College, Internet, and the world around you

With my college teaching being here, I typed literally in the school's lounge, I may start to have either an influx of ideas, or a drought.

But, with that being said, let's get experimental.

College is such a fun time in a young person's life; they're learning new things, meeting new people, getting freaky with the drugs and the alcohol because they're cool and lookin' to score.
Or, if you're really wild, then I just described high school.
If you're a genuine maniac, that was only elementary school.

But, school is such a special time. Why do you think we have so many 'teen' movies? Everyone wants to relive, or make up, getting a higher education.
Looking at Japan's culture, high school is the last time these kids get to interact with each other before being thrown into a cubicle, a hard hat, or farmer garb. This video explains it better than I can.
Also, if you're super into Japanese culture, I recommend checking out this channel. Gaijin Goomba knows what he's talking about.

But why is it so much fun to make up? Why are there countless teen movies about basically the same thing?
Because the genre is always relevant.
It doesn't matter if it was 1985 or 2017, kids go to high school. In 2028, kids will still go to high school.

The movies serve as time capsules for us to look back at and laugh, almost as if it's a yearbook.
The corny humor, the quirky characters, the impossible situations.

Recently, my family and I watched "Can't Buy Me Love"
It's about this nerd who wants to buy a $1000 telescope, but he sees a popular girl in the shop across the way, begging the store clerk to let her exchange the conveniently priced $1000 outfit she needs to replace the dirty one she has.
He comes to her rescue, buys the outfit and asks a favor of her; to fake date him.
It's a great movie, and I recommend you watch it if you haven't already.

The whole time we watched it, we laughed at how big their hair was, how cheesy their outfits looked, but the emotion behind the acting was the highlight of the film.

Another movie that is fantastic is Napoleon Dynamite.

I remember this movie from when I was in 5th grade. I also remember I wasn't allowed to watch it for some reason. I guess because my mom thought Kip holding sai across his chest looked threatening and not child friendly. I also thought it had the Numa Numa song in it. It did not. It was 2004; my internet was as slow as a retarded turtle.

If you've never seen Napoleon Dynamite, it's about this nerdy kid. That's it. Pedro runs for school president and you should vote for him. That's the major plot point. The movie is so loosely written around Napoleon, it's like he's watching his own movie. The majority of the time, it's Napoleon in school, dealing with bullies as passive aggressively as possible. Side characters are introduced randomly, like Pedro's cousins he never talked about that showed up at a few points. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't watched, but be aware the final scene with Uncle Rico makes literally no sense. It's also slightly hard to believe the then 27-year-old Jon Heder is portraying a 16-year-old boy who's 6'1".

I think it's his outlandish personality that keeps me watching this movie over and over again. The visuals are more like the 1980's, what with the hair and the outfits. You feel like this set of characters are stuck in the 1980's, except for some of the more popular students who are dressed and styled in decade appropriate garb.

Speaking of high school movies that I wasn't allowed to watch, but this time for good reason; Superbad

This movie doesn't stand the test of time, sadly. At one point, I thought this movie was hilarious. As I got older, though, McLovin' became less funny. Superbad is also a movie that is unexpectedly touching near the end. Like, you know they're losers throughout the film, especially Fogell. And then it gets to the end of the party when Seth and Evan are trying to get back home, and end up sleeping in Evan's basement in sleeping bags. Though this was intended as a joke, it's still a heartwarming scene, because it's something I'd do with my friends. Especially the nose "boops"
The next day, they go to the mall to get stuff for college. It's a genuine bonding experience, then they see the girls, Jules and Becky. Jules has a black eye from when Seth tripped and hit her face, so she's at the mall to get cover up for it. Since Seth knows about make up from his sister (? It's been a while since I've watched the movie. don't @ me) he offers to help her find some.
And Becky needs new bed sheets for her dorm, and as luck would have it, so does Evan.
They split the party, symbolically saying "This is the split for us, but the beginning of something new"

It doesn't fully capture what high school is like, but what movie can? Movies are fiction, and should be treated as such. Sure, a lot of them have the same themes; bullying, underage drinking, horny-ness, and other teenage struggles.

But, that's just high school. What about college?

Enter "Accepted"

Ironically, also with Jonah Hill.

This movie is about Justin Long's character facing the struggles of getting into college. So, after applying and applying and applying, he still did not get accepted.
Then, he and his friends, along with Lewis Black, start a college where you can learn anything.
Literally, anything.
Even telekinesis. (That's blowing shit up with your mind)

The South Harmon Institute of Technology, or SHIT because fuck censorship.

