Since our glorious leader Wingless had yet to join, and I have to indulge my desire to see my own avatar appear on a forum, I was wondering if we all could briefly describe some of the prewriting thoughts we have about our characters and story direction.

I'll start off with mine. The main character for the story from my perspective is Marcus Erickson, a 28 year old ex- Air Force Aeronautical Engineer. His main drive for taking the mission is to find a better life for him and his 4 year old son, Caedmon after his wife died of Leukemia. He is one of the (I presume) three pilots. The motivation and spin for Marcus after getting stranded is mostly to do what he can to protect Caedmon. That's most of what I have so far, without giving any big spoiler-y goings on.

Anyways, thats my idea. I'd love to hear some of yours.

1429715
Here's mine.
Kyle Nystrom was born in Fort Simpson, Canada, on the 10th of October, 1975. Kyle had a strained relationship with his mother, but got on much better with his father, even if he didn’t see much of him due to his job in the Canadian Rangers. Kyle lost his mother in 1988, but didn’t deter him from going to boarding school, and finally attending the University of Warwick in the UK. Even though he gained a master’s degree in both Astro and Quantum Physics, Kyle returned to Fort Simpson, where he followed his father’s footsteps and joined the Canadian Rangers. In 2007, Kyle lost his father, and left the Canadian rangers, digging out his old Physics degree and joining the CSA as an Astro physicist.
Kyle’s final career choice came when he signed up for the Mars one mission, and in 2020, took flight with the other 20 crew members.

Okay, okay, and I'm just winging this here:

Marcus Rivero is a young Electrical Engineering major fresh out of Purdue's Engineering program. Despite his inexperience, his enthusiasm, dedication and intelligence land him in the Mars One program as one of their tech guys (hey, even off-world colonies need to be wired up). Yet despite his accomplishments, he has other reasons for leaving Earth, chief among them being a strained relationship with his perfectionist mother (who's mental state is deteriorating following the death of his father) and his long-time girlfriend kicking him out of their shared apartment. But don't worry, this isn't some tragic mary sue-ish backstory. He is a happy, well-adjusted young man that just wants to get away for a little while, is all.

Oy, hopefully I haven't just dug myself a grave here. I literally just made that up on the spot.

I'm really saving major plot development for later, when we start laying down the first chapters.

OH! And I'm giving him a brother! Awesome dude, kinda guy who he fought with a lot (so he know's how to throw a punch) and add a bit more tragedy to the loss of Earth.

BTW, are we dead set on that? Does Earth NEED to be destroyed before Mars One is transported to Equestria?

1430892>>1432297
Awesome! Both of your characters sound great. As for the whole earth being destroyed thing... I don't know. I don't care much either way, but I think the final decision would probably go to Wingless.

1432910 Actually, I was thinking the brother would be left behind on Earth, sorta adds a bit of tragedy to the guy. But then, i'm sure everyone is gonna have someone they lose somewhere back on Earth.

1429715

Sorry to be a bit late, but am I listed as an editor or a writer on this project?

I didn't get a PM from Wingless only you Mr.Peirce

(By the by, if I'm not a writer I would like to change that. Being a writer on the group was my original intention. I also spent the last couple of hours building a character so if you could get back to me soon that would be super)

1432910
Thanks. I like your character as well. Although, if we do end up destroying the earth, or even just being stranded away from it, your character could get extremely pissed, which should be fun.

1434289
I agree. Might give him a bit of depth on why he misses Earth.
1435057
I'm not entirely sure. Wingless put your name on the list, but he didn't say your specific role. Still, I think if you can think of a story/ character that fits, it's certainly worth a shot for you to try as a writer. After all, why not both?
1435907
I originally planned on Caedmon being left on Earth and Markus flipping his shit because of that, but I thought it would be too dark and would cause his character to become another Dom from Gears of War. If I do go that route, I was thinking of going all Spec Ops: The Line with his downward spiral into madness and guilt. Instead, though, I was leaning towards him having been a bit indifferent, having left everything, including grief over his wife, behind on Earth.

