OC Penpal Meme!
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Despite how neat the advice meme is that’s going around (on puella_nerdii, lindensphinx and mithrigil’s journals thus far, though I’m sure it’s being picked up elsewhere), I can’t quite bring myself to swipe it, mostly because my OCs are pretty rotten at giving advice worth following, and I am even worse.
So instead I am lifting this (as I do many, many awesome things) from latinusername. And because this is going to be populated solely with my Gilded Souls characters, I’d totally recommend popping over to the original post at her journal. That way, if you’re interested, you can get a look at a big chunk of the cast.
But anyway! Meme!
So what is it?
Write to any of my OCs as any of your OCs! Or at least as a character you want practice with. Letters can be as long as you like or as short as you like. My characters will reply! They can have conversations, get to know each other, share things about their lives, ask each other questions, whatever suits their fancy.
Whoa, whoa, slow down, crazy. We never talk! How am I supposed to just throw my OCs into the ring with yours, won’t it be weird and awkward and oh God--
Dude, don’t even worry about it. It doesn’t matter if we’ve never chatted before. I’d love to see what characters you have chilling in your heads, and I bet my characters would too! Don’t be shy! It’ll be a blast! =D
Okay, who can I write to? What might they want to talk about for starters?
Like I said, these are all characters from the original project I am co-authoring with latinusername, Gilded Souls:
Sir Captain Isaac Grey is an out-and-out bastard who, despite looking at the entire world through a singularly Isaac-shaped lens, has a certain nobility all his own, and the kind of iron-clad self confidence a person can only be born with. He has been, at various points throughout his long career: a privateer under the protection of the British Empire, a pirate, and a knight. He still is a knight, actually, but he feels like the “captain” is the important bit. In the years he spent on land, he moved in very classy circles indeed, but it was less a matter of society accepting him than it was of him dragging society kicking and screaming in his direction. He currently resides on his ship, the Magog, and is very pleased with the arrangement, (Though his financier and best friend is less so.) He will talk the ear off of any of your nautically-inclined OCs. You could also try writing to him about self-imposed isolation, distain for people in general, or piratical exploits which are all true.
Selwyn Branch is a fucking terrible human being. Unfortunately, people tend to figure this out far, far too late. This comes in handy in his career as a magician/conman/spy/whatever he feels like today. He’s a lanky, good-looking guy with a friendly handshake and a killer smile, and spends his days traveling across the globe with his young apprentice, stealing, seducing and spying. A Welshman who doesn’t care much about being Welsh, he also happens to be one of the best magicians in the world. You can have a conversation with Selwyn about anything. Seriously, go wild. If something or someone pricks his interest, there is not a better dinner companion in the world. But bear in mind: you will be asking a sociopath to pass the salt.
Eleanore, Princess Royal of the British Empire is sixteen years old, and promises to be one hell of a queen someday, once the current monarch (her father) bites it. She cares very much for her empire, and has a talent for making the mountain of expectations placed on her work for her purposes, instead of against them. However, she would like to make it clear that her purposes do not include rings with poison in them, the seduction of close relatives, or clever assassinations. She is a princess. Not a Roman empress. She actually cares rather a lot for decency, and courage, and tends to approve of the kind of measured underhandedness that encourages people to be decent and courageous. You can expect her to be lively, cultured, and inquisitive in her correspondence, as long as you don’t talk down to her.
And from the secondary cast:
Ilya Volkov is a cartographer who specializes in mapping a stretch of land known as the Edges, a continent-length strip of mountains and forest which separates the colonized east coast of North America from the entropy-saturated dark interior. He’s spent the vast majority of his life alone in the wilderness, charting a landscape which is always changing, always shifting, and always decaying. The prospect of constant human company makes him far more uneasy than being exposed to degenerate magical forces. He thinks he would like to be happy with someone someday, but he’s not holding his breath. Talk to Ilya if you want to hear tales from the Edges.
Helen Asbridge is every magician’s worst nightmare. A talented illusionist in her own right, she works closely with interested parties who don’t care to see their businesses or finances trashed by some wandering conman with a magical resume. She’s pragmatic, a survivor who has a quick eye for bullshit, and is at her best behind the throne. But her regrets run bone-deep.
Wow, that was a lot of words. Okay, can I write to more than one character at once?
Please write to one character at a time, from one character at a time, at least until their conversation is rolling. =D
Okay, let’s get this party started!
I am going to be working a disgustingly long shift at work today, but I will answer any letters that get dropped here when I come home!
