At long last, "Signs and Portents", a tale of Iain Burwell and the William Clark, is up. Enjoy!
Don't care too much for the new cast (I'm a huge Grunt fan, but this Burwell guy has nothing on everyone's favorite Starfleet Ferengi), but one bit really jumped out at me.
Sisko. Knows. The. Doctor.
This makes such perfect sense, I don't know why nobody thought of it before.
Mind = blown.
I salute you, jonsills! You have made me a very happy reader once again!
It surprised me actually. It was the first time I've ever let the characters tell me what happened. I know writers say that all the time, but its never happened to me. It was really weird not knowing where I was going.
In the end, it became less about gender, and more about my Character encountering another version of himself. A version that hadnt gone through what he had. It turned into a little 'therapy session' for him.
I have a vague idea for prompt number 1. It's completely out of left field, may use the prompt TOO loosely, and doesn't so much break the 4th wall as shatter it outright, but...
It's a cool idea. So I may just write it up and post it.
It surprised me actually. It was the first time I've ever let the characters tell me what happened. I know writers say that all the time, but its never happened to me. It was really weird not knowing where I was going.
In the end, it became less about gender, and more about my Character encountering another version of himself. A version that hadnt gone through what he had. It turned into a little 'therapy session' for him.
I guess he needed it.
Very interesting entry.
And as for the ending... well... only one thing to say to that:
It surprised me actually. It was the first time I've ever let the characters tell me what happened. I know writers say that all the time, but its never happened to me. It was really weird not knowing where I was going.
In the end, it became less about gender, and more about my Character encountering another version of himself. A version that hadnt gone through what he had. It turned into a little 'therapy session' for him.
I guess he needed it.
Excellent entry, and yeah, it's fun when they do the talking, isn't it :cool:
@jonsills - Great entry, yet again. Although I'm a fan of Grunt, I can appreciate something new. I envy your writing the Prophets dialogue. I have no faith in my ability to pull that off.
@proteusrex - Having the characters talk to me is how I've pulled out the past few LCs :P Great entry that demands a continuation!
How do you track the continuity of your characters and stories?
What kinds of tools and tricks do you use?
I'm new to this, I've only written a handful of LCs and never ventured too far outside the LC threads. But it's becoming apparent to me that you guys have built an amazing community here, and your characters have huge intricate backstories that go beyond the LCs themselves.
My characters and stories have been born in the LCs themselves. This used to fine, I'd find a spot in my characters timeline the suited the LC, and then write a story.
Now everything is starting to take on a life of its own. I have emotional scars, spies, sabotage. Suddenly, I'm building a world, and I'm a bit overwhelmed by it all.*
Any advice? How do you keep things straight?
How do you track the continuity of your characters and stories?
What kinds of tools and tricks do you use?
I'm new to this, I've only written a handful of LCs and never ventured too far outside the LC threads. But it's becoming apparent to me that you guys have built an amazing community here, and your characters have huge intricate backstories that go beyond the LCs themselves.
My characters and stories have been born in the LCs themselves. This used to fine, I'd find a spot in my characters timeline the suited the LC, and then write a story.
Now everything is starting to take on a life of its own. I have emotional scars, spies, sabotage. Suddenly, I'm building a world, and I'm a bit overwhelmed by it all.*
Any advice? How do you keep things straight?
Loved your story btw, especially the whole *spoilers* sabotage at the end, it was a great piece that was synched with the end.
To answer your question, it's all in my head, and within the LCs I write. Gregs never had a scar on his eye, heck he wasn't even an Ocampa/Vulcanoid hybrid at the time, he was just Gregs the big headed green alien.
Heck Gregs wasn't even in love with Zinuzze his Xo, until his time traveling great grandson who was half Ocampa/Trill came, until he was retconned out by me, did Gregs actually fall in love.
The LCs helped me expand my character, and all of them are saved to my computer, so I can reference for continuity error. But that's just me personally, I don't know so much how others keep track.
How do you track the continuity of your characters and stories?
What kinds of tools and tricks do you use?
I keep it in my head for the most part. I have a few stories in very rough draft form on my computer, and I create stuff as part of my daily life. Often by rehearsing dialogue out loud (I'm something of an amateur actor).
I do have a loose timeline stored in Word, though. The basic outline with approximate dates is:
January 2409: Unit designation Three gets spat out into the Star Trek universe by a malfunctioning wormhole device. She beats up a MACO team that responds to her threatening a shuttlebay departure officer with painful dismemberment, and is hired by Admiral Quinn (the real one) after being taken down by overwhelming energy weapons fire. She trades her services for a hot date with a naughty holoprogram actress, a chance to meet Picard, and a starship (the USS Douglass, a retrofitted Cheyenne-class, which she renames the George Takei).
March 2409: Hakeev attacks Virinat. D'trel (using one of her throwaway aliases) gathers a group of survivors and joins the Romulan Republic. She meets Omek'ti'kallan and becomes a liaison to the KDF after a bad experience with the Vulcan supremacist Admiral T'nae at the Khitomer conference.
May 2409: Three and D'trel collaborate on the Hakeev problem; Three is captured by Hakeev on Nopada Prime but escapes and kills numerous Tal Shiar troops. Three and D'trel capture Hakeev; Three tortures him and D'trel kills him after he reveals what he did to D'trel's fiancee sixty years ago. Three is assigned a part-time "babysitter" in the form of Captain Trenek of the USS Challenger.
September 2409: Iconian gateway opened on Mol'Rihan. Three and D'trel save numerous VIPs from Iconian servitors and drones. D'trel shows increased signs of homocidal mania towards Iconian and servitor forces. USS George Takei heavily damaged in battle with Elachi forces, Three is transferred to USS Predator (a repurposed Breen cruiser).
October-November 2409: A Voth dissident joins D'trel's command staff after his refugee visa application is accepted by Romulan High Command. USS George Takei returned to active duty under Three's command as the Predator undergoes a refit.
December 2409: Jenolan sphere reached during Solanae Sphere incident. Three is attacked and maimed by an Iconian called Supreme High Lord Inevitably-fated-for-Greatness on an away mission. The George Takei is heavily damaged in the escape and is finally scrapped.