This movie is all about rebellion and youthfulness and I'm all for it. Compared to other college movies, like Van Wilder where every other sentence is a sexual innuendo, this movie breaks those boundaries and introduces a new concept; doing what you want to succeed.

Albeit, it's a comedy movie, and you shouldn't look too into those because they're meant to make you laugh, but a story that's only laughs doesn't get very far, unless it's Monty Python.

I know of a few more school movies, but perhaps another time.

So, the second part of the title; The Internet. What's that about?

Well, the last time I went to school was 2011, so you can understand my surprise when I have to take at least one class online and not in a classroom.

The majority of our curriculum is on a website/app called Canvas. There, we can check how we're doing in class, what assignments are due, and what we'll be doing next week.
My question is, what would I be like if I had grown up with this from the start?

I wasn't allowed to even have a cell phone until I was a sophomore in high school. I begged my mom for one constantly since 6th grade. It was tough seeing 3rd graders walking around with their flip phones, but it did teach me a lesson; just because it's trendy doesn't mean you need it.
To be fair, at that point, I didn't. Who was I going to hang out with? Who was going to kidnap me when I knew basically every adult in the school, and we never left their sight.
Then, high school, when I should've been hanging out with friends, but couldn't because I didn't have a clam to call home. (Pun totally not intended, but super appreciated)

The first clam I ever called my own.
[Dragonforce plays in the background]

Now, if I had grown up with today's technology and would've needed a smartphone in grade school, things would have been different, probably. It would have forced my mom into buying one for me, I'd understand so much more about apps and technology than I already do, I probably would have loaded it with porn because, you know, I was 13.

I think the reason we write about school is because it's a symbol of youth and possibilities before the responsibilities of adulthood come knocking on our door. (Unless you live with your parents until you're 27)

The only thing that is awful about teen movies is that they try too hard to be trendy.
I rewatched The Duff a few months ago and it did not stand up to the test of time. Referencing current events or trends is a symbol of death. At the time, yeah, it was funny! But a year later when everyone's forgotten about Lindsey Lohan, it stops being funny.

What are some of your favorite memories from school? What school movies do you love watching over and over again?

I've also found out that tags don't work as well on here as they do on Twitter, so I'm abandoning them.

Have a great solstice! 

Building a World

Undoubtedly, the best part of writing is creating the world for the characters to live in and interact with each other. It could be in some far off land with magic, or a war-torn nation on a distant planet, or even your home town with a few tweaks here and there.

However, as fun as world building is, it's also the most daunting task.
As the author, you take the place of God, essentially. Creating the world and watching these sweet little creations of yours kill and murder each other for funsies.

"My sweet little babies!!"

Sometimes, the situations in your head don't make sense to the world you've just built and you find yourself with a paradox, or a character acting...well, out of character.
For instance, if I have a character who is all up their own ass helping a small child get his rubber ball from the gutter at the very beginning, people are going to think he's a nice guy.
Until he throws it into oncoming traffic.

A lot of world building comes from the world around us. Take the "Emperor's New Groove" for example.

The world in that was based around Aztec legend and aesthetics. They had a basis to start from for reference. The fact that literally everything is on the tallest mountains ever makes everything comical, but also shows what kind of power Kuzco has over the villagers below.

Or, look at my favorite series, Scott Pilgrim

It's set in the mythical land of Canada. Canada is a real place. I know people from Canada. They're very nice, and I've been told the sunsets are beautiful.

However, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Pizza Pizza, Rockit, or Chaos Theatre on the map of actual Toronto.

It's this kind of world building that keeps the series interesting, along with character development.

However, I'd be more likely to put up a poster of Scott Pilgrim's Toronto, than a poster of Scott's character arc, or of the actual map of Toronto.

Hell, I have a poster of the Achievement Hunter's Achievement City they made for their 100th episode of Minecraft. It changed after that, and then Achievement City got destroyed in a......malfunction.

(I don't understand why this is so small)

But, the theme still remains; Maps are neat. They let us be at a place, without being at a place, and really put some things into perspective.

So, next time you're writing something, try looking around where you live first. Find the locations of the bank, the coffeehouse, the supermarket, a bar. See how far apart they are from one another, or if they're on the main strip. 

In fact, look at the map. Find the places on there. Google Maps will work fine, especially since it can tell you how long it will take you to get from A to B.

