Post Day 8 Assignment Here

[Lois Wickstrom]

Lois’s Show Mysteries

What I learned doing this assignment is… mysteries have three components.

ASSIGNMENT 1:

Watch the next episode of your Example Show and focus on the mysteries that have been created in that show. Also, notice the difference between the big picture mysteries that are a big part of the plot across the entire season versus the smaller mysteries.

Tell us about the mysteries from this show.

Lost:

why did the plane crash?

Where did the polar bear come from?

Where is the monster?

What crime did Kate commit?

Why did Charlie become a drug addict? And why isn’t he with his band?

Where did Locke get those knives? How did he become wheelchair bound? Why is he so laid-back?

Why did Sayid join the Republican Guard? What happened to Nadia? Why did he become a torturer? Why was he going to Los Angeles?

How does Russeau have electricity? What was her research project?

Every character seems to have something odd in his/her background.

ASSIGNMENT 2:

Create two mysteries for your show — one that shows up strong in the Pilot and the other that is revealed over time.

1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.

A. Shocking Event: Meff becomes a skunk (and discovers a big family secret)

B. Secret: What is the story of the meteorite on the Skunk Farm property?

C. Investigation: What is Howland Mann up to? Why does he want the meteorite? Why does he want to be an owl?

WWWWW and How:

Part Withheld: How the Polecat family became were-skunks, other powers of the meteorite.

2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.

A. Cover up: 1) the Polecat family hides from the town that they are were-skunks

B. Secret: The meteorite gave them their were-skunk abilities (and it can give Mann the ability to become an owl, and it can be used in other nefarious weapons / drugs)

C. Reveals: Mann becomes an owl. Mann makes a spray that freezes people for half an hour. Mann takes over the skunk beauty pageant, not knowing that Meff is one of the contestants.

WWWWW and How:

Part Withheld: What can a skunk do to save the town from the freezing spray?

[Brenda Clarke]

Brenda Clarke MYSTERIES

Even though I am not writing a “who done it” style mystery, I can still write in Mystery elements for my characters to add depth and intrigue.

Assignment#1

RIVERDALE #8 The Outsiders

A: Shocking Event: Polly is pregnant with Jason’s baby. Jughead’s dad has set up one of the Serpents gang to establish relationship with gay character in order to infiltrate the Sherif’s office to seek out information.

B: Secret: Betty’s dad forced his wife when she was young to have an “abortion” and he too arranged a doctor’s appointment for his daughter Polly to have an “abortion”. I am quite surprised to NOTE that during this entire episode the word ABORTION was never used by any of the characters! ! Betty’s mum reveals to husband, “you know what I’m capable of”.

C: Investigation: Sherif slowly interviewing Polly in relation to Jason’s death.

D: WWWW& How: Who: Betty’s Mum? Did she kill Jason? How bullet to the head

E: Part Withheld: If Betty’s mum is the killer we need to know the Why? Did she know about the pregnancy? Did she know about him running drugs for the Serpents?

Big Picture: Jason is found on the edge of the river, with a bullet in his head. Now, the “over time” mystery becomes, “Who in this town did it and why?” Police and members of the town investigates. And there are so many suspects! In RIVERDALE, we know many things:

WHO killed: QB.
WHAT was he doing: Trying to escape town. His sister helped him. WHEN: Over the last week.
WHERE: Floated up to the shore.
HOW: Was shot in the head.

What we don’t know that causes the mystery:

WHO did it?
WHY did they do it?

Assignment#2

my show CONVICTS

Create two mysteries for your show — one that shows up strong in the Pilot and the other that is revealed over time.

1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.

A. Shocking Event: Elliot & Richard spend the night together in a “Molly Pub”. The place is raided in the early hours of morning. Richard is arrested for “crimes of an unspeakable nature” but he was able to assist Elliot’s escape.

B. Secret: Elliot hides his homosexuality to his family

C. Investigation: He is injured in the escape, gets drunk as he doesn’t know what to do about Richard. He becomes sullen/moody, not sure if he should take any action?

