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#PennedPossibilities 588 What was your MC's childhood like? How has their upbringing affected them as they've aged?

Idyllic. She lives in functional socialism. Everyone works together to make or trade for what they need, with money being a mechanism for tracking carbon emissions more than anything else. She had a loving immediate family around her as well as an extended family in her arcology, and she had access to all the amenities of a huge, thriving city. If I'm honest, it's *my* fantasy. :)

#PennedPossibilities 589. Do you use any writing tools or software?

#Scrivener. I can write out of order and keep all my notes in one place. It's damn good.

#PennedPossibilities 590. How does your SC go about expressing or not expressing their sexuality?

Only one of them expresses it, and it comes out as tentative admittances that he's fascinated by sex and looking forward to having it someday. Also, he's bi, but that's a non-issue in his society, so I haven't even found a place to mention it. Plus he starts as a 12-year-old, so I have to handle it gently.

(He *revealed* his sexuality to me in a now, sadly, deleted scene.These character live and breath, man.)

#PennedPossibilities 591 — How do you handle research?

When I don't know stuff, I look it up. It SO EASY compared to academic research! I read some websites. I take copies of the pages I used. But I don't have to quote or cite anything!

My god. So freeing.

#PennedPossibilities 592: Are there any hidden details or Easter eggs in your WIP?

I deliberately stayed away from those this time. No symbolic names, for example. If anything, I'm trying to keep plot points and character turns out in the open. I think I'm playing this one so close to the chest that some of it isn't clear. So no Easter eggs.

#PennedPossibilities 593. How does your SC feel about their appearance and personality? Would they change anything about themselves?

Sim desperately wants to be loved and wanted. He wants to be the Big Damn Hero. He is loved by his friends, but not in a way he's quite capable of recognizing.

Brant is a fat kid, and while his culture doesn't have a problem with that--fatphobia backs way the hell of in the absence of capitalism--he's still self-conscious, and he's been bullied a lot.

#PennedPossibilities 594 (MC POV): What sort of temper do you have? Are you easy to anger?

"Don't. I don't want to. But sometimes I can't. I can't resist. The whispers are so... They make me so mad. And then I can't. I can't stop."

"I killed someone."

#PennedPossibilities 595. How does your SC feel about your MC’s temper or lack thereof?

They all know she (the protagonist) could kill them all before they even know what's coming, but they're 100% confident she would never hurt them, so they're fine. They see her as their protector.

#PennedPossibilities 596 — How would you describe your MC’s facial features?

I've deliberately not really thought about it. My characters' attractiveness isn't relevant to the plot. I'm so tired of everyone being "super hot, but they don't know it" or whatever. Yawn. Barf. Moving on.

#PennedPossibilities 597 — Tell us about your MC’s style of dress.

She grabs whatever's on the top of the pile of clothes all over the floor.

#PennedPossibilities 598: Pick one of your favourite SCs. If they were to die, how would this impact the story as a whole?

Way ahead of you. One of them does die, and it hits everyone very hard. They lose their "funny one," and the story becomes quite bleak and dry after that. Well, bleaker and drier, to be fair.

#PennedPossibilities 599 — Antagonist POV: Is there a line that you’re unwilling to cross in order to get what you want?

"I don't *want* anything. I stand between humanity and carnage. There is no price to high to pay to keep them safe."

#PennedPossibilities 600 Growth: How exactly do you see your writing evolving?

I'm stuck on the metaphor of "evolving," here. I can tell you how I'm consciously trying to improve--it's mostly in terms of structure and efficiency of storytelling--but "evolving" implies change over time that happens all by itself. My guess is emotional depth? My earlier stuff doesn't go as deep.

#PennedPossibilities 601 — Choose one of your SCs you’ve never spoken about. How would you describe their facial features?

I really don't know. I don't picture faces. I picture body language, clothes, voices are crystal clear. Faces: dunno, whatever.

#PennedPossibilities 602 — Think back on the SC you discussed last prompt. How do they dress?

I get a sense of 70s/80s kids clothes from my book, so I'm picturing those shirts that had white on the body and, like, burgundy sleeves, and then slacks (not jeans) on the bottom. His hair is shoulder-length and kind of messy because he doesn't take care of it, but it's thick and black and kind of looks great regardless. He's a kid who will be handsome, but not yet.

#PennedPossibilities 603 — How would you describe your MC’s handwriting?

Girly. Hearts over the i's, really loopy. She's a girly girl.

#PennedPossibilities 604—Is your MC one to be confident under pressure, or do they struggle with it?

