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

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

679
What was your SC’s childhood like? How has their upbringing affected them as they’ve aged?

Not everyone had a pleasant childhood and not everyone had a bad childhood.
Not going into detail that much atm because I'm not working with any of my SC's atm and I want to keep options available for when it feels right. I have a rough setup for everyone but some details are missing g overall and for most characters because I just don't want to go into that much detail beforehand anymore...

#PennedPossibilities 679 #StarRyde #GhozTarcCrew #writing #SciFi #WIP

@AnnaSaultron

Not going into detail that much atm because I'm not working with any of my SC's atm and I want to keep options available for when it feels right.

💫 You are thinking like a storyteller! It was an ah-ha moment when I learned episodic "TV" doesn't mention, for example, brothers or sisters until a story demands having one or definitely not having one. Keep those options open.

Personally, I answered a Word Weavers POV I wrote a few days ago as Not Canon so I could clawback a characterization for this reason.

@sfwrtr thx I always love blind spots or white spots on a characters story because that's something to explore. In roleplaying sessions I often have some mystery around most NPCs and if it is only where they hide their diaries.

It often makes player more engaged in the moment and very invested if auch things will be resolved later.

Personally I hate open ends but I totally get why they exist and not every "mystery" should have a solution because sometimes it simply takes away too much. :)

And about the canonical interpretation. As long as I don't finish the story the prompts are as canonical as possible and also ment as a reference, that is why I use the hashtags so plenty but ultimately it's all a work in progress and many things can change on the way.

Kira smiled sadly:"I respect it, it's not that I have no fear but its more for the ones I leave behind. There is this ancient quote 'death is only painful for the survivors.' I know it first hand.
I could have & believe me, at times I wished I had, died, at least 7 times im aware of. I lost my parents, my sisters, my second dad, I still don't believe that Anika is dead.
I lost my first command.
I survived, thanks to my skills or to others who wheren't as lucky.
It does a swex to your mental health & changes your perspective drastically.
I owe them to fight, so others don't have to feel this crushing, devouring emptiness.
In the end, we all will, but at least, I will leave this life a better one if I eventually do."

Arkham swallowed, her thoughts heavy, unable to speak while Ashlei reevaluated the dosage of Kira's medication.

#PennedPossibilities 680 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #writing #SciFi #WIP

681
Let’s talk about your current WIP. Although it of course depends on your genre, do you have an antagonist or an evil villain?

Yes.

#PennedPossibilities 681 #StarRyde #Writing #SciFi #WIP

682
MC POV: Tell us about one of your bad habits.

Kira:"Bad you say? I don't have any."

Arkham:"Come on you always try to avoid such questions."

"What do you want to hear? My eating habits are bad, that I'm to sneaky or that my humor seems forced at times? Or do you consider my folding of paper figurines & placing them inside peoples belongings as invasive? That I don't take the mission seriously? That I decided to go full mission instead of going back to base?
That I started to loose connection to my crew since the merge? Or that I 'feel more computer than Ash'?
Fun Fact I'm new to this 'being part of a symbiosis with a computer who runs everything'-thing, my brain wasn't programmed to deal with that & if you ever feel your left thruster itching you can tell me how to handle that situation.
Yes I'm stressed as swex & I'm not as open with it as I used to but don't you think I can have my little bit 'it's fine' that I have left?"

#PennedPossibilities 682 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #WIP

683
Can you describe a memorable interaction you’ve had with a reader about either your current or past WIP / book?

Atm I'm not im the right headspace.
So I skip this one.

#PennedPossibilities 683

684
How does your antagonist deal with grief?

Skip again.

#PennedPossibilities 684

685
What genre is your current WIP?

Is Military Queer Cozy Utopian Dystopia SciFi a thing?

Maybe I should do a genre reveal party once it's on its way?
Like a gender reveal party for baby's but actually a useful waste of time and resources?

SciFi because will it ever be finished is written somewhere in between the stars. I guess it will be finish* when humanity arrives at Alpha Centauri.

*Maybe I should write it in Danish instead of Finish after all Denmark is closer to where I live...

Btw this garbled mess of an answer is why I don't answer much about my characters atm... Welcome to my brain jumping all over the place and it doesn't even has legs...

#PennedPossibilities 685 #StarRyde #writing #SciFi #WIP

🎉

686
Have you thought of any alternative endings for your WIP, or have you already decided on the perfect ending?

Indeed I have plenty to choose from 3 are considered for the canon ending and I even have a fourth in which all 3 would work but would completely throw if the perspective of the story, atm I'm looking how to put hints for all 3 and the forth ending into the story, despite writing such stories as they just happen to exist in my head the moment I'm writing, I also have some key factors and moments I consider "must haves" this might have to do with my love for open/multiple end games that spark multiverse story possibilities. I worked on a fanfiction of Fallout 4 in which both possible main characters meet at the end of the story despite that the non chosen character get iced in the beginning. It also sparked a Time Paradox idea how all my Fallout Characters from all games are related to each other.
#PennedPossibilities 686 #writing #FanFiction #Fallout #Original #StarRyde

Divider Toot
__________________
End of May and start of June.

Rainbow power pride month divider toot.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🩷

Last month divider toot for easier navigation:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/114432108678054776

My overview for the month of June for the other prompts I participate in:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/114608023704281742
______________
From here on forwards/scrolling down it's
#PennedPossibilities #June2025