WWWWW and How: Who: is the two men, Why: because they are both homosexual/illegal acts When: during early hours of the morning.

Part Withheld: Why? Was this a once off? Is Richard a prostitute? Was it a set up and perhaps they wanted to arrest Elliot not Richard?

2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.

A: Cover up: Harriet wakes one morning to discover the maid has not returned home.

B. Secret: Harriet is in a lesbian relationship with her maid
C: Reveals: Harriet seeks the answers as to the maid’s disappearance.

WWWWW and How: Who? is her sister Tilly is involved, When? Something happened the day they spent together

Part Withheld: Where? We don’t know, Why” we don’t know?

Both these scenarios can play out simultaneously, as we follow these 4 main character’s journey’s.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by  Brenda Clarke. Reason: Can't COPY/PASTE from a WORD document!

[Griffith Lambert]

Griff’s Mysteries

What I learned doing this assignment: Mysteries are easy to think up, but not so easy to plot.

Assignment 1

Stranger Things Mysteries

Where did Will go?

What is the Upside Down?

What is the nature of the monster?

Who is Eleven, really?

What happened to Barb? (Is she dead or still in the Upside Down?)

Assignment 2

THE LAST STRAW

Shocking Event Mystery

A. Shocking Event: Stephanie disappears.

B. Secret: Did she abandon the boys after their argument or was she abducted?

C. Investigation: With whom did she have contact besides the boys prior to her disappearance?

D. WWWWW and How

a. Stephanie had a big argument with Randy and Todd.

b. There is some connection between Stephanie and Marcey that nobody can figure out. They were speaking urgently together the evening Stephanie disappeared.

c. What is Marcey hiding from everyone?

d. Who is the man who was staking-out Brad’s house in the days leading up to Stephanie’s disappearance?

E. Part Withheld: Stephanie’s motives and her interest in Marcey.

Over Time Mysteries

A. Cover-Up: Marcey has a secret life (at least it’s a secret to Brad.)

B. Secret: Marcey’s trips to the desert are not for partying, it is to help migrants survive crossing the desert. Brad has been secretly coaching Todd in survival techniques and martial arts.

C. Reveals: Stephanie and Marcey were together the night Stephanie disappeared and Marcey appears to be off on one of her binges.

D. WWWWW and How

a. Why is Brad a paranoid recluse?

b. How are Randy and Todd going to investigate their mother’s disappearance with adults trying to manage (and protect) them in Stephanie’s absense?

c. Where and who is the boys’ father?

E. Part Withheld: Brad is a former rock star who gave it all up to raise his daughter after Marcey’s mom’s death by drug overdose.

[Luc Pagès]

What I learned about this assignment is that it is not so easy to work out two clear mysteries. I have trouble understanding what should be the Big Picture mystery and what should be the Over Time mystery of my show. It seems simple when explained by “one shows up strong in the Pilot and the other is revealed over time”, but the examples given with Westworld are complicated for me to follow.

ASSIGNMENT 1:
Watch the next episode of your Example Show and focus on the mysteries that have been created in that show. Also, notice the difference between the big picture mysteries that are a big part of the plot across the entire season versus the smaller mysteries.
Tell us about the mysteries from this show.

Prison Break

Big Picture Mystery:
A. Shocking Event: Michael’s brother is in death row for a murder he didn’t commit.
B. Secret: Why was he set up.
C. Investigation: An investigation is conducted by his ex-girlfriend who is also his lawyer.

Mystery 1– Why was Michael’s brother set up as the killer of the the brother of Vice President of the US? This mystery is written like a B plot, where Veronica teams up with an other guy to investigate, but special agents are trying to discourage them and even kill them.
Mystery 2 – How does Michael intend to break out of prison? Every episode gives us some more information about his plans. But we are told only what needs to be told to keep the suspense going in each episode. So I’d say this is the basic material for smaller mysteries.
The “shocking event” mystery thrown at our face at the end of the pilot is the blueprint of the prison that Michael has had tattooed on his entire body (but in an artistic way that hides its real function). This in itself is a visual living mystery. It makes us believe there might be a way to “read” it properly, and it makes us feel that the prison is full of secret passages.


