#8 is arbitrary. anything before like. 15. would work.

[ispyspookymansion]

BOO!

oh sorry….come in…..hello…welcome to my halloween party ^_^ feel free to take a piece of candy and a goodie bag before you go okay? have a fun (and nostalgic) halloween season!!

#seems like many people related to this i hope some of yall click the og post now <3 #originally this post said i dont need therapy i need to be 8 years old at halloween again #kora.txt #gritting my teeth white knuckle gripping the edge of the table. Yeah No Its Fine. #the things i will never experience again haunt me… #8 is arbitrary. anything before like. 15. would work.

[hotforharrison]

I've been exclusively posting new Harrison content and nothing about me personally for quite some time now, but I just kind of wanted to... talk to the void, I guess. It's been rough lately.

The end of December leading up to the shit show that was my birthday on New Year's Eve, and now into 2024, has not shown me any kindness.

Seeing my husband happily in love with his girlfriend while our marriage spirals around the drain into divorce has been really difficult, one of the hardest things I've gone through in my life.

He says that he wants to work things out and have both of us, which is what I want as well, but his actions speak differently most of the time.

She lives nearby and gets surprise cookies and hugs when she's feeling sad. On multiple occasions, I've gotten left alone in my room in tears.

They talk on the phone more in a single day than he and I did in the entire two weeks I was visiting my family out of state for my high school reunion.

I want so much to be in love and happy again, which I haven't been in quite some time. I'm not sure that it's going to happen with him as much as I want it to. I usually feel like we're on a sinking boat, and I'm trying to use a cup to throw out water to try desperately to keep it afloat, even though it's ultimately futile.

As per the marriage counselor's suggestion, we're being more intentional about our time together, like we're dating again.

Although I'm unable to leave the house right now for anything that isn't absolutely essential (I'll get to that in a minute), we've been having movie nights every Wednesday with phones put away and paying attention to the movie and each other.

We haven't done anything "special" together as a couple in what's honestly been years, and we're going to go to either Kemah Boardwalk or Galveston hopefully the week of April 15, depending on whether it's safe for me to walk that much at that point.

I'm not holding my breath that it's going to ultimately help us reconnect enough to improve things, but I'm hoping it's a step in the right direction of getting there.

We've been polyamorous since 2015, but I haven't dated or been looking for someone to date since 2016, or even just hook up with for that matter. My husband has had a number of girlfriends and partners over the years, which I'm completely fine with.

It's been a sort of mono-poly relationship for the past almost 8 years, but entirely by my own choosing. He didn't influence that at all and actually encouraged me to date again if it's what I wanted to do.

And I am going to go down that rabbit hole hopefully later this year, which is very nerve-wracking.

I know it's absolutely not a requirement for dating, and shallow people who would only date someone who is under a certain weight aren't great partners, but I want to lose a lot of weight before I start looking again. It will help me feel better about myself, and self-confidence is an attractive quality.

Right now, I honestly don't even want to be undressed in front of my husband who I started dating in 2007, so him seeing me undressed is nothing new. I view myself as "fat and disgusting," even though I've known women who weigh as much or more than I do right now who were very attractive and had no trouble dating.

My husband said I carry the weight very well and don't need to be down to some arbitrary number that I come up with to date again, which I wanted to be under 200. He asked how much I weighed when we started dating. I weighed around 260 then, and I understood his point.

I started actively trying to lose weight on September 22 of last year, because there's no reason to wait until some specific date like a New Year's resolution. September 22 was as good a day as any.

I was about 12 lbs shy of my highest weight ever, which was 352.8 lbs, at 340.6. As of January 16, I'd lost over 30 lbs since the end of September and weighed in at 307.1. I'm 5'9, so a tall girly, and my tentative goal is 175. It's subject to change based on my desired goal clothing size, which is a 10. (I don't want to stop shopping at Torrid, and they go down to a 10 at the lowest.)

Anyway, I broke my right leg and severely sprained my left ankle when I fell in a parking lot the day before Thanksgiving in 2022, which halted my weight loss efforts in 2022 and led to me regaining most of the weight I'd lost then.

The amount of damage I did to myself from just falling in a parking lot was pretty impressive. Ironically, I did not break the glass bottles of hard cider I was carrying, only myself.

The broken leg healed perfectly over the course of a few months or so, but because I still had to use the other leg as my main weight bearing side, it didn't get to properly heal like it should have. My sprained ankle's ligaments were very loose. The ankle kept collapsing over the course of 2023, through a round of physical therapy, and I just kept spraining my ankle over and over again whenever I tried to do more demanding things like working out. Being more active is very important to weight loss and health, so it was really frustrating.

Eventually, after trying to work out one too many times and foolishly not allowing the injury enough time to "heal," (and I use the term "heal" loosely because it never actually did and just became increasingly damaged) I ended up in putting myself into an immobilizing boot full time because of the collapsing extending itself into normal walking.

The first round of physical therapy made no difference, and I did a consultation with a different physical therapy place to see what they said. After going over my situation and having an assessment of my ankle with the physical therapist, I asked if he were in my shoes what he would choose to do. He said that if it were him, he'd do the surgery and follow it up with physical therapy to regain strength and balance.

So I had the surgery to fix it once and for all on January 19. (I was hoping to have the surgery ASAP, but couldn't do it in December like I originally hoped. My insurance was changing in January.)

The injury was apparently worse than the doctor initially thought it was, and I haven't been able to put any weight at all on it since then. I had been very much hoping to be able to put some weight on it again at my 3 week follow up, but no dice. I've been stuck exclusively on a knee scooter cart and crutches for over 5 weeks now. It's been such a struggle, in so many ways.

I've left the house literally 3 times since I got home after the surgery. Two follow up appointments with the foot and ankle doctor, and an interesting session of marriage counseling while I was drugged out of my mind on prescription painkillers. I honestly don't remember much of it, or that week in general. I was very happy to transition to ibuprofen and acetaminophen after the first week post-op.

I haven't been able to weigh myself since my last weigh in before the surgery on January 16, which is taking a very, very heavy toll on me and my mental health.

I've been having recurring nightmares about getting back on the scale and weighing more than I ever have in my life -- like 70+ lbs more than I did when I last weighed myself in January. I know rationally that I've actually lost weight and am very likely under 300 lbs now, but there's still this deep, nauseating fear that I'm wrong and weigh more than I ever did.

My husband assures me that he can tell that I've lost weight, but it doesn't feel real to me with my skewed perception -- like my brain tells me that the clothes that fit differently were obviously messed up while they were being washed and just ended up stretched out somehow.

I took measurements of my body when I started losing weight in September, and as of a week or so ago, I've lost 7" in my bust and hips and 5" in my waist. My brain tries to convince me that I just measured myself wrong in September, like I could somehow measure myself wrong with over 7" of difference with the exact same tape measure.

It makes no logical sense.

I have another follow up appointment with the foot and ankle doctor on Monday morning and get to find out if I can put weight on my left leg again after some x-rays to check my healing progress. (That makes me nervous because I still have some prominent bruises on one of my thighs that I had on January 20. They've gone from purple to brown, but they're still very obvious. It's supposed to take 2 weeks for bruises to go away. Not 5+.)

I really don't know that I can handle having to wait even longer to weigh myself again and start the process of getting back to walking and eventually working out.

I want so desperately to be able to make progress toward my goals instead of just miserably stagnating here.

I want to lose the weight. I want to be healthier. I want to feel better about myself. I want to have the chance to finally figure out things with my husband, even if the conclusion we ultimately come to isn't what I'm hoping for. I want to find a nice guy to date. I just want to move forward, actually live my life.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, I guess?

[kaibacorpintern]

8,19,20 :)

8) Do you take inspiration from real life? If so how do you incorporate it into your fics?

Yes! In exactly one (1) of my fics, one (1) character says something that I said in therapy several years ago. Good luck. But really, yes - in the sense that we're all such complex, emotional, contradictory creatures, with thoughts and daydreams and fears that do or don't make sense, and whims or impulses that seem arbitrary and difficult to explain, and I think an important part of making a fictional character approximate real life is to understand how your own emotions work and to adapt them to those fictional scenarios.

Like, an example - in Unrespectable Society, I have been this insanely anxious before a date. The catastrophizing and endless unanswerable questions and irrational fears and hopes and gaming-it-out of it all.

Seto had promised a bottle of wine and stuffed all of his attention and focus into this single point of the evening. If he thought about anything else - what they might talk about, with Duel Monsters on stand-by, but it can’t always be Duel Monsters, they had to talk about other things, too; and if they did, and if all of this was real and not some joke or mistake or misguided lark, then what sex might smell like, sticky or slippery or slimy, and how to touch someone without hurting them; and if all of this was good enough to keep doing it, what they might hate about each other thirty years from now, if they didn’t hate it already; all the fantasies and maybes and possible futures, blossoming out from this single moment in the wine aisle like the endless, infinitesimal fractals of some infinitely unfurling flower - he was going to explode. 

tl,dr: yes, i take a lot of inspiration from my own life, mostly as a way to map out emotions!

19) What is some random info you happen to have that you used in a fic?

Oh, god. I don't even know anymore because I feel like I'm ALWAYS doing research for fic. I was on a swim team for 15 years so writing the dives for Conditional Contrapositive Converse Inverse was fun!

20) What is your favorite thing about writing fanfic? What about writing in general?

EVERYTHINGGGGGGGGGG Writing feels like life is an orange and I'm peeling it open and juicing it for all the most interesting and compelling stuff (or finding a way to make the boring stuff interesting and compelling.) I love it. I can't relate to "i wish my fic would write itself" because I love working on my fics and thinking about both the more abstract, plot/characterization-level concerns and the actual technicalities of the writing - what words, what tense, what phrasing, where to put the comma, if this dialogue should be shouted or muttered and what effect my decision has on the story, and so on. I love words and thinking about how to put them together. I love writing and I love sharing my writing and I love reading other people's writing. idk. writing is like breathing to me. if i'm not doing it, i'm suffocating.

#THANKS!!! #writing notes #intern memo

[toloveawarlord]

2023 has ended! It's a new year!

For the short version: I am looking forward to the year and leaving my past failures behind me. I want to write more and do things that make me happy. I am also learning to balance an 8 hr work shift and running a side business all in a short day! It's been a year ya'll!

For a more detailed musing:

New years is the time where resets happen! An entire 365 Days to do what I didn't do last year. As absolutely cliche as it is, I've always liked the idea of a "new" year. Especially since this year I'll be 30! I'm not afraid of age, because my brain doesn't grasp time like neurotypicals, so I'm not dreading an arbitrary number that means nothing to me. But society makes into a line in the sand for adulthood and having some semblance of having one's life together- which I find fascinating but that's a whole other rabbit hole.

*As a tiny caveat, I am speaking solely about my own views and feelings. So no need to give the ole' "everyone does things at their own pace" because I already know that truth and have applied that to give myself a whole lotta grace!*

Where I was headed with the above ramble is that I've been busy. Super, insanely, busy. The busiest I've been in my entire life, probably, in an attempt to create something for myself to be financially stable in some way.

Since injuring my back in 2019, I was receiving treatment and on workers comp for about 3 years, until workers comp settled with me and all the doctors said "you're stuck with your pain for the rest of your life and we can't do anything else - peace out". Then came the ugly reality of being disabled and also being failed by the SSA of getting any kind of support for said disability

That brings us to 2023!

After my fourth denial for disability, I was desperately in need of income and health insurance for all the medications I take.

And to jump forward a bit --> I got a job in April at a call center that would be work from home after training and I also started a side business of selling anime merch. That was a tough start, doing both at the same time. I was also diagnosed with ADHD and am currently medicated, and actually started to feel like somewhat of person.

So, why am I putting all this on my tumblr blog?

Well, for one, because I want to have some record of 2023 because I won't be doing any "Fics of 2023" post due to the fact that I barely wrote anything!

But also, to remove last years failures and continue to move forward!

My writing was stalled out by how overwhelmed I was. I wanted to write. I have notebooks filled with half finished fics, oc stuff, etc that I jotted down when I could.

To summarize, here is how my day goes:

11 AM/Noon: Struggle to get out of bed and get the day started

Noon to 3PM: this is my 3 hrs of daytime before work. Where I either went out and ran errands/dropped off packages or stayed in and did cleaning, work on the side hustle, etc)

3PM: Get ready for work and get all my programs up and runnning

3:30 to Midnight: My work schedule with 2 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch.

Midnight to usually 1 or 2 AM: Wind down and relax as best possible.

That is my typical "work day" and that's not including doing things that I enjoy like video games, writing, playing with my dog, etc. Honestly, there really aren't enough hours in a day.

All of this factors into why this blog has been vacant of my writing this year. I have struggled to find a balance to all of it. And I'm still struggling as my side business is expanding and I am the sole person doing this. But I am working on finding a good balance for it all.

That is basically my 2023 in a nutshell. A whirlwind of a new job, a side business, and attempting to not go completely insane from it all.

My biggest highlight of 2023 was attending my first convention and had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Erika Harlacher-Stone! I had such a blast and plan to attend again next year!

Here is to 2024 and all the good things that I am manifesting for myself. Also, some photos of my precious doggo for good luck!

#2023 #new year #leaving last year behind

[spiralhigh]

ranking the sdr2 cast by how much their formal wear hits

this is just my opinion, but my opinions are great and i know what i’m talking about! this will be long so it’s under a cut

S TIER:

s tier is reserved for only the best of them all, the cream of the crop, the fit that i would gladly lay down my life for. s tier is the crown jewel. s tier is what everyone else should strive to be... but only one can take the prize.

