Getting to Know You: Friendship

Note: Character of the Week, unfortunately, is postponed, due to moderator needing to do less fun things. Will return next week for sure. Now for today's post:



We all have people in our lives who are important to us, like family and allies, but friends hold a special place in our heart. They like us just because.


So who are your friends? How did you meet and become friends? Do you have a lot of friends, or just one or two really special ones?

Let's talk about our friendships today!

Characters only, please.

A Forum Game: Fortune Cookie

Pursuant to our conversation from Tuesday, let's tell fortunes!

Here's a fortune cookie with a pristine slip of paper inside. You write the fortune! It can be for a specific person or for whatever random person happens to find this cookie.

Have fun! Characters only, please.

Getting to Know You: Medical Emergency

Have you ever had a serious illness or injury? If so, how did it happen? How did you recover? Do you have any advice for the rest of us so we can avoid a similar situation?

Tell us all about it, and don't be shy!

Characters only, please.

You and Your World: The Future

Do you believe the future can be foretold? Is our fate ordained or are we in control? Can you tell someone's fortune? Has anyone guessed yours correctly?

Anyone can answer, but characters preferred.

Getting to know you: Greatest Accomplishment!

Victory! What is the accomplishment you're most proud of? Are you a hero, proclaimed by thousands? A scholar with a discovery that changed lives? Or was your contribution more quiet, yet no less important: a sacrifice, compassion, restraint, a new way of looking at things?

What are you most proud of? Let us know. We'll share ours as well, and then we can give each other a high five, and say: Nicely done. Good job!

Note: I dug this question up from a very old post. Thanks to Brandon for the idea.

Weekend Town Hall Meeting

Hi All. Anyone who would like is invited to our Town Meeting. Let's pile into our old school house to discuss CIC.


Our main agenda item is building the site. The sad reality is that I, Mira, will be entering a 72 hour work schedule in the end of September. I'm intending to still post, but I imagine my time will be pretty limited.


Ann is still very committed to the site, and I was wondering if it would be possible to build the site before I have to disappear. And I'd like to ask your help with ideas and feedback.

To open the discussion, here are some questions:

**Do you have ideas for building/promoting the site?

**Are there any improvements people might suggest that would make CIC appealing for you?

**Is the system of prompt and answer becoming tired? Need more variety? Does anyone have any ideas for other types of posts?

**Any other general suggestions, comments and/or agenda items?

Thanks in advance for your input - it is very much appreciated! As are all the members here.

Oh! Choice of snacks for break time. Healthy and unhealthy. Take your pick.

Dig in!

Character of the Week: Vic

I'd like to introduce this week's Character of the Week: Vic. That's all I'm going to say. I don't want to accidentally get on this guy's bad side. So without further ado: Vic.

My name is Vic Drake and I'm the front man/lead singer for Maelstrom. I know humans think it's a little unconventional for a vampire to be in a rock band, but the hours are good and my fans are delicious.

I was turned when I was pretty young. I'm a couple hundred years old now and I don't think about the past very often. There's no point. I like being undead except for all the misunderstandings it creates. Humans need to ease up and just let me be what I am. (Yeah, I'm talking to you, Ricky.)

Let me clear up something I get asked a lot. No, I don't kill people. Not on purpose, at any rate. If I like your blood, I want you to stick around and make more of it, so killing you would be dumb. My favorite blood type is O and my least favorite is AB-negative. I like darkness, mausoleums, rock music, and blood banks. I'm also starting to get into organic foods, thanks to Nevin. Whole Foods is a great place to pick up dinner.

So what kinds of things do some of you like? I'm especially curious about you diurnal types, since you do things that make no sense, like sunbathing. Are there other nocturnals here like me? What do you like best about the night?

Note: Everyone welcome!

Do You See What I See? Coupon

Here we have a small ticket of some sort.


There is nothing to indicate what this is a ticket for or why we should want it, but it says quite clearly that we must keep it.



What do you think this is a coupon for, and what do you think will be the benefit of keeping it? Will you keep yours?

Characters only, please.

Game: Superhero

Let's play a game!

If you could be a superhero, what kind would you be? What would be your special and unique powers? How would you use those powers? Would you have a special costume? A special name?



Tell us all about Superhero You!

Characters only, please.

Getting to Know You: Bravest Thing

Some of us lead quiet lives, while others regularly encounter danger. Everyone needs some kind of courage, though, when facing the difficulties of life.

So what's the bravest thing you ever did? Whether you defeated an evil wizard or outsmarted a tiny spider, we want to know! Tell us about your most courageous act!

Characters only, please.

You and your world: An issue of Class

The article below was shared by member Christine H. (Thank you!) It talks about an interesting subject: Class. Class as in lower, middle, upper and astronomical.

Is there a class structure in your world? We'd like to know about it. And where do you fit in? Are you a lowly peasant striving to rise above your class and make a difference in the world? Or a member of the Nobility, who are trying to squeeze every ounce of taxes out of the peons? Or is there no class structure where you live....perhaps there is something much better....or worse?

So, let us know. Where do you fit in the larger picture?

