Stars V.2 • Prompts

[SkyWishes21]

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 16
Word Count: 335
Prompt Response:

Most "ranks" are generally profession related; there is no birthright inheritance in Overlook Station. There's too much potential risk that a kitten will be disinterested, horrifically inept, power hungry, or otherwise unsuited for whatever position their parent holds. That's not to say that a kit might grow up to be well suited for a position and be selected for it, but that's hardly as common as you might think.

There are two significant ranks not directly related to simply having a job: engineer and profession head. Becoming a profession head is fairly straightforwards: when the previous one retires, they and the other members of that profession spend a few days discussing who would be best suited to the postition. Considerations such as people skills, experience, and project management skills are tossed around. This cat might have been around for longer than everyone else be very good at what they do, but they struggle with keeping on task to a point where it's a problem. Perhaps they aren't the best fit. This goes on until most everyone is happy with the choice.

Becoming an engineer is… decidedly less of a straightforwards process. The core group of engineers were once a group of train-hopping nomads who explored the entire country of not!USA on trains, gathering friends and learning new things. But they got old, tired, and so landed at Overlook Station as a place to rest. They're happy to pass their wisdom off to the youth for free, of course, but to become part of their in-group?

Well, first you need to be a plucky youngster with an all consuming passion for trains (exceptions made for other forms of transportation; Astro is deeply invested in space travel and was accepted in). Then you have to get on well with the rest of the engineers to the point that you're part of the in-group. When they decide you're good enough for their deepest, darkest secrets, that's when you get the title of Junior Engineer. All very informal.

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 17
Word Count: 301
Prompt Response:

Everyone interacts with each other respectfully as fellow felines. It's something built into the fabric of Overlook Station as a whole, inextricable from the existence of it. You see, division and heirarchy are built in to all the other, older societies everyone comes from. It wraps its little fingers around the necks of the little guy, suffocating them and making everything worse. Is it any wonder that Overlook Station is full of cats who don't want to replicate that experience?

So yes, everyone respects the janitor and the tanner. Their works are important, even if they tend to be gross. Where would the camp be without Mudsplash and her cleanliness efforts? Certainly not as pristine as it could be. The healers are especially thankful; medicine is not a clean prospect by any means and a cleanliness expert is just what they need. And as for Professor Morning, well, tanning may not be a pleasant process to witness but the fabric that comes out of it is so deeply useful.

So too does everyone respect the cats who cannot labor, whether its because of their age, disability, or other reasons. Isn't it enough to be alive, free of clan structure? Overlook Station is a haven for the weirdoes and the outcasts. Sure, it's not always perfect; what is? As long as theres a baseline of respect most issues get sorted out in the end.

Now, to be fair, some cats do get weird about the conductors and the engineers. Others might struggle with being nice to Mudsplash and her admittedly disgusting job. But all of that tends to be an individual problem, not one between jobs or ranks. Everything here is so loosey-goosey its impossible to ascribe animosity to ranks or hierarchy. It's just people being people, for better and for worse.

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 18
Word Count: 583
Prompt Response:

There are quite a few jobs cats in Overlook Station can have to keep the clowder running. Most of the jobs can be sorted into the main four categories: Scavenger, Engineer, Security, and Medic.

Scavenger: Scavengers are in charge of acquiring materials for the clowder, ranging from food and herbs to wood for building and fabrics for clothing or even strange things from human towns. It can be a difficult job that, depending on what is needed, can require days or even weeks of hard travel. If a fireman needs a hyperspecific human creation for their projects, that can be a task that takes moons. First you have to track down the item, then you have to journey to get it, then you have to bring it back… it can be quite the endeavor!

There's a few specializations within the scavenger profession beyond just Head Scavenger (a title Moss River holds). 'Hunters' is a big one: these cats spend most of their time ensuring all the cats of Overlook Station can eat. This isn't just stalking and catching prey like former clan cats like to thing; rather, this is a complex ecological management task to ensure prey populations are sustainable and enough to feed everyone. Lightningrun and Yellowbelly are brilliant at it; most other hunters defer to their expertise. There's also 'Herb Finders' such as Oceanic Sunset who specialize in seeking out herbs for the medics. Most unusual is Seaglass' job of Merchant: xe is an expert in trade and can always get a good deal on rare materials.