#1: AKANE OWARI

the undisputed champion. this look is everything to me. EVERYTHING. the red-trim cape with the fur. the contrast of the airy, gathered blouse with those skin-tight shiny (leather? vinyl??) pants. the pumps. the belt that screams disco style. the necklace accentuating the tasteful titty window. the red white and gold color scheme  are you FUCKING WITH ME miss owari this look could bring ARMIES to their KNEES in an INSTANT. whoever drew this deserves full creative control of the danganronpa franchise and i’m not kidding

A TIER:

a tier is for the fits that frankly own bones. they’re not as jaw-dropping and legendary as owari, but they’re still razor as hell and deserve to be met with riotous applause.

#2: KAZUICHI SOUDA

kazuichi, i didn’t know you had it in you, but this FUCKS. the character of the pins on the lapels, the sneakers, and the mispinned tie. the absolute CLASS of the suspenders, watch, and tiny round glasses. the handsome slick in the hair now that the greasy beanie is gone. the tasteful highwater. he looks like the host of the larry king show if the larry king show was exclusively about ska bands and he has never looked better

#3: HIYOKO SAIONJI

tell me this isn’t the cutest shit. the colors here are EXQUISITE. the bright notes from the blue on top, the way the soft pink is a perfect middle ground of the pink + white flowers on her sleeves, the subtle way the green in her bow matches the green in her collar, the white petals breaking up the sky blue that might otherwise look out of place? remarkable. stunning.

#4: PEKO PEKOYAMA

the ELEGANCE is EVERYTHING here. the monochrome is offset by just a splash of red that ties everything together with her eyes and the flower in her hair, the checkerboard pattern is visually interesting but not distracting, and her hair in that loose ponytail with the little white ribbon? ugh. ADORABLE! but most of all, look at those BOOTS. those CUTE LITTLE HEELS on those SICK LACE-UP BOOTS..... QUEEN shit!!!

#5: CHIAKI NANAMI

rounding out our a tier is chiaki in this adorable little dress just LOOK at her!!! she looks like a little rose, a perfect flouncy skirt with a glittery mesh overlay, a fun and fresh over-the-shoulder collar, a fucking big old bow tied in the back?? i can literally feel the way this dress would feel in my hands. it’s simple and perfect and frankly a GORGEOUS color on her this is flawless

B TIER:

b tier is a perfectly respectable place to be. these fits lack the lustre and flavor of the a tier entries, but they’re still dressed to impress and they still look fine as hell.

#6: TERUTERU HANAMURA

say what you will about teruteru (and i do) but this suit is ADORABLE and it fits in with his theme + talent better than any other mfer on this list. the tasteful white/brown/red palette gives it a flashy chocolate cookie look, which is amplified in the fun pattern on the jacket. the chef’s hat switching out for a little top hat and the way the cumberbund looks a lil bit like a chocolate bar is also VERY cute

#7: THE IMPOSTOR

now on its own, the suit is just alright. a vibrant pinstripe blue three-piece with the classic red tie wouldn’t land the impostor in b tier on its own... but that FUR COAT, LUXURIOUSLY DRAPED OVER THE SHOULDERS does WONDERS to pull this look together. not only is it worn with “yeah, it’s real mink, no, you can’t touch it” confidence, but it also ties the otherwise arbitrary white loafers into the structure of the look. it’s subtle and class as hell.

C TIER

c tier is full of looks that are... fine, but ultimately either are boring, lack cohesion, or have a confusing design choice or two that make it hard to get all that amped about. c tier is a passing grade, but nothing more.

#8: NAGITO KOMAEDA

there’s a lot that’s good about this outfit, but there’s also a lot that doesn’t really work. let’s start with the good: the slutty loose bowtie and collar, the tight-fitting vest that ends before the hipbones so you can see the belt, the cute little ponytail? (chefs kiss) exquisite, all of it. but the suit itself is boring as sing, and who the hell decided to put the t-shirt symbol on the sleeves??? was it to add visual flavor to an otherwise bland suit? this does NOT have the black/white/red elegance that peko had.

#9: FUYUHIKO KUZURYUU

the silver and gold mob-boss look, complete with matching shoes vest and fedora, are a nice nod to fuyuhiko’s talent! the plaid is teetering on the edge between fun and garish to me, but the fact that it’s consistent and the only pattern means it isn’t too offensive. quick question though: why are his pant legs rolled up like that?? this isn’t a cute “cuffed at the ankle” look, dude looks like he had to wade across a pond to get to the venue. what gives

#10: GUNDAM TANAKA

out of everyone here, gundam’s suit might be the most boring of all. the scarf is just his normal scarf. the red tie and trim don’t do anything to tie the look together. the only mild point of interest is the asymmetrical vest, and i can’t even tell if that’s intentional. simply put, this “““fancy”““ outfit isn’t even in the same ZIP CODE as the level of ostentatious chuuni that gundam serves us every single day in his casual wear. maybe even worse than being ugly... it’s disappointing.

#11: IBUKI MIODA

now, look. is this dress buckwild and ugly as hell? yes. but you know what else it is? it is IBUKI MIODA’S DRESS. there might not be a single cohesive thing about this dress aside from its color scheme. the huge poofy ruffles of the skirt and arm things with the spiked bow and corset are baffling. the artist somehow managed to draw the awkward, clumping shape of the skirt to make it look exactly like an emergency cosplay sewn four hours before a convention. frankly, i can’t justify ranking it as a c! but i’m doing it anyway, because the sheer level of craftsmanship demands it, and in this house we respect diy queens that are totally off the shits.

D TIER:

d tier is for outfits that aren’t offensive, exactly... but like, they sure don’t look good! d tier is not a respectable place to be. those in d tier won’t be laughed out of the ceremony in shame, but they should really run their outfit by someone else first next time.

#12: NEKOMARU NIDAI

now don’t get me wrong: i have nothing but respect for the titties-out look. keeping the shirt unbuttoned all the way down to where the lapels of the jacket end? that’s sexy as hell. however, this flawless idea has a confusing execution. why emerald green and orange? what’s with the... long-sleeved printed (hawaiian?) shirt? why the red pocket square? and the jacket itself, while fitted perfectly along the chest and midsection, has a weird, unflattering scallop shape flaring out at the bottom. i want to like this fit, but there are just too many bad choices.

#13: HAJIME HINATA

oh, hajime... literally nothing about this ensemble is it. the creamy manila suit might have had potential if there were literally any color variation in the vest (or potentially shoes) to give it a little more shape, or even if you just went with a white shirt underneath it! i could get behind a light, off-monochrome look! but that leprechaun-green shirt is downright perplexing to me. it looks like a mistake! did you get dressed in the dark? did you spill something on your other shirt? this is a mess.

F TIER:

f tier is inexcusable. f tier should never have happened. how does it get this bad. who did this? who’s responsible for this?

#14: SONIA NEVERMIND

y’know, the colors are pretty! i dig the white and teal! but... girl... what the fuck is this construction. the ruffles are all over the place. the bodice looks like it has less fabric than space it needs to cover. the bottom half of the skirt looks like it was sewn on as an afterthought because the top half was too short for dress code. what’s with the weird choker collar detached from everything else. why is the hairband a slightly different shade of green. so many decisions were made here and none of them are flattering

#15: MAHIRU KOIZUMI

yknow, i like the idea behind this. i can see what you were going for! the dress on its own might have worked, even! but everything else about it is just... so ugly. what the fuck is happening with those shoes??? the sheer black tights aren’t the sexy OL look you think they are. the collar of the dress looks like it’s... braided for some reason??? those earrings are so huge for no payoff, statement jewelry with nothing to say, and worst of all... that headband. GIRL. that headband and that belt...... there’s nothing here. also i love orange but it’s not her color.

and finally... the worst.

#16: MIKAN TSUMIKI

what the fuck. what the fuck is this. this is straight up cheap rubber fetish gear. why is the HAT rubber? that skirt ruffle makes this look like fucking polly pocket clothes. why the fuck is she wearing that. the clothes are so bad that it makes her hair look like rubber too. was she dared to wear this? is this some cruel punishment? i don’t even know what to say. this is the worst possible outfit. there is not even one redeeming quality about it.

#danganronpa #sdr2 #new tab

[retphienix]

Alright, this is gonna be tough because I desperately want to say so much for the game's sake and my own, but it's just so much.

At least the playthrough as a whole exists to show a lot of those things, and there's no shame in some of the impacts the game had for myself going unsaid :)

LONG POST INCOMING, NO 'READ MORE' BECAUSE IT'S RELEVANT TO THE POST AND NOT AN AFTER-THOUGHT

CLICK 'J' ON YOUR KEYBOARD TO SKIP. (Sorry mobile users)

8:48 - Do you have any idea how good a step forward it felt to smash the repressing bulb?

9:50 - So I'll get ahead of myself because this fight shows a lot of the visuals that play into this: Something being the manifestation of guilt for Mari is so incredibly visualized.

Between the base 'Something' being extremely close to the shadow she cast and including the one visible eye that bore down on Sunny and Basil after the hanging, to the stairs incorporating into the design.

The seaweed and spider are more general anxieties though they do circle back to Mari since she saved Sunny, but those two forms don't feel as directly related as the stairs (heights) and base 'Something' forms and what they represent for his repressed guilt.

Could be wrong ;) Tell me what you saw in the forms of 'Something' if you'd like to expand on them :)

12:39 - Just to prove the point before you get to fully see the truth- Something morphs into the figure of Mari hanging. It doesn't fully demonstrate the "eye" aspect yet, but still I just wanted to say kudos on the way 'Something' is shown visually. Formless for a reason, and that form becomes more defined as you understand what it is, exceptional damn thing.

15:43 - Basil's part in all of this makes me so damn sad. Plenty to say later (obviously), but he harbors so much guilt, wants forgiveness so much, and is so (not shown yet) desperate to believe in Sunny's innocence while knowing but not comprehending the truth. The fact he harbors his own 'Something' due to the guilt of all this is heartbreaking, these kids endured a hell no one should. Losing someone so important to you and harboring the guilt and fault of it when nothing of the sort was intended. A childish fight with raised emotions got out of hand and all this came of it.

Hell.

16:30 - I absolutely adore how the photo album is used for this reveal.

Absolutely incredible execution that's specific to this story and its characters and makes piecing (literally) this together tense and grim.

22:27 - I NEVER SPOKE TO OR INTERACTED WITH THE THING IN THE CENTER OF THIS ROOM AND I'M A NORMAL AMOUNT OF UPSET ABOUT THAT >:( lol

29:41 - Okay.

So this reveal as a whole is so unbelievably well paced and incredibly hard hitting.

All game long there's a weight of having lost Mari. Repeatedly it's told that she killed herself and no one can understand why and everyone (MYSELF THE PLAYER INCLUDED) is looking for meaning in little moments, seeking out hints that maybe she was suffering or depressed or this or that.

And while that has gone on FOR THE ENTIRE GAME there has also been this uneasy weight surrounding Sunny/Omori. Visions of Mari twisted and deformed into phantoms of horror.

For the most part I assumed it was just him coping with having lost his sister and maybe a dialogue on how when she was alive he was in her shadow (in his mind) and now that she's gone he remains there?

That was the best I could figure, more or less. But it continued to seem more and more malicious in design and MUCH more 'heavy' in how it's presented as a shadow behind Omori/Sunny throughout his adventure and life.

The weight and 'overshadowed' looks of the scenes felt more and more foreboding and less like a simpler "I'm living in her shadow" story, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

Then these pictures come out and piece things together.

The final result:

Sunny and Mari fighting. (Context appears to be his growing disdain towards playing. It's stated he loved playing, but it's also shown that he begins to dislike how much Mari is dragged away for classes and the like up to and including playing. So my read was that Sunny was upset that their fleeting time together was dedicated to the recital and broke his violin in an emotional blur and the fight occurred.

Alternatively it was accidentally broken and both of their emotions were running high as it happened)

Mari falling to her death.

Sunny and Basil carrying her upstairs and tending to her.

Sunny breaking down as it sinks in.

The visions having Basil say "It's going to be okay" by the bedside. (I perceive that as a memory of what Basil was saying as he tried to manage his emotions during the event)

Sunny and Basil carrying her back downstairs and to the backyard.

The makeshift noose.

And finally the sight that burned itself into Sunny's eyes of her hanging after it was all said and done.

Just holy shit to it all in how it's revealed and handled.

Stories have twists all the time, and I ain't gonna make some bold claim like "Most unpredictable!" "Best twist!" "What a twist!" or whatever, though that'd be funny.

I just want to say this twist worked BEFORE the reveal as a foreboding sense of unease and curiosity- it lent itself to intentionally vague and easily misconstrued explanations, basically- instead of it outright misleading you beyond the characters that believe the lie repeating the lie, it allowed you to mislead yourself.

It did the twist the right way! And well! YOU trick YOURSELF! The people repeating the lie are being lied to or have motivation to repeat the lie! The GAME isn't lying (as so many twists handle it) the game is giving the world reason to mislead and allowing you to be mislead!

Now am I yelling affirmations for the way things SHOULD ALWAYS BE! YES! BUT THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S NOT AS NORMAL AS IT SHOULD BE! lol

31:40 - All the "You will really miss them"s hurt :(

33:25 - Right out the gate, a spoiler for what isn't here:

I looked up the alternate endings of the neutral route and my heart hurts to know Sunny doesn't stick around and Basil dies :(

34:00 - BASIL BEING OVERWHELMED WITH DENIAL AND GUILT AS HE ATTEMPTS TO MENTALLY PROTECT HIS VIEW OF WHO HIS FRIEND IS BY INVENTING A SECOND PARTY THAT DID THIS IS SO FUCKING REAL AND AMAZINGLY DONE.

