Festival close

It's the last day of Festival of the Larps, and I don't have a Sunday game, so I am wandering around various games just hanging out. Jared is busting out his incredible impression by playing Sean Connery in Clue, Impaired. It's pleasant and relaxing. I will go to the dead dog after conwrap and it will be very nice. I had an excellent weekend, particularly in the games on Saturday.

I didn't have a morning game-- the only morning game that interested me was Snaf U, and it filled up immediately, so I was content with getting to sleep in. The first game of the day was the excellent and brilliant Marlowe 2020, easily my favorite game of the weekend. I played to my delight what turned out to be the Hamlet character. I wore the costume from my show and channeled Frances's performance into my roleplaying. It was fantastic. I spent the first part of the game angsty elaborately, yelling, wandering, bemoaning, and generally putting on an antic disposition. The next part of the game was the plotting part-- with the help of my devoted Ophelia, played by the incredible electric_d_monk, I maneuvered, made alliances, and sacrificed to accomplish the all-consuming goal of destroying my uncle. I made a decision partway through the game that i was not going to burn every positive relationship I had the way my literary counterpart does, which lead me to ally closely with Matt instead of pushing him away. i also enjoyed the offbeat dynamic of me playing the man and him playing the woman. Most of the characters in that game are gender-neutral, but I felt it was very important to play Pat as a man. I always say on my casting questionnaires I'm okay with cross-casting, but this is the first time I've ever actually played a man in a larp, and it was only because I chose to. Unfortunately, my nemesis was poisoned before I had the chance to kill him myself, but I did get to shoot his corpse in the face five or six times for consolation. It was so much fun, and the GMs did a fantastic job. They made an elaborate club setting complete with low lighting, music, and food, and added some excellent plot threads that made sure every character feel busy and important. It was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. Matt was also a great partner to work with. He made both the scheming and the romance plot work really well, and of course he's a fantastic larper.

The third and final game I played at Festival was Miskatonic Archeological Expedition run by the esteemable zrealmand Foam Brain Productions. Andrew and his guys, particularly Stephen and Zack, run good games and are always fun to be around. I liked my driven, ambitious character. I do, however, feel like I didn't quite embody the leadership position as well as I could have. I don't feel as if I did much to lead my team, but of course, larpers always have their own agendas-- at least, they should in a good game --so perhaps I wasn't meant to actually so much "take charge" in any practical sense. The "dungeon crawl" aspect of the game kind of got away from me. I didn't want to die or go insane, so I felt like it was best to stay out of the ruins, but at the same time I worry what I missed by staying out. I was nagged by the concern that as a glory-hound I would have wanted to explore the ruins, but so many people came out hurt or possessed by an alien mindworm that perhaps it was the most prudent decision. i really liked working with Patrick, the guy who played my cat, who tends to own whatever game he's in. I don't know how really successful we were in our goal of securing the credit for significant archaeological research, but it was a fun game overall and I liked it. I like any opportunity to wear my nifty fedora. I also enjoyed how so many characters were descendants of characters from actual Lovecraft stories. In fact, in an amusing coincidence, the only Lovecraft story I've ever actually read featured the forebear of Jared's character.

So i am sitting in the room in which Sheena's game Welcome to Sunnyvale is running, typing on a public computer as I observe. This was the second larp i ever played in. The character I played is now being played by rigel, and I'm interested to see what difference is made in the outcome by her being played by an experienced larper, as opposed to an inexperienced one like I was. I made a pretty big mistake in my run, at least inasmuch as it brought about the end of the world. :-) But it was a great deal of fun, and kept me coming back to larping for more.

I'm looking forward to the dead dog. I don't think Jared will be able to come, he feels like he should go home and do work instead. I'll miss him, I've had such a great time with him this weekend. But I think Bernie will end up coming, and all the other fun people I've larped with this weekend, so it should still be nice.

I love Festival. I love larping. I love the people I larp with. Life is good. :-D