Story Assembly II - another embroidery thread (post-apocalypse!)

writing
#82

Not sure I can do what I really wanted without taking two points, so this is where it gets really fun, seeing if I can get to the next point before anyone else.

For this turn I’ll go with:
RESPONSE: Having a Good Reaction to Someone
Clay is having a hard time. He wasn’t supposed to be revived unless he could be cured and was instead revived into a post apocalypse. Before the apocalypse he was very involved in his career but really wanted to find “the one” and settle down. Now he’s expected to impregnate several women in a very less than ideal situation in order to save the human race. The problem? He’s fallen for an infertile and only wants to be with her, future of the race be darned.

@jassnip’s turn unless there is any discussion.

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#83

I didn’t have a lot of time to reply yesterday but I really liked all the points offered. Mike, I had no idea what to put for Moonlighting, but I think you and I might have had some similar thoughts regarding the sperm bank and an eventual conclusion. And I loved Diane’s reaction to that!

#84

Oh yes. AWESOME! And very Hindering. Is it one of the OS characters? That would be cool. Maybe it’s Jeanne (she could be an infertile who Supports the fertiles’ getting pregnant … but maybe Clay Tempts her?) Or someone else.

I swear we are going to end up with some kind of love polygon here. Hexagon or heptagon maybe.

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#85

Hmmm, Let’s see if someone defines that before we get back to my turn. There’s another story point I want to get to that would tell us who it was. It would take this story in a very specific direction, but I haven’t thought through all the ramifications regarding Success and such. i can’t tell if this would make an interesting story or a cliche, but I guess we’ll see if I get the chance to throw it out there.

#86

Y’all are so amazing. I love the stuff you come up with. I feel completely outclassed…I mean…I feel completely challenged! :stuck_out_tongue:

PRECONDITION: Hunting - Clay is looking to stave off having to bed Magnolia who is “ovulating” and says that he won’t do it unless he can take the girl out for a fresh steak dinner as he would have done before. Fresh out of steak? Awww, what a shame! Guess we’ll have to go hunting.

#87

Right back at you! I think we are gelling as a team and we’re all outclassed by the group-storymind!

Your precondition is great … I could see it working with some of Prish’s ideas about Clay too.

But I have a question for everyone… just thinking out loud here, but what would happen if we changed it (gasp) so that Clay is actually the IC? I’m only asking because I was reviewing the storyform and for a minute was thinking he was the IC, not Tam. I mean, it doesn’t matter in terms of structure (IC throughline is separate from OS), and I’m sure we would come up with awesome ideas for Tam when the time comes… But I was just thinking about a relationship story between Clay and Lawanda and how neat that would be.

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Novelist trying to decide whether to purchase the software or not
#88

So there goes part of the surprise for what I wanted to do with my next turn! Haha.

Up to y’all on of we switch Clay to IC or not. I’m happy with it either way. I’ll have to do some reconsidering of the IC points I was planning on dropping in if we switch, but that’s fine.

#89

?? I’ll still be surprised because I’m not sure what you mean … !

Actually I was going to ask you, for my turn, which throughline would be the least likely for me to stomp on the toes of your idea? (or do you want to post or PM me your idea so I don’t mess it up?)

I keep trying to pretend we’re all in a room together, I like the idea of collaborating that way, with side conversations etc.

EDIT: let’s keep Tam as IC then. It’s probably best to keep it as-is, since everyone’s sub-conscious is already oriented to that.

#90

It’s not a big deal. Take any story point you want. If it gets taken before I get to it, it’ll probably be with something better than I had. Either way, I’ll say what I was thinking on my turn. Don’t want to ruin the integrity of the exercise or whatever by trying to claim two points at a time.

I will say this. There is one little word in the part I quoted that I think my tired eyes didn’t catch. If you take that out, the rest would make since. Anyway, go on with your turn. My idea will just have to curl its toes until it’s time.

And don’t stop me from letting @prish and @jassnip give their thoughts about switching the IC. Again, I’m fine either way.

#91

I don’t want to mess up the collaborative feel either, so I’ll say this. As long as the infertile that Clay is falling for isn’t defined as being the wrong character, I can get my point in even if the specific point I was looking at gets claimed. If that makes sense. But I don’t want anyone to let that stop them from claiming clays love interest if they have a good idea

#92

Maybe, that’s why I’ve been drawn to tinker with Clay.

#93

Well, of course, that was a given thematically that we we would have to take a swipe at the “traditional” relationship structure. Monogamy vs Poly-amory.

I actually think that makes Clay an interesting candidate for IC, as has been suggested, which btw, I’m fine with. It makes sense that “the only” fertile man would pretty much impact EVERYBODY.

okay, @mlucas you are up, m’dear.