Engineer: As Overlook Station grows, so too do the structural requirements. Sometimes its patching up the station itself, but more often someone needs a den expansion or an acessability change. And sometimes its a whole new structure that needs building. The Engineers are the cats for the job: architects and builders who have spent their lives perfecting the idea of stable structures. It's a very intense job, one that requires a lot of math and planning, so very few cats actually become engineers. There used to be fewer requirements, but after a few structural disasters there was a concerted effort to do more training and have stronger vetting.

Security: Despite the Station's general predisposition towards peaceful solutions, that does not extend to the rest of the world. Predators like foxes and bears still exist and not everyone outside the Station has kind intent. That's where the Security cats step in. Some of them function as sentries who watch over parts of the territory while others help deescalate situations in camp. It's a tough job and not everyone gets along with them, but it's an important one nonetheless.

Medic: Medics are the healers of the Station, divided into full medics and junior medics. Oddly, the divide has less to do with skill level and more to do with religious affiliation: full medics are worshipers of the Snails and have taken the prefix Dust- whereas junior medics have their own religions and have chosen not to change their names. However, both groups are equally skilled. Much like the engineers, there's a huge incentive to spend a lot of time training potential medics because the consequences of failure are quite literally deadly.

Outside of these main professions, there are many other more unique jobs found in the Station. Teachers at Ducky's school, janitors to keep the station clean. No one is locked in to one role; indeed, some cats find that they like having multiple jobs. It's all very fluid.

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 19
Word Count: 384
Prompt Response:

At the base level, all jobs in Overlook Station are by personal choice. The culture of the Station is a reaction to Clan, Tribe, and Village tendencies to be very restrictive of personal freedoms and railroad young cats into jobs/roles that they may not be best suited for. As such, one of the allures of moving to Overlook Station is the ability to decide what you want to do and how.

However, it's not as simple as just showing up and starting. Many of the jobs have specialized skills (math, architecture, medicine, teaching, interpersonal skills, etc) that need to be taught before you can do the job safely, so the very first thing you do is talk the Head of whatever profession so they can get you set up with training. Older, more experienced professionals also spend part of their time teaching through Ducky's school, so there's usually someone who can teach you.

Training is an essential factor of getting the jobs. If you want to be an engineer, you've got to know math. If you want to be a medic, you've got to know medicine. If you want to be a janitor, you've got to know how to clean without getting sick. So on and so forth. This gives you a baseline skill level to be able to do your jobs competantly and also serves as a filter for those who might not be as good of a fit as they'd like. Whether it's because a potential professional doesn't actually like the work, they don't gel well with the rest of the team, or any other myriad of failure points, the training often makes or breaks if someone sticks with a job or not.

Of course, no one's obligated to stick with a job. If you aren't vibing with your profession, all you have to do is talk to your profession head and let them know. They might try and talk through solutions if there's problems, but at the end of the day its your call whether you want to stick around or not. Just make sure you communicate your intentions instead of just disappearing, or else things will get hairy. Then if you want to start a new job, you do the whole process over again with the new profession head.

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 20
Word Count: 355
Prompt Response:

Despite everyone's best efforts, it's almost impossible to avoid people having higher opinions of one thing than another. However, it can be a bit of a struggle to identify general trends because everyone has such different opinions. One cat might find the engineers a valorant group but look down on the scavengers. Another may idolize Ducky and her professors but have strong feelings about security. It's all very different from person to person.

That's not to say that there aren't trends, however. There is one job that is almost universally adored: the janitor, Mudsplash. It can be hard to comprehend just how lovely a clean space is if you've spent most of your time sleeping in the great outdoors, but once you've experienced true cleanliness its impossible to go back. Not only does she keep the dirt and grime away, Mudsplash is also an expert in cleaning the nastier gunk: someone's blood, fungi, mold, residue in the medic's den, and anything else you might imagine. Most other cats would faint at the sight, but not Mudsplash! Much of the Station showers her in gifts and praise for this job.

Medics also tend to be valorized for the sheer amount of good they do. Lots of cats owe their lives to one medic or another, after all. Why wouldn't they be celebrated?