And it explains the name behind the 'Something'.

'Something' behind you did it. There's 'Something' behind you, isn't there.

'Something' all around us, that potentially being the truth comin' in.

When 'Something' ruined my photos, Basil repressing protecting Sunny by destroying the proof.

Just expertly done.

'Something' being repression of the memory and impending guilt. Dannnng.

36:26 - It's 24 hours after I beat the game as I type all this so here's a gag.

Here's the part where Basil beats some sense into his friend, because after this Sunny gets knocked out and wakes up 200% improved and ready to save Basil from his own guilt by releasing them both from the secret.

So basically Kel dragged us out of bed, then a couple days later Basil beats us up, and that's how Sunny gets better :^) Game Over.

38:46 - This fight made me feel utterly terrible, a highlight being the energy bar saying "Everything is going to be okay".

or at 40:17 - when Basil pokes out Sunny's eye and the screen does this? That's an underutilized but always awesome visual.

41:12 - I THOUGHT I WAS DEAD AT THIS POINT :)

Because just before entering Basil's home on this night you see his Grandma's ghost here. So seeing Sunny here told me "WELL. YOU FUCKED UP!"

42:25 - Like I said, beat some sense into Sunny.

Here's the mental side of things where Basil's beatin' told Sunny to go remember the good times and confront his inner self and I'm being partially facetious because there's plenty to say about what's coming up.

43:15 - Goosebumps every time due to the sincerity and hope of this.

43:40 - Hug for anyone needing that.

51:11 - I could cry again and I just might before this post is done being put together.

This accident was never meant to be.

55:09 - Timestamp is arbitrary, I won't go over every flashback but I do want to say what a beautiful way to use these photos. To relive the memories? To find the strength to overcome and all that? After all these years of suppressing memories? DANNNG I love this game.

1:04:09 - I stepped in poop.

1:04:15 - Barefooted.

1:04:22 - I embraced my failure.

1:12:00 - The violin.

1:13:00 - "The anxious feeling-" "They believed in you" "No matter what you didn't want to disappoint them" I'm filled with love and gonna cry about it.

1:14:00 - So an important theme in the game, as if it has just one, is Sunny suppressing emotions and demonizing himself.

Obviously the ending shows him breaking free from both but I think it's important as hell to look at how he builds up to being able to.

After all the dark moments show him as a bloodied monster, demonstrate a perceived lack of remorse for what he's done (as in he sees himself so poorly that he says "I must not have felt bad about it, I'm a monster", not that he actually doesn't feel bad about it, that he thinks he shouldn't because he's bad), have him stab dream Basil to protect his repression of the memory, the build up to breaking free from that is him remembering the good in him through the lens of his friends.

Both in the real world and in revisiting the memories within the photos.

He hears about the good in himself that he has pretended isn't there and finds the power to overcome this deadened shell he's made.

He learns how to forgive himself by finally remembering he's worthy of forgiveness and is more than his mistake, that even the person he grievously harmed would want him to forgive himself and would understand the mistake didn't define him.

1:15:15 - Just because you did something bad doesn't make you bad, to put it more eloquently than my rambles. He had to learn that.

1:19:20 - I've done this fight 4 times.

You may be wondering why 4 times, it ain't like I replayed the game a ton or anything.

The short of it is:

1) For the good ending :)

2) To see what happens if you go "up" in the hospital- it's a dead end- I assumed it'd be a bad ending. So I got the good ending again :)

3) For the bad ending.

4) FOR THE GOOD ENDING TO WIPE THE HORRIBLE FEELING IN THE PIT OF MY STOMACH AWAY FROM THE BAD ENDING :)

In doing so I did get one layer deeper on the BG of Omori in the fight, here it is:

And I learned on the fourth run that the fight is simpler than I gave it credit lol, Cherish refills your juice, so there is no reason to use Encore. You can get to the end (and deeper more easily) by just using the triple attack and Cherish and Calm down when necessary.

1:29:00 - A summary of the fight is that it's extremely impactful emotionally, but very obviously isn't a "Fun fight". It's great mechanically and story wise for what it's trying to do :)

I'll just say it here: I'm surprised there wasn't an end-game "Omori" fight, you know, in dream world? Because combat is SO good in this. I am lead to believe that the Omori route where you never go outside in the real world has more bosses and zones and would fill what I just implied I wanted- but you're also railroaded into the Neutral endings which are both sad :(

And honestly? That makes sense and I applaud the decision :) Embracing the fantasy world for more 'fights' isn't exactly the path to recovery. Also and I know someone will be bothered I say this because *I'm* bothered I'm saying this- it makes sense since a big predecessor did the same thing lol.

Undertale Genocide has new bosses and a harder end game challenge (Sans) while being the worse ending, while the good ending has a flashy and story/emotionally impactful final fight that isn't as challenging because challenge isn't the point of the morals being explored.

I just bring it up because it's interesting, has a parallel, and after fighting Omori 4 times I really REALLY wanted to do an end-game fight in Dream World.

1:30:00 - forgive me as I cry again. goosebumps and more.

OH NO~!

DRAT!

So I use a cheap video editor and I use the free format of it which limits to 720p and I didn't think twice of it.

I recorded at max, but downgraded after editing.

At 720p you can't see the detail that made me break down crying!

At 1:31:55 Sunny's eyes go wider as he sees Mari as they finally get to experience the duet in this dream state (White Egret Orchid, this is real and happening, I'm taking this to my grave :'( ) he sees her smile and that smile made me break down, but in the 720 it's blurry :(

That's on me, I could have posted the scene raw in HQ but I didn't know it'd compress just enough to be invisible :(

still. that duet scene can make me cry on command. just because of that alone, but also the entire thing.

1:33:42 - Sunny breaks from his shell and feels his emotions again.

1:37:07 - I wish every game would end with a mirror to see yourself.

The 'Despite everything, it's still you' vibe just cements all the growth and experiences that have happened as so much more real when that happens. Bonus points because mirrors in Omori are a time bomb where you can be reminded of the guilt following you- and this one is safe. This one is pure and clean. You did it.

1:37:50 - As I said earlier, going up does nothing. Dead end.

1:39:00 - I have to tell you something.

Simple ending. And yet slams me like two trucks. I'm so proud.

1:41:00 - Post credits scene.

This is so heartwarming and their smiles are the purest thing in the entire world.

1:42:50 - BAD ENDING RECORDING.

All I'll say on that is the bad ending made me feel terrible inside. Give up, live in your bubble, and subconsciously end it all so you never have to confront reality again.

My gut felt heavy to be honest.

And the fact that THAT is when Bo En Time is played is INCREDIBLE.

Having the sky shift like that gave goosebumps and cemented my dread.

Just seeing it now has me feeling very poorly.

Okay. Video done.

Now for general thoughts.

First off this White Space cycle has been going on for YEARS with Sunny only getting worse as he suppresses things more and more and the reason he found the strength to overcome is because of his friends and I'm gonna yell about it.

THE REASON SUNNY IS BREAKING FREE CAN BE DIRECTLY POINTED AT KEL THINKING "FUCK IT, I'M ABOUT TO LOSE A FRIEND, AND I DON'T WANT TO"

And I just think that is sweet as hell. The strength was inside himself, but the problem itself caused Sunny to demonize and not trust himself- he needed someone to break him free and help convince him that he's not irredeemable. And boom.

The way this game handles Denial and even gives it physical form with the 'Something's that both Sunny and Basil harbor is just awesome.

I touched on it but combat in Omori is very, very good.

I've said it here and there as I played and I feel like going at length in the finale post is pointless because this isn't a review but to put it concisely.

Types changing mid-combat, the character archetypes being so well defined, the follow up system, combat in Omori is some top notch turn based RPG stuff.

Like up there with the greats, the timeless masterpieces. This is GOOD fighting. So it was surprising the good ending didn't emphasize it- I explained why that makes sense, but even still! It'd probably be lesser for it (as explained previously) but it's interesting they practiced that restraint for the message they wanted to send.

Repeatin' that Mari's smile in the recital made me cry. Burned in my brain.

I'm still surprised I got the post credits scene because I DID water the plants a lot but when the game showed me them all dead I assumed that was the fail condition.

I genuinely do want to try the Omori route some time down the road. I hope I get around to it.

I am slightly dissuaded just because the Omori route only gets the neutral endings which are not Good To Be Blunt :(

But I want to see what dream content there is and I hear there are other bosses!

Other small bits from my notes:

Replacing denial (the black bulb) with hope (the white bulb) was good as heck.

The imagery of the 'Something' is so top notch- using the shadow of her body combined with the piercing gaze of her single eye- MY GOD.

The fragility of life being so present- between memories of near death experiences, to the way in which Mari dies, to the ease at which either Basil or Sunny can end the game. It's tense and heart-wrenching.

The way the 'Something' behind Sunny almost always shadows over him like an ever present weight.

Tearful, hopeful, pure, kids enduring a guilt metric tons heavier than their bodies could ever handle and finally, finally moving beyond it.

I said more in a personal post, and I'll reblog that.

Honestly, just timestamping through the video took it out of me and got the point across.

Omori is a wonderful game.

It's definitely a favorite for me, high up there on my list.

Between the themes, the gameplay, the humor, the ending.

This is a good one.

And now I get to end having experienced all the care and love in this title, that's such a sweet thing.

Now I know this finale post is a mess, illegible even. I have gotten sloppier as I've begun embracing just 'experiencing and rambling' and perhaps my formatting with change yet again until I find something more easily shared.

Despite that. I want to thank any who popped in on this playthrough.

This was a good one, a highlight of the blog for sure- and I'm always happy when I see some people enjoying the absolute mess I toss online when I do one of these :P

So thank you for your time, and thank you to any ridiculous enough to read my nonsense here.

Have a good one :)

And just as expected I feel I've said nothing and barely touched the surface as the post-game-head of mine does a poor job lol. Even still :P

#RetPlays #Omori #Spoilers

[ds-sparrow-manufacturing-co]

ok so fun (read: not fun whatsoever) story time, in year 6 (age 10-11) my teacher, mrs roberts, was emotionally abusive and boy do i feel like ranting about this today so here’s some fun little anecdotes

for several years before i’d been bullied by this one kid, we’ll call him J. going into year 6 i got fed up with J’s bs and whenever he tried to pull anything i’d start calling him ‘Tracy’ until he left me alone. well J goes to mrs roberts and tells her about it and she sits us down and basically says ‘yeah stop doing that’ and gives no punishment for J constantly picking on me for 3 years straight

my school had this programme called ‘talkabout’ which was basically a part time special needs program for the kids that didn’t need to be in the actual special ed stream. the kids in it would be taken out of class one afternoon out of the week and sit in a different room and do activities about emotions and shit, it was basically a really bad attempt at group therapy. how do i know this? because mrs roberts put me in the talkabout program in year 6 and didn’t actually bother telling my parents that i was even in it, let alone why

i was an awkward kid, i had pretty bad social anxiety, a shaved head and a weird sense of humour, so i didn’t have many friends. in fact, i only really had two. most of the rest of my class hated me. you know what mrs roberts response to this was? she created ‘find a friend friday’, where you weren’t allowed to hang out with your normal friends. except, everyone did anyway, with no repercussions. except me, who would get yelled at the second i went within 3 feet of either of my two friends

when that didn’t work because i found a few people who didn’t hate me and were willing to hang out with me every arbitrary friday, mrs roberts flat out banned me from talking to my best friend. we weren’t allowed to work together in class, and she’d keep one of us behind for stupid reasons most break times so we couldn’t talk then.

once she yelled at me in front of my entire year for the terrible crime of... not clapping for the little kids christmas performance. i clapped.

whenever some little tiny task came up, she’d always pick me for it. mostly asking other teachers for laptops/gluesticks/books. fun fact: that’s fucking terrifying when you have anxiety. and she knew that. other times she’d pick me for things like decorating a pencil holder for her desk, something that everyone wanted to do and was then annoyed at me that i got chosen. didn’t exactly help with the friend situation.

towards the end of the year i finally managed to make some new friends, and i moved to sit with them in class. one morning me and my new best friend (who was also,, not great, but that’s a different story) had an argument over something stupid. after break, we had to pick groups for a science project. mrs roberts banned us from working in the same group. all my friends went in a group with them. mrs roberts forced me to pick between working with J and his friends or working with the popular kids who also hated me. i ended up having a panic attack, sitting at my desk curled up in a ball in my hoodie for a solid 15 minutes until mrs roberts comes over to talk to me and in the most fed up way possible asks why i’m upset. when i explain, she’s like ‘well you can just work with [best friend] then! how about that?’ as if she wasn’t the one telling me not 20 minutes ago i couldn’t work with them.

mrs roberts was also in charge of the ‘growing up’ unit, basically the puberty lesson but we also talked about mental health. she stood there and talked about how if anyone was struggling with anything they could talk to her, as if she hadn’t spent the last 8 months quite literally traumatising me

she still works for my primary school, and she has two kids. god i hope those kids are ok with her as a mum

#rant #storytime with beth #beth’s ramblings #long post #tw bullying #tw trauma #tw emotional abuse #tbh posting this is absolutely terrifying it took years to even acknowledge anything was wrong about this whole thing #watch me get anons like ‘no that’s not emotional abuse you’re just overreacting’ #i might scream

[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.

#SWTOR #Star Wars: The Old Republic #Writing Prompts #Prompt Lists #SWTOR Prompts #The Inbox is Open #Though I'm slow #Still struggling

[latveriansnailmail]

Favorite Movies as of 2021

Subject to updating because surely I’ve missed a few. This is not supposed to be a list of meritorious films but rather just a list of movies I genuinely enjoy. It runs from Shakespeare to Bill & Ted with heavy doses of 80s fantasy, superhero schlock, and pretty much anything with Kurt Russell in it. Enjoy.

