Also, presumably real!Imoen would have been dead all along, so you'd basically have to write her entirely out of BG2, which in my opinion would be no great loss but it would require some heavy rejigging of the plot and Charname's motives for chasing after Irenicus.
Not if the doppelganger became the mask and Charname accepted her as such...
...and all that is required to make her a real girl is Imoen's soul, which Irenicus trapped after attempting to summon the Bhaal essence. Being only a fragment, it was unable to move on after her death and easy prey for people like Irenicus.
There's the motivation to chase him, tied in perfectly with the "soulless Imoen" backstory. Her BG2 dialogues still mostly fit, except the doppelganger!Imoen just became aware of not being "real" during the dungeon torture herself. Now she's Pinnoccio, wanting to be a real person, and for that, she needs a soul.
Becoming the Mask so thoroughly as to actually gain a divine spark would be pretty awesome, actually.
@Eudaemonium has it: the real Imoen was never a Bhaalspawn - which makes perfect sense, given how unlikely it is that both Gorion and Sarevok knew the truth about Charname but not Imoen. If Gorion knew, why didn't he take her with you? If Sarevok knew, why didn't his assassins target her?
No, the actual Bhaalspawn is the doppelganger (hey, Bhaal mated with every other race in Faerun, why not?).
That's mainly a mechanical issue though, since I know the hassle of playing mixed parties all too well, being evil in BG2. I do think Dorn is well written, and as a - like @BladeDancer would say - "homo" myself, I certainly appreciate it that Dorn is not a walking stereotype (flamboyant, femme man whore) and that certainly inspires confidence that the f/f romance option will be treated equally stereotype-free.
Wow kid I've followed many threads detailing your adventures in faerun and never realized you were a behomolder. Or Manholder if you prefer? or, well what does one call a monster with your tastes? Also how does it ... er work? (not to get too graphic)
Do eyestalks benefit from accessories? maybe like this:
Not so much like this:
maybe an umbrella for the fair (or purple) skinned?
Well, I should know to leave a train wreck alone, but... here I am. I'm getting back to the original topic.
As an aspiring writer I thought I'd share my ideas on the matter with you. I feel strongly that as an author you have to be ready for your narrative to take you somewhere you didn't expect.
That may sound entirely counterintuitive (you have full control of the story) but I find that my connection to the characters changes as the writing develops; I may have had a plot outline originally, but the personality developing in front of me seems to suggest taking a different course. I let the story grow organically, trying to think about it in realistic/emotional terms and sometimes I end up writing something I didn't mean to write.
In this context, perhaps Hexxat is wrong for your character... but maybe he pursues her to his own self-destruction. Love can do that. Perhaps he can't help but want to take care of Aerie and constantly reaffirm her self-worth because he likes being a caretaker. Maybe he unexpectedly finds the strong maternal aspects of Jaheira to his liking. Or maybe he can't make up his mind, the ladies end up fighting, and it all ends in tragedy and terrible, terrible awkwardness. We could even consider the possibility that he doesn't want to put anyone at risk and pushes people away so that they won't get hurt. You might not approach the story with that intent, but an organic character can surprise you by taking the story in a weird and different direction than you intended.
Sometimes I have to scrap a story because it no longer has a conflict and doesn't read well, or I don't want to go down the rabbit hole that's appeared. The only other option for me then is to delete some portion and try again with a different angle from the character's point of view.
It's OK if you don't write that way, I'm not suggesting it's a better method (on occasion it can be irritating to the author). It's just... a possibility.
An author needs to have the same flexibility that an actor does to step outside of his comfort zone. If you can't get into the mindset of, say, a gay man or a woman, how well can you get into the mindset of someone who is from a wildly different culture, or a different age bracket? I strongly urge you to overcome any homophobia for the sake of your writing, if not your personal growth.
I agree with all of your ideas. As a matter of fact, even though I am a novice leveled author, I've always felt that I should let the narrative, the story decide who my charname ends up with.
