[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Rathbone

I am also enjoying this write-up immensely. I find it extra interesting because I grew up in a small town about 30 miles from Luverne. Luverne was on our football schedule. I also have an Uncle who taught at Luverne High School during the time that Taylor would have attended.

Oh, wow! That's awesome.

I've got about a million questions.

I don't expect Taylor's first 18 years of living in Luverne will come up a lot in play, but they obviously had a pretty major influence on him.

Would you mind answering a few questions about local flavour?

If Chase Taylor's mother is Betty Taylor, should she have a middle name and would it be something like Betty May, Betty Lynn, Betty Lu, etc., or should it rather be her mother's maiden's name? And is Kinsella acceptable for Betty's maiden name?

Where would Luverne kids drive to go on dates in the 90s? I mean, movies or restaurants beyond the selection available in a town with less than 3,000 people? What's the local 'big city', i.e. the place where you drove for a fun day trip or to have a nice evening?

Would an aggressively anti-intellectual small-time criminal, barroom-brawler and former high school jock like Cory Earl Taylor, Chase's father, still be a fan of college football? Considering that he hates people with college degrees, fancy jobs or who use long words, it seems weird, but on the other hand, Cory Earl would love any excuse for violent tribalism and day-time drinking.

Chase Taylor is a die-hard Tide fan, but I'm vaciliating between having his father not care about college football or being a die-hard Auburn fan and Chase having become a 'Bama fan in reaction.

I know that from Luverne, the Trojans are the nearest college football team with any reputation, but from what I can tell, the Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide are orders of magnitude more popular all over Alabama than the less storied teams of other universities, even if these may be more local.

Also, if Chase Taylor loves his mother's cooking and Alabama food in general, what kind of food would he seek out while on military bases and/or in a big city on the East Coast? How can he put a 'Bama touch to the kind of food that he might prepare for himself during adventures, like sandwiches?

What are some candies, snacks or other fast food that someone who grew up in Crenshaw County in the 80s and 90s might especially like?

Originally Posted by Rathbone

I think you are doing an excellent job with Taylor. His dialogue and speaking patterns seem spot on to me. (Although the Alabama drawl does have several flavors).

Thank you very much.

I had serious doubts that I could avoid an awful and offensive stereotype*, as I haven't been any further South than Virginia. Well, Florida, but the touristy parts don't count. No one in Orlando or Miami actually comes from Florida. And it's not as if I know any Southern people personally. My cousins in the US are New Yorkers through and through. They consider Philly too country and most of them haven't been any further south than Jersey.

If you've got hints about flow, diction, slang terms, sayings, exclamations, weird colloquialisms or other things that might make his dialogue better, please share.

Frankly, I figured that Luverne looked to be close enough to Northern Florida so that sounding like the guards or Warden in Cool Hand Luke wasn't too far off. Not that I can tell the difference between a Mobile drawl, a Montgomery drawl, a Tallahassee drawl or even the Van Zants in Lynyrd Skynyrd, who are from Jacksonville, FL, and probably sound nothing like real Southerners to locals.

If Taylor's drawl is exaggerated or his diction excessively idiosyncratic, it's because even to other Southern people, Chase Taylor is supposed to sound like the kind of rural redneck who lives way outside of town and eats snakes or squirrel for dinner every night. On the plus side, people who find country good ole' boys with a lazy drawl and friendly grin an attractive stereotype** are probaby on Taylor like kittens on catnip.

Taylor also doesn't swear much***, which I figure might not be as weird for an American as it would be for a modern Icelander, but is still probably pretty rare among military men (or in prison). What would a good Southern Baptist boy who takes his momma's admonishments against bad language seriously say instead of more typical swear-words when he gets heated?

*So much so that Chase Taylor has Distinctive Speech (Alabama Drawl) and Epitome (Southern Redneck), both from GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks, as well as Social Stigma: Uneducated.
**Classic Features (Good Ole' Boy) to go with his Handsome appearance and Charisma +2. Once he's been long enough off the suppressive drug regimen that Onyx Rain had him on in the USDB, I aim to raise that Appearance to Very Handsome.
***Or at all, unless he gets upset enough to start losing his religion.

Originally Posted by Rathbone

Thank you for doing this write-up.

Thank you kindly for your encouragement.