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, there tends to be somewhat of a disdain for Security. The entire job is telling people no, you can't do this or that thing, which for a group of counter-culture cats tends to be infuriating. There's also layers of suspicion and paranoia: are they watching you? Are they keeping track of your movements? Are you going to be punished? What are they doing on that fence?

The answer is no, not really, but it's an understandable conclusion to come to if you come from other clowders where similar groups were used for evil. Station Security are trained in de-escalation tactics for interpersonal interactions that get too heated instead of using violence and are gentle when pushing people away from unsafe construction areas. Still, the stigma remains.

[Thani]

I've answered a freeform prompt!
Username + ID: Thani 509675
Clan Using:Pandora
Prompt: Freeform Scene 37
Prompt Response:

The night was just beginning as the usual haze of bright colors finally departed from the sky.
Araceli, still young and stubborn, was taking her time to deplete the sky of its color…wanting to continue her experiments despite it being time to rest.
On the ground, other Divines were hard at work with their own duties. Some were spying on the mortals below while one particular divine was sneaking around just north of Harvey’s open domain.

“I did all I could…” She mumbled to herself, eyes darting around as to make sure that no other was following after her. She had been acting strange lately so she wouldn’t be surprised if Nozomi was lurking about and trying to catch her doing something she shouldn’t.
Which, she ultimately was doing..something against her nature indeed.

Before her stood the dark forest, a place where Affinities did not work and dark forces lurked within. Sat beside her was her bag, carrying various tools that she had taken from Harvey’s Garden. She wasn’t sure if any of them would help her once she went inside…but she knew that having something was better than nothing at all.

“I’m sorry, Nozomi…Alador…I don’t know who I can trust anymore…” She took a deep breath and grabbed her bag from the ground and slung it over her shoulder.
“So this is goodbye…for now.”

As she began to move into the forest's edge, her body disappearing quickly by the darkened night sky and foliage, a pair of eyes in the distance watched on…curious but not wanting to intervene.

“Oh divine…..goodbye indeed.” The lurker would grin as he said, before fading back into the darkness of the night.

Word Count: 280

I've answered a freeform prompt!
Username + ID: Thani 509675
Clan Using:Pandora
Prompt: Freeform Writing 14
Prompt Response:

Glass shattering in the main hall alerted the guards
It had somehow escaped its prison..

Word Count: 15

I've answered a freeform prompt!
Username + ID: Thani 509675
Clan Using:Pandora
Prompt: Freeform Writing 15
Prompt Response:

Groceries are what you eat dummy LIST (Written off to the side on the top)

Grocery
TO-DO LIST

An internet docking station (For Pixel)
Cute bows
Triple A Batteries
LED robot companion V 3.0 (pink one!!!!)
Vintage pants
A “Do not disturb” bed canopy
Metallic hair ties
Chrome polish
Sparkle resistant spray (For pixel)

* A small note is written at the end in pink sparkly gel pen.

Hey pixel, don’t let Junibee do the shopping <3

Word Count: 77

[SkyWishes21]

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 21
Word Count: 357
Prompt Response:

You can't think of Engineering without thinking of Scavenging, and for good reason. Scavengers have the unenviable task of finding usable materials for the engineers to work with and in turn the Engineers always have something new that they need found. As such, the two groups have become very good friends. Every engineer has one or two scavengers whose eye they trust the most. Sometimes they even fight over asking a specific cat to help them!

Meanwhile the medics tend to be… aloof. It's not that they're not trying to make friends with the other groups (scavengers especially; stars only know how much they rely on the scavengers), but they are always so busy. Terseness is common, emergencies interrupt social bonding, and sometimes the medics get so far into their own heads that they can't climb out. There's also the issue of the main medics' weird, insular religion surrounding the snail gods and an old ghost who appears to them occasionally. Their intense devotion can be… off putting, to put it mildly. It's not their fault, it's just that the junior medics tend to be a little more sociable.

However, there's no true rivalries among professions. Everyone needs each other to ensure their own jobs are running smoothly. Scavengers provide resources for everyone from security to medics, security helps keep cats out of construction areas the engineers are working on, the engineers build safer herb storage for the medics, and the medics heal everyone after inevitable job-related accidents happen. If there were any true rivalries, the system would break down and the entire Station's quality of life would fall.