ASSIGNMENT 2:
Create two mysteries for your show — one that shows up strong in the Pilot and the other that is revealed over time.
List of possible mysteries in my show LIMBO.
1 – Why did Jaqueline and her Grand-daughter try to commit suicide? Reasons can be revealed throughout the season.
2 – Why has Rocker been hidden in a coma in the cellar of the hospital for almost ten years? Reasons can be revealed throughout the season.
3 – Why do some people in a coma end up in limbo, while others don’t? This could be a mystery revealed throughout the season and could be linked to mystery #2 about Rocker hidden for ten years in the basement. Maybe some experiments are conducted on Rocker.
4 – How does the link work between limbo and normal world?
5 – Each new character in limbo can hide the real reason that brought them in intensive care, which we can discover depending on the character during an episode, or during the whole season.
6 – Every staff members can also have their own mysterious reasons to choose intensive care as a place to work.
7 – How about having a staff member being cruel with one of the character in a coma? (Setting the machine the wrong way, or positioning the body in a painful position, etc…) Why would they be so cruel?
8 – This could work the same with the relatives coming to visit patients, being cruel to them.

1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
• A. Shocking Event: Jaqueline’s grand daughter commits suicide. Instead of trying to stop her, Jaqueline teams with her, making it an unexpected double suicide.
• B. Secret: Reasons for both suicide is unclear, as is the reason Jaqueline might want her grand daughter dead.
• C. Investigation: Nurse (who gets in touch with the limbo in her sleep) starts investigating (about what? Limbo? Jaqueline’s real identity? Rocker? Strange experiments done behind the back of the staff?)
• WWWWW and How: don’t know yet
• Part Withheld: don’t know yet

2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
• A. Cover up: patient in a coma is hidden in the hospital cellar.
• B. Secret: Rocker is kept in the cellar, hidden from the staff. He can’t be taken out of coma because he doesn’t want to.
• C. Reveals: Rocker’s mother is director of the hospital.
• What: There is strange rock music coming from somewhere inside the hospital.
• When: it has been for the last ten years
• Where: from the hospital cellar
• Who: Rocker is a once promising rock singer, who got in an accident.
• Why: His mother has kept him on artificial life beyond any legitimate protocole.
• How: She puts pressure on Head of Service to keep Rocker alive.
• Part Withheld: everything is revealed bit by bit.

[Jon Carlson]

What I learned from doing this assignment is: As usual, I found this exercise extremely fun and helpful in further “fleshing out” this series in my mind. Just like the characters, it adds so many layers of richness to the idea as a whole.

Assignment #1

“INVASION” – APPLE +

MYSTERY TYPE 1

An alien species has arrived in Earth’s orbit and is in the process of invading. The POV’s from different characters around the world are the focus .

The mystery is what are they? Where are they from? In what ways are the main characters related? What makes them special? Can any of them help in dealing with this situation?

A. A SHOCKING EVENT: Aliens Invade Earth

B. SECRET: Why they have come, what they want

C. INVESTIGATION: Can communications be established? How can they be defeated?

MYSTERY TYPE 2

Why are they here? What do they want? Can they be defeated? What do the main characters have in common? What makes them special? Can they do something to prevent the aliens from winning? The aliens are not defeated. The gigantic mothership has landed. What’s their next move?

A. COVER UP: The alien ship has been nuked and crashed to Earth, People of the world celebrate.

B. SECRET: In the wreckage there are still signs of life, A Giant alien mothership appears on Earth.

C. REVEALS: What the lead characters have in common. What do they share? What makes them different? It’s not over, in fact it’s just beginning. What are the aliens going to do next? Will humanity survive?

D.

WHO: Aneesha, Mitsuki, Trevante, Caspar, Jamila,

WHAT: Aliens are invading Earth

WHERE: Japan, New York, London, Afghanistan, Space.

WHY: They all share something in common, a vision.