February 2410: USS Predator destroyed in combat. Three accepts command of the USS Atlantis (Avenger-class), which she renames the George Takei. Jenolan sphere conference; Three and D'trel fight off Undine forces at Earth Spacedock and Qo'noS. Supreme High Lord Inevitably-fated-for-Greatness attacks the celebrations in the Great Hall; Three attacks him, is restrained telekinetically and has her leg flesh liquefied, but provides a distraction allowing Omek'ti'kallan and D'trel to take the Iconian down. D'trel informs the temporarily-disabled SHLIFFG of her hatred for his entire species and her intent to drive the Iconian race extinct, then executes him by shooting him point-blank in the face with a disruptor rifle.
Mid-2410: Three kills a Borg Queen, and Trenek is partially assimilated in a chaotic fight in the Vega system. Admiral Quinn replaced by an Undine infiltrator.
Early 2412: Ha'ni species invades the Star Trek universe; see the link in my sig.
I'm new to this, I've only written a handful of LCs and never ventured too far outside the LC threads. But it's becoming apparent to me that you guys have built an amazing community here, and your characters have huge intricate backstories that go beyond the LCs themselves.
My characters and stories have been born in the LCs themselves. This used to fine, I'd find a spot in my characters timeline the suited the LC, and then write a story.
Now everything is starting to take on a life of its own. I have emotional scars, spies, sabotage. Suddenly, I'm building a world, and I'm a bit overwhelmed by it all.*
Any advice? How do you keep things straight?
Well...
D'trel honestly grew from the LCs organically, like your characters are.
Three is a more complicated story; she was originally a mash-up of a Mary Sue parody and a more squicky look into what happens when you actually have a living weapon that obeys your every command (and yes, jonsills, she was SCP-level creepy). Eventually, the unit grew into the psychotic augment who I write today; I toned down the creepy a lot, gave her a single really human trait (since like Three, I can't stand r***), and added the imprints because I felt like sticking a really big stake in the entire idea of involuntary imprinting, which I feel people today are just waaaaaaaaay too OK with (c.f. the poodle man from Twilight, the dragon/rider bonds in Eragon and Dragonriders of Pern...).
[snipped because it took up too much space and time] Basically, the character of Three is a combination thought experiment and inversion/lampshading of the Mary Sue phenomenon, only she kind of snowballed. Her bridge crew are both interesting personalities I came up with and foils for the unit's sadism.
Then I brought the whole mess onto these forums. I got about the response that I expected on the first couple of stories, so I kicked the snot out of the unit a couple of times and did a giant collab with marcusdkane that spawned some of the best jokes I've ever written (live epohhs for dinner...:cool:). Seems to have worked out OK.
D'trel was entirely grown in the LCs, although I DID write up a set of backstories and character motivations for her and her supporting cast once I had a few of her stories under my belt.
I suggest writing up a background for each of your characters, and just drawing up a loose calendar. There will be continuity snarls at some point; just go back and add a ship swap here or a crew transfer there. Characters get Put On The Bus on Trek all the time.
As long as you have a loose timeline, and you know the basic life stories of each of the characters and where you want to take them, you'll be fine. Don't stress about it; I got a really cool set of stories out of what was originally a depressed Romulan who hates Hakeev and a bunch of random bridge officers. Now I know all of those bridge officers by name, rank, and occupation, as well as rattling off a couple of random personal details off the top of my head. And D'trel's gone from just hating Hakeev to having serious counselling for the side effects of nearly six decades of hate buried for over five years suddenly resurfacing with a vengeance. Worlds tend to grow on you like that.
In short, keep a set of backstories and a loose calendar, and don't sweat the finer details of the timeline too much. You'll do fine.
Best wishes, and looking forward to more quality stories from you,
Worffan101
I started with basically what I wanted to RP (in my head; the only RP folks I've found online are into either godmoding or ERP, neither of which appeal to me). I wanted Grunt to be a highly-atypical Ferengi; his XO/science officer, Roclak, to be a discommendated Klingon who didn't like talking about it; and since I got a purple Pakled engineer, I ran with that. The Andorians were pretty generic at first, and the others didn't even come along until later.
The personalities grew and became more distinct as I wrote the LCs, though. And I keep track of that by keeping copies of all my stories, and referring back to them as necessary. (The USS Pournelle was an advanced escort belonging to my former Tac captain, the Vulcan Sajak. I had to delete him later because I wanted the slot for another character idea, but his ship still appears in several of my stories, and in the last stroy I wrote involving my main, VA Sills, Sajak had a cameo as an old friend from midshipman days aboard the Northwestern.)
Also, whenever I gave Grunt a new ship, I would jot down the ship's name, NCC number, and class, and who her crew was (with notes about any new ones, like Lt. Reuben Manalang). Sometimes, as with Brel Tan or Mycroft, I had to create a character that didn't have an in-game prompt; I used to be afraid to do that, but I've gotten more confident over time.
So partly in my head, partly in the files; I have to have enough of them in my head that they can give me a scene to hang a story on. (That's why my last one was about Capt. Burwell, the time-lost former UESPA Star Fleet ensign thrown almost 250 years into his future by an incident involving a nearby Romulan raider hitting a primordial black hole; the scene with the Prophets was what came to me first, but Grunt stubbornly refused to be in it. Iain showed up there instead.)
@proteusrex - Great question! The same thing happened to me when I started writing (world-building and keeping up with it). You'll have to find a way to keep it all in check that works for you, but from the responses so far there are some reoccurring themes. I wish I could add something more profound.
* Keep the world alive in your head - it may even become a small obsession how often you think about who your characters are and how to convey their divergent personalities.
* Make notes - I'm old-school and prefer paper and pencil with files and blah blah.
* Find a repository for your work - Having said the above, I created a BlogSpot site where I copy/paste from here to there; all my stories are in one place and easy for me to see, versus the click-fest it takes to find my entries here.
* Adapt with your characters - Characters do not have to have rigid personality traits because their intro post made them that way. Also, maybe a name will change but the character doesn't ... that's okay.
There are other things I do (and have seen others do occasionally) that helps me with continuity: actually make links to the other entries from the current post. The LCs have up to 20+ posters sharing their crew. Some posters are more prolific than others (Worffan, Jonsills, Marcusdkane to name a few) - but that doesn't mean the reader is keeping up with every character. So if I want to reference a previous LC, then why not just link to it?