1436281
Wait a sec, is his son coming on the mission or 'dying' on earth? I'm thinking of just making my character sarcastic and a bit of a jackass, kinda like Owen from Torchwood.

1436383
First, I approve. Sounds like a good character direction. Second... I'm still trying to decide. I'm leaning towards Caedmon coming on mission given the alternative is extremely dark and shrinks Markus down to the aloof, grieving antihero, rather than the father who has to find a way to carve out a new life for him and his son.

1437299
I guess that makes sense. Loosing a wife would already make him a bit annoyed, but he's probably got over that. Loosing a four year old son though...that would hurt him.
See, this is why I managed to kill off all attachments to earth. Believe it or not, that wasn't originally planned, it just sorta...happened.

1429715

I'll toss mine out to be chewed on now. First I just want to say that I wrote this over the course of two hours and I apologise for any hasty mistakes in grammar. I'm completely open and flexible on certain aspects of his life but I will remain steadfast on some of them, such as his father's death even though it is cliche.
I hope this explains why I prefer to be a writer instead of a editor
Ahem,

Bio:
James A. Warwick was born August 17th,1974 at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas with blond hair and green eyes. Born to Martha and Stuart Warwick he grew up in the center of the city with a relatively stable household, his father Stuart Warwick was a Vietnam Veteran and avid survivalist who on many occasions tried to teach James some skills, all of them ultimately failing as James was an active child and it showed in his stocky frame and pale complecture. He had a standard schooling going through the Arkansas School system and graduating from NLR High School on May 30th, 1992.
After leaving his parent's house at the age of nineteen he went to Arkansas State University for a bachelors in Theology and Language. After he Graduated from Arkansas State University in 1996 he made his way to Dallas, Texas by way of bus to get a job to earn enough money to go to Harvard University to get a masters in Cultural Studies.
After three years of hard work as a high school social studies teacher he saved up enough to pay for the tuition fees and shortly after applied and failed, trying several more times as his father had always told him 'to earn anything in this world you needed two things perspiration and perseverance.' After several attempts he was finally let in and he quickly gathered his things and made his way to Harvard. After two more years he left Harvard with a Phd in hand.
After leaving Harvard he went on to become a major translator and religious expert on religious rites and passages. Getting a job as a College Professor at Virginia Technical University he worked there and built up his career until he was considered the best in his chosen fields of study. He achieved this title form the help of two events. Firstly, being selected to translate a scripture of Mayan text and succeeding. And being the head of an archaeological dig in northern Russia, the dig went south (metaphorically) after an out-of-season snow storm hit and separated him from his crew of men.
Lost in the wastes he wandered aimlessly for hours before remembering a small bit of teaching from his father and began digging a hole in the tightly packed snow until there was room enough for him to sit below the raging winds. After the storm died down he left his small shelter and began looking for his men, with little luck. He spent the next three days looking for civilization before he was found by some hunters who took him to their town and helped him find his men who had made their way to a town called Noyabrsk just west of where he was.
Returning to the states he was accredited as a sort of hero and attempted to return to his job and life but took a bit of a blow when he received word that his father had been diagnosed with type two diabetes and was nearing the end of his life. He returned home to Little Rock and stayed with his father until his dying moments. He died June 1st, 2009, it was a clear day, perfect for camping.
After the death of his father he returned home and took up several vices, all legal, smoking, drinking, and gambling most prominent among them. He made sure to keep his vices in check enough to keep his job, but he still showed up to class on monday every so often in a ragged suit with a weekends worth of stubble and scotch on his breath (though his students never go close enough to smell that.)
This all continued until he received a request to act as a translator on the upcoming mars colonization operation. Which he accepted quickly and arrived at NASA within a week.

Motivation:
His Motivation to join the mission is a chance to start anew and gain some human companionship, or at least this is the story he presents to any who ask. In truth his being a gambling man he has lost some large bets to some, lets say 'less than legitimate businessmen.' Thusly he is accompanying the mission to escape his debt.

