there’s a story in it. Week of 4/20/18 Hurts so Good: Pain is supposed to be the body’s signal to stop. Humans (and fictional species) often ignore it or even seek it out. Sure, sure, BSDM; look beyond the obvious. Think of hot foods–temperature hot or spicy hot, where the heat is a critical part of the enjoyment. An exercise program, where short-term muscle pain means you’re doing it right. A good roller coaster, haunted house, or horror movie is supposed to cause anxiety or fear and all their attendant sensations, things we usually find unpleasant or painful. Write about your character seeking, enjoying, observing, declining, or railing against such an activity. Week of 4/27/18 Reunited: Characters who spend time apart must come back together. Do they look forward to it? Dread it? Count every moment until they can reunite, or invent ways to prolong the separation? Do they have any special rituals? A particular knock or bell ring, a call to their partner, a hug or kiss? Furtively sneaking in and hope no one notices? How do they catch up? Long conversations? Bare mumbles? Did it matter for them how long they’ve been apart? Is a few hours separation as hard to bear as a month? Week of 5/4/18 Ordinary Heroes: Your character might be a hero in their own right, and they probably had many others to look up to. So who in their lives was a hero to them by being nothing other than themselves? Who did they admire as a person? Whose example did they hope to follow? Was it a relative who always accepted them, no questions asked? A shopkeeper who always had a kind word for everyone they met? A teacher who expected the best and wouldn’t take less–and who also helped students discover what their best looked like? Write a story involving an influence on your character’s character. (inspired by This Post. May the Fourth Be With You) Week of 5/11/18 Censored! [Redacted] Strikethrough! Restricted! Takedown!: When has your character encountered censorship? What was it? Something they wanted or needed but weren’t allowed? Why? Something they created that was blacked out, altered, or removed? Was it a report, a discovery, a work of art or fiction? Did they agree with the censor or fight the decision? What problems occured because of the restriction–or lack thereof? Week of 5/18/18 Favorite drinks: Living things eat and drink, and sentient creatures with cultures have a variety of beverages to choose from. With variety comes favorites–so what is your character’s? Cocktails automatically come to mind, but a favorite drink can be any beverage. Your character could have different favorites for different parts of the day–their favorite wake-up drink won’t be the same as their go-to wind-down libation. It might be something they grew up with, or something a loved one recently introduced them to. Maybe it used to be a favorite but they grew out of it, associated it with painful memories, or relocated and simply can’t get it or the ingredients. Expensive or cheap, rare or common, mind-altering or otherwise, share one of your character’s favorite drinks. Week of 5/27/18 Carry On: How does your character get back to “normal”? To recover from their injury, whether physical, mental, or emotional? Life goes on and so does your character. How do they do it? Some recover with barely a pause, others take longer. Not everyone has healthy coping strategies. Maybe they cope by moving through unhealthy or destructive habits before they can start to heal. Sometimes healing leaves scars that never go away. Write a story about your character carrying on. Keeping calm optional. Week of 6/1/18 Happy 6th Birthday SFC!!!!!! Mistakes Were Made: The perennial apology-not-apology. Someone made mistakes, frequently not the person making the statement. So what happened? Was your character the mistake-maker or the one wronged? Who is “apologizing” and for what? Will anything be resolved, or is this papering over a systemic problem? Again? Is it a way to give someone a well-deserved second chance, or a perpetual offender getting away? Week of 6/8/18 Skeletons in the Closet: What’s that thing your character hopes no one ever finds? Some shameful Secret they’d just as soon remain a secret? Does anyone find out? What happens? What does your character imagine will happen? Is it reasonable, overblown, or conservative? While there are loads of things a character can be ashamed of, consider that shame is personal. What fatally embarasses your character might be no big deal to others or society at large. Alternately, it could be even worse now than when your character hid it in the first place. Rattle some skeletons in your character’s closet this week. Week of 6/15/18 Tired: Sleepy? Overworked? Bored? Or really Done With This Sh*t? Everyone gets tired, physically and mentally. What is your character tired of or from? Why? Do they fix it? Can they, or is it out of their control? Just don’t be too tired to write it. Week of 6/22/18 Kissing Frogs: Fandom often revolves around romantic pairs, especially finding “the one:” your character’s soulmate. Surely they don’t find their soulmate on the first try. They must have had other relationships. Ones that didn’t work out or didn’t last. What happened? This week, write a story about one of the frogs your character kissed on the way to finding their prince/princess. Week of 6/29/18 Keep on Keeping on: Now that our characters have been on the job for quite some years, what keeps them going? What makes them do just one more job, instead of retiring, settling down, or doing something completely different? Tradition, momentum, habit, joy, satisfaction, can’t think of a reason to change or anything else they’re good at. Everyone’s reasons are their own. What’s your character’s? Prompt courtesy of frauzet. Week of 7/6/18 Set the Standards: What’s the minimum your character will accept, be it service, the kinds of jobs they’ll take, or the places they’ll go or stay? What about the people they’ll work with or date? Do they have standards for decency or conduct? How do they define them? What’s their reasoning for their personal limits? Have they ever been tested? Are they reasonable, inflated, underrated, irrational? Week of 7/13/18 Look Behind You: What’s behind your character, literally or figuratively? Where did they come from? What did they leave behind to get where they are now? A village, town, city, or planet? Family, lovers, friends, rivals, or enemies? Ideas or beliefs? Do any of them catch up or are they forever in the past? How does your character feel about that? Week of 7/20/18 Once in a Lifetime: Some things only come around once. A show, a natural phenomena, an opportunity. Grab it, enjoy it, experience it while it’s here or available, because your character won’t ever have another chance. What is a once-in-a-lifetime event for your character? Are they able to take advantage of, appreciate, or participate in it? What happens afterwards? Week of 7/27/18 Treat Yourself: Indulge! What’s a treat for your character? Food, a spa day, a movie/theater/holovid/musical? Surely they have something they love to do that they maybe don’t do often, something that makes them feel good about themselves. We torture our characters enough. This week do something nice for them. Week of 8/3/18 Friends: Our characters collect any number of friends and helpers during their adventures. In fact, few characters can do without friends. They’re part of what makes a story vibrant and alive. Friends don’t have to be sycophants; they can (and probably should) disagree with your character about things. Things that matter, not easy things like favorite foods or colors. Friends and companions breathe life into your character’s story. This week, write something where one of your character’s friends has an important role as well. Week of 8/10/18 Friends to Lovers: This one is almost a given in many stories. Many people enjoy reading (or writing) a story where the characters find their friendship growing into something more intimate. Whether it’s a coffee shop romance a super-slow-burn fic, write characters going from friends to lovers this week. Week of 8/17/18 Lovers Back to Friends: Then again, love doesn’t always work out. It’s easy to take the hostile view of a breakup. Where both characters end up disliking or avoiding each other. This time try something harder: they remain friends despite their previous intimacy. It needn’t happen right away. Few people are so mature. This time, imagine it does or has to and how your character handles it anywhere along the timeline. Explore what it means to retain real friendship, not merely stating “we’re friends.” Week of 8/24/18 Friends to Enemies: Hate is always easier to evoke than love or friendship, so easy prompt this week. Or is it? Imagine one of your character’s friends becoming an enemy. Why do they diverge when they obviously got along well? A slow drift or one inciting event? Losing a good friend hurts, and making one an enemy means the wound never really heals. How does your character live with it? Week of 8/31/18 Enemies to Friends: Occasionally, your character and an enemy end up on the same side. And beyond sharing a common goal or working together just this once, they begin hanging out and relying on each other. Why? What converts their enemy to a friend? Note: this is not necessarily a heel-face turn. If your character is villainous their enemy might end up on the dark side. They have cookies, after all. Maybe both decide the struggle is futile and retire together. What about your character’s other friends? Week of 9/7/18 How Hard Can It Be? Words usually uttered before discovering exactly how hard it can be. When has your character underestimated a situation? What thing looked easy then turned out to be less so? How did your character handle it? Did they rise to the occasion? Realize their error? Back out and try again? Fail completely? All of the above? Be as humorous or serious as you like, but this week have your character discover that the easy thing is, in fact, rather more difficult than they expected. Week of 9/14/18 What’s the Worst That Could Happen? Inevitably, not what actually happens. In life the real result may more often be better, but as writers it’s far more fun to make it worse. This week, put your character in a situation they’re sure they can handle, and make it worse. What’s the worst that could happen? Just let me get started. Week of 9/21/18 It’s All Downhill From Here! The situation is handled, crisis solved or averted, nothing left but the cleanup and a smooth glide to the end. On the other hand, maybe it’s more like a downhill slide into a swamp or off a cliff. It’s fun to shake up reader–and character–expectations. Throw up some roadblocks or dig some potholes in their easy ride. Make that smooth landing less so. Complete disaster optional. Week of 9/28/18 Never Going There and That’s Final! Until, of course, they have to. What place does your character avoid? Is it a single, physical place? A city, county, or planet? A type of place: Zoos, spooky dark forests filled with snakes, buffet restaurants? Why do they hate it? There must be a reason, however irrational. Now put them there anyway. Tell the story of why and how they ended up someplace your character swore they’d never go to under any circumstances, and what happened after. Week of 10/5/18 What Might Have Been: Almost everyone wonders how their life might have turned out if they’d made different choices, been born in different circumstances, or combination of both. How does your character answer this question? Suppose they were cast in a different role in your story or as another one of your characters? How would their lives be different? How would your story be different? Explore what might have been with your character this week, either as a dream, a discussion with another character, or a full-blown AU. Thanks to Lady_Thorne and Lord_Thorne on the SWTOR forums for this prompt. (Special message for the SWTOR crowd: thanks to everyone participating in what has to be the longest continually running forum thread in MMORPG history. Still going since 2012.) Week of 10/12/18 Listen: More important than being able to act, perhaps, is the ability to listen. To hear someone voice their concerns or point of view without filtering through their own experience or opinion. When has your character really listened to another one in your story? They need not be converted, but they ought to gain understanding. Some characters don’t care; that’s fine and valid. This week, let your character be the quiet one and really listen to someone else in the story, then show what they do with their new perspective. Week of 10/19/18 Oblivious: Not everyone is observant, and even the most vigilant character misses something on occasion. When did they miss something obvious? It could be a physical object or an idea. The proverbial elephant in the room or a solution that’s staring them in the face. Maybe your character just overlooks cues everyone else sees. What happens when someone else points it out? Week of 10/26/18 Comfort Food: It might not be a favorite. It doesn’t have to be from childhood, though it often is. It might not always be the same thing, depending on circumstances. Sometimes, preparation is as much a part of the comfort as consuming. When all else fails to dispel your character’s demons, what food(s) do they turn to for comfort? Week of 11/2/18 Voice of Reason: In every group, for every plan, there’s always one Voice of Reason, and their plan might be safest but not always best. Does your character listen? Do they plunge ahead anyway? Or are they the sane one trying to dissuade the rest from something reckless? Whose approach was right? What, in hindsight, might have been better? Week of 11/9/18 Ship of Fools: The colloquial meaning is that of one wise person surrounded by idiots, but the original allegory has everyone on the ship unable to navigate it, all the while vying for the chance, or to influence the one currently botching the job. Regardless, the ship goes nowhere, often with recriminations all around. When has your character sailed on a ship of fools? Were they the wise one dealing with incompetence? Or just as clueless but putting up a better front than the rest? Week of 11/16/18 Power! Given this blog started in a Star Wars fandom, it’s surprising this prompt never appeared before. What does your character consider power and how do they pursue it? Just as important: why? Some seek power for its own sake but most have an agenda. Are they a reformer? Do they want to change the system they’re part of to fit their vision? Do they want the ability to destroy whomever they view as enemies? A secure enough position to voice their opinions without backlash, or at least without fearing the consequences? Do they gain power despite not wanting it, because their fellows see them as a leader? Or are they seeking more mundane power? A ship fast enough to outrun the authorities? Superpowers: magic, reality-bending abilities, flight (if they can’t already), telepathy, or teleportation? Week of 11/23/18 Butterfly Effect: In essence, tiny changes in starting conditions leading to wildly different results. Modern behavioral psychologists contribute the nudge: a small push toward a desired behavior or goal. Our lives are filled with examples. How about your character? Is there a slight difference in their backstory–or current story–that could change it entirely? When did they receive a nudge and how did it shape them? What events pushed their later actions? We had a prompt for turning points, which was more about large, obvious events that put your character on their path. A butterfly effect might be so small as to go unnoticed at the time but proved no less influential. Week of 11/30/18 The Last Straw: Your character’s companions don’t rubber-stamp your decisions. They agree or disagree to a greater or lesser extent. And, sometimes, they leave. It’s unlikely to come as a complete surprise, but even so there was probably one incident, one particular choice, that drove them away. How does your character deal with it? Are they forgiving or vengeful? How does the companion make their exit? Do they confront your character or just leave without a goodbye? What are their reasons, and does your character consider them reasonable? What was the companion’s last straw? Week of 12/7/18 Paralyzed: Literally unable to move. Is it a disease? An accident? Are they completely paralyzed or does the condition affect only part of their body? What happened to cause it? Is your character paralyzed with indecision; all options equally bad (or good?). Maybe they’re overwhelmed and terrified to make any choice. Maybe they’re paralyzed both physically and emotionally. Or one and not the other. Paralyze your character this week, and write how they deal with it. Week of 12/14/18 Happy Together: Your character encounters numerous others in their story. Who’s special? Who is the one they just want to see happy, preferably with them? It could be their SO but it doesn’t have to be; happiness comes in all flavors and sizes and doesn’t have to involve romance. Or, for that matter, even being outwardly nice. There are lots of relationships (fictional or otherwise) where observers would never know how much the people involved respect and care for each other given how often they throw insults around. This week, write your character and another happy together, in whatever form that happiness takes. Week of 12/21/18 Good Intentions: It’s said the road to hell is paved with them. Most characters, outside of the truly villainous, want to help and to make things better. Usually we let them. Good intentions can backfire or have unintended consequences, some of which might be worse than the original situation. They can also be far better! It’s our story; we do what we want, and things need not always be bad. This week, begin with your character’s good intentions and tell us what happens. Week of 12/28/18 The Fine Print: Any Bounty Hunter knows better than to sign anything from Gault without reading it first, still there may have been contracts our OCs wish they hadn’t signed. What details did they miss? Was it something small and insignificant, even humorous? Something major and problematic? How did they inconvenience your character? Did they get back at the beings who made the contract and took advantage of them? Chalk it up to a learning experience and move on? Something else? Was the contract more akin to our familiar Terms of Service Agreements that no one reads deciphers anyway? Did they fulfill the contract or did they renege? Why? This week consider what may be hiding in the fine print and how it affects your character. Week of 1/4/19 Keep Grandma Happy: Okay, okay, not necessarily Grandma. Every family (or other social unit) has that one person whom you simply appease. The one you don’t want flying off the handle because it’s such a bother and not worth the resulting tirade and calming down process. Surely your character’s circle has one. Who is it? Is it your character? What’s their hot button and why? What do the other characters do to avoid it? How do they settle them down when, inevitably, it gets pushed? Does someone push it on purpose for the fireworks? (note: while the intent of this prompt is humorous, feel free to make a more serious case, i.e. trigger or content warnings. Polite characters avoid the topic out of empathy or compassion and only dickish ones bring it up.) Week of 1/11/19 If Wishes Were Horses: then beggars would ride. We often think of wishes as something for children, but everyone does it. Wishes can be for anything from a lucky chance through feasible-but-difficult to outright impossible. What things does your character wish for? Little wishes? Not much more than good luck? Middling-possible wishes? Things that could happen given some work and luck? Something that could never happen? Prohibited by the laws of physics or just wildly improbable? There’s nothing really wrong with wishes, however impractical or unlikely. Every so often, wishes come true. Week of 1/18/19 To Sleep: perchance to dream? Humans spend, on average, one third of their lives asleep. We have rooms, furniture, phrases and clothing all dedicated to this biological necessity. What does your character do to sleep? Do they have special rituals? Do they need a sleep mask and soothing music or can they fall asleep anywhere, anytime? Do they prefer near silence and darkness? White noise and a night light? Are they always uncomfortable in a strange place? Does having a familiar object–pillow, blanket, childhood teddy bear–make it better? Pets? What about snoring or tossing and turning? Do they have a bedmate (or housemate) to annoy, or who annoys them? Maybe their sleep schedule is at odds with the rest of the world for some reason. Maybe they don’t have a sleep schedule–their days are too erratic. Perhaps they don’t require sleep themselves but find it an interesting trait in their companions. Week of 1/25/19 Loyalty: True loyalty is a complex subject. Essentially, someone puts your character’s well-being equal to or exceeding their own. It doesn’t mean agreeing with everything your character says or does, but offering a different perspective when warranted. It contains elements of being a friend and a lover, without necessarily sharing the more intimate or personal components of those relationships. Though, one hopes that friends and lovers are also loyal. Perhaps this is why betrayal hurts so much; the one who had your character’s back had a knife all along. Other times we mistake a loyal character leaving for betrayal, when in fact they can no longer bear to watch someone they care about self destruct. Consider who’s loyal to your character this week, to whom your character owes loyalty, why, and what might happen to change those dynamics. Week of 2/1/19 You’re Not the One I Was Looking For: It’s fun to set your character up with the perfect match. The One They’ve Been Dreaming of. Hold that thought–what about someone else? Someone close, maybe overlooked. Someone who’s right for your character in all the ways that matter, but not necessarily the ones your character thinks are important. Maybe they catch your character on the rebound; maybe they’ve been there all along but never thought about your character in a romantic way. Maybe a casual hookup turns into something more. This week, consider your character finding, not the one they were looking for, but The One just the same. Week of 2/8/19 Bus Stop: How did your character meet their Love Interest? Blind date? Friend-of-a-friend? Co-worker? Professional matchmaker? Your world’s equivalent of a dating app? Chance meeting at a bus stop? This week, tell the story of how they met. Week of 2/15/19 Kiss The Girl: or guy, or nonbinary person; whoever or whatever it is that your character is falling for (and, we hope, is falling for them as well) this is it. The Kiss. The Moment you’ve been waiting to write. So write it! Make it the end after a slow burn, or start with the Kiss and move forward. Week of 2/22/19 Storybook Love: After it all, the meeting, the spark, and the kiss, how does the story go? What happens after? Or during? How does your character’s love become part of the rest of their story? Maybe their love is the whole story, the prime mover of the plot, but what else happens around them? How does their relationship affect the other characters and the larger story of their lives? Write some of the book around their storybook love Week of 3/1/19 When I’m Sixty-Four: What happens when the infatuation wears off? When the rush of novelty and discovery fades? What do your characters still love about each other? Why do they choose to stay together? It is a choice, after all, and they could decide otherwise. Perhaps they do. That’s a story, too. Week of 3/8/19 Forbidden Fruit: Something forbidden is often that much more desirable, a focus of obsession. What is something your character can’t have? Not something they’re not likely to get. Something they could have, or an activity they could engage in, but chose not to. What is it and why must they avoid it? What are the consequences if they indulge? Are they physical, social, or something else? Do they think about the forbidden thing constantly, desiring it even though they know they shouldn’t? Do they really not care about the thing? Have they tried it and discovered it wasn’t as good, as interesting, or as exciting as they thought it would be? Was it better than they ever imagined? Week of 3/15/19 Insulting: Our characters often get into physical altercations, but what about verbal ones? When was a well-delivered quip or challenge just right to take down an opponent? Who did they insult and why? What was the response? Your character might have disrespected an authority figure who’s so far removed as to neither know nor care–though in some societies they might care very much and deal with it harshly. Maybe your character was the one insulted. Was it deserved? How do they react? Most of all: What did they say? Week of 3/22/19 Injury: Since our characters do often get into physical altercations, what injuries have they suffered? In a cinematic world it might be limited to minor scrapes, or serious wounds that heal in no time and without a scar. More realistic stories may have more lasting repercussions. How are their injuries treated? Technology, magic, herbs and other ‘traditional’ remedies? Some of everything? How long is their recovery? How complete? Does it make a difference if they received aid right away or if it took time before they could do so? Do they avoid doctors? What are the doctors like in your world? Think about a time your character was physically hurt and the medical help they received. Week of 3/29/19 Lasting Repercussions: Every battle leaves a mark, every injury a scar. They might not be visible, due to magic or high tech medicine. They might be psychological, but no less real or damaging. They might be social: new enemies or a change in class or status. The entire world may have changed. All your character’s conflicts, verbal or physical, have repercussions. Write about one.

