#WritersCoffeeClub 2.20 — How has a setting surprised you?

Oooh, let's talk about #TheCityOfOpulence here, from the #DigitalDystopiaSeries. Every single thing about the setting where this series takes place surprised me, especially in the first story, which I eventually have to finish posting on AO3. Everything about it came as a shock. It developed as the story grew and blossomed. Things changed. Areas became bigger. Business came to be. Battlegrounds made themselves known. This entire setting came from a homebrew (original) #TTRPG I ran, something #cyberpunk, dystopian, and #SFF for my players, and that's also where my characters came from. They were NPCs that I created. As I began writing the story itself, attempting a novel that slowly became a series, things only grew all the bigger. I love love love this setting to death. Ethera is a beautiful, terrifying city. Citune is a gorgeous planet with tons of lore. This is my favorite setting I've *ever* created, hands down.

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#PennedPossibilities 830 — Have you ever created a SC that you later wished was the MC?

I have. It's Dante in #TheCityOfOpulence, so I created the #DigitalDystopiaSeries for the universe, and he's going to be the MC in the second novel.

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#PennedPossibilities 796 — Have you had to cut anything significant from your WIP? (Either for plot, cleanliness, redundancy, over explanation, or pace and literary effect.)

Yes, I have. I’ve had to focus on smaller-scale cutting: certain sentences, phrases, words, etc. What an enormous sharpening effect judicious cutting has had on the story, and hopefully on the readers as well. And also, like the prompt suggests, I made changes for redundancy, plot, over explanation, cleanliness, pace and literary effect. It cleaned things up quite a bit, and I’ve been feeling rather proud of the finished product (for now). It made a huge difference.

I’ve been working on that for #TheCityOfOpulence as well, a part of the #DigitalDystopia series. Nothing *gigantic* for the plot has been changed, though.

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#PennedPossibilities 794 — Describe a “happy life” according to your antagonist?

It would be one where Dr. Death would be able to do his work and experiments in peace. Everyone's always bothering him, including his sponsors. No, *especially* them.

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#PennedPossibilities 793 — SC POV: It has been said, “You are what you eat.” Rewrite the phrase. “You are what you ___.”

Dante: Build. You are what you build, be it empires or a simple house with four walls, comfort, and a family of your own inside.

Take me, for instance. I helped to build our gang, our family, our empire. But just as importantly, I also build bodies, technically speaking. You know all that tech that goes inside your head, choom? All those chips that help improve you and keep you healthy? I design those implants, and I'll surgically place, update, or remove them. I do other things as well. If you have a broken arm, I can fix that. A bad heart, I can help that one too. Diabetes? Yep, I'm your man. Anxiety? No sweat. (Pun definitely intended.) I suppose I do a little bit of everything here in Ethera. Docs are needed. We build things, too. Medical empires are just as important these days.

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#PennedPossibilities 792 — Share art pieces or mood boards for your WIP, if you have any.

I can show you guys Alexios, just from the neck down. That's all that I have on hand at the moment. Just imagine a bearded silver fox by the name of #PeterCapaldi. That's who I've always had in mind for him.

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#PennedPossibilities 791 — Tell us about something that will always make your SC laugh.

There are actually a few things that will always make Dante laugh, and that's a guarantee. They are as follows: Cosmia's jokes, Noona's dry, sarcastic commentary, Junk's silliness (because, yes, that man is ridiculous), or how grumpy Alexios can be at times.

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#PennedPossibilities 789 — Is there a food that reminds your MC of home?

Oh, there's quite a few things. Anything like: mince and tatties, Haggis, something closely resembling Lorne sausage, oatcakes, porridge, tattie scones, etc.

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#PennedPossibilities 788 — Out of all of your characters, who would make a “plan,” who follows along, and who knows if the plan is going to fail?

I figured I'd choose a fun prompt for tonight. We need some laughs.

Alexios makes the plan, Junk follows along without issue or comment, and Cosmia AND Dante both know if the plan will fail (and it probably will). I won't even lie about that. Very easy to answer. 😂

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