Friday

A quiet night with a troupe game in Orange County. I’ve never played a political character and decided to give it a try. The real joy was watching play her Malkavian. “Good night, Edward.” A subtle character that most people dismiss… their loss. Good game, low key, lots of fun playing a Southern Gentleman Ventrue with antiquated notions of equality.

Saturday

Tough game, tough night. The OWBN game demanded a lot out of me. I had fun, people wrote me all weekend about it, so I think I pulled it off.

Only one problem. I set up the relationship with Marcus and his daughters as something very emotional and powerful. Maybe a little too powerful. When the movie makes you cry, you step out of the theater or hit the pause button. When the book makes you cry, you put it down and come back to it when you’re ready. When the roleplaying game you’re in hits you so hard, you break down, what can do you do? You step aside and get out of that reality until you’re ready. That’s what happened. And I have mixed feelings about getting a friend of mine involved in a storyline that was right out of my Play Dirty book of tricks.

Yes, I made something so powerful and so evocative, it broke her heart. And for that, I’m proud I was able to get an emotional response from someone with characters who don’t exist.

On the other hand, I broke her heart.

So, I guess the lesson is this: the power of stories is something that should be used for good. In the end, she survived. But, when she was shivering in my arms, her head buried in my chest, tears pouring down my chest, I didn’t feel like a storyteller. I felt like a heel.

She’s coming back to the game. And Grace won’t be the same. She’ll never be the same.

Metamorphosis.

Sunday

Easter with my parents. My dad going into surgery again on Monday. (He’s out. It’s okay. He feels better now. Thanks.) Hanging out, watching golf. Some guy won the Masters that made my dad smile.

I don’t have much more time with my parents. I spend as much as I can.