Appearance:
He is a relatively tall man with grey and a small, well-kept, beard. He wears a tan tweed jacket and grey slacks matched with a white button-down and brown shoes, he often wears a tie but leaves the top button undone. All of his cloths are well-made but worn, he tries to keep a small knife on his person, if he is carrying one it's his fathers; a small wood handled knife with a sharp stainless steel blade.

Other Information:
Name Warwick, James Anthony
Age: 43
Height: 6 Feet, 3 Inches
Weight: 183 lbs
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Grey
Pre-Existing Conditions: Mild LIver Damage, Allergic to Avocados
Field(s): Language Interpretation, Certified to do Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Rites

Known Interactions:
- Martha Warwick (Mother)
- Gregory Henderson (College/Friend)
- Sara Jameson (College/Ex-Love Interest)
- Jacob Horowitz (Bookey/Friend)
- Tony 'Old Tony' Abbatiello (Loan Shark)
- Ricky 'The Fist' Martocci (Enforcer for 'Old Tony' Assaulted Mr. Warwick on Multiple Occasions)

1435057 And sorry about that. I certainly intend to have you as a writer on this. As of now, anyone here is pretty much a primary writer.

Well, I thought I'd check back in on this, seeing as I have a chance right now.

My character is 21-yr-old Gerard Brown, a mechanical engineer from Canada. He specializes in drafting, and colony organization.

That's all I have for him right now. Will get bacck with more data.

Scrapping my current character and putting up a new one, along with another crew member I'm claiming, since the two's relationship has just come to mind, the current Captain's personality just wouldn't work. I've got a rough draft started now, probably later on tonight you all can get a first glimpse at the first chapter.

Also, the second character I'm claiming is a female surgical tech.

Captain Mikko "Toivo" Toivonen
Age: 34
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Hair: Brown, short, graying short sideburns
Eyes: hazel
Height: 178cm
Weight: 98kg
Born: 18 December, 1988 in New York, New York to two Finnish travelers on holiday to the United States. Mother died in childbirth, father decides to register Mikko as a US citizen and obtain his own citizenship. Moved to Green Bay in North Eastern Wisconsin when Mikko turned one.

Mikko, having been Valedictorian in high school, attended Fox Valley Technical College, and with his love for anything that flies, double majored in both Aeronautics-Pilot Training and Aircraft Electronics. In his first semester, he was approached by a Marine Corp recruiter. Since the recruiter was a former pilot herself, she told Mikko about possibly joining the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Seeing himself flying some of the fastest and best aircraft in the world, immediately left to join.

With the discipline gained from ROTC, and his already high intelligence, Mikko graduated as Valedictorian a full semester ahead of the rest of his class in December 2010, two before his 22nd birthday.

His official entrance to the Marines went swimmingly, at the head of every training class he took. Before the end of his initial six years, he had already risen to the rank of Captain, was awarded the Naval Cross for actions in the 2014 Iranian War, and logged nearly 3800 flight hours in a F-35C Lightning II.

During a training exercise in his seventh year aboard the USS Wasp, faulty wiring caused the turbine in the engine to become off-center, and tear at the walls of its casing. The blades of the turbine tore apart, one embedding itself in his right thigh, as the engine exploded and Mikko launched himself via the boosted ejector seat. It officially ended his career in manned flight, but with his degree in Avionics and years of flight experience, he was given the offer to pilot a new prototype of an unmanned space vehicle for the US Department of Defense. He flew the reconnaissance vehicle from the second seat of a high-altitude Lockheed U-2B, where the low frequencies of the space vehicle could be captured without them interfering or being intercepted by other countries. The space vehicle would launch and reattach itself to the undercarriage of the U-2B.

When the testing of the prototype was completed, Mikko accepted a large bonus for his work, and retired from the Marine Corp. He moved back to Wisconsin and accepted a job back at Fox Valley Tech as a training pilot, where he met...

