At the risk of baring my soul to strangers (if any one ever reads these posts, which I sometimes doubt!), I spent much of my youth addicted to Romance, in search of a 'soulmate' who would share my dreams and satisfy my visions of an idyllic relationship. European 19th century literature, after a steady diet of fairy tales in early childhood were at the foundation of this. Perhaps there are soulmates and indeed, I have known individuals who shared most of my interests even if there were other impediments to the 'happily ever after' denouement so beloved of novelists. 19th Century Literature, by the way, is not filled with 'happily ever after' but it is filled with the soulmate concept and should the happy ending not be possible, one usually commits suicide because of course, one cannot settle for less!
In any case, when Freya was born, I decided that all that nonsense should be forgotten because there was nothing more important than my daughter and any search for Romance had to be shelved in the interest of giving her a stable life in which she and not some imagined soulmate took centre stage.
Enter Captain Nathaniel Claw. I was a fan of computer games from the start. With a young child of two, I looked for games that would be educational for a toddler at first. As Freya became a bit older, I discovered the magnificent game of 'Claw', featuring a dashing pirate cat from the Golden Age of Piracy. I became 'Freyashawk' to protect my young daughter who insisted on communicating online in the Claw Forum with other fans of Claw. Ultimately, my strong-willed four year old decided that she wanted to marry Captain Claw and she dictated a love letter to him. To their eternal credit, Monolith, a small firm that had created the game, actually took an interest in Freya and a guy who went by the name of Scorpio on the Forum responded to her love letters with very appropriate letters from the Captain himself. They sent her gifts even in the form of an artist drawing of Claw and a shirt with his portrait emblazoned on it.
I do not know many children who have been as fortunate. I certainly had no early experiences of that sort. I do not know how much Freya actually remembers but I have to admit that I was envious of her romance with the Feline Pirate Captain.
At this point, I achieved a small measure of notoriety and fame because I created a number of 'custom levels' for the game and wrote little stories to accompany them. Every level I created had Freya's name written somewhere in gold coins that could be collected by the player. I certainly am no expert in this sort of thing, but the game came with a programme that allowed the player to create his/her own custom Levels. It was brilliant.
When Freya was about 7 years old, we discovered Harvest Moon. She was the first to play it and one of the features of any Harvest Moon game is Courtship and Marriage. You have a choice of potential spouses but you have to win the heart of the one you choose and it requires a great deal of attention, energy and time. The first Harvest Moon game we had was 'Friends of Mineral Town' for the Game Boy Advance system. In this game, your Character was male. Freya wanted to marry a girl named Ann but was finding it difficult to win her heart.
I started to play the game to try to discover how to win hearts of Eligible Girls. I wrote my first Harvest Moon guide in the form of a Journal. I believe my character's name was Aloysius. I myself preferred Karen to Ann but decided to try to win the hearts of EVERY Eligible Girl before I proposed to any one. I therefore would be able to help Freya with her Courtship of Ann while following my own desires.
Meanwhile, I found a couple of online guides to the game, but they were filled with errors. For some reason, I contacted IGN with some tips of my own and told my contact about my guide. That was the beginning of about a decade of guide writing for IGN's site.
A new series, Rune Factory, was introduced. It was described as 'Harvest Moon with a sword' and indeed, it fulfilled all of my desires for, with the usual Courtship option, one had the option to buy a forge and crafting bench to forge weapons and accessories. In real life, I always was interested in forging and jewelry-making although I never had the money to pursue either, apart from creating designs for other people to implement. There is a 'Martino' dagger made by a famous knifemaker and I designed a number of gold rings, earrings and pendants at one point in New York.
So here I was with a series of games that allowed one to experience the heady pleasures and thrills of Romance while forging blades and using them either as a man or a woman. It was wonderful to be able to be a woman who fought as well as any man using a blade she herself had forged. One could save the world while making friends and influencing people. Moreover, my old strategy of making every eligible bachelor fall madly in love with me before I chose to propose to ANY ONE still was possible.
I should explain that both Harvest Moon and Rune Factory really cannot be described simply as games. They are, in fact, interactive novles. The amount of dialogue in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game can be greater than a bound novel. Moreover, there are Events that are determined by your Character's behaviour and responses. In other word, an Event may have three different possible paths. The creative genius behind any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game is astounding. People who love to read but who have not explored any of these games are losing out on an incredible experience. It never ceases to amaze me how something like 'gaming' can be perceived in narrow terms by individuals who call themselves artists or writers but who never have played a single RPG.
I now am playing Rune Factory 4. My daughter is at University. My life has become very circumscribed because of physical disabilities. I live in constant severe pain but Rune Factory has not lost its magic. In the process of courting the Eligible Bachelors in Selphia, I have expeirenced some genuinely thrilling romantic moments. It is all very innocent, I must add. Nonetheless, to read a bit of dialogue from a bachelor I fancy that actually causes my heart to skip a beat amazes me at this point. I have to confess it is wonderful.
About Me
- Valkyrie Hawk
- My name is Eugenia-Maria Martino de Conde. Freyashawk is the name under which I write game guides and play many games. I specialise in Northern mythology but my original academic background is in History and British Law. Mine is the view of an exile, a Swan-Maiden rather than a god. Not an exile from heaven (that would be arrogant), but an exile nonetheless. I have lived in La Jolla, Nepal, London, Southampton, Manhattan, Roma, Pennsylvania et alia but spiritually belong to no land. Thus the affiliation with the air, hawk and swan. A Valkyrie chooses heroes from the slain. Walking among the dead is disconcerting. My greatest loves are my daughter and my Puttikins, my Himalayan cat clan. As Freyashawk, I write strategy guides for games. Time to write another novel for a writer can be a Valkyrie, creating warriors from her imagination that inspire people in the eternal battle between good and evil. Therein is the power I desire.
