(no subject)

[the_rck]

In the last two days, I have written 1500 words on something that is neither my Yuletide assignment nor my UCon game. Why on earth am I letting myself do that? I need to write about 5000 words on the game, maybe more than that but certainly not less, and the fic I have in mind for Yuletide will by no means be small.

I just need to finish the game, so that I can start the Yuletide story.

The last time I was writing a game, I set myself a daily goal and just didn’t go to bed until I had managed it. I don’t think, under current circumstances, that that’s a viable option.

Comments

[the_rck]

There's very little information about what shape shifting can and can't do in canon, so I'm leaning heavily on the rules created for the game based on the books. Those rules don't actually address pregnancy at all, but I think I know how it might work.

My assumption is that some shifting would be possible (and maybe even desirable from the point of view of making the child more likely to be a shape shifter, too). The main limitation is that any form taken would have to have room for the fetus and some sort of set up for nutrition/respiration for the fetus.

I am assuming that Merlin, in this continuity, has put a lot of effort into getting better at shape shifting. Before Jasra captured him, he had the equivalent of basic shape shifting from the game rules. Now, he's considerably better than that. It's largely because this is another way of reasserting control over his own body.

This Luke POV section would come somewhere in the middle of Garden Our Shadows, I think, because I expect that to be long and plotty with a good bit happening after Martin comes back. Most of it will be stuff that Luke won't be aware of or will only be aware of peripherally.

I'm working on a cheat sheet of some of the characters from the series for the game I'm going to run in two weeks. That will omit some information you would likely want to have, but it'll give me something to start from in terms of something to give you.

[luminations.livejournal.com]

That was a very comprehensive cheat sheet! (or did you morph that into the doc for me?) Thank you, I only skimmed most of it for now because I won't retain it all, I'll just refer back to it as names come up while reading.

I would probably enjoy those books... but will probably never get around to it, I'm determined to make it through A Song of Ice and Fire (which I've started and stopped I think 3 times? If it's been more than a year or so I just start completely from the beginning) and then Lord of the Rings (4 books). Plus I like to read regular stuff too. Plus I don't read all the time. Ack!

I'm on a roll with my writing today, gonna do that the rest of the night :) Hope you're having a good weekend.

[the_rck]

I hope your writing is still going well!

Although there are ten books in the Chronicles of Amber, each is actually pretty short. In the edition I've got, the first two books, together (SFBC edition), run 338 pages, and the next three, together, run 434 pages. The next set of five books, the ones about Merlin, are of about the same length when taken together.

I wasn't expecting you to memorize the list of characters or anything. I figured it would be something to look at when people came up in the course of the story. I gave you more information than I will give the player characters in the scenario I'll be running.

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Still rolling along okay, thanks!

Oh hmm that's not so bad then. *tucks away in brain for future reference*

I figured you wouldn't quiz me on the characters ;) It's a wonderfully comprehensive reference. I will reread GoS with it handy. How's the game planning coming along?

[the_rck]

The game planning is inching forward. I think that the main problem is that I'm having to write everything as if it's for someone who knows nothing about the setting. That underlines for me how much information there is that players actually need to know.

I also keep distracting myself with a completely different Luke/Merlin story* that's only related to everything else by when it diverges from canon. I've committed to finishing that by the end of January, so it's not nearly as urgent as having the game ready to print a week from tomorrow. I have no idea why I can't focus.

*That one's also in Gdocs, so I could link you if you're interested. I'm kind of stuck on it in terms of resolving the conflict, and I hit a point earlier today where my brain went, "Okay. That's a good ending." Except that it's a terrible ending because absolutely none of the difficulties in the story have been resolved (also, I'm 1500 words short of the minimum for the thing I signed up to write it for which is a big bang).

[luminations.livejournal.com]

That's got to be rather tedious, having to explain eeeeeeverything. Straining your creative mojo?

Sure I'd like to read it! Should I comment on things even if it's not like a specific suggestion or anything helpful like that, and you can just click to get rid of them? Or would that be annoying?

LOL at your brain deciding to end prematurely. Perhaps just a sign that you should take a break and work on something else!

[the_rck]

I really love comments as long as they're not hostile (and "Um... This really doesn't work for [reason]' is not hostile). I sometimes disagree with what's said, but I'm an adult and can deal with that.

I should mention-- Frakir is a length of cord that Merlin has imbued with magic and some level of awareness. It can move on its own and will react if it realizes that Merlin is threatened but is not particularly bright. Merlin normally wears it wound around his wrist so that it's handy if he's attacked.

I think the real problem I'm having with the game preparation is knowing that I'll feel like I wasted the time spent on the extra explanations if I get only players who know the setting already. The explanations are work and take away time I could spend on other things. Also, if the players know the setting already, I can complicate things a lot more without overburdening them, but if they don't... Yeah.