Hey, so quick announcement!!
I'll page break here for anyone who doesn't want to read this and simply go about their day! If that's you, have a good day!!

Back to the that ol' DnD bullshit.

an actual picture of how crowded my desk is. Also, welcome.

(I just want to mention that this post is very long, so please take breaks or you'll see pink everywhere)

So, I've been playing D&D and similar table top games a lot recently, and something has been on my mind since the start; how to write a campaign.

Here are a few things I've learned over the years that I will go more in depth about. If you're looking to write a campaign, this is a good place to start.
(I should mention that I've never purchased a module. Just the 3 core books)

1. Keep it open
2. Keep it fun
3. Plan ahead
4. Action is fun (Keep it challenging)
5. Don't be controlling
6. Map Making 
7. Dealing with enemies
8. Money
   8.5 Experience point

Lyrics from Open Your Heart by The Men

1. Keep it open

By "open" I mean that anything could and should be able to happen. If your PCs (Player characters) want to examine an old mine shaft instead of going on your carefully plotted quest, let them. Don't let the fun bus stop because they're driving the wrong route.

If you really REALLY don't want your players to go to that shaft, politely give an explanation as to why they can't go there. A supposed cursed gate detected by a magic user through a random arcana check, the sound of a monster 10 times their size and 100 times more fierce heard in the shaft by the person up front with a perception check, a magic barrier preventing anyone from entering, found when they walk closer, or through arcana check. The d20 is your friend. (sometimes)

By keeping your story open, you can allow yourself to improve on your improvisation skills and story telling, while also allowing your PCs to explore this world you've created.

In the game I'm writing, I start the PCs out in a pub to introduce themselves. After intros and drinks are finished, there is yelling heard outside. It's a little boy! He lost his dog! It went into the woods!
The adventuring party now has a few options. They can do nothing, go back into the pub and drink themselves into a coma. They can follow the boys instructions and find the dog. They can ignore the kid and explore the town.

The way I word it will help them make their decision. Instead of saying "All of the town is gathered in the square, surrounding the small child" I should say "You all go outside into the street to find a little boy crying and pointing to the woods, muttering something about his dog"
By not detailing the town, I'm showing it's not where they want to be.
However, if a player decides "What else is in town?" instead of asking where the dog went, I would say "Besides the pub, there's a bank and a few houses nearby. The road you're on leads down to a four-way, and leads up to some hills, and also the woods this little boy is talking about"

Don't force your players to do anything.

2. Keep it fun

Pictured; Friends. Not pictured; any of mine

How many games have you played that weren't fun?
You probably can't bring many to memory because they were so uneventful and boring.
This is why you want to make sure your players are having fun. If your players aren't having fun, then what's the point of the game? It's a game, after all. It's not a textbook.

Something a lot of new DM's (Dungeon Masters) struggle with are spells. How do they work?
Well, they work however you interpret them to work.
When I got Cloud of Daggers for my Bard character, I read it as a bunch of daggers start spinning in a 5ft x 5ft square, like the book tells me. When I first cast it, the other players and DM said it was 15ft x 15ft. I wasn't one to argue since I wanted to defeat the enemies quickly, so a 3x3 square was drawn (Each square was 5ft in game) and the enemies that walked into it died of many stab wounds.
I cast it later, only for it to be back to the 5ft x 5ft size.

Were we wrong in making it bigger the first time?
No.
They had just remembered it incorrectly.
But the point was that we were having fun. We didn't care how big the spell was. As long as it aided in battle, we were okay with it.

3. Plan ahead

You are allowed to write more than one story when making a campaign.
One of the sessions in the Into The Borderlands campaign had us in a hole in the Caves of Chaos. This hole started on a map we had, but then disappeared through a secret door to a long shaft with lava at the bottom and a skeleton archer shooting at us.
Our party wanted to go down this hole, and see where this mysterious pit lead.

This part was not in the module my DM was using. He made this part of the adventure up.
Had he not planned on our curiosity getting the better of us, we would have walked back to the actual caves to probably die at the cruel hands of orcs.

Again, in my own campaign, I have many things for my players to do while in the forest area. The main plot of the forest area is about a rouge wizard who wants to take over this island. However, the party can search around and find some old ruins that can be awakened. Or a cave overrun with Hook Horrors. Or perhaps a tower maiden in need of assistance.
By knowing that no one wants to keep on track, and would instead do side-missions to understand the world more, I plan ahead.

