Daily 25: New Holiday

Welcome to The Intergalactic Day of Theatre, which will be held the week of May 15th of each and every year from now on, in every country. Theatre is for everyone, everywhere after all. Do you ever wish you had more time to see theatre? That there was more time in the day, or more shows available? Well, wish no longer because during this holiday, there are no responsibilities or duties that will need to be taken care of except for one – watch theatre. Everything else is cancelled – work, school, everything – and there will be productions happening at all times of the day, so there will not be a second that theatre is not being watched. It’ll be paid vacation for those who work, and all the shows are by donation only, so anyone can watch them! And everyone can celebrate in their own way – whether they desire to stay at home and watch filmed shows while curled up in bed or go out and theatre-bounce to see as many shows as possible or if they will be performing/directing/playing music/participating in stage crew/tech/other volunteers, this is the day for all things theatre! There will also be sing-along shows where the audience is encouraged to show their talent, and singing musical songs between shows is also highly encouraged, and only musical songs will be played in public areas. If you have a problem with that, invest in a pair of headphones. Don’t ruin the holiday for those enjoying its fullest potential. The Show Must Go On!

Daily 26: Repeat Daily

I’m doing the title daily using a title from @Thecatperson19


“Good Guys Only Win in the Movies”

She banged the two action figures together, an epic battle taking place in her imagination. He sat down beside her, putting a hand on the figurines to stop their fight.
“It’s time for sleeping, little hero,” he said.
“I’m not a hero,” she told him.
“Oh?” he asked.
“I’m not a hero yet.”
He chuckled as he tucked her in.
“One day, things are going to be different,” he said, smiling down at her. “Better.”
“We’ll make them better!” she exclaimed.
“Exactly,” he ruffled her hair, and she grinned hopefully up at him. “Now go to sleep.”

The debris settled as a cold wind swept across the city, blowing away the dust and leaving the destruction, the barren shell of our home, exposed. How did it come to this? Everything that we fought for, everything we worked to build, is gone. I need to know how it ended. If they’re– they have to be. Let them be. Please.

The world is shaking, or maybe I am, as I walk through the rubble. Normal people, people whose lives we were trying to make better, people who don’t have lives any more, are everywhere. Some of the survivors are trying to save them, but there’s nothing left to save.

“It has to be us,” He said, looking between each of them. “Together, we’re going to fix everything. We’re going to save the world.” They cheered, raising hands in salute.

Stopping, taking it all in. The battleground. The place all this destruction came from. A smoking crater of death. My legs give out, and I fall, rubble digging into my skin but I don’t care. What was the point, if it was going to end like this?
“You’re alive!” She tackles me, almost knocking me to the ground. I stare at her.
“Y-you’re alive?” I can’t believe it, but there she is, warm and vibrant as ever. Tears form in my eyes, and I’m not sure why. “Is he–” the look on her face stops the question in my throat. The apology in her eyes that I don’t want to see, or hear.
“I’m so sorry, legends I’m sorry,” she whispers as I dissolve, all the relief of seeing her overpowered by this horrible feeling consuming me, tearing me apart. I can’t do this. Tears stream down my face as I sob into her shoulder, my whole body shaking again. She rubs my back, comforting me, being the strong one. But I can hear her shaky breathing, can feel her shaking as well, can feel the silent tears that drip down her face and onto my back. We both lost him. We both lost him.

“Together forever, right?” He says, giving her a fist bump. “That’s what heroes do.”
“Heroes stick together,” she agrees.

The sound of crunching gravel breaks the silence left once our tears were used up.
“They’re here,” she says, and we stand and face our nemesis. They stand in a V formation, him at the front in all his glory. The heroes and the villians facing each other down one last time.
“Look what you’ve done,” he says, staring down at us. “This mindless killing and destruction – what was it all for?”
“Changing the world,” I say, but the words have lost their power. This is not the change we wanted to make. This is not the world we wanted to bring. This is not what we wanted. It doesn’t matter what we wanted. Not anymore.
“Destroying the world,” she corrects from his left.
“You couldn’t be content, could you? You had to bring it to this. Well, it ends here. Bring it on – we’re ready,” he announces.

“A hero never gives up,” he says. “They fight until the end!”
“Heroes are brave,” she replies.
“Very brave,” he taps her on the nose. “Just like you. I know you’ll always be ready.”

They’re ready? Good for them, because I’m not. Because I can’t do this anymore. It’s not worth it. What are we even fighting for? The city that’s been destroyed? The world that we ruined? The friends that we already lost? She takes my hand, gives it a squeeze. She knows. She understands. She’ll stand by me. Together forever.
“You win,” I tell him. They look taken aback. Then suspicious.
“You think you can trick us?” She asks, putting her hands on her hips.
“No. You… win. We’re not going to fight you, or anyone. No more plans. No more battles. We’re done.”
“What are you talking about?” He asks.
“You win!” I yell, and I feel like I’m about to start crying again. “How thick are you?! It’s over! What more do you want?”
“We want our world to be safe,” he says. I laugh.
“It’s not. Your world is gone. You’re world is in ruins,” she says. “You can’t save it.”
That’s when the blast sounds. Someone screams. I think it was me. I might still be screaming. I hold her and she smiles at me even though there are tears in her eyes. She raises her hand, our salute, our sign. And then she’s gone, and all that’s left is destruction and tears and heartbreak.

“All heroes need a symbol,” he told her.
“Ooo! How about this!” she raised her hand, ring finger tucked down. He grinned and ruffled her hair like always.
“Perfect,” he said. “That will be our sign.”

I’m not aware of anything until he yanks me to my feet. I scream again when I have to let her go, my body reacting, fighting back even as my mind is in shattered peices. But I don’t have anything left. I can’t fight anymore. I can’t fight until the end. I can’t fight.
“What now?” he demands. “What’s next?”
“Nothing,” I say. He shoves me to the ground.
“What do you mean? What’s your plan? What are you going to do?”
“Die, I suppose,” I stare at her, unmoving. It won’t be long now until I join them. Together forever, right?
“Are you going to destroy the earth? Is it a bomb? A new power?” He sounds almost hysterical, trying to figure out the plan that doesn’t exist. It’s close to being funny, if anything could be funny in this world we’ve made.
“There isn’t anything left. You won.”

She pushes open the door, kneeling at his side.
“What’s wrong?” she asks. He stares at her, tearstained face tired.
“I can’t…” he trails off. “I can’t keep doing this. It’ll never be enough.”
“We’re the good guys! We’ll save the day! We’ll win!”
“That’s not how it works.”

“Stop saying that!” He yells. He’s desperate. He’s still waiting for me to give him something to fight. Something to do. There’s only one thing left to do. And I don’t have the will to be here for it. “We’re the good guys. Of course we won.”
“Who said you were the good guys?” I whisper.
“What?” She asks. My gaze hasn’t left her face.
“The fight is over. The world is a mess, and it’s yours to clean up,” I tell him. “I’m done with it.”
“I don’t understand,” he’s running out of fight.
“I can’t keep doing this. It’ll never be enough,” I whisper.

“Good guys only win in the movies.”

Those were the last words he said to me. And they’re my last words to this world I used to love.

Daily 24: Roleplay Day


Lily gasps in amazement as she walks into the main cabin and takes in the glorious chaos. “I was literally JUST talking with someone about how we were wondering when roleplay day would be!” she exclaims, then she rubs her chin with a thoughtful expression, saying, “Were the tyrants listening?”

— — —

Lily ducks, then retaliates with an exploding empanada (TM)

— — —

“I do indeed,” Lily muses. “There was much chaos during those times… it was glorious. There was a shortage of links though, hazards of a mascot with that sort of diet I suppose.”

— — —

“Sure you can!” Lily says, “I honestly love role play day! I think it's really fun, and a great way to encourage people to interact with each other! It also creates a lot of glorious chaos,” she fingers her arson mango stash, but decides this might not be the best time for that. “Overall, it's one of the best SWClassic dailies in my opinion!”

— — —

“Ooo, sure Muxa!” Lily says, noticing the critique thread. “I'd be happy to help a cabin mate!” She heads off to read Muxa's piece, hoping she can help out.

— — —

Lily pops into her cabin, noticing the new Qotd. “hmm…. maybe like, screamy rock? but then again if it has good instrumentals… all music has value in some way though, so I don't know.”

“I said it has value, okay! I haven't listened to a lot of it! I was just thinking aloud!” Lily attempts to excuse herself, though she believes muxa was joking just a little bit…

— — —

Lily grins. An oppurtunity to talk about her fandoms? wonderful! “Hi Mouse! Let's see, favourite movies… I'm a fan of disney and dreamworks, with some favourites being Abominable and Luca; I also like the MCU - specifically (far from/no way) home(coming) and the guardians of the galaxy movies; Across and Into the Spiderverse; How to train your dragon; Song of the Sea… honestly so many movies hehe movies are just so interesting and diverse…” she walks off, still thinking about movies….

