Blogs

What's the appeal of pirate women?

What can they do what pirate men can't? I honestly can't understand their appeal (and I have 2 pirate men). I am honestly exasperated. Pirate women existed, indeed. But they were damn rare, and not exactly in command position. Yes, you'll say Grace O'Malley, Sayida Al Hurra and Ching Shih But even they were more pirate ship owners than captains, and they had captains to actually command the ship. Pirate men were plenty. Some ships allowed no women aboard, others had 2-3 w

August 27, 2014

Frustrating missed opportunities

Those who are character-focused, say that the character is making the story; those who are story-focused, like me, say that the story can't go on without certain characters. And both of us are right in our way. The problem of missed opportunities has troubled me for a long time too. There are people who post only once in a blue moon, or who have problems and have to take time out. It happens. But their characters need no time out, by contrary. A story can't wait for those

August 27, 2014

Writing - related musings

I think my frustration with missed opportunities, to which my brain returns and returns, is based on the fact that people do write for different reasons. There are people like me, who write because they have a story to tell. The story is there, in their brain, it is turning its wheels and writing itself, bits and pieces, while waiting in the station or riding a bus/ subway to or from work, or in bed before going to sleep. Bits and pieces scribbled on a paper while in a boring meeting or wai

August 27, 2014

Writing alone

I have been writing since I learnt to write. I remember being praised and having my compositions and poems featured on the wall gazette in second-third grade, and when I was about 13 I discovered at a general cleaning a notebook where I wrote a story in the first grade, about a witch who flew over a man and turned him into a rabbit. Two or three consistent paragraphs were a lot for a 7 years old... I started writing longer stories since 12. My first one, 2 notebooks long, was a Western one..

August 20, 2014

I believe in negotiation

I think that in writing a story together with other people, negotiation and compromise are the key words. (Some see compromise as something bad, they give it a negative meaning. No, I don't mean that kind of compromise, but giving and taking mutually, and meeting the others half-way. And some people are really willing to do this, and I am thankful to them.) Why do I say negotiation? Because the objectives of each character must be met. Not only mine and not only yours. And this is wh

August 20, 2014

How strange am I for not losing interest?

Yes, this had been making me wonder for a while. It might be RP-related, but not only, because it applies to all realms of my life. There are so many people who are enthusiastic for a few moments, then they are losing interest in whatever they liked before and find something else shinier. Am I the strange one that I add new interests to the existing ones, instead of replacing them? (And also, in another context, am I the strange one for always sticking to my promise, even if it hinders

August 20, 2014

Rebellious inspiration

If I believed in Muse, like many people do and I don't, I would say that I have a rebellious, non-conformist muse now. Or, well, for the sake of this blog, I might still toy with this idea and imagine a mist-bodied muse enveloping me and luring me to adventures which are or not good for me... but they are definitely good for the story! Actually, I have never believed in anything else than creativity and writing skills - which sometimes are drained when the mind is preoccupied with something

August 18, 2014

A historical approach on childbirth and pregnancy

Somebody said, in a post on another site, about realistic pregnancy in historical context: "It would be pretty realistic for a pregnancy to end in a miscarriage, or for the child to die at birth or be stillborn - health care back in the early nineteenth century was pretty rudimentary, after all. To get pregnant and give birth carried HUGE risks for the woman and if the child was born safely, odds were good that it wouldn't live past the age of five..." While I do agree with her, this realis

August 18, 2014

A world crushing blast

There was once upon a time a site... which had been on life support for more than one year. There had been three writers left, then us two, and a post at more than one month wasn't enough. There had to be an end to the site sometime. I hoped my partner would do the last post, but ultimately I had to do it. And I just did it. The town the story was happening in went off in a blast. If there were any survivors by miracle, their story is not told. It's a follow up for anyone or no one to write

August 18, 2014

Relationships

I think in a RPG, like in any story worth telling, the characters have friends, enemies, siblings, sometimes parents or children, workmates, sometimes a love interest/ fiancee/ spouse. And all these do flesh out the characters, allowing the reader to see different aspects of their personalities. Even the one who saves the world (depending on setting), can't do it alone, he still needs friends and workmates in order to accomplish it. (And enemies to attempt to hinder his endeavour). But

August 18, 2014

Looking for identity - half, or partly?