1- Harvey No contest, my favorite of all time.

2- Big Trouble in Little China It’s always a great joy to introduce a new viewer to this film.

3- Flash Gordon (1980) In which they totally lean into the camp and low budget.

4- The Thing I watch this annually upon the first major snowfall.

5- Titus (Taymor) One winter break Titus would be on one of the movie channels each day when I woke up, so I watched it daily for a month and it didn’t get old.

6- Death to Smoochy “Are you alright?” “I’m a little fucked up in general so it’s hard to gauge.”

7- Blade Runner (The Final Cut) So there’s this dude Deckard and he hunts robots but it turns out HE’S a robot, oh so very clever, little film

8- Tombstone I recently learned that Kurt Russell directed this film in all but name.

9- The Dark Crystal Immersive fantasy, though I’m sure it appears plain, drab, and simple now after the Netflix prequel.

10- Somewhere in Time I’m a romantic, I guess. Thus all the John Carpenter movies.

11- Grosse Pointe Blank So good, I used to think I liked John Cusack.

12- The Producers (musical) You heard me. Wilder and Mostel were great but the musical version had decades to mill over and expand the premise.

13- To Be or Not To Be (Brooks) Surprisingly suspenseful.

14- The 13th Warrior Saw it again recently and it holds up. Horror, only it happens to viking warriors who would rather chop the horror down than run.

15- The Mighty Thor I mean, Black Panther is objectively the best of the lot but subjectively this is my personal favorite superhero flick. I must have seen it a half a dozen times at least.

16- Lost Boys A billion Chinese can’t be wrong.

17- Die Hard A Christmas tradition. As a postman, it’s cathartic for me to watch Christmas get blown up a little before all the hugging and sentiment.

18- The Blues Brothers Deadpan hilarity cut with performances by legends of blues and soul.

19- The Sting The best heist film. It keeps you guessing until the very end and no twist feels arbitrary or leaves a hole.

20- Interview with the Vampire Fun fact, I looked like Pitt’s Louis when I was a young man in the goth scene.

21- Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure “Be excellent to each other!” “Party on, dudes!” *air guitar*

22- The Seventh Seal See? This list has its high points.

23- Revolutionary Girl Utena Note: Read the entire manga, watch the entire anime series, and read Adolescence of Utena BEFORE watching this or you’ll be left confused. Dazzled but confused.

24- The Nightmare Before Christmas So good I got the tarot deck.

25- The Last Unicorn It’s still a damn shame they never made that live action remake. Christopher Lee was set to reprise King Haggard.

26- Chasing Amy Honestly changed my life.

27- Excalibur It’s weird though how they’re always in armor. Wedding? Armor. Dinner? Armor. Deathbed? Armor.

28- Ginger Snaps A cut above any other werewolf movie I’ve seen.

29- Top Secret! My sense of humor distilled.

30- Clash of the Titans (Harryhousen) Yeah it’s dry but then there’s the monsters.

31- Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life People are not wearing enough hats.

32- Shadow of the Vampire Nosferatu nearly made this list but it’s hard to pinpoint a definitive cut. Try instead this film about the making of Nosferatu with an actual vampire as the vampire.

33- Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Look, we as a culture had the unfortunate experience of Twilight. This is the same premise but actually good.

34- The Last Supper This film challenged and changed me as a young man more so than any other work of art.

35- The Princess Bride The perfect film, but I’ve seen it so much it’s down at 35 now.

36- Blazing Saddles What can I as a white guy say? Just watch the movie.

37- Streets of Fire Always suspicious to me how Final Fight premiered within a year of this movie.

38- Gremlins More Christmas havok. Yum?

39- The Beastmaster Forgotten and underappreciated.

40- Ladyhawke A thing of beauty.

41- Willow C’mon. It’s Willow. I have nothing to justify here.

42- Speed Racer I know you heard it’s bad but hear me out: it is the strongest narrative I’ve ever seen on film and it’s exactly the way you played with your toy cars when you were little.

43- Angelheart You’re supposed to know that de Niro is Lucifer. The rest is mystery and the final reveal set up a trope that’s been done into the ground nowadays.

44- The Hunger More atmosphere than plot, but hey, vampire Bowie!

45- Zoolander My partner’s favorite.

46- Faust (Murnau) You will be shocked to see what was possible to achieve in film in 1926.

47- A Muppet Christmas Carol but a cut that includes the fiance’s song This finishes out my traditional Christmas films.

48- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Y’know, I’ve got two Branagh films on here and neither are what you would expect given his catalog. The other one’s Thor for crying out loud.

49- Highlander I noticed in recent editions of Vampire: the Masquerade that it’s still possible in that game to hide a katana in a trenchcoat. This movie is why.

50- The Name of the Rose One of only a few instances where I prefer the film to the book. That book loooooong.

51- Robocop (1987) Of all the damn science fiction, why must we be in Robocop?

52- The Prophecy Now we’re getting into films I demoted since the last time I updated this list. This film’s a slow burn unless you get turned up for angels and Christopher Walken like I do.

53- The Warriors Would be higher if the opening wasn’t so slow.

54- Legend Tim Curry kills it as Darkness.

55- Black Panther Objectively the best superhero movie and the Academy backs me on that one.

56- Wonder Woman I do wish they’d trot out Vandal Savage as a Wonder Woman villain.

57- Captain America: The Winter Soldier Just rewatched this one earlier! It is heavily marked by the height of the War on Terror.

58- Blade The ancestor of all modern superhero movies and a solid vampire flick to boot.

59- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Nostalgic for me? Maybe, but I hold that this is the first comic film worth a damn because they stuck with the comics when they wrote it.

60- Captain America: the First Avenger This movie is a real test of character. If someone doesn’t like Cap it’s because they think goodness is unrealistic.

61- Four Rooms Really just rooms 3 and 4.

62- Reservoir Dogs Hey, two Tim Roth films in a row!

63- Event Horizon Do you see?

64- What Dreams May Come Kind of an emotional ringer, especially after William’s death.

65- Monty Python and the Holy Grail Have I watched it into the ground? Yes. Is it still hilarious? Yes, and it gets funnier the more you study Arthurian myth.

66- Pulp Fiction I’m kinda over this now.

67- The Crow People who liked the comic passionately disagree with me but I still like this one.

68- Akira Still.

69- Ghost in the Shell Still, though the farther you get from 13 the less titties you need in your art.

70- Beetlejuice Why not? Let's just tack this on there.

Honorable Mentions:

Fight Club A suburb film but one I grew out of, as should everyone. If you meet a man who’s passionate about Fight Club, run!

American Psycho Ditto. I grew out of this but it’s still excellent.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape A horrible caricature of my brother’s life. I don’t get along with my brother any more.

Rocky Horror Picture Show Not actually a good film if you watch it straight with no commentary. Still, it’s a cornerstone of queer culture.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 Of all the superhero films, this is the one that resonated with me the most. I was in a weird place at the time. It still resonates with me now because I’m a foster dad.

[rakeshys]

Things you should be knowing as student

1) If you take control of your Sunday, you take control of your week.

2) When assigned a long-term project, finish some amount of work toward its completion that very same day.

3) Start small and start immediately.

4) If you cannot maintain an organized room you will never truly feel that your life is organized.

5) It is important to keep your room clean. And it will make your mother happy.

6) Apply to the scholarships.

7) You should never begin studying without a systemized plan for what you are going to review, in what format, and how many times.

8) Before you even crack your first book, take ten minutes to actually write down exactly how you plan to study.

9) The planning is as important as the process.

10) If you want to become a standout student, you must befriend a professor.

11) Reading a daily paper provides essential food for your ambitious brain. Make sure you don't go hungry.

12) if you are constantly worried about avoiding anything negative, you will never do anything out of the ordinary.

13) Don't let others dictate how you should feel about yourself; strengthen your identity—then go conquer your world.

14) do yourself a favor and give time-blocking a try. It's a much smarter way to manage your day.

15) Remember, giving up, when done strategically, is not a weakness. It's simply smart life management.

16) The happiest students are also the most involved students. When it comes to crafting your slate of collegiate pursuits, the sooner you get involved, the better.

17) always be working on a"grand project "

18) take art history and astronomy before you graduate.

19) Imagine the following scene: Your professor is handing back a major research paper to your class. The groans that begin to fill the room indicate that the professor was particularly demanding for this assignment. And rightly so, it's worth forty percent of your grade. As he gets to your name, he asks you to stay after class. Uh oh. Nervously you wait as your classmates file out, and when you are the only student remaining in the lecture hall, he walks up to you . . . and then shakes your hand. “Congratulations,” he exclaims, “your project was by far the best in the class!”

Sound good? Well, get used to it.

20) One or two good questions a class is enough to keep the professor happy, but not enough to solicit the annoyance of your classmates.

21) Getting involved with research early is like drinking an elixir of success.

22) If you pay your dues with grace and enthusiasm and are mindful of the opportunity you are receiving, you will maximize the many positive benefits of participating in original research work.

23) Take ten-minute breaks in between each fifty-minute chunk.

24) One, it makes you feel better about yourself. If you look good, you can imagine that cute guy or dimpled girl in the front row shooting some glances in your direction. This will make you happy. And when you are happy, you have more energy and pay attention better in class. Two, it makes the day official. When you look like you just rolled out of bed, it's all too easy to imagine rolling back in. If you dressnicely, you are sending yourself the message that you are ready to get started and attack the day.

25) Decorate your room.

26) experience the joy of dominating a test without any hard work,this is done by studying Two weeks in advance.

27) Force yourself to write as much as possible. It is an essential, irreplaceable skill for succeeding. Master it.

28) taking the time to eat a social meal with your friends is a great idea; just don't do it more than once a day.

29) Schedule an escape for yourself every single week. And do it alone. Treat it like taking medicine.

30) “Why waste your time and money in the minor leagues of college courses when you have the ability to be swinging in the majors.”

31) When it comes time to study, go where it counts.

32)The best way to learn difficult material is to go over it by yourself, with a lot of concentration, again and again and again until the concepts become second nature.

33) As long as you are paying so much money to attend college, you might as well maximize what you get out of your investment. If you can get into an honors program, do so. No excuses.

34) The key is consistency.

35) Getting fired up, once or twice a month about subjects that interest you, will go a long to way to helping you succeed. Go to guest lectures and keep your intellectual fires stoked.

36) Don't let the decision to exercise become a debatable question. Instead, make it a habit, like going to class or brushing your teeth.

37) You never realize how important your back-home friendships are until you begin to lose them. Stay in touch.

38) Sleep is just a tool to help you function. Treat your body like a machine—give it exactly what it needs to perform its best, not any more, not any less. Give the snooze button a rest. Try to sleep only the amount you need to make it through the day.

39) The best state for your mind to be in is confident and calm. Take the hour before an exam to relax.

40) Read a nonacademic book. Listen to music that makes you happy. Run a couple of errands. Have a conversation with a friend. Work on unrelated—nondemanding—schoolwork. The key is to keep your mind active and energized, but not exhausted. Then head over to the exam fifteen minutes early. On the way, start to lightly review some material that you feel particularly good about. Imagine yourself writing a strong essay on this topic, imagine the professor handing the class a copy of your essay as an example of a good answer. This technique is more than just shameless ego-stroking, it builds your confidence, and, more important, it warms up your mind in a good and controlled sort ofway. When you arrive at the test location, avoid the temptation to frantically catalog all the concepts you are a little shaky on. Try to keep your mind blank, or, alternatively, continue thinking confidence-boosting thoughts about doing really well. When the exam is finally handed out, take a deep breath and have at it. You should be mentally nimble, rested, and energized by the time your pen hits the paper.

41) If a friend invites you to do something and you are not too busy, find the energy to go. If a friend invites you to do something, and you are really busy, don't go, but make plans to get together later in the week. Most important, if a good friend needs help, drop everything and go.

Making friends your number one priority doesn't mean sacrificing your other obligations, but it does demand that you keep them in mind.

42) Be mature and make the right decisions to keep your mind and body in a condition to perform your best.

43) The point is that there are too many factors that can account for both good and mediocre academic performance on any given day, and none of these factors has anything to do with intelligence.

So save yourself a lot of unjustified grief (or pride), and simply ignore your classmates' grades. Worry about your performance and progress; let your classmates worry about their own.

44) A good listener at college is rare.

45) Don't decide to start working the day before.

46) Find something every single day that will make you laugh.

47) Using a high-quality notebook will not guarantee you success, but it will create the right environment for it to flourish.

48) if you don't actively seek out fun, it won't actively seek out you.

49) Take the most important projects or commitments with which you are involved, and pump up your criteria for success.

50) corporate recruitment sessions, and yes, even parties. In the chaos of classes, extracurricular activities, and a healthy social schedule, these optional events are easy to avoid. Don't avoid them.

51) If you want to be a successful student, forget about your G.P.A. Ignore it. Don't talk about it. Make no attempt to know the numbers. You should approach your collegiate career with confidence and energy.

52) Always go to class!

53) Set arbitrary deadlines.

54) eat healthy

55) don't just volunteer, volunteer quietly.

56) approach every paper as if you were trying to win a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting.

57) Attend political rallies and keep the flame of progressive thinking alive.

58) Once you have decided on a destination, explore many routes to get you there.

59) Don't take breaks between classes!

60) Don't network. But keep your connections strong.

61) If you can maximize the use of your surroundings, you can maximize your performance as a student.

62) Organize the messages in your e-mail in-box like you would your paper files

63) To be a successful student, you must abandon the start-slow, end-fast mind-set, and instead approach all projects by aiming to start fast, end slow.