Cabin Wars 2

• Wrote the entirety of the Trope Weekly during cabin wars ( https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=5#post-8463351 )

• Wrote an 872 word critique ( https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8463373 )

• Wrote Daily 23: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8464459 (tyrant for a day)

(song titles challenge - used Lydia the Bard songs)

“Come on, I want to show you what I’m working on!” She said, grabbing my hand with a sudden brilliant smile and pulling me through a set of sliding doors and into a sort of sun-room filled with canvases. Abstract art mixed with paintings of roses and lipstick and bright red balloons. The room itself had just as many red splatters – on the floor, ceiling, and walls – as the actual paintings did.
“Welcome to my studio,” she announced, spreading her arms as though showing off some brand new invention, then spinning around before I had a chance to reply. “This one’s my current work-in-progress.”
She grabbed a paintbrush and a pallet full of red paints and started dabbing at the piece, which I couldn’t decipher anything about except for the fact that it was very, very red.
“I call it ‘Melodic Massacre,’” She said, putting her fist on her chin and getting a dab of red paint on her cheek in the process. “What do you think?”
“It’s very, um, red?” I replied hesitantly.
“Well of course it is– oh, I guess you don’t know,” she gestured to the paintings around the room. “I only paint in red now.”
“I can see that…” I trailed off, not sure what to add. Something about those words was strangely familiar, although I couldn’t remember why. “Um, what’s this one called?”
I pointed to another painting, this one looking like it could possibly be flames and… a hand? If she caught on to me changing the subject, she didn’t show it. She smiled, caressing one side of the painting with her cherry-coloured fingers.
“This one’s ‘Play With Fire,’ one of my favourites,” she said. “I think it turned out nicely, don’t you?”
“Um…yes?” I’m not an art critic, and all the practice I had telling her her old pieces looked good didn’t seem like it would apply here in this red-covered wonderland she’d created. And there was something tugging at the back of my mind, something about these paintings, the colour red, something I should be remembering.
“Are you afraid of me?” she asked suddenly, voice dropping out of it’s cheerful exuberance to something almost deadly.
“What?” I asked, with a fake laugh. I don’t know what to say to her. It’s like we went from sisters to strangers in the year she’s been gone. But that’s impossible – I’ve known her all my life.
“You don’t think I’m a creep?” She questioned again, taking a step forwards, the light from the windows outlining her.
“Of course not,” I said. What is she going on about? She took a step forwards, raising her hand and I flinched away as she– bopped me on the nose with her paintbrush.
“You’re so fun to mess with,” she said, twirling away with a laugh, dabbing at her painting again. Then she froze. “Are you listening?”
“What?” I repeated, for what felt like the millionth time. She was still, head cocked as though trying to catch the tune of a song playing in another room. An explosion shook the ground. The window shattered, glass flying into the room as we both fell to the floor, along with paintings, brushes, paint, easels.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I sat up, moving debris out of the way, careful to avoid the glass shards. She was standing at the window, turned around to grin at me, red paint splattered across her face. The buildings across the street were rubble. Except for the one in the middle, on which six words were written in large block letters.
“Of course,” she said, grinning wider. “I told you, didn’t I?”
The words from earlier, the ones I should’ve remembered from the papers and the news, the ones written on the building – it all flooded back as she spoke them one more time.
“I only paint in red now.”

— — — — —

Jordan stood in the door of the classroom, looking at the rest of the students in her grade. A pair of red-heads who looked like they had to be siblings, a girl with long brown hair in a braid and a videogame t-shirt, an asian boy – at least she wouldn’t be the only one – and then a girl with glasses and long black hair in braids tapped her on the shoulder.
“Hey, are you new?” she asked. Jordan nodded.
“Yeah, I’m Jordan,” she replied. The girl smiled.
“I’m Ashanti – though my friends call me Asha. You should come sit with us.”
Jordan let out a relieved sigh and followed Ashanti to a table with six chairs on the left side of the room. The red-headed pair from earlier took up two of the chairs, and another girl with curly blonde hair half-up in a pair of space buns sat beside them. The asian boy was beside the red-headed boy, and they were chatting animatedly. Ashanti pulled out a seat and motioned for Jordan to sit next to her.
“I found our sixth,” she announced. Everyone turned to look at Jordan, who waved. “This is Jordan.”
“Hi!” The red-haired girl said. “I’m Eve.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” her brother said, holding out a hand. “The name’s Evan.”
“Twins?” Jordan asked as she shook it awkwardly.
“I’m offended – you think I’m related to this crazy person?” Evan asked. Jordan was taken aback.
“Sorry–”
“He’s messing with you,” Eve interrupted. “He’s the real crazy person in the family.”
“You’re both crazy,” the blonde girl corrected. She grinned, revealing blue braces. “I’m Brianna.”
“And I’m Isaac,” the asian boy finished. “Welcome to the 9/10 class of Port North.”

Just then, everyone turned to the front and Jordan followed their eyes to where the teacher had walked in. She looked to be in her thirties, with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and a flowery blouse.
“Good morning class,” she said, and the last conversations were silenced as the class replied. Jordan said good morning along with the rest of them.
“We’ve got a new student today – would you like to introduce yourself?” She asked. Jordan stood up and glanced around the class. Most of the students seemed pretty interested, with such a small school she guessed that was normal. The girl with the videogame t-shirt was staring out the window.
“Um, Hi. I’m Jordan,” she started. “My family just moved her from the lower mainland, and I was born in China. Oh, and I’m in grade 10.”
Some people clapped as she sat back down. The teacher smiled and started teaching math. Alright, so far so good.

The day continued normally. Asha and her friends were great, and Jordan was glad that they only had one class here. Lunch went by filled with laughter. For once, being the new kid didn’t suck. In the middle of an English lesson, a tall guy with short, curly black hair and dark skin wearing a flannel shirt appeared in the doorway, and the one girl Jordan had noticed before left with him, looking a little green.
“That’s Christie, and her cousin JD,” Evan commented. “He’s in grade 11.”
“She looked sick,” Jordan replied.
“Yeah,” Eve said, re-doing one of her braids. “That’s usually what it means when a sibling shows up – He’s probably going to walk her home. It’s a sibling responsibility here since most of our parents work with the logging company.”
Jordan nodded. Her parents worked from home, but her dad was associated with the Logging Company. That’s why they’d moved here in the first place, after all.

— — — — —

“Christie…” he started, but she was already walking away. He flinched as she slammed the door. Isobel looked between him and the hallway helplessly. Rowan tugged on the bangs by his ears with both hands, making an “mmmm” noise. Jordan wouldn’t meet his eyes. He turned to her, holding out his hands. “Jordan–”
“No,” she said curtly. “I don’t– I can’t talk to you right now, alright?”
“I’m–” he started once more. She held out a hand to stop him, looked up and into his eyes, sighed. Her shoulders dropped in a sort of defeat.
“I’m going to find Christie. We’ll talk later, okay?”
She tried for a kind smile. He opened and closed his mouth. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, squeezed Rowan’s shoulder, and walked out after Christie. Isobel stared at the doorway for a few moments, then looked back at them and broke into a wobbly grin.
“Do you want to p-play…” tears had started falling down her cheeks as soon as she spoke and she wiped them away with her hands “do you w-want…” her nose was starting to run too now. JD grabbed a tissue from the box and held it out to her. She grabbed it and blew her nose loudly, then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand again. Rowan patted her shoulder twice in a comforting way.
“S-sorry,” she said.
“No, I’m sorry,” JD told her, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. “This is just… it’s all… complicated.” That didn’t even begin to sum it up.
“I think you need to say sorry to Christie,” Isobel whispered. “She’s upset.”
“I know…” he sighed, staring up at the ceiling. “I really messed up this time, didn’t I?”
“Kind of,” Isobel replied, and Rowan nodded in agreement.
“She was right. She was so right,” he’d been so stupid, so caught up in… in what? Thinking he could do everything? Thinking he was right?
“…she was,” Isobel agreed quietly. Rowan bit his lip.
“How am I going to fix this?” He asked. They both shrugged.
“Apologize,” Isobel said simply. It felt like a command. Maybe he could fix this a little right now.
“Ma’am yes ma’am!” He replied, deepening his voice and fake saluting to her. She giggled. Rowan cracked a hint of a smile, but he still looked worried. It was working. So he had to keep going. “Mission: Apologize is a go.”
He scooped her up and turned her upside down as she shrieked, then dumped her onto the couch and poked her stomache. Rowan laughed along with her. He stopped and they all caught their breath. Time for the harder part.
“Go to sleep, monkeys,” he told them. “I’ve got a cousin to talk to.”
“Don’t mess it up,” Isobel said, yawning as she curled up on the couch. He tucked the blanket around her. Rowan grabbed his stuffed lizard off the armchair and sat cross legged on the other end of the couch by her feet. JD ruffled his hair.
“I’ll be back,” he said, turning off the lantern. Then he squared his shoulders and walked out. This was his mess, and he was going to fix it, no matter what.

— — — — —

You step through the two doors and into the theatre. Many of the red seats are filled with a variety of other people, some watching the curtains in anticipation, others chatting or whispering to each other, and still others scrolling on their phones. The lights begin to dim, so you hurry down the aisle and slide into a seat just as the lights go out and a spotlight appears on the stage. A young girl walks out into the spotlight, and you join the audience in clapping politely. She raises her hands to silence you, then raises her left and that side of the theatre erupts in applause. She cuts them off and raises her right, and that side of the theatre complies. Then she raises both, and everyone joins in the cheering and clapping. She lowers them once more, grinning widely at you all.

“Welcome,” she says, her voice echoing through the room without needing a mic. “To the Theatre!”
The theatre is completely silent.
“To our cast, crew, tech, and all other members – thank you for being here,” she continues. “I’m Lily, and I’ll be your director for our production of Camp Ethereal! So, without any further ado, silence your devices, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!” She bows as the lights go down. You just have time to think, this is going to be an amazing production, and then the curtains open, and you hold your breath as the show begins.

“Welcome one, welcome all, to the Theatre!” She announces, projecting her voice all the way to the back of the room. Someone lets out a whoop of approval. “Each one of you has a special talent,” she continues, meeting each and every person’s eye one at a time as she speaks, “and that’s why you’re here today. We’re going to put on the show of a lifetime together.”
People are applauding again, and you join in.
“So what are you waiting for? This is Camp Ethereal: The Musical.”
She pauses as the room explodes with cheering and applause. It slowly quiets, everyone waiting with baited breath for her next words. At that moment, she meets your eye and winks.
“And the show must go on!”

— — — — —

Activity One: Welcome to the Show! First of all, let’s get to know each other a little better… and what better way is there to do that than by starting our Programme? The first activity is to write your Bio – a short blurb that goes in the programme to tell the audience about yourself. To begin this activity, choose what role(s) you’ll have for this production – cast, crew, script or songwriter, tech crew, musician, anything you like (it does not have to connect to your hobby goals)! Then, write your Bio. It should begin with your nickname and role, but the rest is up to you! Be sure to keep it within 100 words.

Activity Two: Our programme is really shaping up! Now that you’ve chosen your roles and learned a bit about each other, it’s time to delve into the design element of theatre! For this activity, first pick either set design or costume design; then create a visual representation of either your costume or the cabin(s)/main cabin (however you’d like to imagine them) using whatever visual medium you like best!

