Happy New Year from the cargo bay!

Wishing for each of you the best of health, prosperity, and happiness in 2023.

For the first time in  ages, I've made a few New Year's Resolutions:

1.  Reclaim the work-life balance.  (All work and no play has made Dan a very, very dull boy.)
2.  Dial down the snark (or at least, fine tune it.  Wolf says he likes my snarky moments, so I should consider this a bit more.)
3.  Read more. Happily, I found three books under the Christmas tree, so I'm on my way there.
4.  Write more.  I apologize for FF2V's pacing and opportunities suffering over the past few months, and I've already begun to reestablish pacing. (See #1.)


The current scene has each of you in handcuffs as the Feds assist the police in a search of the boat.  I'm sorry that you're all currently in positions to only react and express individual thoughts, but we're right on the edge of our climax, and I will make certain your characters are free to handle their shipboard jobs during the coming week.

By the way, 3 cheers for [@Xandrya]!  The Alana/Imani/Captain Kondo scene was entirely her concept, and though I haven't even told her this, what took place there has birthed the kernel of an ongoing subplot for future episodes.  That's what I love about writing with all of you here.  

When we created FF2V, Wolf and I decided upon an episodic approach, which allows for defined way points in the overall plot.  Under that theory, he and I drive the overall story plot with each of the member writers contributing in a fashion befitting their characters and shipboard jobs.  Coupled with everyone's preference for joint posting collaboration, this approach has worked really well for us in the past.   

As I mentioned earlier, we're right on the edge of the episode's climax, so you can expect to receive invites for particular scenes in which your character might participate.  After the individual scenes are written, Wolf and I edit them together into the overall climax.  We had great success with this at the end of episode 2, when China Doll flew into a hurricane to rescue a shipwrecked Yuri.  You can expect to receive JP/Collab invites during the coming week.

After that?  Pelorum!  The crew gets a well deserved break.  During that time, your characters' personal plots will take precedence for the episode.  Wolf and I will supply one or two central plot arcs, but for the most part, this episode is designed for personal character growth and rejuvenation.  Seeing how quick fried Abigail's temperament is these days, I know that she could use the break.

Okay, it's noon.  I cooked NYD breakfast, and now I have to clean the kitchen.  Tonight's supper involves black eyed peas, a Southern tradition in which a dime is mixed into the bowl.  The lucky person who discovers the dime in their black eyed peas will be the recipient of good fortune...or the Heimlich maneuver, possibly both.  On that cheery note, I'll close for now.

Happy New Year,

Sail