Friday, March 27, 2009
Miskatonic costume
I think I've figured out my costume for Miskatonic Class Reunion 2000. I want to wear all black, and look kind of somber but elegant. I've decided I'm going to wear this little black dress I have, but it doesn't have a back, and I don't want it to look that sexy, so I'm going to wrap my black pashmina around my shoulders. A delicate little necklace that belonged to my grandmother finishes the look, and perhaps diamond stud earrings. If I can get it to look how I want, I plan to wear my hair up. It's a little on the formal side-- by contrast, for Gloria Preston, my MCR character, I wore khaki dress slacks and a silky button-up blouse --but I really like the way it looks and even if I'm a bit overdressed by comparison to other players I think it'll be okay. It's also important to me that I look appreciably different from how I did as Gloria, since I'm playing a different character in a similar situation.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Midsummer review
So Midsummer got reviewed in the Justice this week, and I have to say it's one of the most fair and accurate reviews I've ever seen in a Brandeis paper. The reviewer didn't criticize a single thing we weren't fairly sure ourselves wasn't a good choice, and she also liked a lot of things. She gave the right kind of review-- didn't let us off on things we legitimately failed on, but also gave credit where credit was due. She was very complimentary to Jared and me; pardon me for showing off, but here's an excerpt of the review regarding the two of us:
"The pairing of Jared Hite '10 and Phoebe Roberts '09 as Oberon and Puck, respectively, prove the most interestingaspect of the play. The two demonstratd their chemistry as Lear and Cordelia/the Fool in HTP's King lear, and in this reprise, Hite's penchant for royal command and Roberts's predilection for the uncanny wisdom of the underling succeeded once again. Roberts did particularly well, delivering Puck's final missive with originality and an appropriate level of creepiness. Perhaps the acting talents of the pair were heightened by the fact that they, out of the entire cast, dealt the best with the movement style required of them. Nevertheless, the odd choice to have Roberts rapidly crawl offstage awkwardly offset her otherwise sinuous and effective movements."
I am vey pleased by that, particularly her comment on how Jared and I work well together, both in Midsummer and Lear. I even feel vindicated by that last, only negative part of her comment on us, because, well-- I called it. Don't believe I didn't know that. :-)
"The pairing of Jared Hite '10 and Phoebe Roberts '09 as Oberon and Puck, respectively, prove the most interestingaspect of the play. The two demonstratd their chemistry as Lear and Cordelia/the Fool in HTP's King lear, and in this reprise, Hite's penchant for royal command and Roberts's predilection for the uncanny wisdom of the underling succeeded once again. Roberts did particularly well, delivering Puck's final missive with originality and an appropriate level of creepiness. Perhaps the acting talents of the pair were heightened by the fact that they, out of the entire cast, dealt the best with the movement style required of them. Nevertheless, the odd choice to have Roberts rapidly crawl offstage awkwardly offset her otherwise sinuous and effective movements."
I am vey pleased by that, particularly her comment on how Jared and I work well together, both in Midsummer and Lear. I even feel vindicated by that last, only negative part of her comment on us, because, well-- I called it. Don't believe I didn't know that. :-)
Slammed
If the next two weeks don't kill me, I'll know I can do anything.
Alice character sheets are out. Reactions have been positive so far, though I haven't heard from everyone. Special thanks to Jared for the care he put into casting with me, by which I mean "not letting my tired ass just throw people wherever 'cause I wanted to go sleepy-bye."
I sent out the Oz world bluesheet last night, though with one false start of sending an earlier draft with the same file name that wasn't quite finished. That's fixed now, and hopefully that will tide players over until they get their character sheets. Special thanks to Bernie for helping me with ideas and problems, by which I mean "putting up with my screaming at him for not being able to read my mind and understand my story despite my not having him told it to him."
Paranoia will be casting shortly. We just need a time in our busy schedules when we all can meet. We may have to do it TMA style, and just write down our impressions and compare them. There's a lot of leeway in any given character anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard for players to do what they like with whoever they are.