I also do not use linear story telling with the LCs. Some find it a challenge to take the theme and it is like "the next episode". Without a linear progression, I have the freedom to just tell a story. Needless to say, linking to previous posts means there IS a progressive story going on ... and maybe there is (dun dun duuuun).
Next, it helps me that my characters actually exist in the game. I can "see" them and sometimes become inspired by them (if that sounds right).
Finally, I took a queue from marcusdkane and put a real face to the character as if the entry were to to be an actual TV episode or scene from a movie. For example, my Captain would be acted by Rachel Nichols, while the Andorian First Officer would be played by Katheryn Winnick. I had to do a cast switch, but the character was made better for it I think.
Anyways, I hope this just adds to help you. I'm sure there are other things and ways to do it
Finally, I took a queue from marcusdkane and put a real face to the character as if the entry were to to be an actual TV episode or scene from a movie. For example, my Captain would be acted by Rachel Nichols, while the Andorian First Officer would be played by Katheryn Winnick. I had to do a cast switch, but the character was made better for it I think.
I ended up doing this, just for fun, actually, although I have to admit that it's seriously useful.
This is a cast list for D'trel's crew in LC 63. This is a cast list for Three and her bridge crew (taken from my one-shot "Iconian"). All credit to marcusdkane for finding a human who looks even vaguely like a unit.
Wow ... Monica Martin ... Ok, that DOES make sense. Makes me wonder how Marcus found that fit
I don't fully know myself, not sure if I want to. But she's the closest I've ever seen to Three, so...
The problem with the unit is the same with, say, a Gorn, or a Wookie; her body is well enough outside the human baseline that any live-action portrayal will likely involve full-body prosthetics. The subdermal plating, which is visible beneath her skin, further complicates matters.
But to answer your original question: Not sure, not sure that I want to know. I am duly impressed by marcusdkane's skill at finding a vaguely appropriate casting choice, though. :cool:
I tend to make notes in txt files all over my desktop. I just opened up a new one (tentatively called New Text Document (4).txt) , so I'll probably bring the bits and pieces together, copy some extracts from my LCs and build out a 'series bible', a loose timeline and some character sheets.
It's also really neat to hear the inspirations for your characters. I'll share my own 'secret origins'.
When I was a kid, my father introduced me to TOS. TNG was already on the air, but we had rural television (consisting of 4 channels) so I never got to see it until years after it had aired. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've only seen about half of the eps (but I've researched them all). Anyhoo, I played 'Star Trek' with my friends at school. I was the Captain of a Miranda class starship named "Explorer". (It was actually a jungle gym.)
When I started playing STO, you can imagine my delight when I loaded the tutorial and found a Miranda class. Since then, I've stuck with the name 'Explorer' increasing it's designation as I progress through the Starship Tiers.
Captain Merrik, is based off a character I created in highschool. He was a man that discovers that he is an artificial copy of a person and not a real person. He wrestles with his existence, and if he has 'a soul' before facing off against the 'real' him and another duplicate for the right to live. The Silverblood lifeform seen in Voyager (Demon/Course Oblivion) gave me a nice "canon" way to bring this character into the game since I like him so much.
My crew is largely representative of the characters I've created in game. Though the more I write about them the more 'real' they become. I find myself logging in sometimes just to 'look' at my bridge crew.
I think I'll have to spend some time 'casting' my crew. It seems like a really fun exercise.
Well, I've started on prompt 2. Like the first, it throws half of it out of the window, but it's coming along.
As for maintaining continuity, all my characters and bridge crew exist in game. They get their bios written in there and then expanded upon in these LC's. Keeping all the past lc's on the computer and use them for reference whenever is needed is a must if you want to keep continuity. I wish I could give more advice, but they just sorta.... stick in my memory as who they are. Though their personalities certainly expanded greatly when I started writing these. And in fact, was the reason I took out Stunshock. I still play him in game, but he had no personality. Don't be afraid to take characters down new paths if that is how they react to stories.
Just give it practice, with time, you start to develop a writer's mentality and these things will become easier.
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A Romulan Strike Team, Missing Farmers and an ancient base on a Klingon Border world. But what connects them? Find out in my First Foundary mission: 'The Jeroan Farmer Escapade'
It helps if you've read #63...but I think I put enough explanation in this one to give the gist of what's going on...you know...like how in the movies they have to explain that Data's an android, just in case people have just tuned in for the first time...
Reciprocal review protocol is in place...review mine and I review yours in priority sequence!
Taking a quick break, then on to catch up on the 63's I've missed (Worffan101 & Cmdrscarlet, read yours first since you reviewed mine! Comments in 63 discussion thread!)
@proteusrex: what do I do? Well, my first LC had so many things thrown in, I didn't really know how to tell the story, so I left it ambiguous. (I originally wanted to express a fan's frustration at the lack of continuity...you've got the tv/movies, then the novels, then the game, then iterations of alternate realities. I prefer a Trek where if something gets messed up, they attempt to fix the situation (Guardian of Forever), or at least explain it away in a plausible manner (Bell Riots). Today, the differences between the novels/game/movies is so great you can't rectify it! Vulcan exists! Vulcan's Destroyed! Risa is obliterated by the Borg! Risa is your online playground!)
The next LC's allowed me to continue to flesh out the story, so I decided to try to use the prompts as a guideline (the "b" story) while diverting to the tale I wanted to tell (the "a" story). That tale grew and grew to the point that I put together a finale that I hoped wrapped things up. (At that point, health wasn't at a level where I knew if it was going to be a series finale or season finale...but thankfully, it was a season finale, and things are getting better day by day.)
{Thanks to all those that sent well wishes...there are some truly great people on this forum. A welcome respite from forums that spew vitriol, troll for flame wars, and other fun stuff that makes you weep for the state of humanity...but I digress...}
To keep track of everything I've put all the LC's I've written into a huge .doc (some 55.8k words across 154 pages!) that I refer to when I need to remember what fate I've handed whichever character. At the end I put a "notes" section where I list cameos, ship registration, dead/injured characters, and other assorted details, just so I can keep some continuity.
Re: cameos...I like putting them in. Not just Trek characters, but other LC writer's crews. Makes it feel like we're all one big happy fleet. If doing so, check with the writers to see what their preferences are (free use; ok for appearances/flavour text but no dialog; just a name check; PM for any use whatsoever.) My crew's up for grabs for any background action; please PM if using them for dialog, or if you want me in one of my tales to do something that supports something or lays the hook in of your tales.