Week of 4/5/19 Evil Twin: A subset of mistaken identity. Suppose there was another character, related or no, who looked so much like your character that everyone assumes they are the same person? Further suppose that this doppelganger has the opposite personality of your character. What happens? Do people trust them when they shouldn’t, or get surprised when they’re generous? How much trouble do they make for your character? Does your character even know they exist? Do they figure it out? What happens? Week of 4/12/19 Idiot Helpers: your character has companions, friends, and underlings. No doubt most of them are competent, but even the most reliable companion messes up. Some of them might be constantly messing up, misinterpreting your character’s instructions, and running ridiculous (or even contradictory) side schemes of their own. How does this complicate your character’s life? How do they deal with that companion they can’t get rid of or can’t bear to part with, but who is laughably incompetent? What kind of harebrained schemes are they getting into and how do they complicate your character’s life? Week of 4/19/19 Devil Boss: Our characters aren’t always independent. Sometime they have to take orders. And sometimes those orders, the one giving them, or both, are impossible. How does your character deal with a ridiculous situation? One they maybe aren’t meant to survive, complete, or would have to be insane to attempt? Suppose the orders they get are incompatible or in direct opposition. Maybe the orders aren’t so bad but their boss is just a pain to deal with. This week, imagine your character dealing with their boss, or at least someone around whom they should tread carefully, but who isn’t at all obliged to do the same. Week of 4/26/19 Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: Think Han Solo turning the corner into the stormtrooper barracks. When has your character done something that made the situation worse? Tried to roll with the situation, but ended up in hotter water instead? Stuck with the original plan even when events changed so as to render it useless? Maybe things didn’t get worse, but definitely didn’t improve at all and now there’s a different crisis. Write about an idea that seemed like a good one at the time, but turned out less so. Week of 5/3/19 Compromise: insisting on having everything their way all the time is a sure way for your character to lose friends and alienate allies. When have they had to compromise? Accept less than everything in order to get some of it? Negotiate a deal where everyone wins and no one really loses? It could be any kind of situation–from sharing a meal to deciding how to run a government. There’s bound to be some things they can’t bend on and others they may, and they have to negotiate similar stances with others. Write about a time your character needed to compromise and did, or didn’t, and what happened. Week of 5/10/19 Going Camping! Camp is everywhere this week. In its broadest definition, Camp is something so over-the-top, in poor taste, or ostentatiously awful it’s enjoyed as ridiculous or ironic. Ideally both at the same time. To say camp has no standards is to misunderstand its true nature: it’s not mainstream, doesn’t want to be, and is quite happy as it is thank you very much. This week’s challenge is to incorporate camp in your writing. Introduce (or bring back) a campy character. Include a campy setting. Tell a campy story. Write something campy! Week of 5/17/19 What is your Quest: A staple of video games and stories alike. In the most epic versions your character must retrieve/destroy an incredible artefact, thus demonstrating their worth and saving the world. A more mundane quest might be to get herbs from the neighbor’s garden…who happens to be a witch. Perhaps enough pig livers to make a pie…strangely, not every pig has a liver. This week, send your character on a quest. What are they doing and how will they get there? A quest can be an entire book or only one small part. Likewise, your story could detail the full quest, beginning to end, or one small but significant event during it. Week of 5/24/19 Under My Skin: Something latches on to your character and won’t let go. What is it? An idea they can’t stop thinking about? An offhand comment by another they keep mulling over? A slight, real or imagined, that wont quit ruining their day? A person who fascinates them–or drives them crazy? A literal parasite they picked up and really ought to have looked at? Week of 5/31/19 Games: Cards? Dice? Board? Ball? Video? Games of chance, games of skill, physical games as individuals or teams. Quiet pastime games, crowd-entertainment spectacles. Coliseums, pitches, dining room tables. Games for all ages, games for children, games for adults. Sentient species everywhere play all kinds of games and for various reasons. There could be no lasting repercussions, or it could be deadly. This week, make a game or its outcome important in your story. Happy 7th Birthday SFC!!!!!! Week of 6/7/19 Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: Our characters lead dangerous lives. They’re sent on missions they’re not expected to survive. They’re gone for long periods of time and no one hears from them. They may have alternate identities or roles they don’t want to (or can’t) let loved ones know about. Sometimes reporting agencies get events wrong. Sometimes people make assumptions. Comic books aren’t the only places where death isn’t necessarily permanent. Write about a time when your character was declared dead but wasn’t and the complications that ensued, or when a close associate (enemy? !!) comes back to life after everyone believed they were gone for good. Week of 6/14/19 You’re My Only Hope: It is your character’s most desperate hour. They (and possibly their friends or organization) need help. The kind of help they can only get from one person, and they’re not at all certain they’ll get it. How do they convince the person to aid them? What kind of help is it? Why do they need it and why is this other person so special? What happens if your character fails to recruit them? Is their help really that crucial? Do they end up a liability afterward? Week of 6/21/19 Bodies: Everybody has a body, your character included. How do they take care of themselves? Are there features they like and ones they don’t? Things they change regularly? Others they accept as permanent? Do they make allowances for their own unique issues and inform others of their requirements? Do they try to hide what they see as imperfections? Compensate for a lack, reasonable or otherwise? What about upgrades or other alterations? A cyborg might replace parts for any number of reasons. In a magical or biologically advanced setting they might regenerate, regrow, or augment what occurs naturally. Alternately, they might be stuck with what they were born with, good and bad alike. This week, give some thought to how your character relates to their physical form. Week of 6/28/19 Vulnerable: Our characters aren’t always in charge of everything. Everyone has weak spots. Everyone gets In difficult situations. Consider a time when your character was vulnerable in some way. Physically– maybe they’re a prisoner. Emotionally–a loved one or dear friend took advantage of them. Spiritually–they discovered the universe doesn’t really work the way they were taught. Even the least introspective character has vulnerabilities. Peek through a gap in your character’s armor and find a story. Week of 7/5/19 Liability: A disadvantage or debt: a liability is something your character is responsible for, or something that holds them back. It could be a literal, monetary debt. It might be something they inherited but don’t want. Perhaps another character, who really ought not to be in that situation. Maybe your character is the liability, endangering the mission because of inexpertise or some other qually. How does everyone deal with it? Week of 7/12/19 Craving: Sometimes, you just gotta have it. What is “it”? We often think of craving in relation to food, but it can be anything: intoxicants, attention, validation, touch, or affection. Nearly anything can be desired intensely as to be craved. Write about a time your character craved something, how they went about getting it, and what happened after. Why was it so important, anyway? Week of 7/19/19 Forced Arrangements: A marriage, an assigned partnership, dormmates, weekend conference roomies, seatmates for a long trip or event, even a blind date. Sometimes your character has to deal with another, with little say in the matter. How serious is the situation? How long does it last? How does your character handle it? What happens afterward? Do they part as friends and keep in touch or never speak again? If permanent, how do they make it work? Week of 7/26/19 A Favor: Your character needs help, and someone owes them a favor. Perhaps your character is the one who owes a favor. These are social obligations with no clear monetary value, yet we seem to know instinctively when a request is reasonable. Even when it’s not, we may find ourselves honoring it. In some circles, a favor maybe more codified and ritualized. Yet while money may be involved, it’s never the real debt. Do your character a favor and write about them cashing in or fulfilling a social debt this week. Week of 8/2/19 Dear Diary: A diary, a journal, a personal log. Whether it’s a way of summarizing the day, a method for working through problems, or an aid to memory, people and characters find writing in a diary to be a helpful tool. What about your character? Do they keep a diary? What do they write about? Perhaps they find one belonging to a relative, a lover, a mentor, or even a stranger. Do they read it or return it? Week of 8/9/19 Dear John: before breaking up via text was a thing there was the “Dear John” letter. Has your character written one? Received one? Breakups are never easy. The letter (or text) means one person doesn’t have to face the raw emotions (and possibly violence) of the other. So what would your character write, or what did their letter say? Week of 8/16/19 Dear Mum and Dad: letters from camp: It’s summer in the northern hemisphere, time for Vacations and Summer Camp. Does your character send their children to camp? Did they go as a child? What about boot camp, or postcards from a trip to a distant locale? Who do they write to and what do they say? Do friends or relatives send messages to your character from their vacations? Business trips? Write some camp letters or postcards this week. Week of 8/23/19 Dear Editor: Prior to comment sections, there were Letters to the Editor, where newspaper or magazine readers made their opinions known, and sometimes were published. Has your character ever spoken their mind in this official way? What was the occasion? Do they troll everyone on every message board they can find? Disagree politely? Usually ignore it all but this..this cannot stand. Let your character rant in public this week. Week of 8/30/19 Dearest Love: In worlds where instant communication is the norm, there’s still something special about a love letter. Where letter-writing is the only kind of long-distance messaging they’re even more treasured. Simultaneously raw and full of heartfelt emotion and meticulously edited. Every word considered and weighed. They embody the uniqueness of love. Who might your character write a love letter to? Have they ever received one? What did it say? Were the feelings reciprocated? Week of 9/6/19 Playing for Keeps: A phrase originally from the game of marbles, if you played for funsies you went home with all the marbles you brought. When playing for keeps, you kept yours plus any you knocked out of the circle, even if they were your opponent’s favorites. You might even target those on purpose. Playing for keeps suggests a risk and a chance for genuine loss from which there is no recovery. An outcome which your character does not have full control over, and will likely change things for them. This time, someone loses. Things will not be the same in the aftermath. There’s no chance for de-escalation. This week, your character is Playing for Keeps. Week of 9/13/19 Adventure Time!: Adventuring isn’t a typical career. Most people stay at home with ordinary jobs, taking care of the farm figuratively or literally. What was it that changed your character’s course? Were they always adventurous? The first one climbing the rock or jumping in the pool since toddlerhood? Were they pushed into it by circumstance or a timely visit by a wizard? Gradually funneled into an adventurous life one decision at a time until they hardly recognize their lives? Explore your character’s first step off the ordinary path for the one less taken. What was your character’s very first adventure? Week of 9/20/19 Sole Survivor: Sometimes it’s a mission gone bad. Only one of the team made it back. Maybe no one was expected to return, but one did. Maybe it was a game, and they were the last one standing when everyone else got eliminated. If it wasn’t your character, perhaps it is a close associate or even a new contact. This week, consider a character who survived a situation when no one else did. How did they get there? Where do they go afterward? How do they deal with it? Has it happened before? Is the character considered Bad Luck personified? Are they Good Luck–guaranteed to win? Write about your character being the sole survivor, or encountering one. Week of 9/27/19 Hypocrisy: We’ve covered lying before but this time it’s a special kind of lie: putting up a virtuous front for public accolade while not actually believing in those virtues or actively violating them in private. Nearly every character (and person) engages in some hypocrisy, overlapping with those insidious little white lies told to keep the peace. Have they ever encountered some whoppers? In themselves or others? What did they do? What could they do? Who was involved? What was the outcome? Did anything change? If your character, they might be in for some soul searching assuming they want to atone. They might just as easily fight the one who uncovered them. Write about your character encountering blatant hypocrisy. Week of 10/4/19 Happy Place: When your character’s feeling down, frightened, or overwhelmed, where do they go? What’s their “happy place”? Is it a literal, physical location? An actual place they visit that never fails to ground them? Is it an object that brings soothing memories with it? A story, a book, or a piece of music? An activity that helps them refocus? Is their happy place a lie? A bar where they can drink away their feelings, a painful memory that crowds out the new one, a story, song, or activity that distracts but offers no real solace? This week, write about your character’s happy place. Week of 10/11/19 Inappropriate Attire: When has your character arrived for an event in the wrong clothing? Why? Was it a social gaffe? Did they interpret “fancy dress” as a formal affair when what was intended was a costume party? Were they told it was casual but not, apparently, that casual? Maybe they prepared for the wrong conditions–it’s never this hot (or cold!) this time of year! Those shoes seemed like a good idea at the outset but now, not so much. Who would have thought they’d need a high-visibility vest? Or that going armed and armored was such a faux pas? This week write about your character being completely inappropriately attired for the occasion and what happened after. Week of 10/18/19 Message in a Bottle: Has your character ever received a message from a stranger? Was it spam, and they decided to mess with the sender? Was it a misdirected communication, meant for someone else? Was it a blind message, sent without knowing who might receive it? What did it say? Maybe your character sent such a message. Did they hope for help? Were they seeking a random connection with someone else curious enough to answer? Open the bottle and write about the message inside. Week of 10/25/19 Lost!: Really, really lost. So far off course that they don’t know where the course is, let alone how to get back on it. The compass is gone or broken. The sun or stars are hidden behind the clouds. The radio dead or not receiving signal. How did your character get into this situation? Is is real–as in they are physically lost? Is it metaphorical–they’re in a completely unfamiliar situation with no idea how to get out of it. Most importantly: how are they getting home? Week of 11/1/19 A Matter of Life and Death: This week the stakes are high. Your character has to intercede or maybe they’re the one in the situation. It’s a matter of life and death. Whose? Why? How did the situation get this serious? Is there any way out? Is it really a Matter of Life and Death or did someone use the distress beacon to order pizza? Week of 11/8/19 Wrong side of the Bed: Every character can have an incident that ruins an otherwise decent day. As an author, that’s fun to write. What about those times when they just wake up in a bad mood? No reason, no inciting incident, They’re annoyed from the get-go. Those are usually the days that go from bad to worse. Does someone try to get them out of their funk? Are they usually bright and sunny and this is a noticeable change in disposition? Maybe it’s only a matter of degree and their companions are walking on thinner eggshells. This week, write about a time when your character got up on the wrong side of the bed and what the rest of their day was like. Week of 11/15/19 Love Language/Showing Affection: Every person, every character, has their own way of showing affection. There are culturally sanctioned ways, which often differ by gender and class. Everyone’s different, though, and how they show affection is often how they perceive their standing in another’s eyes. Write this week about your character showing affection in their own way, or recognizing another’s unique love language. Week of 11/22/19 Beauty: In the eye of the beholder and only skin deep? Or is there in truth no beauty? It’s more common to make our characters physically attractive than not, but modern human (and especially Western) standards are not universal. How does this play in their unique cultures? What does your character consider beautiful? Does it align with their society? What does beauty mean to them in the context of their story? Do they see themselves as beautiful? What would they do to become so, or more so, or do they care? Week of 11/29/19 Masks and True Faces: Some of our characters wear physical masks. Why? Do they protect their body against harm, their identity against retaliation, or hide something they are ashamed of? Some eschew protection and flaunt their identity, their face, their safety. Other characters take on new personalities and identities depending on who they’re with or the job they need to do. Not a physical mask, but protection just the same. Write about the masks your character wears and to whom, if anyone, they show their true face and self. Week of 12/6/19 Infodump: Writers often need to give the reader information. A lot of it. A backstory, a history, a strange device, a motivation. You need a character to monologue. This week’s challenge is to create a scene around explaining something important about your character, their world, or their current situation. Infodumps don’t have to be boring! They can be funny, ridiculous, serious, or even deadpan, all while still being interesting. Your infodump doesn’t even have to match the tone of the rest of your story. This week: tell, don’t show. Week of 12/13/19 Sweater Weather: It’s winter here in the northern hemisphere. Definitely time to break out the jackets, scarves, and long sleeves if you haven’t already. What does your character think of cold weather? Are they the ones wearing shorts in the snow, or are they always cold even wrapped in blankets? Do they come from a place with an actual winter, but now live elsewhere with different traditions or no seasons at all? Are they accustomed to an unchanging climate and the seasons always throw them off? What is this “winter” you speak of? Wait, there’s something besides cold? Of course, sweater weather also suggests cuddling, cups of hot chocolate, tea, cider, or even soup. Be romantic, dystopian, or anywhere in between this week. Week of 12/20/19 Festive Food: Few human holidays are celebrated without food. Special cakes or cookies, the bread that only comes out for the holiday, roasts, stews, vegetarian, carnivore, and everything in between. Some of the special foods are cultural: everyone all around you is making the same things because of course everyone makes them. Sometimes it’s a special thing in your family alone: Grandma’s holiday bread, Dad’s special cookies, Auntie’s secret-recipe casserole. Sometimes the special thing is special because it is part of a culture otherwise left behind: the thing no one makes here, but does where you’re from. What special food does your character associate with holidays and why? Do they make and enjoy it and share with their friends? Who likes it and who hates it? Does your character hate it, but make it anyway because reasons? Week of 12/27/19 Second Chances: Everyone screws up. Who gets a second chance? Under what circumstances will your character give another a second chance? Honest mistake? Unforeseen circumstances? Deliberate sabotage? Will some characters (main or otherwise) allow anyone a second chance? No one? Nobody is owed a second chance; no one can earn it. They don’t have to be forgiven for the initial wrong. Give someone in your character’s story a second chance this week. Or don’t. That’s a story too. Week of 1/3/20 New Year, New You: Make a new character, or write for a character you haven’t before. It can be a completely new OC, a new character in your game or story, or an established character in a property you like but never wrote them before. Write anything from a short scene to a complete fic or story. Week of 1/10/20 Face Your Fears: Write the kind of scene you find most difficult. Falling in love? Action? Smut? Exposition? Description and scene-setting? High emotions? Every writer has something they find hard to write. It’s only human to avoid including it. But at some point your story will need that kind of scene. Face your fear now. Week of 1/17/20 Travel Without A Map: This one is easy for those habitual pantsers out there. Write a scene or a whole piece without having any (or as little as possible) preconceived idea of where it’s going. Let your characters tell the story they want to tell. They might surprise you! Write the whole thing, beginning to end. Don’t go back and change things! Not even typos! Or try not to fix typos–that’s hard. The goal this week is a word-vomit, totally unplanned draft that nevertheless is complete of itself. Travel without a map or GPS, but do make it home at the end. Week of 1/24/20 Self Care: Write the kind of scene you need to write or read. Not necessarily the next one to finish your fic. The kind you need to write: fluffy happiness, cathartic violence, something silly, something deep and philosophical, something satirical and full of sharp cutting edges. This is for no one but you. There’s no obligation to share it with anyone, even SFWC. And if you prefer, take the week off and write nothing. Recharge. You have permission. Take care of yourself this week, however that looks to you. Week of 1/31/20 Complete Something: Remember that word-vomit first draft from a couple weeks ago? Edit it to completeness. Alternately, pick something from your WIP pile and finish it, whether it’s the first draft or final, ready-to-be-posted version. Choose a work that’s not done, and finish it. Move it from the inbox to the outbox. There are few things that feel as nice as finally finishing something. Wrap up the Month of Meta with that feeling of accomplishment. Week of 2/7/20 Right Person, Wrong Time: When has your character met another who could be a perfect fit…but not now? It might be a soulmate, a mentor, a social connection, or a patron. But your character isn’t ready for their help, guidance, friendship, or love yet. Maybe your character is, but the person they meet is the one at the wrong time. Why are “the stars wrong”? Does the relationship require a personal change on someone’s part, or are there social or cultural forces in play? Do they ever figure it out? Or do they remain out of sync for the whole story? Week of 2/14/20 Chocolate! It’s Valentine’s Day here in the US and everything is red, white, and shades of pink. And chocolate! Does your character’s world have a day for romantic love? Is there a food or treat associated with it? Is it like chocolate: sweet, creamy, indulgent and yet ordinary any other time? Is it actual chocolate? Who would your character give it to, or who do they hope to receive it from? What does that person mean to them? They don’t have to be lovers, after all. Or does your character ignore the whole meaning thing and use it as an excuse to stock up? All of the above? Week of 2/21/20 Found Family: Many of our characters collect a wide circle of friends and hangers-on. Do they have a closer inner circle that’s more than friends? A found family, a collection of characters that interact the way a tightly bonded family might but aren’t related? No one has to fall into stereotypical roles. There doesn’t have to be a “Mom” or “Dad,” “Kid Brother” or “Big Sister.” They don’t always get along, but they always support and care for each other. Write a story involving your character’s found family if they have one, or their adventure with someone who does. Week of 2/28/20 Ride or Die: Who sticks with your character for all their adventures, good or bad, boring or exciting? The one they call for a spontaneous vacation, to get them out of jail, or to help them move to a second-story walkup apartment. Hopefully their love interest (if they have one) qualifies, but Ride or Die is neither exclusive nor necessarily romantic. It doesn’t even have to be reciprocated. Write something where this relationship is front and center. The story doesn’t work unless the characters absolutely, unequivocally, have each other’s back, no matter what happens. Week of 3/6/20 Time Change: When has your character been out of sync with their surroundings? In space all planets have their own day-night cycles as well as years. Travel to a new place at light speed or more means having to adjust to a wildly different schedule upon landing. And what time does the crew keep in transit? Is there an agreed-upon standard or does every captain choose their own? Fantasy settings can still have abrupt time changes: long-distance teleports, extended sleep spells, world-altering magic. Does a place like Discworld have time zones? Maybe your character is the habitual early riser in a world or night owls, or the reverse. Week of 3/13/20 Bad Advice: What’s the worst advice your character received? Something so patently wrong they disregarded it immediately and questioned the giver’s sanity or intelligence? Something they thought was valid but proved less so in practice? Something they fervently believed in until their own repeated experiences made them change their mind? Write about your character and some colossally bad advice. Week of 3/20/20 Rock Your World: When has your character received unexpected, life-changing news? Was it good or bad? Both? Maybe they learned about an otherwise-unknown relative, received a large inheritance, or acquired a large debt. Perhaps they received medical news–positive or negative. A domestic animal showed up on their doorstep and decided it lived there. Whatever happened, their life is different from this day forward, and it isn’t their choice. What do they do? Week of 3/27/20 Forbidden Knowledge: The secret technique, a hidden history, a coded text. What does the secret technique do and why is it secret? What was your character taught, what really happened, who hid the truth and why? Is the code unbreakable or was the key lost on purpose? Is it really a code or is it actually a lost language? What does the text say? Worlds abound in knowledge that’s forbidden to to learn or at least difficult to find. Have your character search for, find out about, or discover some this week. Week of 4/3/20 Cooking: We’ve had several prompts about food, but how about its preparation? Does your character cook? Does their species prepare food at all? What counts as preparation--and how literally do they “gather” or “hunt down” ingredients? Do they like cooking but usually leave it to someone else? Are they terrible at it but clueless to that fact? Are they really quite good cooks, whether they enjoy it or not? Do they only ever prepare one certain dish? Or are they perfectly content to survive on their world’s equivalent of instant ramen, military ration packs, or cheap takeaway? Week of 4/10/20 Auto/Biography: We often write backstories for our characters with no intention of using the information directly in their adventures. But suppose someone in their world did? Who would write your character’s biography? What would your character want in it? What would they write if they did it themselves? Is your character protective of their legacy or are they willing to authorize a warts-and-all tale? Would your character exaggerate their adventures for the sake of a good tale, or downplay them as irrelevant to their later work? Do they want to be venerated as saintly and good, or feared as a tyrant no one would dare cross? Something in between? And who would read or listen to the tale? Week of 4/17/20 Won’t Get Fooled Again: Everyone’s been fooled sometime. When does your character notice a pattern? It is a similar scam, or the same person running a different one? What was it about the interaction that tipped off your character? Are they fooled, have they learned, or are they giving someone another chance? Is it worth it? Is the issue so minor that they don’t mind? Are they playing a game with a loved one or friend and fooling is the point? Is your character wrong and the exchange was on the level the whole time? Week of 4/24/20 No!: Not just no, but hell no. Absolute refusal, you can’t make me, never gonna do it. When has your character outright refused another’s request? What about orders? Demands? Did they agree and then think better of it? Did they go along and quit when they reached their limit? Did the request seem reasonable on the surface but turn out less so? Was it just awful from the get-go? Did they say no just for spite? What were the consequences for refusal? Week of 5/1/20 Relying on Technology: Regardless of setting, our characters rely on technological innovations. In a fantasy setting, those might be cunning spellwork or finely-crafted weapons. The far future could have memory-dubbing and cybernetics. In any setting, food production, travel, and medicine often employ technology we barely acknowledge. What technology in your character’s world do they absolutely rely on? What can they not get along without? Do they even realize how much they need it? What happens when something goes wrong in the way it functions? What if it breaks and can’t be repaired, or at least not easily or quickly? How much trouble do they have when the things they expect to work just...don't? Week of 5/8/20 Ever Your Servant: Who serves your character? Not their friend, lover, or companion, characters or NPCs intended as equals, but someone of lower social station. Someone who’s hired for their skills and paid for their work. A butler (hello, Alfred), a maid, the barista at their favorite coffeeshop. Perhaps a slave in societies that allow it or a droid or a golem in those that don’t. This week write a story concerning your character and another who serves them. Week of 5/15/20 Because I Can: When has your character done something just because? Was it a harmless act done on a whim? A luxury or trip they can finally afford? A crime they knew would go unpunished? A cruel act enabled by power? A heroic one, likewise enabled by power, lack of oversight, or cleverness? Something small that makes them happy? This week, write your character doing something just because they can. Week of 5/22/20 Bored: Everyone gets bored. Some more easily than others. When has your character been bored? They could be snowbound at home, waiting for an appointment, or a passenger in a vehicle with nothing to do. Perhaps it’s boredom spiked with danger. They’ve sent their distress signal and there’s nothing to do but wait. How do they keep themselves occupied? Do they bother? Can they easily escape their situation but choose not to? Write about your character dealing with boredom. Week of 5/29/20 Welcome Back/Welcome Home: Some people have fond memories of your character. Parents, old friends, or mentors. Others, perhaps, not so much: exes, enemies, people they've wronged. What kind of welcome does your character get when visiting them again? Is it what they expect or very different? Happy 8th Birthday SFC!!!!!!! Week of 6/5/20 Putting Up a Front: A character might feign bravery to convince themselves or inspire others. They might pretend a breakup doesn’t hurt. Putting up a front is performative; hiding vulnerability behind a mask a person hopes improves or maintains their status. Suppressing emotions comes naturally to some characters, less so for others. When--if ever--has your character put up a front and why did they do so? Week of 6/12/20 Do I Have To?: There are bound to be tasks your character needs to complete that they’d really rather not do. It could be anything from routine chores to some major (or expensive) repairs to their ship, home, or estate. It might be putting up with ridiculous demands from a boss or overlord. It could be something that goes against their moral code--wherever their personal moral compass points--that they nevertheless feel they have to do. It might be something they personally find unpleasant and no one else understands why. Maybe it’s something they’ve been putting off, or something they’ve only just been assigned. This week, write a story where your character asks, literally or figuratively, do I have to? Week of 6/19/20 Like a Child--No Inhibitions: We had the prompt Like No One’s Watching for your character indulging in some activity they liked but were embarrassed to engage in. This time, let them shed those inhibitions. Children do the things they love and don’t care who knows about it. Be it singing on the bus, wearing colors or patterns that “adults know” don’t match, eating the whole slice of cake because it tastes great, or making stories in their favorite make-believe world. This week, write a story where your character is going to have fun regardless of other’s opinions, or a time when they remembered being so free.

[hollenka99]

The Creator

Summary: When Sean discovers he has the ability to bring his characters to life, he wasn’t expecting to be shunned by them or for it to lead to tragedy time and time again.

