30 replies to this topic

[Melisah]

I actually thought about this and I heard it talked about on different forums here and there.

I was thinking his love interest could carry an Owl as a familar and she could make comments about how "Anastasha" would just love to goobble Boo up.

[kirkjobsluder]

Twisted! I like it! Although would it be yet another one of those annoying "my true love died, my true love died, my true love died, lets knock boots together!" romances?

[Theodur]

And please, please, please, do not try to make Dynaheir into his former lover, have mercy. Not only she tries to keep the distance between them in those lonely BG1 dialogues, but they are also on dajemma, which according to the long forgotten piece of lore by Lady Alustriel prohibits a romantic relationship between the Hathran and her bodyguard.

Hmm. "Unapproachable East" sourcebook doesn't say anything about that. If what, it hints that the hathrans usually take lovers amongst the most skilled berserkers, so I don't understand why it should be so hard to imagine Minsc and Dynaheir being lovers at least before her dajemma and before Minsc received his head wound.

Anyways, it would probably be up to the person who writes the romance to assume how he sees Minsc and Dynaheir's past relationship... especially since the facts in the game don't give us conclusive answer.

[kirkjobsluder]

And please, please, please, do not try to make Dynaheir into his former lover, have mercy. Not only she tries to keep the distance between them in those lonely BG1 dialogues, but they are also on dajemma, which according to the long forgotten piece of lore by Lady Alustriel prohibits a romantic relationship between the Hathran and her bodyguard.

Now who has a dirty mind here?

I said love, not lover. I've always gotten the impression that Misnc was absolutly smitten with her. One of those crossed romances that would never be consumated but still would be the emotional polestar by which he lived and died. It always has bugged me that they never did anything with that after Casa Irenicus. They set up an emotional conflict that should have been as important as the PC's and Jaheira's, and they NEVER DID ANYTHING WITH IT. I guess I would like to see Misnc developed further, but on second thought, I think that actually romancing him would be a bit difficult. Jaheira's rebound from Kahlid was almost believable, but they always had this weird and somewhat disturbing (to me) dynamic going on anyway. There were many times that I wondered why Kahlid just didn't grab his pack in the night and leave.

Something I wrote into one of the dialogue drafts I have around:

"So, were you and Dynaheir lovers."

"Oh no! Dynaheir was the moon, the stars and the sun to Minsc. But to Dynaheir, Minsc was always just Minsc."

And how many times does in need to be said. THE SOURCEBOOKS ARE ONLY SUGGESTIONS.

[Rastor]

We had a pretty well-developed Minsc romance mod in construction at my old forums.

If you want to take up this project, I can go ahead and give you the old threads that we had.

[Theodur]

But to me such a prohibition or at least a recommendation not to engage into romantic relationship with the companion feels very logical because dajemma is the right of passage journey and conducted when the participants are very young. A romance, successfull or not, can screw things up a big time, and divert the couple.

It's a bit amusing though, if you take in account what is said in the aforementioned book about dajemmas... quoting: "In days of old, young Rashemi nobles made the dajemma to visit strange lands, slaying terrible monsters and wicked warlords, but now it is mostly an exercise in drinking and sightseeing."

Though, of course, Dynaheir's goal was much more serious than just getting drunk.

At any rate, that's how I read it, and that's how I am going to write Dynaheir's romance - w/o Minsc as a former lover 

Well, that's perfectly valid too, of course. I'm not sure where I stand on this issue, myself... probably leaning to think that they were not involved romantically. A good writer could convince me of the contrary, though.

[kirkjobsluder]

To me Minsc feels a bit too primitive in his perceptions to be able to experience and express such an emotion.

Misnc is an odd character. He's dim but in terms of stats he's not that dim. He's "below average" not "developmentally disabled." Misnc comes up with an amazing turn of metaphor at times. And I don't think it requires much in the way of wisdom to understand "I love her but she does not love me back," and also "I love her but she's untouchable."

The thing is, I can't read Minsc without coming to the conclusion that his life revolves around her. To me, Minsc's love for her is more explicit than Kahlid and Jaheira's relationship.

Now that I think about it, Minsc would be a tough one to write well.

[kirkjobsluder]

I'm open to the possibility that Boo is more than just hamster myself.

There are some moments where Minsc displays some more complexity in his conversations with other people. Boo aside, Minsc is not a 5-year-old in an adult body. He's slow, not developmentally retarded. I don't see a hint of early childhood egocentrism. He is capable of empathy, such as when he empathizes with the boy from Umar Hills. (A conversation that displays a pretty adult sensibility about emotion.) Boo's relayed dialogue is possibly delusional, but certainly not an example of childhood animism.

Perhaps I just spend a bit too much time reading developmental psychology and also reading children's writing. But I just can't see Minsc as an 8-year-old much less a 5-year-old. Minsc may be delusional about Boo, he may be a bit slow, but he certainly is not profoundly retarded or a developmental throwback. My impression of Minsc is that he has a learning disability. He might take longer to understand what is going on, and he might get frequently confused, but given enough time he'll get it eventually.

[Xaositect_Crayon]

a tad off topic but I have a theory about Boo

when minsc got his headwound, all his marbles weren't "lost" but, innacessable. Now when he got Boo, by being convinced that this intellegent being has a mental link to him. He know has a proper Coax to his more intellegent side that was lost to him.
I meen when Minsc includes boo into his lines... Boo seems to often give FAR better advice than an idiots pet should...