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#94

Okay, with this story point, I’m making Clay the IC instead of Guardian Tam. Sounds like everyone else is cool with this, but if not just let me know and I’ll change it.

IC CONCERN: Educating Someone

Once Clay is revived he keeps trying to learn more about his rare illness that was the reason for being frozen. His memories of his last days foggy – a side effect of the cryonics, perhaps – so he doesn’t know the details of his illness. He gets Dr. Olivia to teach him what she can, but she is not a specialist in this area… and there is no internet to ask.

So Clay keeps going on dangerous and time-consuming information-gathering expeditions to libraries and clinics, studying books and medical journals to learn how he can cope with his mysterious illness. (Of course, his studying will never pay off, because his illness was not real – he was poisoned by his wife, who was having an affair with his skirt-chasing doctor, and the two happily consigned him to cryogenic freezing and kept his money.)

This impacts everyone who wants him present for the womens’ ovulations, and everyone who doesn’t agree with his wasting time and resources (expeditions should bring back useful things, not books on rare diseases). Some fear for his life, while others hope he doesn’t come back.

Is that okay? It feels weird venturing into a different throughline!

#95

Definitely lots of conflict in that. I’m also looking at what i was eventually thinking of for Tam and applying it to Clay. Maye it’s just because we’ve spent so much time on him and almost none on anyone else, but everything i was thinking of before feels much richer with Clay in the IC spot. I’ll have to see what happens over the next couple of rounds, but I think switching IC’s is definitely an interesting part of this particular exercise.

I can’t wait to get to some of the other throughlines, myself. Or at least find a way to start bringing some other characters into the OS. I can’t believe we have 7 females and 1 male and we’ve still mostly talked about the male…of course, it’s my fault, i guess, for trying to kill him off right off the bat. :confounded:

#96

Haha…do the math…one guy…human race…so he became interesting right off.

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#97

Okay, I nipped that up and put in in the storyform. @Prish. You’re up. :smile:

#98

I have an idea, and I can’t decide which to use.

OVERALL STORY INHIBITOR: Distrusting a Particular Group

A group of martial arts practitioners are considered putting the fragile biology in danger, and not having any trust in their philosophy, those in control foment distrust against them.

MC THROUGHLINE (Lawanda) SOLUTION: Giving Consent to a Particular Group

Lawanda allows the martial arts practitioners to continue developing their skills, secretly, because she knows they can help protect the project from inimical humans and out of control animals that roam the outskirts. Others consider the group of martial arts practitioners putting the fragile biology in danger, not having any trust in their philosophy.

#99

I like to think they could be the group of outsiders that the infertiles used resources to find and that the fertiles were rejecting.

But I have a question now about the OS Inhibitor. It’s supposed to inhibit the OS story so that it’s no longer moving toward (or I guess away from) a resolution. Is this another way of saying that the OS argument is no longer being made or that the argument is paused? And in this story, it would mean the characters aren’t concerned with the women getting pregnant while they are distrusting the martial arts practitioners?

If so, I like the idea of the MAPs somehow coming back in the OS solution as well. It might work just as well in the MC or better, but I dont know enough about the MC to have a feel for it yet. You could be setting the whole tone of the MC if you put it there, @prish.

#100

They would not be outsiders. I was seeing them as a mix of some OS characters and others in the community. If the fertile ladies are so precious, some might be concerned about some of them doing such activities and mixing with unfertiles. Then some could be turned off with perceived aggression with such activities, not knowing about the philosophy that goes with martial arts. This doctor told me once that he always had his patients continue doing their normal routines, no matter what they were, when pregnant. He had one patient who was a skydiver and brought to term a very healthy baby.

I thought it might be a fun tone to set for the MC, but you know more than I about living with such decisions in story building. I am no martial arts person, but we did pack up for Ohio for a summer in the 80’s, so the husband could study with Stephen Hayes (ninjitsu). That was after studying a little with someone in Seattle with amazing talents, from the stories the husband used to tell me of what he had seen. That is way, WAY back in his physical past, but I have been listening to ongoing gripes for 34 years, watching tv and movies with him, “WHERE’S THE ACTION?”

So, I thought it couldn’t hurt to toss a little action into the story, at this point.

I hadn’t decided if the MC was a martial arts practitioner, yet, but some (or one) of the fertiles, for sure.

I’m not attached to this. I can go back to mulling over the storyform.

#101

Nah. If your referring to me, I don’t know more about it. We’re just making it up as we go. If you want some martial arts in the MC throughline, I say go for it.

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