Warnings: Blood mention, implied death (including children), kidnapping mention

Sean wishes he never went to Max's house that night. It wasn't any fun. They were just really mean to him and he didn't like it. It's not like he didn't try to stay awake. It was a dumb anyway. His mother asks him if he'd like her to speak with Max's mother. He tells her no. In response she encourages him to stop moping about if it wasn't that bad. Well, fine then. Max sucks and Sean can make a way better friend than him any day. Right, what kind of qualities should a good friend have? He should be kind always, never teases him in a mean way, be willing to be there for him and want to join in with his games. For the hell of it, Sean adds 'never sleeps' to the criteria. This imaginary friend is named Jack, after the family nickname. Having been moulded into the 6 year old's interpretation of a perfect friend, Jack becomes a concrete part of Sean's life. Jack is always there when he gets home from school. They mess around in the woods near the house, complain about homework together and share a great deal of laughter between themselves. For years, his parents and siblings brush it off as him being a little boy. However, Sean is undeniably getting older. With each birthday, having an imaginary friend is increasingly becoming something he should outgrow. And he is, somewhat. It's just that Jack feels so real to him. But his friend understands. Sean is no longer 6 and it is time for him to gradually mature. He gets crushes, makes his way through secondary school and decides he may have made a mistake with his original degree choice. Through it all, he's maintained an interest in video games. So screw it, there is a place for gaming content on YouTube. What does he have to lose? This damn cabin doesn't exactly allow him many opportunities to socialise with those outside his family otherwise. He goes by Jacksepticeye on the website, harkening back to a nickname he gained following an injury years before. Months pass and it is soon July. To his surprise, his channel's subscriber count reaches 1000. He's delighted. That was 1000 more than he'd ever really expected. He films a vlog to mark the occasion and thank his audience. Something he'd expected even less than his sub count was his doppelganger, complete with an identical outfit, collapsing in front of his television. Regaining composure after getting to his feet, the clone speaks. "Um, hi Sean." "What the fuck? Who are you and why do look like me?" "I'm Jack." "Okay. Hello Jack. What the hell are you doing in my living room?" "No, Jack as in... Jack. From when you were a kid." Sean stands there, no words coming from his mouth. He seems to remember himself after a minute. "But you're imaginary. You were an imaginary friend, it's kind of in the name." "I guess that's changed." Jack shrugs, obviously as lost as he was by this unique situation. Sean falls back onto the sofa. With his hands in his hair, he lets out a deep breath. Jack gently sits himself on the other side of the sofa. Not bothering to lift his head, Sean opens his mouth. "I'm going to be honest. This was not how I imagined my day going." "I didn't think I'd suddenly come to life either." Sean leans back and their eyes meet. A beat passes before they both descend into laughter at the absurdity of it. That summer is phenomenal compared to his previous expectations for it. He introduces Jack to so many things that he usually took for granted. They eat more tubs of ice cream together than was healthy, don't allow a week to pass without a competitive gaming session and occasionally wander about in the woods surrounding the cabin. There was apparently a whole other world with people Jack haphazardly described as 'the NPCs to my main character'. Their faces were probably based on people Sean had walked past in the street. There was this completely separate world and the entry point was simply lingering outside his cabin. It was inconceivable. When he gets the courage to venture through the gateway, he discovers it's actually a bit remote. Isolated, like his cabin is. Jack helps him laugh it off. Besides, he couldn't be expected to be creative with his literal worldbuilding if he didn't know how he was doing it in the first place. Jack introduces him to a friend who was like him. This Australian guy called Angus Irwin tags along to a hang out session. Here was this person, standing right before him, whom he was entirely responsible for creating. By messing around in Far Cry 3 and putting on a dumb accent, he'd created life. What the hell was he capable of? The three of them are firm friends by the time the local trees have suffered a significant loss of leaves. He and Jack gradually become the joint face of the Jacksepticeye channel. For some reason (Jack cited Sean's 6 year old self for this) his doppelganger didn't sleep. This was actually very beneficial for him because he could edit while Sean slept. God knows Jack complained enough about his sleep schedule. When he gets announced as a winner of Pewdiepie's shout out competition in September, Jack swings by to congratulate him. Along with Angus, the trio spent the evening celebrating this bizarre occasion. There was a lot of work he'd have to put in to keep the momentum going but Sean knew it would be worth it in the end. The colder months fly by after that. Jack had never been particularly affected by the cold before. However, now that he could feel it, he suffered the consequences of not wearing enough layers. Jack detesting the cold is funny to Sean, especially after how much his friend thrived in summer. Angus wasn't used to the lower Irish temperatures either. He helped them stay warm as best he could. That goddamn cabin with its internally forming frost didn't help but still, he tried. He jokes he should conjure up more radiators for Jack and Angus' home despite not having the faintest clue how to actually do so. As the new year approaches, Sean realises he never gave Jack a birthday. They could have celebrated in November because he is maybe 90% sure Max was born during that month. Therefore, Jack would have been initially thought up during November 1996. But Sean had no idea what the specific date of creation was. Not to mention November had already passed anyway. There was that date in July but he wasn't sure he should pick the anniversary of Jack becoming corporeal as his birthday. At a loss, he goes for the day he associates with birthdays the most. Who says Jack couldn't share his birthday? He blanks on what to get his friend. He's not sure where he gets the dumb idea to let Jack experience hot chocolate for the first time as a birthday treat. Jack gets understandably frustrated by this ban on the drink. It pays off when Sean gets to witness the wonderful sight of his friend enjoying hot chocolate. Lost on what to give Angus for his birthday in early April, he approaches Jack for ideas. His friend suggests getting a toy leopard and jewellery that can fit on the animal. Sean can't help but question the odd combination. When Jack explains leopards love jewellery, especially the gold digging females, it's as if these were widely known facts. Sean had been bullshitting when he'd spouted that nonsense. Jack reminds him it was factual to Angus. Oh alright, fuck it. Let's present Angus with a jewellery loving leopard on his birthday. As predicted, the Australian wildlife man greatly appreciates the gift. It's late summer once more when Sean's problems begin. Jack mentions being concerned about their friend's changing sleeping habits. Then Angus' memory gradually starts suffering. Throughout 2015, Angus gets worse. Jack's always had a big mouth. He tends to speak before he truly thinks things through. Sean's technically to blame for that. However, it hasn't been much of an issue until now. The first time Jack brings up potentially finding a way to reverse whatever was affecting Angus, he hates to reject him. The painfully dejected look in his best friend's eyes breaks his heart. He wants to help, he really does. He just can't. Not long after, he spends an hour or two looking for a game with an open world. Perhaps he could put on an Australian accent for the anniversary of the character's first appearance. Nothing comes up. Life gets in the way. Sean abandons the search for a while. Jack never allows him to forget for too long. What starts as "I'm worried about Angus" soon morphs into "Angus only called me Jake once today". The longer it goes on, the more desperate Jack gets. And angrier. Sean has never seen such frustrated fury in his friend. He wishes he never had to. He's not even sure if he can call himself a true friend anymore, given how much he's already failed them. The cycle of attempting to find a solution and putting it on the back burner due to no leads continues. As do the arguments with Jack. Contrary to popular belief, he is putting in the effort. The main problem was he never seemed to have anything to show for it. He still cares for Angus too. The reason he wasn't visiting their home as often was because he didn't always feel welcome. As was in Jack's nature, he kept forgiving him. He'd say it was fine and Sean would agree for the sake of it. But it wasn't fine. He is beginning to forget when the last time things were 'fine'. Following some filming with Ninja Sex Party, Sean is excited to dress up as a superhero for a bit during a Welcome To The Game video. Jack is just as pleased to make a new friend. Jackie is a surprise, his young age even more so. He was 16 and, as far Jack had told him, brimming with excess energy. The new arrival had been a shock for Jack too, apparently. The most he could offer the kid last night was a can of Dr Pepper and some custard creams. Shit, this was new territory. He hasn't had to deal with a new ego in years. Jackie's age causes conversations about school and whether the boy would need an education in the first place. Sean doesn't necessarily see the point. Was Jackie currently the only minor in their world? Because in that case, has a high school suddenly popped up to accommodate a single student? Even if Sean created a character with children at a later date, the kids would probably be the wrong age group to attend school with Jackie. If it was that important to Jack to see the young superhero have an education, he would have to do it himself. Being home-schooled would also allow Jackie to do his job. Attempts at being responsible aside, he ensures Jackie knows he can come to him if needs anything specific. Naturally, he gravitates to Jack as his adult role model. Sean doesn't mind. They live together and Jackie therefore has easier access to him. But Sean is still there if the need arises. A month later, he buys a cheap cat mask that covers half of his face. It was something to use once and forget about until you throw it away in a big spring clean. The magic set was the same, only with extra smaller parts. The video is nothing spectacular. All it entailed was him messing around with the box's contents before switching to decorating the mask. The last thing he was anticipating was the creation of life. Although, by this point, perhaps he should have. Besides, he hadn't even given himself a name. It was just 'Jack the Magnificent'. Jack comes to rectify this oversight a couple days later. He explains he'd made the suggestion the night of Marvin's arrival. The box had the name on it so why not let the new ego make it his own? The main issue Jack had with all this was that Marvin had not been planned in the slightest. With Jackie, there'd been some preparation. Neither of them may have foreseen his creation but at least there had been a name and outfit. All Marvin had was a mask, plus a name that was already taken. "This better not happen again." Jack privately demands. "I don't want another Angus. God knows you're not going to help." Jack swings by at the end of August to inform him Jackie's in hospital. He'd gotten stabbed while confronting a thief. He was fine, recovering well and all that but he thought Sean might want to know. On the subject of requiring medical care, Jack brings up the idea to have a doctor ego. Just someone who understood their unique situation and could also take care of their health. Oh, oh yeah. He can totally do that. He'll need some things for the video so give him a chance to prepare but definitely, one doctor coming right up. He feels somewhat dumb playing Operation as if it were a serious procedure in this cheap surgeon's outfit he bought over the weekend. And yes, even he can admit the 'German' accent was atrocious. Half of what comes out of his mouth is bullshit. If this works as intended and he creates an ego from it, this guy is sure going to be interesting. He pretends to be distressed over Peter's death. Then it hits him that Dr Schneeplestein probably won't appreciate him killing his friend and personal accountant. He could try refilm it but he doubts he has the time. Fix it through editing? Sure, but then it might be obvious that there was another part. Alright fine, maybe he'll just have to deal with the consequences. Dr Henrik von Schneeplestein is indeed an interesting guy. A married father too, which surprises him. Not only has he made the doctor, there is a new family of 5 in the egos' neighbourhood. One of these days he'll know what he's doing with this creation thing. For now though, he thinks it's very cool that he managed a 5 for the price of 1 deal. Henrik himself is intelligent and if Sean was more knowledgeable on certain topics, he's sure they'd be able to share thoughtful conversations. Either way, Henrik was incredibly busy with his professional duties and personal commitments. It was understandable that neither had much time in the day to sit down and truly get to know one another. For the hell of it, he throws in a little extra into the egos' characterisation. They can't die. Or, to be more specific, they can't die for long. Jackie gets stabbed and bleeds out? Easy, just deal with the wound and he should wake up after a while. What this means for Peter, who knows? Sean is secretly thankful when the accountant isn't granted life. That's one less person to keep happy. Like seemingly everything ego-related he does, it backfires. Within a year, this failsafe will have caused more suffering than hope. Sean isn't to know. However, he convinces himself he's done the right thing for once. He sure as hell knows how much trouble it's going to cause him if they don't believe that too. Sean makes an irreversible mistake in the October of 2016. The entire month, he has glitches sprinkled throughout his horror game videos. He gets so caught up in the teasing and build up that he doesn't contemplate how this will affect the egos. Worse yet, he recklessly allows Jack to film the Halloween video. Sure, he would have used a bit of red paint if it had been him filming. But since it was Jack? He doesn't want to imagine the scene Jackie discovers. God, he can't believe he's been so thoughtless. Signe has to encourage him to bed before he manages to rack up over 24 hours of being awake in one go. Resurrecting the dead is exhausting, he finds. He postpones visiting Jack for a day before realising his avoidance is likely making matters worse. The dread cumulates to the point he swears he will be sick if he doesn't actively focus on his breathing. The loophole he made in September might have ensured nobody died permanently but it never mentioned scars. It's not visible behind the bandages but he knows it's there. Jack is pissed off. Rightfully so. Matters worsen even more after Jackie vanishes while attempting to get away from their fighting. It's just another thing that's ruined the egos' perception of him. If he thought the hill Jack was ready to die on was Angus, he's got another thing coming. There's only so much he can take before he has to force apathy for the sake of his sanity. He understands he can't control Antisepticeye. Once this situation is dealt with, he vows, the demon will never be used on his channel again. The subscribers' love for the character will have to ignored. It's too risky to play Anti again. He puts the red suit on again. In the short video, only a minute or so in length, Jackie sprints through poorly lit corridors to the exit. Sean acts scared and looks behind him frequently as he runs. It is uploaded privately. His community didn't need to know anything about this. He hopes with everything he's got that it works. Nothing. For days, for weeks, for months. Sean doesn't bother letting the egos know what he'd tried to do. It's guaranteed Jack and Marvin would tell him to try harder. He has no idea what that means in this context. Christmas passes without incident. As does January. In February, he celebrates his 27th birthday alongside Jack. It's a day devoid of resentment. Sean had almost forgotten that was allowed in their friendship. He exaggerates his dissatisfaction about getting older. In response to this, Jack smears the frosting of his slice across Sean's face. 'Accidentally', of course. Just as accidentally as Sean reciprocated the action. Signe humours them by taking photographs of their new cake-based look. The next time they are hanging out in Jack's room, he notices a picture from that day is in a frame on his friend's dresser. "What's this about?" "Oh uh, this is going to sound dumb but... I like being reminded it isn't always so rough between us." "No. No, I get it. I um, I feel the same way. That day was great." He glances at the image once more. He lets out a humoured scoff. "Maybe I should save your dumb face to my phone." "Aww, wow, I knew you loved me really." Jack puts his arm around his shoulder. A playful shove. "Fuck off." In an emotional slump during April, he buys a bunch of Lyons boxes and mini chocolate eggs. It's just a parody of Dude Perfect from someone with zero accuracy. Then he does the stupid thing and creates life again. Fuck it, his wife hates him and he may never see his kids again. Chase Brody's depression causes him to pretend to shoot himself before the end card plays. When Jack calls him and demands to know what the hell he was thinking, Sean has no answer. It turns out that when the ending translated into Chase's reality, he'd actually shot himself in the head. Fuck. Afterwards, Jack doesn't provide his creator with any updates. Insisting he has the right to talk to Chase only makes him more hated. Despite having never met before, Chase already resents him. The next time an ego is intentionally created, Sean's going to be there to intercept them. They're not going to enter that home and have their opinion of him influenced by people who wished he wasn't in their lives. The next new guy would be given a fair chance to see Sean for what he was. A massive screw up when it came to the ability he's unsure how to master. But in no way was he some villain. August is around the corner when Jack asks to visit. The two of them seem to be on the same page that day. Sean is more than happy to hang out and cheer him up. Believing Jack would be empathetic, he begins a conversation about how the YouTube algorithm was bothering him. Over three years of working as a duo on the Jacksepticeye channel meant Jack should understand where he was coming from. But, of course, his friend makes it all about himself and his own problems. Why wouldn't he? It's what he usually does. They argue because apparently that's the only way they communicate with each other nowadays. Jack sure knows how to pack a punch. Being friends with him shouldn't be such a struggle. Sean snaps. The emotional fatigue of trying to keep up with the algorithm and all this fighting causes him to make one of the worst decisions he'd ever go through with. If Jack wants him to be the bad guy, fine. Sean would be the bad guy. Just this once, he'd actually be the asshole. "You want to sleep, I'll let you sleep." He threatens when Jack begins walking off mid-argument. "Bring back Jackie. He's been missing for months. Do something!" Jack flings viciously back seconds before he marches out the door. He can tell Signe regrets asking him how the gaming session went. He dresses as Schneeplestein as soon as he finalises his plan, pretending he aims to save a version of himself in Bio Inc Redemption. He loses. Oops. He acts as he feels the real Schneeplestein would, desperate not to watch another patient die. He sends the video to Robin for editing. The final uploaded product is nowhere near what he'd recorded. His audience are all talking about Anti. They were praising him for his acting and Robin for his editing. But... he never included Anti. Any recollection of filming the final scene was non-existent. And the parts with Henrik getting possessed weren't him either. The more he thinks about it, the further the terror sets in. Over the course of years, Jack had chipped at Sean's mind until he cracked. It had only meant to end with Jack slipping into a coma. Just a chance for Sean to focus on his own problems for once. He would have gotten Henrik to wake his patient up when Sean was ready. God, he just wanted peace for a change. It was never meant to happen like this. Marvin ever so pleasantly greets him with a "Fuck off" when he tries to visit Jack. He supposes he deserves it. But he didn't come here just to back down at the first sight of opposition. He may have caused Jack to be in that coma but, as his friend, he was still entitled to a visit. He has to push past Marvin just to get in. "Leave right now before I make you regret it." Marvin tails him through the corridor. "Hey, listen, I'll be the first to admit I fucked up big time-" He says over his shoulder. "You don't say." "But he was my friend too. I am seeing him whether you like it or not." "Well, I don't like it. And this is my home. So get out." Fed up to the back teeth of Marvin, he halts to whip around before lashing out. "We both know a bad mood on my part can spell disaster for you. That is how we got into this situation is the first place. So I would watch your mouth." "Oh, look at me, I'm Sean McLoughlin. I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it." Marvin uses a mocking tone before reverting to venom once more. "Guess that's what you told your 'best friend' before you put him in a fucking coma, isn't it?" "Don't you dare suggest I don't care." "You made him feel like he had no choice but to keep being nice to your sorry ass. He barely survived Halloween and now look where he's en-" "God, cut it out!" Chase marches towards them, looking as if he was 30 seconds from grabbing a weapon to silence them. "Both of you. Sean, you have 10 minutes then we want you gone. Marv, leave him alone because we honestly have enough shit going on without you stirring more of it." Marvin bluntly says "Five." "Okay, fine, you have 5 minutes then you leave." The magician clearly isn't satisfied with this compromise but decides it's not worth the effort of fighting further. "Thank you." "It wasn't for you. I did it so I can avoid a headache." Chase promptly leaves him to it. He's not even sure he wants to enter once he reaches the infirmary's doors. Still, he's gone through too much trouble to get this far. He can't undo all that effort now. He walks into the room and- Nope, he can't do this. He means, look at Jack! He makes for an awful sight. If his friend had looked terrible while recovering from Say Goodbye, this was a whole other level. He decides against making it past the doors. He's simply there in the corridor, sobbing. "Sean, I think you should go before Marvin tries to commit arson or something." It's the most patience Chase can muster after all that's happened this week. Sean can't appreciate the effort enough. He answers with a mix of 'Uh-huh, yeah, sure.' Jackie looks like he hasn't eaten a thing in the past 11 months when Sean answers the door to him in early October. He doesn't know what to say. If Jack were currently conscious, he would have probably informed Sean of the kid's arrival by now. Yet, as it stood, Marvin seemed to be the new 'leader' and pigs would fly before he bothered to do anything that benefited Sean. He notices Jackie never lets his feet touch the ground the entire time he's there. There is a long silence in the living room before Jackie comes out with "Why didn't you do anything?" "I tried but it didn't work." "Somehow I struggle to believe that." "Jackie-" "You could have prevented a lot of shit. But why fucking bother when we're not even real, right?" "If you give me a couple minutes, I could find that video where I tried to trigger your escape." Jackie doesn't reply. He locates the footage for him regardless. The teenager remains silent the whole time. Sean decides to break it. "It must have backfired but I did try." He notices Jackie glaring at his own legs. "Great, now I know you're to blame. Not to mention you moved country while I was gone. Thanks for making me walk from Athlone, by the way." The boy superhero abruptly makes his exit, making no attempt to elaborate. Well then, great chat. Except, wait. Walk from Athlone? How the hell do you walk from Athlone to Brighton?! Sean makes good on the promise he made to himself months before. He risks uploading the pictures to Instagram. On the 29th, there is a fair amount of hype at the potential new character. He lingers inconspicuously near the egos' home for a couple hours, keeping himself occupied with his phone in case the ego didn't appear. Which he doesn't. He repeats the activity after posting the 2nd photo on the 30th. Still nothing. It's the video on Halloween that triggers creation. It was a simple thing. The same as the previous two years, he had carved a pumpkin. The main difference was that he had dressed up like a dapper gentleman, waistcoat and bowler hat inclusive. There was some glitching at the end, nothing Sean or Robin had a hand in. He supposes he should be glad there was such a small interruption. Outside the house, he spots the lost time traveller. His first surprise, for both of them it would seem, was that Jameson had lost the ability to speak. He seems reluctant to use the speech slides. No worries. Sean can buy a notepad or two for him tomorrow. Learning to sign, or in the very least understand it. will take a considerable amount of time. Written responses would have to be a sufficient compromise for now. Either way, the most important thing was that Jameson was willing to come with him before he met the others. He is in awe of Jameson. He knows he'd intended to create an ego with a proper backstory but this was far more than he'd been expecting. He had drafted a brief life story beforehand. Jameson would be the middle child of three in an upper class British family. He'd be too young to join WW1 but his brother would lose his hearing to it, allowing Jameson to know sign by the time he went missing. Maybe throw in some time in the army for good measure. However his power worked, it filled in the gaps nicely. Jameson is fully fleshed out, as are his memories. "Thanks for humouring me." He tells Signe that night. She hums in acknowledgement of what he'd said. "You can't keep him here forever, you realise that, right? I'll let you have tomorrow. But you really should let him make his own choices after that." On the 1st, Chase comes knocking. Sean relents, allowing him in to be introduced to Jameson. As expected, Chase calls him out. He assures Jameson that it was fine to go with the unfamiliar ego. As hostile as Chase was, he was still trustworthy and believed he had Jameson's best interests at heart. He lets his latest creation go. Now he will be taught the egos' version of the 'truth'. He doubted Jameson would be rushing back. But oh, there he is days later. It's completely reasonable for the dapper man to want answers. Sean provides them to the best of his ability. Jameson surprises him once more when he says he'll let the deception slide if he cuts it out from now on. Of course he will. As Jameson heads off back to his world, Sean is thankful he made him open minded. While having a casual conversation, Jameson mentions befriending someone named Shawn. At first, Sean is simply perplexed at the written name. Jameson knows how to spell his name, even includes the fada. So surely Shawn couldn't be him. When he has his friend explain, he can't believe it. Shawn Flynn. In other words, his Bendy voice cameo. Okay, egos like Henrik, Chase or Marvin, he could understand. Those guys had gotten specific videos that centred around them. He also got the whole 'springing from him putting on a voice for a series' thing with Angus and Jacques etc. Robbie... well, who the fuck knows what happened there. The point was they all came from his channel and his channel alone. Shawn Flynn was not his to claim. He was only a voice, a few sentences' worth of speech. He will always be amazed by his community's power to create from scraps. As soon as he lost Jack's contribution to the channel, he had been forced to pick up the slack. Even with Robin editing most videos, recording twice as many as he was used to was taking its toll. Something had to be done. He needed a new recording partner. And who better to help him than someone who already had experience with maintaining a channel? Obviously, Chase is opposed to the idea at first. He tries to get him to listen to his reasoning. Without Jack, he was struggling to have time for himself anymore. If he has no time outside of work, then how is he supposed to figure out how to reverse the coma? Not to mention, the community members were the ones responsible for keeping the egos from fading. Chase agrees to, in the very least, consider the offer. Sean is glad to have him as part of the team when he reluctantly accepts it. He is very grateful too. He knows this requires a sacrifice on Chase's part, perhaps more than he is aware of. In the run up to Christmas, he'd simply wanted to raise money for Save The Children with the help of his friends and community. There had occasionally been odd noises throughout the first day but nothing super suspicious. He has no clue where the hell the security footage came from. He had intended for the stream to stay up, sure, but it was meant to display a screensaver. Some people begin to notice the glitches and unusual goings on were triggered by donations of at least $1000. Well, how nice to learn that Anti liked encouraging charitable donations. The day after the event is over, Jameson attempts to speak to him about it. Listen, he's really sorry to hear about what happened over at the house. It's awful that Jackie suffered a huge panic attack from the music. But what do they expect him to do about an event that's already passed and he had no control over in the first place? The less he has to think about 'Overnightwatch' over the holidays, or Anti in general during the new year, the better. He's so fucking done with 2017. The following cold months blur. The Dr Jacksepticeye character becomes a community-made ego in January. That was great. He was aware the egos had been struggling to provide Jack professional medical care. March sees Chase getting custody of his kids on the weekend. Although he doesn't risk ruining the party with the scene his attendance would cause, he congratulates Chase on the good news in person. To top things off, he began the first leg of his tour. That had been a hell of an experience. Maybe 2018 would indeed be a better year. This hope is kept alight at the start of May. He had spent months attempting to work out how to save Jackie. Following that, they lost Henrik only to welcome the hero back. Then the doctor had been out of reach since August. It is for this reason that he receives the news of Henrik's return with great relief. Chase is ecstatic when he recounts what had happened at the end of his recording session. Sean is happy for him. He and the rest of egos need more positive events in their lives. Jackie certainly surprises him when he randomly shows up at his door days later. Signe gives him a heads up about the visitor as he leaves a recording session. The teenager comes across as distracted while they talk. Something feels really off. Then again, they haven't been able to talk since his kidnapping. Months' worth of trauma were bound to change how Jackie acted in certain situations. When he eventually leaves, Sean feels like he's missing some sort of sign. The community goes insane after Dark Silence is uploaded. He cautiously makes himself watch the infamous ending. Once more, Anti has added content to a video. The whole time Chase stands in that hallway, Sean is begging his screen for his friend to start sprinting in the other direction, as far from Anti as he could manage. But, of course, you can't prevent an abduction through a screen, especially when it had happened hours beforehand. Chase seemed so distressed. The thought of his reaction to Anti won't leave Sean be. Nor will those two questions. Jameson swings by in an attempt to comfort him. For what it's worth, his heart is in the right place. Sean just doesn't feel he's in a position to appreciate the efforts properly. He supposes this is his opportunity to finally get a rescue attempt right. Yet, with the tour and having to revert back to multiple recordings a day, time slips away. No doubt he'll get accused of not caring. Thankfully, Chase returns in June. Mostly unscathed physically too which is good. He wishes the same could be said for mental repercussions. Chase relapsing hard with his alcoholism wasn't great to hear either. Suffice to say, Chase needed help. Some good news about the whereabouts of his ex and two young children would be fantastic too. The Akinator video is fun. He enjoys making that website's algorithm figure out the characters. Admittedly, he doesn't know whether picking Jameson for a round was a smart idea. Even worse are some of the questions he gets offered. There are two specifically he doesn't feel comfortable answering on camera. He plays it off as teasing eventual ego content to his audience. In reality, he's not sure it's his place to say. And it's hardly like he can put the recording on hold to contact Jameson about his personal life. The video goes up and the community naturally laps it up. Sean wonders if he should be concerned about the fact Jameson was yet to speak to him about it. In October, he asks Jameson to deliver a card on his behalf. Henrik would be amputating Jackie's legs in an attempt to reverse one of the most prominent aftereffects of his time with Anti. Therefore, a get well card was in order. It's not much but he hopes Jackie will appreciate the gesture nonetheless. Jameson simply shrugs as he hands him a note a couple weeks later. He ends up finding the message humourous. On it is written: Thanks for the card but you don't need to bother next time. He's just about had enough of Anti when Quit The Game To Win gets recorded. He's not sure at which point in the video he becomes lightheaded. There's a brief moment of zoning out then he's sitting at his desk, having sent the video off for editing a minute prior. Unlike the other times, there is no extra content even Robin was oblivious to. The footage of Sean staring into the camera had undoubtedly been there the whole time. They debate whether to upload it. The decision gets taken out of their hands when it is uploaded regardless. That goddamn bastard. He probably realises Sean can't take down a video like that with no explanation. And what explanation is there to give? The community has no idea the egos were real or that it was actually Anti speaking to them. Oh but sure, the compliments to his 'amazing acting' pour in without fail. Also, next phase? What the hell was Anti planning to do? He and the egos would have to remain proceeding with caution. On his 29th birthday, he is surprised to find numerous egos on his doorstep. A little dumbfounded, he invites them in for cake. It wasn't like he was doing much today other than typical work stuff and checking out the community's birthday art. Chase spots his notebook, the one containing his story plans. This topic of conversation leads to them encouraging him to rectify his mistakes by waking Jack up. He's all for it. Even after all these years, he's not sure how exactly his power worked. He gets it into his head that staying up indefinitely will cause Jack to remain conscious. Somehow, this becomes the actual criteria. As the day goes on, he thinks about how things must be like over at the egos' home. It must be wonderful to have Jack up and about. He can imagine him sharing jokes, laughing and smiling, just generally enjoying the company of friends. He's always been a bit of a night owl. He can manage to stay up the whole night, for Jack's sake. Jack deserves as much time as he can give him. He increases his caffeine intake. It didn't matter whether it was coffee or a fizzy drink. If it had caffeine and could help him stay up longer, he'd drink it. His plan seemingly backfires when he plays Shadow of the Colossus while exhausted. He wakes up with a crick in his neck, the sight of Wander stationary upon Agro's back and looming guilty disappointment. When he checks in, Henrik confirms Jack was indeed back in the medical bay, unresponsive as ever. The doctor tells him that, not for nothing, they'd all enjoyed the day. It had been after 2am when Jack had begun exhibiting signs of diminishing consciousness. Even if the others may not admit it, he was sure he wasn't the only one who appreciated what Sean had given them. Perhaps one of the stupidest things he ever voluntarily subjects himself to occurs that May. He leaves peculiar edits in the Observation series. Then he posts an unlisted video of him facing off against his clone with a bloodied throat and exclusively black attire. It works. For the first time in Sean's life, he stands in Anti's presence. As it turns out, Anti is grateful. If it hadn't been for Sean spending weeks playing around with a community fuelled concept, complete with a grande finale, the glitch would still be lurking in the shadows as a nobody. Sean had solidified him. Antisepticeye had long since stopped being a fun idea that lived purely in fan creations or Tumblr headcanon posts. Even better, he'd been armed with a knife and violent tendencies. Bit of a bad combination, wouldn't you say? In fact, he's been revelling in watching the whole Sean vs Egos fiasco. Because sure, he could blame a lot of things on Anti if he wanted. But the mistrust that began with Jack then seeped into the others via the original ego? Sean's doing. The one who used his powers of creation when, even to this day, he doesn't quite understand how on earth they worked? Sean. Best yet, letting his emotions cause him to put a loved one in a coma he had no clue how to reverse? Once again, courtesy of Sean McLoughlin. Sean brushes these comments off. He's been called out too many times to be that easily affected by it. Besides, he had some things on his own mind that needed saying. Where were Stacy and the kids? Oh, in a ditch. They served no use without Chase's conscience there to haunt. Actually, where had Anti himself been during all these years? Here, there, everywhere. Why stay in one spot when he thrived on being near impossible to pin down. Any question Sean has, Anti's answers are delivered nonchalantly. Right. That's how Anti wants to play it, huh? He creates another piece of footage. This time, he dresses as Chase and speaks on the phone. 'Chase' begs Stacy to take the kids, stay hidden and only contact him when she really needs to. Once Sean posts it (privately of course), the real Chase updates him on the recent developments in his life. He'd gotten a text from Stacy saying they were safe for now. He had only managed to compose himself before leaving the house but ah look, there go the waterworks again. Sean apologises as he makes it abundantly clear that Chase would not be able to see his family for a while. It was for their safety. Chase understood, right? Yes, yes of course. For good measure, he also talks to Henrik. His wife and children weren't in as imminent danger of becoming Anti's targets right now. However, there was no harm in staying vigilant. It was up to the doctor but Sean thought it would be for the best if they maintained a low profile for now. Sean discusses another video with Chase in October. The father is reluctant to have more of his story explored, especially if things are going to play out the way Sean had planned. That's fine, he assures. That was exactly why he wanted Chase to be part of the process. Besides, it may seem a little bleak right now but his fortunes would improve as soon as the ball started rolling. When it comes to filming the short video, Chase kills it. The community may be praising Sean but he makes sure Chase is aware of the love he had earned. He decides to allow Jameson another solo video for his birthday. They brainstorm together, coming up with the premise of a puppet show. Jameson is the one who comes up with the 'I can't be questioned, I'm rich!' joke. As soon as he does, he goes off on a tangent about how he used to know people like that. Hell, his own parents had been like that. Sean laughs along with him. The first sight of trouble is the random bit of string around his arm. Jameson naively removes it without becoming suspicious. Sean's been in this position before. If the video's up, it's already way too late for the targeted ego. He forces himself to watch to the end. Jameson's wrapping up the story when the strings reappear. His arms go limp before he begins swaying on the spot. It is clearly Anti who is controlling his movements now. Sean really wishes he didn't know the sign for 'help'. He bets Jameson believes he has the power to save him. If only he did. The worst part of it is having to witness Jameson clearly attempting to fight against it. If Sean thought Henrik's distress during Kill Jacksepticeye had been a challenge to watch, he had another thing coming. Goddamn it. Can he please go one year without losing more of those he cared about? He'd once been friends with Angus before the fading fiasco caused them to drift apart. Jack kept giving second chance after second chance until Sean had let his frustration screw that up. Chase had gradually begun to see him as potentially trustworthy, only for Anti to kidnap him and set them back to square one. Is it too much to ask for them to feel happy and safe as well as remaining so? His 30th birthday is quiet. There are no egos hassling him or attempts to initiate a bout of insomnia. It's a nice day chilling out with Evelein and BB. He would have enjoyed it even more if he knew he'd achieved his goal of waking Jack up by now. Or even getting Jameson back. The last person he expects to see coming round to his house is Marvin. He doesn't think the magician is entirely sure why he chose to do this either. He states that he gave his word when he said he'd never forgive Sean. With his fae heritage, that meant something and he couldn't go back on that. Marvin seemed offended when Sean shows surprise upon learning he had connection to fae. Well, how exactly was Sean supposed to know this detail if Marvin's been keeping him far away for 2.5 years, especially since they hadn't been best buddies pre-coma either? The magician scowls before returning to a calmer neutral demeanour. He carries on his point. Marvin may not be able to forgive Sean for what he's done, not that he really has a reason to given what was still happening to the egos. That said, he wasn't going to judge his friends as harshly anymore if they decided to give their creator a chance. That uh... shit, that was huge coming from Marvin. All he can reply with is a thank you. August rears it's terrible head. It's been three years now. 36 whole months, god knows how many weeks or individual days. He's had all this time to fix this yet is still working on it. And oh, sure, he can rationalise it. He can remind himself that during 2018, if he wasn't on tour then he was preparing for a leg or decompressing after one. Not to mention that had also been the year he'd finally started addressing his mental health. Now, the biggest thing preventing him from progressing the story to the point where Jack woke up was the virus. For half the year, he couldn't film anything that required a crew, let alone do so on location in America or wherever like he had with CHASE. Instead, he sits at the end of the bed as usual. Legs to his chest, he simply lets himself be here. Henrik is going to kill him for the way he is seated. He rambles at Jack, updating him on recent goings on. When he's said his bit, he becomes contemplative for a moment. "I'm still trying, I swear. You're going to wake up one day. I'm just- I'm doing my best to get everything sorted. I promise you can call my ass out eventually. I will get there. Anyway, I'm sure you have better things to be doing than listening to me mope about like I have been for the past three years. See you around, buddy."

