[Montaine's Scrapbook] The Cellar Door

[Montaine]

Just a quick one to say that I apologise for being absent today, and it's likely I'll be missing again tomorrow until the evening. Admittedly, evening here is day for most of you, so you probably won't notice, just thought I'd warn you, specifically Eru and Tock, my current thread partners. I have an exam for which I am woefully apathetic. Three hours for three essays on Victorian literature. Hot diggedy damn.

Also, my next proper post here will, given Eche's response, be on romance. So, yeah. That's going to be deeply depressing for you all, I'm sure.

Back to the slog.

Oh, and a quick congratulations should Eche happen to read this, for getting featured. Deserving, and completes the trio of triumph for the Zeltivan storytellers. Well done!

[Montaine]

The Other Mister Monty First, a quick thanks to Paragon for grading Dice at the Docks. Now, I was going to discuss things of a romantic persuasion in this post which is something I generally hold back on unless I'm drunk or in the company of one particular female friend who has the uncanny ability to get me talking on the subject. Frequently these two things are combined. I have been perennially single for just shy of twenty years now and in all that time I haven't even been kissed. Now before you all start making patronising 'aww' sounds on the other side of your screens, I don't really mind. There's a certain stage when you stop caring about it, when it's more important that it's right, than that it happens early. But my lack of romantic experience is not what I was going to talk about here. I am, despite some appearances to the contrary, a hopeless romantic. I admit this. I am, among other things, also a coldly rational, completely sceptical, sarcastically cynical man with an inner child pushing on fifty, but despite all this I have the romantic ideals of a twelve year old girl. And I think I know why. See, there are two loves in my life, two things that bring me joy and govern most of my free time. I'll probably save the second for another post, but the first and foremost is this: stories. I will avidly take in anything with a good plot, books, television, film, theatre, video games. I'm one of those weird gamers to whom the plot of the game is paramount and the actual gameplay itself is incidental. All glory to Bioware. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I'll certainly talk about video games at greater length sometime. The point is, I like stories. To the extent that I'm studying English Literature and want, one day, to be an author myself. The worlds of these plots always seemed infinitely more interesting, more exciting than the real world and to me writing them was as close as one could get to being a part of them. And while for the most part I accept that the worlds of fiction and reality are vastly different, my lack of experience in real world love combined with my insatiable desire for stories has left me with little concept of romance in reality. The rational part of my mind tells me that if I want to find someone I have to go out and look, but my inner romantic insists that the dramatic, passionate, whirlwind romance that so frequently emerged in the stories I voraciously consumed throughout my life will eventually fall into my lap. I know this is stupid. Perhaps if I believed in fate, or divine intervention I might have more hope for this ridiculous romantic ideal. That's not to say I have given up, someday I will meet the other Mister Monty, but if I am unwilling to go out and search it just might take a while longer. People have suggested clubs, but the recluse in me, and to be honest the recluse that is me, vetoed that idea, and online dating seems to lack the romance I desire. So, I'm willing to wait, and maybe someday, if I'm really lucky, a stunning blonde musician with a thing for scrawny, pasty nerds will swoop into my life and give me that first kiss. Okay, this is getting too soppy now, so I'll change the subject slightly. I still haven't fully decided on whether or not Monty is into guys or girls yet. I made him at the beginning with the assumption of guys but it seems to me that Mizahar is already weighted a little heavily in that respect. Do I alter him simply for this reason? It's not too late and my head says I probably should, to give the world a more balanced feel. The story comes first, after all. But then again, that wasn't my original plan. Any thoughts? Word of the day: quiddity, the essence of something's somethingness, it is what makes a table a table and a chair a chair. It is a wall's inherent wallness. -Monty

[Pash'nar]

If it weren't for the stupid singular dimension of the internet, I would pinch you. You make it sound as if there are people out there who don't have an inner 12-year-old girl. That makes me sad.

[Echelon]

Ah yes, love... interesting, very interesting. In general I'd advise against the aproach of waiting for the universe to do your work for you, being a supporter of the whole give and take equality of the universe. Buuut, who knows?

