Harpy stuff.

Harpy stuff.

Stats: Hot 0, Cold 1, Volatile 1, Dark -1. I thought about bumping Cold to 2, but putting the extra point in Hot will help with both generating Strings and explaining why people still hang out with such an aggressive person.

Random thought: my current media image for the Harpy is Mona Vanderwaal from the Pretty Little Liars TV show (in opposition to Alison DiLaurentis as the Queen, obvs).

BIG QUESTION: do I want to keep this Skin like the Queen, in that she’s mostly got realistic/mundane Moves, but with one or two that are overtly supernatural? Or make her fully mundane like the Mortal? Or make her more overtly mythic? Is the ability to sprout feathers and claws and shit really central to the Skin’s monstrousness or is just being The Mean Girl enough? I’d love some feedback here, and I’ll be keeping this closely in mind as I go through and decide which Moves to keep, ditch, fold together, change, etc.

I think Backstory is going to change a bit, and become more of an obverse of the Queen: one string each on three side characters you’re planning to victimize. Plus one string on a powerful enemy you’ve pissed off, and they have two strings on you.

The Harpy’s Darkest Self got some critical feedback for just basically being “get meaner than you already are,” and I feel like that’s really valid. One thing I want to do in this rework is emphasize that the Harpy targets the powerful, the arrogant, the prideful – she punishes hubris. The school’s wallflowers are probably terrified of her but also kind of admire her, since she preys on the predators. So her Darkest Self would involve losing that shaky moral high ground, and instead targeting the weak and defenseless, so it’s less about divine retribution and more about just lashing out. If I can express that in the Moves and Darkest self, do you, dear readers, think that would work better?

I actually really like the Harpy’s original Sex Move, although I think I’m going to be refining it a bit. Having to choose between being tender and cruel, with a slight mechanical enticement to be cruel, just works for me. I keep thinking of Laura Palmer laughing at Bobby Briggs, for those of you who get that reference.

Thoughts on individual Harpy Moves in the comments.