For inspiration...I check out the prompt, then mull it over on the drive to work while listening to appropriate music. Most of the characters are either lifted out of R/L people I know (so their mannerisms are 'authentic' ) composites of people I know, or are typical or atypical of standard Star Trek characters.
Whatever you do...have fun at it! Because if you're not having fun...well...you better be paid!
All right...I just posted my entry to Prompt #2, proving IMHO that there is absolutely nothing about the genderbending prompt that requires a salacious response.
In a lot of ways, having Alyosha as my "photoreceptors" and "voice" in the STO universe was an enormous boon for tackling a topic like this; the sorts of details that could take an entry in a bad direction just aren't even noticeable to him, or are approached from a point of view that precludes any thoughts that don't belong on the forum.
There were some details as I wrote Alyosha seeing the image of his counterpart that were...actually rather painful for me to write, because of knowing the hurt such things inflict on real people, in our society today.
Overall, I am pleased with what I have written.
@masopw--I have a Cardassian Starfleet admiral/CDF gul that would like to smack that дураг one in a huge way, both for being a denialist a-hole and for shaming the Cardassian people with his disgraceful behavior. I mean Durak...is that where you got his name? It is, after all, how the Russian word for "IDIOT" sounds when pronounced out loud.
@proteusrex--I promise I did NOT look at your entry at all before writing mine. In fact, this is the first time I am even seeing your character. But dang, they are similar! Except it seems that some very different decision-making took place on the Chin'tokas on a certain matter...
Please note that all of my LC entries take place in 2409/2410, before the events of Faces in the Flames. They run in approximate chronological order, except where othewise specified.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Hi Guys, i was thinking if Star Trek Online could have a in build DPS system and a status check for our ships, these could really enhance the game play of some players.
Hi Guys, i was thinking if Star Trek Online could have a in build DPS system and a status check for our ships, these could really enhance the game play of some players.
Or, y'know, we could just have fun without worrying about numbers. Given the topic of the thread, how would a DPS meter make our stories better?
Finally got a chance to read a couple, also figured that I should share feedback since you guys have been so great to me. I'll try to provide some feedback on the others soon.
@jonsills
While I'm a big fan of Grunt's exploits, I like this Captain Iain Burwell, I look forward to seeing him again. I really enjoy your take on the Prohpehts, and how well you've incorporated so many other show/game story elements, but still kept it feeling fresh. I like how you mentioned 'the original Quarks', it immediately made me think that there must be 'Quarks' all over the galaxy. Kind of like the 'Applebees' of the stars. Oh, and that reference to the Doctor made my day.
@masopw
Excellent job introducing Glinn Durak. The personal log entry and his first speaking line, was all I need to completely create an image in my head. He reminds me of those 'villain' characters you see on TV that are so well written/acted that you actually dislike them (and the actor that portrays them). A little quibble, story-wise I understand why you did it, but I'm a little unsure why the Bajorian Science Officer stepped up to explain himself so readily, especially if he was trying to pass it off as an accident to discredit the Cardassians. Maybe things went too bad, too fast for his conscience. Anyhoo, it was a great continuation of LC63, I really enjoyed it. "Rumours in a time of war were dangerous" is a great sentiment to me, reminds me of 'loose lips sink ships'.
@gulberat
I also enjoyed your story. Our stories are very similar, but they hit on a lot of different beats. Its alot of fun to see how the characters act within such a similar structure. I really enjoy that Alyosha was the one to offer the olive branch. Whereas, in mine, Merrik was the sceptical one. Your very last paragraph struck me. I've thought about it before, the lonely nature of our characters. I had a stray thought when writing mine to touch on the idea, but ultimately I didn't. Good job going there. Also, I totally forgot about the 4 Andorian genders.
I haven't read about your character before either. Though I will have to go through the different LCs, and Fan Fic threads. I'm fascinated by Alyosha as he compares to Merrik and would love to do a character comparison with you. They seem to have a lot in common, but go about things in different ways. For character's that are alone in the galaxy, they seem to have a bit of a kindred-spirit thing going on.
Offering the olive branch, as it were, was something Alyosha felt he had to do. Silverbloods, as far as I am aware, aren't a danger to anyone. Normally, Devidians are. So I think he felt it was incumbent upon him to prove he was not a danger, as to his mind, the other crew's suspicions were quite reasonable. You'll also notice that Merrik's nature seems to be known more in the open, whereas Alyosha's is codeword classified.
Should you be interested in reading prior LC's, Alyosha's first appearance is in The Haunting of Deck Thirteen. I don't consistently write for every LC--only if a prompt strikes me. He also appears in "Faces in the Flames" and "Elegia Borealis," which belong to the "shared universe" with patrickngo. There's other stuff in the Ten Forward Fanfic thread.
But mainly I am glad to know you're not upset with me for coming in with a similar concept.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I haven't done much with the LCs either, but I'm enjoying them so much that I'm getting into them more and more. If you want to know more about my characters, check out LC. I wrote LC58-Redacted . I managed to get it in just before Smirk closed the thread.
You're right, Silverbloods are not as dangerous as Devidians.
I think Merrik has the potential to be dangerous, given his shapeshifting abilities. But it has more to do with his personality than his nature. Luckily, Merrik isn't much of an assasin.
My vision of Merrik's origin is that the Proteus program that created him was designed to create a Federation-loyal shapeshifter. A way to turn the best spies/assassins into shapeshifters. The program failed when some issues came up:
- Merrik's DNA was the only one that would properly bond with the material;
- The shapeshifting process is slow, painful and only for a limited time.
- Warp cores in use by the fleet cause the kind of deterioration that we saw in Course: Oblivion, requiring that Merrik be periodically regenerated;
There are lots of ways his nature could be exposed, and I like writing him into those kinds of situations, but I try to keep his nature secret. I don't know if he's codeword classified, but my intent is that there are only a handful of people who know the secret. Maybe I write about it too openly.
@gilbert - Dagnabit that was good. I have missed your entries lately. I particularly liked the part of Alesya choice of appearance and the ramifications from it. Just great reading.