In order to keep spirits high and groups working together, the various professions like to hold regular social gatherings. Sometimes it's a dinner hosted by the scavengers, other times its a potluck. Sometimes there's no plans, just hanging out and talking. Other times it's a bonding adventure, something akin to a ropes course. The actual nature of the gathering doesn't matter, so long as it helps people get along well and have a good time. So far, the regular events have worked wonders to ensuring everyone stays friends.

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 22
Word Count: 483
Prompt Response:

Scavengers take great pride in the nicknames they call each other, even if they seem nonsensical to cats outside the profession. For example, Lightningrun gets called 'Disco' and Oceanic Sunset goes by 'Tripwire.' These aren't just typical nicknames, they're badges of honor: a Scavenger's first find.

You see, when a new scavenger is welcomed into the ranks the very first thing they do is a week-long solo quest to find the coolest thing they can. A waterskin is provided, but food is on the quester. After all, they're a scavenger. They should be able to catch prey, steal from humans, and otherwise keep themself fed for a week. If not, perhaps they need a bit of retraining.

The First Quest is unsupervised. The quester will have been on joint quests with almost all the other scavengers over the past several months. They'll have learned all kinds of tips and tricks to surviving, identifying quality materials, keeping predators at bay, and many other intricacies unique to being the best scavenger they can be. Because of this, they're expected to be able to handle themself alone for the first time. Asking for help if they get lost or are actively in danger is allowed, but looked down upon. However, if they fail to show up at the end of the seventh day, a search party will be dispatched to find and rescue the poor fellow.

What counts as a 'coolest item?' It's a subjective qualifier on the surface and one that has caused great consternation for various trainees. What if the item they find is not 'cool' enough? Luckily enough, there's a rubric in the form of the three 'U's: Uniqueness, Usefulness, and Uncanniness.

Uniqueness is simple enough. The item you find ought to be out of the norm. Branch that looks like someone's face? This counts. Human contraption that makes no sense? Absolutely. An item high on uniqueness but low on the other two is often a really good contender for 'coolest item.'

Usefulness is also straightforward: the item has to fulfill a purpose. A favorite in this category is a human-made mouse trap, a contraption that makes hunting mice a heck of a lot easier. It's easy to find things that are useful, but not everything useful is interesting. Generally, it's a good idea to de-prioritize usefulness if the item is not also unique or uncanny.

And finally there's uncanniness. Some objects out there are… strange. They act like they don't belong in this world, have unnatural properties beyond even human creation, and otherwise skeeve people out. No one's quite sure where these things come from (faeries? aliens? StarClan?) but one thing's for certain: if you bring one of these back it's sure to be awesome.

You'd better hope you find a good First Find, or else your nickname for life is going to be something Lame and no one wants that, right?

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 23
Word Count: 455
Prompt Response:

There is no singular religion in Overlook Station. Cats come from a variety of cultures with a variety of religious beliefs in various intensities. Trying to get everyone to have the same beliefs would simply cause a nightmare schism and possibly a religious war. No thank you! Instead, efforts are made to accommodate at least the major religious groups: StarClan, the Singers, and Highland Mountaineers.

A common denominator among cats from clan-based societies (the Old Growth Clans and the Seaside Clans respectively) is StarClan. To former clan cats, when they die their souls join their ancestors among the stars and become vessels of prophecy. The dead are considered wise and powerful and it is an honor to walk among them. Communication with StarClan either happens through dreams and signs or at the Moonfall, a small waterfall surrounded by moonflowers with shining quartz lining the bottom.

Beyond that however, the two groups have rather a massive schism. Old Growth StarClan worshipers (sometimes called Oldies or Old Stars) have very strict rules for how to show respect for their ancestors, including every half-moon religious services, specific prayers, and much more. Seaside StarClan worshipers (Seasiders)… do not.

There's also the matter of what happens to evil cats. Oldies believe that the truly corrupt go to the Dark Forest, a cold and dank place that quarantines evil so it can't communicate with the living. Seasiders believe that evil lives in StarClan and you have to deduce if you're speaking to a kind cat or a cruel one in your dreams. Many fights have happened over this topic.