Activity Three: Everyone has a role and the set and costume design are coming along beautifully, so let’s turn to a third part of most any show: the book! To complete the third activity, either write a song inspired by some part of the session with at least 2 verses OR write the script for a scene – also inspired by some part of the session – in at least 200 words. Feel free to co-write with any other camper, or to record yourself singing the song you write if you wish, however those are both completely optional additions to the activity.

and that's all that I wrote during the second cabin wars (I'm pretty sure at least)

Daily 27: Pangrams
@angieee- ‘s pangram: there were too many zany ducks juggling flaming pizzas while vexed robots sang a tune of sadness

I pushed open the door of the main cabin and was instantly hit with the smell of smoke and sound of sad music – the first of which was fairly normal, considering the communal obsession with Arson in the Scratch Writing Camp community, the second of which was odd. The other odd thing was that it wasn’t mangoes that were on fire, but pizzas. Now, I love an arson mango as much as the next SWCer, but I prefer my pizzas medium-rare not charbroiled to a crisp.
“What is going on here?” I asked, but my voice was lost in the chaos. That’s when I noticed that it wasn’t my fellow campers or the leaders, (g)hosts, and polarbears causing this ruckus – it was robots and ducks. Robots and Ducks? Since when did we have ducks that could juggle here? Or robots that sang? The ducks seemed very zany, and the robots seemed very vexed, which was strange. Usually everyone’s either having fun, or sleep deprived, speedrunning, or procrastinating. Being vexed wasn’t really on our agenda.

I tried to walk across the main cabin, but there were just too many zany ducks juggling flaming pizzas while vexed robots sang a tune of sadness to get any progress. Seriously, what was going on? There were some other campers stuck in the crowds as well, but the robots were singing too loud for any communication to occur. Where did the robots and ducks come from anyways?

That’s when I noticed the portals. Of course, cross-dimensional beings are a normal occurrence here. I honestly should have thought of it sooner. I jumped on top of an armchair, leaping overtop of the robots and ducks, dodging fiery pizzas, until I got to the first portal. I tentatively stuck my head through. It was a pizzeria, with ducks scattered around at the tables and behind the council. Pizza Duck world, check. Then I went to the other one, looking in. A bunch of robots having a picnic. So… maybe they’re sad because they miss the picnic? Whatever, Robot World, check. I grabbed a duck and chucked it through the duck portal, then pushed three robots into the robot portal. My fellow SWCers caught on, and we made quick work of the main cabin, clearing out all our interdimensional visitors.
“Whew!” I said, wiping my forehead. That was a wild day.
“Umm, I think someone got the portals mixed up…” someone said. I stuck my head through the portal. A picnic full of flaming pizza and ducks? A pizzeria full of vexed robots? Oh boy.

Daily 29: Show, don't tell

Running down the beach, hot sand burning the bottoms of their feet, laughing with the pure joy of being children and having fun. Pausing at the edge. Jordan dove in, the cold shock of the water reaching her bones as bubbles raced past her face.
“Come on in, the water’s great!” She yelled, teeth chattering. Isobel screeched, laughing as JD scoops her up, tossing her into the water with a splash. Christie shakes her head at the commotion, but JD grabbed her arms, spinning her around and pulling her into the ocean as well.
“JD!” She shrieked. Jordan laughed, getting herself a face-full of sea water as a reward. Rowan hesitated on the shore, waves lapping before his toes. Isobel waved brightly, an invitation. He took a few tentative steps, water reaching his knees before the ambush. He shrieks as JD turns him upside down.
“JD’s a sea monster!” Isobel yelled, and the swim quickly dissolved into a game of tag. Eventually Christie and Rowan leave the water, opting for a towel spread out in the sunshine over chaotic escapades in the waves. Christie raised an eyebrow, cracking a grin at the latest shenanigans of her little family.
“Those guys are idiots,” she murmured, and Rowan nodded in agreement. Warmth soaked its way into their bones, drying out their swimsuits and hair. The cold water soon expels three more, and they take up a new endeavor. A castle rises from the beach, beautiful in its sandy glory. Isobel places a shell on the top, smiling at the completion of a great fortress.
“Come join the hole!” JD calls, wet and sand-covered and filled with the inspiration that comes from sun and air and simple play. Soon, five sets of fingernails are caked with sand, ten hands are grimy, but the prize is a cool, damp hole that they all fit into like sardines in a can. Then back to the water they go, cold and cleansing, to wash away sweat and sand, to enter a magical world where they feel like fishes. Splashing, playing, gliding, diving, jumping, becoming like the droplets that fly every which way. Finally, exhaustion takes over and they leave the water, coming back to the beach, gathering up their towels and bags. They grab shoes, coverups, pull-overs, and brush away the sand. The last remnants of a day at the beach fall off as they walk up the path. But the memories remain forever, like the barnacles attached to the rocks.

Daily 30: Birthday

If it was my birthday each and every day of the year, life would be very interesting, to say the least. It would be like in Alice and Wonderland – A very Merry Unbirthday to Me! Except I wouldn’t have any Unbirthdays, since every day would be my birthday. As the birthday girl, I’d have the special power to make all important, relevant to my birthday decisions and get the special privileges that I deserve as the birthday girl.

For one, I would get to ride in the passenger seat of the car whenever I wanted, since I’d be the birthday girl, and so I should get what I want. Or at least that’s the excuse I’d use. It’s a valid one, since it applies now. No more sharing with my siblings, mwahahaha.

In addition, I’d always get to pick the desserts we make. No more brownies with vegetables in them – only normal ones. No more pineapple upside-down cakes or cookies with strange cherries on top. Only Lily-approved sweets from now on. After all, it is my birthday, isn’t it? And I have good taste.

I’d also get gifts every month, not everyday, since I do admit that 365 birthday presents… would make my house very full and I wouldn’t know where to put them or have time to use all of them, but 12 is a good amount, I think. I’d like to have presents every month.

On top of those two things, I could go on “Birthday outings” whenever it pleases me – so if I want to go to the movie theatre, or to see a play, or rock climbing, or anything, then I’d get to do that. It would be fun, and I’d love to pick what we do.

On the days that I get tired of it being my birthday, I’d use my powers as the “Birthday Girl” to make it other people’s birthday, so that they could do whatever birthday things they wanted. Of course, I’d still have the power to veto any of their decisions, as the true Birthday person.

And on that note, on actual Holidays; such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc. it would not be counted as my birthday, since there’s something bigger and more interesting going on.

Furthermore, the stipulations described throughout this document will only affect people who actually meet me, whether in person or online it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to make random people who don’t know me do anything, whether my birthday is one day or 24/7, 365, since that would be rude and annoying. But anyone who does meet me I would ask that they do

For a more logical answer, for the more logical part of myself: In the end, I would probably just pick one day to actually count my age, celebrate whenever I pleased near that day, and generally just let life go on as if I were every other person – though from time to time I would surely pull the birthday card.

Weekly 4: SWCaboose

Write about a character struggling to let something go (287/200 words) – Marc Mangoson
Write about a character completely changing their appearance (231/200 words) – Mazasa
Write about a character getting out of their comfort zone (366/200 words) – Peeles
Write about an everyday object taking on magical properties (290/150 words) – Pandora Pink
Write about a character working with others in order to achieve a hard goal (280/150 words) – Smarlls
Write about a character receiving messages from an unknown person (400/150 words) – Gurtle
Write about a character learning something unexpected (344/100 words) – Baroness Bluebell
Write, incorporating meaningful music/lyrics/songs (306/150 words) – Maestro Maroon {used lyrics from Hold On by Chord Overstreet}
Write about a bizarre or unexpected situation happening to a character (223/200 words) – Captain
Write about a character overestimating their abilities (267/200 words) – Skog
Write a scene where something a character believed to be great/perfect turned out to be flawed/bad (160/100 words) – Blahaj
Write a scene where a character experiments with new or unfamiliar technology (170/150 words) – Jim Flabsdz
Write a scene where a character is put in a dangerous scenario -possibly with arson- (384/200 words) – Lieutenant Lilac

Monday, 16/22/2212, 1600 hours

The three of us are back in our meeting room, one that was filled with people just days ago and is now as empty as a tomb. It might as well be a tomb.
“We need a plan,” I say, pacing back and forth in front of the chalkboard. “No bad ideas. Shoot.” I stop at the word, holding back the wave of pain it triggers. No, no triggers. Then I realize how silent they are, and turn to them.
“No ideas?” I ask. He opens his mouth, closes it again. She sighs.
“You need to let this go,” she tells me, but it feels like she’s asking me to let him go, and I can’t do that, not after everything. I can’t let anything go.
“It’s not giving up,” he offers. I can’t meet his eyes. Not when so much of me disagrees with him. She steps forwards and puts a hand on my shoulder, staring into my eyes.
“It’s not letting him down,” she whispers.
“I can’t let him down,” I say, my voice breaking.
“You’re not,” she says.
“I am,” my voice is a hoarse whisper, and then the tears fall.
“We can still make him proud,” she tells me. “Just not like this.”
“Make him proud?” I sniff.
“Yeah!” he agrees, a taste of his enthusiasm returning. “Um, how?”
She rolls her eyes at him. Almost her old self. Almost.
“We’re going to show them something they’ve never seen before. But to do that, we’ll have to change. They can’t fight us as we were. We need to become new.”
I square my shoulders. She’s right. We can still fight. For them. For him.
“Let’s do this.”

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───
Monday, 16/22/2212, 1700 hours

I stand at the mirror, unsure of what I’m about to do. We’ll have to change, she said. I know we do. And this is the first step. I can’t have any vulnerabilities when I fight, and this… this is a vulnerability. So it has to go. I raise the razor, take a deep breath, and begin. Long locks of dark hair fall to the ground at my feet, piling atop each other until the task is done. I stare at my face in the mirror. I look different now. Less feminine. Less like a little girl. More like a fighter. More ready. Turning, I see her standing in the doorway, fist still raised from knocking. She smiles at me, but other emotions cloud her eyes.
“It looks great,” she tells me. I nod in response.
“He finished our new gear,” she continues, placing a pile of clothes on the cabinet and holding out her arms and spinning around to display her new outfit. It’s amazing, as always. Fierce. Mainly black, with red accents and our symbol across the front, arm guards and the thigh-high boots that she loves. I pick up mine. Black, with dark blue swaths. Shoulder armour and gauntlets, my helmet, new army boots. Putting it on makes me feel stronger, more confident. This is exactly what we needed. A new start.