Jared's parents are coming this weekend. I will at the very least probably being going out to dinner with them and him Friday night. I want to be able to be with them all as often as they want me, but I also need to fit my mountains of work in on my free days.
I also have a Latin midterm this coming Wednesday. When I'm going to have time to study for this, I have no idea.
I am working very hard not panic. I am hoping to use intense planning and scheduling as a means to control my situation and stay on top of it. I have to write sheets, plan out what needs to be printed, format everything, buy supplies, study for Latin, go out with Jared and his family... all in the next week.
Alice character sheets are out. Reactions have been positive so far, though I haven't heard from everyone. Special thanks to Jared for the care he put into casting with me, by which I mean "not letting my tired ass just throw people wherever 'cause I wanted to go sleepy-bye."
I sent out the Oz world bluesheet last night, though with one false start of sending an earlier draft with the same file name that wasn't quite finished. That's fixed now, and hopefully that will tide players over until they get their character sheets. Special thanks to Bernie for helping me with ideas and problems, by which I mean "putting up with my screaming at him for not being able to read my mind and understand my story despite my not having him told it to him."
Paranoia will be casting shortly. We just need a time in our busy schedules when we all can meet. We may have to do it TMA style, and just write down our impressions and compare them. There's a lot of leeway in any given character anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard for players to do what they like with whoever they are.
Jared's parents are coming this weekend. I will at the very least probably being going out to dinner with them and him Friday night. I want to be able to be with them all as often as they want me, but I also need to fit my mountains of work in on my free days.
I also have a Latin midterm this coming Wednesday. When I'm going to have time to study for this, I have no idea.
I am working very hard not panic. I am hoping to use intense planning and scheduling as a means to control my situation and stay on top of it. I have to write sheets, plan out what needs to be printed, format everything, buy supplies, study for Latin, go out with Jared and his family... all in the next week.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Larp writing machine
Now that Midsummer is through, I am set to being a larp writing machine. I plan on sending out Alice sheets shortly, and I am laboring to finish the world bluesheet for Oz. With any luck, that will go out today. The character sheets will then follow. I'm also planning on organizing a casting meeting with my fellow Paranoia GMs. That game doesn't require a lot of advance notice for costuming or pre-game planning, so getting it out by the end of the week would probably be okay.
*Deep breath* Wish me luck.
*Deep breath* Wish me luck.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Two out of three games cast
Well, after a long night and some very serious thinking, Jared and I have cast Alice. This was by far the most difficult casting we've ever had for this game, because lots of people seemed to app for the same handful of characters. But we worked really hard, and I think we gave everyone somebody they will enjoy. I'm very proud of us for the care and attention we devoted to this. I think it will really pay off in players' good times. Heh. At this point, nobody had better fucking drop, or you'll knock down our gorgeous delicate house of cards.
Also, Oz is cast as well. It too had its share of difficulties, including one player whose questionnaire basically said "I have no interest in the sort of things that happen in this game," but that I think I nailed down as well. Fifteen players are easier than twenty-seven, I suppose.
We'll have to get together soon to cast Paranoia. We don't have quite all the questionnaires back, though,
We have our closing of Midsummer this afternoon, to which both mine and Jared's parents are coming. I'll certainly be glad; my blocking, which involves mostly crawling around like a creepy little forest animal, is fun and looks cool but not easy on my body. Yet again, my knees are bruised to hell. It's worse now than it was even when I was Dromio or the Fool.
But as for the lists. When all of that is finished, I will be sending out the castings. If you are in Alice or Oz, expect them tonight, and if you're in Paranoia, they will be coming out soon.
Also, Oz is cast as well. It too had its share of difficulties, including one player whose questionnaire basically said "I have no interest in the sort of things that happen in this game," but that I think I nailed down as well. Fifteen players are easier than twenty-seven, I suppose.
We'll have to get together soon to cast Paranoia. We don't have quite all the questionnaires back, though,
We have our closing of Midsummer this afternoon, to which both mine and Jared's parents are coming. I'll certainly be glad; my blocking, which involves mostly crawling around like a creepy little forest animal, is fun and looks cool but not easy on my body. Yet again, my knees are bruised to hell. It's worse now than it was even when I was Dromio or the Fool.
