Motivation
This may end up horrendously long. Such is your fate for toying with that which man was not meant to know - shit in my journal.
There's a character bio meme popping around that I've seen on a few blogs and I figured since I'm trying to ramp up my writery flow (of which I am told everybody wants to know where I procure such funky, funky variety thereof), I figured it would probably be worth it to jump in. The rules are as follows -
1. Choose a few of your own characters.
2. Make them answer the following questions.
3. Feel free to go ahead and add some questions yourself!!
4. Then tag three people.
I'm not tagging anyone, first off. My blatant disregard for social norms may set some of you into a fearful state, but I am a proud animal that will not be contained by the whims of your "blogs". I'm gonna go with three characters - the three that come close to embodying the sorts of archetypes I enjoy reading and writing about. To give a little background on each that may not get covered in this survey, we have -
Amadan MacLir - The bard. I've had a fondness for bardic characters forever, and Amadan is pretty typical among them: he's funny, confident mostly in the sense that he doesn't really care about consequences, decently well learned on a variety of topics, charismatic, enjoys traveling, and is just generally good no matter where he ends up. Amadan has a royal heritage that he doesn't neccessarily hide or eschew, he just tries to pretend it's not there if he can get away with it. Lies of omission are, naturally, his favorite sort.
Magog - I made Magog for a Neverwinter Nights game forever-and-a-fucking-day ago. He started off as something of a joke but I, in a fit of geekery that will surprise pretty much none of you, secretly started developing him in my head. He is a tiefling (mostly-mortal with demonic heritage in his bloodline) that upon learning of his dark heritage decided to do the only thing that came naturally to him: not fight his impulses. He murdered his mortal family and eventually succeeded in winning the attention of his demonic ancestors. He spent a few decades as his grandfather's herald and warmaster until in a fit of adolescent anger vanished and joined a saintly order of Paladins. He never outgrew this "rebellious phase" and his grandfather is not yet sure he's worth destroying rather than waiting for him to come back. All of his comrades-at-arms know exactly what he is, as Magog is a terrible liar. He's the middle ages demon version of a frat boy.
Saucedo Orduno - A character I dug up for Star Wars Galaxies, Saucedo was actually an old holdover from an old, old old Rifts game. His background played out really well in the Star Wars universe: He was the respectable eldest son of a long dynasty of leaders and tradesmen in a relatively isolated pocket of the universe. Saucedo never really wanted to take over his family like he knew he'd have to one day, so he eventually made a choice to put his past away and make his own future. In SWG, this played out as him changing his name and making a living as a Rebel on the remote moon planet of Rori. Eventually, he was found by his brother, Esteban, who had always wanted to be the heir but upon getting his wish he found he was terrible at leading. Esteban betrayed his brother to the Empire, who in turn attempted to double cross Esteban. Saucedo got them both to safety and eventually became a cell leader of a group of Rebels. He's never come to terms with the way things worked out, and while he knows he's doing good it usually feels like he's trapped time and again by fate instead of being allowed to make his own way.
Aaaand, on to the questions. I figured they're supposed to be answered by the characters talking to a relative stranger instead of being answered with full and insightful honesty.
Who are you?
Amadan - I'm called quite a few things, actually. You can call me Amadan, the Lyre, Dan O' the Ruin, Amadan Tenfaces, or the Tide of Madness. The kindly folk graced me with a few of those more dramatic sounding names, you see, and it's kind of rude not to mention them. What do you mean I should have a "real" last name? That's a bit nosy isn't it.
Magog - I'm Magog, Brazen Fist of Heaven. I'm a little shocked you had to ask, y'know?
Saucedo - I'm an armorsmith. Were you here to buy something?
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Amadan - Oh, sure. By last count, I had me two older brothers, an older sister, and the youngest brother. It's been a bit since I've been home though, so I guess there might be more.
Magog - The Order of the Sword are my brothers and sisters. My blood ties are all dead or... unclaimed. That's to say I have living relatives but I don't like them. You get what I mean, right? I disowned my family. I don't like them very much, so I don't say they're mine. So you understand what I'm saying about them. My family that I don't claim.
Saucedo - No.
How old are you?
Amadan - Nineteen last winter. I guess, anyway. See, I spent a couple seasons in the Court of the Goodly Folke, and you know how time gets there. So I might be two hundred by some counts, or I may have gone and aged all backwards and I'm a wee baby now.
Magog - Two hundred and seventy five. I'm not really looking forward to the 300s, they say it's when you're supposed to mellow.
Saucedo - Twenty seven. Why?
What's your height?
Amadan - I'm uh... oh you know. *stands up* About this tall. Weirdly, I'm actually taller than the Prince of Cormagh, who is said to take an instant dislike to those who stand taller than him. He makes everyone stoop in his presence, and all of his royal court has screwed up backs and the like. Wasn't fun gettin chased out of Cormagh last year, but I know a few women who appreciated a lad with a strong spine comin their way, if you get me.
