Women of Action

Sometimes the fun in playing an RPG is the chance to really immerse yourself in a totally different world, personality, life situation, etc. There is tremendous fun in escapism. However, there is also something very emotionally satisfying about using the game as a chance to explore actual issues in a safe fictional space. Which is a roundabout way of saying things got real in my VtR game this past Saturday. I threw my players into a situation of non-stop action, and they were more than up to the task. I also couldn’t resist throwing in one of my infamous magnificent bastard NPCs to mess with one of my PCs who, to his credit, took the situation and ran with it. It was a good game.

I am less happy with the DC television universe as of late. They started out strong, but Gotham continues to slide from amusing absurdity to total hot mess. Which is a shame because all the actors on the show are awesome and fun. But the writing is, honestly, just awful. It’s getting painful to watch. It is totally confusing to me that Gotham not only got a back 9, but got a second season, while Constantine, which is far superior, got cut off at 13 episodes and is now in production limbo. No justice in ratings, I suppose. Constantine is my new Firefly.

I’m also disappointed with the female characters on the main DC shows. (I exempt Constantine because Zed is awesome and they have not given in to doing some stupid romance plot with her… yet.) But over on Arrow, Flash, and Gotham, the treatment of the female characters has been incredibly frustrating. With the huge exception of Thea Queen (who probably has the best story arc and character development of ANYONE on any of these shows, male or female), the female characters on these shows seem to be all portrayed as crazy or broken or just under developed. There are characters in these shows that are amazing strong female superheroes in the comics, but then the writers just totally screw them up on screen. Black Canary is dead/a defensive alcoholic who can’t fight worth a damn, Selina Kyle seems to solely exist to be Bruce Wayne’s love interest, Barbara Kane (who I thought was going to totally be Batwoman) is having a nervous breakdown and a super creepy relationship with two teenage girls, Future Poison Ivy is the most amazing example of a lamp character ever, Montoya is just… missing for some reason, and Flash fails the Bechdel test on such an epic level it’s cringe worthy. There are tons more examples, but seriously, I don’t even consider myself a feminist and I find this offensive. Hopefully, iZombie will balance out the scales a bit.

Way over on the side of the spectrum, Harley Quinn #15 was amazing and brought diversity to the DCU on a massive scale. So much girl power. You should be reading this book. And it deserves a Netflix show. It could be like Daredevil meets Orange is the New Black. But only if the writers don’t totally screw it up.

Thing I’m geeking out on: ETSY, but specifically Mythica Metalworks

When I attend a Strategicon, I always make a it a point to visit this one booth in the dealer room that sells these awesome handmade goods from crochet cephalopods to arm warmers to really neat chain mail jewelry. This last trip I acquired a stretchy chain mail bracelet that I love. I love it so much, and have received so many nice comments on it, that I tracked down the maker – Mythica Metalworks – and have requested a few more. You can keep your Tiffany baubles – give me personalized commissioned art pieces any day. Check out her online shop, order some things, she is amazing.

All The Damn Vampires

This Saturday we kicked off the 2014-2015 season of DGS’ Vampire Conclave. I ran the first session of Sunset Cove, which went really well. The first half of the game was mainly character generation and background, with a short role-playing session after, in which our characters all met up for the first time and explored a bit fo the city’s night life. 4 of my players are running characters that are new to the city, while one of them chose to start with trouble right out of the gate by playing the childer of the Seneshal. Lots of drama and player interaction ensued. I have a good feeling about our player mix.

Sunset Cove is my first attempt to run the new Blood & Smoke rules, which is basically the new edition of Vampire the Requiem. I am really enjoying the new rules so far. Many of the Disciplines have been rebalanced, and the character generation system is very similar to the points method we’ve been using out of the Mirrors book. There are also several other changes to the mechanics of the game that seem to be encouraging my players to think more about their characters life and unlife in a more dynamic way, with rewards for achieving goals, maintaining their masquerade, and the introduction of touchstones, which force a player to think about what actually keeps their character grounded in their humanity, rather than have it be another stat on their sheet. The book also had several exercises to use during character generation, to give the characters a richer background and explore how they all might be connected to one another. Most of them will be familiar to anyone who has done improv or taken a creative writing class, which makes sense given that the game is largely about telling a story and improving it out.

In other news, this is our first year of actually having TV shows we are trying to keep up with in real time, instead of just binge watching them after they’ve been cancelled. So far, Gotham has been off to a good start, Supernatural was kind of a snore fest, and Doctor Who makes me want to throw things at the television. We’ll see if Constantine or Hannibal prove to be a weekly treat or a disappointment. I have high hopes for Constantine, but am only cautiously optomistic about Hannibal given how uneven last season was.

You can check out David’s ode to 10 seasons of Supernatural over on Topless Robot here.

I have also been watching David play Shadow of Mordor. So far I think I made the right call of playing passenger, rather than picking up a second copy. The cut scenes and some of the NPCs have been entertaining, but the game play seems to be a mixed bag. My take away as an observer: The mechanics feel very Assassin’s Creed, which is kind of cool, but doesn’t feel very Lord of the Rings to me. A vast majority of the enemies are Orcs. Yes, I know it’s Lord of the Rings, but from an observer standpoint, it gets a little old after awhile. I would like to have seen more variety in bad guys. The main storyline seems really short, and the “open world” very tiny. As far as I can tell, there are only two main maps, with 4 “camps” of Orcs each. Fallout or Skyrim, this is not. So, I give it a “meh”, keeping in mind I’m just following along, not playing. David seems to be enjoying it alright.

#SpookySongOfTheDay Project

4: Concrete Blood – Bloodletting

5: Blade Soundtrack – New Order’s Confusion

6: Lady Gaga – Monster (Hillywood Warm Bodies parody version)

7: The Birthday Massacre – In the Dark

8: Ladytron – Ghosts

9: MC Frontalot – It Is Pitch Dark

Thing I am geeking out on this week:

Espionage Cosmetics – Borderlands Collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A collection of loose pigments and nail wraps in the Borderlands color schemes and iconography. I am really loving this trend of geek-oriented brands headed by geek gals for geek gals. The orders ship on 10/14 (same day Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel drops) so you still have time to get your order in. I have plans for the Vault Hunter pigment already.