In the small town of Pinecone, there is a little train station, the centre of the town's quaintly uneventful life. Everything comes and goes through Pinecone Station: lovers and love letters, new faces and familiar friends, happy memories and sad, puppies and baked goods, and anything in between. They are carried away on the Continental Express, the famous jolly train that chugs passengers through towns both big and small, on holiday or business, and which passes through Pinecone Station regularly.

A week before Christmas, eight strangers enter Pinecone Station, ready to be brought home by the lovely Continental Express. But when the heavy snow outside mounts to a record-breaking eight feet high and blocks the tracks of the Express, their visit to Pinecone becomes much longer than planned.

They are trapped in Pinecone Station, with no access to help at all. They can make the best of it, and the company is all right, but the question is if they will try at all. It might be Christmas, but sometimes we all lose sight of that merry spirit, especially so far from home.

Maybe all they need is a little Christmas miracle.

Welcome!
I'm taking a little hiatus from my other books for now, in lieu of college applications, but also for this cute little project!

 It'll be about eight chapters long if all goes as planned (perhaps an epilogue or two as well) so it's short and sweet. This is meant for some wholesomeness for you to read, and a sweet break for me from writing my usually scheduled trauma. Plus, it's for the holidays, which are coming up soon.

A few things to note:

While I am publishing this in November, I'm going to try to finish all the chapters before publishing any of them, then releasing them one day at a time around the winter holiday. This gives me time to get some applications in and get writing!

This is meant as a mostly-Christmas Hallmarkian movie, but of course I gladly welcome characters that don't observe this holiday, and celebrate something else! Or don't celebrate at all <3

On to the applications!

SETTING

The setting is an alternate universe, but the early 1930s. Think Murder on the Orient Express but a Christmas comedy. This means jobs and lifestyles will be more quaint and not-tech-reliant (I think the tech-iest you'll get is an engineer or scientist). But since I am me, and I don't like writing historically accurate books, everything else is free rein! LGBTQ+ and people of colour are of course welcomed even if this is a "period piece". Fear not, there shall be no discrimination in these here pages. Not today at least.

CHARACTER NOTES

Below I have a list of some ideas for characters to get your creative brains pumping, but here I'll list some notes that you may want to keep in mind, and will help you understand what I have in plan.

As I said, I want a sweet story, very simple but heartwarming. This does mean I need some heartwarming characters (sorry to you tragedy writers, this one might be a challenge for you). Obviously your characters can be less-than-kind, or have tragic backgrounds, but I would love if they each have a little kernel of wholesomity that I can bring out in them! For example, a grumpy businessman who mourns the too-quick loss of his childhood.

Additionally, they are strangers, but that doesn't have to mean zero relationships between them! I mean strangers as in, they don't know each other well. Since they've all come to Pinecone for a reason, it is very plausible that some may have been childhood friends, or perhaps schoolmates, or maybe even neighbours. This will come into play after the cast is released, but you can also plan characters, between yourself or with other people, to build those relationships beforehand!

I also encourage those of you who write long forms to try to write short ones, and those who write short forms try to write long ones. I think it'll be a fun experiment, to see how you convey your character in a way that's unfamiliar. No pressure to, of course, but I'd love to see it! Just a thought, really.

My character will be created after I pick the final cast, and their information will be released then. I want to really focus on your guys' characters instead, and just use mine as a conduit for things I need to happen XD. So you'll meet them later! 

Lastly, this will be a happy ending. Expect and plan accordingly.

CHARACTER IDEAS

Musically inclined (musician or singer)
Photographer
Artist/Sketch artist
Businessman
Teacher/Governess
Peacemaking personality
An engine driver/train conductor
A maid/butler
A recluse
An old person
An athlete (figure skater, tennis player, boxer, baseball)
A nurse/doctor
A farmer/laborer
A baker/chef/store owner
A factory worker
A high-society alcoholic disgrace
An immigrant
An estranged person returning to family

FORM
* means optional!

Birth name
Preferred name
Nicknames
Gender
Sexuality
Ethnicity
Nationality
Age
Birthday*
Faceclaim/Description/Pin board

Personality
Background
Family*
Enneagram*
Wants
Fears
Motivations (negative and positive)
Motto/Mantra
Mannerisms/Habits*

Occupation
Likes*
Dislikes*
Hobbies/Special Skills*
Why did they visit Pinecone?
Where are they going now?
A brief overview of their luggage*

Love Interest?
(Can include ships, dynamics, pre-existing relationships with other characters, etc.)*
Okay with injury?
Quotes (3+) or Characters that remind you of your character
Extra*
Tags*

apply here

empty form here

questions here

And that's all! I can't wait to see what we create <3
Until the cast, then!