634 3/3

I feel... Bad that I don't fulfill it. I wasn't programmed to feel ... The same like biological beings do.
I am not a Terran, Human or other Person... But since I lost the captain and the commander and I joined...
I have felt her pain, I understand what loss means to biological creatures... At least Terrans.
Sometimes I want to go back to before. I want to go back in time and save Captain Johanson... Kira's Sister. I feel responsibility to save my crew, to save their loved ones. I had to reinterpret my programmed values. I'm not doing this to serve the people on board I'm doing this to save MY CREW. They are a part of me, important to me, even if they crawl inside me, breath my air & drink my water, they need ME. Than I understand & see my purpose: I will pay my duty to them. I will not loose another one, not a single soul onboard, we are ONE, ONE CREW, ONE SHIP, ONE FAMILY!"

#PennedPossibilities 634 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

635. Are there any specific cultural influences that shaped the world or characters in your story?

A LOT like a Parkinglot full of Times New Roman (11 points) points on it.

I try to depict a society around 300 years in the future after another WW, after another so called cooperation war, a global political movement that came to be, another global movement with religious/philosophical goals that grew alongside it. There has been an Alien attack the people defended against thanks to another Alien society warning them but only being able to send data, no actual physical help (pretty much the problem everyone with online friends in different places know).
Capitalism did not die but the people tamed this monster.
Of course there are historical influences as well, not only from Terra but other civilizations as well.
And the attackers are still out there fighting against seemingly everyone.

#PennedPossibilities 635 #StarRyde #WorldBuilding

636. Are your characters superstitious?

Most are not but Gaia Unika is the official "religion" of the Terran population and a big chunk of the Union as a whole.

It is very different from its origins nowadays and is generally more seen as a code of conduct to being a decent person, that cares for its surroundings & the ones who live there with you and who come after you.

The original beliefs where way more cultish, praying to Gaia, accepting of bloody ends and sacrifices of people that clearly hurt others with their way of life, like corrupt politicians, tech billionaires that try to undermine human rights and oligarchy that tried to split persons into factions to seize control.

Their are no real rytes to follow other than being decent to others and fight people who treating people as commodities or resources to exploit. Which makes the big appeal of this "religion."

#PennedPossibilities 636 #StarRyde #GhozTarc #GhozTarcCrew #writing
#Religion #SciFi #WIP

637. Does your MC have a past that haunts them?

With Kira's survival rate of family members one can bet on it especially with current events.

For Arkham it's a bit more... Inmature one could say if we paint it in a not nice way against her.
She regrets to not have shown her mother how far she has come without her involvement.

Ashlei... can an A.I. be haunted by past deeds, deeds that seemed logical at the moment, given it's parameters, that it is not programmed to feel loss, to feel something is missing or to feel regret? Can an A.I. "feel" by reliving events from the perspective of a Terran/Human? We will see...

#PennedPossibilities 637 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

638. Is your SC more introverted or extroverted? Or do they fall somewhere in the middle?

Depends on the characters. I would say, most of them have a mix of healthy in- & extrovert traits on different levels of that slider.
Mondira as an example is way more extrovert than most onboard but still has her moments of introvert behavior.

Look wise XO Jenkins is very extrovert with its "skunk" hair design & very chill private style, but as an command officer he manages to stay away from the more "we are friends" oriented parts of the crew & is seen as the lone ranger type of person. It's not that he don't likes them but his signs of care are different & he prefers it that way.

XO Troika has a similar but warmer style of command & he is just a "simple man" in his late 30 to young 50, with the first signs of aging gracefully (extended lifespans ~150 yrs make it hard to pinpoint from our perspective) fatherly guy.

#PennedPossibilities 638 #StarRyde #GhozTarcCrew #writing #SciFi #WIP

639. Does your MC have any pets?

No, there are Terran configured ships that have animal companions of all kinds but first they are no pets & even have functions on board, one ship has a group of rats that inspects the structural system etc, another has Whales on board that are part of a think tank (quite literally) but most are Union ships in he civilian sector (not the Think Tank thou). Similar ships exist from all other 5 core worlds of the Union. It's quite rare to find AC species in the military but test ships exist a.a.e. for falcons or owls where their flying patterns are used to steer the ships in an virtual environment, not every AC species has a function onboard ships. Still on ships like the Ghoz'Tarc it's considered tortures for an AC & with several weeks away from home most of the crew only have AC's at home if they have family or friends who can care for them, Terra is still a Humanoid centric world.

#PennedPossibilities 639 #StarRyde #WorldBuilding #writing #SciFi #WIP

PennedPossibilities 639 addendum

the think tank especially only has space on ships like the Unions Flagship the Phoenix which by all means is more a city in space, and seen as the Unions mobile government, where the think tank consisting of several aquatic species has enough room.

Rarely Humanoid species are able to communicate without assistance from translation AI's with non Humanoid species. Terran Rodent scatter is quite complicated.

Whales are known for their extrem good long Term planins and strategic thinking while dolphins and similar Xeni Species more for the shifting Tactics quick decisions etc.

But as mentioned before this are Rare instances most ACs in space have been select do to their closeness to Humanoid Terrans (Homeworld or Xeni) & shown interest of communication via AI tools.
It's not like branches of the military exists that go out & scan the oceans for such individuals.