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Despite how neat the advice meme is that’s going around (on puella_nerdii, lindensphinx and mithrigil’s journals thus far, though I’m sure it’s being picked up elsewhere), I can’t quite bring myself to swipe it, mostly because my OCs are pretty rotten at giving advice worth following, and I am even worse.
So instead I am lifting this (as I do many, many awesome things) from latinusername. And because this is going to be populated solely with my Gilded Souls characters, I’d totally recommend popping over to the original post at her journal. That way, if you’re interested, you can get a look at a big chunk of the cast.
But anyway! Meme!
So what is it?
Write to any of my OCs as any of your OCs! Or at least as a character you want practice with. Letters can be as long as you like or as short as you like. My characters will reply! They can have conversations, get to know each other, share things about their lives, ask each other questions, whatever suits their fancy.
Whoa, whoa, slow down, crazy. We never talk! How am I supposed to just throw my OCs into the ring with yours, won’t it be weird and awkward and oh God--
Dude, don’t even worry about it. It doesn’t matter if we’ve never chatted before. I’d love to see what characters you have chilling in your heads, and I bet my characters would too! Don’t be shy! It’ll be a blast! =D
Okay, who can I write to? What might they want to talk about for starters?
Like I said, these are all characters from the original project I am co-authoring with latinusername, Gilded Souls:
Sir Captain Isaac Grey is an out-and-out bastard who, despite looking at the entire world through a singularly Isaac-shaped lens, has a certain nobility all his own, and the kind of iron-clad self confidence a person can only be born with. He has been, at various points throughout his long career: a privateer under the protection of the British Empire, a pirate, and a knight. He still is a knight, actually, but he feels like the “captain” is the important bit. In the years he spent on land, he moved in very classy circles indeed, but it was less a matter of society accepting him than it was of him dragging society kicking and screaming in his direction. He currently resides on his ship, the Magog, and is very pleased with the arrangement, (Though his financier and best friend is less so.) He will talk the ear off of any of your nautically-inclined OCs. You could also try writing to him about self-imposed isolation, distain for people in general, or piratical exploits which are all true.
Selwyn Branch is a fucking terrible human being. Unfortunately, people tend to figure this out far, far too late. This comes in handy in his career as a magician/conman/spy/whatever he feels like today. He’s a lanky, good-looking guy with a friendly handshake and a killer smile, and spends his days traveling across the globe with his young apprentice, stealing, seducing and spying. A Welshman who doesn’t care much about being Welsh, he also happens to be one of the best magicians in the world. You can have a conversation with Selwyn about anything. Seriously, go wild. If something or someone pricks his interest, there is not a better dinner companion in the world. But bear in mind: you will be asking a sociopath to pass the salt.
Eleanore, Princess Royal of the British Empire is sixteen years old, and promises to be one hell of a queen someday, once the current monarch (her father) bites it. She cares very much for her empire, and has a talent for making the mountain of expectations placed on her work for her purposes, instead of against them. However, she would like to make it clear that her purposes do not include rings with poison in them, the seduction of close relatives, or clever assassinations. She is a princess. Not a Roman empress. She actually cares rather a lot for decency, and courage, and tends to approve of the kind of measured underhandedness that encourages people to be decent and courageous. You can expect her to be lively, cultured, and inquisitive in her correspondence, as long as you don’t talk down to her.
And from the secondary cast:
Ilya Volkov is a cartographer who specializes in mapping a stretch of land known as the Edges, a continent-length strip of mountains and forest which separates the colonized east coast of North America from the entropy-saturated dark interior. He’s spent the vast majority of his life alone in the wilderness, charting a landscape which is always changing, always shifting, and always decaying. The prospect of constant human company makes him far more uneasy than being exposed to degenerate magical forces. He thinks he would like to be happy with someone someday, but he’s not holding his breath. Talk to Ilya if you want to hear tales from the Edges.
Helen Asbridge is every magician’s worst nightmare. A talented illusionist in her own right, she works closely with interested parties who don’t care to see their businesses or finances trashed by some wandering conman with a magical resume. She’s pragmatic, a survivor who has a quick eye for bullshit, and is at her best behind the throne. But her regrets run bone-deep.
Wow, that was a lot of words. Okay, can I write to more than one character at once?
Please write to one character at a time, from one character at a time, at least until their conversation is rolling. =D
Okay, let’s get this party started!
I am going to be working a disgustingly long shift at work today, but I will answer any letters that get dropped here when I come home!
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