[annakie]

An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Seven

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Wherein we... talk to the crew. I didn’t quite make it off the ship.

Still, a lot of words.

Aka the nearly All-Gif update.

Didn’t get a chance to play ME at all this week, so I’m going to spend a few hours this weekend (double-checking to make sure screenshotting works :p) and have some real updates later.

So making it back to the ship from Therum, it’s time to talk to the crew.  I maybe could have gone and talked to them after getting on the ship after the Citadel, but they don’t really have any unique lines then so, I usually wait til now to go chat.

First, let’s talk to Liara.

The thing that sucks about talking to Liara (or Kaidan, or Ashley, if you don’t want to romance them) is, you know, the accidental romance.  Making “picking the Paragon-place choices = romance by default with NO WARNING” design was very Not Good.  They fixed this in later games, well moreso in Dragon Age games than ME, (and Andromeda is done very well for this) but still.  In ME3, the BackOff mod does a great job of making romance dialog more obvious and intentional.  

Liara’s dialog choices I feel like are even LESS obviously flirting I feel like than Ash and Kaidan’s.  Honestly with Liara’s most of the lines can be read and even said aloud as friendship then BOOM, all of a sudden she wants a threesome.  I choose middle dialog options whenever possible with Liara just to avoid this.  I’m not interested, never have been, don’t want Kaidan to think he has any competition.  But seriously, it’s poor game design here that you literally have to be a jerk to a companion at some points to avoid having them think you want to bang.   God, half of the reason I’d love a remaster would be to hopefully fix shit like this to avoid some of the pitfalls.  

I hate that some people use this as a reason to dislike these characters more.  And I’ll admit, in my early days as a ME fan, I held it against Liara, too, until I realized how dumb that is.  I especially hate it when you get to the “confrontation scene” and people use Kaidan not wanting to be in a threesome as a reason to dislike him more?  It’s not a bad thing to want to be monogamous?  (And of course, it’s not a bad thing to NOT want to be, assuming everyone is open and OK about it.)

I just prefer to not get that scene at all now, and to avoid “leading anyone on” accidentally etc.  My Shepard knows early on what she wants, and sticks with him all the way through.

I was going to talk more here about my feelings about Liara in general but uh, I guess I’ll do that later.  This is already really long.

Here’s a great post about how to avoid romancing Kaidan while being rude as little as possible to him.  

Well since he’s right outside the medbay anyway, let’s go talk to the LT.  

Have I mentioned how much I hate the orange glow?  

So anyway, I thought maybe I’d talk here a little bit about Why Kaidan?

I will point out here that I am mostly a hetero woman, so my choices in video game romances lean towards men first, though I’m also very cool with doing non-m/f romances in games, and often do on subsequent playthroughs of games I love, but that’s almost never gonna be my primary romance.

I’d already mentioned my love for Carth Onasi, one of the most hated companions in video games, If You’re A Guy.

By today’s standards, even the Carth romance isn’t that great.  But at the time, it was the greatest romance I’d experienced in video games.  There were a few others that were really good -- Valen Shadowbreath in Neverwinter Nights: Horde of the Underdark was the other really great one, but we also got nightmare fuel like Anomen in Baldur’s Gate (though that gets better with mods + the final BG expansion) or just under-written characters or romances like Casavir in NWN2 (who was much better with mods) or hell, either of your choices in KotOR2 imho.  But I used to play KotOR over and over for many reasons, such as holy shit a Star Wars game(!!) and one where you can actually be a female main character AND has that great Bioware storytelling... but a big reason was Carth.  

A funny thing about Carth Onasi... if you play a male main character, you have a very different experience with Carth than if you play a woman.  And even I can agree that hoo boy Carth gets tiresome quick if you play a male, as a female you at least get to flirt and that calms him down and evens him out a lot. But the one time I tried playing as a male, I didn’t make it off Taris because.. yeouch I could actually see what the guys playing were so mad about.

But hey, that voice.  Raphael Sbarge, I love that voice.  So like I said early on in these posts, I immediately knew I was going to romance Kaidan the very second I confirmed he was romancable, before I even ran back into the ship and met anyone on the crew aside from Joker and Kaidan.

And... that only got confirmed more and more as I went through ME for the first time.  The character is smart, and capable, and respected you, and never questioned your command, but made his feelings pretty clear along the way.  He could be a little doofy but in an adorable way with some of the things he said, honestly there was almost never anything I didn’t love about this character.

I realized some time ago that I have a thing for the Paladin archetype personally. 

This is Casavir, from Neverwinter Nights 2, and in NWN2, there are two romance options for women.  An under-written Lawful Good Paladin in his late 30′s who is willing to buck his superiors to do what he thinks is right but also places you on a pedestal and holds back all his emotions.  He’s a romance option. Or....

Bishop, a chaotic evil ranger who insults you a lot, threatens to rape an NPC under your protection, and ultimately betrays you.  

Most people who played NWN2 seemed to prefer the CE Ranger.  I loved the paladin so much I wrote fix-it fic that I never have gotten around to publishing anywhere to retcon his terrible dumb ending.

There’s a fan-made romance mod that helps with the romances in this game, though I dislike a lot of what they did, ultimately I always use it.

In Dragon Age?

Ah yeah, the Templar-Warden.  Love him.  He does have that “Oh I’m so young and experienced tee-hee” thing going on that isn’t my favorite, (at this point mostly because I’m actually in my mid-40′s so uh, I’m just Old) but otherwise, yeah, love Alistair.

Dragon Age 2, I mean I usually romance Anders but... I’m not real excited about either him or Fenris, or even either of the ladies, though I have done Isabella’s romance (as well as Fenris’) and enjoyed it.  I’d probably romance Avaline (or Varric!), if she were an option.  But yeah, Anders mostly because he IS trying to do what’s right, even if he... well.  You know.  

But Dragon Age Inquisition?

Give me that Blackwall-angst.  That stoic guy trying to be a Warden who comes undone for you.  You’d think I’d go for Cullen, but hey this game gave us two paladin archetypes, though one is merely pretending, he still atones and becomes what he was trying to be, one way or another, if you let him.  I picked this paladin archtype first because I did not like Cullen based on interactions with him in DA1 & 2.  I like him well enough in DA:I but Blackwall is my guy here.

Out of all the many, many companions in SWTOR, who’s my fave?

If Aric Jorgan isn’t a Paladin-type I don’t know who is, especially since any romanceable Jedi are uh, all your female padawans (don’t get me started) until Lana (also female) comes along. 

Hell, in a very long-running 4e D&D game I played from around 2009 to 2014 where my character fell in love with our party leader’s son, married him and fought the final boss 4 months pregnant with our twins.  That character’s husband... was a paladin.  I mean look at this art my friend picked out for his character’s son:

I mean dang, who (of those who are attracted to men of this type) wouldn’t?

I always pick the Paladin.  The guy who is gonna Do What’s Right no matter what it costs him, the guy who’s gonna be loyal, the guy who may bottle up his emotions or keep them under control all the time but ultimately does what it takes to get the girl... that’s my fave.  And that’s Kaidan.

I will also say my second fave archetype is rogue-with-a-heart-of-gold, and that’s more of a Garrus or Varric (if only he were a choice!!! :( ) type.. aka my second choice in these games.

Well that was a lot more words on that subject than I meant to do, so I’m going to just say real quick here that what I love about this first conversation with Kaidan is that he’s already no dummy, he knows something is up, and warns you about it.

We’ll save talk about his backstory for another day.

Let’s head downstairs.

Yay for sped-up elevators!  What used to take like 20 seconds now takes like, four.

URDNOT WREX.

This another place where Shepard starts out just sticking their foot in their mouths completely.  I feel like this is something the game definitely has problems with here.  Shepard should know a lot more about the Genophage, like they should have about say, Spectres, even if the player doesn’t. So basically every response you can give to Wrex about the genophage and what his people are going through sounds really insensitive.  Comparing the relatively minor First Contact War with the entire galaxy more or less uniting to keep the Krogan from taking over after the Rachni war seems pretty dumb, and also like something Shepard should already know.

Loredumping on the Krogans a bunch with Wrex is necessary, but  I think it could have been done better.  Though I think there are a lot of questions about the Krogan and the Genophage that ultimately are important but go unanswered. I’m going to be honest, because generally I want my companions to be happy and ultimately I want the happiest ending I can get, I usually cure the genophage and leave Wrex in charge.  But also I don’t think that ends up with the happiest ending for the galaxy.  Everything about the genophage is terrible, how it works, how it was administered, what it’s done to the Krogan as a people, but let’s be honest, the galaxy will also be in huge trouble just from a resources perspective if each krogan woman can have hundreds (or even just dozens) of babies a year, who are gonna all live a thousand years.  There’s got to be a compromise that, eventually, hopefully Wrex works out if he’s alive at the end of ME3 or the council figures out with Wreav or whoever.  

It is kinda funny though that here, I basically met Wrex at C-Sec, told him I’d help him with Fist, sent him to my ship, and basically just kidnapped him to go help with the rest of the mission.  He wanted to be here, right?  I can only assume I’m paying him a lot.

Ashley!

I do love Ashley Williams.

I’m not going to turn this into a “Is Ashley Racist” thinkpiece.  I’ve read a lot of both sides of this argument and no, I don’t think she is.  Some pieces of her attitude do need to be kicked up a bit, for sure.  She’s got about the same issues with aliens as most of the species of the galaxy have with each other, which sometimes isn’t great, but she’s far from supporting Terra Firma.

She’s smart, she’s funny, a hell of a shot, she’s being held back due to her family name.  I would love for if someday a Wilshenko OT3 were possible.  I’d do that in an instant.  I despise the fact that you can only keep Kaidan forever if you lose Ashley forever, though I don’t see that changing even in a remaster.  Please Bioware, for the super ultra remaster?

I know I need to do another run through the game with Ashley alive. I don’t remember too much of what happens in ME3 when she’s there.

I also love that her story is so much one of family.  From her stories of her sisters, to the point that it’s her own grandfather’s legacy that’s holding her back.  She’s so grounded, she reminds us that there are civilians out there we’re keeping safe, a whole world we rarely see, up in space and in the middle of so much military conflict.

GARRUS.

First of all, whew Garrus looks amazing in the lighting and with the textures with ALOT/MEUITM.  Very handsome.

Interestingly, Garrus does not really loredump on the turians.  We absorb a lot of what we find out about the turians more naturally.  Garrus is more all about C-Sec and the general politics of the Council, of Spectres, of C-Sec.  Gonna be honest, I expected C-sec to play into the game as a whole a lot more than it did based on Garrus’ talks about it.  I mean it was always there, but Bailey ends up being the face of C-Sec 

Garrus’ Law vs. I Do What I Want attitude is a nice way to do a non-goody-two-shoes companion story without having to go evil.  I love that Garrus’ story kinda mirrors our own as players, how are we going to get things done?  Shove a blaster in people’s faces, accept collateral damage, and do whatever it takes to get it done?  OR play by the rules, compromise, and see if that fixes things.

The thing is though, Mass Effect actually is great at giving us the illusion of choice without making a huge difference in the end.  Like I mentioned before... not bringing Garrus to ME1 makes little difference in how he acts in ME2 outside of a few lines of dialog.  Lots of things are like that, like pick Ash or Kaidan on Virmire, and yes one is always gone, but 80% of the content is basically the same from there on out for either character.

There are games out now that do that choice better.  Pathfinder: Kingmaker is one I can think of.  Or Tyranny.  Things you choose can alter the endings of those games drastically, locking entire paths out of the game.  

I used to think that was what I wanted.  Until I played Kingmaker and locked myself out of things I really wanted without realizing it.  I stopped playing the game, sad that my LI dumped me and wouldn’t come back without reloading many, many hours worth of game.  Despite enjoying the game overall, I still haven’t gone back.  When I do play again, I’ll probably keep a lot of tabs open of walkthroughs and tips on how to keep things going how I want.  Kind of defeating the purpose of the game.

Anyway, I got super off track again.  The point is, Garrus is the companion that gives us the most Choice in who he is.  Which is cool.  He illustrates our Paragon vs Renegade dilemma.  And it’s neat that it does make changes in some of the things he says in the future, but overall, his story doesn’t change much no matter what you do (Unless you, ya know, get him killed in ME2).

And therein lies a problem with Mass Effect, and video games as a whole.  It’s neat to see the little changes, but it’s rare for anything to be an actual Big Change, because... that’s a loooot of work for a developer and how much more money is all that going to cost him.

At some point in the future I’ll point out how lucky we are for what we did get, though.

Heeeey it’s Chief Engineer Greg Adams!  I wonder how many people don’t even know he has a first name?  Anyway, thank you for your one short conversation in which you explain how the Normandy works (honestly, great job with explaining this, Bioware, even if the science is ???) and like three sentences on who you are.  Wasted opportunity to give you an actual character.  Glad you like Tali, though!  See you in ME3.

TALI!

Okay, I will totally accept that Shepard doesn’t know much past the basics of quarian society.  That makes a lot more sense than Shepards not knowing much about asari.  

The quarians are so much more of an original creation I feel like than a lot of what we’ve seen in the galaxy so far.  Krogan?  Basically Klingons.  Turians?  Space Romans. Asari?  Twilek/Space Elves but ALL Hot Ladies.  Qarians feel like something new though.

I mean, I guess before they had to live in suits they were pretty normal, but their entire culture doesn’t feel like something we’ve seen everyplace before.  I mean I’ve seen space (g-slur)  but, eh not really.  

And Tali herself is such a good character.  I mean, she does suffer a little from being Very Important with her father being one of five admirals in a population of six million people but, I’ll allow it.  Nobody else on the crew has Very Important Parents.  I mean Garrus’ father is a little high up in the ranks but that’s a non-factor, Ash’s grandfather was but he’s dead and never seen, Wrex’s father is a chieftan but none of those is central to their current story or as big as this one. I mean, Spacer Shep’s own mother is a captain of a ship.  Tali herself in-game isn’t that sexualized -- most of that was the fandom’s doing.  She’s young but also confident and has her shit together.  

She shoulda been a same-sex romance in ME2/3 though, damnit!

Joker. Is. Amazing. And uh, also shoulda been a romance option. 

Hey first of all, how great was it that they put in disabled representation in this game.  I have read a few posts on how it could have been better, and definitely agree, but it’s also been so important to have say, Geordi LaForge as chief engineer of the Enterprise and also Joker here, in space, being awesome on spaceships.  And he really earns his the right to his bravado in calling himself the best pilot in the galaxy.  

Also?  Casting Seth Green was such a great choice.  I couldn’t imagine Joker as anyone else.  I mean this is Bioware so we expect, and definitely got, great voice acting (except for... ugh you know, we’ll get there in ME3) but honestly Seth Green was a particularly good choice.  I don’t care that he’s covered with sixteen layers of plot armor, he deserves it.

He’s the companion that we don’t ever get to take in the squad.  (I mean, except for that brief amazing moment in ME2)

I only wish in ME1 he had as much to say as in ME2/3.  At least he gets cool snarky lines after all the major missions.

One last thing before we get off the ship for awhile, I love that the crew is actually comprised of both men AND women in ME1.  With different hairstyles and faces, and even skin tones.  It’s nice to see they didn’t just reuse the same guy over and over for the nameless NPCs.  

Well, I guess they get names in ME2. :v

Anyway, I would like to point out, that there are seventeen nameless NPCs on the Normandy.

Then there’s Adams, Tali, Garrus, Wrex, Ashley, Kaidan, Chakwas, Liara, Pressley, and Joker.

That’s twenty-seven people and eight sleep pods.  Let’s remove the aliens, who couldn’t fit in a sleep pod (Garrus and Wrex), twenty-five people.  Are there people sleeping in the sleep pods now?  There must be, right?  Everyone can’t be awake when we’re on the ship just because we’re there?  How does that math add up?  Who is sleeping where, HOW DOES IT WORK!?  

Well, that’s their problem. I got my own bed.  Kaidan can share.

Also just... don’t get me started on how stupid this is.  I mean it’s nice having a shop on the ship but... the justification is terrible.  We all know it.  He was counted as one of the 17 nameless, btw.

Okay well, I was going to get off the ship this update but this is already stupid long and honestly I don’t have too much more content to post so, I’m gonna go actually play this game!

[yfere]

Shipping Calculus! Live Updates from C2E59

Wow, so coming off of a lean week, we get a lot of uh, punch, to the shipping totals. Wow. Wowie. Masterpost here. 

This week debuts our new Cockblocking Points program, which fills—or rather prevents from being filled—a hole in the shipping calculations up till now.

+20 to Fjord/Caduceus as Caduceus proves once again what a fantastic Charisma Partner he makes with Fjord as they work together in perfect sync to bring the giants to their side. Featuring 1) Fjord draping his arm around Caduceus (!!!) and 2) Caduceus initiating Fjord’s favorite “I work for Fjord” roleplay (!!!!!!!!!). Besides that, muchos complimentos on both sides, even if Caduceus’ pleasure with Fjord taking his side and saying “You’re usually the voice of caution” conveniently ignores how Fjord’s reckless actions rarely ever line up with what his cautious mouth says. Fjord making goopy eyes when Caduceus admits of his altruistic plans that he can “be on the soft end of things” and making something perilously close to a romantic declaration when he says, “I trust your heart, Caduceus. It’s in a good place.” And lest it be forgotten, Caduceus fucking saving Fjord’s life from Mosquito Man. Keep that cleric close, Fjord! Romance him if that’s what it takes!

+15 to Caduceus/Every Single NPC. As per usual, Caduceus’ classic fairy tale princess sweetness  and Common Courtesy earns the implicit trust of everyone within a ten mile radius—all the giants like him, and only him, absolutely no one else.

+4 to Beau/Sensing Bullshit as she is the only person who picks up on and seems concerned about how Caduceus seems to think this mountain clearing quest is related to his personal quest for……no discernible reason. Are we concerned about the vagueness? No? All right then. Something is off about that dude, even if he’s not secretly plotting to murder the M9 in the mountain caves.  

