Emergency Rations: Planting Ideas

[StarBase 118 Staff]

Welcome to Emergency Rations, where each month we highlight details from the worlds of Star Trek and UFOP: StarBase 118 to fuel your fandom, inspire your writing, and help bring your sim to life.

This month, we’re thinking about Flora. Plants. Arboreal life forms, even. April showers bring May flowers, and sometimes, May flowers bring terrifying alien death spores. What creativity will blossom at UFOP: StarBase 118 this month? Let’s find out.

You have caught up on your reading; you have scrolled through all the forums; you have read the entire wiki again. You’re still one idea short of writing that post, and it’s so frustrating you could pull your hair out by the roots and chuck your computer on the old compost pile. Relax. It’s time to break out the Emergency Rations…

I’m guessing you’ve written about plants before now. You’ve scanned vegetation for the botany officer while exploring a new planet. You’ve strolled through the local gardens, arboretum, or ship’s hydroponics bay. You’ve gone on about that fern in your quarters, how you love it, or you hate it, or you suspect it has psychic powers. Let’s keep the ideas growing, and see what else crops up.

As you chew your way through your rations, think about how you can seed these items and ideas into your sim. When you’ve succeeded, tell us about it on the forum. We’d love to hear how you’ve put your creativity to use!

Your Basic Plants. Whether in the real world or a universe of fictional worlds, plants are everywhere. Infinite varieties on infinite planets. They decorate our quarters, enrich our memories of home, and grow in beakers in Sickbay, mutating into predatory mantraps when the CMO looks away for just one minute, just one gol-darned minute! What plants might exist on the familiar worlds of Star Trek? What plants are to be found in the unique world of UFOP: Starbase 118? How do plants factor in to your memories? Do you notice them on away missions? Are they used for good? Can they be altered and abused?

Mold. Is it as much a reality on a starship as it is on most planets? What are the consequences of choosing a water shower over a sonic shower, if your quarters are so equipped? Does your bathroom clean itself? Or does the task fall to some poor “Specialist”?  Is fungus an ingredient in your favorite food or drink?

Vegetative Variety. Plants are in our environment, culture, and even language. Here’s some further ideas to cultivate: Flowers used in a ceremony – any similar traditions back home? Crops of the future – does this make Duotriticale a heritage grain? Vegetable Dishes – time to reprogram your replicator. Plants as interior decoration. And last – how about a Family Tree?

Please visit the forum and let us know how you used these ideas in your writing! Happy simming!

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