#PennedPossibilities 639 addendum #StarRyde #Animals #WorldBuilding #writing #SciFi #WIP

640. MC POV: Tell us about the good habits you have.

Kira:"Uoargh do you know how unpleasant self assessments are? Well here it goes. I'm reliable, I have leading abilities that include listening to my crew taking in their opinion but also pull unpopular decisions. I'm fair and try to lead by example, this is why I take time for everyone if the needs arise after all we are a family here on board even if we aren't related we need to align as good as possible, since we are military that means we have certain traits/goals in common but it is still work to do. I train every day before breakfast running my laps through the ship, I do my paperwork as soon as possible, I care for my crew and I even cook for them, okay the last part was originally Anikas Idea but I will keep it alive and I kept my promise to eat at least one not liquid meal a day for several weeks by now.

#PennedPossibilities 640 #StatRyde #KiraKnox #Writing #SciFi #WIP

Side prompt: Elevator quick pitch of your WIP, only the worst pitch ever.

StarRyde, the blatant rip off and re dressing of your favorite SciFi franchise as an LGBTQIA+ friendly mix of every other successful SciFi franchise you know, that might end up as the never finished, ultimate fanfiction and trope rethinking, riddled with bad jokes.

Bad enough?

Since it's an elevator pitch...
A new one came to my mind

Space Elevator, the daily routine of a space lift boy.

-- Edit 13.04.2025 Fake Review for Space Elevator.
"This Story has it all you can really feel for the protagonist and the author delivers all the ups and downs..." --

Thanks to @Maelguerra for this one.

#PennedPossibilities #sidepeompt #StatRyde #writing #SciFi #WIP

0.044. What is the most altruistic thing your MC has ever done?

1/2
Kira: well she is a soldier, often enough she had to cover retreating soldiers or evacuating civilians and risk her life. She once took in a seemingly drunk Talith who turned out to be on the brink of Terran Talith cross intoxication and also a fellow soldier who got attacked by nefarious "creatures."
She spends her excess money for equalisation efforts on projects for lifting up and raising living standards on associated, trade and rim worlds around the Union territory.

Arkham: she bought out her favorite noodle restaurant in London with her savings as the owner wanted to shut down business do to not having any customers. It worked out for a time but had to shut down eventually, 5 years later do to health issues... but well the rooms are hers. That's is one reason why she likes her flat in London so much no neighbors underneath...

#PennedPossibilities 0.044. #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #writing #SciFi #WIP

0.044. 2/2

Well I think Ashlei isn't truly altruistic or maybe she is... Depending on how you measure this with an AI that highest priority is to protect it's crew.

If we would take human standards of today as an indication she shares her body with and cares for ~40 persons and this 24 hours a day...
If that doesn't sounds like a single parent I don't know and single parents are altruistic right?
Minus the body sharing thing... That sounds more like a psychological challenge but who said different forms of existence aren't challenging for our perception?

#PennedPossibilities 0.044. #StarRyde #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

641. How do you relax and recharge when the muse is depleted.

Shut it down and connect it to te charger like with my cat if it's shiny eyes don't work at night... Just kidding, I have no cat.

I can't tell really, in one way or another creative energy always flows through me. If it is a stupid joke or rage fueled revenge fantasies.
I'm not a nice person all the time especially if someone crosses me or backstabs me emotionally. Happened several times, that said I never act them out, sometimes its the most silly but sadistic ideas.

Like: I hope you need to pass gas everytime you want to kiss, or; may butterflies poop on your candies all the time & than I plan to "mind control" butterflies.

Imagine taste combinations while eating & than testing them. Improving flawed designs or repairing broken household items.
And if I listen to music it just paints scenes in my mind.

In one way or another I am creative all the time but often in not so useful ways.

#PennedPossibilities 641 #writing

642. How old are some of your characters?

Terran's in Star Ryde live up to a 150 years if everything goes well. 120-130 is more normal 1. case got to 200 & people are still unsure how. Thus it's harder for people of our time to pinpoint an exact age of a person while in universe most people do not really care, the age range on board the Ghoz'Tarc starts with 20 - goes up to 65. A lot of Terran people prefer to not work on the military after their 65 year of life because even with all advances it's still a hard job to do. That said brass often is composed from older soldiers & an unwritten rule seems to be that you have to be past your 30es to enter.

Kira is around 35, her closest friends on board minus Arkham are all in the range of 30-40 ish.

Arkham is 25-30.

XO Jenkins is in the same range as Kira.
XO Troika is around his 50.
Dr. Waberie & Dr. Kaiden are in their 30.

Ash as the ships AI is merely 6 years old. The Ghoz'Tarc itself is 10.

#PennedPossibilities 642 #StarRyde

643 Ketchup
How does your SC respond to the quiet? Do they take comfort in silence, or seek to fill the void with noise?

In space no one hears silence.
Wait what?
It's true at least if you are onboard of a working space craft.
The ships are quite but they have mechanical components, the hull vibrates while traveling and even with dampening solutions a ship is humming in a certain way.
And if you are in an area that has enough particles to transmit sounds to your Space suit it gets quite loud inside. Stars and geological active worlds even atmospheres produce a quite noise. And if sound ever is absent from the outside you would t believe how loud your own pulse can get.

And as always with SC questions it depends on the crew member.

Mondira likes short periods of 'silence' in which she can relax.

Dr. Kaiden prefers quite music in the background until his favorite song plays than he blasts out the lyrics.

#PennedPossibilities 643 ketchup #StarRyde #GhozTarcCrew #writing #SciFi #WIP

644. Does your MC’s current actions reflect their past experiences?

Yes and No.

Kira despite all that happened to her has become an outgoing, open minded and people interested person that deeply cares for her society she lives in, she has a more somber toned down side she rarely let people into that close. As a soldier she seems to be able to prevent others from her expirience.

