Hello Fellow Mizaharians!
Keeping with our tradition, the Founders Circle and Regional Storytellers are proud to announce that the Featured Character of the Month of March 2019! Itt is one of our long time players, that has been on again off again the site since at least 2012. He plays in Ravok under Gillar and is a very unique Kelvic surviving in a hostile environment. So, please join us in welcoming him to the elite club of Featured Character! His interview is below! |
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The Interview
1. With all the hoopla of magic and religion and complex backstories, what inspired you to start from a very simple background and little to no knowledge of these things, not even religion?
I generally enjoy following characters from start to finish and having the characters tell me what their story is rather than it being the other way around. Having Itt start from complete scratch will really allow me to grow with him and understand him on a deeper level that I haven't really had with a character before. I also don't enjoy the process of determining one's backstory since it's rather bothersome for me and not fun, since again, I'm determining their story, not letting their story be told by themselves. So starting from scratch allows me to skip right over that and just get to writing them with as little predetermination of character as possible.
2. What sorts of things do you do to portray Itt’s animal nature while in human form? Give us some great examples!
One thing that I really like doing is bringing Itt's diet into the mix. Sloth's are primarily slow because they have a poor nutrient diet so they don't have the actual energy to move or digest any faster than they do. So I think playing with Itt's energy level based on what he's eaten recently is one way I've been able to bring in his animal side. Also his posture and physical features I've been trying to add, like him slouching or picking at his nails and things. I also thoroughly considered what an animal would think of nature and other beings, especially someone who has as little experience as Itt does, and I came to the conclusion that he would see everything as equals— the trees, animals, rocks, nothing is really above one or the other. Humans aren't above animals because he is both technically, so how can one be greater than the other? So I think that philosophy comes from his animal side, definitely.
3. What is Ravok’s draw for Itt? What keeps him there? Can you describe the strengths and weaknesses of the city?
Itt arrived in Ravok by some pretty incompetent slavers, so I wouldn't say Itt was drawn to Ravok more so than Ravok was drawn to Itt. But I would say that the primary reasons Itt has stayed in Ravok and hasn't immediately tried to go home are 1: he doesn't know how to get back home, and 2: he's experiencing an entirely new life. Itt is learning so much, including about language, society, people and he's starting to actually form relationships with people rather than watch them walk by all the time. These are all new things he's now able to do, so his natural curiosity is keeping him occupied.
4. What would you look for in a potential bondmate? Are you bonded/have been bonded/want to be bonded? Elaborate a bit on this unique aspect of playing a Kelvic and what it means for you in game.
It isn't bonded, but he, like every Kelvic, does want to bond with someone. But maybe not right now. Itt is learning so many things about people and about life in general that he's not really able to focus on having such a deep relationship with someone. He also has never had a deep connection with someone so he has to learn what having a true friend means first before I think he would really be able to bond with someone. As for potential bondmates, I'm not really sure what a potential bondmate would look like for Itt. A bondmate right now would look very different than what the perfect bondmate would be 2 years from now, and I don't know where Itt is going to be in 2 years. If I have to say one thing though, the person would have to understand Itt's passion and enthusiasm, or maybe even share a similar passion for something else. I don't think Itt could connect with someone who doesn't understand that.
As for what makes Kelvic bonding unique is that it really allows you to learn more about relationships, and think about relationships in a different way. It's like how some cultures have several different words for love depending on who it's with, and a bond with a Kelvic is a new kind of love, one that's different than romantic love, a familial love, and friendly love. It's a different thing, at least in how I understand it, and it can present a lot of opportunities to understand your character's relationships and how they understand and feel about relationships. So it's going to be cool when Itt bonds because I'll get to explore a side of him that I won't be able to do in any other way.
5. Why did you go with Itt for a name?
Itt is named that because he doesn't know who he is. He doesn't know his name (even though he has one) and he doesn't know what he is since no one seems to know what a sloth is, and he also isn't mature so he literally doesn't really know who he is. So he basically goes by what everyone calls him, which is usually "what the petch" or "it" because they don't know what "it" is exactly.
6. Why is Itt so obsessed with birds? Link us threads if you can!
To be truly honest, I'm still learning about Itt so I don't know for sure why he likes birds so much. I was thinking it could be a past life sort of instance, but I honestly have no clue. All he knows is that he's passionate about birds and I'll learn why with him. Like, right now, he likes birds because he likes birds, but when he grows older and matures he might have other reasons. If that makes sense.