LOOKING FOR IDENTITY: HALF, OR PARTLY? How often have you heard or said "I'm half, or part Jewish"? You surely have heard it at least, and the wisdom of some Native American elders has something to teach you in this respect. A very touching example, which can be applied successfully to us as well, was told by a physician from Oregon, Les Tate, who discovered as an adult that he was Indian. This is his story, from which each of us has something to learn:

August 18, 2014

Don't tell Alice.

Warning: This is a VERY LONG One-Shot. This is the head-canon for my character and his backstory up to his present situation. ( Special thanks to @Morrigan and she knows why ) Born to a well-to-do family in suburban France, Henri was bounced between family estates a lot as a child. He wouldn't remember the reason; that his parents were not having a good time of their relationship. He wouldn't remember the fighting, or the screaming. Instead, Henri would remember the sheep and the go

July 25, 2014

A Christmas story.

(Chance is 15, Chase is 5) Snow had started falling about ten hours ago. Now there was several feet of it. "CHRISTMAS!" Chase had given a war-cry and landed heavily upon his older brother's chest, first thing in the morning. The teenager grunted, got his arms around the little boy and rolled with him off the bed in such a way to land flat on his back, which made the little boy laugh with a great amount of glee. Chance tried to hide under his bed, and Chase just giggled, clinging t

July 25, 2014

The Witch

It was more than just a place to sleep. A barn was a warm place; heat radiated off the bodies of animals sometimes in rolls of steam, especially in the winter. Winter here in this barren seeming land was harsh. If you did not find a place to sleep you would freeze within hours of the sun fall. Piper curled up against Daniel. The boy kept his little sister close, wordlessly, as they hid in the straw amongst a forest of legs with hooves. Tails hung from backsides like branches from a willow t

July 25, 2014

(Mature) Not your standard murderer.

WARNING: Mature content. 18+ Lucy frowned as she fixed her curls in the mirror of her little post-war industrial apartment. The blonde curls were perfect and pristine. She made sure her red lipgloss was too. To continue reading, click the spoiler tag below. © Ghost, 2014

July 25, 2014

She had no right to miss him.

There isn't some self-agrandizing in death. No. Not unless you die doing something particularly ridiculous that in some way glorifies your death while also being self serving to your memory. Or at least that's how it typically is. You don't remember those who are just simply dead. Or maybe you do. But there are thousands of people who die every day and not everyone gets even so much as a funeral. Some are simply gone. Their bodies are sent to be cremated. The ashes are dumped unceremoniousl

July 25, 2014

Mutiny III - Death of the accursed boatswain

Mutiny Part III - Death of the accursed boatswain Elouan had seen from the rigging the dog’s attempts to save the man he hated the most, and he silently prayed to God not to let it happen. Jacque Gasquet was trying his best to swim and remain alive, hoping that somebody would throw him a rope or something. He was tired and in pain, as the Breton had strong fists and the boatswain had always been accustomed to give deadly blows, not to receive them. Not to mention the way he fell from

July 15, 2014

Mutiny II - death of the third lieutenant

Mutiny part II - Death of the third lieutenant On the other side of the ship, Fernand wanted to approach Patrick, who was holding the young boatswain’s mate. He had something to tell him now too, that it seemed the atmosphere changed and the young man’s protector wasn’t there anymore. The men were in commotion, ready to stand up against the bully, following the Breton’s example they had witnessed. Others were shouting the name of another boatswain’s mate they had a bone to pick with, and

July 15, 2014

Mutiny I - death of a young rigger

Mutiny - Part I: Death of a young rigger The boatswain, that everybody except Antoine Lemieux knew under the name of Jacques Fresne, was looking at his mate at his son, with approval. The lad was learning. He was getting better at mastering the art of being obeyed by the sailors. On his side, Jacque was barking his orders to the riggers, to work quicker and better. Claude, afraid of the man, hurried to pull a line through a block and it fell back, hitting Jacque in the face. The boatswa