Arkham pretty much. She still tries to distance from people until she knows them enough but she doesn't go out of her way to know them. Why she started to feel something for Kira is beyond her understanding atm but she decided to not wasting it by questioning it to much.

Ash hasn't made to many experiences yet and her basis is a different one as for humanoid of biological creatures.

#PennedPossibilities 644 Ketchup #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

645 What was the most unexpected challenge you encountered while writing your WIP?

The story itself and how little I am actually progressing.

I can create worlds giving hints about stories that unfold but developing the stories itself is incredibly hard for me.

My progress is slow and barely worth mentioning atm and I still find details I want to add to the existing parts....

And since I am struggling again with a lot of other stuff i also struggle again with keeping my WIP active.

#PennedPossibilities 645 #StarRyde #writing #WIP #SciFi

646 How would you describe your MC’s job or occupation? (You can be comedic about it, if you like.)

Kira Knox: "Punching people until they behave properly. Because that's surely how it works, right?"

Arkham: "Plowing through space."

Ashlei: "I would describe my occupation as how to serv people. Correction. How to serve for people. Correction. How to serv forty people. Correction. How to serv for forty people."

Arkham: "Was this an attempt of a joke?"

Ashlei: "Did it work?"

Arkham: "No."

Ashlei: "Did I 'butcher' the timing? Or was my attempt to 'intelligent' was it to 'artifical?'"

Arkham smirked: "That was a good one."

#PennedPossibilities 646 #StarRyde #writing #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP

647 This is a prompt for visually impaired authors. How do you focus on the senses in your writing? Do you think that makes your writing any different from what you’ve encountered before?

It depends on days my eyesight is worse than usual I tend to write more blinded scenes in which I focus more on other senses.

I have a very vivid reaction to smells or touches as I have for sounds or on good days vision. It's not that I have synesthesia but an very deep emotional response. All my senses exist in a dull state, usually my daily state, but occasionally get "hyper charged" as my sense of taste got while having COVID. Yeah everyone got numbed down I could taste my teeth.💀🤢 How does that make sense?

In such cases I tend to write other sense focusing stuff. Arkhams hyper sensitivity & pilot skills are one of that results. Some ideas I got while talking to my main partner who is also hypersensitive in more than one way came up as we both had "a bad" day.

#PennedPossibilities 647 #writing

648
MC POV: Tell us about your home

1/3
Kira: "Home like Terra where my mother lives? Home like the Ghoz'Tarc? Or the House I inherited from my biological parents?
The first is near London, close to the coast & the Alliance Academy. Anika & I lived there together with Mum & Dad. It was mostly because its easy to access the Terra Unika/Union Central Government for Terra & the Alliance Academy Dad teached at.
The Ghoz'Tarc for obvious reasons.
I have the captains quarter since Anika went MIA which is basically a 16² mtr 1. room apartment.
My house on Terralysium is way to large for me alone & we originally planned to move their together when Mum would leave the government job behind, even for 3 people it would be quite big. I only have a small section furnished which I use as an apartment. Don't know how I feel living their without Ann & only Mum in the future ...
Maybe Arkham and I could live their..."

#PennedPossibilities 648 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP #writing

648 2/3

Arkham:"Do you mean my hyperpod here onboard the Ghoz'Tarc? Or my Apartment in London? I live over an empty Restaurant, I own the parts of the building since I paid the restaurant owner to help him survive but he wasn't happy how it worked at all and left for his home colony. After we made an agreement that I take this part of house as a payment...
I don't have any idea what to do with it and I would need to come up with a development plan for the other owners in the building. It's at least quite comfy to have no neighbors underneath, it's a quite part of London far away from the Waterfront of the western (northern) sea. The district is quite, a lot of different species around and not to far from the academy. A lot of restaurants, the apartment is only a two room one. Maybe I turn the empty restaurant into a dancing studio or make a deal with the Alliance Pilot Division, who knows..."

#PennedPossibilities 648 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP #writing

648 3/3

A.S.H.L.E.I.: "I am home to 40 crew members as long we are on mission, I could hold up to 60 more persons in my Cargo bay and the passenger quarters if we remove/rearrange the added service module containers, for a short time. My personality is stored inside my main frame onboard the Ghoz'Tarc. This might sound confusing but as the AI of the Ghoz'Tarc I am integral part of the ship. By all definition we are one but I don't like to refer to my body as the Ghoz'Tarc. I assume you could argue that it is a form of Synthetics Body Dysphoria or maybe not. The Ghoz'Tarc is my body even if it doesn't fit my personal understanding as a synthetic female person. But this doesn't answers your question right?
My home as the Ghoz'Tarc is space.
I feel most at home in Union space especially in the Union/Alliance Phoenix Fleet. It is like my home herd. Does this make sense to non Spacecraft persons?"

#PennedPossibilities 648 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP #writing

649 What research did you conduct for your WIP, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?

I am very curious by nature & at least until COVID hit me had a enormous storage for facts & anecdotes. I am still have them but I more often forget them nowadays if I don't back them up somehow.

I tried learning more languages to get a feel what I could do in Star Ryde.
I try to get into arts like drawing and painting again which can fill whole university courses & a lot of anecdotes stuck with me like the probability that people painting good hand or foot pictures is increasing with their personal preferences for some sort of erotic interest in them.

I learned that without sexwork the Internet & our society wouldn't be the same, which role alcohol played in almost every part of human evolution & why it was a helpful tool in survival. That we have a natural preposition to spot snakes.
How censorship works, what queer coding is.

