December's Featured Character - Mao!

[Colombina]

A veteran of the boards, Mao brings a particular dash of spice and heart to her character. No matter what, when Mao is in the thread you know it's going to be a little wild. Which is why we honor her this month as our featured character! About Your PC 1. So how do you build emotional depth in a character who by nature has a rather limited emotional arsenal due to nature and age? Hmm, I guess that would seem kind of tough when you put it that way. I guess I never really thought about her having a full range of emotions to really have at my disposal. Mao has never felt real jealousy, only hatred, fear and resentment. At least, that's what I planned! You know how PC's go when they have a mind of their own. Pehaps, I just never really had the right situations to play out emotional depth in the, say, contentment or remorse categories and whatnot, although recent events has left Mao in a rather tight spot developmentwise, after the whole demon bug, fiasco haha! As to how, though, I just leave it up to the character, herself, what she feels, I feel. I know it sounds odd, but she was born from a portion of my own personality. (That really shouldn't come as a surprise, hehe.) So I just look at a situation and think, "How would an animal react to this?" and just respond with what I think a jaguar wearing a woman's skin would say. 2. What drew you to play a Kelvic? What did you think were the plusses and minuses of playing this kind of race? Now that I think on it, I'm not really sure. I know when I came to Mizahar, I had several things in mind. I either wanted to play a female villian, or I wanted to play a male. And well, I went with the girl. Now the problem here was the race. Initially I wanted to be completely feral, a wildcard, someone that would snap in any split moment. I wanted a character I could relate to, that shared a portion of myself. I love animals, and I guess, like 90% of most newcomers, I chose a Kelvic. I was also really really against using a typical feline or a wolf, but as the days wore on (and I waited about a week before I actually made a character when I found Miz), I just decided to choose a jaguar, because honestly it fit the concept I had best for her, even if to this day I kind of regret the conformity. As to the plusses and minuses, well, due to my character concept, I,personally, could not thread with just anyone. Mao is a man eater, or was, or, kind of still is, it's complicated! So threading with a human meant bad business, and no one wants their PC in a position where they could die at any second. (I'm looking at you Vanator!) So I was really restricted. And that was kind of a downer. Then I also came to realize that having my Kelvic out of her cat form actually made her incredibly vulnerable. That's a flaw that she created herself, I didn't decide it! Just sprung up out of the blue! She's so weak and tantrum-y in her woman form it makes me laugh sometimes! But on the plus side, the cat form is as powerful as her woman body is weak. So I take that into consideration too. 3. How is your PC cathartic for you? Well, as I said up there, Mao is a part of my personality that I chose to write out, so when I write with her, I tend to expel some of this pent up rage and anger I've harbored over the years. It's pretty fun writing about a bipolar Kelvic who loves to drink the blood of her victims! Sometimes though, it takes a while to really find her voice, because some situations I have to really sit and think about what she will do in complicated scenarios. But when I do get into it, (and I can, no joke!) it can get very relaxing for me. I tend to not feel much else when I have her on my mind. Just whatever she's thinking or feeling. (Which also sounds incredibly corny, go me!) 4. How has bonding to an “evil” character changed the nature of your PC? Sorian? Evil? Nooooooooo, never! He's just a big ol' emo blue ape. Navis on the other hand... Well, let's see. It hasn't really changed her as much as it influenced her actions a lot more. Navis was a terror on the plains, Mao and Navis together were almost like Bonny and Clyde. They were completely insane with the bloodlust... A bloodlust Mao has had since she was around 11 months old. So it's not really that she was changed, she was just encouraged! And it made her incredibly distrustful of other people, because now she just had someone she had to hang on to, being a Kelvic, and it was this serial killer who told her it was ok to make a Drykas fillet! But of course, since landing in Sanctuary, she has changed quite a bit. She's not as aggressive as she would have been if she had never met Kavala! 5. What do you think is in the future for Mao? Well... She's pregnant, so a baby? Haha, all of that future motherhood aside. I hope to have Mao go on some lengthy adventure or something somewhere outside of Cyphrus. It would be pretty funny to have her go to Syliras and have a heartattack from the sheer amount of people. Maybe she'll have to go kill some evil pig lord terrorizing piglets somewhere out in the Wildlands. In the near future... I do foresee a chance meeting with a certain crazy konti. Other than that, Mao is a very hard one to plan for. Things just go as they go. 6. What’s Mao’s theme song? I would say Sia - Breathe Me hits home for her. Secret : About Writing In General 7. Roleplaying is a bit of a niche hobby, how did you fall into it? Not gonna lie, I think it started with Neopets. Actually. I lied. It started with books. Then it trickled into video games. Video games gave me incredible creativity, and I used that to draw characters. As I drew these characters, I made stories about them, and when I was curious about this "roleplay" people were doing when I was about 11, THEN I went onto Neopets and began this whole roleplaying business on their Roleplay forums. Back then, I knew very little english, so writing on an english website helped me quite a bit. It continued on different forums until I met my one and only confidant, and with her, we roleplayed through MSN and made worlds and plots all our own. It had been maybe 3 years since the last time I had roleplayed until I came to Mizahar, then it just seemed like a natural fit. I've never done any tabletop games, although I wished I had, to