-2 to Yeza/Nott as Nott entertains about five billion separate fears over the eventual demise of her marriage and beats herself up over having locked the poor man (who just got out of prison btw) in a hotel room and ditched him. Point loss ameliorated as Caleb musters All The Powers of Friendship to lift her spirits with a firm hand, telling her sure, she might be a bit of an adventure addict, but he is as sure as he can be that Yeza truly loves her now and always, that he, Caleb, is glad that she’s here, and that thinking in the macro she can do whatever she likes with no guilt because she is Good, and they are all doing Good together (a moving speech also earning +6 to Caleb/Hopebringer) 

+0 to Jester/Caleb. Pluses: Caleb giving Jester a risque locket, claiming it’s magical and “gives you access to balloon porn” just to make her smile. Caleb’s absolute faith in Jester’s swoleness in thinking she can absolutely just crack a chest open like a nutcracker who needs finesse? Jester thinking of Caleb first when she thinks of who needs healing #ItPaysToBeADamselInDistress. Unfortunately, all these points are flushed down the drain when Caleb coldly exiles Jester from the Tiny Hut when she gets the runs. She couldn’t have stayed inside, but you could have been nicer about it—she’s already suffering! 

+0 to Jester/Yasha On the one hand, it was very cute of Yasha to try to share her favorite food with Jester while risking the ire of the giants, very cute of Jester to try to bond with Yasha over this excellent tasting land food. But all point gains were forcibly expelled once Jester got the runs. The universe punishes those who tread too close to the Yasha ship.

+2 to Nott/Jester The word around the lab is that secretly Jester just wants to be a Knight In Shining Armor, which is why one of the most effective ways to gain points with her is to a) buy her shiny armor and b) allow her to protect you as a true KISA would. Today featuring: 1) Jester channeling her inner Aladdin with a “Do you trust me?” and Romantic Proffering of a Hand to Nott before whisking her away to the top of a tower, and 2) Jester hoisting Nott up by the waist so Nott can more efficiently murder their enemies.

+3 to Caleb/Cat Shaped Creatures as he debuts another sexy cat paw spell to dramatically tear down a gate for his grand Cat Person entrance to the battlefield. Was sadly prevented from showing off the full murdering capabilities of the cat paw, however. Points taken away for covering Frumpkin in mud For Stealth, which pisses Frumpkin off.

+1 to Jester/Soorna as Jester awkwardly tries to flirt Soorna into friendliness,petting her and complimenting her bald head which looks “really nice and stuff”

+20 to Fjord/Detective Work as Fjord’s investigation yields 1) exactly the kind of humiliating material they need to absolutely destroy the foreman, and 2) A fuck ton of healing potions! Including a greater! Very sexy cool of him, as Jester very perceptively notes. Unfortunately hasn’t started investigating for a riftmaking device—yet

+1 to Fjord/Caleb as once more their tag-teaming over Detective Work yields amazing (and this time, saucy!) results. Fjord supporting Caleb’s hopeful plan to bring the giants along with them and leave them to die in the mountain if things take a turn for the worse. Their minds—they think alike.

-3 to The Mighty Nein/Boxes as neither Nott, Yasha, nor Jester (on her first try) were able to open the box with the Humiliation Material—it takes some creative artistry from Jester to manage it.

+20 to Beau/Jester as Beau proves that true love is there for you in sickness and in health, being the only one of the Mighty Nein to sit with Jester through her spider-meat induced illness, holding her hair out of her face, dealing gently and uncomplainingly with frankly an incredible amount of grossness which automatically makes Beau a shipping hero and a hero in all future beaujester sickfic. The pair of them getting equally psyched up about the pornographic Humiliation Material, with Beau requesting a dramatic reading of the letter from Jester (Caleb sucks at voices anyway). Beau also continuing to embody the shipping spirit of Molly by invoking the Slap/Punch of Love to return her love interest back to consciousness. Not even an Attempted Cockblocking from Nott insisting Beau is an enemy manages to put a damper on the moment. A+ UnStraight Out of Fanfic Material.

+23 to Fjord/Jester as, although Fjord rolls his eyes and tells Jester to leave the moorbounders for once, earning a death threat from our dear cleric, he cleverly forestalls massive point loss by bringing up the “L” word. Cute, mischievous, also kind of horrible on the flirting front (as evidenced by annoyed head shake from our dear cleric) because you need to jive with Jester’s love of animals if you want any chance at a long-term relationship. However, the moorbounder conversation earns all the points, with Fjord and Jester having a lovely disagreement over which of them should get the healing potion because they love each other so much (fuck the rest of the M9, potential love interests Caleb and Beau included). Fjord trying and failing to pretend that he cares about animals, misidentifying the type of creature Yarnball is two times and asking adorably dumb questions about her in an attempt to Bond With The Jester. He’s right though—he is being disarming. Minor point loss for the awkwardness nearly giving me the spins, and +2 to Caleb/Cockblocking for his pornographic jewelry gift thoroughly ruining Fjord’s moment with Jester. +10 to Mosquito Man/Cockblocking for preventing Jester from Knight in Shining Armor-ing Fjord with a lollipop to Mosquito Man skull, and making her pass out instead. Fainting Maiden is the wrong archetype!

+1 to Caleb/Fjord/Jester as Jester nags Caleb into telling her whether the balloon porn necklace is magical, and Fjord gets increasingly cute at her in his attempts to get her to settle down and leave poor Caleb in peace to translate. The thought was lovely but unnecessary—Caleb can tune all you motherfuckers out whenever he so desires.

+5 to Beau/Listening because despite claiming not to be listening in on your conversation, she can definitely repeat back word for word everything that was said. Not sure that this is what Dairon had in mind, but…

+19 to Caleb/Caduceus “What about that Caduceus though??” Caleb asks with the same “Wowie wowwow” tone he used while charmed by a succubus a few days previously. This man, absolutely starstruck by Caduceus’ ability to be such a sweetheart he can win over complete enemies to their side (bonus if he did it with dick jokes, Attempted Cockblocking from Nott and Beau notwithstanding), all while Caleb was busy thinking of the most efficient way to murder em all. Staring at Caduceus, stunned over his everything, agreeing to his plan because That’s What Caduceus Wants To Do. Caleb doing That Thing He Does where he aggressively bosses someone into being the Leader, because Caleb is not the Leader, he just Commands everyone to listen to the Real Leader—this week snatching the title away from Fjord who has hoarded the privilege previously, and bestowing it on Caduceus, all “we will all look to you,” at him. Saying “you can’t argue with results” which is as good as a love confession from Mr. McPractical, Need-Goals-Met. Caleb finding an excellent excuse to get handsy by picking the firbolg to grab onto while scouting through Frumpkin. Not to mention, Caleb and Caduceus finding a surprisingly compatible decision-making balance between Caleb’s Cutthroat “We Can Always Murder Our Allies If We Need To” pragmatism and Caduceus’ Sweet But Not Overly Invested “Everyone Can Win Here” diplomacy. These two definitely like each other’s opinions and decisions a hell of a lot….

+40 to Soorna/Revenge as despite being a druid she manages a HDYWTDT on her demonic foe Without! Casting! A! Single! Spell! It’s… hot.

+10 to Sam Riegel/His watch as it attempts to save him from a heart attack. Honestly.......same.

[strongermonster]

i’m dm-ing this homebrew monster of the week type game right now and it’s going exactly the way a group of 6 easily distracted queer shitnerds with too much adhd in the room and an incredibly loose adherence to rule structure can be expected

the plot i wrote was fairly straightforward: florida swamp monster starts haranguing locals, they find out eventually it’s a scooby-doo-esq dude looking to scare tourists away from the park to defund it so he can buy it for land/oil development, and immediately after he’s being taken away, the Actual Swamp Monster, a giant gator-type creature, wakes up and the only way to make her chill the fuck out is to solve my gator puzzle and give her back the fossilized egg of hers that’s sitting in the park’s museum.

the characters i’m dealing with are:

brian smith, The Most Boring Man In The World. he lives in miami and does taxes and has the exact same schedule down to the minute every single day

jace “steal everything i can get my gay little hands on and lie about the colour of the sky while we're both standing under it” lastname

ruri, the botany student who was just here for some fucking algae samples, how did she get sucked into this dumbass swamp monster thing, swamp monsters aren't real the—JESUS CHRIST IT'S A SWAMP MONSTER

but two of my players are completely new to dnd and didn’t know you had to make up your own character so i had to make up a couple on the spot:

Magick8, (kate) a fake psychic/medium who used her people reading skills to grift money from grieving people in her travelling act until she grifts the wrong person who curses her to Actually see ghosts and it fucking Sucks

neville (nev) orville, local wildlife ranger who spent his whole life being way too into noir pulp and pretends like his whole life is secretly a detective book he's the star of but park ranger was the closest he ever got any actual form of authority bc he's too goofy

we’re maybe 1/8th of the way thought my plot and haven’t even SEEN a monster yet (real or fake) and so far we’ve had:

one character stole another’s identity, resulting in the only time i’ve ever laughed at a “did you just assume” joke

the group demanded we make a detour to speak to a voodoo expert and one of them rolled well enough that they might be an emissary to god now, and it’s not the one you’d think based on the character descriptions 

killed a fucking npc vital to forwarding the plot and decided that was fine bc one of them can see ghosts anyways so it’s not really a big deal that we’ve right off the bat COMMITTED A FUCKING ILLEGAL MURDER CRIME

CONSTANT squabbling about the difference between alligators and crocodiles so now in this universe there are only Crocogators and That’s That

none of our over-20-asses know how to drive and no one wanted to have the character who could drive until i pointed out that public transit doesn’t go deep into the heart of swampland so now our park ranger has a jeep that everyone inexplicably hates

my name is Carpe DM and that the best name i’ve ever come up with for something and i cannot possibly top it ever

jace stole a Cursed Item and reverse pickpocketed it into nevs jacket so we’ll see how that goes

anyways this is how my weekends going

[inkwingart]

88, 68, 59, 32

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

oh jeez. hmm. i’m rarely hanging out with friends that late, so i’ll just tell you about the time we legally acquired a log at 6 pm because tbh that’s way more interesting than me sitting in my housemate’s room watching random youtube videos. i’m going to put this at the bottom of the post, after the break because it’s a LONG STORY.

59: what’s your favorite myth?

the myth of the dragon and the fairy aka Con Rồng Cháu Tiên (Vietnamese origin myth), for it’s personal significance to me as a Viet-American; and the myth of Persephone (unedited, original, chaos persephone), for the aesthetic. bonus: for utter shits and giggles, the origin of Sleipnir.

68: what’s winter like where you live?

uhh, not that bad, but still really uncomfortable? the rest of the country thinks we’re weird for complaining that it’s cold but tbh it’s kinda annoying to have people tell us it isn’t. bc like yea, 50 degree Fahrenheit won’t kill me if I’m wearing enough layers, but like. it’s still painful and my fingers get locked up and my extremities still turn blue. objectively snow and 30 degree weather is a lot worse, but i’m also really small and more affected by temperature fluctuation than a larger person would be. so yea, winter sucks.

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

ART NOUVEAU. 19th century Japanese art is also really nice, especially the stuff that doesn’t have people in it. I’m also fond of European Realism and Romanticism. Unfortunately, modern Art History is intensely Eurocentric so I don’t know a lot about non-Western art traditions. I really love SEAsian architecture and clothing though!

ask me questions 2.0!

Vik and Nik and Laini’s Log Adventure:

so a friend i will call G accidentally roped me into roping a couple of my other friends, Vik and Nik (it’s actually Nick but i like the symmetry), into helping her grad student TA with a project.

this project, as it turns out, was a very bizarre theater production about a post-apocalyptic dystopia in which some humans have gone crazy from eating squirrels. the grad student wanted us to do set design/costuming/props for the play. the only thing relevant about that is that Nik was super invested bc he got the project approved for his senior design studio that he needs to graduate, and also the play is set in a forest.

also somewhat relevant is this in-joke we have that Nik is basically an NPC bc his face is kinda generic and sometimes he’ll give a quest. and this was a quest. bc, as aforementioned, the play is set in a forest, so we needed foresty stuff for the set, and bc Nik was doing this for a grade, he was super invested.

so it’s the middle of february, and my buddy Nik messages me and Vik “hey do you guys want to come get a log with me?” and we’re like, “DOWN.” anyway, he picks us up in his van and we head out. and the traffic is just awful because it’s 5 pm in Southern California.

at the VERY BEGINNING of this journey, a firetruck passes us by, and Nik just goes, “Look it’s the cops!” and we cannot stop laughing, and he follows up with “look, iz ze firecop, BWA-ba-BWA-BWA-BWAAAAAAAA” in a THICK SLAVIC ACCENT. for the rest of the journey every time we see a vehicle that isn’t a standard car/van/pickup truck, we’re like, “look it’z ze wound police” or “look, he iz on hiz way to arrest ze fire.” (this has nothing to do with the log, i just want to set the tone.)

anyway, an hour later we finally get through the traffic and pull up to this house in a very normal suburban neighborhood and me and vik are just kind of going wtf. it turns out Nik found this log on a freaking Craigslist advert, and it was literally someone cut down a tree or something and just. had a log lying out on the driveway begging someone to come dispose of it.

for additional, very important context, Nik is like, 5′8″, I’m 5′2″, and Vik is 5′1″. how big was this log, you ask? about 6 feet long and 200lbs, probably heavier tbh. and so me and Vik, literally the smallest people Nik knows, hop out of his car and have to help him hoist this goddamn log into the back of his van. not a truck. a van.

long story short, after a lot of maneuvering involving me and Vik crawling in and out of the van - usually through a different door than the one we entered - and nearly getting our hands crushed multiple times, we finally leverage this stupid log into the car. except that it is halfway onto the center console and *this* close to breaking the steering wheel. so then we had to close the trunk, pop open the window, and leverage this log back the other way and out the window. and after this was finally done, me and Vik had to tie the log in place so it wouldn’t roll. (Vik has termed this log-shibari.)

anyway, hypothetically i may have sitting in the back on the way home, and hypothetically i may have been committing a crime in not wearing a seatbelt, but that’s just hypothetical. obviously i’m a perfectly law abiding citizen and i sat in the front, safely buckled in, and no one stared at me through the back of Nick’s trunk.

upon arriving back on campus at 7:30 pm, we had to get the log back out of the van. we did everything in reverse, got the log out, and dumped it in front of the grad student’s studio. let me tell you, i was so tempted to leave it blocking his door. 

we were all hella scraped up and sore the next day, and literally every muscle in my back was angry. a week later it turned out we didn’t need it, because the project was basically canceled. Nik still managed to get class credit bc the design part is what counts for his class.

but anyway, we legally acquired a log. it was great :D

[salavante]

2, 3, 6, 17, 21, 32, 34 at your leisure

2. Your favorite character that someone else has played.

Jacob how dare you come into my inbox and ask me this as if I wouldn’t give you any other answer than Jonquil, Ozzy or Nez. If they were real people that I had to spend an afternoon with I’d pick Ozzy, though. fuck jonquil kill nez marry ozzy

3. Favorite Side Quest

The first thing that comes to mind is…well, ok, maybe a little background is needed. Last summer Jake and I did a game that he was really excited about, and was very hush-hush about the nature of. He was very good about keeping it close to the vest. And so I was pretty blindsided when it turned out to be utterly, all consumingly, pointedly about Dragons.

Would you like to know something about me?

I do not like dragons. Not really. There are exceptions to the rules, but, generally speaking, I find them really boring. They are something I thought was neat when I was 11 but have since gotten so oversaturated by all of the many terrible pulp fantasy books I inhaled as a teenager, and all the video games I played, that on a baseline, they totally turn me off. Unless something really unusual is done with them. It is the one tabletop game that I had a really hard time getting through.

But there was ONE segment where my big dumbass beautiful glam rock ass spellsword had to go find a set of magic armor in a subterranean magical prison for liches that I loved.

   Bonus: My least favorite.

  One time, in a Pathfinder game, after several other NPCs and PCs had failed, the only person left to have a position of authority was Marty, positioning me as, effectively, leader of the party. We went into town, got whatever we were supposed to get, fought a golem or something. No one died. Went off without a hitch. Thought I did great.

   Except one of our PCs, an Ifriti guy, had been put into magical coma for some reason, and we were supposed to wake him up before we left. Except were FORGOT. We, effectively, left him passed out in a carriage for the entire three hours of gameplay. There were seven players (the most I have EVER had), and not one of us remembered to get him, likely because there were too many of us, and too much was going on. The fact that we actually had to wake him up had flown under my radar. So I spent three hours wondering internally ‘when the fuck is (DM) going to bring (Ifriti guy) back? (Ifriti Guy’s player) has just been playing peggle on his phone for like two hours.’ But he never did.

Marty was fired.

6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc).

  Awhile ago we played a campaign we call The Brushfield Horror, which to date is probably my favorite games that Jake has DM’d. So, our party is in a hallway in an abandoned hospital, and up until then, I was feeling very confident. ‘The DM isn’t going to kill me,’ I chortled internally, ‘we play a more narrative driven game. He doesn’t have the balls.’

 Cue a giant horrible monster that is a mass of hands. I could probably kill it, I think. I mean, I haven’t found anything that I can’t kill yet. First round, and several very bad and good rolls later, the hand monster picks up an NPC, slams him into the cieling, breaking his neck, and then drags his body along the cieling tiles until he is s smear, and then envelopes his corpse into a mass of writhing, furious arms, to have the flesh picked off of his body.

I decided to run away!

17. What are some house rules that your group has?

When I played Pathfinder we actually had a lot! One of them is that we pretty much always dual-classed. My characters from this were Theep (Kobold Sorcerer/Cleric), Marty (Tiefling Alchemist/Sorcerer), Carlos “Martillo” Velazco (My one and only shadowrun character, Dwarf Warrior/Oracle, who actually had my favorite build out of all of my pathfinder characters) and Zauber Oormod (Illithid Alchemist/Vitalist). Another was that in pretty much all of these, each character was allowed to have one unique item that they really ought not have at the level they started. Theep had a Mithril Golem, Marty had a grafted fiendish familiar on the back of his neck, Martillo had a 1967 Camaro, Oormod had a really decked out homunculus also. We also tended to mesh pretty much any book we could get our hands on together. We had weapons from the Fallout rulebook when we played Shadowrun, for example. Martillo had a Super Sledge, hence his nickname.

And The Road is literally all house rules because it’s a homebrew.  

21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done?

Well there’s the aforementioned leaving the Ifriti in the car. That just sucked for the guy who played him. But imo that is more the DM’s fault than mine. Leaving a player hanging for that long just blew ass. 

I also had Daigh curse this one guy a little…hastily. He thought that he sold his brother to the chopping block, and literally an hour after I cursed this poor fuck in service to the Faerie courts to be made of Iron (so that he could no longer be in their presence) I found out that it was all a ~clever ruse~. Whoops!

More recently, Rusty made a decision to not tell Jonquil something really important because Daigh (that fucker again!) convinced them that it would make Jonquil fly off the handle and maybe get himself killed. It was something that I literally felt sick about for the rest of the night because it was just such an, as I felt it anyway, out of character thing for them to do - to be the one person who did not believe in the self control of their best friend. But it was just a series of unfortunate events that led them to do something kind of out of their usual characterization, which was interesting, but something that to this day, like a week later, I still feel bad about!

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)

I prefer some kind of utility class that can both heal and do some damage. I enjoy being not utterly useless in combat, but also being able to get my meathead party members out of the many, many tight squeezes they get themselves in. This usually ends up with me picking a casting class, like sorcerer or cleric. But I also really love crafting classes, which usually fulfill the same function of being a hybrid. Alchemist is my favorite class in pathfinder. When I was a teenager I played WoW and had a Troll Shaman, and I think that’s what gave me a taste for classes with flexibility.

34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor?

Oh, I will always pick something for narrative cohesion or consistent characterization, because I’m a fucking shmuck. But I’ve also found that DMs tend to reward that kind of behavior so, it doesn’t usually end up being too much of a handicap.

[sveasauvageon]

Yours is not to wonder why, yours is to do or die!  || GW

☾♔; March 21, 2018 ☾♔; sotd: idk ☾♔; comedian otd: JOHN FU.CKING OLIVER* ☾♔; GW NPC Audition II ☾♔; {G} https://goo.gl/XSTtMc ☾♔; mod(s): @themadmonarchist @maybones et moi

*oh yeah, he's gonna be comedian of the day all fu.cking week long. As of this moment, his book (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo) is number ONE on Amazon's bestseller's list, outselling not just the Pence's Marlon Bundo book, but James Comey's upcoming tell-all or whatever book about the crazy sh.it at the Trump white house and his firing, and the audiobook version of the Last Week Tonight book is number FOUR, the kindle edition is number FIVE, and all three are ahead on the list than the Pence's book (which is number 7). Guys, I don't have much faith in humanity, we as a species suck (case in point, Trump won the US presidency and so many other problems), but sometimes, like this moment, I love us!

Title: said by Blair Waldorf (my role model in life tbh)

Me: *petty af* Also Me: *passive aggressive af* Thus Me: *manifests pettiness in my oc's*

Preamble Ramble: FINALLY! I've finished one of my auditions! Next up, hopefully Svea, but probs Nika, I'm on a Russia kick, my Swedes will have to wait.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ஜ۩۞۩ஜ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀Vladimir Vladimirovich Sokolov, (17)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Изучаю тебя нежно-нежно ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Убиваю тебя ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Назови меня эгоистом! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀-⠀Эгоист by Дима Билан ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀(Dima Bilan, aka my one true love)   ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀https://goo.gl/VkQMN3

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ THE BASICS

Nickname: Volodya, Vova (but only people with special permission can call him either, call him "Vlad" and he'll end you) Gender: cis-male Date of Birth: May 7 Place of Birth: Moscow, Russia   Nationality: Russian-British   Ethnicity: eastern Slavic (he's also of anglo-saxon and Karachay descent) Accent: Russian   Blood Status: muggle-born

Profession: Student

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Face Claim: Jon Kortajarena

Hair: dark brown, positively luscious and better than yours could ever hope to be.

Eyes: green

Height: 1.88m

Weight: idk

Body: tol, fit, and ridiculously handsome.  

Any Scars/ Marks?: - a long horizontal scar near his right 4th rib. Looks to be from a knife wound or some other blade type weapon, but refuses to explain where it came from (was he stabbed? Sword fight? You don't know! I don't know. Mostly because my answer will be lame compared to the "cool" way he refuses to explain it)

Any Tattoos/ Piercings?: a crowned double-headed eagle on his left shoulder blade and an ouroboros, but as a dragon instead of a snake on the inside of his right arm, near the wrist, around half the length of his forearm (there's a picture of it in his moodboard).

Quirks/ Mannerisms: - uses terms of endearment sarcastically for everyone, such as "darling" or "dear" - identifies the nearest 6 exits every time he enters a room - makes weirdly, somewhat threat-like jokes like "don't move to England if you're a professional traitor, people tend be hanged, thrown out of windows or are poisoned" and "those who serve us with poison will eventually swallow it and poison themselves."

Style: expensive (of course). It's quite preppy, and classy, when not in uniform he prefers well-tailored suits, waistcoats, blazers, has a collection of designer watches. Kind of modern Victorian (well, my view of victorians is endless suits and prefect ettiquette, plus many moral values that contrast my liberal views, but their style was, eh meh. Like, their male style was pretty cool, but I'm not really into around 98% of their female style).  

Additional Information: n/a

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ PERSONALITY:

Head cannon: Vova is a rather intimidating person, in the terrifying sort of way. He carries an air of malice and death everywhere he goes, when he does act "warm and fuzzy", it's always jarring and seen as completely out of character, and possibly the sign of an illness. He is generally seen as the restrained, the quiet kid in the back with a perpetual "plotting your murder" expression on his otherwise handsome face. However, he is also seen as a rather extravagant, and somewhat suspicious person, he always seems to have access to illegal things (in both wizarding and muggle worlds), and seen as impervious to consequence, as regardless of what he does (or is suspected to have done), never gets in trouble.  

Personality (+ 5, - 5): Ruthless and shrewd, if you're not careful, he'll screw up your life. He's incredibly manipulative and self-centered, a true stereotypical Slytherin through and through (well, minus the pureblood thing. He's a muggleborn). Definitely overdramatic and decadent af. He is alluring, very much in the evil way, he's attractive, but he does nothing to hide how dark he (seemingly) is. Like, I guess you could say "bad boy attractive", but he's borderline murderous, and possibly a psychopath, so calling him a "bad boy" is not really all that accurate. He's a very proud and arrogant individual (especially about Russia), and quite malevolent, and vicious. He's patient and holds grudges for a long time, and never forgets a slight. He will legit back at you for something said years ago, he doesn't forget that stuff. He's both a great friend and not, he absolutely provides for his friends, buying them things, etc, but cross him in the slightest, he'll ruin you. And on that note, he also doesn't really have "friends", because if you're depending on him for his wealth, you're not really friends, and he's aware of that, he looks at such people more as "minions" than buddies. They're job is to agree with him and do as he commands, otherwise, what's their point. For people who hang out with him whom he doesn't support financially, it's more like tolerable existences, he's a difficult person to like anyway. However, he is capable of befriending people, usually under the guise of "I hate people, but you, you're cool", luring them into a false sense of security and making them feel special at the same time. However, having said that, he is not a pure psychopath, so he does have feelings. He genuinely cares about his family, animals in general, himself, and select few friends whom he does actually care about, but struggles with expressing that to them, since differentiating with people he pretends to befriend and actually considers friends is difficult since "I hate people, except you" is something he says to both types. It'd probably only come out in a life and death situation, since he'd put himself in harms way for people he genuinely gives a sh.it about, and wouldn't bother for the minions.  