If you're running out of ideas for side-quests, I suggest the Elder Scrolls. I have Skyrim, but I suppose any medieval-style RPG will do. They're usually a wealth of inspiration. I detail this later in the post.

4. Action is fun and challenging

Pictured; Intense combat

Think about all the times you spent trying to defeat a Mega Man boss, or solve a Zelda puzzle.
You knew that by defeating these obstacles, you were going to get something good, but you were going to have to put in work to get it.
These games were challenging, but the challenge only lead to the fun of the actual game, and moved the plot along; You were unable to get to the next dungeon without the Hookshot, but now you have it, so you are one step closer to defeating Ganon!

And with these, I should mention, that there is always combat happening. There will always be some enemy blocking your way that you will have to defeat.
Some people play for the combat, other people play for the interaction. I like combat, even though I'm a bard and smol.

Players want to be where the action is. Like with any story.
No one reads a story for the parts where no plot is developing; I once read a book, an autobiography, about this guy and his childhood. It was so outrageously boring to my 8th grade head that it was such a struggle to get through.
I didn't care about his stupid dad's stupid truck. I didn't care about the frog he found by a creek. I didn't give two shits about when they got their first TV. All I cared about was getting the book over with so I could get a good grade.
It was literally like he just sat down with me, started talking about himself, and within a minutes time, it was midnight and I had to get home, but I didn't want to be rude, so I sat and listened to his shitty story until he got tired out and told me to leave.

5. Don't be controlling

I know this can be hard for some people, but controlling PCs that aren't yours isn't a good thing to do, especially as a DM. The only time I've ever had to control a PC that wasn't mine was when she was in desperate need of healing, and there was a pixie nearby at the mouth of the cave the party was fighting in. I disengaged her and crawled her over to the pixie because she didn't know completely what to do. It was her first time playing, after all.

After that, I gave the party the option to call on pixies in battle when they needed healing, because the party was small and no one was a healer.
The one character also obtained a Head That's Always Screaming, one of my own cursed items. But we'll get to that another time.

By controlling your players personal character, you are taking the "play" out of "role play." To help them along like I did is fine, as long as that the ONLY TIME YOU DO IT.
Telling them how to navigate a dungeon is fine. Literally leading them along, holding their hand and disabling traps as they walk is not fine.

This can also apply to how your plot is. When I started making campaigns, I had one set path on a small map and designated fights. You had options to choose from, instead of being allowed to walk freely. You HAD to be doing something along the lines of MY plot.
Luckily, I grew out of this, and started making more open maps with less of a linear plot in mind.
Basically, instead of a first person shooter's campaign mode, I chose more of an open world campaign mode. The best comparison I can come up with at 8 in the morning is between Halo 3 and GTA IV.

Halo 3 has you going along a set path, barely diverging to side quests.
GTA IV lets you explore Liberty City, while still maintaining a plot and choice-driven path.

Some will argue "But those are two completely different games" and that's the point.
You're making a Role Playing Game, not a point-and-click adventure.

6. map making

Borderlands

This is one that I still struggle with. I'm not the best with measurement, I never really have been.
But, disappointed girlfriends aside, maps are essential to your games. Grid mats work best, but failing that, making your own from grid paper and marker is just fine. Keep the lines consistent, though. Use a ruler if you have to. (You're probably going to need a ruler)

The squares can change 'size' in game. If you want to show more of the map, you should use 5 foot squares. If you want to show a detailed room, use 10 foot squares.

I recently talked with my DM about the mat he uses. The one he has can only use water-based markers, but others can use dry erase markers, or are even just paper and don't erase.
Whatever works best for your play style and budget.

In modules, the maps are already laid out for you. The corridors, the rooms, the layout, certain elements of treasure, I'm pretty sure enemy placement as well.

7. Dealing with enemies

Skyrim

When I write my stories, I don't want my enemies to be too hard so everyone has to make new characters every session. Yet, I don't want them to be too easy so that all the fun is sucked out of every battle, and nothing is rewarding.
When placing enemies, you should be firm, yet fair.
An example of this would be, not placing 20 Kobolds in a single room for two PC's to take out.
I would instead lower it to 5, especially if they're level 1.
The one campaign I'm playing in, almost every player has two PC's. Our adventuring party, including the few who left, totaled to about 10 at one point.
This is perfectly okay to throw insane amounts of enemies at us, since we have a few healers, a few buffers, and a buncha muscle.

