#lllttp

It has occurred to me that I never gave sufficient explanation as to what the heck this even is. Oops.

More than once, I’ve participated in the event here on tumblr known as “Worldbuilding June.” Essentially, for every day in June, you answer a prompt to give information and/or do some designing on the setting of your WIP. It is very fun... even if I never completed one.

However, since I’m currently writing a WIP set in contemporary New York City (see HERE if you want more info) I don’t have much worldbuilding to do; it’s already built.

So I, being the little goblin I am, decided to make a pun on the title and make it word-building June instead. Because I think I’m funny.

Each day in June, I’ll post up a (typically fictional) definition of a word important to or unique to my WIP, formatted like a dictionary entry.

Here are the entries so far (will be updated as I go.) In addition, I will also provide additional entries in response to questions, so feel free to ask for clarification.

biomass

bioweapon

burn team

cerberus

cerebral snapshot

chinese room

consume

copperhead

cytokine storm

encryption

feeder tendril

flesh kudzu

hacktivist

hellhound

hivemind

keylogging

manhattan plague

olfacto-tacto

owl

post-human

promoter

rat

recursion

retrovirus

rust dust

sniffer

social engineering

teratogenesis

time loop

viral construct

Tagged by... well... um... teeeeechnically @donovyn--nox, if you squint and turn your head a bit. I’ll admit I’m mostly using this as an excuse to post this. Because I’ve become addicted to this format.

Rules: Answer these fifteen questions, tag fifteen people. Y’all should know by now that I’m only doing one of those.

Okay, folks, last one for now, and another antagonist. I’ve mentioned him a few times already (and really shouldn’t have, because he doesn’t get speaking lines until the second book,) gave a few teasers here and there, but now I’m going to give you some solid(ish) information. Here’s Not!Morgan.

1. What’s your full name?

“Doctor Morgan Lucius Tanner.”

The interviewer, confused, glances between him, the form, and the stack of completed interviews off to the side. Upon spotting a second Morgan Tanner elsewhere in the room, the interviewer sighs and moves on to the next question.

2. What does your full name mean?

“Hmm. Can’t say. I never put much stock into that sort of thing, anyway.”

3. What are your other names/nicknames?

He groans. “Oh, I have plenty of those. BlueCell calls me ‘Ares.’ CytoCen has designated me ‘PTR-4495 variant E.’ A mouthful, I know. Dr. Marius has gotten into the habit of referring to me as ‘his boss.’ And I recently came to find out that the time traveler calls me ‘Not-Morgan’ in order to differentiate me from,” his voice drops into a sarcastic, mocking tone, “the real Morgan Tanner.”

On the other side of the room, Col stands up on their chair and shouts, “Don’t forget ‘tall, pink, and ugly,’ you overgrown tumor!”

“These interviews,” he yells back, “are fucking confidential, [slur redacted.] Or is that too many syllables for your degenerate brain to process?”

Turning back to the interviewer, he rolls his eyes and mutters, “Juvenile.”

The interviewer, meanwhile, politely requests that Col (and their unusually sharp hearing,) leave the room before a fight breaks out... and is now concerned about what else they’ve overheard.

yeah, this is one is a particularly long tag game; Not!Morgan is chatty. hold on to your hats

Tagged by @tracle0. Thank you!

Rules: Every major character has a role, arc, and question to ask in the story connected to its themes. What are your OCs main questions?

Oh, this is a fun one. Since the rules specify questions (plural,) and mention arcs, I figure I can sum these guys up in three questions: Their main driving one at the beginning of their stories; what that question eventually ends up becoming by the end; and a thorny, philosophical dilemma that plagues them as their arc reaches its climax.

Initial Questions:

Col: How do I save myself?

Riley: How do I fix this situation?

Morgan: What happened to me?

Late Game Questions:

Col: How far am I willing to compromise my morals to save the world?

Riley: How do I cope with this situation?

Morgan: Where do I go from here?

Philosophical Dilemma:

Col: Which is worse: being ruthless in the name of the greatest good, or being selfish in the name of minimizing suffering? (Either way, you’re going to have to sacrifice someone. It’s just a matter of who and why.)

Riley: Which hurts less: to know the truth, no matter how awful; or to remain in ignorance, no matter how the question eats at you? (Either way, you won’t be at peace. It’s just a matter of whether it’s out of grief or worry.)

Morgan: Which will break you: being true to yourself and destroying everything you love, or making yourself miserable trying to be something you’re not? (Either way, you don’t have a place in this world. It’s just a matter of how you try to fix it.)

Yeah... there’s plenty of irreverent humor and excitement and warm found family fuzzies in this story. But these characters do end up going through some heavy stuff. I suppose the overarching question is “How do I deal with the shitty hand I’ve been dealt?” They can’t change it, but they can make the best of it.

(The best part of those questions? For each of them, another character in the story very staunchly believes in one option over the other. Whether it’s the one our heroes end up choosing? Well, that remains to be seen.)

