Melchior

Melchior is of course named after Melchior in Chrono Trigger, who is the Master Roshi of the game. Both characters love swords and drinking and traveling and having a good time.

Melchior’s real name is Octavius Marlowe. “Octavius” comes from the idea that there are eight schools of magic, and that the parents wish for the child to be a master of them all; and it’s also tied to the vaguely Roman Empire feel of the Northern Kingdoms in the story. Marlowe comes from Christopher Marlowe, who wrote some very clever plays, including the famous one about the wizard who is bffs with a demon.

Melchior’s backstory is that he’s a talented scholar who got fed up with academia and decided to do something worthwhile with his life. Despite having turned his back on academia, he maintains a good-natured feud (that’s half dialectic and half bitchy catfight) with a famous senior professor from Ceres’s kingdom, who incidentally happens to be writing the series of trashy romance novels that Balthazar is obsessed with.

( Read more... )

In any case, Melchior is super fun to write. He’s going to be Balthazar’s main companion during the second story arc, and I’m looking forward to playing with their goofball/straight man dynamic.

What Is Time, How Do Deadlines

It snowed heavily this past week, and my inability to go outside plunged me straight into the depths of executive dysfunction hell. I’m usually very good at turning work in on time, but last week I couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than maybe fifteen minutes at a time.

I would sit down with a manageable checklist in front of a task that was already more than 50% done and just, sort of, stare at it. I would want to do the thing, and I would have everything I needed to do the thing, and I would have nothing preventing me from doing the thing, but I just couldn’t do it.

Eventually I bit the bullet and drove to one of the university’s parking garages, where I paid $37 to sit alone in my car under the fluorescent lights for two and a half hours while finishing up what I needed to do. It was really depressing, and I’m sure the security staff thought I was crazy.

Anyway, I did what needed to be done to meet my three February 21 deadlines, but I’m not happy about it. I have another major deadline next Sunday, plus another public appearance that I need to do a ton of work to prepare for, and I am losing my fucking marbles.

Damn it will be nice to go outside again.