Magog - I usually stand about six foot tall. It makes things easier on the armormasters here in the Order. I had a suit enchanted by my grandfa-... uh. I had an old suit of armor that could grow with me when I wanted to stand at my natural twenty foot height, but I had to ... get rid of it. *frowns*
Saucedo - I'm five feet, eleven inches, which makes me relatively average height and practically a perfect testing model for most of my wares.
Are you a virgin?
Amadan - Am .. Am I ... what? HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahah... ahem.... *cough*. Oh, that's a good one.
Magog - Technically no, but part of my vows has forbidden me from touching a women since I joined the order more than a century ago. I think I can say yes given that I've gone longer than most of your kind will live.
Saucedo - *silent stare*
Who's your mate/spouse?
Amadan - Marriage? Oh, I'm afraid I'm the wrong one for that.
Magog - You must have missed the part where I can't touch a woman.
Saucedo - I was actually arranged to be wed, once. But sometimes we have to make.. I mean... Choices. We had to go our different paths and called it off.
Do you have any kids?
Amadan - I uh... who sent you?
Magog - CAN. NOT. TOUCH. A. WO. MAN. Blazing gods of light are you deaf or simple?
Saucedo - Maybe someday, you know. With this Rebellion and all I don't think it's safe to raise a child.
Have you killed anyone?
Amadan - I wander too much and shoot my mouth off too often not to have made a few people mad at me. I don't think we need to get into the details.
Magog - I don't kill. I avenge. I redeem. I act as a glorious force of retribution. Saying "kill" just makes it sound so common and cheap. The lives I end are not just killed, they're sent screaming to the dark pit by the hand of reckoning that is my wrath. Damnit, now I'm all worked up.
Saucedo - Life on Rori isn't simple, I'm afraid.
Do you hate anyone?
Amadan - Hate? Nah, I usually don't care about someone enough to hate 'em. People tend to get a bit of my temper now and again, but I usually forget about them once they're far enough behind me.
Magog - I used to hate all sorts of people. The Order taught me that hate is a waste of a real warrior's power and that mercy is a much stronger force. Or something. All I really know is that I kind of feel sorry for the people I have to go after. They're weak, backwards, and overrun by their own evil. Oh, and they're about to get mangled pretty badly, too.
Saucedo - My family has a saying: 'no one can hate you like your brother'. Odd really.
Have any secrets?
Amadan - Don't we all?
Magog - I'm no good with secrets. I always forget who can't know and who doesn't know and who should know and why it's a secret anyway. People don't tell me nothin' anymore, and I'm pretty damn happy about that.
Saucedo - Don't we all?
Do you love anyone?
Amadan - Anyone? Yeah, that sounds about right.
Magog - It sounds a little weird if you're not in.. but I love my brothers and sisters in the Order. I would die for them. I would wade through demonic hordes in a blazing town that was about to be swallowed whole into the Abyss for them. Hell, I think I did that once...
Saucedo - I've learned, at some cost, that it's best for me to only love my work.
What is your job?
Amadan - Oh I dunno. What's paying today?
Magog - I don't have a job. I have a reason. I have a driving force.
Saucedo - I make armor here on Rori. I think I make a difference, in my small way, to help people protect themselves.
Boy or girl?
Amadan - Boy. Well, except there was this one time I lost a bet with the Queen of Winter. Let me just tell you now, don't play drinking games with the otherworldly, you know?
Magog - Male.
Saucedo - Are you ok?
What do you do to relax?
Amadan - Huh... I uh... Hell, I dunno. I'm not exactly the most wound up sort.
Magog - Sister Greta is teaching me to paint. She says I have alot of potential, even after I break the painbrushes. It's relaxing. Really. Yeah.
Saucedo - I find if I'm getting too stressed that I can just lock myself up in my shop and try to forget everything I know about my craft, then create something as if every possibility is real.
There's a person teasing you. What do you do?
Amadan - Oh, they're in for a world of shame.
Magog - Ignore them.
Saucedo - Ask them why.
Let’s say you have a person who you really care about but she/he doesn’t know about your feelings. How do you tell her/him?
Amadan - You don't just tell them. Good god, there's an art here. Okay, first...
Magog - If you keep coming back to this topic, I'm going to make sure your innards get some sun.
Saucedo - I guess being forward is best. Not too many chances in this life.
Do you like your maker?
Amadan - You mean like the universal force of creation that put us all here? Sure, I guess. He seems like a nice enough sort. After all, he gifted me with endless charm and good looks.
Magog - I don't know how to answer that. I miss my mortal parents, by the others... no. I can say I don't like them much at all.