The Singers worship singing dragons that created the world. Although the dragons themself are no longer on this plane, they have left behind singing stones to bless the cats living today. The stones, which are very real and do sing, are well protected. For many years, they were stolen from the Cavern Diasapora by their oppressors, so those that were reclaimed are very special. As for the very real dragons that come from Faerieland, well, those are merely descendants of the originals.

Meanwhile, the Highland Mountaineers worship spirits of the world around them, although the Mountain (either the original Highland Mountain or the Station's Mountain) is featured prominently as the land they live on. Every spirit has a different personality and interacts with the world in different ways. To show their devotion and to allow the spirits to shelter, the Mountaineers build cairns along the mountainside. Not too high up lest the judging eyes of the stars take offense at a poorly built cairn, but everywhere else they can.

The religions of house cats are too numerous and varied to name. Suffice it to say, they are left to their own devices.

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 24
Word Count: 361
Prompt Response:

The Highland Mountaineers believe that life spawned from union of the Great Mountain and the Old Ocean. Long ago, the world was nothing more than a speck of dust floating in a cosmic wind. More and more of it coalesced until it became a towering peak that rose up into the stars. Much like the stars, it grew a personality. Unlike the stars, the Great Mountain was the only thing like itself. As its loneliness grew, so did its sorrow until it cried so hard an ocean formed around it. The Mountain and the Ocean grew curious about each other, so they traded pieces with each other. Now in a new place, the pieces began developing into fun new shapes, such as life. Eventually, enough pieces were traded that the Mountain decided to crumble into pieces and become land instead.

Meanwhile, the Singers entire religion is built around the First Dragons. No one can quite agree where the dragons came from, but one thing is clear: the dragons were around long before the world was and would be long after the world ended. They saw the Earth as a sad dusty ball, more pathetic and uninteresting than the other planets, and decided to spruce it up by designing life. As they watched everything grow, they decided cats were their favorite lifeform and granted them the singing stones as a reminder of their power. However, once the Earth had grown enough to sustain itself, the dragons moved on to renovate another planet.

Oldies and Seasiders both agree that the lands have always been there and will remain long after catkind is gone. StarClan had nothing to do with the creation of life; they only guide what already exists and tend to the dead. How silly to think they were powerful enough to turn dust into people!

The weird sect of the Medics who believe in snail gods believe that the world is detritus on the back of a giant snail. If the cosmic snail is traveling slowly throughout space and time, why wouldn't it collect random junk on the spirals of its shell? All that junk became life as we know it.

I've answered a Clan prompt!
Username + ID: SkyWishes21 + 603852
Clan Using: Overlook Station
Prompt: Culture 25
Word Count: 362
Prompt Response:

Surprisingly, the only prominent religion in the Station with an afterlife is that of the Clans'. In fact, the entire religion is built around the concept of StarClan (and sometimes the Dark Forest) being real and having an affect on the people around them. Both Oldies and Seasiders agree on the fact that when you die, your soul ascends to the stars and you walk amongst them. They very strongly disagree on if morality has a factor: Oldies believe in a Dark Forst, a black hole where the truly evil go, whereas the Seasiders don't ascribe notions of morality to StarClan at all, treating the ancestors more like fae with dubious intent.

The Singers believe in a finite amount of souls. It's a very large number, to be clear, but finite. Everyone alive is one of these souls, reincarnated over a thousand-thousand lifetimes with the residue of experiences coating them. Not memories; those are tied to brain function, not souls. More like faint nudges. A past self who was a renowned artist will give the current self a spark of creativity, a past self who was a spurned lover might be more prone to jealousy, and other such things. A soul line is capable of ending in only two circumstances: a soul has managed to become so pure that it has no residue, no personhood, or it has become so dirty, or evil if you prefer, that even the systems set in place to clean up a soul can't refresh them. Those souls dissipate into the ether, becoming disparate soul dust that will hopefully one day start a new line.

The Mountaineers don't believe in souls and afterlives the same way the other main religions do. Sure, there's some special life essence in every cat, but the same is true for every living being and every stone. When a cat dies, the life essence disperses into the earth and nourishes the planet much like a decomposing body does.

It is unclear if the Snail God worshipers have an afterlife at all, beyond the occasional ghost. They're very cagey about it and speak in riddles about things getting trapped in spirals. Thanks, guys.