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

Friday, 20/22/2212, 0800 hours

I stare down at the square, packed with people like it always is, regardless of the threat of conflict looming over the city. People who are just going about their lives.
“I can’t do this,” I say, putting a hand on my stomach. He punches my arm playfully.
“Of course you can! You’ve got this!” He says. I attempt a smile, but I still feel like I’m going to throw up. She puts a hand on my shoulder.
“I know you’re nervous,” she starts.
“Nervous doesn’t begin to sum it up,” I mutter. He slides onto the wall beside me, bumping my hip with his own.
“Come on, darling!” he says jokingly. “You’ve fought Indestructible! You’ve taken down dudes three times your size! Are you really going to let a crowd stop you?”
“…Yep.”
I hop down, start walking away from the edge of the roof, but they each grab one of my arms and haul me back, plopping me onto the wall. I sigh.
“You’re not backing out that easily,” she says. He clamps his hands onto my shoulders, holding me at arm's length.
“Look at me,” he says, a rare moment of being dead serious for him. “You are amazing. You are strong. And you are wearing a bad-girl suit that I made you. Now get up there, and make your speech!”
I crack a smile at that, a real one. He’s right. I can do this.
“For… for him,” I say. They nod. He looks down at his feet, then raises his hand, ring finger down. Our sign. She follows suit, fingers meeting his. I finish it, so our hands are connected between us. Together forever. I can do this. I step up onto the wall.
“People of The City!” I announce, my helmet increasing the sound of my voice so the entire square can listen. People turn, point, murmur among themselves. “I come to you with a message. We fight for a new city, a better city. And we ask that you fight with us. We ask that you choose a side in this battle, and that it be ours. Because no one can fight alone.”

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

That’s when they showed up, flying, climbing, running towards us. Ready to silence us.
“It’s time to stand up to oppression! It’s time to make change!” I rallied them.
“Yes, it is,” Indestructible announced. What? “It’s time to get rid of these rabble-rousers for good.”
The square was slowly emptying. Some people remained to watch the spectacle, but most of them took cover or got out of there. So much for this plan.
“We should go,” she said resignedly.
“No, we need to fight!” he countered. “We need to make a stand!”
“They’re not standing with us,” I reply. “We’re not ready to face all of them. Let’s go.”
Then Indestructible landed on the rooftop. Too late.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he announced, voice reverberating off the buildings. I shifted my stance, readying myself for this fight. She activated her new arm guards, glowing lazer blades shooting out over her hands. He grabbed a metal pipe, focusing on it. It slowly grew longer, glowing and sprouting a gemstone on the top. He spun it in a circle, then pointed it at the ground by Indestructable's feet. A portal appeared, and a moment later he was falling out of the sky.
“That’s a new one,” she commented. He grinned.
“Magic Pipe!” He yelled, pointing at another member of Indestructable’s party.
“Needs a better name,” I told him, kicking someone else in the face. We need to end this fight fast, and a teleporting stick is a good way to go. He sends Indestructible back into the sky, eyebrows pushed together.
“Zip-Zap-Zop!” He calls. She makes a face. “No? How about… Teleporting Tube!”
I laugh at that. Indestructible lands on the roof again with a huff.
“Take this seriously!” He yells angrily.

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

I dodge a punch from one of the others.
“No,” I reply, before shoving them off the roof. They shriek, and Indestructible leaps over to rescue them. Guess that one can’t fly. Too bad He already teleported them far out into the sky, making Indestructible have to fly off to get them. It’s only a small relief, though. There are twice as many of them as there are us. We’re going to fail.
“No thinking like that!” she yells, in her way that makes me wonder if her true power isn’t mind reading. “And no, I still can’t read minds!”
“Come on!” He calls, teleporting people into the sky left and right. “Let’s do this!”
“So what’s the plan?” She asks, sliding in next to me and hitting my current enemy in the face so they stagger backwards. Good thing their mask deflects her lazer hands.
“The plan is…” I can do this. I analyze the rooftops, the streets, the square. We need a clean getaway. “I’ve got it!”
“Knew you would!” He says, teleporting to right behind us.
“Teleport as many as you can,” I start. “Cause confusion. But stay close to me.”
They start immediately, the fight renewed now that it has a purpose. We’re playing offense now. Soon our enemy is scattered, teleported away, or recovering from the beating we’re giving them. Now’s the moment. I set off the traps I’ve been putting down.
Firecrackers, smoke bombs, sparklers. I point to the square, and in a moment we’ve Teleporting-Tubed away and slipped into the sewers. We teleport-tube down the tunnel, and soon are far away from our failed attempt to convince the people to be our allies.

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

Friday, 20/22/2212, 0900 hours

I flop down on the bed, exhausted, and throw my helmet. He catches it.
“Be nice to my work,” he complains. She rolls her eyes at that.
“If your work is so good, it’ll survive being thrown around a bit,” she tells him. He pouts back at her.
“But their feelings will be hurt,” he says sadly. Then they both break into laughter. At least they can find something humorous. She plops down on the bed next to me.
“Why the long face?” she asks, bumping my shoulder with her own. I try for a smile, but I’m tired. I don’t want to do this.
“It didn’t work,” I reply, rubbing my hands over my face.
“We didn’t exactly expect it to,” I sigh at that, sit up, pace around the room.
“I know that– I know that,” I pause. “I just didn’t…”
“Want to believe it?” she offers. I shake my head at her.
“Are you sure you’re not telekinetic?” I ask. She laughs.
“No… just a very good friend,” she comments. He nods at that.
“True! She never guesses my thoughts… I guess she just likes you better,” he pouts again. She grabs him and ruffles his hair.
“That’s because you’re secretly my annoying little brother,” she tells him, and they’re both laughing again. At least the weight of the world isn’t on their shoulders. Suddenly, the screen on the wall flickers to life. Words scroll across it, a repeating loop.
“It’s back,” I say. They stop play-fighting and look at the screen with me. The message, third of it’s kind, repeating over and over across the screen. Go to the tower tomorrow and find the relic. It will help you to change the world. Short message, but powerful all the same. She finished copying it down, and then it stops.
“Well,” he says, stretching his arms over his head. “Are we going to listen to this one?”
“The last one didn’t help us much,” she comments. The last message told us to go make our announcement on the building. The first one simply said that we had an ally.
“It was a good idea though,” he says. “It could’ve worked, if everyone wasn’t so scared of everything.”
“The tower… I suppose we could get into it. But what’s this relic they’re talking about?”

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

“I know what it is!” He said suddenly. We both turned to him. He frowned. “Don’t look so surprised, I know stuff too.”
“Of course you do,” she said. He squinted at her, like he picked up on her patronizing tone but wasn’t sure how to respond to it.
“Well?” I prompted. He started.
“Right!” He poked some buttons on the console, making the screen light up. “My gran used to tell me about it. It’s this ancient thing, no one really knows where from they just agree that it’s old, and they keep it in the tower. But supposedly it can amplify natural powers a hundred-fold and do all sorts of other weird things, depending on who you ask. The powers part is true though, at least according to my grandma’s account.”
“And how does she know?” She asks, still skeptical.
“She said that at some point, back when she was young, so like, a reallllly long time ago,” We laugh and he glares at us. “I’m telling a story here! Anyways, when gran was young someone got their hands on it and used it to like, mind control the entire city or something. It was a big deal, but they hushed it up pretty well afterwards. Didn’t make the city look good, or whatever. Whoever was the hero at that time dealt with it.”
“It’s powerful enough to let someone do that?” I ask. He shrugs.
“Sure. The funny thing is, I’ve seen it. And it’s not even that guarded. It’s just there. Since most people don’t even know it exists, y’know?”
“When were you in the tower?”
“I lived there, remember?”
We both stare at him. He blinks.
“Did we never tell you that? Your brother knows– knew,” he corrects, but that’s just as bad. We all look at the floor, a moment of silence for him. Then he clears his throat.
“We’re going to do it then?” he asks. She nods.
“Might be our best bet,” she replies. They look to me. I shrug.
“Why not? But… tomorrow.” They nod.

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

Friday, 20/22/2212, 2100 hours

I lie in bed, stare at the ceiling. He’s still fiddling with his new toy. She’s out on the roof, doing something or other. I close my eyes, and slip into a dream.

Staring at him, sitting there, waiting for a word of encouragement, anything. What I need, that’s not going to come.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him, but he just stares up at me with his tear-stained face. Tired.
“I can’t…” he trails off, voice fragile. “I can’t keep doing this. It’ll never be enough.”
That’s not what I wanted to hear. He’s my brother. He can do everything. He’s the one that convinces me that everything will be okay. I don’t know how to do it for him.
“We’re the good guys! We’ll save the day! We’ll win!” I try.
“That’s not how it works,” he stands, walks to the door, but I’m frozen on the floor. I need his strength. I can’t do it alone.
Hold on,
“I still need you!” I start to cry.
“Good guys only win in the movies,” he says softly.
“Come back!” I scream at his back.
I still want you!
But he’s already gone. And I can’t follow him. I’m stuck there, on the floor. The two of them run in. She wraps her arms around me, holding my hand tight in hers.
Let me take your hand, I’ll make it right…
He stares at the door, then back at us.
“Where’s he going?” he asks, sounding scared. He was all of our rock.
“He’s leaving,” I cry all the harder at the words. She squeezes me tight.
“I won’t leave,” she says.
“Me neither!” He agrees.
Swear to love you all my life
And they’ve kept those promises.

I wake up with tears in my eyes. An all too-familiar occurrence.

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

Saturday, 21/22/2212, 0700 hours

I get up, and then stare around the room. I stand up, and find myself calf-deep in rubber ducks. “What is going on?”
“Sorry! Tele-tube issues,” he pops into the room. “I’m working on it.”
I grab breakfast and eat as he cleans up our place. Swimming through rubber ducks certainly makes life interesting. Finally, we’re all communed around the screens.
“If we’re going to do this, we need a good plan,” I start. “Do we know what the security is like there?”
“I already hacked the tower’s system,” she said with a grin. “There’s literally no security except a few guards – they really have forgotten about its power. If it really has power.”
“It does, trust me!” he replies. She rolls her eyes.
“Unless this message person is just sending us on wild goose chases,”
“They’re trying to help us! We need allies!”
“Or they’re trying to trick us! We don’t need more enemies!”
“Well–”
“Stop fighting!” I slam my hands onto the desk, and they flinch. I sigh. “Sorry. Tired.”
“Sorry,” he mutters. She follows suit.
“Back to planning?” We both nod, get to work. We can do this.
“We need to get in, get the relic, and get out, hopefully without a fight. And it has to be today, according to our mystery messenger.”