Tagging: @sunlight-and-starskies @donovyn--nox @casperalixander @sidhewrites @yikeskimi @erinoddly @cookiecuttercritter and whoever else wants to do it :) 

“So… does that mean you’re technically naked?”

“What are you hiding from us?”

“What you told me to.”

(Idk if I’m supposed to do two spoilers, but god damn if I’m not giving you two spoilers)

“Why. The fuck. Would we stab a teenage boy?”

“The most powerful emotion isn’t love, it’s denial.”

Tagged by @tracle0. Thank you!

Find the words; Laugh, pages, adult, drop.

(In order to make this interesting, I’m only going to be pulling from thing I either haven’t posted yet, or things that I know I won’t be posting)

Laugh:

I stopped dead in my tracks, and my thoughts did likewise. What the hell had that been? Whipping my head around, I searched for the owner of this weird-ass leather jacket. I’m not entirely sure what I expected to find, though; I didn’t even know what color I was looking for. Brown? Black? Orange? (You laugh, but I honest-to-god saw a gal in a bright orange leather jacket in that crowd.) About the only way I could narrow it down was to turn around and look back the way I came.

(I am having a character-design crisis that may see this entire plot point cut, but we’ll see. Also, important note, as I just found out: you can’t spell “slaughter” without “laugh.”)

Pages:

“I figured.” Then, with a sly smile, she added, “You know, they actually look kind of good on you.”

Okay, forget what I had said about boring celebrity gossip, I wanted nothing more than to bury my face in one of those magazines right about now. Oh, fuck me, why did I have to be so unbelievably abysmal at reading these situations? Was she flirting with me? Was this good-natured ribbing? Was this just normal friend talk? I didn’t know. All I knew was that my face was about as flushed as it could get, and she’d given a little laugh at my reaction. What did that mean? Whatever. Face. Magazine. Couch. Go.

She smirked as I practically threw myself at the couch, hands shaking as I fumbled to pick up a magazine. “Just a compliment, Col.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah,” I replied from between the pages of last month’s Vanity Fair.

(Another scene that may end up being cut. You also can’t spell “rampages” without “pages”)

Adult:

Ah, this called for celebration, folks! And here I was, a spirited young adult with the whole of New York City spread out before them, ripe and ready to savor. Money was no object; I had a thousand dollar credit limit and no intention of living long enough to see the bill come in. The only thing that was off the table was alcohol, which was no great loss, in my opinion. Yes, it was time for me to have a much-needed vacation. Look out, Manhattan, here comes Columba!

…

I spent most of the day up to my elbows in bullrushes, looking for that damn hudsonian godwit, and you will be pleased to know that I did, indeed, find it. In addition, I also spotted a glaucous gull, a small flock of bobolinks, and an osprey.

The last one’s nothing new or unusual, by the way. Those things live literally worldwide. I just really like ospreys.

(This entire chapter no longer exists. However, this particular bit may find itself transplanted elsewhere.)

Drop:

Just, like, there’s some sacrilege incoming, is what I’m saying. Hopefully, I can walk you through how I ended up there, mentally and physically, but if all this starts sounding like some insidious propaganda to you (or you decide you just fucking hate me,) you have my permission to drop this thing like an incandescent potato.

… 

Not literally, though. You’re reading this on some species of electronic device. Don’t hurt your baby like that. Maybe burn it onto a CD and drop that?

Tagging: @sunlight-and-starskies, @cookiecuttercritter, @donovyn--nox, @casperalixander, @abalonetea, @yikeskimi, @ownworldresident, and anyone else who wants to join in.

A (freaking adorable) tag game started by @sunlight-and-starskies

Rules: for each of your OCs, rate how cuddleable they are on a scale of 1-10. Descriptions/elaborations are totally rad, but you do you, fam. Tag some people you like after!

Col: 7/10: A bit of an awkward hugger, and really isn’t one to initiate physical contact (their first crush had sensory issues with touch, and the habit of being generally hands-off stuck.) But once you’ve properly signaled you’re down for a cuddle (typically by very bluntly asking for one,) they’re more than happy to oblige. (Note: reacts poorly to surprise hugs.)

Riley: 9/10: Touchy-feely as hell with people she’s close to (prefers her friends on the short side to put them into easy hair-ruffling range.) Is absolutely the sort to watch a movie with you while sharing a blanket and cuddling up against you. Better at giving happy hugs and “I love you” hugs than comfort hugs; she’s just a little too... aggressive about it to really pull off the latter.

Morgan: 1/10: Will go stiff as a board and hold perfectly still until you decide to let go. If you take more than five seconds to do so, he will attempt to extract himself from the situation by any (non-fatal) means necessary. The only exception he makes in this department is for Riley, and even then, he only reciprocates, not initiates. (And, whatever you do, do not approach him from behind. A startled Morgan Tanner is a potentially deadly Morgan Tanner.)

(He manages to not get a 0/10 because there is a character in here who will tear you apart on a cellular level and absorb you if you hug him. Fuck you, too, Not!Morgan.)