As soon as I saw this tag over at Birdie Bookworm, I knew I would be doing it. I used to love MASH when I was a kid! In fact, I got caught playing it once during class in 5th grade and got in trouble lol. I’m pretty sure that was the only time I ever actually got a punishment in elementary school (it was like a ten minute time-out). I was a good kid, but I took risks and rebelled to play MASH π
Anyway, in case you don’t know what MASH is, I’ll explain. Basically, it’s a game that determines what your future will be. MASH stands for mansion, apartment, shack, house, which determines the kind of dwelling you’ll live in. Then you have a bunch more categories, like the person you’ll marry, what kind of car you’ll drive, how many kids you’ll have, etc. I’m sure everyone played it a bit differently. You put four answers in each category (you can include one or two negative options to make it more fun), then you come up with a random number (my friends and I used to have one person start drawing little tally marks, and the other would say when to stop without looking). I’ll let creator of the tag, Kyera @ Kyera’s Library, explain the rest:
Starting at M.A.S.H. count each option until you reach the magic number then cross it off. For example, if your magic number was 3 you would count 1 β M, 2 β A, and 3 β S. Then you would cross off S. H would become your new 1. You continue this through each category, crossing off as you go until there is one option left for each category.
What you have left is your YA story! If what I wrote made no sense to you, sorry β you can always go toΒ this websiteΒ which explains how to play with some pictures.
That’s it! Ok that probably sounds really complicated if you’ve never played, but maybe you’ll get it once you see the post! I stayed kinda vague and general for some answers, specific for others, but I suppose you can do the tag however you want. And as usual, if you want to do this, go ahead and consider yourself tagged π
M A S H
Genre
Urban Fantasy
High Fantasy
Post-Apocalyptic
Dystopian
Love Interest
Marcus – Thieves Series by Lexi Blake
Remus – Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
Emery – The Paper Magician Series by
Louis – The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
Setting
New York
Underground City
Outer Space
Faery Realm
Best Friend
Laurent – Captive Prince Trilogy by C. S. Pacat
Sir Robot IV – Saga Series by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
Lyre – Steel & Stone/Spell Weaver Series by Annette Marie
Luna – Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
Villain
Pirate Captain
Head of the Vampire Council
Zombies
Faerie Queen
Pet
Lying Cat – Saga Series by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
Bad Dog – Immemorial Year Series by TJ Klune
Daisy – Berserker by Emmy Laybourne
Zombie Cat (can’t remember name) – My Zombie Boyfriend by T. Strange
Job
Circus Performer
Assassin
Writer
Bartender
Transportation
Car
Dragon
Horse
Walking
Power
Teleportation
Healing
Shapeshifting
Empathic Ability
Trope or Twist
Love Triangle
Evil Twin
Enemies to Lovers
Forbidden Romance
My Book Synopsis
Well, this… This did not go well lol. I now realize it was stupid to include high fantasy in my genre list because how can you even have high fantasy set in space??? Anyway, my book is a high fantasy in which I am a shapeshifting bartender who lives in outer space, rides a horse, lives in a shack, battles zombies, has an enemies-to-lovers romance with Louis the vampire, and is besties with Laurent (honestly that’s my favorite outcome of this whole thing because it’s too funny imagining Laurent being besties with anyone). On the bright side, I’ve got Lying Cat!
Ok, no, other people wrote a blurb, so I want to write a blurb too. It’s gonna be horrible, but here I go!
Ever since being branded a traitor for a crime she didn’t commit and banished from her homeland of Arlian because of her mysterious shapeshifting ability, Kristen has been working as a bartender on Planet Z510, hardly making enough to afford the run-down shack she’s living in. So when she gets an offer to work on the newest, biggest, most technologically advanced space cruiser in existence, she jumps at the opportunity. It’s said that not only can the ship travel through space, it can travel through realms—and it’s maiden voyage is to Arlian. This could be Kristen’s one chance to sneak back into her homeland, tell her family what really happened that day, and clear her name. But the realm travel doesn’t go as planned; the ship crashes into Arlian, and a rift opens—small at first, but spreading—and if it becomes too big, both the cruiser and the entire realm of Arlian could be destroyed. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a mysterious zombie-like infection that may or may not be connected to the rift also starts quickly spreading.
Fortunately, Kristen’s shapeshifting seems to have given her immunity. Unfortunately, her coworker Louis also appears to be immune. Considering he nearly killed her when he tried to drink her blood their first night working together, the brooding vampire is about last on her list of people she wants to team up with. But he’s fast and strong—and ok, kind of cute if she’s being honest—making him the best ally she’s got if she wants to figure out a way to stop the rift from destroying everyone and everything she loves. It’ll be up to the two of them, and Kristen’s trusty Lying Cat, to save everyone. It was Kristen’s shapeshifting ability that got her banished from her home in the first place, but this time, it just might be the thing to save it.
![Book Review: Cascade Failure (Ambit’s Run Book 1) by L.M. Sagas [Audiobook]](https://metaphorsandmoonlight.com/wp-content/uploads/Book-Review-Cascade-Failure-Ambits-Run-Book-1-by-L.M.-Sagas-255x255.jpg)
OMG this is the cutest tag. ? Enemies to lovers with a vampire… in outer space, no less. ?
It was a lot of fun! And I know, right? The most random combination of things, haha.