But as for the lists. When all of that is finished, I will be sending out the castings. If you are in Alice or Oz, expect them tonight, and if you're in Paranoia, they will be coming out soon.
Friday, March 20, 2009
On directing
Due to my recent theatrical experiences and some conversations I've had, I have been musing on what it is to direct a show. Despite all the stress and the enormity of the undertaking, I really enjoyed actually putting together the play, and I think I had some aptitude for it. I certainly learned a lot, and I have come to some conclusions as to what makes a good director.
I have a couple of rules as a director that I settled on based on my experience of director-actor interaction, not just involving myself, but what I have observed of others in that situation as well. The major one for me is that a director tells an actor what to do, not how to do it. The director has to describe what they want the action or the final effect is supposed to be, and the actor is supposed to figure out the way to achieve that. To take away that freedom to interpret, I feel, is to devalue and take agency from the actor. Of course there can be some debate as to whether the actor has legitimately interpreted the instruction, especially if the director does not feel it achieves the desired effect, but the contribution of an actor to a play is not being the puppet through which the director speaks. This ties in to another of my rules, to never ask the actor to imitate you. This I avoided at all costs. I think it's extremely disrespectful to the actor to take away their personal interpretation of your direction by making them basically do what you would do if you were the actor, whether it's a physical action or a way of reading a line. It pisses me off as an actor when this happens to me, so I never want to do it to anyone in a show of mine.
I was a very micromanaging director, I freely admit that. I gave very detailed instruction on pretty much every small aspect of blocking. However, I feel I balanced this level of, well, bossiness, with being completely willing to hear suggestions from the actors and try to come up with something different if something I told them didn't feel right to them. Jared had serious problems with some aspects of my original plan for the final scene of Hamlet, and the scene was very much improved when we addressed them and changed things to make things feel more playable to him. This is the kind of director I personally feel like I do the best work with, and I feel I do the best work as a director in this way.
I think I learned a lot about how to direct by being an actor. It's purely an experiential thing. You learn in the course of being in plays so many things about how a theatrical production should work-- how rehearsals are run, the conventions of stage composition, what sort of direction actors respond best to, all sorts of things like that. You learn what makes a good show in the course of being in shows and seeing what works and what doesn't. Having never really been in any theatrical context besides actor, I don't know what it would be like to enter direction from, say, a techie's perspective, but I know I learned so much about what to do with directing based on being an actor.
Of course, it may be my particular status as an actor that helped me. One thing Frances told me once was that when she was directing, a lot of the time her first instinct was to block scenes and give instructions based on what she would do if it were her playing the role. She found this often did not work because the actor she was giving direction to was not her and did not have the same capabilities as she did, whether it meant their strengths lay in other places, or if it meant they just weren't as strong. Jared also has a knack for figuring out what a performance needs or is missing, but his way of achieving it doesn't necessarily work for actors who don't have his talent.
But Frances and Jared are great actors. I, by contrast, am a good actor, not a great one. And I think that gives me an edge as a director. I am skilled enough that I understand the techniques of giving a good portrayal on the stage, but because I'm not so talented that I don't know how less gifted people have to work. There's a lot of "great athletics make lousy coaches" at work there. I think a great actor has a harder time helping others because they understand acting in terms of drawing on their deeper abilities, and it's hard to figure out how others who don't have those same abilities work.
I am beginning to suspect I may be better suited to directing than acting, and have more potential to be great there.
I have a couple of rules as a director that I settled on based on my experience of director-actor interaction, not just involving myself, but what I have observed of others in that situation as well. The major one for me is that a director tells an actor what to do, not how to do it. The director has to describe what they want the action or the final effect is supposed to be, and the actor is supposed to figure out the way to achieve that. To take away that freedom to interpret, I feel, is to devalue and take agency from the actor. Of course there can be some debate as to whether the actor has legitimately interpreted the instruction, especially if the director does not feel it achieves the desired effect, but the contribution of an actor to a play is not being the puppet through which the director speaks. This ties in to another of my rules, to never ask the actor to imitate you. This I avoided at all costs. I think it's extremely disrespectful to the actor to take away their personal interpretation of your direction by making them basically do what you would do if you were the actor, whether it's a physical action or a way of reading a line. It pisses me off as an actor when this happens to me, so I never want to do it to anyone in a show of mine.
