#oph nano 22

[dearophelia]

characters for o fortuna!

[dearophelia]

mmkay so I’m needing a kick in the ass for NaNo. Here are my characters, they are on a cargo ship called the Fortuna in a fairly built-out universe. Ask me things about them?

Kai Blackthorn: the Captain; a scoundrel; mid-50s; No Kings But Us + Be Groovy Or Leave, Man; cybernetic leg; shoots first, asks questions later; badass with a trenchcoat and blaster; she/her (fc: Mariska Hargitay)

Harlow Juniper: the Speaker; second in command; telepath; early 30s; Sparkle, Sparkle, Bitch + Fortune Favors The Bold; knows A Guy; universe is strangely on her side when it comes to luck; she/her (fc: MJ Rodriguez)

Liselle Rowan: the Engineer and ship’s mechanic; platonic #married to Kai; late 40s; Close The Portal + The Rhythms Of Fate And The Tickings Of Time; priest in a machine/AI cult; they/them (fc: Danai Gurira)

Bryony Rosewood: the Doctor; combat medic; late 50s; You Are Not Alone In This Uncertain Place + This Is Not A Dream; copilot, apparently; keeps a gun in her field medic kit; sniper when it’s called for; she/her (fc: Michelle Yeoh)

Phoebe Willow: the Muscle; late 40s; knives > guns, but proficient in both; Reason To Live Juice + God Is A Goddess; that trope of someone pulling a thousand guns out of skin tight pants; tis only a flesh wound; she/her (fc: Lena Headey)

Thalia Maple: the Pilot; also the kid; early 20s; Broke Is The Beginning + Protect Your Ecosystem; breaks ship systems to Go Fast; designated cook; autistic; she/her (fc: Joséphine Jobert)

Diana Valentine: the Heir; running from an arranged marriage; early 30s; The Dark Night Of The Soul + The Hell Train; actually a useful passenger; does dishes; undercover; she/her (fc: Margot Robbie)

[dearophelia]

i decided to do nano on monday (t minus seven days)

without a plot or characters or even genre in mind because i want to write something new not try to finish something old

last night (t minus five days) i generated a plot by smashing scum & villainy and lady blackbird together

(the crew of the cargo ship fortuna pick up a paying passenger. they quickly discover that she’s running away from an arranged marriage, and are happy to help her escape that life. but things turn complicated when they find out just why the hydra syndicate’s been on their ass the past three hundred light years.)

and now i am praying to all the gods i know of that my white blood cell count is high enough to get chemo today so i can have four uninterrupted hours of planning

it’s not as last-minute as some years — especially since i have a plot that lends itself to a beginning, middle, and end — but it’s pretty last-minute as far as any planning is concerned and i for one am delighted to pants my way through this fun and exciting jaunt through space

[dearophelia]

How do Blackthorn & Juniper know each other? (if they knew each other before being on this ship together) Do they get along? (Love the names btw!)

I probably should’ve mentioned that they’re on a cargo ship and not, like, a Star Trek-type ship

Telepaths are rare, and Kai hadn’t originally planned to have one on her ship. Practicality: it’s hard to find a telepath who’ll do more than freelance for you (they can usually make more freelancing full time than signing on with a ship/company).

But they did an off-the-books job together for Javelin Risk Control Industries, and got along like two peas in a pod. Kai transported the less-than-legal goods to a buyer on Virgo Station, Harlow ensured no one (not even Kai) blew the con. They stayed in contact.

When Kai’s former 2IC (and resident grifter) got out of the game, she convinced Harlow to sign on to the Fortuna. Kai pays her people well and Harlow was looking for a little stability.

They get along, as does the rest of the crew. But Harlow isn’t afraid to call Kai on her bullshit or stand up to her or make decisions in her absence. That irritates Kai a little bit, but she’s been around the block enough times to know she needs that to keep her ego (and greed) in check.

Telepathy in my universe works a little like the Detect Thoughts spell in D&D: you have to try, and if you try hard enough the target knows (unless you’re really good. Harlow is very good at her job). Trust is key in space, especially amongst a crew small enough like the Fortuna’s, and Harlow has a strict No Reading Minds policy regarding her crewmates.

Thank you!!

[dearophelia]

@silveredstories [from this]

1. Bryony is scared of the dark. Not like in an “Oh the lights went out” dark, but like Dark Dark. Emergency lights are out and there’s no flashlight, dark. The only lights are from the stars and there’s no window, dark.

2. She alternately wonders when her luck’s going to run out, or if it’s not luck and she really is that good. Depends on how the job went.

Harlow is totally at peace with her telepathy ever since she realized how much money it could make her. She made bank freelancing. She only agreed to take a pay cut and work full time on the Fortuna because it was Kai who asked and Harlow was tired of living out of a suitcase.

[dearophelia]

so I had to make a new NaNo account because I forgot literally anything about my old account

if anyone wants to add me on there I’m saraofswords