All right...I just posted my entry to Prompt #2, proving IMHO that there is absolutely nothing about the genderbending prompt that requires a salacious response.
In a lot of ways, having Alyosha as my "photoreceptors" and "voice" in the STO universe was an enormous boon for tackling a topic like this; the sorts of details that could take an entry in a bad direction just aren't even noticeable to him, or are approached from a point of view that precludes any thoughts that don't belong on the forum.
There were some details as I wrote Alyosha seeing the image of his counterpart that were...actually rather painful for me to write, because of knowing the hurt such things inflict on real people, in our society today.
Overall, I am pleased with what I have written. :-)
I really enjoyed this, and it was really nicely written I have to admit that The Drs Sei's morals prevented Alyesa and Alyosha from learning more about themselves as a species, but did understand the decision not to do so :cool:
This has inspired me enough to come up with my 'reversed crew', I just now need to decide if I want to actually write something with them, or maybe just post the list for curiosity's sake
@ Gulberat: It was a good piece, solidly written and featuring the most interesting character on these forums, but...
Maybe this is because Alyosha's been around for centuries, but he seems to assume that his gender-swapped double has suffered the same casual sexism as early 21st-century Terran women do throughout her life.
As I have stated above, given the gender equality of Star Trek, this makes little sense. In a universe where women can be literally everything that men can be except a sperm donor (although, technically, even that would be possible with the right tech), and with so many cultures and species all living together mostly harmoniously...
She SHOULDN'T experience ANY of that sort of discrimination at all. No woman, especially not a Starfleet captain, should.
This is a big problem that I have with Smirk's intent for this LC; the idea that Federation society as we see it on Trek would have these sorts of casual sexism issues is just...ridiculous. So basically the only stories that make sense in-universe should be short comedy pieces reminiscent of the crazier Will Ferrel movies.
That's just my personal opinion on the whole shebang, though. Take it or leave it.
@proteusrex: Is Merrik the "real" Merrik somehow suffused with silverblood "essence," or is he a clone and the original is dead? On how openly you write Merrik, I admit I have only read one of your stories thus far, so I can't really form an opinion on that subject.
@cmdrscarlet: "Gilbert"?? LOL, autocorrect is fun, isn't it? I'm glad you enjoyed it. I wish I had inspiration for more of the prompts, but maybe with the "3 prompts to choose from" thing with more time, it might happen more often.
@marcusdkane: Both versions of Dr. Sei have spent many years guarding their friends' secrets, and I know that they both have a very strong sense of medical ethics. They don't want to see their friends get hurt. Glad you enjoyed it, though, and look forward to seeing anythinng you might come up with.
@worffan: Sorry, but I don't buy the Federation's propaganda. What "should" be and what is are two different things. DS9 shattered a lot of TNG's myths, and that is the approach I take: some things are indeed better than now but other things are shoved under the carpet and people pretend they aren't there when in fact they are. But that is my choice as a writer. If you would rather have something that buys into the Fed propaganda, then my writing is not the place for you. Also, I would rather my work not be used as a platform for your beef with Smirk. Anyway, I do not plan to debate it.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Comments
Don't care too much for the new cast (I'm a huge Grunt fan, but this Burwell guy has nothing on everyone's favorite Starfleet Ferengi), but one bit really jumped out at me.
Sisko. Knows. The. Doctor.
This makes such perfect sense, I don't know why nobody thought of it before.
Mind = blown.
I salute you, jonsills! You have made me a very happy reader once again!
It surprised me actually. It was the first time I've ever let the characters tell me what happened. I know writers say that all the time, but its never happened to me. It was really weird not knowing where I was going.
In the end, it became less about gender, and more about my Character encountering another version of himself. A version that hadnt gone through what he had. It turned into a little 'therapy session' for him.
I guess he needed it.
It's a cool idea. So I may just write it up and post it.
Very interesting entry.
And as for the ending... well... only one thing to say to that:
Dun dun DUNNNNNN!!!!!
Excellent entry, and yeah, it's fun when they do the talking, isn't it :cool:
@proteusrex - Having the characters talk to me is how I've pulled out the past few LCs :P Great entry that demands a continuation!
How do you track the continuity of your characters and stories?
What kinds of tools and tricks do you use?
I'm new to this, I've only written a handful of LCs and never ventured too far outside the LC threads. But it's becoming apparent to me that you guys have built an amazing community here, and your characters have huge intricate backstories that go beyond the LCs themselves.
My characters and stories have been born in the LCs themselves. This used to fine, I'd find a spot in my characters timeline the suited the LC, and then write a story.
Now everything is starting to take on a life of its own. I have emotional scars, spies, sabotage. Suddenly, I'm building a world, and I'm a bit overwhelmed by it all.*
Any advice? How do you keep things straight?
Loved your story btw, especially the whole *spoilers* sabotage at the end, it was a great piece that was synched with the end.
To answer your question, it's all in my head, and within the LCs I write. Gregs never had a scar on his eye, heck he wasn't even an Ocampa/Vulcanoid hybrid at the time, he was just Gregs the big headed green alien.
Heck Gregs wasn't even in love with Zinuzze his Xo, until his time traveling great grandson who was half Ocampa/Trill came, until he was retconned out by me, did Gregs actually fall in love.
The LCs helped me expand my character, and all of them are saved to my computer, so I can reference for continuity error. But that's just me personally, I don't know so much how others keep track.
I do have a loose timeline stored in Word, though. The basic outline with approximate dates is:
January 2409: Unit designation Three gets spat out into the Star Trek universe by a malfunctioning wormhole device. She beats up a MACO team that responds to her threatening a shuttlebay departure officer with painful dismemberment, and is hired by Admiral Quinn (the real one) after being taken down by overwhelming energy weapons fire. She trades her services for a hot date with a naughty holoprogram actress, a chance to meet Picard, and a starship (the USS Douglass, a retrofitted Cheyenne-class, which she renames the George Takei).
March 2409: Hakeev attacks Virinat. D'trel (using one of her throwaway aliases) gathers a group of survivors and joins the Romulan Republic. She meets Omek'ti'kallan and becomes a liaison to the KDF after a bad experience with the Vulcan supremacist Admiral T'nae at the Khitomer conference.