I was a very micromanaging director, I freely admit that. I gave very detailed instruction on pretty much every small aspect of blocking. However, I feel I balanced this level of, well, bossiness, with being completely willing to hear suggestions from the actors and try to come up with something different if something I told them didn't feel right to them. Jared had serious problems with some aspects of my original plan for the final scene of Hamlet, and the scene was very much improved when we addressed them and changed things to make things feel more playable to him. This is the kind of director I personally feel like I do the best work with, and I feel I do the best work as a director in this way.
I think I learned a lot about how to direct by being an actor. It's purely an experiential thing. You learn in the course of being in plays so many things about how a theatrical production should work-- how rehearsals are run, the conventions of stage composition, what sort of direction actors respond best to, all sorts of things like that. You learn what makes a good show in the course of being in shows and seeing what works and what doesn't. Having never really been in any theatrical context besides actor, I don't know what it would be like to enter direction from, say, a techie's perspective, but I know I learned so much about what to do with directing based on being an actor.
Of course, it may be my particular status as an actor that helped me. One thing Frances told me once was that when she was directing, a lot of the time her first instinct was to block scenes and give instructions based on what she would do if it were her playing the role. She found this often did not work because the actor she was giving direction to was not her and did not have the same capabilities as she did, whether it meant their strengths lay in other places, or if it meant they just weren't as strong. Jared also has a knack for figuring out what a performance needs or is missing, but his way of achieving it doesn't necessarily work for actors who don't have his talent.
But Frances and Jared are great actors. I, by contrast, am a good actor, not a great one. And I think that gives me an edge as a director. I am skilled enough that I understand the techniques of giving a good portrayal on the stage, but because I'm not so talented that I don't know how less gifted people have to work. There's a lot of "great athletics make lousy coaches" at work there. I think a great actor has a harder time helping others because they understand acting in terms of drawing on their deeper abilities, and it's hard to figure out how others who don't have those same abilities work.
I am beginning to suspect I may be better suited to directing than acting, and have more potential to be great there.
Midsummer performances
Midsummer is reaching its conclusion this weekend, and I am more pleased with it than I expected to be at this point-- my personal performance in particular. I still feel like I'm just pretending to be the Puck Taylor envisioned, rather than actually feeling it and performing what that feeling would manifest as, but I think I'm successfully representing it at least. After all the stress and upest, Taylor seems pleased with the final product of his show, so I'm glad for that-- one of the things I struggled with most was giving him what he wanted, and it's a good feeling to know I eventually did. Jared was wonderful, as always, and I think the unusual movement demands helped him improve his ability to move onstage He's always been a very strong vocal actor, and this gave him an exercise in becoming a more physical one. Thanks to all the lovely people-- lightgamer, usernamenumber, bronzite, nyren*, contradictacat*, kamianya*, the Daves, and others --who were kind enough to come out and see us. It was very encouraging to hear positive responses after all the stress. I was particularly flattered to hear approval of how inhuman Jared and I looked as fairies. I hope I can keep it up, I'm starting to get worn out on the crawling. My body isn't exactly in pain, but my muscles are getting uncomfortable and weary. I wonder if I can wheedle someone into giving me a massage when this is all over.
Two performances to go. Here's the information if you're interested in seeing it:
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
in the Shapiro Theater at Brandeis University
March 20th, 8PM and March 22nd, 2PM
Come see us if you get the chance!
Two performances to go. Here's the information if you're interested in seeing it:
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
in the Shapiro Theater at Brandeis University
March 20th, 8PM and March 22nd, 2PM
Come see us if you get the chance!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Festival... like, wow...
So Festival signups started a couple nights ago. As you all my know, I'm currently running three games, all of my own or partially my own creation-- Alice, my baby, Oz, my new one, and Paranoia, a collaboration with several friends.