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

Saturday, 21/22/2212, 1500 hours

We stand outside of the tower, looking up towards the top. We’ve got a plan. We’ve got our powers. We can do this. It’ll be easy, honestly. They’re security is sad, from what she’s told us, and our plan is great – if a little rushed. We easily use the teletube to get into the building, and from there we use the maintenance corridors within the walls to get up to the upper floors. Everything is going smoothly. Or as smoothly as they can go when your stuffed into a tube with feet in your face and the possibility of spiders around every corner. Finally, we climb out of the tubes and onto a cat-walk above the display cases of the museum section of the tower.
“Ready for phase 2!” he exclaims, grinning. “I love this thing.”
He points the teletube at the display case holding the relic, bringing it right to us.
“Yes!” he pumps a fist.
“Mission accomplished,” she says with satisfaction.
And then the alarms start blaring.
“Oh come on!” He groans as we scrambled back into the pipes. “That was perfect! Wasn’t it perfect?”
“Maybe they detected your teleporting? Or… sound?” She suggests.
“Be quiet then!” I hiss. Just then, the tube in front of us starts to crumple.
“Back!” I yell. The tube behind us is also shrinking. She pulls out her lazer hands.
“Whoah! Watch where you wave those!” He shrieks. She’s too busy cutting a hole in the pipe to bother with a reply. We fall, landing in the middle of a hallway.
We’re surrounded.

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───


Once again, the plan suggested by our mystery messenger has ended up with us surrounded by Indestructible and his gang. Perfect.
“Oh, come on!” he groans, which feels familiar.
“You’re all under arrest,” Indestructible starts. She looks to me. Right. We need a plan, a plan, a plan… so what do we have? A teleporting tube, an old relic, his power to change objects, my smarts, her lazer powers… not a lot. How come our plan didn’t work? It was supposed to be perfect. Simple. Foolproof. In and out, avoid security, don’t get caught. I must have looked over something, let some flaw slip through. Now we need a new plan.
“For what?” I ask. He glares at me.
“Breaking and entering, stealing, and now resisting arrest–”
“Boring!” He interrupts. I was trying to stall for time, but I guess getting him annoyed could start a fight. We need to get out. Can we teletube away? Or… use the Relic?

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

“Hey,” I say, stepping on his foot. “At least let us try out our new toy!”
I hope he got the message. Indestructible is still glaring.
“Come peacefully, for once.”
His gang pulls out cuffs.
“No, thank you,” he announces, flourishing the relic. “Let’s see what this baby can do!”
His eyes start to glow. Well, that’s a sign of a power-up if I ever saw one. He grins.
“Woah, this is… powerful. I can feel everything!”
“What?” One of Indestructible’s cronies asks, echoing my thoughts. He waves his free hand, and the door at our side opens, except not to a room – to the outside.
“That’s not possible–” she says, and I can almost see the floorplans she must be imagining. “We’re in the middle of the building!”
He laughs. No time to think about this. I grab their arms and leap out, managing to close the door behind me. When I glance back, it’s a solid wall. Hopefully that delays them. Unfortunately, we’re falling out of the sky.

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

Which is not how I wanted to spend my afternoon.
“You turned the door into a portal? And then back?” She yells at him, grinning. He grins back at her.
“Yes!”
“Awesome!”
“No, not awesome!” I yell. “Not until we’re not falling out of the sky!”
“I’ve got you, sister,” he says. She rolls her eyes, and I’m tempted to join her. He points it again.
“What’re you going to transform in the sky?” she demands. He smirks.
“The sky.”
The air below us changes, transforming into a mattress. Which does not stop our fall. I’m about to share this fact with him, when I realize things are still transforming, until we’re inside of a helicopter.
“Wooo, baby!” He yells. Until the helicopter starts falling.
“So, you can enchant air to turn into a helicopter,” she says. “Just not a working one?”
“Gimme a second–” he yells, but we don’t have a second. We crash into a pool. A portal appears in front of us, and we’re on the roof. The helicopter explodes, setting umbrellas on fire.
“Very subtle,” she says, wringing out her hair. He doesn’t seem to notice that he’s dripping, eyes still glowing as he stares at the relic. I nudge his elbow, and he blinks. We head to the edge of the roof.
“What’s the plan, stan?” he asks me, just as Indestructible flies up. I really hate this guy.
“You’re still under arrest!” He announces. His allies burst through a door in the roof, appear from the sides of the building and the sky, surround us once more. I pull out a stun-gun and blast five of them before they can react, and she extends her lazer blades to kill the weapons of a few more, but we’re more outnumbered than before. And I’m running out of power, out of strength, out of options.
“Put your hands on your head!” Indestructible commands, and I’m almost tempted to listen. Nothing is working anyways. Maybe… maybe my brother was right. Just then, he steps forwards, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“I don’t think so!” he grins, pointing the relic at– Wait– No-
“Wait!” she yells, but it’s too late. The relic glows and a ray of power shoots towards Indestructible. And I black out as we’re all sent flying backwards.

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

And that's the fourth weekly, 3708 words total! If you'd like to read the daily that inspired it and finishes the story, it can be found here: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8471317

Daily 31: Thank You Notes


I often don’t do these, or things like this, usually because I don’t feel like I know people well enough, because I’m not doing dailies, or because I’m afraid of being repetitive or cheesy, but let’s give it a shot this session (I have done *almost* every daily, after all).

To every SWCer:

Thank you! Yes, you! Thank you for being a part of this crazy, chaotic community – it wouldn’t be the same without you, and I hope to see you in many sessions to come! You are special, your writing is amazing, and I hope you have a great rest of the year <3

To the hosts/leaders/polar bears/not-campers:
Thanks for your hard work this session! SWC wouldn’t even exist without you. Planning and running a camp is no joke, and all the little and big things you do are seen (and I’m sure much more work goes unseen) and I’m thankful for it. This session, like every session, has been great, evolving to become even better. I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing 10th session. So thanks.

To my fellow Fan-fi campers:

This was a great session in a great cabin. To quote a very wise hobbit, “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve!” Every session I find myself wishing I had gotten to know my cabin mates better. But know this: those of you I did talk to, I’m glad I met you. Those of you I didn’t: I hope I have a chance to. All of you: You’re amazing! We fought two (cabin) wars together, travelled through realms, and climbed to the top of the leaderboard and defended our position. For one of the last times: #FanFiFTW!

To Fan-fi’s (co)leaders (@-NightGlow-, @Milkysplash, @Pepper-and-a-pencil, and @SnowdropSugar):

I loved being in Fan-fi this session. The storyline was amazing, the dedication with the many thumbnails and storyline blurbs, to QOTDs and all the many activities – you guys did amazing with this cabin, and I loved every minute of it. All of your comments, whether during cabin wars or word adding, were much appreciated. I didn’t talk to you all that much, but I appreciate everything you did for this cabin.

To Alana (@-NightGlow-):

Out of all the leaders, I think I got to know you a bit better. You’re very inspiring, from hitting 100k to leading a cabin, being the MC host, helping with the memory book, and adding words often – I want to be a leader like you someday <3 All the supportive messages you sent when adding words were much appreciated, and I had fun attempting to return the favor (leaders need to be hyped up too hehe). I hope to see you in many future sessions.

To Sage (@babyoda1546):

Hi Sage >:3 thanks for being uniquely you. And constantly making us concerned about your well being/hj

One last time: THANK YOU!

Daily 1: April Fools

A favourite thing this session? How could I choose – from the dailies, to the weeklies, all the things I wrote, cabin wars, Kev*n, everything was incredible as always. But if I’m picking just one, I’m picking the people (what is this? Another thank you note?) because SWC would not be the same without all of you. SWC is a special place, and it’s special because of everyone here. All the work of the leaders, polar bears, hosts to make camp what it is, all the campers that bring it to life and drive it insane, everyone motivating each other, making friends, creating inside jokes, trends and cults, taking things too far and then pulling them back, SWC would not be what it is without all of us. And I love us for it. I love SWC. I enjoyed every single moment of this session. So Thank You once again.

April 2025 Proof Master Post

I'm doing three camps this april, but figured I'd stick them all together… might change this later. Anyways.

WUC
Weeklies

Daylies

• 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8481300 (1k word intro)

Other

• Cabin storyline contribution: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8492224

CE
Weeklies

Daylies

Other

SJC
Weeklies

Daylies

Other

WUC Daily 1: 1k word intro (1000 words)

Hi there, and welcome to my 1k word intro that I am definitely doing on time and not when I should be doing the next daily definitely– anyways! Here in the world of the internet, I’m known as Lily. I’m a Catholic, Canadian high schooler and mildly insane certified theatre kid with she/her pronouns and in the PST timezone. This is my first session of WUC, and I’m very excited for it (even though I’m also in 2 other camps this april… how am I supposed to remember what I signed up for? Wish me luck with this asdfsdf)

1/10th of this ramble is done, so it’s about time I talk about my hobbies! First up: reading! I’m a book nerd, the type of person who thinks any book less than 400 pages is small, would stay up all night reading, has very complicated feelings towards adaptations, and will constantly reference the books she loves. Some of my favourite books or series include the Riordanverse books, W.O.F., Divergent, The Maze Runner, and the Hunger Games, The Lunar Chronicles, The Wingfeather Saga, and The Inheritance Cycle (among many, many more). I love talking about books, so if you like the books I like… I’d be happy to chat about them

I also love to draw! I draw both traditionally and digitally, with my favourite mediums being HB pencil, alcohol marker, and using IbisPaintX (is that a medium? whatever). Experimenting with other mediums is also really fun though!

This is probably obvious since I joined this camp, but writing is another one of my passions! I have sooo many characters running around up in my head, getting into shenanigans and begging for my attention, it’s chaos. I write in any genre, just like I read in, and I’ve been writing for years (SWC’s been a great influence on my writing).

Now, as I mentioned before, I am a theatre kid. I mean this in that I am part of my school’s drama program (one of about 1/14 of my grade), I’m in every production I can be in – last two being an ensemble member of “Shrek: The Musical” last spring and swinging in the one-act play “How To Succeed In High School Without Really Trying” back in the fall. I am currently rehearsing to perform a play I helped write for our drama end-of-year project. On top of that, I am a choir kid. So what does choir plus drama kid equal you might ask? A love of musicals, that’s what. I listen to them, I sing them, I quote them. They’re amazing. So here’s a list of some of my current favourites: Epic: The Musical; My Heart Says Go; Come From Away; The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical; Dreamers: The Musical; Dear Evan Hansen; Tuck Everlasting; and Hamilton. I’m always looking for a new musical to add to my list hehe

About halfway done, let’s go! A few more of my interests include watching movies with some favourites being disney, dreamworks, and the MCU, scratch camps of course, and listening to music. On that note (ooo look, a pun!) my favourite artists - excluding musical writers/performers - are Aimee Carty, Alec Benjamin, Alex Warren, Lydia the Bard, Marijke Perry, PEGGY, and Sleeping at Last, but my playlist is very chaotic and has many other artists mixed in as well.