Any mental health issues: He's probably something between a sociopath and psychopath, like, he does have actual emotions, as limited as they are, so he's not a true socio/psychopath. The argument is made (and a theory that I personally prescribe to, as a shi.tty psychology/sociology student, so don't put any weight or authority behind my opinion) that a psychopath is simply a more extreme and refined sociopath, so under that logic, Vova is basically a less extreme sociopath. (also, also, I have a problem with socio/psychopaths, I make too many of them, and they turn out to be my favourites. This is really worrying guys.) Anyway, under DSM IV (or possibly DSM III, I forgot which one changed the classification), he'd have what was called "an AXIS II Personality disorder", they've gotten rid of that classification now, but it basically listed narcissism, anti-social, sociopathic, and psychopathic personality disorders.

Favorite Quotes/ Sayings that your character would use: - "the fact that you need that explained is just so fu.cking sad." (literally said to anyone who doesn't understand any concept, whether it's something as simple as 2+2=4 or complicated as "imaginary time" -- don't ask, it's one of Stephen Hawking's theories and I don't understand it, I know my son would make fun of me.) - "what a fool" - "don't be attempt to be a comedian fool, you'll only embarrass yourself." - "darling, you have no idea what's possible." - "want to see what true power really looks like?" - "urg, don't be such a pleb/plebeian." - "of course I love Beyoncé, I'm a human being who lives on this planet." - "when better to have truffles and tiramisu than at 3am in Milan on a Thursday?" - "that jacket looks fine." - "dear, when will you learn? I know everything." - "Mudblood? Is that supposed to hurt my feelings? I don't have any of those, so what else are you going to do?"

Additional Information: - never on time. He's always late. You will literally start crying before he shows up he takes so long. - Loves crushing people's dreams (basically his hobby) - has an uncanny ability to suck the joy out of anything (his ex has said "unfortunately, he is a vampire", but in a muggle jokey way and basically the dracula stereotypical view muggles have of dracula, as in dark and not fun, and not an actual vampire) - Chess (muggle and wizard -- a proper, "normal" person hobby) - Has a bit of a smoking habit   - has an endless list of blackmail material on people (a lot of which is infuriatingly revealed by GW at various times), and also has a tendency of taping people doing various things which he uses as part of his blackmail library. Seems to have cameras' everywhere and claims to "know everything" about everyone.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ BIOGRAPHY

Relation to your OC: classmates, housemates (possibly more, formerly, I'm still developing him)  

♣️ Family Background

Vova comes from a largely muggle family, however, he is not the first wizard born into their family in recent history, so it wasn't completely a left-field shock when he started displaying magic. The first wizard in their family in the last few centuries (approximately) was Vova's uncle; Ilya Dmitriyevich Shostokov, who attended Koldovstoretz. Vova was the second in recent history, and his younger sister made third. Whilst virtually unknown in the magical world (with the exception of Ilya Shostokov, who has a rather dark reputation in the wizarding world), the Sokolov's are very prominent in the muggle world, particularly in Russia. Vova's grandfather is an Oligarch, who in Russia are effectively businessmen who run the country, the only curtail on their power and influence being the Russian President, and even then, the Russian administration is extremely corrupt, in the last presidential election, the incumbent president was able to literally choose his opponents (not a joke, btw. Putin actually did that in the recent Russian election). Anyway, the Sokolov's have a monopoly over the media industry in Russia, most of which run state-friendly stories, and shut down anything that could potentially insult the presidency. Their family, specifically the current patriarch, is also often accused (mainly in rival papers, magazines, shows, etc) of not only being corrupt, but having involvement with the Zima Bratva. As whole, they maintain an unfavourable public image (as most oligarchs do in the eyes of the Russian public), but are close with the Kremlin, so they remain influential with the government.

Family Members: - Vladimir Yakovlevich Sokolov // Marc Lavoine // Father // 47 // Politician // alive - Catherine Elizabeth Sokolova née Olivier // Emilia Fox // Mother // 46 // Socialite/House-wife // alive - Yevgeniya "Zhenya" Vladimirovna Sokolova // Antonina Vasylchenko // younger sister // 16 // student at Hogwarts // alive - Yakov Lʲvovich Sokolov // Charles Dance // paternal grandfather // 71 // Oligarch/suspected Bratva leader // alive -  Ilya Dmitriyevich Shostokov // Nikolaj Coster-Waldau // paternal uncle, once(ish) removed // 43 // dark wizard // alive  

♣️ Family Affiliation: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Slytherin House, Russian Government (the muggle one, as a fam they support United Russia, because Vlad Sr is a member. Personally? Who knows whom Vova supports), other Kremlin-close Russian Oligarchs  

♣️ Socio-economic status: rich as fu.ck. The exact number and position is actually quite shadowy though. They are amongst the wealthiest muggle families in Russia (Vova's grandfather is an Oligarch), but the retainment (definitely not a word) of their wealth also depends on how friendly they remain with the Kremlin, additionally, their family (mainly Vova's gramps) has been accused of having Bratva ties, and money from that alleged connection is definitely not counted on tax forms.

Quick facts: + Born May 7 in a Moscow Hospital, first son of Vladimir Sokolov, an emerging Russian politician (who eventually made it into the Federation Council). After his sister was born just about a year later, their mother, British-born Catherine Sokolova née Olivier, obtained dual British citizenship for them via "lex sanguinis" (which is a british citizenship law, giving to people who are born abroad is one of their parents is a British citizen by birth. I could've left this out, but I googled this sh.it and I like rambling).

+ Whilst close with his family, Vova was a solitary child, he liked to read and spend time on his own in a corner, or stay at their various Dacha's without anyone else. He never seemed to require any oversight as he never did anything bad (or least, he was never caught). However, he is closest to his grandfather, and would enjoy sitting in on board meetings, just silently observing from a corner. Some of his grandfather's employees (or Minions as Lev calls them, where Vova also got the habit from) found his silent starring creepy and unsettling.

+ Being a muggleborn, he is well-versed with the muggle world and has interacted with them from birth, his parents and grandfather all being muggles, and attended muggle private schools as a child before his letters came. Whilst they employ muggle servants (because they're muggles), his uncle (the first wizard he ever met) employs a house-elf (yes, he pays the house-elf, they might be part of an oppressive government and basically an organized crime family, but they don't do slaves).  

+ Vova first discovered magically abilities on his own, when on a trip in Australia with his mother, he discovered a large snake in their hotel room one morning whilst she was still sleeping, being around 3 and not fully comprehending the danger, he just walked up to it and started talking with it. It later slythered (see what I did there) away of it's own accord when Catherine walked in and freaked out about a massive crazy Australian snake (because you guys have scary animals) coiled near her son. As he aged, he noticed he could do other things, such as making things float or disappear.  

+ Vova first publically displayed magically abilities (as well as control over them) aged 7, when a board member of one his grandfather's companies was throwing a hissy fit about a child sitting in, and his tie suddenly tightened and started choking him. The man survived, at that instance, died suspiciously at a later date. Anyway, he survived that instance when Lev ordered the meeting to be over and broke Vova's angry glare at the dude. The two immediately then went home, and Lev called Ilya to arrive in "his" way (apparition) and had Ilya introduce Vova to magic and talk about whatever, Lev didn't know the specifics.

+ When his sister discovered powers (shattering all the windows in their Dacha in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky via screaming, she was told she couldn't keep a Siberian Tiger as a pet), he gave her the "magic talk", and they caused quite a bit of trouble for annoying students at their school, as well as a nearby "plebeian" school (who disliked the children of oligarchs, for very obvious reasons, Oligarchs rule Russia, and they kind of suck). Anyway, they would mess with their things, frame them for crimes that children their age literally could not commit. What 8 year old has cocaine their locker and why does another 8 year old know what it is?

+ He received a letter from both Koldovstoretz and Hogwarts aged 11 (because he's a dual-y), chose Hogwarts since no one in his family had ever gone there before (like, there's only one person in recent history whose ever been magical anyway, but still), also might have had something to do with the Zima bratva's recent (at that time) expansion into the British criminal landscape, who knows?

+ Although he denies any connection, Vova runs effectively a youth branch of his uncle's business, which itself is a branch of the Zima Bratva. Ilya is basically a magical fixer for the Zima Bratva, who, for a very hefty price, uses dark magic to assist/fix the problems of the muggles and magical alike. Vova does basically exactly the same, but for the students at Hogwarts, and for a different price. Instead of money, he collects information and favours to be repaid immediately at any time he demands. He also maintains an iron fisted rule over his "organization", whether they be customers or minions, snitches don't get stitches, snitches get buried 50 feet beneath the ground.

Additional Information: - he is a parselmouth, a trait inherited from a distant magical ancestor (like from back in the Kevian Rus days of his familial ancestry), his sister also inherited the trait, though their uncle did not.  

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ HOGWARTS INFORMATION

Is your character a student of Hogwarts?: yeppers If so, which house and year: Slytherin, Seventh Year If not, which house did they belong to while they were at Hogwarts?: n/a

Best Class(s) at Hogwarts: defense against the dark arts

Worst Class(s) at Hogwarts: none

Any Pets?: an ooc, cute af owl (tawny, spotted, he doesn't know. Okay, I don't know, but as a consequence, neither does Vova), it's smol and got big round eyes, it's name is Harold and yes, it is his best friend, and yes, he did get it at diagon alley at his sister's instance, and accidentally got attached to it. He does like animals though, the Solokov Dacha in the outskirts of Yakutsk has effectively become a cross between an animal hospital and habitat for, welp, animals. Vova spends most of his holidays there (often alone, not including servants, as it's cold AF. Yakutsk is the second coldest major city in the world, after Norilsk, but it's winter's are colder than Norilsk's), he's ability to visit has increased since he learned how to apparate. He's also really interested, invested, and active in wildlife conservation, and often goes tagging Siberian tigers and polar bears etc with various animal protection organizations in Russia (the muggle ones).  

Reputation at Hogwarts: Volodya has a largely dark reputation, he's more infamous than famous. He's known for messing with people, and not in a fun way, and he's generally seen as some kind of criminal. His uncle is well known is the magical world as a "Jack of all trades of villainy", and Vova definitely fits that villain mold too. He probably wouldn't be too close to the elites, they're sort of glittering in their ivory towers, and his tower is dark and gloomy, and lacks joy because he finds it annoying. Although, he and E probs might've gotten along in her pureblood bully gang days, or actually would've been antagonistic, he's basically as evil as them, but he's a mudblood, so meh, maybe rival bullies? Idk, I'll leave that for plotting. Anyway, he's not got a "bad boy" rep so much as a "omg, he's literally the worst person alive, why are you trying to be his friend, does he have a incriminating evidence on you?" type rep.  

Additional Information: n/a

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ INDIVIDUAL MAGIC

Wand: yew Wand Core: veela hair (acquired by his uncle through unknown means, there was a report of a veela going missing right around the time Uncle Ilya got that hair so...) Wand Length: 13½" Wand Flexibility: inflexible

Patronus: Eurasian brown bear

Boggart: appears as the corpses of his family, killed via poison/nerve agent. His fear being a government revolution and his family getting caught up in that or his family losing the Kremlin's favour. The result would be the same in both scenarios tbh.

Amortentia: citrus, gun powder, and mint

Affinity to any particular magic? - I dunno if you'd call it an affinity, but he is waaaay too into the unforgivable curses and it's waaaaaay too easy for him to perform them. - dark magic/dark arts (you guys know exactly why he has an affinity for it XP)

Additional Information: - whilst he loves magic, he also has a deep fascination with muggle weapons (particularly the ones developed by his country), and has been experimenting with magically evolving them, particularly poisons and nerve agents.  

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ USER INFORMATION

Username: @drownedinmoonlight Activity Level (Scale 1-10): 8

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ OPTIONAL Playlist: Moodboard: https://goo.gl/R7DVjp Social Media (instagram, facebook, snapchat, twitter, etc): Storyboard: https://goo.gl/h6DJfB Aesthetic Collection: Wardrobe/Style Collection: Plotting Set: Story:

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

When you have completed the audition, please tag the mods: @drownedinmoonlight @themadmonarchist and @maybones and use the hashtag #GWnpc

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Throne of Night Theory Builds Part 26: Strange Sea Merchants

So THIS is the post I tried uploading last week before crap hit the fan and the computer crash, causing me to lose everything. To say it sucked would be an understatement. But we're finally here.

This particular post is very near and dear to me because it feels like a sense of vindication and I'll get into that in the next half of the post. I’m being careful how I word things, and that I don’t post too much as it karma might bite me in the backside again for being to prideful, even thought I technically have the right to. =P I’m also doing a back up and saving a draft of the article just in case. I don’t want to have to go through this a third time.

Regardless, this post has NEW ART. That’s right. It may be a week late, but it’s still here, and you’ll be able to gaze upon the awesome in just a moment. Also, two stat builds instead of one, and it’s not because there’s an animal companion.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the encounter build.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus

I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who are looking to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so.

Finally, before I get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

EDIT: I’ve come back and cleaned it up. Even advanced the bodyguards to CR 15 from CR 13.

Back during the release of "Way of the Wicked", before I'd published anything at all, I was mystified by the adventure modules, but something always bugged that an element was missing. Why did the hyper LAWFUL GOOD government and judicial law just stop looking for the most wanted criminals of that time? These weren't petty crooks. They were high level criminals who had done heinous crimes, escaped prison, and probably murdered a league of guards in the process. And among them, might even be an infernal ogre of unknown Hellish influence. Not a single bodyguard or inquisitor apprentice went "I'm going to double check and make sure they're actually dead"? Instead, they just assume they were lost to the swamp. That always seemed odd to be, and honestly very unacceptable. So I designed three bounty hunter brothers that would go after them, including a human ranger/inquisitor, and released it on the public forum, along with my thoughts on WHY these guys had to exist. If not all three, then for sure the ranger/inquisitor. And to my surprise, people agreed. Even Gary agreed. And more surprising, they were taken for other people's games, including Gary McBride himself. The author had acknowledged my efforts, and admitted this was a worthwhile addition. For anyone who doesn't know me personally, for me to have received that kind of validation, especially from the author of something big like the "first evil campaign for Pathfinder 1e", it was an exceptionally big deal. I was had readied myself for only beratement, as that's what I was used to from writers and game masters. So when Book 2 was released, I stepped up again. It threw me off that in a world of devils and angels, and so many religious NPCs, that the PCs were limited to finding a specific black market that could get you specific items, but it could take literal months or even years to get it because most items PCs would want were illegal on the island and would have to come in from the mainland, the long way, because of one side of the island having terrible storms and a giant whirlpool. Why though? It made sense to me that a young and upcoming mercane could easily slip in and sell the PCs some wares. Considering their ability to plane shift and sell to other planes of existence, they certainly wouldn't care if the king's emblem and heraldry was plastered all over armor and weapons. Heck, introduce him in Book 1 as one of the kiosk guys when the PCs are first shopping. Just give him or her a basic hat of disguise and you're laughing. Again, that idea was met with reverence by Gary and others on the forum, and again the character was added to other games.

I bring up that long-winded story because when I realized who and what these strangers were, my jaw dropped. Everything had come back full circle. Their size, the colour of their skin, and the number of fingers on their hands. They were mercanes. My original idea that I'd put forth way back from the days of "Way of the Wicked" was made a reality here. Whether it was just a coincidence or not, it didn't matter. It felt great to see it in the flesh, so to speak. Merchant strangers from another world drifting on the open waters of the Sunless Sea, and hoping to make a buck, or come across interesting characters with wares to peddle. By this point in the story, the PCs are likely chomping at the bit to access items that they don't have to craft themselves, or get made by the myceloids, maybe the drow, or even hope to find randomly in a pile of treasure. They can literally get absolutely anything they want in exchange for gold, mithral, or gear they've been stockpiling for the past 4-5 books. Which brings up a big point. When do the PCs meet these guys? My thought is that it's likely not that far into Book 5. Probably before the aboleth city is found. There's also the possibility that they're found on the way to the end of Book 5, beginning of Book 6, but for me that's way too long. Honestly, though, the PCs have already been waiting long enough. As such, I made these guy the levels that they are. There's no way they're still the original CR 5 or even CR 6 (fighter 1).

If the PCs can afford it, the secret chest should be able to access whatever it is that they want.

THE VISITING MERCHANT ON THE SEA    (CR 15; 51,200 XP) Male mercane abjurer 11/loremaster 2 LN Large outsider (extraplanar) Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +20 DEFENSE AC 26, touch 16, flat-footed 22 (+4 armor, +3 deflection, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural, –1 size) hp 222 (19 HD; 6d10+13d6+144) Fort +17, Ref +11, Will +18 Defensive Abilities energy absorption (33 hp/day); Resist acid 10; SR 26 OFFENSE Speed 30 ft. Melee mwk falchion +14/+9/+2 (2d6+3/18–20) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Spell-like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +12)   3/day—dimension door, invisibility (self only)   1/day—plane shift (W-DC 18) Abjurer Spells Prepared (CL 13th; concentration +20)   7th—quickened fireball (R-DC 25), mass hold person (W-DC 24), spell turning   6th—chain lightning (R-DC 24), mass bear’s endurance, spellcrash (W-DC 25), telepathy   5th—feeblemind (R-DC 22), quickened magic missile, teleport, wall of force, wreath of blades (R-DC 24)   4th—ball lightning (R-DC 22), curse of magic negation (W-DC 23), globe of lesser invulnerability, greater flaming sphere (R-DC 23), solid fog, stoneskin   3rd—dispel magic (2), fly, haste, hold person (W-DC 20), nondetection, tongues   2nd—acid arrow, cat’s grace, communal protection from evil, create pit (R-DC 19), glitterdust (W-DC 19), resist energy, web (R-DC 19)   1st—alarm, grease, mage armor (already cast), magic missile, shield, stunning barrier (W-DC 20), touch of the sea   0 (at will)—detect poison, mage hand, prestidigitation, read magic, resistance Opposition Schools illusion, necromancy TACTICS Morale Unless prevented from teleporting, the visitor will hide behind the bodyguards and teleport or plane shift them away to safety. STATISTICS Str 14, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 30, Wis 17, Cha 17 Base Atk +12; CMB +15; CMD 32 Feats Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Craft Wondrous Item, Dodge, Greater Spell Focus (abjuration), Improved Initiative, Persuasive, Quicken Spell, Scribe ScrollB, Skill Focus (Knowledge [planes]), Spell Focus (abjuration, evocation), ToughnessB Skills Acrobatics +22, Appraise +22, Bluff +22, Craft +19 (+21 with tools), Diplomacy +22, Fly +12, Handle Animal +10, Heal +20, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (arcana) +24, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +20, Knowledge (engineering) +21, Knowledge (geography) +23, Knowledge (local) +18, Knowledge (planes) +30, Knowledge (religion) +22, Linguistics +18, Perception +20, Profession (merchant) +13, Sense Motive +18, Sleight of Hand +15, Spellcraft +24, Stealth +10, Swim +21, Use Magic Device +20 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Infernal, Terran, Undercommon; telepathy 100 ft. SQ arcane bond (wand), lore +1, protective ward (7 rounds, +3 deflection, 10/day), secret (secret health), secret chest Combat Gear wand of fireball (29 charges); Other Gear masterwork falchion, mithral daggers (4), amulet of natural armor +2, belt of mighty constitution +2, cloak of resistance +2, headband of vast intelligence +4 (Acrobatics, Swim), ring of protection +3, folding boat, scroll of sending (2), masterwork artisan tools, spell component pouch, small silver mirror (worth 100 gp), granite and diamond dust (worth 500 gp), powered lead and platinum (worth 250 gp) SPECIAL ABILITIES Secret Chest (Sp) A mercane can retrieve or hide an extradimensional storage chest, as the secret chest spell (caster level 5th). The mercane does not need an expensive replica chest to use this ability; any chest will do. It can only use this ability on one chest at a time.

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MERCANE BODYGUARDS (2)    (CR 13; 25,600 XP) Mercane fighter (polearm master) 7/rogue (survivalist) 6 LN Large outsider (extraplanar) Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +27 DEFENSE AC 31, touch 15, flat-footed 25 (+11 armor, +1 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural, –1 size) hp 219 (19 HD; 13d10+6d8+121) Fort +19, Ref +15, Will +18 Defensive Abilities evasion, uncanny dodge; SR 26 OFFENSE Speed 30 ft. Melee +1 adamantine bardiche +25/+20/+15/+10 (2d8+13/17–20) or     +1 cold iron gauntlet +23/+18/+13/+8 (1d4+7) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks polearm training +1, sneak attack +3d6, steadfast pike +2 Spell-like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +11)   3/day—dimension door, invisibility (self only)   1/day—plane shift (W-DC 17) Survivalist Spell-like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +8)   3/day—mending   1/day—endure elements STATISTICS Str 22, Dex 18, Con 20, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 14 Base Atk +17; CMB +24; CMD 40 Feats Blind-FightB, Bodyguard, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Dazzling Display, Dodge, Improved Blind-Fight, Improved Critical (bardiche)B, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power AttackB, Precise StrikeB, Toughness, Weapon Focus (bardiche), Weapon Specialization (bardiche)B Skills Appraise +15, Bluff +11, Climb +14, Diplomacy +13, Intimidate +24, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +13, Knowledge (planes) +16, Linguistics +12, Perception +27, Profession (merchant) +13, Sense Motive +25, Sleight of Hand +13, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +5, Survival +18, Swim +11, Use Magic Device +20; ACP –3 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal, Terran, Undercommon; telepathy 100 ft. SQ hardy, pole fighting –2, rogue talent (combat trick, minor magic, snap shot), secret chest Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of resist energy (fire); Other Gear +2 mithral full plate, +1 adamantine bardiche, +1 cold spiked gauntlet, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of physical might +2 (Str, Dex), cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, potion of extended comprehend languages (2) SPECIAL ABILITIES Secret Chest (Sp) A mercane can retrieve or hide an extradimensional storage chest, as the secret chest spell (caster level 5th). The mercane does not need an expensive replica chest to use this ability; any chest will do. It can only use this ability on one chest at a time.

[mygamerblog-blog]

9/4/19, Week 2: Flow in Stardew Valley

For the time being, I’m going to be playing Stardew Valley (2016) for my game journals. 

Stardew Valley Title Screen

In reading Csikszentmihalyi’s piece on flow and the ability for people to achieve happiness in life, I came to realize that this game may be a perfect example of the pleasure someone can take in achieving a kind of gamic and real-life flow. Inspired mainly by the Harvest Moon franchise, this game puts you, a former employee of a soul-sucking Amazon-esque company, in the position of taking over your grandfather’s old property out in the country as a way to escape the monotony and dissatisfaction of your life.

From the outset, the premise of the game illustrates a key component of flow as a method of achieving happiness: that “in addition to or instead of the goals others use to bribe us with, we develop a set of our own” (Csikszentmihalyi 28). What starts off the plot of the game is this very idea that it’s possible for one to achive an alternative set of goals in order to become happier with their life, and once the gameplay actually begins, it’s clear that this is the motivating goal for the player as well. Non-linear play puts the player in control of how they want the game, and their in-game life, to turn out with a variety of different goals that can be worked towards at any pace or order. 

As I was led to my new house in Stardew Valley, I was given five items by a character: 

An Axe 

A Hoe

A Watering Can 

A Pickaxe 

A Scythe 

Once I went inside, I had found that I was also given a packet of 15 parsnip seeds by the town mayor to get me started. Two quests had been added to my journal: to plant and harvest a parsnip seed, and to meet all 28 residents of the nearby town. From there, the game let me do what I wished, giving me two activity categories of equal perceived importance: working and socializing, both equally rewarding in their own rights. Seeing as I wanted to learn how the tools and farming mechanics worked, I chose the former. I started cutting down trees, breaking rocks, cutting weeds, planting seeds in a nice row in front of my house, and gathering resources (of which I knew would be important but had no current use for). 

Starting Items

The way that the game introduces items and quests immediately puts players in a space where flow is easily achievable. Largely, external values or institutions have been taken away from the player/their avatar (in the sense that the person is gaming in an alternate reality, and in the plot of the game), so systems of reward and accomplishment are constructed by their own preferences (Csikszentmihalyi 16). In first gathering items like wood or sap, I felt happy knowing that I was working toward something, and while this could easily become boring, the items you gather have an inherent use value as parts for crafting fences, walkways, or other items to make your farm better. When you get a new item, you seek to discover what it’s for and how it can enrich your in-game life. The objective in this working scenario then moves from gathering resources to making things for yourself. The structure of this part of the game is based entirely off of repetition, and the enjoyment of continually finding new materials and putting them to use continuously. 

If I was able to, I would probably spend a majority of my time farming and working towards making a nice and functional farm. However, the game does have mechanics that prevents doing so, while encouraging you to explore outside your own world. The player’s stamina bar, as well as the necessity to talk to the right person to get crafting recipes or information about materials are what force the player to move on to other parts of the game. If I were to start the day at 6:00am by chopping down trees, my stamina would likely be depleted by noon, but socializing doesn’t require stamina. As such, I’m put in a position where I have to stop farming resources and go meet other NPCs, which puts me to work on the other task I was given at the start of the game, and largely put to work at the other half of the game.  

