Madeleine Aimé

|| In the process of writing a story. Submissions will be lacking for a very long time.||

|| On second thought ... I'm going to be mostly reviewing. Even reviews will trickle in slowly, because I don't give obligatory 'pat-on-the-back' comments. I'm not critical, but I like to put a good deal of thought into my reviews. ||

A Tailor of Words - Weaving Fanciful Worlds.

Once Upon a Time �

My passion is not completely altruistic -- I do not plan on nursing ill children to health, nor do I envision myself a pioneer in medical science, concocting a salve to the world�s ailments to stick it to palliatives of the pharmaceutical regime. Needless to say, these ambitions are difficult for any to conquer, but with two prestigious parents: one a special education teacher and the other an insurance advocate, the seed of overachievement should have been cultivated long ago.

While shunning away any semblance of discipline, what did I strive to be? Of all pursuits, I chose the path of a wily writer. Neglecting my studies and failing to relate to my peer group, I was encased in the shell of anti-socialism. At age nine, the luminance of the computer screen beckoned me with the aura of an enchantment -- by chance, I stumbled into the roleplaying chatrooms hosted by America Online; this was my calling! I realized that the participants were weaving their own tales; the people behind the screen names were utterly faceless, and this proved to be an advantage - you could unshackle yourself from the mundane monotony of reality and succumb to illusion. In an effort to detach myself from my poor self-image, I crafted the epitome of the �Mary Sue� -- my character had laughably potent power, lofty swords of grotesque proportions, and the aesthetic ideal seemingly sprung forth from the loins of Adonis and Aphrodite combined. I am not ashamed to say it now - I was the unseasoned �newbie� in every sense: I had little grasp of character development, atrocious grammar, and unwittingly rendered each of my creations a ludicrous hyperbole. I was ridiculed by self-proclaimed �veterans� who tired of my incoherent garble, but I refused to take heed to their censorious remarks - instead, I associated with those whose limited caliber mimicked my own. Besides, who was I harming? I did not deceive myself into believing I was an undiscovered author; I merely wanted to savor the colorful environment of my unhoned, though exuberant imagination, chasing the trail of text in pursuit of innocuous fun �

Fast forward three years - epic, romantic storylines dominate the scene of roleplaying; gone are the days of static, cardboard cut-outs of characters; in its wake is a new age - background tales are the new trend, or rather a staple in the community, as everyone endeavored to thrust their fictional alter-egos into the proverbial spotlight - this is the era of celebrity; our lovable, yet utterly unnotable characters are cruelly buried in the murky grave of nostalgia in favor of new ones imbued with flaws that illustrate the human condition. This is the crusade of the literate as we ostracize the naivety of newcomers. Strings of toneless text no longer suffices, for we have sacrificed our boundless imaginations to achieve �historical accuracy�. Jumping on the bandwagon fleeing from the instant message services, I needed visual aid for my fantasies - so off to the computer store I embarked, awed by the shelves stocked with boxes containing pixilated wonder - an eye gazed at me knowingly amidst the sea of games, and I knew it was fate � **

Cut to the Chase!

I was positively enraptured by Bioware�s invention - it fused every roleplayers fantasy into one package. The Aurora Toolset allowed users to forge their own worlds, the single player campaign immersed you in the world of Faerun, a creation of Dungeons and Dragons, and the multiplayer servers added a boost of interaction in my life, inspiring me to toil over conceiving characters that deviated from the norm. I forsaked my own social life to pour over Forgotten Realm�s reference books, intimately acquainting myself with every country, island, inter-dimensional plane �

I was twelve, and I am now fifteen, and my dream is still palpable. I grew restless by merely settling for being a player - I wanted to be an omnipotent deity that wove fanciful worlds - a tailor of words. The company that owns �Dungeons and Dragons� is called �Wizards of Coast�, and when I grow up, I would salivate at the chance to work for them; I have already organized a plan in my mind. I am willing to relocate to Seattle so that I can be in proximity to their company, and I fully intend to major in English and minor in Rhetoric - the former will be vital for creating plausible, poignant storylines with a hefty helping of professionalism, while the latter will aid in an arsenal of snappy dialogue for the characters I will create. In my experience, I have also met roleplayers from all walks of life with varying talents - I�ve met computer programmers, artists, and freelance writers. I believe that after combining our forces to create our own tales, I may very well have experience to work with the diverse staff of �Wizards of Coast�. I�ve learnt that stories are not one-sided -- you draw inspiration from your outside environment, and by releasing yourself from vanity, you can collaborate with others in formulating fables that dwindle off into infinity, offering our consumers a plethora of possibilities. I have strong convinction that �Dungeons and Dragons� will never die -- its competitors pale in comparison to its broad, ever-expanding campaign; it was designed in 1974, and 33 years later, it still prospers. Why else would I be qualified? Well! I am a full-time roleplayer despite any circumstances - I have drowned in the muck of Mary Suedom and swam back to the shore of enlightenment; my imagination leaves my head hovering in the clouds, while my pragmatism keeps my feet firmly planted on the ground - I am an inhabitant of both worlds and an enthusiastic consumer, allowing myself to relate with WoC�s audience.


Maddie (Hopefully a future employee of Wizards of Coast.)