Stay tuned to hear about my more outdoorsy pursuits: I’ve been a Track and Field athlete for the past 3 years, and for the past few I’ve done throws (shot put, hammer, and discus), although I used to do sprints and highjump as well. I also like to Ski – I spent all of the first week of spring break hurtling down a mountain on two pieces of plastic (occasionally reaching the speed of a car). It’s a lot of fun, especially when the snow’s nice and freshly groomed and there’s no lines… it’s also fun to text friends while riding the chairlift, because, little known fact about skiing is that you’ll spend more time in the lineup and on the chair than actually going down the mountain (depending on the mountain/day/run). I’ve been camping and hiking for all my life, and I love that too. Backpacking is also a pile of fun. I can’t wait for the summer, even if I have to take the mosquitos with the mountains.

Another part of the summer is camps! Most relevant to this, what will be my 11th session of SWC in July. Also a few IRL camps I’ve been going to for years: a family camp, and a girls camp where I’ll be a co-counsellor for the second year in a row. All three of those camps are a big part of my summer and always leave lasting memories (good or bad, that is the question). I’m excited for what’s coming… just gotta finish school first…

What else can we talk about… hmm… maybe I should go look at my 1k intro from a month ago for inspiration. Well, can’t go wrong with some fun facts, can we? My first language is English and I’m learning Spanish and German (kinda. badly.), I’ve moved 7 or 8 times in my life, am the second of 5 kids, and our family has a cat and rabbit. Jude’s really /my/ cat though of course. He’s a beautiful sleek short-ish hair grey tabby, with pink nose and ears and white paws and bib, and he’s the cutest cat, yes he is. I love him a lot.

Okay, more about me: I’m thalassophobic and arachnophobic. Basically, both being near spiders and in deep water triggers my fight or flight and makes me very paranoid and jumpy and my brain fill with intrusive thoughts D it’s awesome DD in seriousness, it’s annoying.

OOoo we’re getting close! So let’s close it off with some favorites: My favorite season is summer, favorite holiday is Christmas, and to finish this my favorite school subject is Drama.

WUC April 2025: Cabin Storyline Contribution

You can earn 3 rocks from answering one of these three prompts with 100 words:

Write about any pets you have and/or pets you want, what is your favorite thing to do with your pet


My family currently has two pets, a male cat named Jude and a rabbit named Heather who we assume is a girl but we don’t really know. Anyways. I don’t really interact with Heather much (she has a hutch out in the yard), she’s more my younger sister and parent’s pet, but Jude is my pet - and my mom’s. He’s a 4-year-old grey tabby with pink ears and nose, yellow-green eyes, and a white bib and white mittens on all his paws. His toe beans are black and pink, and his tail fades to black at the tip. He’s very pretty (in my opinion) like in general shape he’s my favourite type of cat. My favourite thing to do with him is to have him sit on or near me, I just like his presence honestly. But having a warm, purring cat on you is also very nice.

If I could have any pet in the future, I’d definitely go for another cat, they’re fairly low maintenance, cute, and good for smaller homes, but I also really want a Bernese Mountain Dog because they’re adorable and it would be fun to walk, hike or camp with a floofy partner hehe

write about which animal you would be if you magically became one

If I could magically become an animal, I’m not sure exactly what I would be. Probably a cat or a dog honestly, because I love them a lot and I would still fit inside buildings and be able to get around town/the house easily enough. A dog might be safer, but as a cat I could climb up high too…

If we’re stepping back from reality a little, I would want to be a wolf because they are majestic and beautiful and I bet it’d be really fun to run around as a big floofy wolf.

If we’re defenestrating reality (throwing it out the window, for those with smaller vocabularies), then I’d be a dragon because dragons are awesome. I mean, I could fly. I could let people ride on my back. I could probably breathe fire or something else cool. But mostly I think flying would be amazing.

♪♬ THE SET || Script July 2025 ♪♬

Organizing post for my writing proof from my 11th session of SWC!

Poetry July ‘21 - Mystery July ’22 - Dystopian Nov ‘22 - Adventure March ’23 - Adventure July ‘23 - Steampunk Nov ’23 - Tradgedy March ‘24 - Solarpunk July ’24 - Apocalyptic Nov ‘24 - Fan-Fi March ’25 - Script July '25

─── ⋆⋅♪♬⋅⋆ ───

I ended up being woefully inactive, writing 25 words during 3 word stories and as far as I can tell nothing else :l

Persona 5 // Fantasy SWC November 2025

Organizing post for my writing proof from my 12th session of SWC!

Poetry July ‘21 - Mystery July ’22 - Dystopian Nov ‘22 - Adventure March ’23 - Adventure July ‘23 - Steampunk Nov ’23 - Tradgedy March ‘24 - Solarpunk July ’24 - Apocalyptic Nov ‘24 - Fan-Fi March ’25 - Script July ‘25 - Fantasy November ’25

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Weeklies:
1. Forms of Writing: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8813947
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Dailies:
1: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8805289 (intros)
2: ()
3: ()
4: ()
5: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8804933 (Word Wars)
6: ()
7: ()
8: ()
9: ()
10: ()
11: ()
12: ()
13: ()
14: ()
15: ()
16: ()
17: ()
18: ()
19: ()
20: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8842666 (Bestselling Bookstore)
21: ()
22: ()
23: ()
24: ()
25: ()
26: ()
27: ()
28: ()
29: ()
30: ()
31: ()

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Other:
Word Wars: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8804933
Cabin Wars 1:
Cabin Wars 2:
Critiques:

DND session: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/682100/?page=6#post-8814213

Daily November 5 : Word Wars

FIRST WAR: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1238059341/#comments-505237085 (LOST)
With: @z3phy_th3_cr4zy
Prompt: “I told you we needed more glitter.”
Words: 192

“I said we would need more glitter!” Jordan said, tapping the excess glitter off of her sparkly card.
“We do not need more glitter. This is too much glitter,” Christie said, futilely brushing it off her shirt.
“There’s no such thing as too much glitter!” Isobel contradicted, gleefully pouring more onto the pile of sparkles adorning her own card. Patting a sneezing Rowan on the shoulder, JD looked over the chaotic scene. Jordan was leaning close over her card, squinting as she placed on some sequins. Isobel had opened yet another glitter bottle. Christie looked up and met his eyes with a “what have we gotten ourselves into” look, and he laughed. Rowan looked up at him, confused, then caught Christie’s look and laughed as well. Isobel looked around, asking, “What’s funny?” with a sparkly dab of glitter on the tip of her nose – which only served to send them into a stronger fit of giggles. Jordan finally looked up, saw the glittery nose, and joined them. With everyone else laughing, Isobel couldn’t help but join in. And so, sparkly and glitter covered and glorious, they laughed together. And they were happy.

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Second War: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1238059341/#comments-505240703 ()
With: @skyblssxm-unwriittcn
Prompt: “can we stay like this for a little bit longer?”
Words: 139

I stared up at the ceiling, feeling the dried tears on my face, the soreness of my throat, and the tiredness of my eyes. Slowly, I became aware of the warmth I was wrapped in, and the arm firmly pressing me against his side. I breathed out a long sigh, not sure what prompted it. He opened his eyes and started to shift away.
“Wait-” my voice cracked and I cleared my throat. He was frozen, awkwardly waiting on the edge of leaving and staying. “Can we just- stay like this a little longer?”
My voice sounded strange in my ears, somewhere between the exhausted monotone of the past few years and the feeble innocence of the childhood I barely remember. He relaxed again, and I closed my tired eyes. Maybe it’s okay to just stop for a moment.

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Third War: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1238059341/#comments-505272432
With: @BwnnyRxbbit
Prompt: “I told you we needed more glitter”
Words: 329 //


“I told you we needed more glitter,” Emma said, staring critically at the poster hanging about the door. Sarah sighed.
“We do not need more glitter. I don’t think this house can handle any more of it!”
“It could… we’re not blinded yet,”
“You’re impossible.”
“And you love me!”
Laughing, they walked out into the kitchen. Their mom smiled at them.
“Decorations finished?” She asked, and Emma gave her a big thumbs up.
“Cake ready?” Sarah asked in return, and their mom stepped back to reveal the two cake pans cooling on the oven.
“All yours,” she said. The girls grinned at each other.
“Alright - decorations, done. Cake, ready. Guests, us. Val, incoming-” Sarah used her fingers to list each item out.
“Stop stressing! It’s going to be great,” Emma told her.
“Right.”
“Now let’s go eat all the snacks!”
Sarah followed Emma into the living room and they plopped onto the couch to await their friend. Moments later, the doorbell rang, and Emma jumped up and ran to it, yanking it open and surprising the delivery boy.
“SURPRISE!” she yelled, and he almost fell over backwards.
“Emma!” Sarah tsked.
“Oh! Sorry!” she told him, before turning and yelling “Pizza’s here!” back into the house. Sarah shook her head at her sister.
“Here you go,” she said, handing the pizza boy a 20 and taking the offered boxes. Emma grabbed them from her and ran back to the dining room. Then it was back to waiting.
“She’s taking foreverrr!” Emma whined, and Sarah chuckled.
“We literally just sat down,”
“Yeah but time is relative so-”
“That’s not even the correct quote,”
“Who says I’m quoting somethin–”
Just then, the doorbell rang and once more they were off, this time both excitedly rushing to pull open the door, pausing for just a second to verify it was really their neon-haired friend before yelling “SURPRISE!” in unison. She laughed and they group hugged, before each twin taking turns hugging their friend.