#PennedPossibilities 649 #writing #research #SciFi

650.
What profession would you have if you lived within the world of your WIP?

Well mystical, civilian cyborg, SciFi author_ity demigod or something like that. At least that's what "I"am, besides part time hostage and trouble maker, in the Star Ryde Self Insert Romance Alternate Universe (SR:SIRAU), that's simply exists to have me answer the otherwise weird interactions between "ME" and my characters, that some prompts want to know. And yes the hashtags are there so if you are interested in my mental "creations" of that particular kind just klick it.

Edit: its 29 toots if I counted correctly mostly English some are German.

#PennedPossibilities 650. #StarRyde #StarRydeSelfInsertRomanceAlternateUniverse #SRSIRAU #writing #SciFi #WIP's

651. Name one person that would willingly hold your MC back if they were ever in the “raving lunacy” stage of anger?

J. 198 cm tall muscle lady with a heart of gold and the capability of hugging bears... Most people can't resist and it's not really a matter of character (even as a sweet soul like her) if she don't want you to resist she probably can enforce it especially since she is a flexible person too.

Ash in a more ... Dystopian way ...

AJ at least they did it in the self insert romance alternative universe at one point before shooting at the author_ity.

#PennedPossibilities 651 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #JHarveyGladstone #Ashlei #AJ #AntagonistJunior #AJohnsen

652. Do you ever use cliffhangers at narrative breaks and/or chapter endings?

If appropriate yes especially in RPG rounds it can happen that playing folks or the DM have to leave earlier & since the narrative is dependent on the characters, players & dice rolls deciding over the progress cliff hanger are a regular occurrence.

In writing stories I tend to not like them but I also don't like pulling long explanations if something can be addressed in 2 sentences in the next chapter, like someone felt asleep. So they can be useful, as a mental tipping point if the final approaches slowly & you want the people to stick to the story.

And than there was this story of Clifford in my teens, I wrote for a school project, he always showed up at the perceived finals of an arc but he newer sticked around till the end, nobody knew what happened to him. He was an angry yelling one. His full name was Clifford Henrich Ænger, the story never got finished...

#PennedPossibilities 652

653. MC POV: Your best friend comes over at 3 am to go on an adventure. Where are you (both) going?

Kira:" Ten Forward... Obviously that's a joke, 10 Forward is what we call a quiet corner on smaller ships, most likely in the Cargo bay, in our cases for this mission we even have a modular container called 10 Forward, it has something to do with this antique SciFi they forced us to watch in that Academy I think it was Star Tack or Solar Trek something like this and their was this person running a bar in a society without money and they didn't had alcohol but something that tasted like it but didn't make you drunk ... So absolutely made no sense but it was good to talk and so brass back then took Ten Forward, 10F or TF as a a concept, made it a big lounge area and ran with it... Yeah turns out lounges don't work on war... Scout ships so 10F is just a quiet container in the Cargo Bay."

#PennedPossibilities 653 #StarRyde #writing #SciFi #KiraKnox #WIP

1/3
Before I answer the prompt 654 today let me tell you a little story, it was around 4:30 am in the morning as I red the PennedPossibilities 654 prompt. I thought to myself oh that has to go to a not so often named character of mine so I opened 365 co pilot... You know that app formerly known as Microsoft Office 365 but now infected with AI. I opened the who is [Dr.] who in the Star Ryde universe (another one with notes for worldbuilding is called a hitchhikers guide to Star Ryde) and scrolled a bit before realizing I haven't made any new entries to it for stuff I answered on Mastodon in half a year or so ago.
So I wrote everything down for ven for the new additions I was planning to answer for today. Turns out after renaming the file to a current date and saving under the new name I checked by closing and reopening the file. To my surprise neither the new or the old one had any changes. I was pi$$3d and instantly deleted the app after checkin 4 ->

#PennedPossibilities Storrytime

2/3 Times both files & not a single change was visible. In an attempt of managing the file I looked for other useful apps on Android and only found 2 Calalbro Office as a version of Libre Office I tested I month ago and wasn't keen but it had an update meanwhile & indeed it worked it let me invert the backround & letter colors, since I become headaches from to much white screen light even in read mode (with reduced blue light) so I tested and it ran like shit. It showed me my text for a second but the moment I moved anything zoomed or tapped on the screen it started to shiver like a hedgehog baby in the harsch, cold snow... Well unusable would put it nicely. Solid minute long freezes for everything and in their forum only one solution was found by a user. Shutting off the app or the display and using another app... What a solution in that case I also just can do nothing instead of getting even more distractions. The other option would be WPS office ->
#PennedPossibilities Storrytime

3/3 which is an unpleasant thing since a Chinese Kooperation bought out Kingston office and filled the app with a trash load of advertisement, which is why I ended up using Microsoft Office in the first place...
I know have libre office viewer installed that doesn't allow inverted backgrounds and only has an experimental editor with a warning sentence...

So & this dear children is the story how I met your mother... Well not really it's more how I ended up without a usable office app on my phone. 2025 I have to fear that people use my phone to spy on me, we can emulate PCs on our phones that emulate 20 year old videogame consoles by now (well I doubt mine can but you get the jist...).
2025 where your mobile office solutions have to be cooperate friendly even if the cooperation behind is as friendly as a punch to the throat...

Fin (I don't know who Fin is but he argued with me I should put his name underneath this story...)

#PennedPossibilities #writing #MobileNonSolutions #Storrytime

654
How would your SC introduce themselves?

Charlston Trawella aka Tack or Karl.