May 2409: Three and D'trel collaborate on the Hakeev problem; Three is captured by Hakeev on Nopada Prime but escapes and kills numerous Tal Shiar troops. Three and D'trel capture Hakeev; Three tortures him and D'trel kills him after he reveals what he did to D'trel's fiancee sixty years ago. Three is assigned a part-time "babysitter" in the form of Captain Trenek of the USS Challenger.
September 2409: Iconian gateway opened on Mol'Rihan. Three and D'trel save numerous VIPs from Iconian servitors and drones. D'trel shows increased signs of homocidal mania towards Iconian and servitor forces. USS George Takei heavily damaged in battle with Elachi forces, Three is transferred to USS Predator (a repurposed Breen cruiser).
October-November 2409: A Voth dissident joins D'trel's command staff after his refugee visa application is accepted by Romulan High Command. USS George Takei returned to active duty under Three's command as the Predator undergoes a refit.
December 2409: Jenolan sphere reached during Solanae Sphere incident. Three is attacked and maimed by an Iconian called Supreme High Lord Inevitably-fated-for-Greatness on an away mission. The George Takei is heavily damaged in the escape and is finally scrapped.
February 2410: USS Predator destroyed in combat. Three accepts command of the USS Atlantis (Avenger-class), which she renames the George Takei. Jenolan sphere conference; Three and D'trel fight off Undine forces at Earth Spacedock and Qo'noS. Supreme High Lord Inevitably-fated-for-Greatness attacks the celebrations in the Great Hall; Three attacks him, is restrained telekinetically and has her leg flesh liquefied, but provides a distraction allowing Omek'ti'kallan and D'trel to take the Iconian down. D'trel informs the temporarily-disabled SHLIFFG of her hatred for his entire species and her intent to drive the Iconian race extinct, then executes him by shooting him point-blank in the face with a disruptor rifle.
Mid-2410: Three kills a Borg Queen, and Trenek is partially assimilated in a chaotic fight in the Vega system. Admiral Quinn replaced by an Undine infiltrator.
Early 2412: Ha'ni species invades the Star Trek universe; see the link in my sig.
Well...
D'trel honestly grew from the LCs organically, like your characters are.
Three is a more complicated story; she was originally a mash-up of a Mary Sue parody and a more squicky look into what happens when you actually have a living weapon that obeys your every command (and yes, jonsills, she was SCP-level creepy). Eventually, the unit grew into the psychotic augment who I write today; I toned down the creepy a lot, gave her a single really human trait (since like Three, I can't stand r***), and added the imprints because I felt like sticking a really big stake in the entire idea of involuntary imprinting, which I feel people today are just waaaaaaaaay too OK with (c.f. the poodle man from Twilight, the dragon/rider bonds in Eragon and Dragonriders of Pern...).
[snipped because it took up too much space and time] Basically, the character of Three is a combination thought experiment and inversion/lampshading of the Mary Sue phenomenon, only she kind of snowballed. Her bridge crew are both interesting personalities I came up with and foils for the unit's sadism.
Then I brought the whole mess onto these forums. I got about the response that I expected on the first couple of stories, so I kicked the snot out of the unit a couple of times and did a giant collab with marcusdkane that spawned some of the best jokes I've ever written (live epohhs for dinner...:cool:). Seems to have worked out OK.
D'trel was entirely grown in the LCs, although I DID write up a set of backstories and character motivations for her and her supporting cast once I had a few of her stories under my belt.
I suggest writing up a background for each of your characters, and just drawing up a loose calendar. There will be continuity snarls at some point; just go back and add a ship swap here or a crew transfer there. Characters get Put On The Bus on Trek all the time.
As long as you have a loose timeline, and you know the basic life stories of each of the characters and where you want to take them, you'll be fine. Don't stress about it; I got a really cool set of stories out of what was originally a depressed Romulan who hates Hakeev and a bunch of random bridge officers. Now I know all of those bridge officers by name, rank, and occupation, as well as rattling off a couple of random personal details off the top of my head. And D'trel's gone from just hating Hakeev to having serious counselling for the side effects of nearly six decades of hate buried for over five years suddenly resurfacing with a vengeance. Worlds tend to grow on you like that.
In short, keep a set of backstories and a loose calendar, and don't sweat the finer details of the timeline too much. You'll do fine.
Best wishes, and looking forward to more quality stories from you,
Worffan101
The personalities grew and became more distinct as I wrote the LCs, though. And I keep track of that by keeping copies of all my stories, and referring back to them as necessary. (The USS Pournelle was an advanced escort belonging to my former Tac captain, the Vulcan Sajak. I had to delete him later because I wanted the slot for another character idea, but his ship still appears in several of my stories, and in the last stroy I wrote involving my main, VA Sills, Sajak had a cameo as an old friend from midshipman days aboard the Northwestern.)
Also, whenever I gave Grunt a new ship, I would jot down the ship's name, NCC number, and class, and who her crew was (with notes about any new ones, like Lt. Reuben Manalang). Sometimes, as with Brel Tan or Mycroft, I had to create a character that didn't have an in-game prompt; I used to be afraid to do that, but I've gotten more confident over time.
So partly in my head, partly in the files; I have to have enough of them in my head that they can give me a scene to hang a story on. (That's why my last one was about Capt. Burwell, the time-lost former UESPA Star Fleet ensign thrown almost 250 years into his future by an incident involving a nearby Romulan raider hitting a primordial black hole; the scene with the Prophets was what came to me first, but Grunt stubbornly refused to be in it. Iain showed up there instead.)
* Keep the world alive in your head - it may even become a small obsession how often you think about who your characters are and how to convey their divergent personalities.
* Make notes - I'm old-school and prefer paper and pencil with files and blah blah.
* Find a repository for your work - Having said the above, I created a BlogSpot site where I copy/paste from here to there; all my stories are in one place and easy for me to see, versus the click-fest it takes to find my entries here.
* Adapt with your characters - Characters do not have to have rigid personality traits because their intro post made them that way. Also, maybe a name will change but the character doesn't ... that's okay.
There are other things I do (and have seen others do occasionally) that helps me with continuity: actually make links to the other entries from the current post. The LCs have up to 20+ posters sharing their crew. Some posters are more prolific than others (Worffan, Jonsills, Marcusdkane to name a few) - but that doesn't mean the reader is keeping up with every character. So if I want to reference a previous LC, then why not just link to it?