64) Spend a semester studying abroad.

65) you want to succeed because you love the excitement of pushing your potential and exploring your world and new experiences, if you want to succeed because life is short and why not fill it with as much activity as possible, then you will win. If you approach life with an attitude of never having regrets and always having a hopeful smile on your face, you can find a measure of success in all your endeavors. Don't have no regrets, but have plenty of fun along the way. In the end, that is what it is to really win.

66) “Don't have no regrets.”

The above points are all from the book I read...

Book: - HOW TO WIN AT COLLEGE: - surprising secrets from the country's top student's

Author: - CAL NEWPORT

Anime forever ✌

#student #college #school hacks #college hacks

[simul16]

Low Effort in Their Own Way

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." - Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina"

I've been watching a fair amount of D&D content on YouTube of late, for varying reasons, and if I may paraphrase Tolstoy's famous quote above, I've learned that all good D&D channels make high-effort content, while each bad D&D channel makes low-effort content in its own way.

Low-effort content tends to be:

Content that is or can be created quickly; it doesn't require a lot of prep time (and the presentation usually allows this limited prep time to show)

Content that copies current trends; while a certain amount of response to significant events in the gaming world is to be expected, low-effort channels regularly feature content that basically boils down to 'here's my reaction to whatever rumor or scandal is currently being talked about among the community'

Content that does not spark or contribute to a discussion; when such channels go beyond simply recapitulating a recent event, they frequently spend very little time explaining their own reaction and seldom spend any time at all explaining or exploring contrary opinions except to make jokes or elicit emotional reactions from an over-simplified or straw-man version of the contrary opinion

Now let's start off by saying that I'm not knocking low-effort content per se; anybody who knows anything about online marketing can tell you that low-effort content has a role to play in any marketing strategy. Ideally, though, your low-effort content, the stuff that you can get out the door quickly and easily and get in front of your potential customers, exists to guide those customers to your higher-quality content that convinces them to buy your product, order your service, or otherwise become someone who believes that you have something of value to say. Because it's cheap and easy to produce, low-effort content can be cast far and wide to serve as a net to capture many potential viewers and guide them to the gold mine of the really important stuff you have to say. Unfortunately, when your low-effort content is what you have to say, it very much begs the question of what exactly it is people should be coming to your channel for.

Here are a few but by no means an exhaustive list of the YouTube channels that to me seem to feature way too much low-effort content.

The Dungeon Dudes

The Dungeon Dudes are two guys (Kelly McLaughlin and Monty Martin) who mainly do scripted back-and-forth style discussions of D&D-related topics. I've talked about the Dungeon Dudes before, when taking apart one of their recent videos, but they also stream a D&D game they play in on Twitch (and frequently post recordings of those sessions on their channel), do product reviews, and generally do whatever they can to maintain a consistent pace of content output, generally a minimum of twice weekly. They've been around for nearly four years now, and have amassed about 273 thousand subscribers on their channel, with over 44 million views for their content, which seem like decent numbers for a niche content channel. (Contract with CinemaSins, which exists as a viral content manufacturer, and has amassed over 9 million subscribers and over 3.3 billion views. I'm not trying to say the Dungeon Dudes are the CinemaSins of D&D; if they were, their numbers would probably look a lot more like those of CinemaSins.)

The big problem with the Dudes as content creators is that, despite being a niche content channel, they are clearly in it to try to eke out some kind of income or living from the work they put into the channel: they've got a Patreon, they use affiliate links in the descriptions of their product review videos to gain some additional referrer income, and they do sponsored content when they can get a sponsor. They started back in the summer of 2017 with a very 2016-era plan on how to succeed at YouTube: put together a bunch of short (5-10 minutes, occasionally longer, but go over 15 minutes at your peril) videos and release them on an iron-clad schedule to get people used to coming back to your channel and looking over your new content, and to their credit, they've kept up their content production schedule very consistently over the past four years.

They've also learned a few things during that time and have adapted the channel in response: their videos explaining rules and reviewing new products tend to be more popular, so they work those topics in on a more regular basis. They've learned that the YouTube algorithm has subtly changed over the past few years to reward channels that can provide longer 'engagement' (which gives YouTube more opportunities to run ads), and have expanded their video length to an average of about a half-hour, with their re-broadcasts from Twitch being extra-long videos (between two and two-and-a-half hours) which, while drawing fewer total views, probably draw as much or more 'engagement' from the algorithm for the views they have.

But the need to spit out so much content on such a rigid, unforgiving schedule means that they have to aim for quick-creation and easy digestion: putting subclasses into a bog-standard tier ranking, making 'top five' and 'top ten' lists that seem like they're being cribbed from a more thoughtful resource, and generally getting stuff out the door (like their 'Powerful Spell Combos Using Teamwork' video) without spending too much time thinking about how valuable or even accurate their advice happens to be. More to the point, it seems to be taking its toll on the guys who serve as the hosts of the show: Kelly McLaughlin has a fairly dour expression in general, but lately he seems to have the countenance of a man who's about to post a 'very special episode' discussing the dangers of YouTuber burnout.

The Dungeon Dudes feature low-effort content because they have to in order to support the publishing frequency they've chosen; if they were to take the time to put together a truly high-effort piece regarding one of their traditional topics, their Patreon subscribers would likely be asking why their release schedule had slowed down before their work was even half-done.

Dungeon Craft

The Dungeon Craft channel is run by a fellow who refers to himself as 'Professor Dungeon Master'; I have not yet found any reference in his channel or elsewhere that identifies who he actually is, so I'll just refer to him as Prof. Prof has been on YouTube a bit longer than the Dungeon Dudes, having launched his channel in October of 2016, and has put out 185 'episodes' (as of the time of this writing), thus averaging between three and four episodes per month. Prof's own 'trailer' video explicitly states his channel's concept: "Some channels focus on running the game, others on building terrain, others on painting minis. I do it all!" You might think, then, that this would be a place to find quite high-quality content, especially related to terrain and miniatures painting tips, but it seems like the main effect of Prof making his channel be about multiple topics (and there are plenty of topics he discusses that don't fit into any of those three categories above) is that he can't successfully communicate what his channel is actually about, other than about his specific opinions. Maybe that's the reason he's sitting at about 65 thousand subscribers and just under 5 million views.

However, being at a slightly lower 'tier' of content production than the Dungeon Dudes is not itself any kind of crime or even indicative of poor quality -- after all, one of my favorite D&D lore channels on YouTube is RavenloftTravelAgent, and she's got just over a thousand subscribers and only about 50 thousand views on her videos. No, Prof could have a very high-quality, high-content channel with the subscriber numbers and views he has, but he doesn't.

Prof's issue is almost exactly the opposite of that of the Dungeon Dudes: instead of cranking out a rapid-fire, breakneck volume of content to keep up with an arbitrary content production schedule because that's how you make a living producing content for YouTube and you have to keep feeding the hungry algorithm, Prof cranks out content that's very easy for him to write because he's been involved in the game for a long time and already knows that the way he learned to play the game is the best way. Any topic that comes up related to D&D, he's got an opinion and can spit out a script explaining his opinion quickly because it's the same opinion he's held for decades. Classic D&D didn't have skills, so the next edition of D&D shouldn't have them either. Classic D&D had slow advancement, so slow advancement is better than fast advancement. This becomes even more obvious in the videos that have very little or nothing to do with running a D&D game, such as where Prof explains why he thought Avengers: Endgame sucked, or why he thought Season 8 of Game of Thrones was 'nearly perfect'.

Some of the oddest episodes of Dungeon Craft have to do when Prof makes admissions that make him out to be, well, the D&D channel for 'that kind' of old-school gamer: the ones who can make comments to each other that they can't make in front of their wives or significant others because the latter find the comments sexist, the kind of guys you can complain to about not being able to tell a Polack joke at work, the guys who treated D&D in the 1980s and 1990s the way that guys in the 1950s and 1960s treated golf where they could build a wall between the world as it existed and the world as they wanted to believe it was (and, if we're being honest, the way that they believed it should actually be). Nowhere is this more evident than in the video where Prof starts by discussing the hot, rich girlfriend he had once who tried but never got into D&D who he just had to break up with, and which by the 3 minute mark has him "calling bullshit" on the idea that relationships are built on compromise and negotiation. (I mean, you saw this coming, right? Right there at the end of the last paragraph about how the ending of Game of Thrones was so good? You knew that's where this was going, right?)

And, of course, he's not immune to just jumping on the latest bandwagon to contribute his drone to the chorus of voices talking about things just to be talking about things. It shouldn't be surprising that Prof jumped on the bandwagon of the lawsuit brought by Hickman and Weis against Wizards of the Coast over the upcoming Dragonlance trilogy, which turned out to be a nothing-burger. Even weirder is the tag in the description of that video which says "Analysis you can't get anywhere else", even though the video doesn't contain anything that hadn't already been discussed over the three weeks between the lawsuit and Prof's video other than Prof's own opinions about it. My favorite howler that Prof makes in this video is his assertion that, because Hickman and Weis got a lawyer to file a lawsuit, that means there's definitely fire under that smoke, because "big law firms do not accept cases they don't think they can win", which both ignores the existence of SLAPP suits as well as the existence of authors who seem to take perverse glee in suing rival authors just to drive them out of the industry. He's also responded with multiple videos in response to Cody at Taking20s controversial 'illusion of choice' essay, and his response to Ginny Di's essay on making online D&D suck less didn't include any of Ginny's solid advice on making online play more compatible with an in-person mentality (recognizing interruptive behavior, or using text chat to maintain side-conversations that would otherwise not be distracting in person), but instead gave these recommendations to players:

Keep your camera turned on

Mute yourself when not talking

Don't distract yourself with technology during the game

Nothing specific on recognizing how online play differs from tabletop play and suggesting ways to bring those two styles closer together, just commands because he's the DM and he says so. Or, in other words, low-effort, opinion-based content.

Nerd Immersion

Nerd Immersion, a channel by Ted that started in May of 2014 and has amassed over 70 thousand subscribers, starts his "channel trailer" video by leafing through a book, then looking up and saying, "Oh, hello" as if he'd just noticed that there was a camera on pointing at him while he's sitting in his orange-trimmed gaming chair. That, sadly, is roughly the level of thought that goes into the actual content contained on this long-tenured but seemingly still super-niche channel.

The weird thing is that at some point, it was obvious that Ted put some real effort into this channel. There are defined sections of the channel that focus on particular things, avoiding the Dungeon Craft problem of 'what topic is our channel about this week?' On Tuesdays, Ted posts a top-10 list. Ted comes up with an idea for a series, like 'Fixing 5E' or 'Reviewing Unearthed Arcana', posts regular articles until he's said what he means to say, then ends the series. (There hasn't been a new Fixing 5E video in roughly a year, meaning that Ted isn't wasting his own time and that of the viewer continually beating horses he's long since killed.) And he comes up with some great ideas for series, such as his series reviewing products on the DMs Guild; that particular series comes out somewhat irregluarly, but not so irregularly that you think he may have stopped doing the series without telling you.

Nerd Immersion's big problem can be summed up by simply looking at the list of videos on his channel and noticing that when he puts his own face on the thumbnail of the video, the startling frequency with which he's shrugging or has a puzzled face or just seems to be presenting himself as if he's not sure what's happening in his own video. I mean, I get it -- that's his image, the personality he wants to present to his audience. He doesn't have all the answers (a refreshing change from Dungeon Craft, honestly), but has some things to share if you're interested, so go ahead and take a peek. But then you take a look at those different sections we spoke about earlier and see that the 'Fixing' series all have the word Fixing at the top of the screen, the Nerd Immersion logo in the top left, two images underneath the text, one on the right side of the page and one on the left, separated right down the middle, and they all have Fix-It Felix on the far right. The Top 10 videos always have Top 10 at the top of the thumbnail. The Unearthed Arcana reviews all have 'Unearthed Arcana' at the top, then 'Review' in an odd off-set to the right beneath 'Unearthed Arcana'.

In other words, Ted has a formula, and he's damn well going to follow it.

Now it's not a bad thing to have a workflow -- if you're going to be cranking out videos at the volume that Ted does (not to mention the others on this list), you'd better have some kind of process for making the video, getting the thumbnail on it, etc.; otherwise each new video is a horrible nightmare of effort as you re-invent the wheel for every project. Nobody wants to do that, and the results would likely be unwatchable. Having a process is a good thing. But the Dungeon Dudes clearly also have a process -- they've put out at least two videos a week for three and a half years, so they damn well have a process or they wouldn't have been able to get out that much content. Looking at their channel, though, shows you that while they have a brand, and one that's evolving over time to boot, they're not just making the same video over and over again, or at least you wouldn't think that from looking at the thumbnails.

Ted's most interesting videos are where he's interviewing another person or even just having another person in the video, because having another person around clearly takes him at least a bit outside his rigid formulaic comfort zone. The problem is that those videos are few and far between -- the review of the infernal tiefling is about eight months separated from his interview with Celeste Conowitch about her Venture Maidens campaign guide. Also interesting are his unboxing videos, because Ted clearly likes minis and takes some degree of joy in cracking open and looking at new minis. His unboxing videos aren't as irregular as his interview videos, but they are fairly recent, with the first appearing just a few months ago, so it's still not clear if this is going to be a new regular part of the channel, or just another series that goes until he says what he wants to say about minis and then stops.