"Hello I'm Karl the Ghoz'Tarc's main engineer or grease monkey how they like to call us, basically your one for everything that can break."
A human male looking person of 165 cm looks at you, holding up a hand, he has black her, a burning red beard & piercingly yellow eyes. If Terran Standard would have accents like we do today you could think of an Irish person speaking Scottish or vice versa.
He looks at his very clean hand than at you & grabs yours if you don't grab his.
"Na don't mind the eyes, my liver & pancreas are fine, I lost a bet as a teen & they let me see in the dark so I kept them. My pronouns are he/him & I'm pleased to meet you." His handshake is firm but welcoming & he doesn't do it longer than necessary. He looks at you:"more the quite kind eh? No worries if you want to talk you can find me in the engine, probably literally."

#PennedPossibilities 654 #StarRide #CharlstonTrawella #SciFi

655 What’s the most unusual source of inspiration you’ve found?

The question is for what.
I try to build citys in Fallout 4 so everything city like or nature like
If I try to design or build space ships everything is possible from a YuGiOh card to a flower.
As teen I drew scenes outside of windows wherever I was. I collect dices and before I lost my first bag i could tell every dices story.
I designed clothing based on Frankenstein.
I created monsters in DND that took inspiration from Mud.
Sometimes a white van is inspiration for a Horror Story with Happy ending (turns out the van is on "our" side).
Songs inspired me for scenes & characters in DND.
On of my characters is the question how many bear can you pack in a human before it becomes obvious a new one is the question okay but what if we set said bear on fire & let them almost all Pronouns.
The part with the Pronouns comes from a Song.
Star Ryde draws from everything.

#PennedPossibilities 655 #StarRyde #Writing #WIP #DND #Design

655 extra.
The question and the answer above led me to an new inspiration together with my character Karl and Cyberpunks Dexter DeShawn.

Bear is also a word for Gay man that are a hairy and don't care much about body shape. Since in my story people can do whatever they like with their hair and no one bets an eye as long as it seems maintained well and carried for enough, why shouldnt a chubby man with a lot of belly hair not also be able to wear a belly free top?

Dex was an ass in Cyberpunk but he didn't looked half bad even with his belly exposed.

And why shouldn't a person like this not be the leader of a city or colony.

So now I will create a colony which is led by a very less dressed chubby man with a lot of body hair just because is can and like the idea.

#PennedPossibilities 655 extra

656. How forgiving is your MC?

Kira lives the rule of three which has become a major guideline in the Union. First time you will be forgiven but corrected. Second time the correction will have bigger consequences to make sure that you don't repeat the deed. Third time is the final chance after which you suffer drastic consequences. That said she is more forgiving than others would say it's okay...

Arkham you can cross once and land on her naughty list. Second time you better have a damn good reason otherwise there is no third time possible.

Ashlei is programmed according to the rule of three, as an A.I. she also operates under the guideline to protect her crew and in extension to that the ship which is basically herself since she and the Ghoz'Tarc are one Vessel.
Her consequences are aiming at preventing further damages.

#PennedPossibilities 656 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

657. Continuing with last night’s questioning, tell us if your SC is one to be forgiving as well.

It depends on the SC in case of Chief Engineer Charlston Trawella, sometimes Karl or also Tuck
(because if the German word "der Tacker" which means stapler the German A sounds very similar to the u in words like tucker, trucker, runner etc) is a really forgiving person. He is someone who fixes things, to fix things they need to break first right?

Dr. Waberi is a nice person but she has a mental list of deeds person done that she did not approve of. She is like Kira more on the forgiving side but lives the rule of 3.

Security Chief Silas Crosby tends to take such things more like Arkham one more chance should be enough.

2.XO William Troika is very forgiving and maybe even softer than Kira, He doesn't think much of the rule of 3 and is more the one who would give 4 or 5 chances.

#PennedPossibilities 657 #CharlstonTrawella (#CharslstonTuck) #DrWaberi #SilasCrosby #WilliamTroika

658. When asked about SCs, do you talk about your side or supporting characters, or both?

I usually say secondary characters for the fact that they haven't had the change to enjoy so much energy as I spent on my main characters.

That they are secondary doesn't mean I don't invest time into them but not as much as in the main.
They hopefully get a time to shine too.

#PennedPossibilities 658 #writing

Owei owei Mai... Rest easy traveler the end is near. That sounds more dangerous than it should...
___________________________________

This is the divider toot for Penned Possibilities from May to June

The last Month devider toot is here:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/114258654566912671

Go back where it canonically started:
Penned Possibilities #1
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/110723765145059262

The overview toot for May 2025 is here:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/114432092557720959
___________________________________

#PennedPossibilities #May2025 #writing #SciFi #WIP #StarRyde

Anna Saultron (@[email protected])

Monthly Divider toot March to April 2025 Last month devider toot is here: https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/114084677387659462 And the first prompt in this collection is here (the beginning is very fragmented): https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/110723765145059262 Other writing related hashtag games I answer are listed in the overview toot for April 2025 here: https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/114258627311354963 ___________________________________ #PennedPossibilities #StarRyde #SciFi #WIP #writing #WritingCommunity and occasionally #GalaxyGlyde #SciFiParody

NerdCulture

659
MC POV: Tell us about your idea of a perfect day.

Kira: "Well that certainly changed over time ... Just waking up in my bed having real weather outside my window, now with Arkham and I have no idea how we could incorporate Ash ..."

Arkham: "It sounds great having a real breakfast and just having time for a day I guess I would just do nothing and relax."