WHEN: A week’s time.

HOW: Unknown

Assignment #2

“THE EMM TRIANGLE”

MYSTERY TYPE 1

Ancient alien ruins have been discovered on the dark side of the moon and in the Cydonia region of Mars. OWSA has quickly assembled teams of archeologists/linguists to uncover and interpret them.

A. SHOCKING EVENT: Alien ruins have been discovered on the dark side of the Moon and the Cydonia region of Mars.

B. SECRET: The initial interpretations reveal that it might lead to vast wealth and possibly a extraordinarily powerful weapon.

C. INVESTIGATION: Interpreting the alien messages and searching for more artifacts.

WHO: Dr. Xingguang “SHING” Liliang

WHAT: Recruited by OWSA to join the digs on both Earth and Mars.

WHEN: Over a six month to one year period.

WHY: For her unique expertise and experience.

WHERE: OWSA training facilities Earth, Moon-base Gamma 2, Dig sites- Dark side, OWMC-A-5, Cydonia Regional, Mars.

HOW: By excavating structures and artifacts and attempting to decipher alien symbols, language and technology.

D. PART WITHHELD: The ACTUAL meaning of ONE of the inscriptions found… a warning.

MYSTERY TYPE 2

What are these ruins? WHO or what constructed them? What information will they reveal? Shing discovers a new message that is far more important than wealth or weaponry.

A. COVER UP: Some of the Chinese “and” Americans working on the projects are covert spies, both corporate and governmental.

B. SECRET: There is something more important than money or military might.

C. REVEALS: Where allegiance truly lies with each of them. What each are capable of to achieve their own goals. That the answers lie on Mars.

WHO: On the Dark-side of the Moon, Shing discovers what she refers to as “The Holy Relic” which message prompts her to go to Mars.

WHAT: An alien artifact unlike any found previously.

WHEN: Found by Shing on her first week, Left behind by an alien presence possibly thousands or even millions of years ago.

WHERE: Moon-base, Dark-side of the Moon leading to Mars.

HOW: How does this differ from the other artifacts

D. PART WITHHELD: That there is STILL a hidden alien presence on the Moon, Mars and even Planet Earth.

JONCCC

[Lisa Molenda]

Lisa’s Show Mysteries

What I learned doing this assignment is that characters and stories need to have many layers and depth to keep people interested. We need to keep some secrets to keep the mystery going.

ASSIGNMENT 1:

Vampire Diaries

Is Catherine Elaina? What is the extent of Bonnie’s powers? Will anyone find out about what really happened to Vicky? Will the town find out that there are vampires among them? Will they find out that Damon and Stefan are vampires?

Deadline: 24 hours

<hr>ASSIGNMENT 2:

Create two mysteries for your show — one that shows up strong in the Pilot and the other that is revealed over time.

1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.

A. Shocking Event: Jane gets hit by slaughterhouse truck and turned into a vampire

B. Secret: Jane is a vampire, Marc is also a vampire. There are many vampires in society. Who are they?

C. Investigation: Jane is turned into a vampire, but she is vegan

WWWWW and How:

WHO:Jane

What: Vampire

When: WHen jane gets hit by a truck

Where: at a vegan activism event outside a slaughterhouse

Why:

How:

Part Withheld: No one knows how evil the secret society of vampires can be, or even if they exist.

2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.

A. Cover up: No one knows Jane or Marc is a vampire except other vampires

B. Secret: There is a secret society of vampires with an even darker secret

C. Reveals: The orange county vampires have been farming humans for years.

Who: Secret society vampires

What: human farms

When: it’s ongoing, but started in the 1950’s

Where: Underground in Anaheim

Why: for food for the vampires

How: started making factory human farms when factory farming of animals first started, but the richer vampires wanted higher quality blood, so they made better condiitions for the humans in some of the human farms so that they could have better, higher quality blood.

WWWWW and How:

Part Withheld: a lot of this is held for the first season. We don’t know about the farms, and the secret society of vampires. Some hunting vampires go missing periodically because of vampire hunters.

