November 24, 1999
Sleep Is For The Weak And Sickly
After a long hiatus, I finally had a Traditional Brand Conversation (tm) last night/this morning. Now what, you may ask, is a Traditional Brand Conversation (tm)? There are certain protocols that must be followed, certain things that differentiate a Traditional Brand Conversation (tm) from an ordinary Brand conversation.
- The conversation can begin no earlier than 4:00 am, Eastern time.
- The duration of the call should be no less than 3 hours. Two and and a half is the bare minimum.
- The conversation should be meandering, and should cover at least four of the following topics: gaming, mythology, religion, philosophy, current events, books, TV and silly pet and/or family stories.
- Max should either bite me or freak out at least once during the conversation, with Brand's encouragement.
- I should end up the morning by dragging myself to work, sleep-deprived but content. And usually sore from giggling.
Yes okay, all right: I watched the second half of the Buffy/Angel crossover. I have simply three words to say: ANGST, ANGST, ANGST! Damn, but the writers for that show are sadistic. "Hey, Brooding Angsty Guy! You can everything you ever wanted out of life, for one day. Then everything will go back to normal, and you're the only one who'll remember what really happened. Have a nice day!" I was distracted with cooking dinner while I was watching it, otherwise I probably would have been sucked in and started crying at the end. As it was, I was vaguely cynical and rolled my eyes a bit.
I realized, however, how remarkably similar that sort of treatment (from the writers) is to my treatment of most of my role-playing characters, especially Jake. Life isn't complete unless I'm throwing her in front of one metaphorical train or another. Currently, in the game she's on, she's wandering the spirit world with another faerie (a troll), a werewolf, and a spirit guide in the form of a white rabbit, looking for a gate back to Arcadia, the mythical faerie homeland. So far, she's had to watch what she thought was her dead true love fighting a losing battle. If she tried to help him, she would never be able to return to her daughter, and would most likely endanger the rest of the group. So she had to watch him die. Again. Now, granted, putting her through that wasn't my idea, but... what can I say? It was fun.
(All together now: "You have a strange sense of 'fun', Lisa.")
Posted by Lisa at November 24, 1999 12:00 PM