Most of the stuff on the site, though, is just, well, stuff, cranked out on a formula and thrown out into the digital void with the same soft-spoken volume regardless of whether it's major news or a press release. As an example, while pretty much everybody had an opinion on the Dragonlance lawsuit, Ted covered when the suit was announced, when it was dismissed by Weis and Hickman, when the actual trilogy that was the subject of the novels was announced, and the official release date of the first book in the new trilogy. When it came time to get ready to announce the newest campaign book, Ted was on the job, posting a video preparing for the announcement, another video later the same day when his original prediction of a Feywild adventure book seemed to be contradicted by other rumors that the book would be a Ravenloft book, then posted yet another video when the actual book was leaked on Amazon at 11:24pm later that same day confirming Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, posted the video discussing the official announcement of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft the next day, and then the day after that followed up with more details on Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft revealed in Dragon+. That's five videos in three days, for a grand total of just over 100 thousand views combined. The intention seems like Ted wants to be the CNN of the D&D news scene, but with those kind of distribution numbers, the result is more like your local home town's shopping circular that occasionally also features stories about the latest project to fix the potholes on Main Street. Just like nobody's doing 24/7 news coverage of your local town council, nobody is (or probably should strive to) doing 24/7 coverage of the gaming industry and Wizards of the Coast. At some point it just becomes running a script, pressing a button to upload the next video, because it's news, and while you don't have to think about news to quite the same degree you have to think about more opinion-based topics, once you stop thinking about the process and what it is you're making, all you have left is executing the formula, over and over again, and both the input and the output becomes repetitive.

Repetitive videos, in repetitive formats, with repetitive text, to keep the monster fed for another day. I can admire the effort that goes into it, but the overwhelming presence of the formula involved in cranking out this content keeps me from feeling that it's worth engaging with. It's low-effort, because the effort has been meticulously removed from the process.

I could go on, but I think I'll stop here. There's not really any constructive criticism I could provide to these channels because, as I hope I've pointed out, it seems like low-effort content is pretty much the only thing these channels have to offer or in truth can offer, and anything that might cause their owners to re-consider their channels to improve their content would almost certainly lead to a very different if not wholly different channel. With things being as they are online, there's no guarantee that any new, higher-effort channel would be any more successful than the old low-effort one (remember the RavenloftTravelAgent channel with absolutely miniscule numbers; effort doesn't automatically equate with success). I can't even claim that being low-effort channels necessarily makes these channels bad (despite what I said in the intro); after all, they all have at least some good ideas, especially Nerd Immersion, and they each have subscribers and a following. I guess this is just my way of putting some small amount of effort into explaining why I don't feel like doing more to help these channels succeed, because I'd rather put my support toward channels making higher-quality, higher-effort content, especially because its not the content itself, but people engaging with that content that really drives a channel's success.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

DoA megapost (22 confessions)

Mod: So https://true-bjd-confessions.tumblr.com/post/189300138511/mod-due-to-excessive-offtopic-arguing-in-the

All you guys’ pending DoA confessions presented in no specific order, before we move into the hold, as announced above.

To be clear: I think this is a feature DoA should have yesterday. It’s completely inappropriate to force people to use deadnames and names which are related to traumatic life experiences, or be banned. 

However, *weary sigh, gesturing at the multiple 70+ reply confessions on this topic* people told me they were finding the rapidly escalating discussion to be upsetting and offputting, and that’s not my goal for this blog. ❤️

1.

I am exceptionally weary of all the DoA hate over the person who got banned over making a new account after not being allowed to change their user name. DoA isn’t the only doll forum out there. If you don’t like their rules, don’t join. I for one find their rules about on- and off-topic dolls to be unfair and arbitrary as hell, but in the end it comes down to their house, their rules. Move on.

~Anonymous

2.

Us: Sure would be nice to maybe be able to change your name on DOA.

Some of y’all: Are you asking for anarchy?? If we allow this, what’s next?? A reasonable review of outdated rules??? The rules are there for a reason!!1! The reason may be antiqued because technology has updated and changed since then, meaning there are better solutions available, but it’s still a reason so we DEFINITELY should NEVER change!! Change is too scary for me. :( You’re bullies who want to be special :((( Stop that :(

~Anonymous

3.

I love seeing people get so offended at anon saying “bigots”. How do you know it was about you ? Guilty conscience? DOA could allow name changes if they really wanted to. There are other hobbies where they forbid certain people from entering forums while still allowing name changes. It’s not hard if you really care.      

~Anonymous      

4.

Honestly the way people fall all over themselves to defend DoA against any sort of criticism (regardless of how you personally feel about the validity of said criticism, reader) makes me glad I never got into the community aspect of this hobby. It's just... stressful.          

~Anonymous  

5.

The transphobia in the comments on this blog in particular are so gross. Being a bigot makes your dolls instantly hideous. And no, I’m not saying everyone who is defending DOAs decision is transphobic. I’m talking about the one who thinks trans people transitioning is wrong and their friends. You’re gross and so are your dolls.

~Anonymous  

6.

scammers can & will get around DOA's no name change policy, it's really not that safe. also, DOA isn't the only website which allows the sale of high-value items.

~Anonymous  

7.

First it's "if you want name changes coded in DoA, offer to do it yourself!", then it's "why tf would DoA accept some rando to help code their site?" make up your goddamn mind, your argument is falling apart. 

Also when did this issue become "DoA vs trans people"? Like, I like DoA yet I also recognize it should be more accessible and updated for the modern userbase. I want it to become as good as it can be because I like the community and would hate to see it die out like so many other forum sites do. Yes, it has flaws- and believe me, the folks who get extremely upset about the idea of admitting that embarrass me- but I liked the format since I was new to the hobby. I just wish it was more inclusive!    

~Anonymous    

8.     

girlisav3rb: "this isn't about exclusion or leaving anyone out". Also girlisav3rb: "I'm just kicking your punk ass off [obvious metaphor for DoA]" yyyyiiiiikkkees      

~Anonymous    

9. 

The DOA username debate is really starting to feel like 4 people's personal beefs against each other. It isn't really about dolls and I wish it wasn't dominating all the confessions here. I don't really care about watching pomoaples, pupkinspce, aigisthewlve and tellmeifthursday make fools of themselves daily.        

~Anonymous      

10.

Say it louder for the people in the back: IF YOU INSIST ON NAME CHANGES FOR DOA, THEN VOLUNTEER YOUR CODING EXPERTISE. Don't know how to code and are just squawking about something you can't directly contribute towards? Then shut up or offer up money so the mods can hire a computer programmer to make the changes you're DEMANDING from a FREE service.        

~Anonymous

11.

God it's so painfully obvious to see how many of the people defending DoA on the grounds that name changes would destroy the integrity of the website have never ever worked on or even been part of a forum or really any website of any kind in their lives. Seriously arguing that "the database" would break if you changed a name like?? No??? Have you ever seen a server backend before? You can automate this shit, you know, keep a log of former names, just... it's not some big huge challenge??? 

~Anonymous 

12.           

I don't have a horse in the trans name change race but calling DoA one of the friendlies communities around is abject bullshit lmao. There's not a more elitist, paranoid, abusive community this side of comic books -- but that kind of goes for this hobby as a whole, let's be honest.           

~Anonymous     

13. 

THE RULES ARE IMPORTANT WE CAN't cHANGE THE RULES IT WILL LEAD TO CHAOS IF WE CHANGE ONE RULE WHERE WILL IT END THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!! In my town it used to be THE RULES that POC have to go to separate schools and use separate bathrooms, but sure, the rules are the most important thing, not the people. And before anyone says cOmPaRiNg DoLlS tO rAciSm, 1) shitting on trans people IS a form of prejudice you smoothbrains, and 2) my ass is POC and I call it like I see it. Check yourselves.            

~Anonymous   

14.   

I personally think DOA should just.. go away? It’s been around for years, most people use it as reference rather than a community anymore. Everything is on FaceBook and Instagram now, DOA is pretty much just a glorified Dolly Dictionary at this point. Besides, if they aren’t going to change an Incredibly simple, easy thing to change just to accommodate transitioning people, it’s not the best place to be.

~Anonymous  

15.

I mean about the whole rules is rules is rules thing about doa: the thing is, some rules are there for a reason and obviously do need to be respected whether you agree with them or not, like don’t block fire exits, murder is bad, etc. but some rules eventually become outdated and need to be changed to keep up with society, and that doesn’t make the people pointing out that they need to be changed evil or entitled or spoiled. Imagine if we all still had to drive 10 mph everywhere because when someone pointed out that car technology had improved since 1915 and the speed limit should be increased accordingly everyone had just shouted them down with “BUT TEH RUUULLLEESS!!!” You’d be pretty interested in getting some of this “special treatment” yourself so you could get to work on time, huh?

~Anonymous  

16.

Honestly the easiest solution would be let people change their names only once and have it trackable.. as a trans dude its NOT that deep.     

~Anonymous        

17.

I notice that the unrelenting attacks on DoA are now even using the same phraseology along with the name-calling and implications of sinister motives. These are textbook bullying tactics. Next is the boycott, except that most of these people already say they don’t use the forum because they are just too “21st Century” for it.

Luckily this is just a confession board and no matter how many folks you manage to rile up here, it’s not going to affect DoA. Now, this is why I love DoA–you can’t go on their own site and spew this nonsense. They have Rules. They are Strict. They attempt to avoid drama, especially off-topic drama, and they don’t allow meanness, vulgarity or obscenity. If you’re looking for a pleasant, safe space, it’s your best bet.

~Anonymous

18.

Easy to lay bigotry, laziness, stupidity and worse on DoA mods for not just accepting tales of trauma and pasts to erase.  But the internet has always been full of lies by people trying to get their own way or escape consequences. Not just pro scammers. People who cry things like illness, trauma, disaster, family or pet problems over and over to get sympathy for demands or as all-purpose excuses. Recast ownership lies. People who never got a no before, and don't like being turned down no-how.

~Anonymous

19.

I just realized that no one understands the people saying DOA can allow name changes are the people who have actually modded forums before, most forums unless they’re running a totally outdated system use user id numbers that are linked to display names, which can be changed, and you can write a simple string of simple-baby-code to show old display names on a profile, to explain it in simple terms.   

~Anonymous                    

20.

Honestly I think that the anti-name change people are mostly just shilling for DoA because they can't believe that their precious forum with its volunteer mods could be anything but flawless. Or something like that, given how indignantly these people have *always* reacted to confessions criticizing DoA, even before the trans controversy was a thing. There have definitely been some obvious transphobes as well though, whose bile is really more suited to conservative FB pages or something. Go away!          

~Anonymous

21.   

the DOA mods can obviously change people's usernames because it's 2019 and basically every other site in existence can do it. they might have to change the site slightly to accomplish this. maybe there are reasons for them to choose not to do that, but let's stop pretending it's some technological impossibility.

~Anonymous

22.

How about this: Implement a system on DoA that indentifies users by a unique code and allow users to have a changeable display name. Changing the display name could become a paid feature to pay for the technical changes. Think of a system like discord has. It's a win-win situation. Thoughts?            

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #TrueBJDConfessionz #BJD Confessions #DoA #Just let people change their damn usernames

[migleefulmoments]

The speculation that the tinhats have been tossing around the last couple of days (Darren ghost-writing music for big pop artists) is exactly how their new “facts” get added to their list. They spend a few days making up some BS and then later they will refer back to it as if it’s a proven fact.

Anonymous said: What is this new nonsense about Darren ghostwriting for Mariah Carey and others? What did I miss? Are they high?

Anonymous said: Oh Abby, when will the lies stop? You're making up bullshit about Darren ghostwriting songs now? Where did this come up from? Must have been from the drinks you and your friend had the other night. A drunken conversation of 'What if's and How about's' that will keep your little coven hanging on to your every word for weeks. You're a liar, Abby. You have mental issues. You need help. At least this is fairly harmless, I mean, you're not saying anything Anti-Mia, but still you're lying. Ugh.

Anonymous said: Did the tinhats seriously imply that maybe Darren wrote Taylor Swift’s “Out of the Woods” song? And then when someone pointed out that Taylor writes her own songs (including that one) they decided that Darren used the phrase “out of the woods” because he relates to that song. Sometimes I think they have reached the pinnacle of insanity and then they make these absurd reaches out of nowhere. They truly do believe that the entire world revolves around Darren.

Anonymous said: "I have always wondered how D got out of his record contract and this just might be an explanation." Ok I can't make sense of what the heck she's even trying to say in the rest of this post but Naya, Kevin and Amber were all dropped by their label (I think it was Columbia) because execs didn't expect their albums to make enough money. I suspect the same happened to Darren. I really doubt that there's anything more to it than that.

1. This IS EXACTLY HOW batshitcrazy cc lies get turned into facts.  Roughedreconteur is nuts- their posts are always insane with tangents that nobody else would ever imagine.  Abby used to disagree with them as they don’t seem to actually like Darren but lately, they are coming in with things that don’t offend her and she plays along, pretending that Rouged’s nutjob ideas are valid- it’s the US media pretending that when Trump makes a statement that is an outright lie it’s ok to repeat it likes it true or makes sense instead of calling him out. This time Abby really got swept up in the idea that Darren said on his Text message that he was almost “out of the woods”. Those of us who live in reality know that “out of the woods” is a commonly used saying that many people use to contact they are almost done with the worst of it- whether that is an illness “Dr, is he out of the woods yet?” or work-related projects like Darren did or just like what Trump thinks is happening now that McConnell already said he was “lock-step with Trump” because he doesn’t understand that he has already been impeached and that won’t go away, ever or literally you are coming home from a hike and you almost “out of the woods"ba-dum-pa. It wasn’t a reference to Taylor Swift’s song.  Taylor does actually write her music, she started out as a writer when she was 15. Ironically, one of the tinhatters mentioned that Darren went to a Taylor Swift concert and her mom hugged him- that may have happened but I know for sure he went to a T.Swift concert and Taylor was walking down the aisle from her outer stage back to mainstage and she saw him and hugged him and I know this becuase I was there. This is the sum total of the evidence they going on to arrive at “Darren wrote ‘Out Of The Woods” and was referencing it.  

