Character Building

61. Write a story in which, during several conversations, two people create a fictional character. You can have them argue about the character; you can have them in harmonious agreement. The character need not be at the center of the story, but he should be involved with the plot.


"I'm not sure if he should be a boy or a girl."

"He should be a girl, obviously."

"Shut up, you know what I mean. I don't know what kind of a vibe I want between the captain and the engineer.

"If the engineer is a guy, you can have him be the one engaged to the Science Officer."

"No, she's engaged to someone from her planet. Anything closer would screw up the dynamic between her and the captain."

"So just move that story to the engineer and the science officer, and make the captain a chick."

"No, the captain has to be a guy, for the Kirk effect."

"You're going for the Kirk effect?"

"Oh yeah, that's half the story. The strong male lead seducing every hot female minor character, but always putting the ship first."

"Well...If you don't want him to alienate every female crew member, he could have a strict rule against dating subordinates."

"Hmm, and that would just add to the tension with he S.O. It's forbidden for both of them."

"Yep, and you can pick your other characters without concern for Mr. Sexypants."

"The thing is, I can see some good story between the captain and the woman who runs the ship. "

"Then make her a woman for now, and if you don't want it later, then make her a lesbian. "

"A lesbian mechanic...That could work."

Webcomics

You too can have a webcomic
xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Simple art.
dinosaur comics - Philosophy, science and sexiness. Very simple art.

Giant In The Playground
Two comics about fantasy gaming:
Order of the stick
Erfworld:The Battle for Gobwin Knob

Fantasy
Inverloch - Mostly standard setting with Wizards, Elves, and, these other things...
Earthsong - Innovative setting, all manner of races, most notably planets and stars.

Cynical
Gone with the Blastwave - Postapocalytic humor in a pointless war.
Something Positive
Buttercup Festival - This is dark in a bizarre, funny way. Sadly it hasn't been updated in a while.
Sinfest - God, Satan, Drugs, Sex, Books

Minus
This is an amazing and beautiful webcomic done in watercolors.
I was introduced to it with Minus 37, which changes meaning somewhat once you understand what the story is really about.

Xenobiology

I was inspired by a fan to start writing my fictional blog Xenobiology again. I've let it go for the past three months, and worse, my last post made it look like I was stopping. In fact, it is going to be a novel length story when it's done, and that will take years. I started it thinking it would be a continuous serial with no major climax, but now I have a definite epic journey in mind, and I want to finish it. (Though even then it will be open-ended. There's always room for sequels.)

Xenobiology is a science fiction story about an andriod xenobiolgy professor. He started out as property, and has gained his freedom. It is written in real-time, which means covering up a three month gap in writing forced me to alter the plot slightly. It is also interactive; it is literally the Professor's personal blog, and he will respond to comments. I've been in character for over a year.

The next step is to have him get out of the system he is in now, get some traveling companions, and begin the main adventure.