Kathrine "Kathy" Verhagen
Age: 32
Ethnicity: Caucasian and one quarter Anishinaabe Native American.
Hair: Black/brown, long, straight, parted down middle
Eyes: dark brown
Height: 5 feet, 5 inches
Weight: 145 pounds
Born: August 3rd, 1990. Teenage mother gave her up for adoption. Lineage was tracked down after she left high school.

An average student in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kathy was always fascinated by the stars. She was raised by two perfect adoptive parents who supported her astronomy hobbies, even taking out a loan to get her the best possible telescope they could. Her father, a Lutheran pastor, reminded her every day that it was the right, and Christian thing to do, to help others no matter what. She stuck true to this, and after attending Fox Valley Technical College to be a Medical Technician a few years after Mikko, joined the Peace Corp and was flown to Dijibouti, along with a couple portable telescopes, to help the residents of Ethiopia who were going through the tiny country to board a ship as refugees in neighboring countries. She spent nearly eight years there, until she received word that both of her adoptive parents were killed in a house fire. She immediately flew back to attend their funeral and she never left the state. Needing a job, she went back to Appleton to further her medical career, attending classes to become a Surgical Technician.

During a jobs fair on campus, Kathy was filing up a glass of punch, when she accidentally spilled some on a man's white shoes: Mikko Toivonen's shoes. Mikko was absolutely livid, but through Kathy's near sobbing apologies, he quickly forgave her, and spent the rest of the afternoon shirking his duties of explaining to future pilots their job options, talking and laughing with Kathy. Soon after, Mikko asked Kathy out, and they both had a wonderful time, even if the end of the night was a little hazy to both of them. Tequila can do that.

After only a couple months of dating, Kathy graduated as a Surgical Technician, and they both quit their jobs and traveled around the United States, hoping to start anew. Although Mikko wanted a church wedding, oddly enough Kathy wanted something more adventurous. A way to kick off their new life. Even with Mikko's generous Marine Corp pension, they both needed money, and Mikko was having difficulty finding a job as either a pilot or aviation engineer at any of the smaller towns they wanted to live in. Kathy, being the studiously vigilant space explorer, was doing her daily search on the NASA website a few years earlier, and saw an article explaining the first colony to be sent to Mars, and that they were accepting applications from nearly anyone from any country. Having a dream of being in space, and of course, where else would there be a quiet place to live, she told Mikko of it and suggested they both apply. Mikko was very hesitant. He wanted to fly again, but actually being in space would be totally different. Trying to drive home the point, she found a newer article explaining that a medical staff and a Captain/pilot was still needed for the flight. Not wanting to entertain the notion further, Mikko "agreed" and they both sent in their resumes.

Less than two weeks later, they received a call from a Doctor Rasmus Frisk, head of the Medical team for the mission, saying that both of their resumes had been accepted for additional in-person interviews, and if they wanted, could be flown to the Netherlands in just under three days for them. Mikko was shocked, having never expected to get a reply, while Kathy had burst into tears out of joy. Kathy told the Doctor that if they could send the tickets via email, they could board a plane that day. The doctor complied and they were on a plane bound for The Hague. Mikko nearly said no, but he always stuck to what he said he would do, and if it made Kathy's dreams come true, he couldn't deny her that. And no matter what, he wouldn't leave her side.

After three rounds of interviews that took place in their five-star hotel room, Kathy was accepted as a surgical assistant to the flight's medical team, and Mikko was awarded the Captain's chair and the title of co-pilot. They spent the next five years rigorously training for extended zero gravity flight and for surviving the harsh environment of Mars' atmosphere. Two months after training was complete, on October 12, 2022, five hundred and thirty years to the day Christopher Columbus landed in America, The Santa Maria's, the Santa Clara's, and the Pinta's SpaceX Falcon Heavy II rockets roared to life on the Florida Peninsula, launching them on their eleven week flight to the red planet.