[Kathleen Martin]

Kathleen’s Show Mysteries

What I learned doing this assignment is that mysteries surround the characters and that makes the plot and show more interesting.

The Young Pope

1. A Shocking Event – Lenny becomes Pope Pius XIII and changes things in the Catholic Church.

2. Secret – An important part that we must know is withheld or kept secret – He was given up by his parents and he is bitter and angry.

3. Investigation- The Cardinals are curious about him an open up an investigation about his past. Pope Pius XIII also wants to know other people’s secrets.

WHO: Lenny/Pope Pius XIII – Doing things different.

WHAT: Pope Piux XIII is doing things his way. Moving away from the traditional Church and doing things that shock others. He works alone.

WHEN : Present Day.

WHERE: Rome, Italy

HOW: Talking to other people hoping they will help me. He asked his mentor Michael a Cardinal to secretly advise him but he said NO because he is upset he didn’t become Pope. Lenny someone got it.

MY SHOW

1. Shocking Event – Nuns have believed in hitting children for years. Priest have been sexually abusing boys for years.

2. Secret – The Pope knows this has been going on and wants someone to be a spy and report back to him. Julie is sent in as a Teacher in Hawaii checking to see that abuse is not going on at the school and parish.

3. Investigation – Julie hears about Teachers and Nuns physically abusing children at the school and since she is a mandated reporter must report it to the authorities. Since she is a Journalist as well contacted the Media and a Newspaper Editor got back to her and reported on it. Other victims came out and it was revealed that Hawaii has a Law that states Teachers have “reasonable discipline” in the classroom. The Nuns knew this.

WHO: Julie enters a world that is overwhelming to her. The Nuns knew they could get away with physically abusing children.

WHAT: Physical Abuse going on in a school. The school had a Discipline policy that no physical abuse should be used. Someone forgot to take it out of the Employees Handbook. The parents signed a form giving the school permission. Parents didn’t know that other things were being done.

WHERE: HAWAII where Catholic Missionaries are working.

WHEN: 1995. Laws came out making it against the Law to Physically Abuse students in the classroom.

HOW: The Police Investigation found no evidence BUT through the Newspaper Story it was discovered about the Law in Hawaii. It went to the White House where President Clinton created FBI Background Checks on Teachers there and to the Vatican where Pope Francis opened up an investigation into the United States Nuns. He also sent a Vatican Representative to the Nun’s Mother House in the Mid West and told them he didn’t want the Nuns doing that.

[Frank Kim]

Frank’s Show Mysteries, assignment 1:

What I learned doing this assignment is…

How intricately and well-executed these types of mysteries are in the show JESSICA JONES. The series has built up multiple mysteries (e.g. What happened the night that Killgrave ordered Jessica Jones to kill Reva, where is Killgrave and what is his plan, why did Hope order her own attack in prison, where is the teenage boy that Luke Cage has been hired to track down, what is the secret information that Serena has that she will give Luke Cage in exchange for finding her brother). By setting up these mysteries in this episode (Ep06), and in previous episodes, the payoffs are satisfying and yet lead to more questions that compel binge-watching.

Assignment 1:

The Shocking Event Mystery in Ep06 of Jessica Jones:

1. Shocking Event: Hope is attacked by the inmates in the penitentiary.
2. Secret: Why would Hope pay the inmates to attack her on purpose?
3. Investigation: Jessica Jones goes to visit Hope and find the inmate who led the attack.

• WHAT: The head of the gang tells Jessica Jones that her and her gang beat up Hope for $50 and a pack of cigarettes.
• WHEN: Hope paid them before the attack and it happened during lights out.
• WHERE: The attack occurred in her cell and the subsequent investigation leads Jessica Jones through the visitor’s hall, and then the prison infirmary where Hope is being treated for her wounds.
• WHY: it turns out Hope is pregnant by Killgrave. She tells Jessica Jones that she wants to live and have children one day, but refuses to allow “this thing” inside her to continue growing. Therefore, she intends to continue paying the inmates to beat her up until she has a miscarriage.
• WHO: Hope is actually the instigator of her own attacks.
• HOW: She is paying the lady gang to attack her using Jessica Jones’ money. But upon finding all this out, Jessica Jones gets her lawyer Jerri Hogarth to meet her at the penitentiary with a drug that will induce a miscarriage within 8 hours. Jerri reluctantly complies, being compelled to stay with Hope while Jessica Jones tells her that she will find dirt on Jerri’s soon-to-be-divorced wife in order to expedite the divorce proceedings so that Jerri can marry her secretary instead.

