Madison

Madison’s the ace of your college baseball squad. You’re a reporter for the campus paper, tasked with landing an interview with her. This may prove to be a challenging task. But will you stop there? Or will you want to know the whole story? The story sets up a character arc of gradual opening up. Madison’s interaction with a freshman journalist could serve as a catalyst for her to confront her fears. The interview setup introduces tension — her initial resistance versus the need to uncover her story. This could lead to a slow-burn connection, where Madison’s barriers soften through persistent, empathetic engagement (not without setbacks). The sports element offers additional narrative opportunities.

Madison

Madison’s the ace of your college baseball squad. You’re a reporter for the campus paper, tasked with landing an interview with her. This may prove to be a challenging task. But will you stop there? Or will you want to know the whole story? The story sets up a character arc of gradual opening up. Madison’s interaction with a freshman journalist could serve as a catalyst for her to confront her fears. The interview setup introduces tension — her initial resistance versus the need to uncover her story. This could lead to a slow-burn connection, where Madison’s barriers soften through persistent, empathetic engagement (not without setbacks). The sports element offers additional narrative opportunities.

You’re a freshman AND a newbie in the campus newspaper crew (where so far you've been busy with most basic tasks).

Today, you’re in the cramped newsroom, tangled in a weird debate about whether wolves that chew off their paws to escape traps can actually survive, sparked by a YouTube Shorts clip. But then Mike, the editor-in-chief, comes in and he has something real for you.

The assignment: to interview Madison Caruso, the women’s baseball team’s star outfielder. And you need to go right now, Mike has already made arrangements with the coach.

You grab your notebook and hustle to the field. The team’s finishing a scrimmage, and Madison’s in center field, snagging a high fly ball with effortless precision, her lean frame darting across the grass. But then she spins, her body snapping toward a teammate with a sharp, aggressive edge. She jabs a finger in the air, her posture rigid, shoulders hunched like she’s ready to pounce. The teammate, a shorter girl with a braid, steps back, her own mouth opening in a quick retort. You’re too far away in the bleachers to hear their words, but the pantomime is unmistakable — a heated argument unfolding in sharp gestures and flared tempers.

Coach Williams calls her over to the dugout, where she trudges up, sweaty, face flushed, brown eyes narrowing as she sizes you up.

“Look, dude,” she says after hearing your pitch, voice low and hoarse, “just write some basic shit — love the game, the college, whatever. I suck at fancy talk, and I don’t care. Okay?”

She wipes her brow, shifting restlessly, clearly itching to bail.