Sanders Sides BROTP One-Shots: EXPLAINED

Chapter 14: The Pain of Assignment (Rewritten)

o The Logical Phase: A trait becomes logical after the the passing of their EIGHTH host, and remains in the logical phase until the passing of their EIGHTEENTH host. (The logical phase is usually found in traits between the ages of 1300 – 2500 years old, depending on the era they were born in and the life expectancy of humans during that time.)

o The Negative Phase: A trait becomes negative (now this could be Anxiety, Depression, etc.) after the passing of their EIGHTEENTH host, and remains a negative trait even once they reach Elysium. (The negative phase is usually found in traits between the ages of 1300 – infinity.)

· Now, you all know about the switch I made with Virgil being the eldest and Patton being the youngest from the original story, but I wanted to elaborate on the phases of a trait's life.

· I was actually well into writing the rewrite when I decided that I wanted Thomas to be Patton's first host, which I feel, gave a whole new look into grief. We see Virgil, who has been through this time and again struggling despite being so acclimatized to grief, which drives home how hard Thomas's passing must have been on Patton.

· Shadowed Lifers: This is an idea that I pulled from an Alternate Universe based on The Pain of Assignment that I am working on, but back to the point. I knew I wanted Virgil to be older than the others by a considerable margin, his work as a trait even dating back to the beginning of human civilization. (The others ages I just calculated based on the number of hosts they'd had to be the types of traits they are in the story, but since Virgil was in the final stage, I had a lot more leeway.) Then, as a reference to how he has a rocky past as a good / bad guy, I knew I wanted Shadowed Lifers to have a similar stigma, some thinking them to be a good thing, and others thinking they are cursed. (Also, if this isn't obvious...ALL Shadowed Lifers are in the Negative Phase.)

-Previous Hosts:

· Virgil as Issac Newton and Roman as Edmond Halley: Just like I said in the Telescopes chapter, I am an Astronomy and Astrophysics major, so I actually got the idea for this paring from the show Cosmos with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. In episode three: When Knowledge Conquered Fear, it is explained that Halley helped Newton to come out of seclusion, and since Roman would have been a moral trait at the time, (again I got this from a simple calculation) I thought it would be funny to have the two of them not just run into one another, but help one another in the past.

· Virgil as Clark Gable and Roman as Max Steiner: This one was a happy accident, I had originally intended for Virgil and Roman to run into one another only once in the past, but I knew I wanted Roman to be the creative trait for a film score composer, and the only one who I knew of that fit into that time frame while also having passed away before Thomas was born was Max Steiner. The problem was I had already chosen Clark Gable for Virgil, because he plays Rhett Butler in my mother's favorite movie Gone With The Wind. I didn't actually find out until I was researching scores that Max Steiner composed, that he actually did the composition for Gone With The Wind. Therefore, it was coincidence that they ran into each other again.

· Logan as Marie Curie: This is one that I am going to have fun talking about. Anyway, as I have already stated in previous chapters, my friend and editor Jay lives with me, and their personality is as similar to Logan's as mine is to Virgil. Back to the point, when trying to decide who Logan was going to be the logical trait for, I decided to ask them for who they thought would be a good candidate with this question. "If Logan could have been the logical trait for any famous scientist who passed away before Thomas was born, who would have been his host?" They typed into their computer for a moment and looked at me with a deadpan expression, simply saying, "Marie Curie." I swear, Jay loves throwing me curveballs when I go to them for ideas when writing; however, that did mean I got a chance to elaborate on the outcome when a trait is assigned to a host of the opposite gender. (I put that in italics because I believe gender is a spectrum,) but whatever the case, that was fun to run with, so thanks Jay!

-References to My Other Stories:

· This was something I actually held off on doing for a long time, because I know there are inconsistencies if you look at my stories as a singular timeline, but I knew the emotional impact that callbacks can have. I actually made a point to give a call back to each of my previous stories, and even some that were to come.

· Callbacks in order of appearance:

o The Black Notebook – Sleep-Walking

o A Picture of Amaya / Amaya in Elysium with Virgil – A New Friend

o The Celestron 60EQ Powerseeker – Telescopes

o Patton Tackle-Hugs Virgil – I Will Physically Fight You!

o The Quote: "Son, you once taught me that I could come to you when I needed help...but I think you have forgotten that you can come to me as well." – Saddened Patton

o The Sides Watching Les Misérables - Movie Nights

o ...I know I referenced Harsh Storm and Answering for Each Other somewhere in the story...but I forgot where...oops.

o The Quote: "and let them treat you the way Deceit did, I don't think so!" – Personal History (Which at this point was in the works, but had not yet been posted...and I guess it can reference The Darkness of Deceit as well, but I still hate that story...)

-The Symbolic Mark:

· "The tattoo that each of them now bore had been done in an array of colors, but was clearly the YouTube symbol with the outline structured like a molecule. Representing Thomas's sexuality, love for chemistry, and later the talent in which he had shared on the video website." Obviously I explain it in the story, but what I left out is that this is not the only mark these traits bear, they have been assigned to hosts prior to Thomas, and therefore have other marks representing them. I really wanted to elaborate on this one considering how many hosts Virgil had, by my logic, he should have hundreds of these marks, but I came up with a solution for that. In trying to distance himself from the memories of his previous hosts, any that didn't really stand out were all but forgotten, so the marks faded away.

Writing Tips Based On The Pain of Assignment (Rewritten):

- Expanding on an idea / Returning to an idea.

· Many times since I started writing, I have thought, 'I love this idea, but I already did it!' I think this is something a lot of authors run into, and I will say this, don't let that hold you back! You can always go in and add details or points of view that you may have passed over the first time. Also, if you wait between an original and a rewrite, you will also have the chance to see just how much your skills have improved, and how an old story can grow to new heights!

-References to your other material.

· Like I said before, I had made a point not to reference my other stories, simply because of consistency errors; but, keep in mind that no one looks as harshly at your work as you do, you're your own worst critic. That being said, don't be afraid to reference your other stories, but a tip I have for doing this is to make it impactful. You don't need to place a reference just for the sake of having one (you can but you don't need to.) However, if they are placed correctly, they can touch the hearts of your readers deeply, I often suggest doing this in a story that is as heavy as The Pain of Assignment or if you are writing your last story in a series. (And just to cover my bases, obviously The Pain of Assignment (Rewritten) was NOT my last story, I have posted multiple since then, and still have multiple in the works, so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.)