be honest. Never done any LARPing or anything, but I have been guilty of daydreaming in class. It's kind of a bad habit I'm trying to snap out of. 8. You’re also a bit of an artist, how is the character development different or similar when you depict a character as opposed to write one? It's somewhat the same, at least, initially. I get the image in my head, and depending on what medium I use, then it has it's differences. I find depicting a character through writing is harder for me, because I'm very concious about what words I use, and being the latina I am, sometimes I sit for 10 minutes trying to find the right word to describe said character. When I'm drawing I just draw what I see in my head, it's incredibly easier for me... I think that's why I tend to doodle so much during class. I just love drawing people, so it's almost second nature as opposed to writing about it. 9. What has been the most challenging post you’ve written to date? What made it difficult? I think the post where I played Akajia in the encounter with the Akontak Raiha, haha! It's an awesome goddess! And I tried very very hard to make her sound believable and otherwordly. It was much harder to write for her than it was to write for any of my characters, just because I didn't really have anything to go off of aside from her wiki write-up, but also very fulfilling. It was incredibly worthwhile to have the chance to completely change how a PC's personality will result at the end of a modded thread with a diety. I feel like an almighty Tarotess. XD 10. How is writing as a moderator a different emotionally or artistically, if it’s different at all? When I'm writing as a moderator, I tend to have to stop myself from treating the NPCs like personal PCs of my own. Although they are my creations, they're just there to be straight to the point, and that's what I like. No detours, no random tangents, just there to be helpful to the player, and I'm sure said player wouldn't want to know that the NPC they're talking to likes to sniff people's hands or lives with 20 cats. Not that I'm very descriptive in my PC posts, but I do tend to write what they're thinking and sometimes that trickles into my NPCs as well, the more important ones, anyway. About Miza In General 11. Name five of your favorite things in Mizahar and explain why you like them? Grr, hard question is hard. Well I guess first, the originality. It's definitely much more fun going off something you created and having the ability to create something in a world that's completely player driven, as opposed to having canon characters and canon locations like some websites I've seen. Two, the founders, for all of their incredibly hard work to put this place together. I really look up to all of you and I'm so thankful that you guys took time to make such a wonderful and lovely place that is Mizahar. And I'm sorry if I have bugged some of you guys over and over to ask questions or to get facts straight, I know I can be annoying! Three, the community. The community definitely has grown since the time I've registered. People left, people joined, people returned, and I met so many awesome, and amazing and utterly beautiful individuals on here that it makes me so happy that I chanced this site. I do love you all! Four, now this one ties into the whole originality thing, but I love the fact that the players themselves can contribute to the expansion of Mizahar, be it developing something in the WD forums or creating their own cities, or even just managing it. It's something not many admins on other sites tend to do and it's an aspect of Mizahar that really shows the creativity in its player-base. Five, have I mentioned the founders? Yes? Hmm, the magic list and the system is phenomenal, I think. I thank Tarot and Jen and whoever else contributed to that vast collection because it really is inspiring and amazing all on its own. A million, trillion times, thank you guys so much! 12. Who would you love for your PC to meet in the future? Ohh tricky question. I have my sights set on Satu, soon! I've also really wanted to have Mao and Nya meet up and have a kitty party someday.. Although I doubt that will happen, haha! I'd also love to meet Leo and Ulric! Anyone really! The more the merrier, I say. 13. Your PC has traveled a lot in the game, was this on purpose? Also how has her being in so many different environments changed the way you think of the game’s setting? I suppose it was spontaneous. She had reasons to travel across the world, due to being lost and alone and pretty much being emo the majority of her life. But it really does differ, the cultural aspects of certain locations and the environments. There's a certain air about, say Falyndar, than there is Cyphrus, you know? When you're writing there, you have to incorporate the totally wild aspects of the jungle, and the calm, sometimes soothing ones for the grasslands. (When glassbeaks aren't roaming all over the place anyway.) It's a beautiful thing, to see that transition so alive and well. 14. Cake or pie? I don't like cake, unless it's ice cream cake, and I don't like pie unless it's pumpkin pie. So my answer is pickles!

[Dreamcatcher]

Congrats Mao

[Kamalia Timandre]

Hello, darling!

I must admit that I don't know Mao as much as I know Callisto! But knowing your writing, I know you deserve it!

Congratulations on being the Featured Character of the Month! <333 We all love you very much!

Mwuaah! <3

[Aidara]

PAO! ohmigoodness! Congratulations, lover!

[Elhaym]

Congrats Mao, you surely deserve to be highlighted for both your great characters and the substantial amount of work you've done making this game great. Good job!

Though I am highly jealous...

[Stitch]

'Cept funny story... This applies to everyone but you. I got this feeling that, ya know, seeing how awesome you are... You are gonna go and do some pretty awesome things. I look forward to playing your games one day, you cool person. <333

[Tarot]

Congratulations! It's incredibly well-deserved.

[Nidassasyae]

Congratz!

[Sorkal Hatali]

Congratulations Mao!

[Vanator]

Congratulations and well deserved Mao! I admire the out-of-the -ordinary type of character you have developed, and love that she is still developing. I find it quite worthwhile risking my PC's life to RP with you!