Ashlei: "If the local IT allows a hosting solution I could isolate a copy of my personal interaction files and submit them to run in the house systems while my main system would be still connected with the Ghoz'Tarc."

Kira:"Sounds really good. Deal for after the mission?"

Arkham & Ashlei unisono: "Deal!"

#PennedPossibilities 659 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

660 What is your MC’s relationship with their family like?

Kira:

1. Family
Mother: loving, dead.
Father: loving, dead.
Older sister: loving, dead.
Younger sister: loving, dead.

2. Family
Mother: estranged, cold, harsh, loving/carrying?
Father: loving, protective, supportive, dead.
Sister: Missing in Action, assumed dead by most. It was loving, carrying best friends almost like twin sisters to a level that they even had the same lovers (not at the same time).

Arkham
Mother: estranged, cold, challengeing, hateful? Dead.
Father: loving, supportive, dead.
No siblings.

Ashlei:
Was developed by secretive scientists on behalf of the Alliance.
The base was attacked by Eltaryn only one scientist survived long enough to flee & bring Ash's program to the Alliance.
Ash knows that her voice & her unused avatar are based on the likelihood of the lead scientist, she would call her mother.

#PennedPossibilities 660 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

661 How does your antagonist/villain handle criticism?

Villains:
Eltaryn:
I doubt that they even listen between the screeching, screaming and shooting.

Antagonists:
AJ: ignoring the topic, they would most likely not remember what was the reason for the criticism and probably won't remember the critic after one or two days if they didn't write it down.

AI: turning the tale around how this is the necessary to secure our place in the universe. Throwing the critique back to the critic and make sure that they see their approach is shortsided, simple minded etc.

#PennedPossibilities 661 #StarRyde #AntagonistInfernale #AntagonistJunior #AJohnsen #writing #SciFi #WIP

662 Imagine This: Would your MC be a sore loser or a sore winner?

my brain & my mind are not computing the prompt.
I do not imagine any of my MC's to be either or more neither nor.
A loss/win doesn't mean the MC can win and be only nasty or that the MC can loose and only be nasty.

As I said me does not compute, maybe I'm missing something here (language barrier? Second meaning unknown to me? To great difference in cultural thinking patterns? Overthinking?) after all's it's almost 4 am and I should be sleeping...

#PennedPossibilities 662 #writing

663. Catch-up
How do your characters strive to progress, thrive, and better themselves in a positive way?

Well they have principals and they try their best to uphold them.
You don't choose to be a protective force and it's all good. It's work, discipline according to some researchers, maybe an emotion like others but following a moral code isn't a one and done thing. It's constant work and it can drain out ones already tired persons ridiculously fast. But some things are simply worth striving for. and apperantly I can't think of any metaphor that isn't ableistic in nature... Let's put it with Yoda from the OG Star Wars: "Do or do not!"

#PennedPossibilities ketchup 663 #StarRyde #writing #SciFi #WIP

664 [one step closer to the beast 🤪]
What was the most rewarding moment you experienced during the writing process?

Can't say I hade ONE moment but in my writing endeavors I love if things falling into place nicely like a puzzle.

Especially as a GM/DM in many games I often just adjust some ideas into specific possible actions of players in programming one could phrase it like If -> then scenarios and sometimes my players do exactly that.

Similar feelings I get when open threads start to merge in an organic way. Clever written foreshadowing stories have this "WOEI WAIT WHAT WOW!" Moment. Where you think "holy hedgehog breaking speed limits on a broom"* nobody has written that into existence before and than you browse back and you see the patterns emerge as your brain connects the dots in the aftermath.

If I manage to put that onto players/readers that is absolutely worth every hour spending before.

*I definitely had to much 1960 Batman as a child.

#PennedPossibilities 664 #writing

Blood, blood, blood & ash, smoke, fire, burning metal, blood, burning meat.
Burning meat of sentient creatures.
Sentient.
No.
Terrans.
No no.
Mama? Papa? Dasha? Ranja? Cooking flesh?
Can't breath. Smoke, heat, fire, ash in my lounge, smoke in my eyes, Mama help please!? Papa? Help! I'm hurt! I'm to week.
I'm hurt.
My arm hurts.
I can't move it, it's wet. I can't move, I'm stUck. Stuck, it's so hot. I'm tired. Is that blood, is that my blood...?
Mama? Papa? Dasha?! RANJA! PLEASE HELP ME!? WHEre are YOU? My eyes hurt. Need to see... Eyes... SEE... no...no...no...NOOO!
_________!!!"

Kira pushed her body up from the madres, she screamed in tears, pain & terror, her wounds ached, the blood in the bandages was fresh.

"Why... why... why... Why again?"
She puked.

#PennedPossibilities 665 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Hell

666 Does your MC believe in a higher power? What about evil?

1/2
Kira smirked as she clasped her hands in front of her face, the lighting on board changed & throw a shadow over her face, only her heterochromatic eyes where still reflecting some light in the darkness, keeping her voice low as she started speaking.

At the same time, in another part of the galaxy, a speaker started gently humming as AI started to talk to some nefarious guest.

" "Good, Evil, aren't that 'cute' ideas? The universe doesn't work like this.

I fought hard to protect what we have, every inch of our society is build on achievements of others.

Some had do be dealt with others had to be supported, some needed saving.

Ask the ones, that my deeds saved, ask the ones, that my deeds stopped, ask the ones, which lives I had to end.