Lying Cat is clearly the awesomest pet one could wish for, so you did well there. π And at least you got a vampire for a love interest! A shapeshifting bartender? I actually think that’s pretty good. You could work in some notorious dive bar where all the dangerous riff raff hang out…
Nice synopsis too. I feel like shapeshifting would be SO fun… π
You’re right, it did turn out well for me! I’m def ok with a vampire love interest π It was just hard to write a blurb that combined high fantasy and outer space lol. Ha, you’re right, I could totally keep the riff raff under control with my shapeshifting powers if I had to π
I played too much MASH as a kid (and I have used it to plot short stories, etc.). Yours would be an interesting read! I wonder if the horse is like an outer-space alien horse that can handle/move in zero gravity and live with no air, or if you’d end up having to stay on-planet because the horse is an actual earth-horse with actual earth-horse needs. You definitely wouldn’t be living the high life either way, unless the shack was actually a space-shack(TM) with lots of useful things in it. π
~Litha Nelle
Oh that’s smart, I never used it for stories, I just did it about how my life would turn out lol. Yes, I like how you think, totally an outer space horse. I was actually tempted to make it one of those rainbow zebras from the cover of the latest Saga volume lol.
Aaahaha this is a lot of fun. I’ll have to remember to try it out.
It really was fun, you should do it!
You’re really good at writing an enticing blurb! If that’s not your day job, it certainly should be!
Lol you flatter me XD
I actually love this synopsis and would definitely read this book! You made quite a coherent plot out of that bizarre combination.
Thanks! I’m actually kind of proud I managed to cobble together something so coherent lol.
Oh, that is the best synopsis for a story I’ve heard for a long time. You have to write it π
Great Tag
Lol I can’t imagine actually trying to write that bizarre story ? Thanks!
This turned out amazing! I remember playing a version of MASH when I was in elementary school. This brought a lot of really cool memories to the surface. I’ll be looking into doing this on my blog in the near future π
Thanks! I did the best I could with what I had lol. You should definitely do this one, it’s fun!
Ooooh, I love M.A.S.H. and I love this tag! Great post!
Thanks! MASH was always so fun!
Oh, I loved MASH when I was in grade school. I love this so much. And you got Lying Cat! I’d be stoked about that too. π
-Lauren
IT was always so fun! Lying Cat was definitely one of the best answers I could’ve gotten!
I loved this and yes, I remember playing this game too. So fun that you have Lying Cat. However, if you’re a shapeshifter, do you really need a horse?
Thanks, and lol, I love that everyone played this. Lying Cat is the best, right? Well, I mean, maybe it’s easier to ride a horse than to do the running myself? And maybe I want to keep my shapeshifting abilities secret π
I have never heard of MASH. At first I thought you were talking about the tv show lol
But anyway – that’s hilarious and I’d totally love being bff’s with Laurent and have Lying Cat.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
No, not the TV show lol. It’s a fun game though! And right? I love that Laurent in my BFF, haha.
Kristen, this was so brilliant! I love the blurb you included. I want to read this book now. It feels like we have not talked in ages! Sorry for not stopping by sooner. I’m having really bad anxiety and depression these days. I miss your blog! And, your Sims! I need an update on how they’re doing.
Hi!!! I’m sorry you’ve been struggling so much lately π But I am always happy to have a visit from you whenever you’re able π Thank you! It was not easy making a blurb out of that lol. I haven’t played the sims for a while though, so you haven’t missed anything lately.
I vaguely remember playing this in elementary, Kristen, so thanks for the trip down memory lane. π It was fun reading everything you put on your lists – I’m especially curious about Marcus making the list even if he didn’t make the cut – and I loved your synopsis. I’d totally read your book if only to see how Lying Cat is gonna help you and Louis save everyone! π
I love how almost everyone who’s commented has mentioned playing this, it’s like we’re all connected by this common experience XD Giiiiiirl… I am a little bit obsessed with Marcus lol. Just wait until you see my updated review for the last Thieves book. But right? I’m sure it’ll all be fine since I have Lying Cat π
omg this is so complicated but kinda of awesome too!!?? I love that you wrote a blurb! GO WIFE! I absolutely love it! I would totally buy it if you wrote this book! I like this tag as a plot and character generator! totally awesome!
You haven’t played MASH? It’s not as complicated as it sounds, I promise! Lol oh goodness, just writing the blurb was hard enough, so I think I’ll pass on the actual book. This would be good as a plot generator though!
What a fun way of coming up with a story! You wrote such an entertaining blurb! I remember playing this in school too, and there was an extended version where people added more letters to MASH for more housing options (but I have no recollection of what those were)
Thanks! Oh wow, an extended version! I’m really curious now what the extended one entailed lol.
Yeah, I feel like it was really silly but I can’t even remember if it still spelled a word or was just a random collection of letters
I mean, I guess it does really matter if it spells a word? Really you could use the idea of MASH but include whatever types of categories and things you want!
Okay I consulted my sister and it sounds like there was just one extra letter – MASHO so O is outhouse, but that version also added a bunch of different categories. If I’m remembering correctly, I think there was spouse’s career and pets maybe? I know there also a different version people played all about weddings, so ring stone, wedding dress colour, bridesmaids’ dress colour, number of bridesmaids, and then I think venue would’ve been the MASH choice (though I don’t remember if the word was changed)
Wow this is bringing back so many memories!
Outhouse? But why would someone live in an outhouse??? The different versions sound fun. I got bored the other week and made my own version involving paranormal creatures and whatnot lol.
Yeah outhouse is the worst option lol
I would hope so, I can’t imagine much worse lol.
Your blurb actually sounds pretty fun! I never heard of the game MASH before and I didn’t understand much from the description, but from your post I figured you have four options and then somehow you get randomly one of those options. Is the lying cat actually a cat who lies? I haven’t read that series, so i wasn’t sure.
Thanks! It sounds really confusing to explain, but it’s actually really simple to play. You just use whatever random number, e.g. 5, and go down the list, crossing off every fifth answer, and keep going until you have one left in each category. Lying Cat tells you when anyone is lying, some supernatural ability, so he’d be handy π