However, the campaign I ran a while back only had a sorcerer and a barbarian. Neither are really "healing" types. They're both destructive and want to kill.
What I should have done was had the druid and cleric NPCs follow them. However, I was inexperienced, and thus sent them off on their own to face the wilds of the Fey-ridden forest.

Also in my campaign, I have awakened shrubs and trees attack the players who enter the forest. This way, they can beef up, get used to battle, and find their favorite attacks to use. I also make sure they level up. This way, they can understand HOW to level up, and with what they just learned about combat, what spells, abilities, or feats will help them as they progress.

8. Money, honey.

your party after 3 dungeons

Typically, after a quest, adventures like to be rewarded. Not with just experience points, but with money!
In DnD, there are 5 different kinds of monies you can obtain; copper, silver, gold, electrum, platinum.
What I do, just to make it easier on myself as a DM, is just go with one type of money.
The way I would look at it to simplify them for myself would be as follows, but you can do whatever makes you feel comfortable because math;

Copper; $.25
Silver; $1.00
Gold; $10.00
Electrum; $50.00
Platinum; $100.00

The DM guide also explains the value of these.

8.5 Experience points

The wrong kind of XP, but you get the idea

Another question I had as a budding DM was how to dish out experience points.
Some DM's would give them out for each enemy killed by the player. Some would give them out based on teamwork. Others would divvy up the points after the session, divide by the number of players, and give them out that way. Or simply do it after every battle.
As you level up, your health will increase. I didn't really understand this, but you keep your HP (health/hit points) and roll your level number of attack die and add it. I was wondering why I was dying so quickly. Then I talked to my DM about it and he straightened it all out for me.
So, instead of being level 4 with only 16 hit points, I'm level 4 with 25. I rolled 4d8 and got a 9 and added it to my previous HP. Or I could have added 5 and my constitution modifier, then added that number to my previous HP.

Other ideas

Some good inspiration comes from Skyrim. If you've never played Skyrim, how are you reading this? Does your rock have Wi-Fi?
Skyrim is so open, random encounters happen all the time. You could just be walking along a path to a town, when suddenly the battle music starts playing and, lo! It's a bear.
Or, you're in a town and you just talk to a few NPC's to find out that some of the townsfolk have gone missing.
If you need some ideas, Skyrim is the place to go.

Another game that is action driven is Borderlands. It has a linear plot, as you expect any FPS to have, but it also has RPG elements. You are able to visit locations more than once in a mostly open world environment. This is good, because you can level up quickly by defeating the same boss over and over again with no fear of cut scenes or the logic of the situation.
All you know is that you love your guns. It's basically Texas; the game. All it's missing is the American flag, blatant racism, and Sandy Cheeks.

These are things you should think of as you write.
What games have you played that taught you how to play seamlessly?
How about ones with tutorials, and where they enjoyable?
How were you introduced to the hobby, and what kept you playing? Thinking about this will help you get in your players head, because what attracted you probably attracted them.
Does this make sense?

Also, I would like to mention, don't overload yourself.
I told my best friend about the campaign I'm working on and how large it is. He is a far more experienced DM than I am. He told me not to take everything on at once. So, focus on one area at a time, especially the stories.
For example, earlier I mentioned the forest area. It is my main focus right now. Instead of focusing on all 6 areas, and every possibility for them, I'm just worrying about forest area, what's going on, and what the main story arc is. From here, I can make new places, new NPCs, new situations, and eventually move on to the next area. I have a general idea of each area in my head, so I can sort of get a basic story going for each at the drop of a dime, but for now I'm keeping my players in one spot.
This is also considering that there is a monthly meeting of the nations in the center of the island given by a Couatl to make sure peace is maintained.

(Also, I'm starting to use labels now. Ain't that neat as shit?)

That thing I hate doing but I'm doing anyway

So, I've had a busy past few weeks. From travel to fires, to storms almost knocking out the power, to storms actually knocking out the power, to school things, to job things, to having no money to do anything.

I've been writing and thinking of posts to put up. They're either in my drafts or in my phone. They just need...tweaked.

I hope the blog update is pleasing, and if not, oh well.

I'm focusing more on art than writing at the moment. I've hired a model to do some poses for me so that my drawings can look more natural, and so that I can get into some different body types (she's a thicc girl)

So, relishing the fun I've had this summer, and this weekend kinda being the pinnacle of it, I'd have to say it was a pretty sad summer.