As for quiddity. Quiddity. omg... i don't have spell check on this computer?!... not good

I find Monty's sexual identity as highly irrelivent to his character. Lets remember he has bigger issues I'd just let him judge people individually. I find in most cases, after all your planning and symbology and common sense, a character will tell you what they like and don't. Trente: I made him "bi" but for the longest time he only seemed to like girls... i was like hrm i failded. But, recenty i did finally find another guy he likes. I was kinda proud. He just likes a certain "type" I guess.

This advice aside, Oluse: Staight, Solicah: Gay, Trente: Bi. Maybe there is something to this whole balance thing? Now lets talk about balance. You would make him straight to maintain "balance?" Is that what I read. I still think the majority of "exclusive" sexual identities in Mizahar is hetro. Ok maybe Metro. In any case, gay would still be the minority.

I can't beieve Paragon snagged my thread to grade. I'm not grading this month very much at all, focusing more on my characters, so prolly more of that coming. Damn.

Solicah is a hopeless romantic too... So I shall jsut iamgine you as him now.

[Montaine]

Well Pash, I would argue that I am the least likely person in the world to have an inner twelve year old girl, so you might just be right when you say we all do. I'll pinch myself on your behalf.

And I bow to your eternal, ineffable wisdom Eche and shall continue Monty as originally planned. I have two other threads in the grade list, one shorter and one longer, so chances are you'll be a-grading at least one soon enough. Plus, quiddity is a great word, surpassed perhaps only by quidditical, it's adjectival form, which is used to describe something possessing it's own quiddity, i.e. everything.

The next post won't be particularly personal, but will be with regard to something I love dearly: video games. Of little interest to some, of no interest to others.

[Gossamer]

That you are questioning your pcs sexuality and thinking of choosing based on balances tells me you need to spend more time letting your pc into your head so he can choose for himself rather than fitting him into a role.

[Montaine]

You're right. When I first read your post I wasn't sure, but after giving it some thought I think I agree. I also think I know where I've been going wrong, I've been thinking about this writing in the same way as I think when I write an extract for a novel or a short story, a solo narrative as opposed to collaborative writing. In these scenarios world creation is a major aspect, but in roleplay you govern the creation and growth of a single character.

When I think about the sort of writing I have done in the past, when I think about the sort of writing I want to do in the future it is the sort of writing where the effect of the character on the world as a whole is paramount to the activity, though even there my concentration on whether or not everything makes absolute sense detriments the story, I'm sure.

In this case, in the case of collaborative roleplay I need to accept the freedom permitted by not being responsible for the world at large and instead use that world to follow a single element, a single character. I need to stop trying so hard to control what happens, because that is solo story telling.

You learn new things every day, I suppose.

[Seven Xu]

Don't think too hard about PC development. It happens the way it happens. I'm not about to go off on any tangents about sexuality and choice because, a) being that he's fictitious I suppose there is an element of author choice in there, and b) no one wants me to stand on a soapbox. I say bollocks to the rest of the demographic and write Montaine the way Montaine should be written.

You may end up surprising yourself.

[Echelon]

The lesson of this story is that most people worth writing about are gay. Duh~

I jest.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

I usually don't start a character off with any pre-determined sexual identity. Most of my characters start off quite inexperienced (and Tock is no exception, though in her case it's mostly because she's too focused on her Golems to think about dating... aaaaaaand that's all I'm gonna say about that). I also don't start a character off with the intent of them getting involved in romance or not. I've known some people who make a pair of characters to play together as a couple. I don't like that, because I prefer to let a relationship develop naturally. For that same reason, I don't "plot" romances. I've had times in the past that someone sent me a message or IM'd me to say "Hey, I think our characters would make a good couple, we should do that!" I won't do that, cause I don't want to "force" a relationship to develop. I prefer to let the threads play out as they will, and see who my character likes or doesn't like. Sometimes this leads to hetero, sometimes gay or bi characters. I've had characters that started off "unsure" and ended up swinging one way or another not because they developed a preference for that gender, but because they developed an interest in an individual. Same way with Tock right now. In theory she might swing either way. It has very little to do with generic sexual preference, and everything to do with which characters she might develop an interest in, or who might express an interest in her (if anyone ever gets past her eccentricities, lol). So, my suggestion for Monty, be it boys, girls, humans, kelvics, pycons (imagine the flexibility!), or whatever, is just let it play out and see what feels natural. You might just surprise yourself, and I know I LOVE it when stuff happens with my characters that I never expected.