Saucedo - I like to think I'm a self made man. I would like to, anyway...
There's a character bio meme popping around that I've seen on a few blogs and I figured since I'm trying to ramp up my writery flow (of which I am told everybody wants to know where I procure such funky, funky variety thereof), I figured it would probably be worth it to jump in. The rules are as follows -
1. Choose a few of your own characters.
2. Make them answer the following questions.
3. Feel free to go ahead and add some questions yourself!!
4. Then tag three people.
I'm not tagging anyone, first off. My blatant disregard for social norms may set some of you into a fearful state, but I am a proud animal that will not be contained by the whims of your "blogs". I'm gonna go with three characters - the three that come close to embodying the sorts of archetypes I enjoy reading and writing about. To give a little background on each that may not get covered in this survey, we have -
Amadan MacLir - The bard. I've had a fondness for bardic characters forever, and Amadan is pretty typical among them: he's funny, confident mostly in the sense that he doesn't really care about consequences, decently well learned on a variety of topics, charismatic, enjoys traveling, and is just generally good no matter where he ends up. Amadan has a royal heritage that he doesn't neccessarily hide or eschew, he just tries to pretend it's not there if he can get away with it. Lies of omission are, naturally, his favorite sort.
Magog - I made Magog for a Neverwinter Nights game forever-and-a-fucking-day ago. He started off as something of a joke but I, in a fit of geekery that will surprise pretty much none of you, secretly started developing him in my head. He is a tiefling (mostly-mortal with demonic heritage in his bloodline) that upon learning of his dark heritage decided to do the only thing that came naturally to him: not fight his impulses. He murdered his mortal family and eventually succeeded in winning the attention of his demonic ancestors. He spent a few decades as his grandfather's herald and warmaster until in a fit of adolescent anger vanished and joined a saintly order of Paladins. He never outgrew this "rebellious phase" and his grandfather is not yet sure he's worth destroying rather than waiting for him to come back. All of his comrades-at-arms know exactly what he is, as Magog is a terrible liar. He's the middle ages demon version of a frat boy.
Saucedo Orduno - A character I dug up for Star Wars Galaxies, Saucedo was actually an old holdover from an old, old old Rifts game. His background played out really well in the Star Wars universe: He was the respectable eldest son of a long dynasty of leaders and tradesmen in a relatively isolated pocket of the universe. Saucedo never really wanted to take over his family like he knew he'd have to one day, so he eventually made a choice to put his past away and make his own future. In SWG, this played out as him changing his name and making a living as a Rebel on the remote moon planet of Rori. Eventually, he was found by his brother, Esteban, who had always wanted to be the heir but upon getting his wish he found he was terrible at leading. Esteban betrayed his brother to the Empire, who in turn attempted to double cross Esteban. Saucedo got them both to safety and eventually became a cell leader of a group of Rebels. He's never come to terms with the way things worked out, and while he knows he's doing good it usually feels like he's trapped time and again by fate instead of being allowed to make his own way.
Aaaand, on to the questions. I figured they're supposed to be answered by the characters talking to a relative stranger instead of being answered with full and insightful honesty.
Who are you?
Amadan - I'm called quite a few things, actually. You can call me Amadan, the Lyre, Dan O' the Ruin, Amadan Tenfaces, or the Tide of Madness. The kindly folk graced me with a few of those more dramatic sounding names, you see, and it's kind of rude not to mention them. What do you mean I should have a "real" last name? That's a bit nosy isn't it.
Magog - I'm Magog, Brazen Fist of Heaven. I'm a little shocked you had to ask, y'know?
Saucedo - I'm an armorsmith. Were you here to buy something?
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Amadan - Oh, sure. By last count, I had me two older brothers, an older sister, and the youngest brother. It's been a bit since I've been home though, so I guess there might be more.
Magog - The Order of the Sword are my brothers and sisters. My blood ties are all dead or... unclaimed. That's to say I have living relatives but I don't like them. You get what I mean, right? I disowned my family. I don't like them very much, so I don't say they're mine. So you understand what I'm saying about them. My family that I don't claim.
Saucedo - No.
How old are you?
Amadan - Nineteen last winter. I guess, anyway. See, I spent a couple seasons in the Court of the Goodly Folke, and you know how time gets there. So I might be two hundred by some counts, or I may have gone and aged all backwards and I'm a wee baby now.
Magog - Two hundred and seventy five. I'm not really looking forward to the 300s, they say it's when you're supposed to mellow.
Saucedo - Twenty seven. Why?
What's your height?
Amadan - I'm uh... oh you know. *stands up* About this tall. Weirdly, I'm actually taller than the Prince of Cormagh, who is said to take an instant dislike to those who stand taller than him. He makes everyone stoop in his presence, and all of his royal court has screwed up backs and the like. Wasn't fun gettin chased out of Cormagh last year, but I know a few women who appreciated a lad with a strong spine comin their way, if you get me.