Supreme confidence. The world narrows to whatever it is she needs to do, and drives towards it without hesitation.

#PennedPossibilities 605 — SC POV: If you had a “do-over” button, what one event in your life would you like to have a second chance at?

"I'd have told Luis to shove it! You can't take me away!

"Then I'd hit like *wham* in the face, and then like *wham* in the balls. And then my dad would come in and like, *wham* throw him against a wall.

"Yeah."

#PennedPossibilities 606. Is your MC keeping any secrets? Can you tell us more without giving away any spoilers?

Not especially, except for the fact that she can't talk to anyone about the murder-cult except people who are in or escaped from the murder-cult. Does that count?

#PennedPossibilities 607: Antagonist / Villain POV: Where are you in your life right now? What are you most pleased with?

"The children's technique and tactics are deeply flawed, of course, but they act decisively and in unity. Only dispassionate engagement with the enemy will maintain our fragile world."

#PennedPossibilities 608 — Does your MC have any nicknames?

Her parents called her monkey. To be fair, ALL parents call their kids "monkey" (presumably not Black parents, though), but for her, it stuck because of her ridiculous gymnastics skills. Nobody, including her, knew she had super powers.

#PennedPossibilities 610: What are the most significant sounds we hear in your WIP? For example, it could be the sounds of nature or the noises of a bustling town.

Whispers. They creep into my characters' heads at night, and then during the day. The whispers tell them that everyone wants to hurt them, so they're going to have protect themselves by making everyone afraid.

#PennedPossibilities 611: Have you ever been able to relate to your antagonist / villain? If the answer is yes, then how so?

She's firm in her beliefs. She is certain what she's doing is right, and it involves a certain amount of what she thinks of a necessary cruelty. I think we've all been convinced, at least occasionally, that there are "necessary cruelties." We're usually wrong, IMO.

#PennedPossibilities 612: Has your SC ever snooped in a friend or partner’s house?

Hasn't come up. I could see one of them doing that.

#PennedPossibilities 613 — How do you feel about the world or universe you’ve created within your WIP? Are you satisfied with it thus far?

I don't know if I'll ever be "satisfied." Once it stops developing, in my mind, then it'll be dead. The thing I love is that I'm building an ideal little anarcho-syndicalist network that essentially acts independent of government: housing people, maintaining communities, and producing goods for the whole of society.

The idea is industry is organized around arcologies. Each one is like a small town but located within super-dense cities. People generally live in the upper floors with services in the middle floors--schools, hospitals, maintenance, stores, restaurants--and then industrial floors on the bottom. Each arcology specializes in building something different. Some have floors and floors of coders. Some have giant hangers for aircraft. Most of them make the basic *stuff* people use every day.

Nobody *has to* do the industrial work of a given arcology, but it is right there, and likely your family and mostly do that work, so there's a strong chance that if your arcology makes kitchen utensils, you'll have a smooth transition into doing that, but you can move to another arcology--if they have room and they like you--or you can do something independent in your own residence, either cottage industry or remote work.

There is money, but it's mostly theoretical: a system for tracking resources. If you grab a bag of apples from stores, your household credits will reflect their energy and carbon footprint, but nobody's concerned unless it presents a problem. People don't get paid for their labour so much as they all labour for the sake of having access to the arcology; eg, they'll reset your funds if you're low. If you do it all the time, there will be community pressure to be more careful.

And if you're trying to outsmart the system to hoard resources, you'll be quietly freezed out of the social structure of the arcology. Nobody's cut off from food and shelter, but you'll be hated for messing up the good thing everyone's got going.

There are attempts at empire building, of course, and some arcologies go bad, turn into little dictatorships. In that case, other arcologies stop working with them, freeze *them* out. Everyone's very vigilant about potential tyrannies because industrial tyranny is what caused the environmental crisis, and NOBODY wants to go back there. It's still in living memory. In time, they'll need a different motivator, of course, but this is what's going on in the "present" of the story.

It would be interesting to check in with this world another 100 years on, to see what's happened to them, but I have to finish this book first. :)

#PennedPossibilities 614 SC POV: What is one phrase that you would really like to hear right now?

"We really like you. You're cool and awesome and sexy."

[deep sigh]

#PennedPossibilities 615 — What is the best time of day for you to write? (Early or late morning, midday, afternoon, or nighttime?)

Lately, I don't know! It used to be late at night, but I'm dealing with some chronic pain, and now it's... never. I'm consistently uncomfortable in a sitting position.

(I've got an appointment with a specialist. It's going to get sorted.)

