#inklings challenge

[friendrat]

Inklings time travel story for the ask game?

So this is a story about a time captain who has to find it in him to forgive a man he had never met but who had caused his family immeasurable heartache.

Something I particularly liked about the mechanics of this world was "time bunnies," which are these beings that would cause time ships to go off course and wind up in unplanned/unscheduled times and places, in order to resolve unfinished business, or unresolved emotional baggage that someone on board may have.

[physicsgoblin]

Hi here is my @inklings-challenge story. It is based on the story "Our Lady's Child" which is a lesser known story I think. It also is not accurate theologically but I still find things about it beautiful.

[madewithonerib]

pinterest | #2025 Inklings Christmas Challenge: Submission #3 | The Inklings Request #23: rowenabean said: Christmas in a haunted house? Les Quatre Mendiants_Inklings Christmas_2025.pdf

Come You Unfaithful (feat. Amy Grant) | Michael Boggs

Jesus didn’t just come for the ones who have got it altogether. Jesus didn’t just come for the ones who have it easy. Jesus didn’t just come for the ones who don’t hurt or get confused or lost.

[madewithonerib]

RE: #2025 Inklings Christmas Challenge: Story Submission #1 | The Inklings #3 maltheniel said: Christmas in space as a ragtag group on a space station bring what scraps of their old traditions they can find together to make a whole new celebration; #27 fictionadventurer Christmas tree on a spaceship. Since before the challenge started, I’ve wanted to write a story involving a Christmas tree on a spaceship, and I never have, so can someone please give me a Christmas tree on a spaceship?

A Christmas for Ryan | maltheniel

[griseldabanks]

🖋️opening scene

🖋️ - tell me something about the writing process that went into this part of the story

I had to scramble around a bit for names to drop for the other knights (and then the captain ended up unexpectedly taking a bit of the spotlight for a little bit). I have a character naming book that organizes names by their origin, so (because I already had his name) I decided to pick names from the same category as Gavin so it would be believable they all come from the same general area. Gavin was listed in the Teutonic section (as well as Scottish and Welsh), so I gleaned the other knights' names from there as well.

According to the naming book, Renwick means "where the ravens nest," so I gave him black hair XD I picked Sigmund because it means "victorious defender," and that seemed pretty appropriate for a dragon slayer.

Incidentally, Gavin means "white hawk," which actually has no significance for his character. I just like the name Gavin :P (Also, I picked his "dragon name," if you will, first - because Glaive is just a really cool word to use for a name. And the way I do the dragon riders changing their names, it has to start with the same letter. So I picked the name Glaive first, then went back and picked a name I liked that starts with a G).

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[griseldabanks]

🌟 final scene

🌟 - tell me something about how this part of the story played into your plans for its themes or imagery

At first, I was actually thinking of just writing the first scene, since that's when Gavin/Glaive demonstrates mercy. But then I looked again at the Beatitude, and saw "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." And I realized that if I wanted to do this thing properly, I would need to show Gyvael showing him mercy in return.

And I don't know how clear it was in the story, but like...at the point Glaive tells her the truth, she's fully capable of making it on her own. She could have killed him, or even just struck out on her own, and she would have been able to survive. She can hunt her own food, she can make her own fire and shelter. Just like Glaive would have been justified (from the perspective of his fellow knights) in destroying her egg before she ever breathed a single breath of fresh air.

But both of them decided that mercy was the better route, and I don't think either of them would argue with that in the years to come.

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[griseldabanks]

❓your pick!

❓ - author's choice! tell me anything you'd like to share about this part of the story

I realize the readers of my Inklings Challenge story aren't going to be privy to the main story this ties into, but my goal is to have all of the supporting dragon rider characters act as comparisons and contrasts to the main duo. And I can see so many similarities between Glaive and Shard, my main character. Their lives before finding the dragon egg were almost completely opposite from each other, but they had a similar experience of suddenly coming face to face with the realization that this baby dragon is a living being and it would be wrong to kill it.

I also find it interesting to consider how, even though the circumstances are different, Shard and Shynael also have a similar moment of briefly considering parting ways, then apologizing and forgiving each other because they realize they have no one else. For Shard, because he had no hand in killing Shynael's mother, it's more the anger and bitterness over how having to take care of a baby dragon completely upended his life, and he finally explodes. So you can either see that as me cleverly drawing parallels between characters to highlight a theme, or maybe I only have one story to tell in the end :P

When Glaive and Shard eventually meet, Glaive will recognize something of himself in this young man - something of what he was, something of what he could have been. And that's what gets him out of his rut and motivates him to actually do something, in a way that Gyvael couldn't.

And as for Gyvael, she has a tendency towards...I don't know if complacency is the right word, but she'd really prefer it if she and Glaive could just isolate themselves from the rest of the world and live out their days in peace together, but then she meets the young, curious, energetic Shynael and remembers something of what it was to be young like him, eager to see the world and its beauty. So it's really good for her too, to get a reminder that maybe she needs to do something to help protect that beauty for others to enjoy as well.

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[griseldabanks]

Inklings Challenge ask game 📖 for G&G's relationship and journey together.

📖 - tell me about something that helped inspire this part of the story

Ummm...it's been so long now, I honestly don't quite remember any specifics @_@ I've had this backstory for these characters in mind almost since I first came up with the characters (half a lifetime ago!). I guess they just kind of stemmed from wanting to explore the trope of knights slaying dragons and turning it on its head.

See, they're supporting characters in my dragon rider story, which has five dragon-rider duos. I really wanted one of the dragons to be purple, but I'd already decided the main character's dragon would be black, so I couldn't just give my favorite color to the main character :P But I knew the purple dragon and its rider had to be something special, so I went with the grumpy mentor with a secret soft spot, since that's one of my favorite kinds of characters. In the main story, Glaive is much older and has gotten kind of tired and jaded, just sort of going through the motions until the main characters sort of wake the dying embers inside him. And Gyvael is his perfect counterpart, less cynical but full of wisdom and understanding, both of her human's quirks and struggles as well as the way the world works.

But then how do you get the characters to that destination before the story begins? For Glaive to get as jaded and beaten-down as he is in the main storyline, he has to have been through a lot. The story I wrote for the Inklings Challenge is just one one those hardships he's faced - leaving the captain he respected and everything he's ever known because his conscience simply won't allow him to do anything else. And even so, he carries around such guilt for the part he had to play in killing Gyvael's mother (I think at one point I was going to have Glaive be the leader, but I wanted him to be a bit younger when he met Gyvael).

So just imagine that these two go through many more ups and downs in their relationship before one day they can help guide youngsters down the same path they walked before.

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