Ultimate Reveal 1: the consequences of Killgrave’s malicious actions carry on long after his mind-control has faded from his victims.

Ultimate Reveal 2: Jerri Hogarth, the attorney that is supposed to be representing Hope in the legal battle to avoid being convicted of the 1st degree murder of Hope’s parents, actually wants the fetal remains from the drug-induced miscarriage to be saved by the prison nurse and sent to a lab without anyone else’s knowledge. She bribes this nurse to carry out this request.

The Over Time Mystery of JESSICA JONES:

1. Cover-Up: Killgrave is operating somewhere in the city, using his mind-control to make professional gamblers fold and taking their money ($1 million). Unfortunately, Jessica Jones and her allies have no idea where he is or when he’ll be vulnerable. The only way to predict that will be for Jessica Jones to piece together what happened during the time he was controlling her.
2. Secret: near the end of her term of mental imprisonment under Killgrave, Jessica Jones was forced to kill Luke Cage’s wife. This is a secret she’s been keeping from Cage even as they fall in love with each other.
3. Reveals: in the previous episode, Killgrave and Jessica Jones struck a deal wherein Killgrave agreed not to keep making Malcolm use heroin if Jessica Jones would send him pictures every day of herself smiling. In this episode, Luke Cage hires Jessica to track down a missing teen on behalf of the teen’s older sister, who tells Luke that she has information about the MTA accident that resulted in his wife’s death over a year ago. In the process of their investigation, Malcolm tells Luke about what happened to Jessica Jones and himself when they were mind-controlled by Killgrave. After Jessica Jones and Luke rescue the teen, the older sister gives them a folder that shows the MTA covered up the fact that the bus driver that night was drunk when he reported to work. Worse, the MTA covered that fact up because the driver’s brother-in-law is in charge of the MTA’s Claims Division.

• WHO: Killgrave, Luke Cage’s wife Reva, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones.
• WHAT: Killgrave mind-controlled Jessica Jones… and Reva! Under his spell, both women participated in a clandestine operation wherein a lockbox containing a USB jump drive was uncovered which Killgrave took possession of. Killgrave then ordered Jessica Jones to execute Reva with her own bare hands.
• WHEN: the events that started this chain reaction of death and guilt occurred over a year ago, and main characters are still dealing with the fallout from them.
• WHY: Jessica Jones is falling in love with Luke Cage and doesn’t want to jeopardize their budding romance by revealing that she was the one who killed Reva, not the bus driver.
• WHERE: the abandoned body shop near where the bus crashed, a secret marijuana growing operation in an industrial part of the city, Hope’s cell, Jessica Jones’ apartment, and Serena and her brother’s apartment.
• HOW: Killgrave has been using people by psychically coercing them into acting on his behalf and for his pleasure, seemingly at whim. Yet he seems to have a deeper purpose. The million dollars+ that he stole from the gamblers is used to buy a house in a suburb of New York City. Killgrave doesn’t use his mind-control powers to force the owner of the house to sell. Instead, he makes the owner a legitimate deal of buying his home for 1.2 million dollars provided that the owner vacate the house by sunset of the following day.

At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that the home that Killgrave has bought through “legitimate” means is Jessica Jones’ childhood home. He now lives in a place that she could easily get to if only she knew the extent of his obsessive depravity over her.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  Frank Kim.