And here is the very interesting article about class in this world:

Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

Group Limerick

Let's have some creative fun today. Let's write a limerick together.

And for no particular reason, let's write limerick about this guy. Um, or gal. And here's the first line:

There once a very odd lemur

For those who may not be familiar with the limerick, a limerick follows a five-line format. AABBA, with all the As rhyming and the Bs rhyming. Then a new stanza begins.

A very important point here: we at CIC only follow standard formats when our characters feel like it. So please consider all formats to be in the nature of a suggestion, rather than a rule.

That said, we are positive that all of our characters have a limerick within them, just waiting to get out.

Well, here's our chance. Let it out. Let that limerick fly free in the beautiful sky. Fly, little limerick, fly.

Note: Group projects are everybody posts.

Character of the Week: Kaelin!

I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to our Character of the Week, the Marksman Kaelin. Kaelin, tell us about you.

I'm Kaelin Trevet. I'm my father's second son, twin to our Lord Seer. My rank is Ranger, First Marksman. That means I'm the top shot in the organization. It affords me some respect in Sentinel - more than a regular ranger - and that is everything to us. Our community is built on rigid rules of conduct and alliances as we're all demons and not to be trusted. Also, the Trevets in particular are not trusted within the organization. The family of the Seers would be outcasts if they didn't need Aidan's abilities so much. It makes rangers nervous when someone knows their secrets, as secrets are stock and trade in Sentinel.

Hundreds of years ago we decided to rebel against our maker, the demon Maliquium, who tried to turn us into an army against the humans we protect. But we suffer constant battle against our true nature. The rules help us with that. My father said I struggle more with it because I descend in a direct line from Maliquium himself, and also because I'm so young. My cousins don't seem to have the same problems with their temper that I do, though they are also direct descendants. But they're older, nearly a century old, so they've had a lot of time to practice. They're not perfect, though. Jason in particular is very intense when it comes to Aidan's wellbeing. And Aidan, well. He's different. He isn't bad like the rest of us.

For fun I like to shoot and read and spend time with women. I'm kind of like Bo in that way, I guess. I can't let myself get too close to anyone, though. The enemy has already used one human against me, and she died for it. I won't let that happen again.

The most important person to me is my brother Aidan. I can say that without reservation because the enemy has already tried to use us against each other, and of course Aidan knows how I feel about him. He's important to the war effort, but he's also important to me. I can't imagine my life without him, as annoying as he gets sometimes.

So my question to you is threefold: Who is the most important person to you and why, and what would your life be like without that person?

Do You See What I See? UFO

What have we here? Have visitors landed? Are they friendly or hostile? What, if anything, should we do?

Discuss!

Characters only, please.

Pic from EasyStreet Prompts.

Getting to Know You: Lost

Do you ever find yourself directionally challenged, physically lost in this world?

Do you ever feel emotionally lost, unable to find your true path or calling?

Let's talk about what it's like to be lost.

Anyone can answer!

Emote This: Alarm!

Panic! Emergency! Fight of Flight!

This isn't ordinary fear. Perhaps it's an irrational, phobic reaction to something you know isn't really so terrible. Or maybe it's a conditioned response to a call to arms.

What kinds of things or situations make you feel alarmed?

Characters only, please.

Getting to know you: Music

A short while ago, Aidan suggested we have a discussion about music in our lives. That was a great suggestion: let's do it!

We have many musicians here, and many who may not play or create music but who love music.

So, let us know - what does music mean to you? Do you play? Who are your favorite musicians? Or.....if you live in a place that doesn't have music, what do you have instead?


Note #1: This is an anyone post.

Note #2: Member blog below. Please feel free to check it out!

Member Blogs

We'd like to know all about you!

Many of you have blogs. You may feature your character in your blog, or your characters may even have their own blog. Please feel free to post your blog here.

This will be on the side-bar, so people can keep adding blogs, and checking blogs for their favorite characters.

.

In the first post here, we'll explain how to post a link, for those who don't know.

See you here, and at your blog!

Group Story: Sports

An agent recently wrote that there aren't enough Sports Novels. Well. We at CIC know a challenge when we hear one.

Let's do it! Let's write a Sports masterpiece. To start us off, I wonder what's happening here?


And here?





So, let's go! One Sports masterpiece coming up!

Character of the week: Brandon!

Introducing our Character of the week, the rebel Brandon! Brandon, please let us know all about you:






My name is Brandon, Brandon Casey.

I have a normal family, Mom, Dad, and my God brother Ian, all living in Washington. You could say I'm the laid-back type; I enjoy sports and a good beer to top off the perfect smoke break, not much more I can say about me.I work full time at a factory in Esquin...well used to, until that day I finally decided to change things for the better and overthrow the Mayor with Marco.

What really did it was running into that woman, Tanessa. Thanks to her I've lost my leg and been thrown in jail. Now, I'm on the run with her from Institute soldiers and a bounty hunter who wants to kill her for revenge....

And all because I agreed to change the city for the better.

A question: Do you have a favorite hangout nearby where you live?

Note: Character of the week is an everybody post.

Getting to Know You: Pets

In the human world, people often seek the companionship of animals, feeding and caring for them for no other reason than that the animal brightens their day.