I also do not use linear story telling with the LCs. Some find it a challenge to take the theme and it is like "the next episode". Without a linear progression, I have the freedom to just tell a story. Needless to say, linking to previous posts means there IS a progressive story going on ... and maybe there is (dun dun duuuun).
Next, it helps me that my characters actually exist in the game. I can "see" them and sometimes become inspired by them (if that sounds right).
Finally, I took a queue from marcusdkane and put a real face to the character as if the entry were to to be an actual TV episode or scene from a movie. For example, my Captain would be acted by Rachel Nichols, while the Andorian First Officer would be played by Katheryn Winnick. I had to do a cast switch, but the character was made better for it I think.
Anyways, I hope this just adds to help you. I'm sure there are other things and ways to do it
I ended up doing this, just for fun, actually, although I have to admit that it's seriously useful.
This is a cast list for D'trel's crew in LC 63. This is a cast list for Three and her bridge crew (taken from my one-shot "Iconian"). All credit to marcusdkane for finding a human who looks even vaguely like a unit.
I don't fully know myself, not sure if I want to. But she's the closest I've ever seen to Three, so...
The problem with the unit is the same with, say, a Gorn, or a Wookie; her body is well enough outside the human baseline that any live-action portrayal will likely involve full-body prosthetics. The subdermal plating, which is visible beneath her skin, further complicates matters.
But to answer your original question: Not sure, not sure that I want to know. I am duly impressed by marcusdkane's skill at finding a vaguely appropriate casting choice, though. :cool:
I tend to make notes in txt files all over my desktop. I just opened up a new one (tentatively called New Text Document (4).txt) , so I'll probably bring the bits and pieces together, copy some extracts from my LCs and build out a 'series bible', a loose timeline and some character sheets.
It's also really neat to hear the inspirations for your characters. I'll share my own 'secret origins'.
When I was a kid, my father introduced me to TOS. TNG was already on the air, but we had rural television (consisting of 4 channels) so I never got to see it until years after it had aired. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've only seen about half of the eps (but I've researched them all). Anyhoo, I played 'Star Trek' with my friends at school. I was the Captain of a Miranda class starship named "Explorer". (It was actually a jungle gym.)
When I started playing STO, you can imagine my delight when I loaded the tutorial and found a Miranda class. Since then, I've stuck with the name 'Explorer' increasing it's designation as I progress through the Starship Tiers.
Captain Merrik, is based off a character I created in highschool. He was a man that discovers that he is an artificial copy of a person and not a real person. He wrestles with his existence, and if he has 'a soul' before facing off against the 'real' him and another duplicate for the right to live. The Silverblood lifeform seen in Voyager (Demon/Course Oblivion) gave me a nice "canon" way to bring this character into the game since I like him so much.
My crew is largely representative of the characters I've created in game. Though the more I write about them the more 'real' they become. I find myself logging in sometimes just to 'look' at my bridge crew.
I think I'll have to spend some time 'casting' my crew. It seems like a really fun exercise.
Thanks again!
As for maintaining continuity, all my characters and bridge crew exist in game. They get their bios written in there and then expanded upon in these LC's. Keeping all the past lc's on the computer and use them for reference whenever is needed is a must if you want to keep continuity. I wish I could give more advice, but they just sorta.... stick in my memory as who they are. Though their personalities certainly expanded greatly when I started writing these. And in fact, was the reason I took out Stunshock. I still play him in game, but he had no personality. Don't be afraid to take characters down new paths if that is how they react to stories.
Just give it practice, with time, you start to develop a writer's mentality and these things will become easier.
A Romulan Strike Team, Missing Farmers and an ancient base on a Klingon Border world. But what connects them? Find out in my First Foundary mission: 'The Jeroan Farmer Escapade'
It helps if you've read #63...but I think I put enough explanation in this one to give the gist of what's going on...you know...like how in the movies they have to explain that Data's an android, just in case people have just tuned in for the first time...
Reciprocal review protocol is in place...review mine and I review yours in priority sequence!
Taking a quick break, then on to catch up on the 63's I've missed (Worffan101 & Cmdrscarlet, read yours first since you reviewed mine! Comments in 63 discussion thread!)
@proteusrex: what do I do? Well, my first LC had so many things thrown in, I didn't really know how to tell the story, so I left it ambiguous. (I originally wanted to express a fan's frustration at the lack of continuity...you've got the tv/movies, then the novels, then the game, then iterations of alternate realities. I prefer a Trek where if something gets messed up, they attempt to fix the situation (Guardian of Forever), or at least explain it away in a plausible manner (Bell Riots). Today, the differences between the novels/game/movies is so great you can't rectify it! Vulcan exists! Vulcan's Destroyed! Risa is obliterated by the Borg! Risa is your online playground!)
The next LC's allowed me to continue to flesh out the story, so I decided to try to use the prompts as a guideline (the "b" story) while diverting to the tale I wanted to tell (the "a" story). That tale grew and grew to the point that I put together a finale that I hoped wrapped things up. (At that point, health wasn't at a level where I knew if it was going to be a series finale or season finale...but thankfully, it was a season finale, and things are getting better day by day.)
{Thanks to all those that sent well wishes...there are some truly great people on this forum.
To keep track of everything I've put all the LC's I've written into a huge .doc (some 55.8k words across 154 pages!) that I refer to when I need to remember what fate I've handed whichever character. At the end I put a "notes" section where I list cameos, ship registration, dead/injured characters, and other assorted details, just so I can keep some continuity.
Re: cameos...I like putting them in. Not just Trek characters, but other LC writer's crews. Makes it feel like we're all one big happy fleet. If doing so, check with the writers to see what their preferences are (free use; ok for appearances/flavour text but no dialog; just a name check; PM for any use whatsoever.) My crew's up for grabs for any background action; please PM if using them for dialog, or if you want me in one of my tales to do something that supports something or lays the hook in of your tales.
For inspiration...I check out the prompt, then mull it over on the drive to work while listening to appropriate music. Most of the characters are either lifted out of R/L people I know (so their mannerisms are 'authentic'
Whatever you do...have fun at it! Because if you're not having fun...well...you better be paid!
In a lot of ways, having Alyosha as my "photoreceptors" and "voice" in the STO universe was an enormous boon for tackling a topic like this; the sorts of details that could take an entry in a bad direction just aren't even noticeable to him, or are approached from a point of view that precludes any thoughts that don't belong on the forum.