With Warped Tour ending, it kinda puts a damper on the whole "fun summer!" deal.

I've had personal issues and struggles. Some with money, some with family, some with friends.

Even though it rained a good amount, my summer was dry. I had no friends to hang out with, people flaked out on me constantly, or cancelled last minute. 

I'm not going to ramble. This is a blog about writing, not about me. Should the day come, I may make a personal blog but for right now, it would be too much.

Happy unofficial start of fall!!

Kwik! An ounce-ment.

I'm going to be doing some site maintenance.
I want the blog to look nice 'n purty, so I'm going to be working on backgrounds, pictures, and the general look of the blog.
If you happen to come back and it looks different, that's because...well...it is.

Please sit tight with me if you're a regular.
If you're not, first off, welcome. Sit tight.

Birthday.

Another year, another year.

My birthday is in a few days.

How did this get here??

This got me thinking about birthdays in media and their significance.

In writing, birthdays can mean that a character is growing up, like in Scott Pilgrim. Once Scott turns 24, he gets a job, which is also a symbol of growing up.

A birthday could mean two warring factions putting differences aside to celebrate the birth of a Promised (or Chosen) One.

A birthday could also just be another day of the year, like Christmas in Diehard.

Personally, my birthday is the last option. I don't like celebrating it. Everyone asks me why.
I simply don't enjoy celebrating something just for me. It makes me feel selfish.

Anyway, back to writing.
There are a lot of Coming-of-age stories; Harry Potter is one of them.

Basically starting out as a neglected orphan with no purpose, Harry becomes the most powerful wizard in all of Hyrule (or something. I never watched the movies) after learning spells, incantations, and how to play chess with magic to defeat some weird guy without a nose.

Artists interpretation of the final battle

Anything showing a younger person learning a lesson about growing up, being a person with a purpose...those are coming-of-age stories. These are not necessarily birthday stories.

Sometimes, birthdays are the whole plot.
Planning a party, keeping small secrets, stuff like that. I don't see this used a lot in written stories, but I do see it in TV shows as a one-off episode.
The one that comes to mind is in the Middle, when the mom, Frankie, is all excited for her birthday and the only thing she wants is a yellow foot bath.

Her family doesn't really listen. All they heard was "yellow"
So, they go shopping the day prior to her birthday, because everyone forgets. Mike, Frankie's husband, is basically panicking trying to remember what she wanted while Brick, their son, finds the thing she wants. Mike says "Naw, you're mom's not like that. She wouldn't want that"
They instead buy her yellow pants.

She is, needless to say, disappointed.

Many pieces that do this sort of "plot twist" lead the lesson of "It's the thought that counts"

Symbolically, birthdays are great to use to show a character moving from one stage to another. Almost as a "rebirth" of sorts.

It always ends up being happy, and mushy, and soft, like "here's a buncha stuff, glad to have you aroiund. Way to last another year without dying"

YOU DID IT, YOU WHITE PIECE OF  HOT GARBAGE

Death, however, is the fun one. But, we'll get to that another time.
I hope you all have happy birthdays. Here's to another year!!

Space, and it's general hugeness

Space
The final frontier

As I was watching the Perseid meteor shower this weekend, I realized something; Space is large.

I laid on my front walkway, looking at the stars, and realized that somewhere out there, was an alien doing the exact same thing as me, probably.
Or, there is some alien girl out there, pining for an alien guy like me.
(I had had a beer and was listening to classic rock all day...I was in a 'love' mood)

This brings me to say that space is such a good platform for writing. It's huge, and the possibilities are endless; since we haven't gone too deep into space, there could be another planet with intelligent life that have actually developed deep space travel.

Which means that, potentially, there is a race of alien that have developed the mental ability to control the world around them using focus, study and dedication, turned it into a religion, and now every kid on a planet far far away in a time not so long ago wants a light sword to battle their friends with.
Or, by some conglomeration of minds, developed a wholly remarkable book with large friendly letters on the cover reminding the reader Don't Panic, helping hitchhikers survive the unholy depths of space for years to come.
And to also get them drunk out of their minds.

So, yes, space is seemingly endless. A great place to put literally anything.
Space Pirates, Space Cowboys, Space Barmaids, Space TV Repairmen.
Any profession, just slap a Space in front of it and, boom, space story.

I never write these in just a day, so I'm sorry if this isn't as...readable as my other posts. I have more to come!!
enjoy this slowly spinning skeleton