If you're human, do you have a pet? If you're not human, does your species keep pets? What kind?

Let's talk about our pets. For those who don't have pets, what kind would you get if you could?

Anyone can answer, but characters preferred.

In the News: Self-Help

According to this story, self-help advice, when given in the form of feel-good affirmations, can often make one feel worse, rather than better.



Isn't it a shame that there's so much bad advice out there?





We've got a bright and experienced group here, though, and I just know we can do better. So what advice would you give someone who's feeling depressed, inadequate, and in need of a new path in life?

Anyone can answer!

You and Your World: Patriotism

Since we recently had a picnic celebration in honor of a patriotic holiday, let's talk about the concept of patriotism.

What country are you from and how do you feel about your country? What do you like best? If you're fighting for regime change, what will you do differently?

Let's all talk about our homelands today! Characters only, please.

Getting to know you: Favorite Holiday

This weekend, many of us celebrated a holiday where people go on picnics, light fireworks and are overrun by ants. That's a fun holiday.

There are many other fun holidays. Some involve food, some involve parties, some even involve going into debt on a yearly basis. Or, some might include......getting presents.

What's your favorite holiday in your world, and why? Why do you like this holiday so much? Is it the good feelings? The decorations? The....presents?

Let us know - we'll celebrate with you!

And, in keeping with the theme, bonus points if you tell us about the best present you ever got!





Note: To stay in their world, let's make this a character only post.

Social Weekend: Fourth of July Picnic

Today is Independence Day in the United States and whether you're American or not, it's a great day for a picnic.







If you have a favorite picnic food, bring some to share!








Load up your plate, pour yourself a cold beverage, toss a frisbee or suggest some other game. Today is a day to relax and have fun with your friends and family here at CIC.




Later this evening after the sun goes down, grab a sparkler and let's watch a fireworks show together!




That was so much fun! Thanks for coming, and have a great Fourth of July!

(Note - the party will go on all weekend! Authors and characters drop in as you're able!)

Character of the Week: Ricky!

This week's Character of the Week is Maelstrom's band manager, Ricky. Ricky, tell us a little about yourself and how you came to be in this line of work.

Hi. I'm Ricky Landon, owner of Landon Talent Management, a music promotion agency. Okay, let's be clear. I am the agency, since I'm still trying to get this business off the ground.

I was really into music as a kid and my dad always encouraged me to follow my dreams. He died of a heart attack when I was in high school and that's when I decided I'd have a career in music, no matter what. Unfortunately, I wasn't all that good. I thought I was, but once I got to college I met a lot of people with really amazing talent. I knew then that I'd never be a performer.

That was about the time some frat buddies of mine put together a garage band. I offered to be their promoter and actually got them some gigs. Since my mom was pestering me to get a degree in something practical, I changed my major from music performance to just regular music and added marketing as a second major. I graduated from Penn State, missing cum laude by a tenth of a grade point.

When I graduated, I came into my trust fund. My dad had been well off, but not what I'd call rich. I used my trust money to start a talent management agency. I got some bands and session artists, but none of them were very good, which made it hard to promote them.

I'm embarrassed to say I was part of the problem. My focus wasn't on business in those days. I wasted my trust money on sound systems and cars, going to clubs (supposedly to see new acts, but really for the party) and taking girls out. My bands weren't doing well and it all caught up with me. Bands terminated their contracts, the bills piled up, and I knew it was time to get serious.

I was down to my last twenty dollars when I met Kalila. At first I thought her band was my worst nightmare, but now I'd have to say that they're the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm out of debt, my business is back on track, and I'm working hard to get Maelstrom to the next level. They're capable of being major stars and when that happens, I'll be a success with them because we all win in this game. It started with just one lucky break.

So how many of you have had a lucky break? If you haven't, please tell me you haven't lost faith. It can happen for anyone, usually when you least expect it.

(Character of the Week is an "everybody" post.)

Announcement: Fourth of July

Hi, Everyone! I just want to let everyone know that we'll be having a Come in Character Independence Day picnic and fireworks show on Saturday. I know a lot of you will be spending time with your real-world family on that day, but if you've got a few minutes to spare, send your characters to enjoy a little holiday fun with the CIC family! Characters are encouraged to bring their favorite picnic food to share.

See you there!

A Forum Game: Three Little Words

Today we're going to try something new. Below are three words. Use one or more in your comment or just share your thoughts about the words. Once you've offered your own take, feel free to expound on other people's comments.














Today's Words:

aura
ukulele
curiosity

Let's see what kinds of interesting discussions this can lead to!

Open Discussion: Warning Labels

Did you know that there is an annual Wacky Warning Label Contest? Recent winners include:

• An information booklet that reads, "Do not use if you cannot see clearly to read the information in the information booklet";
  
• The warning, "Always use this product with adult supervision," a label that appears on the underside of a cereal bowl; and
  
• A warning provided with a 1" by 4" LCD panel, reading, "Do not eat the LCD panel."

What objects in your life should contain a warning label or a warning sign, and what would that label or sign say?

Anyone can answer, but characters preferred.