The second scene of the Writer Emergency Fiasco gives the spotlight to Ash. The outline for this scene reads: “Ash hit rock bottom and is given one last chance to pick herself up.” And we also know that the scene should resolve in some positive way for Ash (as determined randomly ahead of time). I think the beginning of this scene will play out before the opening of the first scene, transition to the present, and maybe move the story ahead as well.

With that in mind, let’s check out the next Writer Emergency card.

51: Misfortune Cookie

“Destiny has a dark sense of humor”

A curled hand as if in pain (or dead) next to a broken fortune cookie and a message within that is just a skull and crossbones.

Fortune favors the bold, but misfortune is indiscriminate. The most cautious characters can find their worlds suddenly disrupted, despite (or because of) their careful planning. How they respond sets the stage for the story.

In mythic stories, heroes are often the “Chosen One,” called out for a specific purpose. Even then, the invitation to adventure rarely comes with ribbons and balloons. More likely the journey starts with an accident, tragedy, or calamity that upends the hero’s normal life.

When we look at the outline, we meet Ash at rock bottom. Worst day of her life (so far), no prospects, no plan. And while I (or rather random chance) want this scene to resolve well for her, this card surely sounds like something untoward is or was going on.

See, when playing Fiasco, you can choose to resolve your scene—how it ends—but that means the other players get to set it up for you. Maybe you want a good outcome to collect that white die, but the others might put you in such a bad framing at the start, that even a good outcome is anything but. I feel like this is happening here. If I was actually playing Fiasco, Ash’s player would want to have things go well for her in her first scene, but the other players frame her introduction in such a terrible way to make that as twisted as possible.

Just going by the image, I get the feeling that it represents Ash both right now, at the start of the story, and where she is going to end up. This “cookie,” this treat, this promise, is fated to make her life worse, eventually, even if it’s seemingly positive at first.

Well, let’s see what the other side of the card has to offer.

TRY THIS

At this moment in the story, what does your hero anticipate will happen next? List three ways you can upend this expectation.

Once she is given this chance to prove herself, she would anticipate that she can do this—get her act together, do this job, get out of this hole she dug herself. This is a game about people with high ambitions, after all. So, she’s ready. She’s willing to do what it takes without asking too many questions.

• First one is easy: her high school boyfriend, for whom she still has feelings, turns out to be part of the job. He’s also an undercover cop, which will complicate things even further.
• Perhaps the job is a setup. Maybe Ash is the rat the boss is worried about after all. Or worse, she is not but the boss is all but convinced.
• The job makes her go against people she cares for. In the outline, I talked about the job being about blowing up a train of a rival. I don’t know what that means just yet, but maybe there is a connection between them and Ash that will force her to make a choice.
• Bonus 4. Maybe the job just sucks. She was told she gets to prove herself, but the job is just to babysit someone else doing the actual work: Jay and Bill. High ambition, poor impulse control is the mantra here, so maybe she will do anything in her power make Jay fail the job, so she can swoop in and save the day, get that “promotion” they both want.

From Persephone to Jean Valjean, hunger drives characters into making life-altering choices. What treat might tempt your hero?

There was a short moment where I thought that drugs could be an enticing promise for her. But I don’t really want to go down that road. Instead, I think this “treat” is the aforementioned promotion. Do this right, and you secure yourself a place in my organization. Ash sees no other options, and is all too eager to jump on board.

Fate is for your villains, too. What misfortune could befall your bad guy, and how would it impact the story?

Fiasco isn’t really a game about villains, so this could go one of two ways: Jay is a rival, Bill is a bit of a wild card; either one could be an antagonist to her. Or, we consider the Boss, her aunt, the villain of the story.

For the former, we’ll play to find out what terrible things can and will happen to them. I think she might not want Bill to get involved for any number of reasons—protect him; keep this life secret from him; suspicion. She could sabotage him, Jay, or both to keep them away from this job, which means she must secure the bomb for herself.

And for the latter, if something were to happen to the Boss, it would upend the entire operation and all of their lives. Perhaps, at some point in the story, the Boss gets arrested, but the cops don’t have enough on her to hold her. That sort of setback would have ripple effects all the way down the organization, turning her suspicion of there being a rat into some real consequences for anyone she feels wronged by. And we know she suspects at least one of our trio to be a snitch.

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Where does this leave us? I think the scene will revolve around Ash and her aunt having a heart to heart. Perhaps the Boss had already dealt with the police, and the bombing of the train is more than just going after a rival. It’s retaliation. This scene could be extremely intense, showing us a less composed version of the Boss, which might bring an energy Ash would want to mimic. Something she gets inspired by to do better.

Keep in mind that this scene is supposed to end well for her in some way. By the end of this, Ash needs to at least think she’s getting ahead somehow.