I don't have any threads that delve deep into Itt's reasons for why he likes birds as I only just started to write for him this season, but if you wanted to read him interacting with birds or something then my thread with Caspian called Bird of Air and Stone Itt interacts with a duck and thinks a statue is a real bird and things and he interacts with Caspian because of it. And in my thread called The Plunge with Shiress, Itt almost drowns, and in his attempts to swim to the surface of Lake Ravok he imagines he's a bird flying, in a way, so that's a small thing. But there's nothing terribly deep yet because, again, I'm still developing that part of him and things.
Birds of Air and Stone: http://www.mizahar.com/forums/post538854.html#p538854
The Plunge: http://www.mizahar.com/forums/post538135.html#p538135
7. What is Itt’s favorite memory? Why?
Itt's favourite memory is his mother holding his hands and teaching him to walk. He doesn't have clear memories about his past, but he remembers how he felt, and that was one of the few moments he started to have a connection with someone. It was one of the times his parents weren't fighting and he just got to be with his mom, so he really cherishes that.
8. If Itt knew anything about religion what deity (or two) would he worship?
The easy answer: Zulrav and Eywaat. But he'd likely start worshiping all sorts of gods at first, like Rek'keli, Caiyha, Cheva, Priskil, you name it because he just loves everything and he would want to express his enthusiasm somehow. But Zulrav would be the one god he would follow in terms of followers because he feels more connected to the air and the sky than the other things.
9. What do you look for in a thread partner? Do you usually come up with the thread ideas or do you like to collaborate with others and come up with thread ideas on your own?
I usually bring in a few ideas to get the conversation started with a partner, and if they like an idea I try to work with them to personalize it so it's a unique interaction between the two of them and they are both going to get something out of it. If they don't like any of the ideas I bring then we just create something new. What's important to me is that my partner and I are doing something that is unique to our characters and we're doing it because we're getting something out of it, not just to get skills or say I threaded with so and so. Even if our characters never see each other again I still want there to be something between our characters that we didn't get from another and that we actually have a relationship, even if it's just 'a guy I met one time' kind.
10. You write a fun character that amuses the reader and makes us smile (for the most part) where did his inspiration come from?
There wasn't just one source for his character unless you count himself as a source. Like I mentioned before, I really want him to dictate his story, not me, so most of his personality and how he reacts should be coming from what his story wants to be. So I came up with the bare bones and the more I think about him as an actual character or an actual being the more things that come up and build off of it, so it's a never-ending cycle. The idea itself inspires the idea, which is weird for me to say so I hope that makes sense.
11. What keeps bringing you back to Mizahar? You’ve been around for years. There must be something here amusing.
Having a community of writers that actually were a community rather than just 2 people threading on a forum with hundreds of others doing the same really influenced me. I learned a lot of valuable lessons on Mizahar about writing and relationships (relationships is my favourite word if you can't tell). It's really helped me grow as a person and I want to continue to build friendships and help build this community so that way it can help others. Also, Mizahar is unique in that I'm not creating a story about Itt, and others are not creating stories about their characters, we are all creating a story about Mizahar, which is a really cool thing that I'm glad to be a part of since it's a unique, developed, whole world.
12. Here’s your soapbox question! Is there anything you want to talk about in regards to your character and or the game itself? You have an audience so feel free to jump on the soapbox and talk a bit about anything you want!
Just a quick thanks for everyone who has been involved with Mizahar and it's growth and maintenance and well being, including Goss and the founders, the STs and the players— you all really make Mizahar happen and I'm so grateful for that so thank you for volunteering and spending your time and energy and ideas here and helping build this place that people can enjoy and have fun and make lasting relationships in.
Also, not to sound too hippie-like, but honestly people, go out there and make friends. Make lasting relationships and be real with people. Writing is an isolating experience sometimes since you have to sacrifice some of your social life to writing about fictional characters, so go out there and make some deep relationships with people. You never know when they or you are going to need a friend and friends generally make life better. So reach out to people, ask for help when you need it, help others when you can. It'll serve you well in the long run I'm sure, so yeah.
Thanks for featuring me and letting me have my little tiny box to stand on and I look forward to meeting you all and reading about your characters and hopefully threading with you all! I hope you all have a good day, week, month, season, year, life, etc!
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by Lani Stranger on March 2nd, 2019, 3:19 am 