Daily November 1 : Intros (Done late)

You’re walking through the many tall bookshelves of the library when a teenage caucasian girl with brown eyes and a constellation of freckles splattered across her nose and cheeks steps out from behind a bookshelf, almost knocking into you. She’s wearing a dark blue hoodie, baggy jeans, and has headphones on.
“Sorry!” She exclaims, stepping backwards hurriedly, then smiles warmly. “Hi there! I know it’s 5 days after we were supposed to do our intros, but I’m going to do my one thousand word intro now because it’s fun and I can do what I want to do. That’s what free will is for, right?” She laughs a little at that, then plops into an armchair as she continues.
“It’s not my actual name of course, but here on the internet I’m known as Lily! Username @lilyjen on scratch - but itsabookreference with no spaces and underscores between the words on Unvale and Artfight, respectively. I’m cis and I use she/her pronouns.”
She puts her headphones down around her neck and starts pulling her wavy, shoulder-length brown hair up into a ponytail, silver earrings glinting in the light.
“Let’s see, what else… I’m fifteen and in grade 11 - I’m a grade ahead - and I was recently diagnosed as gifted and an ADHDer. Some other random facts about me: I’m Canadian, and except for a trip to Mexico when I was really little, that I don’t count because I don’t remember it, I haven’t travelled more than a day’s car ride in any direction from my home. I’ve moved 8 times in my life, and I’m hoping that number won’t get much bigger. My pets include 4 siblings, a cat named Jude, and a rabbit that I forget exists that I share with the rest of my family.”
She puts her headphones back on, leaving them off one ear, then skips a song. She grins as the next begins to play.
“By the way, I’m a huge theatre kid. Right now I’m rehearsing for my school’s musical. We’re doing Frozen: the Musical this spring and I'm in the ensemble - my named role is Handmaiden number 2, and so far it’s been very fun. Two years ago I was in the ensemble and one of the three little pigs in our production of Shrek: the Musical. Through drama class, I’m participating in a one-act-play festival for the second year in a row. This year we’re performing ‘The Rehearsal’ and last year we performed ‘How to Succeed in Highschool Without Really Trying’ and both are very fun shows. I get to be on crutches for most of the show this year. For the past three years I’ve been in another one-act-play festival just within our school because that’s the drama final project, and we’ll be starting our play for this year after Christmas break, which is exciting. The most productions I’ve ever seen in one month is twenty-three, and I hope to one day bring it up to thirty-one.”
She pauses to catch a breath. Having the breath control of a theatre and choir kid really helps with passionate rants about being a theatre and choir kid.
“On top of theatre, I’m in choir, which is pretty fun and definitely helps with the singing part of musicals, and I’m in media arts this year and it’s been really cool - we started the year working with DSLRs - digital cameras - and then we created a short film that we submitted to a provincial film festival, which was such a fun experience and I love the finished film, and now we’re starting some work with film photography on black and white film which is going to be pretty awesome. But enough about school stuff!”
She hops up and pulls you after her as she weaves her way through the shelves. She stops at a table and spreads out show programs and tickets as she speaks.
“Let’s talk about media! My favourite musicals include Come From Away, EPIC: the Musical, and My Heart Says Go, Newsies, the Lightning Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical, and Tuck Everlasting: the Musical. I’ve seen most of them live, and hope to one day get to watch the rest.”
Then she continues on to the DVD section of the library, still talking… “I don’t watch a lot of TV but I love The Owl House, HTTYD: Race to the Edge, and Once Upon a Time is okay, too. I mostly watch Disney and Dreamworks type movies, and some of my favourite movies right now are the Spiderverse movies, Onward, Abominable, Song of the Sea, and so many more… movies are cool and picking just one favourite of something so varied is annoying!”
She reaches the end of the DVD section and pulls a book off the shelf, holding it near her face and inhaling deeply as she flips the pages.
“This one's a good one,” she comments. “I love the smell of certain books. And I love books in general! Reading has been one of my main hobbies since I was a really little kid. Let’s see some favourites… for series: the riordanverse books, hunger games books, mazerunner books, Wingfeather Saga, Wings of Fire, Inheritance Cycle - not to be confused with the inheritance games - and the Willow Falls series. For standalone books, I really love the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Alone by Megan Freeman, The Book Thief, and lots and lots and lots of other ones! In all the books I’ve read I’m definitely forgetting so many.”
She runs her fingers over the spines of the books as she walks through the stacks.
“Last thing here - I also enjoy reading webcomics and webtoons. I definitely don’t have over 290 subscribed webtoons, whattt… some of my favourite comics to read online are Castoff, Aurora, Julienne, Tamberlane, Humor Me, and Spontaneous World Shifting, but again I’ve read so many that I couldn’t list all the great ones.”
She taps her phone screen and skips another song.
“Oh! Music! I listen to basically any music from any genre, often just things I hear on the internet, but on top of musicals my main genre is indie - mainly folk and indie pop. Main artists include Sleeping At Last, Alex Warren, Marijke Perry, Alec Benjamin, Lydia the Bard, and Aimee Carty.”
You’ve finally reached the starting point of your wander through the library, and she once again falls into the armchair.
“I just realized, I skipped over a main part of these things: hobbies! Obviously, I love to read, I think we’ve covered that pretty thoroughly - and maybe equally obviously, I love to write. Otherwise, why would I be in Scratch Writing Camp? I mean I’m sure there could be people who don’t love writing here, no offense or hate, but yes the point is I love to write. I’ve been writing for a long time, and I have lots of silly little characters and worlds waiting to be written about. I’m a bit of an evil author and give most of them trauma, but really writing for me helps me process things in my life so y’know don’t psychoanalyze my characters too deeply okay. Okay.”
She grins rather unconvincingly at you.
“We’ve already covered that I’m a major theatre kid and theatre is less of a hobby and more of a lifestyle with how much time I spend rehearsing ahah… and other than that, my last main hobby is doomscrolling- I mean art! I draw both traditionally, where my favourite mediums are pencil and alcohol marker, and digitally. If you have access to the interwebs and want to see some of my art, find me as Itsabookreference on Unvale like I mentioned! Also, if it’s July and you want to fight me, find me on Artfight as Its_a_book_reference, like I also mentioned! Drawing is just really fun and another way that I can spend time with the silly idiots running around in ma brain. Minor hobbies are things like listening to music, watching shows, and so on… so maybe I didn’t really skip over my hobbies after all.”
She pauses, thinking if there’s any other glaringly important things she needs to cover in this very long and rambly introduction.
“I can’t think of anything else to cover other than random facts, so here’s a few: I have varying degrees of arachnophobia, thalassaphobia, and acrophobia. I don’t like mint or melons. I’ve luckily never had to go to the hospital to treat myself, other than my birth which was technically to treat my mom.”
She grins at you once more.
“This was actually very fun! Honestly, I’ve had writer's block for a while and didn’t write at all for the first 4-5 days of the session and have had some pretty inactive sessions of other camps in the past few months, but things are looking hopeful for this month! And I think I really like using the more prose-like intro format instead of just straight infodumping until I hit one thousand words. So here’s to writing, SWC, and a great session!”
And with that, she disappears. Maybe she was never really there at all…

Weekly 1: Forms of Writing

Yay to cabin wars because otherwise I probably would've been too overwhelmed by the procrastination potatoes to finish this ahah

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Part 1: Poem -360/100 words

The Problem

I sit
Hands Clenched
Heart pounding
Blood rushing
Breath ragged
Eyes looking
Straight forwards
Staring the tears into submission

I am
A statue
Unchanging
Unfeeling
I will not
Be moved
By anyone
(Even myself)

The people in charge
Are faced with chaos
With too many options
And each one
poses danger
So none is chosen
Instead

I sit
Hands Clenched
Heart pounding
Forced to do nothing
By the same mind
And body that
Scream at me

Run
Stay
Cry
Hide
Help
Fix it
Forget it
Ignore it

I do not know what to do
And so
I
Do
Nothing
(And everything)

And I wish
That someone would save me
From a situation
Of my own making
(because I cannot save myself, even though)
No one but me
Keeps me captive
And no one but me
Stops me from stopping me

That’s the problem
I
Am the problem

(I know I should not think that)

I know
That I am not the problem
I know
That I cannot control my emotions
I know
That I am trying to protect myself
I know
That there are reasons
For me
Being the problem
(Being me)
And I should not
Call myself
A problem

Except for the fact
That I am
A problem.

(I do not really believe it)

I am a problem
Of my own design
And even as
I think all of this
Even as
These thoughts rush through
My brain
My body
(My blood)

I am still there
Still here
Still silent
Still still

I can think and do
A million things
Inside of me
But none of those
Thoughts or actions
Are able to get out.

The walls are not only
To keep everything out from coming in
They are also
To keep everything in from coming out

Because what is inside
Can hurt just as much
As what is outside

And I cannot be hurt
I will not allow myself to be hurt
By others
By myself
By anything
And so I continue to be a problem
I continue to be a statue
I continue to sit
And stare
And suffer.

(I am not the problem here)

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Part 2: Song - 290/200 words

Keep Me Safe

Because now I’m black and blue
Can’t heal when I’ve been hurt by you
How could you do this to the one
You were supposed to keep safe?

And now I’m lying on the floor
Can’t do this anymore
How could you do this to the one
You were supposed to keep safe?

(And I’m calling out)

Hold me in your arms again
I want to feel safe like then
When did you become
The one that made me
Feel unsafe?

So now I’m hiding in myself
Can’t stop putting my feelings on the shelf
How could you do this to the one
You were supposed to keep safe?

(And I want to scream)

Hold me in your arms again
I want to feel safe like then
Why did you become
The one that made me
Feel unsafe?

But now I think you’ll let me down
Can’t let you be the one who makes me drown
How could you do this to the one
You were supposed to keep safe?

I loved you so much,
Why couldn’t that be enough?
I know that I love you still,
But I can’t know that you will
Not
Hurt
Me
Again

Because now I’m black and blue
Can’t heal when I’ve been hurt by you
How could you do this to the one
You were supposed to keep safe?

You were supposed to keep me safe
You were supposed to keep me safe

But now I’m crying out

Hold me in your arms again
I want to feel safe like then
When did you become
The one that made me
Feel unsafe?

How can you become the one
Who can make me feel safe?

I just want to feel safe…

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Part 3: Script - 446/300 words

Forums decided it hates me and I give up so:: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1240269309/

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Part 4: Speech - 460/400 words

Imagine you are sitting in a movie theatre as the lights fade out, the music begins, and you wait with anticipation to finally see your favourite characters come alive on screen – only to ultimately be disappointed by what you see.