Magog - I usually stand about six foot tall. It makes things easier on the armormasters here in the Order. I had a suit enchanted by my grandfa-... uh. I had an old suit of armor that could grow with me when I wanted to stand at my natural twenty foot height, but I had to ... get rid of it. *frowns*
Saucedo - I'm five feet, eleven inches, which makes me relatively average height and practically a perfect testing model for most of my wares.
Are you a virgin?
Amadan - Am .. Am I ... what? HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahah... ahem.... *cough*. Oh, that's a good one.
Magog - Technically no, but part of my vows has forbidden me from touching a women since I joined the order more than a century ago. I think I can say yes given that I've gone longer than most of your kind will live.
Saucedo - *silent stare*
Who's your mate/spouse?
Amadan - Marriage? Oh, I'm afraid I'm the wrong one for that.
Magog - You must have missed the part where I can't touch a woman.
Saucedo - I was actually arranged to be wed, once. But sometimes we have to make.. I mean... Choices. We had to go our different paths and called it off.
Do you have any kids?
Amadan - I uh... who sent you?
Magog - CAN. NOT. TOUCH. A. WO. MAN. Blazing gods of light are you deaf or simple?
Saucedo - Maybe someday, you know. With this Rebellion and all I don't think it's safe to raise a child.
Have you killed anyone?
Amadan - I wander too much and shoot my mouth off too often not to have made a few people mad at me. I don't think we need to get into the details.
Magog - I don't kill. I avenge. I redeem. I act as a glorious force of retribution. Saying "kill" just makes it sound so common and cheap. The lives I end are not just killed, they're sent screaming to the dark pit by the hand of reckoning that is my wrath. Damnit, now I'm all worked up.
Saucedo - Life on Rori isn't simple, I'm afraid.
Do you hate anyone?
Amadan - Hate? Nah, I usually don't care about someone enough to hate 'em. People tend to get a bit of my temper now and again, but I usually forget about them once they're far enough behind me.
Magog - I used to hate all sorts of people. The Order taught me that hate is a waste of a real warrior's power and that mercy is a much stronger force. Or something. All I really know is that I kind of feel sorry for the people I have to go after. They're weak, backwards, and overrun by their own evil. Oh, and they're about to get mangled pretty badly, too.
Saucedo - My family has a saying: 'no one can hate you like your brother'. Odd really.
Have any secrets?
Amadan - Don't we all?
Magog - I'm no good with secrets. I always forget who can't know and who doesn't know and who should know and why it's a secret anyway. People don't tell me nothin' anymore, and I'm pretty damn happy about that.
Saucedo - Don't we all?
Do you love anyone?
Amadan - Anyone? Yeah, that sounds about right.
Magog - It sounds a little weird if you're not in.. but I love my brothers and sisters in the Order. I would die for them. I would wade through demonic hordes in a blazing town that was about to be swallowed whole into the Abyss for them. Hell, I think I did that once...
Saucedo - I've learned, at some cost, that it's best for me to only love my work.
What is your job?
Amadan - Oh I dunno. What's paying today?
Magog - I don't have a job. I have a reason. I have a driving force.
Saucedo - I make armor here on Rori. I think I make a difference, in my small way, to help people protect themselves.
Boy or girl?
Amadan - Boy. Well, except there was this one time I lost a bet with the Queen of Winter. Let me just tell you now, don't play drinking games with the otherworldly, you know?
Magog - Male.
Saucedo - Are you ok?
What do you do to relax?
Amadan - Huh... I uh... Hell, I dunno. I'm not exactly the most wound up sort.
Magog - Sister Greta is teaching me to paint. She says I have alot of potential, even after I break the painbrushes. It's relaxing. Really. Yeah.
Saucedo - I find if I'm getting too stressed that I can just lock myself up in my shop and try to forget everything I know about my craft, then create something as if every possibility is real.
There's a person teasing you. What do you do?
Amadan - Oh, they're in for a world of shame.
Magog - Ignore them.
Saucedo - Ask them why.
Let’s say you have a person who you really care about but she/he doesn’t know about your feelings. How do you tell her/him?
Amadan - You don't just tell them. Good god, there's an art here. Okay, first...
Magog - If you keep coming back to this topic, I'm going to make sure your innards get some sun.
Saucedo - I guess being forward is best. Not too many chances in this life.
Do you like your maker?
Amadan - You mean like the universal force of creation that put us all here? Sure, I guess. He seems like a nice enough sort. After all, he gifted me with endless charm and good looks.
Magog - I don't know how to answer that. I miss my mortal parents, by the others... no. I can say I don't like them much at all.
Saucedo - I like to think I'm a self made man. I would like to, anyway...