There were some details as I wrote Alyosha seeing the image of his counterpart that were...actually rather painful for me to write, because of knowing the hurt such things inflict on real people, in our society today.
Overall, I am pleased with what I have written.
@masopw--I have a Cardassian Starfleet admiral/CDF gul that would like to smack that дураг one in a huge way, both for being a denialist a-hole and for shaming the Cardassian people with his disgraceful behavior. I mean Durak...is that where you got his name? It is, after all, how the Russian word for "IDIOT" sounds when pronounced out loud.
@proteusrex--I promise I did NOT look at your entry at all before writing mine. In fact, this is the first time I am even seeing your character. But dang, they are similar! Except it seems that some very different decision-making took place on the Chin'tokas on a certain matter...
Please note that all of my LC entries take place in 2409/2410, before the events of Faces in the Flames. They run in approximate chronological order, except where othewise specified.
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She appeared on an episode of Miami Ink which I saw :cool:
@jonsills
While I'm a big fan of Grunt's exploits, I like this Captain Iain Burwell, I look forward to seeing him again. I really enjoy your take on the Prohpehts, and how well you've incorporated so many other show/game story elements, but still kept it feeling fresh. I like how you mentioned 'the original Quarks', it immediately made me think that there must be 'Quarks' all over the galaxy. Kind of like the 'Applebees' of the stars. Oh, and that reference to the Doctor made my day.
@masopw
Excellent job introducing Glinn Durak. The personal log entry and his first speaking line, was all I need to completely create an image in my head. He reminds me of those 'villain' characters you see on TV that are so well written/acted that you actually dislike them (and the actor that portrays them). A little quibble, story-wise I understand why you did it, but I'm a little unsure why the Bajorian Science Officer stepped up to explain himself so readily, especially if he was trying to pass it off as an accident to discredit the Cardassians. Maybe things went too bad, too fast for his conscience. Anyhoo, it was a great continuation of LC63, I really enjoyed it. "Rumours in a time of war were dangerous" is a great sentiment to me, reminds me of 'loose lips sink ships'.
@gulberat
I also enjoyed your story. Our stories are very similar, but they hit on a lot of different beats. Its alot of fun to see how the characters act within such a similar structure. I really enjoy that Alyosha was the one to offer the olive branch. Whereas, in mine, Merrik was the sceptical one. Your very last paragraph struck me. I've thought about it before, the lonely nature of our characters. I had a stray thought when writing mine to touch on the idea, but ultimately I didn't. Good job going there. Also, I totally forgot about the 4 Andorian genders.
I haven't read about your character before either. Though I will have to go through the different LCs, and Fan Fic threads. I'm fascinated by Alyosha as he compares to Merrik and would love to do a character comparison with you. They seem to have a lot in common, but go about things in different ways. For character's that are alone in the galaxy, they seem to have a bit of a kindred-spirit thing going on.
Should you be interested in reading prior LC's, Alyosha's first appearance is in The Haunting of Deck Thirteen. I don't consistently write for every LC--only if a prompt strikes me. He also appears in "Faces in the Flames" and "Elegia Borealis," which belong to the "shared universe" with patrickngo. There's other stuff in the Ten Forward Fanfic thread.
But mainly I am glad to know you're not upset with me for coming in with a similar concept.
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I haven't done much with the LCs either, but I'm enjoying them so much that I'm getting into them more and more. If you want to know more about my characters, check out LC. I wrote LC58-Redacted . I managed to get it in just before Smirk closed the thread.
You're right, Silverbloods are not as dangerous as Devidians.
I think Merrik has the potential to be dangerous, given his shapeshifting abilities. But it has more to do with his personality than his nature. Luckily, Merrik isn't much of an assasin.
My vision of Merrik's origin is that the Proteus program that created him was designed to create a Federation-loyal shapeshifter. A way to turn the best spies/assassins into shapeshifters. The program failed when some issues came up:
- Merrik's DNA was the only one that would properly bond with the material;
- The shapeshifting process is slow, painful and only for a limited time.
- Warp cores in use by the fleet cause the kind of deterioration that we saw in Course: Oblivion, requiring that Merrik be periodically regenerated;
There are lots of ways his nature could be exposed, and I like writing him into those kinds of situations, but I try to keep his nature secret. I don't know if he's codeword classified, but my intent is that there are only a handful of people who know the secret. Maybe I write about it too openly.
This has inspired me enough to come up with my 'reversed crew', I just now need to decide if I want to actually write something with them, or maybe just post the list for curiosity's sake
Maybe this is because Alyosha's been around for centuries, but he seems to assume that his gender-swapped double has suffered the same casual sexism as early 21st-century Terran women do throughout her life.
As I have stated above, given the gender equality of Star Trek, this makes little sense. In a universe where women can be literally everything that men can be except a sperm donor (although, technically, even that would be possible with the right tech), and with so many cultures and species all living together mostly harmoniously...
She SHOULDN'T experience ANY of that sort of discrimination at all. No woman, especially not a Starfleet captain, should.
This is a big problem that I have with Smirk's intent for this LC; the idea that Federation society as we see it on Trek would have these sorts of casual sexism issues is just...ridiculous. So basically the only stories that make sense in-universe should be short comedy pieces reminiscent of the crazier Will Ferrel movies.
That's just my personal opinion on the whole shebang, though. Take it or leave it.
@cmdrscarlet: "Gilbert"?? LOL, autocorrect is fun, isn't it?
@marcusdkane: Both versions of Dr. Sei have spent many years guarding their friends' secrets, and I know that they both have a very strong sense of medical ethics. They don't want to see their friends get hurt. Glad you enjoyed it, though, and look forward to seeing anythinng you might come up with.
@worffan: Sorry, but I don't buy the Federation's propaganda. What "should" be and what is are two different things. DS9 shattered a lot of TNG's myths, and that is the approach I take: some things are indeed better than now but other things are shoved under the carpet and people pretend they aren't there when in fact they are. But that is my choice as a writer. If you would rather have something that buys into the Fed propaganda, then my writing is not the place for you. Also, I would rather my work not be used as a platform for your beef with Smirk. Anyway, I do not plan to debate it.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.