Hello, my name is Lily and today I’ll be speaking to you about book to movie adaptations. You’ve likely heard the phrase “the book is always better than the movie” or experienced the phenomena yourself. But why is this? Why do many adaptations fall short for the majority of viewers? That is what this speech will be exploring.

To begin with, movies and books are two very different mediums of storytelling that each have their own limits. Within a book, anything an author can describe can happen, exactly as they describe it. In a movie, only what’s able to be shown on screen can happen. CGI developments have increased film’s capabilities, but there are still limits to this. Therefore, changes have to be made to allow a story to play out on screen. In addition, books have no time limit, while most movies are limited to two hours or under, with most exceptions still staying under 4 hours. Also, within a book the reader can be immersed in the characters thoughts, while in movies character’s inner thoughts can only be shared through methods such as voice overs. This makes it harder for motivations or thought processes to be understood by the viewer.

Furthermore, the accuracy of a movie adaptation to it’s source material can vary greatly in that there are two extremes among things called “adaptations” - those where the story of the movie is adapted from the book, and those where the story of the movie is inspired by the book. Neither of these is necessarily a bad thing - in many cases people may not even know a film was adapted from a book, such as Shrek, while in others the movie was meant to be an adaptation but strays so much from the book’s content that it seems it was only inspired by the original material. Finally, the goals and views of the movie’s directors may not align with those of the author – many adaptations are created to make money off of an already popular franchise, often elements are changed in order to appeal to specific audiences, or other choices are made because the director is ultimately a different person than the author with different opinions, interpretations, and goals.

In conclusion, although some of these challenges can be mitigated by collaboration with the author, in the end books and movies have different limitations, and the purpose and execution of adaptations vary, and because of this many people are disappointed by the adaptations they choose to go to. Thank you.

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And that is the end of the first weekly of this session! Thanks for reading <3

DND Session 4 - 1603 words

Summary:

The party travels by taxi to Gnomengarde, and after some difficulty enter the caves. We speak to a gnome named Jabby, who introduces us to the two inventors, Fibblestib and Dabbledob. We find out that the gnomes have locked up one of their kings, Cosmos, because they believe he is insane – he claimed to have seen a barrel eat a gnome, and then he locked Gnirkli in a closet.

We investigate what we believe to be a mimic, which leads to us fighting and eventually defeating the mimic (or gnome-eating barrel). Then we are rewarded with trinkets, we keep Vern’s identity a secret, and we end the session in Gnomengarde.

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It is the next day. A full night has passed, and the party is all well rested and at full strength. We begin in the main room of the tavern, preparing for the day.

• Gnomengarde quest: The gnomes of Gnomengarde are a clan of reclusive rock gnomes, known for their magical inventions - they may have something that we could use to defeat the dragon. Our task is to gain what we can from them, and if we get something useful but decide we do not want it, we can sell it to the town master for 50 GP.

• Dwarves Quest: A group of Dwarves are running an archaeological dig for treasure and artifacts. They must be warned that there’s a dragon in the area. Once we warn them, we’ll get a 50 GP reward from the town master.

Astrid asks the Barkeep about the gnomes. He says that they are tricky and short, and tells us not to insult their inventions because they don’t like that. He knows from experience, his tavern has been egged by angry gnomes before, and that makes him sad. Myra tells Willy not to make the gnomes angry and get us all thrown in jail. Barkeep says that the gnome jail would be too small for Myra. Willy thinks he’s talking to him and then starts arguing and insulting the barkeep, as per usual.

We go to the edge of town to catch a taxi to Gnomengarde. This taxi is driven by a “squeaky little dwarf”. He tells us it will be 10 silver pieces for the party to buy a round trip to Gnomengarde. We argue about the money a bit, then Astrid ends up paying.

• Gnomengarde Brochure: The caves of Gnomengarde are carved into the base of a mountain around a waterfall. The rock gnome wizards there make alliances with others; as well as creating minor magic items and useful inventions. Their failures outnumber their successes. They rely on mushrooms that grow near their caves and don’t travel much. The gnomes have two kings, Gnirkli and Cormos. Cormos has lost his mind. Their subjects do not understand that Cormos is insane, they don’t want the kings to come to harm but they know that Cormos is dangerous now. Two gnomes have mysteriously vanished within the last ten days. Only Cormos has information about these disappearances. Also, Gnomengarde has a top of the line printing press.

Minnow asks why he’s being too kind with the cheap ride and all the information. Apparently, the mayor told the dude that we’re broke. He insults our clothes. Willy claims that he’s rich and these are his style of clothes, but the taxi dwarf doesn’t believe him.

As we approach Gnomengarde, Vern asks if anyone has a hooded coat. Myra gives her one.

“Thank you, now I won’t be murdered,” Vern said.
“What, are you trying to hide from them?” Willy asked.
“Yes. I’m wanted.” Vern replied.
“Oh, I know the feeling,” Willy nodded.
“Who wants you, Willy?” Myra commented sarcastically.
“Um, the police?” Willy replied.

The taxi dwarf demands 2 gold pieces from Willy to keep quiet about Willy being wanted. He talks about his dad being Gilly Splashhands and the taxi dwarf says he likes that guy.

We have arrived at the caves of Gnomengarde.

The taxi driver tells us the trip was cheap because he took us the short route and now we need to climb the cliffs to actually get there. Then the he rides off into the sunset, leaving us alone in the base of the mountain.

The ledge is 20-30 feet above us, so we need to climb up it. Astrid uses her tremor sense to see if the cliff is solid - it’s perfectly safe and stable. We all make an athletics check. Doorman, Patches, Myra reach the top. Astrid, Willy, Minnow, and Vern are stuck at the bottom. Patches has a rope, so we tie it to a rock. Those at the bottom make an athletics check. Everyone except Willy makes it to the top. Willy fails, he gets rope burn instead (0). Patches pulls up the rope, but Willy manages to just climb the cliff at long last. We are all at the top of the cliff.

We see the entrance to Gnomengarde. There are many tunnels and caves, lakes, waterfalls, a river with small islands in it, and gnomes just milling about and tending to their business. Willy seems to be afraid of swimming/water. Patches encourages Willy towards the water. He walks away from it and Patches in fear.

Willy starts asking a gnome about the water in a very hydrophobic way. Myra asks about inventions, and the gnome suggests we go to the inventors workshop. The gnome describes how to get there, then leads us across the river. Myra has to carry Willy across.

The Gnome tells us about how one king, Cosmos, went mad and trapped the other, Gnirkli. If we helped them he’d give us the reward of many magical items, but first we’re going to the inventor. The Gnome is named Jabby. We enter the inventors workshop. He shows us the auto-loading crossbow room, where there’s a big crossbow that spins and shoots arrows and stuff. We meet an inventor, Factor. Jabby calls to Factor, he says he’s working on inventions and stuff.

Now Jabby leads us through the rest of the caverns. Willy is concerned by the rope bridge. We cross. Then we enter a room where we meet the inventor named Fibblestib. The doorman tries to sell him doors. There’s also Dabbledob here. They’re trying to think of a way to cure King Cormos’ madness - one thinks that an “insanity ray” will help, the other is attempting to invent a straightjacket. The Gnomes don’t believe in Mimics, which we reason is what Cormos said he saw. Myra asks for a more specific chain of events about the king’s descent into insanity.

• Cormos and Gnirkli claim they saw a barrel monster eating a gnome, but Dabbledob doesn’t believe that because he doesn’t believe in mimics. The kings think this explains why gnomes are disappearing, Cormos locked up the Gnirkli in a closet to protect him, and because of that all the gnomes locked king cormos up.

We go to the refinery to investigate. Perception check - those who roll 20+ smell rotting gnome. We decide to use Vern as bait. Myra wildshapes into a mouse. Everyone else leaves. A barrel is making a strange noise. Investigation check. We walk closer, a barrel leaps out at us. It is a mimic.

Roll initiative! (Vern, Myra, Mimic)
Mimic: jumps out and bites Vern, does 6 points of piercing damage, 4 acid damage.
Vern: stabs mimic, does 5 damage, and runs away
Myra: waits
Mimic: notices Myra, runs over and bites me. 15 damage. Myra’s mouse form is dead, she’s Goliath again.

Most of the rest of the party enter the room, summoned by Vern and the commotion.
The Mimic sees everyone and starts running away. Minnow convinces the mimic to come closer.
Vern eldritch blasts it (6 damage). It scuttles away.
Patches attempts to shoot it, but fails.
The Doorman casts dissonant whispers on it (4 damage).
Astrid casts dissonant whispers as well (12 damage).
It screeches loudly at us in an attempt to intimidate us. The Mimic runs up and bites Doorman (gives 20 damage), who falls into the water but is saved by a floating door.
Patches pushes Willy off the cliff and into the water.
Myra jumps into the water, holding Willy out of it and holding Doorman in place on his door.
Astrid jumps in and uses cure wounds on Doorman (+4 HP).

Fibblestib and Dabbledob walk over and see the mimic. Dabbledon thinks it’s an illusion so he goes and pokes the mimic, which bites his hand off. Dabbledob and Fibblestib argue about how to put their straightjacket on the mimic.

Patches shoots the mimic (2 damage). Patches cuts the rope bridge, and the mimic begins to intake water as it attempts to escape. The Mimic is dead. We all leave the water and reconvene together. Dabbledob gets Fibblestibs hand and offers to make him a new hand.

Dabbledob gets king Cormos, Fibblestib and the Gnirkli are being healed, King Cormos thanks us and gives us trinkets as reward.

1. A clockwork amulet
2. A pole of collapsing
3. A hat of wizardry
4. A wand of pyrotechnics

He asks for our names. We tell him all of ours, and then lie and say Vern’s name is George G. George, he is skeptical but we manage to convince him that she was adopted by Orcs. Then we get some mushroom wine. Willy chugs it in one gulp - constitution saving throw (9) - he is now very high. The Doorman perceives that the wine contains illicit drugs. Patches punches Willy. Dabbledob attempts to buy Patches, Myra keeps her from being given away. Patches punches Willy again.

End of Session

Daily November 20: Bestselling Bookstore

Prince and Zayd are two very different teen boys that each have an… interesting… relationship with death. They must work together in order to get the life they want - but along the way to their goals, while becoming friends and dealing with everything that has, is, and will happen to them, they may just find they are more similar than they seem and that what they want is not the same as what they need. A fantasy coming of age story about relationships, identity, the journey of healing, mental health, and what the meaning of life and living really is.