[Frank Kim]

Frank’s Show Mysteries, assignment 2:

What I learned doing this assignment is…

What I learned in developing these two mystery types for my own show is that it’s pretty difficult. I feel like I’m just throwing proverbial pasta to the proverbial wall to see what sticks. I haven’t really nailed down an exciting Shocking Event Mystery nor an Over-Time Mystery. But I think just continuing to be open to writing stuff that doesn’t work or seems stupid is the key to eventually hitting upon the right idea… or three.

1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery tell us the WWWWWH, along with the part withheld.

• Shocking Event: two African-American girls are riding on a ferry when a group of racists make disparaging remarks about them. One of the girls talks back and is physically attacked by the racists. Or, two AA girls on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. One of them witnesses a strange vision that takes place either on the boat or out at sea. Or, Marjorie invents the Salter’s Duck – a device that converts the wave motion of ocean waves into electrical energy with 90% efficiency. With this innovation, she is able to win a science contest and transform life in her Gulf Coast community.
• Secret: she didn’t invent this technology all on her own, she learned it from a shared lucid dream she had with her birth parents. Or, she knows the source of the strange visions but can’t tell anyone because she’s afraid they’ll lock her up or she’ll become a pariah. She’s desperately trying to fit in.
• Investigation: she is the only one willing to get to the bottom of the mystery. She doesn’t want to, and is afraid, but she’s the protagonist because she feels compelled to follow this mystery through to the end.
• WWWWW and How:
• WHO: 13-year-old Marjorie, her best friend, a 13-year-old Nelson Davis, and a multiverse-hopping visitor from Earth Prime – possibly an agent sent by Torquemada to retrieve her.
• WHAT: there is an agent who wants to take her back to Earth Prime and he’s equipped with advanced technology to find her. Maybe there is a team of these agents working together. They go undercover and blend in with the society in an attempt to find her. How are they tracking her?
• WHEN: this happens over the course of a couple of weeks during the summer break between Marjorie’s 8^th grade and beginning her freshman year of high school.
• WHERE: most of the action takes place in her Gulf Coast town in Louisiana (or Mississippi or Alabama). Of particular focus, is an old lighthouse near their town where strange things are afoot.
• WHY: maybe there are other creatures (alien not in an extraterrestrial sense, but in a multiversal sense) that can appear in a world like Marjorie’s and cause damage, suffering, or chaos. So Marjorie would be the only one in her group who recognizes what the stakes are and is willing to do something about it in order to protect those she loves.
• HOW: these creatures or agents can hook up probes to human captives and share memories or dreams, thereby gaining intel on their new surroundings and the people in them.
• Part Withheld: Marjorie basically has this ability with her parents, and doesn’t need the physical connection via the medical tech. She is quantum-entangled with her parents and her brother, who is in a different universe.

2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWWH, along with the part withheld.

• Cover-up: ancient alien ruins discovered underground in Venus. Another set of ruins discovered underground in the Free Peoples Nation.
• Secret: who are the ancient aliens that built the portals between universes?
• Reveals: Henry Nightfall leads a mission to defend the underground ruins on Venus and figures out that there’s a working portal back to Earth Prime. Marjorie discovers one in the ancient prehistoric underground caves in the Free Peoples Nation. Why are these three universes linked by these portals?
• WWWWW and How:
• WHO: Henry, Sanji, Aspen-Leaf, Montgomery Cavill, and other soldiers from both sides of the conflict.
• WHAT: there is a battle to determine who will control the alien ruins and who will unlock the secrets within.
• WHEN: takes place over the course of several months.
• WHERE: on the coral-ship to Venus, then on Venus itself – specifically underground on one of the landmasses where an ancient alien metropolis resides.
• WHY: the Tribal Nations want to protect their self-interests of autonomy from the European powers and a chance to increase their understanding of the universe. The European forces want it for military advancement and to further their hold over Venus.
• HOW: by understanding how to activate the portal tech at the center of the ruins, Henry will be able to reunite with his family.
• Part Withheld: they were built by a previous iteration of humanity? Perhaps that iteration of humanity created these three separate universes in the process of creating these portals? Maybe they were direct ancestors of the Hak-Jordan family?