Talk to us about the process you go through when you decide to take on a new muse. Are you a planner? A researcher who needs to know everything and anything about the muse you are getting ready to allow into your headspace? Or are you one of those who sees a muse and dives right in , caught up in a moments excitement or the thrill of doing something new? If you are the type who gravitates to OC's, what steers you along that course? Is it the desire to inhabit a favorite universe but only live on the fringe, or is it the draw to a particular place and time in history? Talk to us, we're listening.Yes to all of the above.
Actually, I have two different sorts of processes in selecting a muse. If it's an OC, I tend to research them fairly well before picking them up, and I also tend to decide if they are a primary or supporting muse.
With canon muses, it's a bit of a hit and miss. I do tend to try on new characters, like trying on new clothes. Some fit, and wear well, and some have to go back to the rack, because they just don't work out. I am very clear with writing partners about this, and until a muse has settled into my brainspace, I don't get involved in heavy duty RP storylines with anyone, because it's unfair to other writers.
Christina, here, was one of the most organic muses I've picked up, in that she just took up residence and hasn't shut up since then. I do find that those are the ones that not only last, but they are very strong. Alexa was that way, and Cody Jean was. And, as much as I like new shiney, like everyone else, there has to be a story there that intrigues me, and I have to be able to write without a lot of outside expectations.
I do write primarily in another game, and sometimes I bring those muses here, but that seems to backfire on me, because it's very difficult to play a muse in one world and then try to do something else with them in another. If the character is in angst there, it tends to bleed over. I also never, never, NEVER create or take on a muse with pre-planned or preconceived notions of shipping or romance, because it never works. The muse has to stand on it's own, and endure, before I will engage in a relationship with other people's muses.