From there, the game becomes a back and forth between working for yourself on the farm, and talking to others, initially just to meet them, but then to build relationships with them over time. There’s an inherent repetition in how the game works. At the farm, continually collecting resources relies on swinging your axe, and all later actions depend upon this. When socializing, you have to find the same people and talk to them to figure out who exactly they are. This is the game so far. In playing this game, repetition and alternation, as Johan Huizinga puts it, is the “warp and woof of a fabric” (104). Even on a larger scale, the game is broken up into repetitive day cycles, and as such puts you in a schedule that you can determine. The way I played, I would water my plants first thing every morning, then clear out some land and go check the calendar or message board in town. From there, it kind of just depended on what I felt like doing. This made me feel at ease, but also excited to get started on something every day. 

[sodomyordeath]

was tagged to do 

75 Gaming Asks

You know the drill I go and answer all of ‘em right now. Saves me time oh and I tag @madamekross and @s-oeren to share my pain.

Send me some! 1. First console you’ve ever owned?

none

2. First game you played? a version of pong

3. Favorite childhood game?

Bubble Bobble &  The Bard's Tale 4. Longest consecutive hours you’ve played a game?

72

5. Game with the best soundtrack? Out Run & Quake

6. An underrated game from within the last few years?

The Shadowrun Returns games

7. Most disappointing game you’ve played?

Hellgate Lonson 8. The game with the best atmosphere/scenery?

Skyrim

9. Last game you played? Darkest Dungeon

10. Prefer PC or console?

PC

11. Have you written any fanfic or made any fanart?

Nope 12. Most bizarre game you’ve ever played?

Nothing comes to mind 13. Scariest game you’ve played?

Once again nothing comes to mind

14. Do you watch playthroughs online?

At times 15. Favorite animal in a video game?

The Dragons in  Bubble Bobble 16. The best year in gaming you’ve experienced?

n/a 17. Have a video game themed background or lockscreen? nope

18. Worst game you’ve played?

The Guild II 19. Hardest game you’ve ever played?

Makaimura 20. Favorite publisher and/or developer?

CD Projekt RED, before that Bioware and ID Soft 21. If you had to play one game for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I’d write my own

22. If you could turn one game into movie, which would it be?

Game movies suck

23. Favorite genre of video game?

RPGs and Strategy Games 24. Ever cried because of a video game? Which one(s)?

nope 25. Proudest accomplishment in gaming?

It’s a game 26. How often do you play online? Co-op?

When I’m on the mood 27. Have you gotten any friends into gaming?

Nope just my Sister 28. Who got YOU into gaming?

Got a C64 back in the day and couldn’t code yet 29. Watch cutscenes or skip them?

Depends 30. On average, how long does it take you in the character creation screen?

As long as it takes 31. Game with the best theme song?

Quake 32. Do you cosplay?

nope 33. Favorite female npc?

Jack (Mass Effect 2)  Morrigan (Dragon Age) 34. Favorite male npc?

Cremisius "Krem" Aclass (Dragon Age Inquisition)   35. Best protagonist? 

Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher), Female Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)  36. Best antagonist?

Kane (Command & Conquer) 37. Ever been made fun of for playing video games?

Nope 38. Have you tried a game, hated it, then tried again, and loved it?

Nope 39. Do you play for achievements/trophies?

If I’m bored enough 40. Favorite voice actor?

Jennifer Hale 41. Gone to a midnight release before?

nope 42. A game you will never forget (in a bad OR good way)?

Ask someone without an eidetic memory 43. Favorite sidekick or companion?

Jack (Mass Effect 2)  Morrigan (Dragon Age) 44. Do graphics matter?

Depends 45. Do you like funny or more serious games?

both 46. Always, sometimes, or never use subtitles?

always 47. First person or Third person?

Third I like to see my ass :p

48. A game you’ve always wanted to play but have never gotten to it? Nothing comes to mind

49. A game you haven’t played in forever, but want to replay?

Diablo II 50. How many games to do you own?

Too many 51. First character you’ve had a crush on?

I don”t have crushes on pixels 52. A game you will always stand behind, and support no matter what?

Never seen one without flows 53. Your most immersive game?

Probably the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games with a ton of mods

54. A sequel you really want?

A new SpellForce would be nice 55. How much time, on average, do you play in a week?

Hard to tell  56. Do you tell people irl that you play video games?

Sure 57. What is an overrated game you’ve played?

All Assassin’s Creed Games after the first 58. Ever have someone walk in on a sex scene between you and you LI?

between the PC and there LI, sure 59. A game you are looking forward to this year?

Not really 60. The game you are best at?

I tend to be good at whatever I play 61. A game you know everything about?

Neverwinter Nights 2 62. Would you want to work with video games when you are older?

I’m almost 40 and had my hands in a couple of games :p 63. What’s a game that has inspired you?

Planescape: Torment 64. Describe your favorite video game using only three words?

explore exploit extinguish 65. Any favorite screenshots of games?

nope 66. Game with the yummiest looking food?

wtf? 67. Most violent game you’ve played?

It’s pixels who cares 68. An older game that you’ve just recently gotten into?

I’m old I got into it when it was new 69. Your first LI?

Honestly that heteronormative fan service to young males is rather boring to me 70. Do you play any mobile games?

yup Plague Inc is fun 71. A game you can’t stop talking/thinking about at the moment?

n/a 72. Have any guilty pleasure games?

I never feel guilty about my pleasures 73. A game with the best fandom?

I can't care less 74. Which game has the best lore?

The Witcher 75. Do you focus on main storyline/quest or do sidequests first?

You do ‘em all D’oh

[flynnraider-blog]

angst bros 4 lyfe

who: Leonardo Flynn, Damian Briggs tagged: @brigadierbriggs​ what: Leo and Damian attempt to bond where: Tavern when: 02/08- 02/14 word count: 4211 ish warnings: no formatting and time stamps because what is effort

[2017-02-08 11:57:09 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo sat at a table in the back of the tavern, running his finger over the rim of his glass idly. He’d invited Damian here on a whim, wanting to get to know him more if he was going to be hanging around Sophia as much as he was. But Leo had forgotten to factor in his lack of conversational skills into the mix and now he was quietly panicking, part of him hoping that Damian would never show. It would be easier on his heart, at least. [2017-02-09 12:01:12 AM] Di: The tavern. It was a joke. Had to be. His whole life was a fucking phenomenal laugh. A recovering alcoholic at the tavern. Then again, he'd been there every day that week without so much as a second thought. He couldn't put his finger on what about today made him all that more desperate for a drink, only that no amount of cigarettes could kill the longing. He breathed in as he stepped into the tavern, ignoring the sting of the scent of liquor before locating Leo and sitting across from him. "Hey." [2017-02-09 12:09:48 AM] Ro (is trash): Looking up abruptly, Leo tried for a smile. “Uh – hey,” he gave awkwardly, cursing himself inwardly. Should he give his hand to shake? Would that be weird? What did you even do in this kind of situation? In the end Leo just wrapped his hands tightly around his glass to prevent any weird movements. [2017-02-09 12:10:44 AM] Di: Sitting, Damian raised brow at the weirdness of his body language then smiled. "What'd you need, Leo?" He asked with a pleasant if sterile smile. [2017-02-09 12:20:36 AM] Ro (is trash): Shifting in his seat, Leo smiled back. “I just thought we could try to get to know each other a little?” It ended up coming out more like a question than he had originally intended. [2017-02-09 12:21:39 AM] Di: "Because of Sophia? Or your deep burning curiosity in me?" Damian grinned. [2017-02-09 12:56:14 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo simply shrugged. “A bit of both I guess. Can you really say you aren’t the slightest bit curious about me?” [2017-02-09 12:56:42 AM] Di: Damian shrugged and breathed out, hunching over a little. "You're your own business, Leo." [2017-02-09 12:59:03 AM] Ro (is trash): Finally, somebody who had some sense in them. “”I couldn’t agree more. But for the sake of Sophia, we should learn to get along. She has some idea in her head about us questing together as one big happy family.” [2017-02-09 12:59:42 AM] Di: He snorted, "I'm sure she'll drag Daphne along as well." Damian leaned back, "IT's not a bad idea. Start a party. Form a guild once we get there." [2017-02-09 1:01:07 AM] Ro (is trash): He raised a single eyebrow. “Daphne?” Clearly Sophia had been busy. “The more the merrier, I guess,” he grumbled, not really meaning it. “Having a larger variety of classes should be useful.” [2017-02-09 1:02:32 AM] Di: "She is a druid," Damian tapped his fingers against the table. "Eventually we'll probably bond. I can be her dog in a more literal sense after that." [2017-02-09 1:03:36 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo choked on the sip he was taking. “I – you’re a werewolf then, I assume?” he asked, regaining his footing. [2017-02-09 1:04:27 AM] Di: He laughed and nodded, shrugging a little. "Liked the idea of being changeable to the moon. Might bite me in the ass in a few days... Could you do me a favor Leo?" [2017-02-09 1:05:41 AM] Ro (is trash): The sudden change of pace took him off-guard. “A favor? What kind of favor?” he countered suspiciously. [2017-02-09 1:06:48 AM] Di: "The full moon is coming up, you and Sophie should high-tail it out of here... and the favor is can you take Daph with you? Watch out for the mouthy little brat?" [2017-02-09 1:08:11 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo observed the other man through narrowed eyes. “And go where? Surely the main town is going to be safer than some random forest where the wolves are gallivanting about?” [2017-02-09 1:09:46 AM] Di: "Somewhere where the NPCs would be more in your favor. Like the Mage's palace shit or the Elves homeland BS." Damian murmured, "IF you left within the day, you should be okay." [2017-02-09 1:11:36 AM] Ro (is trash): “You really think the elves want anything to do with me? Unless this is a thinly veiled way to get the two others there while I just rot outside,” Leo snorted. He didn’t appreciate being told what to do with his own sister. [2017-02-09 1:14:24 AM] Di: "Well, you- Sophie's an elf." He pointed out then rubbed at his face. "Most players haven't left this area, Leo and not everyone will be as careful as me." [2017-02-09 1:16:24 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo regarded him coolly. “I suppose I could take the onboard a ship with me. On the water we’d be away from everything.” [2017-02-09 1:16:47 AM] Di: "That would be the most reasonable... Are you a pirate?" He asked after an awkward beat. [2017-02-09 1:18:13 AM] Ro (is trash): “Yup. Figured it made sense, growing up on the coast.” He explained with a shrug. Figuring he should at least put some effort in, he turned it on Damian. “You?” [2017-02-09 1:20:04 AM] Di: "Fighter." He cracked his knuckles then laughed, "Starting to regret it though. All I want is a damn bow." [2017-02-09 1:21:42 AM] Ro (is trash): “Good luck with that. I can’t imagine a fighter is going to have much success with a bow,” Leo said lightly. “But I can’t help but agree. Close range is not turning out to be something I enjoy." [2017-02-09 1:23:39 AM] Di: "I don't mind the close range, I just... I was real good with a bow. Well I haven't grabbed one since my twenties." Damian huffed. "Fuck I'm old." [2017-02-09 1:44:04 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo’s interest was piqued. That was the first personal thing Damian had shared. “You were an archer back home?” Hesitating, he couldn’t help but add “How old are you anyway?” [2017-02-09 1:47:40 AM] Di: "I did say all I want is a goddamn bow, didn't I?" He laughed a little, "Ironically Archer was my mother's maiden name." He hummed a little, "And yeah, I was back in the day. Before I hit my thirties." [2017-02-09 6:30:39 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo whistled lowly. “I can barely imagine surviving my twenties let alone hitting my thirties.” [2017-02-09 6:32:54 PM] Di: Damian laughed and rubbed his face, "I guess I felt that way once. Angsting on the fire escape while avoiding Tony." [2017-02-09 6:34:45 PM] Ro (is trash): “I can’t imagine you hiding to avoid anyone. Who’s Tony?” [2017-02-09 6:35:35 PM] Di: "My ex." He breathed, "From a long ass time ago." [2017-02-09 6:37:15 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo paused. The tone of voice he’d used hasn’t been a friendly one. “Seems not even big bad veterans are free from relationship regrets. Pity.” [2017-02-09 6:42:31 PM] Di: "I mean," Damian rolled his shoulders, "At the time I was neither a veteran nor a big anything. Bit of a twink honestly." [2017-02-09 6:43:56 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo bit his lip to try to contain his laughter. “Now that I’d pay to see. You kind of own the large and scruffy thing like you were born into it.” [2017-02-09 6:45:12 PM] Di: His laughter bellowed through him and he shook his head. [2017-02-09 6:48:16 PM] Ro (is trash): “Alright, alright,” Leo threw up his hands, trying to scowl. But he couldn’t help his small smile. “What ever happened with this… Tony?” He said the words like they were bitter in his mouth. [2017-02-09 6:50:47 PM] Di: Damian raised his brows up high and looked at him. "Have a problem with my ex?" He teased and leaned back, "I went home. It seemed as good as an excuse as any to break it off." [2017-02-09 6:52:34 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo simply grumbled in response. This is why he didn’t get friendly with other people. “Went home? As this conversation drags on I become increasingly aware of how little I really know about you.” [2017-02-09 7:02:05 PM] Di: "I'm from Michigan. I grew up in a little tourist trap till my dad died then moved to Ann Arbor with my mom and her wife." Damian leaned in. "I have... a step-brother who rightfully hates my guts and like one friend. Two with Sophie I guess." [2017-02-09 7:05:55 PM] Ro (is trash): That was a lot to take in. “Michigan…” Leo rolled around the name in his mouth. “Sounds… exciting. I’m sorry about your dad, though.” It came out stilted and awkward, unsure about how familiar he should be. “I’m sure the situation with your step-brother isn’t as dire as you’re making it sound, though. I have like, one friend. And that’s if Sophia counts.” [2017-02-09 7:07:17 PM] Di: "Oh, but it is." He breathed out and shook his head. "I'm sure you have more than one friend. What about the mage?" [2017-02-09 7:09:01 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo sucked in a sharp breath. “Yeah, no. No. That’s…. just no.” No was a understatement. Bei took off like a bat out of hell, there was no way they were anything remotely close to friendly. [2017-02-09 7:11:47 PM] Di: His eyebrows shot up and he leaned in, sniffing him. "Weird." [2017-02-09 7:12:30 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo leaned back quickly in response, expression middy offended. “Did you just…. sniff me?" [2017-02-09 7:14:54 PM] Di: "I guess wolves can sniff emotions now or something." [2017-02-09 7:15:15 PM] Ro (is trash): "...do I even want to know what you just smelled on me." [2017-02-09 7:18:31 PM] Di: "Regret." Damian shrugged and wrinkled his nose. "Also lots of booze here." [2017-02-09 7:19:57 PM] Ro (is trash): “Regret is… an accurate way to put it.” Leo left it at that. “But one would expect that, it is a tavern. I’m used to it I guess, worked at a bar back home.” [2017-02-09 7:24:42 PM] Di: "I mean I'm no stranger to lots of booze but it's different." Damian breathed out, "When you're trying to stop I guess." [2017-02-09 7:26:12 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo caught his meaning. “I… apologize. I didn’t know. We could go somewhere else?” [2017-02-09 7:26:41 PM] Di: He snorted, "Nah. I might as well, ya know." [2017-02-09 7:27:18 PM] Ro (is trash): He raised a single eyebrow. "You really think Sophia is gonna like that answer?" [2017-02-09 7:28:11 PM] Di: "Like what answer?" Damian asked. [2017-02-09 7:45:25 PM] Ro (is trash): "She'll get all righteous and Oh Damian please, you can't go," he tried to mimic her voice best he could. "I worry about you." [2017-02-09 7:45:51 PM] Di: "I am so confused right now man." [2017-02-09 7:46:24 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo just shook his head. "Forget it. What were we talking about again?" [2017-02-09 7:46:53 PM] Di: "Bei." He laughed. [2017-02-09 7:47:45 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo grimaced. “This isn’t anything to say.” [2017-02-09 7:48:17 PM] Di: "He thinks poorly of himself." Damian breathed after a moment. [2017-02-09 7:48:52 PM] Ro (is trash): “Yeah, well he clearly doesn’t think too highly of anybody else either,” he couldn’t help but snort. [2017-02-09 7:51:00 PM] Di: "Leo... when you're fucked up, your entire view of the world is twisted." [2017-02-09 7:51:52 PM] Ro (is trash): Fuck. This wasn’t what he had planned on talking about. “Yeah, well, he isn’t the only one with issues. It’s not an excuse.” [2017-02-09 7:52:34 PM] Di: "No, but excuse isn't the same as an explanation." Damian shrugged."Fucked up people are bad at communication." [2017-02-09 7:53:43 PM] Ro (is trash): “He must be really fucked up then. Because his communication is nonexistent. And that’s saying something, coming from me.” Leo himself was bad at the whole feelings thing but this was a whole new level. [2017-02-09 7:54:25 PM] Di: "He's a vet. We're all real fucked." He huffed. [2017-02-09 7:56:28 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo just scowled and glared at the wall. “I can’t be blamed for something I didn’t even know.” It wasn’t fair for him to be expected to keep that in consideration when no one ever even told him. [2017-02-09 8:03:33 PM] Di: "No. You're right. You can't and I'm not blaming you." Damian replied, "I'm just... saying have a little consideration. Not a lot. Just... maybe ease up on the stink of disappointment." [2017-02-09 8:05:36 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo bristled. “I’m not disappointed. I’m angry. Upset. Hurt. Any or all of the above. I told myself I’d never let myself be treated like that again.” He crossed his arms defiantly. “If he wasn’t interested he could have just said so. I’m a big boy. I can handle it.” [2017-02-09 8:06:43 PM] Di: "You're right, he could have said so." Damian looked at him. "Did he?" [2017-02-09 8:07:16 PM] Ro (is trash): “Did he what? Say so? I think it was pretty damn obvious.” [2017-02-09 8:08:32 PM] Di: "How so?" [2017-02-09 8:11:01 PM] Ro (is trash): Leo went silent. He didn’t want to get into the details with somebody he barely knew. “Trust me. I know. He was terrified at the damn sight of me. I think I said something, I dunno.” [2017-02-09 8:12:49 PM] Di: He nodded and leaned forward, hand on his chin as he leaned on his elbow. [2017-02-09 8:14:39 PM] Ro (is trash): “It’s just… whatever. He’s clearly not interested and I did something wrong, let’s just drop it.” [2017-02-10 1:04:24 AM] Di: "Or he is interested and you both fucked up." Damian said softly. "which is allowed by the way. I guess you just have to decide if you want to live with that." [2017-02-10 1:11:53 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo regarded him evenly. “Last time I thought someone was interested regardless of the signals I got it very wrong.” [2017-02-10 1:14:56 AM] Di: "Last time I fell in love with someone it was so inappropriate that you'd have shat your pants if I told you," He replied without skipping a beat, "But that's not going to keep me from hopefully falling in love again some day." He didn't mention that first he'd have to go through the trouble of falling out of love. Of getting rid of the tight chested problem that burrowed in his core. "Sometimes, you fuck up Leo. Now you're over sensitive to reading things. It's easer to ask." [2017-02-10 2:06:29 AM] Ro (is trash): “A story for another time then,” Leo replied with eyebrows raised. “I know how that feels.” Sighing, he played with his glass. “I don’t even know how to contact the damn guy. Lord knows he doesn’t want to hear from me.” [2017-02-10 2:09:30 AM] Di: "Don't stress." He chuckled, "This place has a way of bringing people together. Just... be open to it. To talking it through even if it doesn't feel easy or good or comfortable." Damian licked his lips. "I wish that someone had told me that running didn't solve shit. That it hurt more people than it helped." He looked at him, "So now it's my job to tell you." [2017-02-10 2:17:16 AM] Ro (is trash): “You sound like the dad I never had,” he said with a small smirk. “Or at least, the one that wasn’t a pezzo di merda.” Leo corrected as an afterthought. “I make no promises, but I’ll keep it in mind. Tone down the general grump and all that.” [2017-02-10 2:19:12 AM] Di: He laughed and shook his head. "Sophie insisted on calling me papa orzo? So I guess it's a fad. Dad Damian." [2017-02-10 2:22:22 AM] Ro (is trash): “Papa bear? Jesus, sounds like her. I got saddled with Da Vinci so consider yourself lucky I guess.” Leo looked at Damian with a wicked glint in his eye. “Hey, got any dad jokes?” [2017-02-10 2:23:30 AM] Di: He snorted, "No. But I told your sister that while Twinks are not snack foods, they are full of cream on occasion." He sipped his water after delivering that line with a straight face. [2017-02-10 2:25:00 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo choked, thankful he hadn’t been drinking anything. “Wow okay that is not something she needs to hear. Please tell me you're fucking with me.” [2017-02-10 2:25:31 AM] Di: "Nope." He popped the p, eyes glittering with amusement. "She called me papa bear, Leo." [2017-02-10 2:26:58 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo gave him a once over with a critical eye. “…Well is she wrong?” [2017-02-10 2:28:07 AM] Di: "Probably?" Damian shrugged as he thought back, "Honestly I can't remember the last time I had sex." [2017-02-10 2:30:14 AM] Ro (is trash): “Ugh, this is so not something I want to talk about with you. And it just makes me think about my nonexistent sex life too,” Leo grumbled. [2017-02-10 2:32:51 AM] Di: He snorted and shook his head. "Fix things with Bei and i'm sure you'll get some action." [2017-02-12 1:58:16 AM] Ro (is trash): “Fixing things with Bei is not all about getting myself laid,” Leo rolled his eyes. “It’s about not having some guy hating my guts wandering around. That can only go poorly.” [2017-02-12 1:59:32 AM] Di: "I doubt he hates your guts." Damian laughed, "He's more the hates his own guts type." [2017-02-12 2:03:24 AM] Ro (is trash): “Ah, finally something we share in common,” Leo grumbled while he fiddled with his drink. [2017-02-12 2:03:45 AM] Di: He stared at him for a long moment. "Leo?" [2017-02-12 2:06:14 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo looked up at him, eyebrows raised slightly. “Damian?” [2017-02-12 2:07:37 AM] Di: "If you like the guy?" Damian said leaning forward, "Really liked the guy then you should make an effort. Because I've met Bei. Down to his core, he's something good. If you don't, then apologize and move on. But leave the man alone if ain't something." [2017-02-12 2:09:13 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo frowned, hands tightening and knuckles going white. ”I should apologize? I should leave him alone? That’s rich considering he came onto me.” [2017-02-12 2:10:10 AM] Di: He held up his hands. "I'm not saying he didn't. I'm saying that whatever happened, both parties had a hand in fucking it up. Miscommunication takes two buddy.' [2017-02-12 2:15:20 AM] Ro (is trash): His scowl only deepened. Leo wasn’t interested in sitting around to be told he’d done wrong when he didn’t even know what the fuck was going on. “I think I should go,” he stated blandly, reaching for his inventory to pay Jonathan. [2017-02-12 2:17:00 AM] Di: "Hey," Damian grabbed his hand, "I'm not trying to be an ass." He whispered, "I just think... Maybe it doesn't matter what I think." He released him with a thin smile. "I should stop putting my face in other people's business. I'm sorry." [2017-02-12 2:21:59 AM] Ro (is trash): “I’m just not so keen on everyone telling me to fix shit when he bailed on me,” Leo said bluntly. Yeah he felt like he’d done wrong, but ultimately Bei was the one who took off. That sent a very clear message. [2017-02-12 2:23:12 AM] Di: "Do you want me to talk to him?" Damian asked. "Cause I'll probably see him again when he runs out of death sticks." [2017-02-12 2:24:31 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo laughed incredulously. “And say what, exactly?” [2017-02-12 2:24:58 AM] Di: "Hey Bei, I don't know what happened with Leo but he's upset you bailed out of no where and doesn't understand what went wrong?" [2017-02-12 2:26:07 AM] Ro (is trash): "Well if you say I'm upset then I just sound like a pansy." he grumbled. [2017-02-12 2:26:38 AM] Di: Damian rolled his eyes at him and punched him in the arm. "Stop being such a fuck boi." [2017-02-12 2:28:17 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo yelped at the hit. "A fuck boi? That implies I'm getting a lot more ass than I am. And not my sad record of one boyfriend - kind of." [2017-02-12 2:29:15 AM] Di: "Kind of?" He asked, brows shooting up. [2017-02-12 2:30:26 AM] Ro (is trash): “It was like 4 months. He wasn’t gay. And had a girlfriend.” [2017-02-12 2:31:44 AM] Di: He patted his back, "Could have been worse." [2017-02-12 2:32:56 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo hunched over and scowled. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind while I’m dealing with my trust issues and emotional wounds from the trauma. I’m sure it’ll help.” [2017-02-12 2:38:17 AM] Di: He fell quiet for a long moment, watching him before sniffling. Holding out his arm, Damian pulled up his sleeve and tapped against the ink on his arm. "If you look closely enough, you can make out some of the cigarettes burns. Not many. He didn't have to do it often to make his point." [2017-02-12 2:41:52 AM] Ro (is trash): Leo peered over, observing quietly. Staring down at the table he ran his fingertips over the grain of the wood. After a while, he opened his mouth hesitantly. “He didn’t need to do anything physically to make his point. He just liked to keep me waiting, prove he was in control. Throw me out of his apartment at random times, leave me waiting for hours at a coffee shop…” Leo trailed off. [2017-02-12 2:43:19 AM | Edited 2:43:24 AM] Di: He nodded quietly before reaching out to squeeze his hands. "Sorry I assumed..." Damian fell quiet. "That he led you on, not that. Not gas lighting." [2017-02-12 2:47:45 AM] Ro (is trash): “I mean, I probably should have done something about it, like left maybe, before… before his girlfriend showed up one day.” Leo winced. That was not a pleasant memory. [2017-02-12 2:48:22 AM] Di: "Leo," Damian whispered, "My mom died and I didn't leave." He shook his head. "It's never that easy." [2017-02-12 2:51:58 AM] Ro (is trash): “…yeah, yeah it’s not.” He admitted eventually. It all seemed so obvious when he wasn’t in the situation, but Leo knew it was different at the time. “Don’t tell Sophia. She doesn’t really know that much about it.” [2017-02-12 2:59:49 AM] Di: "I won't." He shook his head, "I know... something like that, it's private." [2017-02-12 3:00:40 AM] Ro (is trash): Trying to lighten the mood, Leo attempted a small laugh. “She’d probably hunt him down and tear his eyes out anyway. Can’t have her going to prison.” [2017-02-12 3:01:13 AM | Edited 3:06:28 AM] Di: "Are you kidding me? I'll do it for her. Or just send him giant dildos at work." [2017-02-12 3:04:12 AM] Ro (is trash): “Giant dildos- “ he sputtered with a laugh. “That would do the trick. Too much of an attack on his violently masculine heterosexual persona. He’d probably combust.” [2017-02-12 3:06:12 AM] Di: "Or anal beads?" He laughed loudly, "A gag or something? Get into the real freaky shit as you go along." [2017-02-13 12:04:55 AM] Ro (is trash): “Okay, now I’m going to combust. Jesus, you don’t do anything halfway.” [2017-02-13 12:06:56 AM] Di: Damian waggled his brows. "I'm a real sexual fiend." [2017-02-13 12:07:46 AM] Ro (is trash): "Yeah, I really get that from 'honestly I can't remember the last time I had sex'" Leo said with a roll of his eyes. [2017-02-13 12:08:22 AM] Di: "I can't. Part of it having to do with a missing limb, but ya know." [2017-02-13 12:09:16 AM] Ro (is trash): He immediately sobered up. "I'm sorry. You doin' okay?" [2017-02-13 12:11:30 AM] Di: He snorted, "Yeah I'm fine. But when you're an amputee, people are either grossed out or way to into it." [2017-02-13 12:19:35 AM] Ro (is trash): "Way too into it?" Leo repeated in disbelief. "Jesus.... there are some weird people out there." [2017-02-13 12:19:57 AM] Di: "Waaaay," Damian replied as he shook his head. [2017-02-13 12:25:58 AM] Ro (is trash): "Sorry you have to deal with that man. I assume you just tell them to fuck off?" [2017-02-13 12:27:00 AM] Di: "Pretty much." He huffed. [2017-02-13 1:05:11 AM] Ro (is trash): "Hey, at least you have it back in game?" he tried, going for optimistic. [2017-02-13 1:06:11 AM] Di: "For now." Damian laughed, "It's fine. I'm okay." [2017-02-13 10:31:47 PM] Ro (is trash): "For now? You planning to do anything that's going to result in loss of limbs?" [2017-02-13 10:32:59 PM] Di: "Getting out of this game for one." [2017-02-13 10:33:44 PM] Ro (is trash): "Ah. Well, take Sophia with you on the way out, will ya?" [2017-02-13 10:34:17 PM] Di: "You too," He nudged him with his shoulder. [2017-02-13 10:36:37 PM] Ro (is trash): "Yeah, me too," he agreed with a small smile. Honestly, he put Sophia's well being over his own. [2017-02-13 10:36:59 PM] Di: He stared at him a long moment and patted his back. [3:14:29 AM] Ro (is trash): Sighing, Leo flagged down a waiter. "I should probably go. Sophia will be wondering where I am by now." [3:16:38 AM] Di: "Good night, Leo." [3:18:39 AM] Ro (is trash): "Night, Damian." [3:19:16 AM] Di: "Good night."