2. One only needs to spend 4 min with Wikipedia to realize that Taylor and Jack Antanoff wrote the damn song- not Darren Criss. 

3 Taylor’s Label was Big Machine Record, not Columbia

4. I am also pretty sure that Columbia dropped Darren’s album because they believed it wasn’t commercially viable.  Record labels don’t care if the singers like their albums. Lots of people have had music they didn’t like released anyway.  Record labels are out to make money and they will do whatever they can to recoup expenses they spent on making the album but putting out a nonviable album is even more expensive and sometimes they cut their loses.  Darren certainly didn’t have the power to shelf his own album or to cut some drug deal with the company to ghostwrite to what? Pay them back for the expense or to Ghostwrite until he’s paid off some arbitrary debt? But as you pointed out- the Taylor and Mariah weren’t on Columbia when Darren was (Mariah was at some point) 

5. As for how they got to Mariah Carey- Darren sang Mariah Carey on Lip Sync Battle and “he has no known connection to her” and according to Abby and Rouged, people always sing songs connected to them (I don’t watch it much but I’m pretty sure that isn’t true). It looks to me like Darren was slotted into a show that was clearly just a Mariah tribute. I suspect it had to do with timing and nothing more. Lots of people battle someone they are connected to but that isn’t a requirement. Rouged claimed the star he battled was LA Reid (It was Jermaine Dupri). Jermaine co-wrote and produced many of Mariah's biggest hits although Heartbreaker written by Mariah and Jay-Z and produced by DJ Clue.  Rouged argued that LA Reid is connected to Mariah Carey (he was- he was her label head for many years).  When someone pointed out that it was Jermaine, not LA Reid, Rouged’s excuse was she can’t tell the difference between LA Reid (who is 63 years old), Jermaine Dupri (who is quite short and 47 years old), and P Diddy (who is 50). Dude, those 3 men look nothing alike. 

6. Nobody even mentioned Rouged’s nonsense about how Ryan Murphy wanted to get song rights quickly so he had the cast themselves work their magic to obtain those rights  WTAF? I am quite sure that the process for obtaining rights was something the legal department did and it wasn’t like Ryan called up the singer and asked- it would have been something official done through their representatives.  Clearly, Chris Martin said “no” so we know they had input but it still wasn’t Ryan called Chris and Chris said “no” but later he said “yes” and that was that- no legal papers were signed.

7. Abby claims there us a “Mia figure’ in Royalties, not sure what the hell that means  

8. Abby and Flowers are trying to make Mariah’s butterfly thing and Chris’s Butterfly IGs into something so Abby claimed Chris posted a pic of himself in front of the butterfly mural “before the battle”. Well, yes he did...it’s dated August 2018 which is before Darren’s Jan 24, 2019, Lip Syn Battle...on that, she isn’t wrong LOL.  

This is honestly one of the most harebrained theories I’ve read to date as it relies entirely on multiple things that aren’t even real  

The actual posts under a cut because they are looong 

rougedraconteur asked: Whenever something really strange happens like the “cough hacking “cough” of an ENTIRE site to the point of shutting it down, that has had only minimal action from a questionable enterprise that has failed in most ways and has had at least one party sending desperate signals and the other acting like they had cut them off already, that means something, but probably not exactly what it looks like on its face. I think D’s response, saying HE, not WE, is “almost out of the woods,” is telling.

ajw720 answered: Look at that song again. Look how specific some of it is. Lying on your couch. The feel of your necklace around my neck. You put on the brakes too soon, 20 stitches in a hospital room. All the wolves, the ice and snow of being frozen out, attacked by the enchanted forest itself and caught by vines just when you had almost made it to the ocean. You get there, and find…yourself. Or just someone like you? The mirror image, what that journey made you into, or something else, more real?

So, I think it is possible that “Royalties” may spoof some very famous “songwriters.” That IS the premise, and D has set him and an M type “just ugh” up as a “songwriting team.” One that is, in THAT clip, not so great, and in fact terrible. But, D is in deep with the professional songwriters guild. THAT, is fact. But why, exactly? Is he “ghostwriting” for someone famous for writing ALL their own songs? Mariah just got into their Hall of Fame, gossip is she wrote nothing much, all ghosted.

So, Royalties? Will it make fun of that type power pop star? Will they be credited, or “ghosted” so the star gets all or most of the credit? Mariah is not the only power pop star D has been associated with, in strange but oddly significant ways. It is very telling that most celebs on Lip Sync Battle compete against a former co-star, “significant other,” or old pal. Not D, and that meant something. L.A. Reid has a long connection with Mariah. To the public, D has no connection with either.

So, when you do a Mariah tribute on a show as kitschy popular with superfans of celebs as Lip Synch Battle, you would OF COURSE pick L.A. Reid, who is a power producer of more than a little questionable reputation and no real entertainer on his own, really, but well connected as her long-time producer/rumored former lover/long time cheerleader and friend. And D. Who is WHAT to them both, exactly? That whole thing NEVER made sense, except that D BECAME Mariah, and stole that show. Hmmmm…

Who else does D know that is a huge star that writes their own songs? In fact, is known for that, even critically praised, well above her singing abilities? Tay/lor. He was at one of her concerts, and was greeted in the crowd by her mom. He has been behind her in another venue, they have crossed paths. At this point, she has certainly been managed, or managed herself, much better than Bieber, her male counterpart. IF she has ghostwriters, they would be well-hidden and tightly secured.

**************************************************

Hello @rougedraconteur. Cough, cough, hack indeed.  I will never believe some random person went and deleted posts and blocked people from a band’s SM that most people have never heard of. In my opinion, inside job, meant to send a direct message, which to us is unclear, but the recipient received it, of that i have no question (I have wondered if D has tried to withhold the new EP, nothing else much makes sense especially in light of his brother seemingly struggling to pay the bills).

Really interesting on the song reference in the tweet “once I’m out of the woods”, I have never heard that song, but wow, how close is this to what i perceive as reality? This could BE D and now that i understand the reference, just like i think he wrote the tweets from NYE  when he said “and here we are now, I made it, we made it. I’ve been looking forward to to this for a long time…the Soaring Twenties…seeing clearly in 2020”, I am starting to lean he wrote these tweets that indicated he was “tending to some other obligations” (which include a fake wedding, endless promotion for Swiller, Fashion Shows, Family Honeymoon in the Philippines, TB commercials and other endless adds, and promoting SK). Far too smart for the Jumping Jackass or PBB. And well, in combination, an interesting series of tweets.

For those other who don’t know the song:

Looking at it now It all seems so simple We were lying on your couch I remember You took a Polaroid of us Then discovered (then discovered) The rest of the world was black and white But we were in screaming color And I remember thinking

Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet, good

Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet, good

Are we out of the woods

Looking at it now Last December (last December) We were built to fall apart Then fall back together (back together) Ooh your necklace hanging from my neck The night we couldn’t quite forget When we decided (we decided) to move the furniture so we could dance Baby, like we stood a chance Two paper airplanes flying, flying, flying And I remember thinking

Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet, good

Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet, good

Are we out of the woods?

Remember when you hit the brakes too soon Twenty stitches in a hospital room When you started crying baby, I did too But when the sun came up I was looking at you Remember when we couldn’t take the heat I walked out, I said, I’m setting you free But the monsters turned out to be just trees When the sun came up you were looking at me

You were looking at me

Oh! You were looking at me

Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods? (I remember) Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? (Oh, I remember)Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet, good

Dare I hope that perhaps D is really optimistic about the year ahead?  Because add in the HW stuff (on 2 most anticipated queer shows of 2020 lists, the reference to SB being leaked, what we know about the other characters, what we don’t know about Raymond, and the otherwise silence about the show), things are, shall we say, interesting.

On R/oyalties, a/k/a the show that is used to pay out every user/leach in his life (SK, RR, PBB, Algorithm Winners, etc), my understanding, and it is limited, is that they are in fact writing songs for popular, mainstream artists. Unclear if they are named songwriters or if they will be “ghosting” for people and based on the fact that the first artist is played by CT, I would venture to guess that they talent isn’t that amazing, so yes in many ways, making fun of the talent and pointing out that behind most of these mainstream acts are writers we never know or see.

On D himself ghosting, quite possible right?  It could explain a lot.  Including, if he bought it, being pushed to buy a $3 million home for his beard (which could possible be an agreed upon pay out). I have always wondered how D got out of his record contract and this just might be an explanation. Perhaps he agreed that instead of releasing his own music that was not authentically him, he agreed to write music for other artists that may or may not include the above reference individuals?  No question, his spot on Lip Sync Battle was odd if there is no association to MC and yes, she has a clear and obvious connection to to L.A.  This is no question, something to think about and ponder.  He is an incredibly talented songwriter who, to date, has not released, that we are aware of, a ton of material. It would make sense if he is writing for others and I would guess ghosting would pay well.  You definitely made me think.  

mmack062. 1Just a quick correction, it was Jermaine Dupri (Janet Jackson’s former fiance) not LA Reid on LSB with D.

ajw720 Thanks @mmack0621!

flowersintheattic254 Only 2 things spring to mind here. 1. Was the run of butterfly posts from C prior to and after D’s lipsynch performance so maybe he has ghost written for MK and 2. Once ‘he’s out of the woods’. It may be a reference to a TS song, but considering the location for the sham was in the woods I would like to hope he’s near to escaping and out of the woods soon 😉.

ajw720  @flowersintheattic254 perhaps a double meaning then?

C posted this before the battle.

rougedraconteur. I like this, and I like Tay/lor, although that is a recent development, on my part,  but I think she is coming more into her own with more near total control over HER mammoth “overnight” breakout career than she ever had before. Remind you of somebody? Getting there, anyway. And yeah, some folks have to write under another name, for various reasons.

Butterfly IS a Mari/ah Car/ey Trademark, but it is for Tay, too.  She posted a giant butterfly on a wall in Nashville with her most recent album.  Not saying we are right, in either case or with the connections, but I believe you should look at everything and how it might connect, as a possible piece of this puzzle.  Mar/iah was recently inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame, as a recent piece of gossip I saw stated, though she was unqualified for it.  Ghostwriters who CAN’T be revealed because the celeb and management won’t allow it, as detremental to the Big Star who is a MoneyMaker.

Can anyone verify that D’s old roomie Je/ff Jerni/gan, who went with D to Ka/tyPer/ry’s western bday party, around 2012 or 2013 maybe, during THOSE years, was with ASCAP in some “official” capacity, and that his sister worked in a big-sounding job with F/ox At that time? Connections.  I know JJ has moved on now, but D has always been involved with ASCAP and recognized as a SONGWRITER, even by Gl/ee and RIB, and hung around with other songwriters and big pop stars kind of above his pay grade at the time, if you get my drift.

Think of the swiftie songs both D AND C have sung or lipsynced to in their online posts.  They connect to at least some of her stuff in SOME way.  And that’s a fact.

ajw720 Just adding a few significant facts.  The Human EP was released on my birthday in 2010 (July 20) a few months prior to rocketing to stardom, seemingly giving him an even bigger platform to have his music heard.  Since that time, D has released very few original songs (almost 10 years) even though we know he was signed to a record deal with Columbia for several years and he has told us that he wrote and recorded many songs for an eventual album that was never released.  He even spent an entire summer in the UK writing songs  with people like B/runo M/ars.  And Columbia funded a summer tour to test his songs and popularity. A tour that sold out. So what has D released?

1 Solo EP with 4 original songs, one of which he claimed was written many years ago when he 1st performed it (untrue written during LU) and 1 of which he has given his brother credit for writing the chorus.

1 EP with his brother with 4 original songs, which he claims were mainly written by his brother

1 SK show back in 2011

2 original songs performed on G/lee

And 4 or 5 songs for the LU tour, none of which were released (I don’t count IDM as that wasn’t specifically written for the tour and only performed once).  And ONE of those songs was “ghostwritten” by wa/tsky (either Pheromones or PPG)

The songs he wrote for R/oyalties yet to be released

In 10 years, he has released FOUR solo tunes, FOUR, despite being signed to a huge contract. FOUR, on an indy label.  And I believe he only released them because he was forced by contract as he owed it to the Jumping Jackass (hence the name H/omework, a chore that has to be done).  And a total of, not including R/oyalties, maybe 30 including a musical for his theater group that was performed 9 years ago.  Where has all his music gone?  Now, I am certain he is holding back on solo tunes because he does not want them associated with PBB.  But still, it is a least worth questioning.

[hatari-translations]

20 questions meme

All right, all right, I will do one tag thing, since @im-yotsu​ called me out specifically. Anyone who wants to do this, feel free to consider yourselves tagged.

(rules: answer 20 questions and then tag 20 people you want to get to know better.)

1. Nicknames: Butterfree, Dragonfree, antialiasis, newly hatari-translations.

2. Zodiac sign: Well. I grew up being told I was an aquarius, and then spent my childhood with that as my zodiac sign and identifying with the aquarius entries on all the lists, and then I talked to a girl who was actually seriously into astrology and she informed me that nope, February 18th 1990 at like 23:48 PM makes me a pisces, I’ve been a pisces all along, and then I just flipped tables and decided no aquarius is my pseudoscience sports team and you can’t take it away from me, it’s not like the position of the sun relative to the arbitrary constellations we observe because distant stars happen to appear close to each other as seen from Earth actually has any kind of effect on anything that happens on Earth, I will continue to root for Team Aquarius and you can’t stop me.