#PennedPossibilities 617. Random: If you’re also an avid reader, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

BC Transit used to give out transfers that were light cardboard in the same shape as a credit card. They were perfect little bookmarks. As an undergrad, I would collect loads of them and use them for all the books I was reading for class.

Damn, man. Just typing that was *nostalgic*.

#PennedPossibilities 618 Is your SC prone to jealousy? How might they handle any envious feelings?

Only one of them might feel jealousy, but it's for a friend, it has manifested not in terms of exclusivity but in terms of just wanting her around.

#PennedPossibilities 619: What type of accent does your MC have?

She talks like a Vancouverite: fast, without pauses between statements, but will stop on a dime when it's someone else's turn.

#PennedPossibilities 620 What have you enjoyed about writing your antagonist?

She possesses remarkable moral clarity and *such* a mouth on her. When she lets loose, everyone around her is cowed.

#PennedPossibilities 621 — What was the bravest moment in your MC’s life? Were they known to be courageous from then on?

She's known for beating two people in stand-up fights even though she didn't really beat them, and she's known for killing someone in a fight, which *haunts* her. It's all pretty fucked up.

#PennedPossibilities 622 — Does your MC read? If so, what sort of things? Do they have a preferred genre of choice?

Not much of a reader, no. I'm sure she has favourite books from childhood, but it's not something she spends a whole lot of time doing.

#PennedPossibilities 625 How physically fit are your characters? Does it factor into your WIP in any way?

My protagonist was a child gymnast, and it means she's extremely ready to learn to fight with a sword. It's a whole thing. The rest of her friends have to learn, too, but they're not great at it.

#PennedPossibilities 626 — MC POV: Are you afraid of your capabilities?

"I killed someone."

#PennedPossibilities 628 Tell us about the trauma your antagonist has endured.

No trauma. She's just convinced herself that organized cruelty to children is a moral imperative. The reason why is that she likes to think of herself as the ultimate righteous hero, and she enjoys doing violence to people she hates. There's probably a reason. It's likely ideological, raised to think of children as property. But I don't care. The point is she's a fucking asshole, and there's no *good* reason for it.

#PennedPossibilities 630 — Is your MC receptive to warnings and advice given by others?

At first, not really. She grew up an extremely safe, tolerant environment, so she never developed the skill of being able to tell when an adult was about to be enraged at her. She learns quickly once she's abducted into a paramilitary assassin cult.

#PennedPossibilities 631: What does your antagonist / villain do to relax?

This assumes that she's ever relaxed.

#PennedPossibilities 632 What originally inspired your WIP's plot?

The plot, specifically, is a mishmash of influences: a combination of my own highschool experiences, bits of the spine of Star Wars, I think some Harry Potter ended up in there (shudder), and there's a seam of anime *stuff* throughout, I think.

#PennedPossibilities 633 How did you choose the title for your story, and what significance does it hold for you?

I don't like the title of my current piece. It's just called "The Order" right now because I haven't come up with something better. My previous project was called, "The Curse of Zeus," carrying on the fine fantasy tradition of "the X of Y." I'm not sure I really have the hang of titles.

#PennedPossibilities 634 MC POV: How much do you value companionship? Do you always keep people around, or do you prefer to be alone?

"I miss my cousins. I don't have any cousins, here. I have my friends, but there's only three of them. It's not enough."

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

Yes, being raised by hippies. :)

My protagonist has an extremely tolerant upbringing within an anarcho-socialist community structure, so she doesn't know what "talking back" is at an adult. Like, yeah, they talked and then she talked. What's the problem...? She's an antiauthoritarian who gets shoved into an authoritarian system (ie, a paramilitary cult in space).

@trpeal I try not to lean on it, but yes, very much that.

@larsrookhorror It's nice to hear that titles can be placeholders. When I write academic work, the title is a vital step in the process of narrowing my focus, but fiction is such a different beast.

@orionkidder Oh yes, it's a very different way of writing. I always found the same with academic writing, it's vital to have a very clear plan in place right from the start. Fiction is a little looser (?). You can chop and change it a lot while you write.

@larsrookhorror You know, funny enough, because of my experiences with improvising in fiction, I've introduced more exploration and writing out of sequence into my academic work, and it's *great*. I read a tonne, then I write from my imagination and my impressions, and then I work the sources in. It's surprisingly effective.

@orionkidder That's great! And really interesting to hear how one can affect the style of the other. I always thought of them as wholly separate but it's cool to know that they influence each other.

@larsrookhorror They really do. I notice it a lot in paragraphing, too. My sense of fiction paragraphs is inescapably influenced by scholarship: one concept per paragraph.