• 17 Posts
  • 92 Comments
Joined 1 month ago
Cake day: July 15th, 2025
  • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websitetoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•Lemmings who write but never share your writings: How is it going?
    6·
    1 day ago

    Mostly short stories based on a single “what if” concept. Like, “What if everyone in the world had to have a unique name?” That may not be the premise of the story, but it factors into the characters and the world building and the story goes from there. Most of the stories don’t really “go” anywhere, but that’s not the point. The point is to spend a day in a world where the “what if” concept is true and see what society, people, and life is like.

    The setting is usually ambiguously Earth but it’s never stated nor that they’re even humans or what time period. That gives it a lot of leeway.

    It’s mostly just a creative outlet / thought exercises so I don’t even save half of them when I’m done.

    Examples From the Example "What If"

    For the “What if everyone in the world had to have a unique name?” example, the short story had the following elements:

    • Surnames / family names quickly became extinct since they were found to be redundant.
    • Different cultures in that world implemented the unique name requirement differently:
      • Some kept the family names but combined it with a unique name as a suffix. e.g. SmithFriendlyGame, SmithSoccerFan
      • Some went with just number designations. e.g. 12345
      • Most came up with brand new words when a child is born e.g. Fluginary
      • Other cultures did something similar to “What 3 Words” does for locations by combining 3 or 4 ordinary words. e.g. BashfulCarpetTree
      • Families could register specific naming conventions which could only be used by that family. Prestigious families could would add numbers to the family name with the patriarch/matriarch of the line being “0” or “first of their name”. If someone was Smith47, it meant they were directly descended from the Smith.
    • The uniqueness requirement included not reusing names of those who have died. e.g. There could only be one “John” ever, for example. All mentions of “John” would only refer to that individual.
      • Because of that requirement, heirloom jewelry became popular in this world to make up for not being able to honor a loved one by naming your child after them.
  • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websitetoCasual Conversation@piefed.social•Your alarm just went off. How long do you stay in bed?
    61·
    2 days ago

    10 years ago, I’d snooze until the last moment and then rush to get ready on time. No idea why; just couldn’t force myself out of bed.

    Today (including, literally, this morning) I’m awake at least 15-30 minutes before my alarm goes off. Wake up ritual is basically:

    • Pee
    • Put coffee on
    • Let dogs outside
    • Have coffee on the patio while the dogs do their business and play
    • Answer any texts/messages that came in after I went to bed
    • Check the news and weather
    • If time allows, read a chapter of whatever book I’m on
    • Start getting ready for work

    I think the change was realizing those extra 20-30 minutes of sleep (if I could even get back to sleep at all) weren’t going to make me any more awake when I do have to get up. Then it was just a matter of figuring out how to use that time effectively.