I had until Sunday to figure out what I was going to do for the challenge. I had so many different options and it was really hard to figure out which one to go with. AngelBlood666 suggested using the challenge for a fresh start on my writing. A way to let my brain recharge by chomping down on something new. ChibiSunnie added that I should consider the six-week challenge as an extended NaNo. When I put up the options I was considering on Struggling Writers Society's Facebook page Phfylburt agreed with AB666 and Chibi.
That nearly sold me. Three people thought I should try a completely new project for the challenge. Maybe that was the way to go.
On the other hand, Cyhyr liked my idea of using the challenge to finish up reworking the X-Men characters into originals. Then Hubby chimed in. He knew that I've been working on X-Future a lot lately, and while it may be good to put it on the back burner so my brain could take a vacation from the world build, he also knew it would be dangerous to kill my momentum while I had it. So, he agreed with Cy: that I should stick with X-Future for the challenge.
I had three people suggest I do something knew, but I didn't have any ideas I could write about. I would have had to either use some sort of writing prompt(s) or I'd be spending this first week just trying to figure out what to write. On the flipside, I only had two people say I should work on X-Future more, and I felt it was justification. Sure, I put it to a vote at SWS and X-Future lost, but I just couldn't let it go.
I followed my heart; much like how I decided to put X-Future in a pseudo-cyberpunk futuristic setting. Go where the muse tugs you.
Which means that my challenge for the summer will be to finish up my list of canon characters that I need to rework into original characters.
Via random selection, this week's challenge is finishing up my redo of Remy "Gambit" LeBeau. I have a nice start on him. I have the powers more-or-less redone and I decided that he'll be Australian now instead of Cajun. A bit of a shame since Chayse's X-Men code name is Cajun, and when we first started the game his nickname was Cage. Lia also teased him a bit using the Cajun reference. Things like "Bayou Brain." So, it's a little upsetting that I lose all of that, but even with a lot of other things switched out for Gambit, keeping him Cajun may be too similar to the original. I mean, even if people don't see Neo-Gambit as a knockoff of his inspiration, if Chayse were half-Cajun he would DEFINITELY seem like a Gambit rip-off.
Anyway, picking Gambit does seem like a bit of a blessing. I don't have much free time this week to really work on a character from scratch like I would for say Charles Xavier. The fact that I have so much already figured out for Gambit means I can ease my way in to this challenge. The main things I need are a rough backstory - which I have semi-started - a new name, and a physical description. Now to find the time to figure those things out by Sunday.
By the nature of this blog's mid-week postings, I won't be far enough along in that week's challenge to post here until a few days after the week is done. So next week I'll let you know Gambit's new character work as well as show off this week's mini-challenge: a writing selfie. One of the members of WH already posted hers, and the mug she's drinking from is fantastic!
While this isn't the exact mug she was holding, this was the only one I found that was close:
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| Found on Zazzle.com |
There's also a more stylized one that I found on RedBubble.com
Personally, my favorite is this one:
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| Also found on Zazzle.com |
If you have a preference on who I should work on next week, let me know in the comments. Otherwise, it's another roll of the dice to choose between:
- Kitty "Shadowcat" Pryde
- Chayse's mom, Gambit's wife, and the founder of the orphanage
- James "Wolverine" Howlett, AKA Logan
- Lucas' guardian and founder of the arcade training facility
- He also has some kids on the board, but I don't know if I'll be bringing any of them over
- Amara "Magma" Aquilla
- Lia's mom and Jamie's wife
- St. John "Pyro" Allerdyce
- Devon's dad and leader of "The Brotherhood" - which I also need to rework and rename
- Love interest of an obsessive and possessive Trish
- Professor Charles Xavier
- Glitch whose essays and speeches and other such teachings inspired Kitty and Logan to create the orphanage and arcade in the first place
Hi,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are busy, busy...
Good luck with the first week. :-)