Apparently, Oz was the first game to fill-- it had a waitlist within two minutes. And now that waitlist is up to ten, having at one point had a high of eleven. From what I've heard, were I not packed to the gills for that weekend, I would have enough people for a second game at Festival alone. Additionally, there are eight people waiting on Alice and eight more on Paranoia.
I am flattered, I am pleased, I am terrified.
Okay, I'm not terrified. Alice has proven itself and I know will have a third great run. I am reasonably confident that I am making a very good game in Oz, and that the players will enjoy it very much. Paranoia is coming along nicely and I think we'll all be proud of it. I am a little nervous about how much is left to do for Oz. And a few things for Paranoia on top of it. Though all the questionnaires are out, as is the Paranoia bluesheet. Should work on finishing the one for Oz and get it sent out.
I really, really don't want to be a one-hit wonder.
Thank you all for so much interest in my games, it really makes me feel good. I promise I will be rerunning Oz. As soon after Festival as possible, if need be. It's only a fifteen person game, which is limiting, but also that will make it easier to organize a second run. And if you didn't get in this time, you're among a group of fantastic larpers who will make for a great cast.
Here's hoping I justify that much enthusiasm.
Apparently, Oz was the first game to fill-- it had a waitlist within two minutes. And now that waitlist is up to ten, having at one point had a high of eleven. From what I've heard, were I not packed to the gills for that weekend, I would have enough people for a second game at Festival alone. Additionally, there are eight people waiting on Alice and eight more on Paranoia.
I am flattered, I am pleased, I am terrified.
Okay, I'm not terrified. Alice has proven itself and I know will have a third great run. I am reasonably confident that I am making a very good game in Oz, and that the players will enjoy it very much. Paranoia is coming along nicely and I think we'll all be proud of it. I am a little nervous about how much is left to do for Oz. And a few things for Paranoia on top of it. Though all the questionnaires are out, as is the Paranoia bluesheet. Should work on finishing the one for Oz and get it sent out.
I really, really don't want to be a one-hit wonder.
Thank you all for so much interest in my games, it really makes me feel good. I promise I will be rerunning Oz. As soon after Festival as possible, if need be. It's only a fifteen person game, which is limiting, but also that will make it easier to organize a second run. And if you didn't get in this time, you're among a group of fantastic larpers who will make for a great cast.
Here's hoping I justify that much enthusiasm.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Intercon report
Friday night - All's Well That Ends - This really was an excellent game. It was incredibly thickly plotted, and it seemed like pretty much every character felt like they were important and involved in significant things. I loved the setting, and the way the history was interpreted for dramatic effect. I was Robert Floode, a successful boy actor on the Elizabethan stage, and I very much enjoyed my entanglement in the theater world. Also, I always enjoy having the chance to interact with electric_d_monk, who had the role of Mr. William Shakespeare. I was genuinely cross-cast for the first time, and a role like mine is actually probably better suited to it than most. Additionally, it's games like these that really point out how the management of information can really affect a game. I tend to be an inveterate liar in larps, mostly to manipulate people, but sometimes you manipulate them more by telling the absolute truth. I got a fundamentally honest character to to tell me everything she knew by answering all her questions completely frankly. Amazing how one thing works well in some instances and another works better in others. AJ, the author and GM, is not only an excellent writer but an incredibly charming guy; I'd love to get the materials from him and run it myself here at Brandeis sometime, and from a quick conversation I had with him it seemed like he'd be okay with that.