[williamsjoan]

DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Staff Lists — Ben Walker’s Top 10

As 2018 comes to a close, DualShockers and our staff are reflecting on this year’s batch of games and what were their personal highlights within the last year. Unlike the official Game of the Year 2018 awards for DualShockers, there are little-to-no-rules on our individual Top 10 posts. For instance, any game — not just 2018 releases — can be considered.

2018. Seriously, what a year for gaming. I can’t remember the last time I actually had this many games to juggle into the top 3. When Sony blew their load at E3 2016, it was one of their best conferences and, incidentally, most of those games released this year, like God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man. I didn’t jump on the Nintendo Switch hype until August of this year, and honestly, I’ve barely used it because of all the other titles shining instead.

I don’t usually compile lists in my head of ten games because only a select few titles really keep my enthusiasm by the end of the year. However, when thinking about my backlog and the games that did come out this year, it reignited a spark in me that felt these games needed recognizing. Here are my Top 10 games for 2018:

10. Far Cry 5

Far Cry 5 ranks at the beginning of my list for Game of the Year and it barely made it onto here. Let me tell you a story of how I even came to purchase this title. I’m a bad spender – give me money, it’s gone in a week or two. I had money around the time that Far Cry 5 was about to release and I thought “meh, why not” and pre-ordered the game. It’s a bad habit; help me. In doing so, I jumped blindly into a series which I had never really touched other than playing Far Cry 4 and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon at a friend’s house in the previous years.

Needless to say, Far Cry 5 was a huge change from its predecessors – and I’m not sure I liked it. At the start of the game, it’s quite fun when you begin to learn about the cult and story of the world you’ve been dropped into. It had great potential from the get-go, with a cool concept. However, Ubisoft wasn’t the best at executing that later on down the line.

I’ll be honest – I didn’t finish the game because I lost motivation to do so. Either way, a game has its faults but can also be quite fun. I did have a bit of a blast in co-op free roam and running around this unique open world. As is with Far Cry games, I loved the times where wild animals would appear out of nowhere and help me attack NPCs. I adored Boomer and all of the other companions, but that’s about it.

Check out the DualShockers review of Far Cry 5.

9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Okay, this was a huge change for Call of Duty, at least in the sense that they barely changed any features from previous games. Black Ops 4 removed single-player, one of the series’ best elements, and replaced it with Blackout – an awful attempt at battle royale. That said, the multiplayer is surprisingly fun with its new additions such as manually-regenerating health, specialist-based combat, improved mobility and controls, and the change in game-modes.

It’s nice to see a Call of Duty game be fun again, and actually feel somewhat balanced. Blackout is another story – that mode absolutely sucks. Zombies becomes more and more complicated every year, so much so that I don’t feel like it’s a “casual mode” anymore. All I want is for me and my friends to jump into zombies and see how long we last, but the maps are too convoluted and you have to do a crap ton of objectives just to unlock the better weapons. I want Zombies from the original Black Ops back.

Either way, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (or IIII if you want to be difficult) takes players on a good journey into the lands of playing online. In short, we don’t care if you want to play a story – fight these kids instead. At least they actually made it fun unlike Fallout 76.

Check out the DualShockers review of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

8. Deltarune

This incredibly good spin-off to my personal Game of the Year from 2015, Undertale, is just part one of a possible series, and I’m super excited. We’re finally into that part of the list where I stop half-criticizing games and instead showcase how bloody good some of them are. Deltarune was a fantastic revisit to the world of Undertale with vital mechanic changes, a unique story, and an all-new cast of characters mixed with reused ones.

Lancer’s design is hilarious; I love the thought of a chubby spade who rides a bicycle. I won’t reveal any of the plot details, because if you’ve played Undertale but not Deltarune you have to go jump into it right now. It’s a blast, and you should be playing it. If not, go play Undertale then this game. I’ll be waiting. I’d put this game as number 1 if so many amazing AAA games didn’t exist. Let’s get into those now.

7. Fortnite

Image by @ikcatcher

Yes, Fortnite is on my Top 10 list. No, I have no regrets. I’m putting it on this list less because of it being a good game (it’s pretty good, to be honest) but more because of the game’s significance this year and the impact it made on my life. I played Fortnite on the day they released the Battle Royale mode last year, purely because consoles (at the time) didn’t have a battle royale game due to PUBG being on PC originally. I found that it was decent, but never would I have imagined the absolute influence it would gain.

Aside from becoming the most popular video game on the planet, Fortnite actually helped me expand on my career this year. I started off the year at various other outlets before eventually branching out into writing about Fortnite. Writing about this game actually allowed me to open up my experiences in games writing, and I actually ended up here at DualShockers because of it. I’m happy at the journey this game allowed me to take, and the memories I’ll have because of it. As much as it can suck sometimes waking up early in the morning to write about patch notes, it gives me the motivation to keep going and not just lay in bed all day. Thank you, Fortnite. You can suck it if you blindly hate this game. That’s my two cents.

6. Detroit: Become Human

“Oh no,” you say: we’re entering Sony territory – and with a bang, as one of the most gorgeous games of this year is Detroit: Become Human. Detroit was a huge step forward from the previous titles from Quantic Dream and David Cage, and a game where choices actually changed the story. From the days of Telltale Games and Life is Strange emerges a game where the choices you make surprisingly matter, and the game lets you view what could’ve happened instead. I loved when I checked the choice map at the end of a scene and realized everything that mattered. Except for saving that goldfish at the start – that made no difference whatsoever.

That’s also not to mention how absolutely mind-bogglingly gorgeous this game is. The photorealistic visuals are mind-blowing when accompanied by those motion-capture performances of a lifetime. The star-studded cast of Bryan Dechart, Clancy Brown, Valorie Curry, Jesse Williams, and more perfectly brings each and every character to life to tell an enriched story of a very possible near-future. It’s a visually-appealing masterpiece.

Check out the DualShockers review of Detroit: Become Human.

5. Tetris Effect

Tetris Effect is a gem of an experience. With incredible, entrancing visuals that make you feel like you’re in either the next Star Wars combined with a mixture of audio that flies around your brain and sucks you into the dreamscape, Tetris Effect is a masterpiece. Each movement subtly synchronizes itself with the music playing in the background, with the BPM adapting to your placements and rotations. For something as simple as Tetris, this game really puts an Effect on you.

It’s also extremely difficult. As someone who had never played video games would say, it’s the Dark Souls of puzzle games. I should probably change the difficulty, to be honest. Either way, I’m having a blast with this game; I wouldn’t even call it a game – but an auditory and visual experience. Go play it.

Check out the DualShockers review of Tetris Effect.

4. A Way Out

A Way Out was such a good game, and a refreshing take on the co-op genre. I absolutely adore co-operative games, especially those in which me and a single friend can complete a campaign. This game from Hazelight Studios was an absolute blast of a time, with minigames in-between story elements such as Connect Four or Baseball being such a nice way to take a break from the story and just have fun. Me and my co-operative partner beat the game in a single sitting with how much we adored it.

I think I’ll forever keep coming back to A Way Out with new friends just to see their reactions to each element of this short, but sweet experience. The fact that it is developed for couch co-op but also allows anyone with a copy to invite their friend to play for free is something I absolutely admire, and Josef Fares’ dream came together extremely well. The game sold well, which I love, and I hope to see more out of this genre of video games. What a title.

Check out the DualShockers review of A Way Out.

3. Marvel’s Spider-Man

Marvel’s Spider-Man is the best superhero video game of all time. Sorry to the Batman: Arkham games, I love you – but this game is just so good. I’m kinda sad that it got snubbed at this year’s The Game Awards ceremony, losing to the next two games on my list (spoiler alert)…and also got snubbed at our own Awards ceremony. Boy, oh boy, this game got pushed under the rug.

The combat is magnificent when combined with all of the different variations of movements that the player can create; it is an utterly satisfying experience, one in which I keep coming back to. It’s rare that an open world game can keep my attention for so long (I have the attention span of a fetus), and Marvel’s Spider-Man achieves that magnificently. Well played, Insomniac Games.

Check out the DualShockers review of Marvel’s Spider-Man.

2. God of War

God of War is a masterpiece; a project with the absolute intent of demolishing any of its competition Kratos-style. The game was my first foray into the God of War series, and playing the original remastered trilogy makes me just wanna go back to the new one. It’s such a damn good game that if I went into everything amazing about it, then this article would never be finished.

The gameplay, the story, the music, the tone, the setting, the atmosphere, and everything – just everything about God of War is an absolute delight. My issue is that the game ended way too early. I absolutely cannot wait for the next installment. Bring it, Sony Santa Monica.

Check out the DualShockers review of God of War.

1. Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 brings something new to the table; not in the sense of just being a fresh take on the open-world genre, but being a revolutionary landmark in the history of video games. Ever since the release of the original Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Games has worked tirelessly on this project – controversially so, after the senior writers stated that they worked 100-hour weeks.

If you’re reading through each and every staff member’s Game of the Year lists, it’s pretty likely that most, if not almost all of them will include both God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 at the forefront (assuming they played them). I’m falling straight into that trend – but you have to admit that there is an astonishing reason behind it. Both of these games are absolute masterworks, built detail-by-detail in order to transcend the normal experience of an open world game.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a thrill to play, and quite frankly is one of the greatest video games ever made.

Check out the DualShockers review of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Check out the other DualShockers’ staff Top 10 lists and our official Game of the Year Awards:

December 17: DualShockers Game of the Year Awards 2018 December 18: Lou Contaldi, Editor in Chief // Logan Moore, Reviews Editor December 19: Ryan Meitzler, Features Editor // Tomas Franzese, News Editor December 20: Scott Meaney, Community Director December 21: Reinhold Hoffmann, Community Manager // Ben Bayliss, Staff Writer December 22: Ben Walker, Staff Writer // Chris Compendio, Staff Writer December 23: Eoghan Murphy, Staff Writer // Grant Huff, Staff Writer December 26: Iyane Agossah, Staff Writer // Jordan Boyd, Staff Writer December 27: Max Roberts, Staff Writer // Michael Ruiz, Staff Writer  December 28: Noah Buttner, Staff Writer // Rachael Fiddis, Staff Writer  December 29: Steven Santana, Staff Writer // Tanner Pierce, Staff Writer December 30: Travis Verbil, Staff Writer // Zack Potter, Staff Writer

The post DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Staff Lists — Ben Walker’s Top 10 by Ben Walker appeared first on DualShockers.

DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Staff Lists — Ben Walker’s Top 10 published first on https://timloewe.tumblr.com/

[doycetopia]

Masks "Menagerie" Campaign - Session 6 to 10

It’s been awhile since I’ve written about our ongoing Masks game (superhero antics in the vein of Young Justice, Teen Titans, or Avengers Academy), but that in no way means the game itself has slowed. Quite the opposite.

So, if only for the sake of bragging, I thought I’d catch things up.

The last time, I covered sessions 0 though 5. This time, it’s sessions 6 to 15, so buckle up.

Before I get rolling, I want to recognize two resources that have made this broad overview far more manageable.

The first is the forum that is automatically made available for any campaign you set up on Roll20.net. (Our game is played online, and while the voice chat isn’t able to handle our group’s particular challenges, the other tools it provides are invaluable.) The forum lives here, and sees continuous, nigh-daily activity in the form of fiction, world-building, general discussion, and (of course) the blow-by-blow Actual Play summaries – usually authored by Dave Hill – which supplement if not completely stand in for my spotty recollection.

(Said forum has been made even more valuable with the addition of a custom coded search/scraper that Bill forced around roll20’s forum code at great personal effort.)

The second tool is a more recent addition to our electronic tool box, a wiki built and customized (again, mostly) by two of the players, Bill and Mike. Thanks to the organization of the wiki (and downright sexy layout), I’m able to excavate all kinds of trivia and bits of game lore that might otherwise have flared and died within minutes of being introduced into a session.

With that out of the way…

When We Last Left Our Heroes…

Sessions 1 though 5 were mostly about introducing the heroes to the people of Halcyon, and the players (and myself) to the Masks system. They had a morning show interview, a downtown brawl with some bad guys, and then rode the fallout from those events, (including the speedster getting temporarily lost in an alternate, devastated version of Earth.)

Session five saw the team looking forward or inward – taking stock of the problems they had on their plate and making plans to deal with them.

It also saw their team coming to the attention of AEGIS, the SHIELD-esque organization of the Masks universe.

Issue 6

Issue 6 recording on YouTube

AP Report

One of the directives for a Masks GM is presenting adults as supportive but short-sighted; willing to help but always pushing their own vision and agenda on the teen heroes – help with strings attached. Okay.

Enter Agent Ted Waters (who’s probably going to be the most supportive, least strings-attached adult in the game – though that’s a low bar), an experienced AEGIS agent and the father-figure/handler for Link (whose actual father is super-villain Rossum the Minion Maker). Waters shows up at Quill Industries (the ‘sanctum’ for the team’s Doomed character) with paperwork in hand that will officially recognize the team by AEGIS… a move AEGIS hasn’t… umm…. actually sanctioned?

This paperwork is simple – it merely requires the team pick a name and an official leader. Easy, right?

The name had been under discussion via in-character posts on the forum, but we hadn’t brought it to the forefront yet. This was meant to facilitate that. They tell Ted the team will be the Menagerie and it gets the expected, bemused response from the older man (a good sign you’re on the right track in a teen-oriented game).

The ‘strings’ attached to this bit of help were more meta-level than an actual condition offered by Waters – the team had to pick a leader; a requirement I thought might generate some drama/angst/hand-wringing/reflection/et cetera.

It did all those things, so yay. 🙂

The team eventually settled on Jason Quill (the Doomed, played by Dave), a decision which the team treated with varying levels of seriousness. (Jason on one end of the panic-stricken-with-the-weighty-responsibility spectrum; speedster Mercury (Kay) providing the ‘whatever man paperwork is boring just write something in it doesn’t matter’ counterbalance.)

While Jason continued to process this development, Ghost Girl went and got herself in one kind of trouble (attacked by someone who saw her as a dangerous menace, starting both an arc and introducing her current Mundane-vs-Freak Hook), while Like found another (investigating a mutual friend’s disappearance and running afoul their supernatural kidnapper).

This development brought us to the end of the session with the team rushing to help GG, but split (“where the hell is Link?”), and under a leader (technically) who was still a bit in shock.

Issue 7: If the Graveyard Be My Destiny!

Issue 7 on YouTube

AP Report

(All credit to Dave for the comic-book-classic session titles.

This session was meant to introduce one of Ghost Girl’s issues and a sort-of nemesis; Ghostheart (one of the characters from the Masks Deck of Villains) whose main deal is obsessively keeping living people over THERE, and dead people over THERE, and NO TOUCHING NO TOUCHING NOT EVER.

Charlotte is all about connecting with people amongst both the living and dead (she’s playing the Outsider playbook, and filled with wonder at the modern world in which she now finds herself), so Ghostheart seemed almost a custom-written enemy for her.

Most of the session was a nighttime fight at GG’s home cemetery against Ghostheart and a couple of his summoned demonic henchthings – Rawhide and I-Didnt-Catch-the-Other-Guy’s-Name. After the fight (and some really stilted, useless, uncomfortable leadership, beautifully delivered by Dave), the heroes (reunited, since Link was tussling with Rawhide on his own, initially) tracked down and rescued the kidnappee “@powerpony” – an online-mutual of both Link and GG’s (PC-NPC-PC relationship triangles are good – need more of those).

Offscreen

The players conducted a couple Google-Doc-based scenes after this session, simply to get them done in satisfying fashion without taking up too much in-game time.

The first was Link talking with green-lantern/Blue-beetle-esque Concord about the details of the kid’s powers.

The second was between Link and Jason – an often tense but ultimately fruitful and relationship-building ‘discussion’ about what kind of leadership the team really needed (and what kind Jason could legitimately provide).

Both scenes were great, and the ‘offline’ RP option proved a good one, though we try not to use it too much, as it tends to move characters whose players have the mid-week bandwidth for such things further center stage, in a play environment (online, short sessions) where it already seems someone ends up drawing the Spotlight Short Straw every week.

Issue 8: Lo, There Shall Be an Evening of Character Interaction!

Issue 8 on YouTube

AP Report

As a means of exploring GG’s current Hook (her Mundane connections with others, versus the Freak nature of her powers), we also learned a bit more about why Ghostheart wanted GG out of public circulation – her interactions with the Living were creating some kind of ectoplasmic catnip that would inevitably attract a terrible entity known as Pandemonium to the material world.

The only way she could guarantee her living friends’ safety was stay away from them. Which sucks.

AEGIS rolled back into the picture much sooner than anyone expected, as the team called them back to take Ghostheart into custody. (The team opts NOT to go the morally-and logically-questionable route of the Flash CW show, with villains held without due process, inside a particle accelerator, and fed Big Belly Burgers on a… mostly daily schedule.)

The rest of the session involved the team either trying to help each other out with Comfort and Support-based roleplaying (with mixed but fascinating and sometimes hilarious results), or working through their own problems; Link’s robotic not-girlfriend Pneuma announced she was departing Halcyon for a bit to visit ‘someone’ in Japan, while Jason went down a digital rabbit hole, investigating how and why his nemesis Alycia Chin infiltrated Quill Compound as a lowly warehouse employee for a month.

Jason’s investigation led to a great scene where he uses his nanobots and latent genius to analyze Alycia Chin’s actions, and gets knocked cold in the process via some kind of latent … mental … something … Alycia left behind in the video recordings of her activities. Remote Memetic Programming, maybe? Image-gestalt boobytrap? That would be bad.

Issue 9: Sizzling Big Adult-Influence Issue!

The Beginning of the Day From Hell

Issue 9 on YouTube

AP Report

Morning! The second Weekday of the campaign, and time once again for all good heroes to… get to school.

(Assuming they aren’t a ghost from the civil war, or unconscious, of course.)

A while back, Concord’s player had started a discussion on the forum where we all talked about whether the Nova playbook was working for him, and we collectively came to the conclusion that the Janus playbook worked better. So we retconned it.

This session was the one where we started to get into that ‘dual identity’ drama a bit more, very literally in this case (because I am a ham-fisted hack) with Concord trying to help Link with an unconscious Jason (via an energy construct copy of himself) while simultaneously attending school in his ‘real’ body. He didn’t exactly balance this out well, and ended up being sent to the principal’s office when he confused his multiple mouths and remonstrated his English teacher for being a ‘walking deceit’ when he meant to be talking to the vision of Alycia Chin in Jason’s head.

I’d call this situation a solid B effort on my part. Maybe a B-. We get better at this in short order, though, so I’m not going to beat myself up too much.

Meanwhile, Mercury and Ghost Girl spent the morning reaching out to adults for advice and input, before Mercury had to get to school.

Harry’s dad-joking, eggplant-emoji-texting dad, Silver Streak.

This is always a fraught situation in Masks – going into a scene with an adult or adults in Masks carries an undercurrent of threat akin to an armed parley with A-level super-villains. Honestly I’ve never done as much broad-spectrum damage to the team with a bad guy as I have in scenes with their well-meaning mentors dispensing advice, constructive feedback, and (horror of horrors) heartfelt praise.

It didn’t really go better here, with both Harry’s dad and the retired ‘grail knight’ Armiger (Lucius, owner/operator of the Has Beans coffee shop, downtown) kicking in their two cents about Ghost Girl’s ongoing Ghostheart/Pandemonium problem, what they thought the kids should do about it (and, ultimately, who they thought the kids should be.) They got what they were after, but Ghost Girl at least wasn’t feeling great about it afterwards, which lead to some Condition-clearing reckless behavior later. (As it should.)

Issue 10: Halcyon High-Jinks (Hell Day, Part 2)

Issue 10 on Youtube

AP Report

Dave, Margie, and Katherine were all out of town, which left Jason recovering from his tussle with not-Alycia, Ghost Girl roaming the city doing reckless things without consulting the team, and Harry actually attending Gardner Academy (the private high school that tends to specialize in rich kids and publicly recognized supers).

Concord and Link, on the other hand, are on their way to HHS – Halcyon High South – part of the public school system, where they academically toil in relative anonymity.

Bill and Mike (and I) were excited to play around with that classic of teen superhero comics, the high school, so we had a good time with this. First order of business was to establish the normal day, and I had fun introducing some of the faculty, and went to the players to fill in NPCs (which gave us the wonderful Ms. “No!” Rodriguez, Leo’s lab partner.

I also introduced Taz, a new transfer and tech-nerd who seemed to either be a bit on the spectrum or way over-informed about Leo, or both. She showed up both in Leo’s chem class as well as at lunch with Leo and Adam, and was generally fun to play, freaked out the players a skosh, and has more going on that I’m looking forward to getting into.

With the norm established, it was time to get some Concord-grade villains on the stage, and that mean “galactic” villains. For this, I went back to the Deck of Villainy and pulled out The Farlander (who is just too weird looking and fun to play) and Sablestar who, by sheer coincidence in visual design, seemed to be … related to Concord and his powers in some way. There’s some vague hand-waving on her card about being a member of the Void Collective and something of a space-anarchist, but I already have an anarchist villain, so Sablestar and the VC became a kind of counter-(if not anti-)Concordance, in my head. We’ll see how that fleshes out over time.

So: a bit of fighting at the school with The Farlander, and the introduction of Sablestar, and as things get complicated we call it for the night, ready to bring in the rest of the team next session as things heat up.

That’s five of the ten sessions I wanted to cover, so I’ll stop here and do 11 to 15 in the next post. More soon!

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