As a result, I've spent the last 3 months researching the romance events of Aerie and Viconia, and the way how they play out in my mind is exactly how you described, with Aerie, I mean. I can't see my charname romancing Jaheira at all. I've also embraced the possibility of Ralis (the name of my charname) romancing Imoen because ever since her capture by those wizards, he has worried about her well being every day, which could possibly be a sign of subconscious romantic feelings. Tashia, one of the modded BG2 companions you download from Spellhold Studios will also be in my story, and I've studied the possibility of my charname romancing her too. I can't help but wonder if Hexxat is another possible candidate.
Your advice is really helpful, even though our methods are similar.
Comments
There's the motivation to chase him, tied in perfectly with the "soulless Imoen" backstory. Her BG2 dialogues still mostly fit, except the doppelganger!Imoen just became aware of not being "real" during the dungeon torture herself. Now she's Pinnoccio, wanting to be a real person, and for that, she needs a soul.
No, the actual Bhaalspawn is the doppelganger (hey, Bhaal mated with every other race in Faerun, why not?).
Do eyestalks benefit from accessories? maybe like this:
Not so much like this:
maybe an umbrella for the fair (or purple) skinned?
*ahem*
Well, I should know to leave a train wreck alone, but... here I am. I'm getting back to the original topic.
As an aspiring writer I thought I'd share my ideas on the matter with you. I feel strongly that as an author you have to be ready for your narrative to take you somewhere you didn't expect.
That may sound entirely counterintuitive (you have full control of the story) but I find that my connection to the characters changes as the writing develops; I may have had a plot outline originally, but the personality developing in front of me seems to suggest taking a different course. I let the story grow organically, trying to think about it in realistic/emotional terms and sometimes I end up writing something I didn't mean to write.
In this context, perhaps Hexxat is wrong for your character... but maybe he pursues her to his own self-destruction. Love can do that. Perhaps he can't help but want to take care of Aerie and constantly reaffirm her self-worth because he likes being a caretaker. Maybe he unexpectedly finds the strong maternal aspects of Jaheira to his liking. Or maybe he can't make up his mind, the ladies end up fighting, and it all ends in tragedy and terrible, terrible awkwardness. We could even consider the possibility that he doesn't want to put anyone at risk and pushes people away so that they won't get hurt. You might not approach the story with that intent, but an organic character can surprise you by taking the story in a weird and different direction than you intended.
Sometimes I have to scrap a story because it no longer has a conflict and doesn't read well, or I don't want to go down the rabbit hole that's appeared. The only other option for me then is to delete some portion and try again with a different angle from the character's point of view.
It's OK if you don't write that way, I'm not suggesting it's a better method (on occasion it can be irritating to the author). It's just... a possibility.
Also, I'm NOT a beholder! I am a honorable paladin of Helm, and as everyone knows, only humans can be paladins. Hence I'm totally human.
Yes,̡ ͝t͠otal̵l̕y͟ human͠. Hehe.̢ ̷S͢t̴u̷p̨i͝d̢ ͜B͠ȩh͏ol̴d̢er ͘can'̶t̶ ca͘s͞t ͘Tr̢u͡e S͏igh̸t̀ on͝ ̕himself̡ ̸a̸nd ̧lo͠ók i͘nto ҉a̕ ͠m͝irr͢or.͏
I agree with all of your ideas. As a matter of fact, even though I am a novice leveled author, I've always felt that I should let the narrative, the story decide who my charname ends up with.
As a result, I've spent the last 3 months researching the romance events of Aerie and Viconia, and the way how they play out in my mind is exactly how you described, with Aerie, I mean. I can't see my charname romancing Jaheira at all. I've also embraced the possibility of Ralis (the name of my charname) romancing Imoen because ever since her capture by those wizards, he has worried about her well being every day, which could possibly be a sign of subconscious romantic feelings. Tashia, one of the modded BG2 companions you download from Spellhold Studios will also be in my story, and I've studied the possibility of my charname romancing her too. I can't help but wonder if Hexxat is another possible candidate.
Your advice is really helpful, even though our methods are similar.