Saturday morning - Muppet Purgatory - Unfortunately I did not have quite as good a time in this game. It was a horde game in which I was cast as horde, but-- obvious as it may seem --I like being horde in good hordes, I really don't like it in not-so-good hordes. The horde in this game was not written to allow a lot of interaction with other characters, and a lot of the time if someone didn't get the Muppet reference the character was making, either you had no idea how to play it or no one knew how to respond to you. Not my kind of horde. I think the cast characters must have been better, as the cast seemed to being having a lot of fun, but they were also played by some really strong larpers-- oakenguy as Fozzie, Margaret Simkins as Miss Piggy, Jim MacDougal as Gonzo, and the guy I didn't know who played Animal was absolutely amazing. Poor Nomi as Kermit had to run around herding cats trying to get us all out onstage, and Adina and Laura made a really good Statler and Waldorf. I liked the performative aspects of it, when you went out on stage with an act-- I got to play in a D&D game run by Animal, and sing the Internet is For Porn, among other things --but the horde just wasn't strong enough to stand without the context of the presentations. So not a great game, but probably some would have fun with it, and not really the game for me.
Saturday evening - League of Extraordinary Hogwarts Students - I had a blast in this game. I heard reports of Matt and Lise working on this game over the past year and grew progressively more excited for it as time went on that I couldn't not sign up for it. I loved the Victorian pastiche part of it, and they wove it very skillfully into the Harry Potter setting. I was the Cheshire Cat, and got to wear my sexy kitty costume that got more than a few approving looks. ;-) i had enough plot to give me a direction, and then the total freedom to pursue what interested me and stick my nose in other people's business. It was a very interesting character in its function and capabilities, and I loved getting to figure out how to use my situation to my best advantage. I had an ability that was both very powerful and incredibly abuseable, and I surprised myself by how much I used it during the game, but I worked very hard to not screw anybody with it. I followed around the guy who played Auguste Dupin a lot, as well as Marc Blumberg as Professor Moriarty, partly because they had interesting mysteries and partly because they were just fun to interact with. Among those that impressed me were those two, Margaret (as always) as Artemisia Black, the guy who played Watson, and Jared in his incredibly cool character that I ended up having a really fun time with. The one real criticism I had involved the deduction mechanic, which was a great idea and worked well, but there was just so much of it to get done that it tended to eat up a lot of time. I like the concept of it, though, and I'm considering asking if I can adapt it for something in Oz. Heh, as a side note, there was an incredibly cool moment right before the game that I was in my Cheshire Cat costume standing in front of Matt and Eager Mike-- my two Cheshire Cats. I am extremely amused to think that Matt was my original Cheshire Cat, and I was in the first run of his.
Sunday morning I wasn't in any game, but I did watch the second run of GM Space. It ran beautifully yet again, and I am incredibly proud of how strong that horde is. I think everyone who played it enjoyed it, even the players who typically don't like horde games. Socially I felt like I got to talk and hang with a lot of great people. Jared and I chatted a lot with David Cave, who played the March Hare in the second run of Alice, who is trying to finish a larp of his own. It was also great getting to see Marc Blumberg, who impressed the hell out of me as the White Rabbit. I wanted to talk more to Margarat Simkins, but she just kind of got away from me even though we were in two games together. One of the best things was that I got to be with Matt and Lise, who I haven't seen in a really long time and have really missed. They were excellent company, and I want to talk to them more about their game. The dead dog, organized by londo, was very nice. This weekend I also made a point of hanging with bronzite because I haven't seen him in a while, and I wanted to hear about how it was to do Iron GM. His team, I Escaped from Arkham, won the contest, and now I'm very curious about their game. I also chatted with the dude from Mystical Journeys in the black and purple cyberpunk getup, who maintains the fact that he was flirting shamelessly with me is proof positive of how he was not part of his fellow's speculation that my age was fifteen. *Grumble* Stupid Alice pants making me look like a scrawny shapeless kid. It was also really nice to just be able to just be with Jared, hanging with people, playing games, and not worrying quite so much. We both had a bit of con crash afterward, I think because we had to be plunged back into the grind of work and stress, but for the timebeing it was a really nice diversion. He busted out an impression of someone at the dead dog that cracked up those of us still lingering.
So yeah, it sucks to be back to the grind, but overall, good con, and thanks to everyone that helped make it so.