3. Height: About 166cm, last I checked.

4. Hogwarts house: Very Ravenclaw.

5. Last thing I googled: Uhh. Something to do with the salt in the porridge bit in X, probably.

6. Favourite musicians: My current obsession may be Hatari, but my all-time favorite band is Pink Floyd.

7. Song stuck in my head: Hlauptu.

8. Following: 124

9. Followers: 695

10. Do you get asks: A bunch on this blog! Requests, questions, and some people who are just being incredibly lovely and thanking me for the blog. I don’t get a lot of asks on my main blog, but every now and then.

11. Amount of sleep: My sleep schedule is the worst thing known to man, but right now I’m unemployed and can sleep in every day, so despite going to bed at increasingly ludicrous times, I’m getting like seven hours of sleep.

12. Lucky number: 12. I’m very amused that’s the number of this question.

13. What are you wearing: Uhhhh, right now I’m in bed and wearing nothing.

14. Dream job: Writer, but realistically, I just want to be a programmer somewhere that pays me reliably and on time (my last job did not fulfill this criterion).

15. Dream trip: My favorite trips involve visiting internet friends, wherever they happen to live.

16. Instruments: I played the recorder and then the piano as a kid, but I hated practicing and pretty much quit at sixteen or so.

17. Languages: Icelandic, English, a smattering of Danish and German (but you would pretty much have to hold a gun to my head to make me attempt to speak them), the basicest basics of Japanese.

18. Favourite songs: God, I have no earthly idea. I tend to listen to entire albums over individual songs, and even then it’s just a different one for whatever mood I happen to be in. Honestly? First single song that came to mind is Hope from Groundhog Day the musical, which I’m sure absolutely none of you have heard and probably none of you have even heard of.

19. Random facts: I am married and my husband is very cute, I run a Pokémon website, this Wednesday marks one year since I completed an epic-length Pokémon fanfic that I’d been working on for sixteen years, Pokémon is actually my primary fandom for life no regrets, SOMEONE IN THE HATARI FANDOM ACTUALLY CONTACTED ME TO TELL ME THEY WERE A BIG FAN OF MY POKÉMON WEBSITE AND I JUST ABOUT DIED

20. Aesthetics: I almost exclusively wear jeans and geeky T-shirts, I arranged shelves full of Pokémon plushies in our bedroom, and I’m a fan of relatively minimalistic web design. I had no interest in anything like Hatari’s aesthetic before suddenly Hatari whoops I guess I’m into bondage harnesses now

#memes #I don't feel like this was all that informative #but I hope some of you enjoyed my overlong answers #I will ramble about Anything #even 'what's your zodiac sign'

[rosalind-of-arden]

Smoke and Iron Reread chapter 8

Time for more Wolfe. Let’s see what interesting details turn up in this chapter. The Artifex makes his appearance. Fuck you, Artifex. Bit of discussion of torture in this one, as we have the Artifex’s threats and a bit of commentary on prison conditions.

“He woke in the dark, disoriented, and for a moment he reached out to touch Santi’s sleeping form, only to hit cold stone.” Break my heart in the first line, why don’t you, Caine? Especially sad when you remember from the journal in Paper and Fire that when he’s at home with Santi, he often wakes up thinking he’s still in prison.

Wolfe’s first reaction to hearing a voice after realizing he’s in prison is to seriously consider the possibility that it isn’t real. That gives us an idea of just how much he must have hallucinated in Rome.

Seriously, Artifex? You wake someone up in the middle of the night and when he doesn’t want to talk right away, you jump right to threatening to murder the person in the next cell over? That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?

So we already have questionable rations on our list of human rights abuses in this prison. Let’s add sleep deprivation now. This shit is torture. Not as violent and gory as what the Library was doing in Rome, but still.

The power imbalance the Artifex creates for this conversation is over the top, and really highlights both his hatred for Wolfe and his fear of Wolfe. There are bars between them. Wolfe has just woken up abruptly. The Artifex is standing while Wolfe is sitting. The Artifex shines a light in Wolfe’s eyes.

Wolfe’s eyes have trouble adjusting to the light. Just age, as he thinks? Or lasting damage from Rome?

Wolfe has guts of steel. Artifex comes to threaten him, and here he is snarking at the Artifex.

Interesting, the terms the Artifex uses to describe Wolfe. He calls him a “bully,” which would seem to fit the Artifex himself better than Wolfe. Wolfe can be manipulative and demanding, but we don’t see the cruelty for its own sake that would go with bullying. And then there’'s the usual: arrogant, insufferable, brilliant, driven, haughty. I suspect “believed he could do anything without penalties” has as much to do with Keria as Wolfe himself. He’s probably gotten away with things over the years because of who his mother was. Wolfe might not even be fully aware of that privilege in some cases.

And Wolfe refers to this barrage of insults as “pleasantries.” The only weapon Wolfe has left is his sarcasm, and he is using it to full effect. He keeps up the snark and the defiance even as he recognizes that the Artifex can see past his indifferent front.

More defiance: refusing to verbally agree to cooperate, just giving a very slight nod. The only reason he cooperates even that much is the threat to other prisoners’ lives.

The Artifex cries while ranting about the dangers of freedom. He really believes in what he’s saying. He isn’t only using his ideals as justification to hurt Wolfe, rather, his ideals drive him to hate Wolfe more.

Look how quickly Wolfe gets tired of debating philosophy. It was fun while he was gloating about having the press and the Artifex’s inevitable downfall, but he does not have the patience to actually argue with the Artifex. And that’s an insult, too: he’s stating that the Artifex’s viewpoint is so wrong that it isn’t even worthy of debate.

How to get Wolfe angry? Use his first name without his consent.

The Artifex was Wolfe’s mentor. Given the attitude toward teachers in the Library, I’m guessing he wasn’t the teacher of Wolfe’s postulant class, although that’s a possibility. I’m thinking more likely someone he went off for specialist training with, or someone he worked with right after graduation.

Either while Wolfe was a postulant or shortly after he graduated, the Artifex sent him on a mission that was a trap. Wolfe nearly died, but he succeeded and earned his gold band. The Artifex got filthy rich. No further details given. This could have been Wolfe’s final test as a postulant. This could be an assignment after that. If Stormcrow is canon, this would have had to happen before that, so when Wolfe was 15-17ish, and it would have had to take place in Alexandria.

Presumably, that assignment is the reason Wolfe and the Artifex ceased getting along. Wolfe resented being used. Wolfe-Jess parallels, anyone? 

The Artifex is possibly the closest thing Wolfe had to a father figure. And Wolfe wishes he could block out his memories of that relationship. The only other memories he wants to block are his memories of Rome. Was there anything genuine in that mentor-student relationship at all, or did Wolfe, alone as he was, just not recognize right away that he was being used by someone he thought cared about him?

This is a calculated strike by the Artifex, telling Wolfe now that what he thought was his own accomplishment despite the Artifex was actually the result of the Artifex’s manipulation. It makes Wolfe doubt himself and the foundation of his career, at a time when he’s already shaken.

How much effort did it take for Wolfe to snark about being tortured here? He usually won’t even talk about it.

The Artifex uses a note to tell Wolfe to kill himself. This seems very awkward in an otherwise verbal conversation. Why use paper, which could be kept as evidence, when he’s so sure that there will be no record of his visit to the prison? I suspect that the Artifex wants to make very sure no one overhears his exact offer to Wolfe. Maybe he doesn’t trust the automata really not to be recording. Maybe he’s worries about the other prisoners, guards, or the Scholar with him, overhearing. Regardless, the offer he makes is something that goes against the Archivist’s plans, and he doesn’t want anyone to hear. He can get that paper back from Wolfe, but he can’t do anything about being heard stating his terms.

But then they discuss it out loud. Plausible deniability, though, for the Artifex. He can say anyone reporting what he and Wolfe discussed after reading the note lacked context and misunderstood what was being offered.

Does the Artifex really expect Wolfe to kill himself? I’m not sure about that. The offer to protect Santi in exchange for Wolfe’s suicide seems more like an impossible dilemma for Wolfe than an attempt to persuade him. In order for suicide to be a viable option, Wolfe would have to trust the Artifex’s claim that he has Santi and trust the Artifex to keep his word that he will protect Santi. Wolfe does not trust the Artifex. I think the goal of this visit was more to psychologically torture Wolfe than to convince him to kill himself. Wolfe just isn’t going to trust the Artifex enough to think that killing himself will really save Santi. Instead, he’ll spend the next three days, at least, thinking about what might happen to Santi, doubting the plan he thought he’d figured out, and being plagued by suicidal thoughts. The Artifex mainly wants to hurt Wolfe; driving him to suicide would be an added bonus, but it isn’t the primary goal.

Even with the Artifex presenting Wolfe with a nightmare scenario, Wolfe keeps his composure. He keeps his voice steady, he throws the note, he dismisses the Artifex. Defiance matters a lot to him. He does not want to give the Artifex any kind of victory. Is this how he was in Rome, too? Or is it a response to how badly he fell apart in Rome? Some of both, perhaps.

After this visit from the Artifex, Wolfe is upset. Before, he was certain of the plan and his role in it. Now he has doubts that will gnaw at him, and the Artifex has stirred up fears of Santi being hurt. He’s shaking, he’s upset, and he’s engaging in self harm.

Wolfe hits the wall until his hand bleeds. Rough stone? Or a wrist fracture, as @thegreatlibraryfangirl has suggested? Either way, a sign of just how distressed Wolfe has become.

Timeline stuff: It is not at all clear when this chapter takes place. It could be right after chapter 7. It could be closer to Wolfe’s next chapter, chapter 20. The three days the Artifex gives Wolfe to kill himself could be completely arbitrary, or they could represent the time the Artifex is expecting the ship to take to get to Alexandria. If this is based on ship timing, then this chapter probably comes shortly after Chapter 6, when the ship has been diverted, but the Artifex wouldn’t know it yet. The Artifex’s offer/threat is not mentioned again, so either chapter 20 is less than three days after this, or it is so long past three days that Wolfe has concluded that the Artifex was lying and forgotten about the whole thing. I lean toward thinking this chapter comes closer to chapter 7 than 20, but you could read it either way.

#The Great Library #smoke and iron reread #smoke and iron spoilers #torture

[thewritewolf]

Marinette March Day 17 - Failure

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Some attempts are successful, but most aren’t. Today’s story is about the latter. 

@marinettemarch

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

The bell above the bakery entrance announced her presences as Marinette trudged inside. The rain water slid off her black umbrella as she closed it and stashed it nearby. It had been her hope that bringing it along would help give her courage for what she wanted to do today, like some sort of magic talisman, but it hadn’t worked. None of it had worked out and she was right back to where she started once again.

“Hello, sweetie-” Her mother gasped and rushed over from behind the counter. With a gentle sweep of her hand she brushed aside the nascent tears that Marinette had hoped the rain would help hide. “Sweetheart, what happened?”

“Nothing, mom, really just…” She gave her best reassuring smile. “More of the same, I guess.”

This did nothing to console her mother, who stepped behind Marinette to flip the sign on the door to ‘Closed.’ “Follow me, dear, we’re going to make some nice soothing tea and then you’re going to tell me all about what happened.”

She knew better than to argue. Besides, who was she to decline an offer of her mom’s tea? No matter how hard Marinette tried, she could never quite make it the same way her mother could, leaving it with this special quality that instantly gave her some small piece of mind. Sure enough, after watching the almost zen ease with which her mother made the brew and taking a few sips on the kitchen table, Marinette was already feeling calmer.

“There’s only three things I can think of that could get you this worked up and I don’t remember you having any problems with Alya or your designing recently. Is this about Adrien?”

Marinette nodded slowly before burying her face in her hands on top the table. “Am I really that predictable?”

Patting her daughter’s head, she replied, “I just know the things that you feel the strongest about. Your emotions are very powerful, dear, and you feel them with all your heart. You’re filled with such passion.” She cupped Marinette’s cheek, pulling her eyes back onto her. “But sometimes that can come back and hurt you.” She let go of her and took a sip of tea. “So tell me what happened.”

“Today was going to be the day. I was going to tell him how I felt.”

Her mother put her hand on her chest, sympathetic pain evident in her face. “Oh no, dear. Did he…?”

She shook her head bitterly. “No, I was too scared and I just… let him go without saying anything.” She bit back tears. “Today I was finally going to tell him how I felt. It was going to be different. But I didn’t. Just like everyday.”

Suddenly her mother was at her side, holding her in a hug. “Oh, sweetie. You can’t force these things, no matter how much you want to.”

The feeble attempt she’d been making to hold back finally broke. She cried into her mother’s shoulder and got mad at herself for it. Nothing happened. He didn’t reject her, she just didn’t do anything. Why should she get so worked up over it?

“I know it’s frustrating,” her mother continued soothingly, as if reading her mind, “and I know it hurts. It’s alright to feel this way.” Her hand settled on the back of Marinette’s head. “It might not have worked out today, but you’ll get there eventually. You just need to be patient and get there in your own time. Otherwise, you’ll be making up arbitrary deadlines for yourself like today and just causing yourself misery.”

“Do you think he’ll like me back, mom?”

“He’d be an idiot not to.” That pulled a laugh out of Marinette, which her mother joined. “And if he is an idiot, then the best thing to do is move on with grace. Life is too short to pine over what might have been, sweetheart.” Her warmth left her as she returned to her seat. The topic changed to safer, more mundane ground. When Marinette finished her tea, she kissed her mom’s cheek and went upstairs. There would be other chances.

Today was a setback, but one day… one day, she’d confess to Adrien.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Sabine Cheng #MarinetteMarch #ml fanfiction #my writing