MercuryPrompts

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Theme Prompts

Theme prompts take the existing overarching theme of hope and layer an additional theme on top of it to help focus the episode. For maximum effect, choose ONE prompt from the list below to guide your episode.

Theme Prompts

Creation	Glory	Eternity	Desire	Judgment	Kindness
Reason	Wisdom	God(s)	Sober	Laugh	Found
Grave	Cry	Friend	Blood	Barren	grow
hunt	pride	Begin	Eyes	Fight	Sell
Amateur	Begin	Bad	Guns	Pen	Bound
North	Brother	Long	Tame	Wax	Art
Rise	Bend	Trick	Life	Magic	Give
Cops	All	Delight	White	Push	Heavy
Create	Familiar	Lover	Land	Leave	Love
Empty	Father	Sweet	Pride	Sense	War
Succeed	Shout	Leave	Brains	Head	Boys
His	Enemy	Sinner	Master	Me	Empty
Trash	Mind	Trap	Advance	Question	Push
Narrow	Add	Multiply	Crime	War	Insult
Open	Quality	Blame	Lock	Drunk	Cry
Lost	Cradle	Whisper	Foe	Water	Bounty
shrink	gather	shame	End	Teeth	Flight
Buy	Professional	End	Good	Butter	Sword
Free	South	Brother	Short	Wild	Wane
Ugly	Commerce	Fall	Break	Treat	Death
Science	Take	Robbers	One	Dismay	Black
Pull	Light	Destroy	Strange	Fighter	Sea
Return	Lust	Full	Son	Salty	Prejudice
Sensibility	Peace	Fail	Whisper	Return	Brawn
Heart	Girls	Hers	Ally	Saint	Slave
You	Full	Treasure	Matter	Free	Retreat
Answer	Pull	Wide	Subtract	Divide	Punishment
Peace	Injury	Shut	Quantity	Forgive	Key

Story Arcs

Occasionally it is necessary and/or desirable to have a topic that spans multiple episodes and has a bit more of a plot structure. These episodes will not be aired back-to-back in most cases, so cliffhangers aren't appropriate, but they do give writers the flexibility to extend themes and topics over a period of time. In most cases episodes in arcs will be presented with several days or as much as a week's worth of other theme-driven episodes separating them. Here are some suggested arcs. It is important to note that once an arc has been used, it cannot easily be used again, so check back here to see if a note has been made indicating that an arc has been used. If you would still like to use an arc that has already been covered, you must find a way to make the events relevant again.

Anything that is struck through has been covered.

• Agnes's Cat - Agnes is lonely and wants a pet. Dr. Clark and Max don't think it's a good idea. But she smuggles a cat in anyway and hides it for several weeks.
• Discovery of Hydrophobia - As noted in the writers bible, the zombies in this universe are hydrophobic. But because zombies were part of pop culture and because hydrophobia isn't a common trait of zombies in pop culture, this trait must be discovered. Dr. Clark pieces together the observations reported by Wade and the others to make this important discovery.
• Sam's Voicemail - Agnes's boyfriend Sam left her a voicemail and then disappeared and is presumed dead. Agnes treasures this last example of Sam's love for her and listens to it over and over. To preserve the battery charge on the phone, Agnes plugs it into the generator during broadcasts, but it doesn't charge fast enough. So she begins running the generator during non-broadcast times. Max and Dr. Clark catch her and admonish her for wasting gasoline. When Agnes pleads her case, they suggest she transcribe the voicemails. Agnes is skeptical, but in a rare literary moment Dr. Clark quotes Edmund Spenser's sonnet #75, which convinces her. Agnes then spends the next several days transcribing the voicemails and the others allow her to keep the phone charged while she works on it. At last, the transcription is done, but Agnes can't bring herself to let the original voicemail go. Max suggests she share it with the listeners and so, with the phone's last remaining battery charge, Agnes plays back the actual audio into the microphone for everyone to hear and then the phone dies.

Character-Driven Prompts

• Max can always come up with a new conspiracy theory for what caused the outbreak. Be as outlandish as you want to be, but try to make it seem almost plausible if it weren't so nutty.
• Dr. Clark's research notes.
• Agnes's journal entries or classic literary references.
• Bill's or Wade's practical survival techniques.
• Jennifer's philosophizing about faith and the strength she draws from both it and from her family. She can also talk about daily life in the lighthouse.

General Notes

• Illness concerns.
• Interview format with a “zombie expert” - totally normal, like nothing’s wrong
• Episodes about how to get fresh water - boiling, distilling, reverse osmosis, rainwater, etc.
• An episode about how we have to rescue someone and then ask them to leave because we have no room
• Agnes keeps a diary and reads entries from early days before broadcasting. She updates it periodically and we can see her attitude changing.