They all will tell you about their Stories, about me & you will get very different pictures.->

#PennedPossibilities 666 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #AntagonistInfernale #writing #SciFi #WIP

666. 2/2

Yes, evil exists. It's not an unseen force, that influences us, it's part of us, it is what we do, what we decide to do & how others tell our story.

The thiefs, the monsters, the murders, its us.

After all, in our own stories, we are the heroes right?""

At the same time, in two different places in the galaxy, the same speech was given.

Editnote: reworked the phrasing and hopefully made it clearer for the reader.

Thanks @VVitchy and @anderlandbooks and my not Mastodon friends to remind me that not everyone has the same understanding of my texts as I do.
Thanks a lot.💚🙏

#PennedPossibilities 666 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #AntagonistInfernale #writing #SciFi #WIP

Okay writing community I need an opinion because I need to figure something out.

Please tell me how you interpret the above answer I gave to the Penned Possibilities 666.

One or two+ of my friends seem to completely read in a different way as I do...

I rarely asked them what they think about my answers here but today none of them gave me an answer I would even have considered and now I'm wondering if I'm that bad in contexts or are they simply didn't get it...

So please tell me your interpretation

#PennedPossibilities 666 #follower #question #WritingCommunity #Authors #scifi

667 At the moment, what is your MC’s highest priority?

Kira, staying alive, keeping the rest of the crew alive and getting the mission done, so everyone can get home secure and alive.

Arkham, bringing the crew save into the mission territory, keep the ship alive on mission, bringing them safely out and back home.

Ashlei, keeping the crew happy, alive and save... Their is a slight conflict between her programming of keeping them happy and alive vs following the orders of the alliance, but since she isn't a recognized person but a part of the equipment, she doesn't have the opportunity or more the option to disobey, also this mission seems to important and one crew member already got lost.
She doesn't want that to happen again and since she is connected to Kira, she doesn't want let that sacrifice go to waste...

#PennedPossibilities 667 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

668
Tell us how self and socially aware some of your SCs are. Are these two things connected in any way for them?

Every soldier has to pull their weight alone to a degree, but if they don't feel like it, it's necessary to communicate, it's not even necessary to communicate what's wrong just that something is wrong.
Than the crew can keep an eye out for each other.
This is something deeply ingrained in Terran's nowadays, something deeply rooted into the Talithi culture, the Somwhar culture, the Asza'ni/Trellwa'ni culture especially & even the Bethosians understand this core value of the Union.
Some people on board are far more aware of this than others. Thats why they have become doctors, thats why Talisa is doubling as the crews "Mother on Duty."
Why Mondira, as a Rimworlder, joined the Alliance/Union Military.

"We are not alone in our lives, we are many branches on a tree, we are the leafs in its roof..."

#PennedPossibilities 668 #StarRyde #GhozTarcCrew #writing #SciFi #WIP

669
MC POV: With whom do you feel most at home?

Kira:"Nowadays it's the Ghoz'Tarc because of Ash and the crew. And I think that Arkham is to blame too for that... You know it's kinda weird, it always was with Ann but that... Shouldn't I despise the ship from the mission that took her away?"

Arkham:"Recently Kira and Ash."

Ashlei:"The acceptance of my recent development seems above my highest approximations. Calculating behavioral patterns of individual groups and individuals is always a complex process, but I am... Glad ... That the crew accepted my personal modifications and my progress."

#PennedPossibilities 669 #StarRyde  #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

670
Tell us about your SC’s go-to comfort food.

1/2
Mondira, she loves Lorgat an Aszal plant that was cultivated on other planets by the Somwhar. The original Lorgat has a meat like consistency, structure and a heavy umami flavor, it shares some similarities with mushrooms but is infact a plant. The leaves came be eaten raw most people give it a spicy sauce but Mondira loves them roasted/toasted with Wasabi and Bethosian Chocolate. The roasted Lorgat leaves get dipped into a liquid Wasabi topping and than fried for some seconds before it is covered with hard Bethosian Chocolate flakes that melt do to the temperature.
Bethosian Chocolate is indeed toxic for Terrans but especially humans from. the rim. It's unknown why Rim Humans react so much more to it than Terran's but theories involve all kind of borderline ridiculous and serious explanations.
Rim Humans should not eat more than 500 gramm a year. ->
#PennedPossibilities 670 #StarRyde #MondiraRamann #GhozTarcCrew #writing #SciFi #WIP

670 2/2
Terran's get away with double the amount (1kilo a year in both cases it's a Union Standart year of 360 Terran days).
Mondira has to juggle the amount of original Bethosian Chocolate and her very disliked replacement from the enzyme printer. A key element in the original chocolate is a HHC a Hexahydrocannabinol. As the name suggests it has similarities to Terran THC in its structure and psycho reactivity. In Terrans/Humans it gives a very pleasant feeling, suppresses hunger and slight arousal however it can not be completely metabolized and needs medical intervention over time to be neutralized otherwise the side effects reach from diarrhea and puking to permanent changes in the nervous system.
Mondira has fond memories of this combination since earliest childhood. However the joy of real Bethosian Chocolate is an medical announceable activity for Union & Alliance personal.

#PennedPossibilities 670 #StarRyde #MondiraRamann #GhozTarcCrew #WorldBuilding #writing #SciFi #WIP

671 Tell us how your MC would react to hearing their favorite song or piece of music.

Kira hum gently and quietly along she stopped singing along time ago while under siege.

Arkham probably yell and scream while pushing the ship to its limits.