Saturday morning - Muppet Purgatory - Unfortunately I did not have quite as good a time in this game. It was a horde game in which I was cast as horde, but-- obvious as it may seem --I like being horde in good hordes, I really don't like it in not-so-good hordes. The horde in this game was not written to allow a lot of interaction with other characters, and a lot of the time if someone didn't get the Muppet reference the character was making, either you had no idea how to play it or no one knew how to respond to you. Not my kind of horde. I think the cast characters must have been better, as the cast seemed to being having a lot of fun, but they were also played by some really strong larpers-- oakenguy as Fozzie, Margaret Simkins as Miss Piggy, Jim MacDougal as Gonzo, and the guy I didn't know who played Animal was absolutely amazing. Poor Nomi as Kermit had to run around herding cats trying to get us all out onstage, and Adina and Laura made a really good Statler and Waldorf. I liked the performative aspects of it, when you went out on stage with an act-- I got to play in a D&D game run by Animal, and sing the Internet is For Porn, among other things --but the horde just wasn't strong enough to stand without the context of the presentations. So not a great game, but probably some would have fun with it, and not really the game for me.
Saturday evening - League of Extraordinary Hogwarts Students - I had a blast in this game. I heard reports of Matt and Lise working on this game over the past year and grew progressively more excited for it as time went on that I couldn't not sign up for it. I loved the Victorian pastiche part of it, and they wove it very skillfully into the Harry Potter setting. I was the Cheshire Cat, and got to wear my sexy kitty costume that got more than a few approving looks. ;-) i had enough plot to give me a direction, and then the total freedom to pursue what interested me and stick my nose in other people's business. It was a very interesting character in its function and capabilities, and I loved getting to figure out how to use my situation to my best advantage. I had an ability that was both very powerful and incredibly abuseable, and I surprised myself by how much I used it during the game, but I worked very hard to not screw anybody with it. I followed around the guy who played Auguste Dupin a lot, as well as Marc Blumberg as Professor Moriarty, partly because they had interesting mysteries and partly because they were just fun to interact with. Among those that impressed me were those two, Margaret (as always) as Artemisia Black, the guy who played Watson, and Jared in his incredibly cool character that I ended up having a really fun time with. The one real criticism I had involved the deduction mechanic, which was a great idea and worked well, but there was just so much of it to get done that it tended to eat up a lot of time. I like the concept of it, though, and I'm considering asking if I can adapt it for something in Oz. Heh, as a side note, there was an incredibly cool moment right before the game that I was in my Cheshire Cat costume standing in front of Matt and Eager Mike-- my two Cheshire Cats. I am extremely amused to think that Matt was my original Cheshire Cat, and I was in the first run of his.
Sunday morning I wasn't in any game, but I did watch the second run of GM Space. It ran beautifully yet again, and I am incredibly proud of how strong that horde is. I think everyone who played it enjoyed it, even the players who typically don't like horde games. Socially I felt like I got to talk and hang with a lot of great people. Jared and I chatted a lot with David Cave, who played the March Hare in the second run of Alice, who is trying to finish a larp of his own. It was also great getting to see Marc Blumberg, who impressed the hell out of me as the White Rabbit. I wanted to talk more to Margarat Simkins, but she just kind of got away from me even though we were in two games together. One of the best things was that I got to be with Matt and Lise, who I haven't seen in a really long time and have really missed. They were excellent company, and I want to talk to them more about their game. The dead dog, organized by londo, was very nice. This weekend I also made a point of hanging with bronzite because I haven't seen him in a while, and I wanted to hear about how it was to do Iron GM. His team, I Escaped from Arkham, won the contest, and now I'm very curious about their game. I also chatted with the dude from Mystical Journeys in the black and purple cyberpunk getup, who maintains the fact that he was flirting shamelessly with me is proof positive of how he was not part of his fellow's speculation that my age was fifteen. *Grumble* Stupid Alice pants making me look like a scrawny shapeless kid. It was also really nice to just be able to just be with Jared, hanging with people, playing games, and not worrying quite so much. We both had a bit of con crash afterward, I think because we had to be plunged back into the grind of work and stress, but for the timebeing it was a really nice diversion. He busted out an impression of someone at the dead dog that cracked up those of us still lingering.
So yeah, it sucks to be back to the grind, but overall, good con, and thanks to everyone that helped make it so.
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