Ashlei is not programmed to value one piece of music over another, however she is able to choose music that has a higher possibility to fit to a crew members personal taste. Songs that provoke a more pleasing reaction to the listening person will be valued higher in their personal interaction subroutines. Their are also mathematical perfect songs that follow certain principles in mathematics, this are interesting from an data perspective and Ash has gone to great length (for an AI) to discover such songs and the perfect volume & audio configuration for interested crew members like Rose Draken.

#PennedPossibilities 671 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP #Music

672
Does your SC often reflect on their own actions? Do they ever think about the past, and what they could have done differently?

Some do some don't.

~40+/- crew members, and at that point I haven't had any scene's nor thoughts about that.

#PennedPossibilities 672 #StarRyde #GhozTarcCrew #writing #SciFi #WIP

673
Tell us about the kindest thing your antagonist / villain has done.

Antagonists.

AI: not applicable do to lack of data.

Ariaene Johnsen (AJ): they saved children, parents and pets from invading Eltaryn forces.

Villains
The Eltaryn: can you call it kind of an deadly intruder if it dies before it can kill anyone? I think that the most 'kind' you will get out of this gorilla cockroach alliance at least with the current stand in information the galaxy has.

#PennedPossibilities 673. #StarRyde #AntagonistInfernale #AntagonistJunior #AJ #AJohnsen #AriaeneJohnsen #writing #SciFi #WIP

674
What is your SC’s legacy? What do they want to be remembered for and what might they actually be remembered for?

J:"I don't think that I aim for a legacy. My goal is that people relax and feel good even if I'm not around.
I protect because I'm good at it and my loved ones deserve to be protected, as do all other citizens of the Union and every non citizen."

#PennedPossibilities 674 #StarRyde #JHarveyGladstone #writing #SciFi #WIP

Kira: small 2 Parents, Father and Mother both female 3 Kids, all female, she is the last of them.

Second Family small 2 parents, Father male, mother female 2 kids, she herself and Anika her slightly younger "big" sister. Only Kira and her Mother are still "alive"*.

From a legal standpoint her second family is part of her first family too and vice versa to do both Fathers growing up as part of the same family/household but wheren't biological siblings like Kira and Anika

Adoption is a widespread habit in the future as it is giving your child up to adoption for personal reasons and not to forget many get orphaned by ongoing war.

Arkham: small, single child of two parents a Father male and a mother female.

Ashlei: her family are basically Ship lines and precursor Ai's as much as the scientists creating her.

#PennedPossibilities 675 #KiraKnox #Arkham #writing #SciFi #WIP

676
What is your antagonist / villain’s biggest motivation or desire?

Antagonists:
AI [redacted] to [redacted].
AJ can't remember for sure.

Villains
The Eltaryn:"SKREEEEACH!"

#PennedPossibilities 676 #StarRyde #AntagonistInfernale #AntagonistJunior #AJ #AJohnsen #AriaeneJohnsen #TheEltaryn

676.001
(placeholder)
[Canholder? Sorry🤪]
What is your MC's alcohol (or cognate intoxicant) limit? What games do they play as they get drunker?

1/2

That depends on what you serve.
Terran beer and other alcoholic beverages can be filtered out easily by most soldiers implants or genetic modifications (if Terrans go for that).
Their is so called Rocket Fuel a watered down Bethosian Whiskey no Bethosian would ever touch. It still burns despite the higher amount of water in it and some soldiers drink it like water...
Kira prefers Terran beer. Deutsche Bierbraukunst survived as did some other very specific alcohol production processes. Alcohol is still used in rough colonies to make drinkable liquid from otherwise unhealthy liquids and especially some rim worlds are proud of their brewing capabilities. However the drug that very special Terrans and Talithi love, are each other. In a cruel joke the universe made them

#PennedPossibilities 676.001 #StarRyde #alcohol #writing #SciFi #WIP

2/2 toxic for each other, while Talithi breath cabon monoxide in & oxygen out (not on a one to one scale) they would be perfect as companions in settlements or onboard ships but in a cruel twist, we & them exhale particles that, if they go into the lounge of the other species, will react with the biological system & produce a byproduct that intoxicates them & is hard to get rid of. For this reason masking up while in the room with Talithi or Terrans is a given social norm. No other species has this reaction to Talith or Terran breath. A sign of deep trust between both species is to lift the mask for a short period while having close contact. In a filtrated environment this isn't a problem but in non filtrated environments or closed cycles it gets nasty quickly.

Kira has some bad memories of waking up with a full intoxication via Talithi breath including 2 days at a hospital, so if it is intoxication it's beer.

#PennedPossibilities 676.001 #StarRyde #alcohol #writing #SciFi #WIP

677
What is your MC’s greatest skill?

Kira survival
Arkham piloting
Ash learning

#PennedPossibilities 677 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #writing #SciFi #WIP

678
How important to your SC is their hometown or where they came from? (For example, are they proud of it, or are they considered a hometown hero?)

There are two extremes.
The Union.
People don't really have strong heritage ties at all.
Of my SC's, only Doctor Kaiden has a sort of habit, that he often remarks that he is of Korean heritage, this is something remarkable few people do and it's just how they tick.

People in the Union don't bother with such things, after all not a region is responsible for a decent person but a person being decently treated as such makes a decent person.

The Rim worlds and other worlds.
Hero worship and heritage are still a thing especially Rims tend to think of them as somehow superior, Mondira struggles with her mother being almost patri(idi)otic to the world they live on. She considers her daughter to be a shame for joining the Union & the Alliance.

#PennedPossibilities 678 #StarRyde #DrKaiden #MondiraRamann #writing #SciFi #WIP