... I'm writing it down to get it out of my system, and maybe get input form others. I got into a discussion with someone this morning about my character Mary from the Werewolf game I'm in. To say thart they have a less than positive view on the character is being rather mild. There position is that if a person was in the IRA, they're obviously rampaging, babykilling monsters on the same scale as Osama Bin Ladin. My position is that its NEVER that simple.

The other problem I have is that there seems to be a lack of ability to step back and see the difference between fiction and reality. Mary's background IS controversial. Its supposed to be. But its NOT REAL. I don't have a heavy background on the IRA or on the Troubles in general, but I know that not everyone is automatically 'X' for being associated with 'Y'. Whatever 'Y' might be. Fiction is rife with characters that start out as unsympathetic and then 'see the light' or are otherwise redeemed and become heroic. That's the kind of character Mary is supposed to be.

Here is a capsule-version of her origin to try and illustrate my point.

( Mary In Brief; PLEASE READ )

Ah, Werewolf. When run badly, its a mess of powergaming and rugrat-childishness with violence. When run right, its an absolute blast.

The game I and ataramos are in, is the latter. :)

The GM is Mike M. The players and their respective characters are-

Me- Mary O'Riley, a Fianna Ahroun.
Atara- Johanna Bruin 'Relentless Wind', a Get of Fenris Ahroun.
Scott L.- Normally Derek Maus, a Glass Walker Ahroun (Seeing a pattern here?), Currently/temporarily 'Heart of Winter', a Wendigo Philodox.
Amy L.- Lanya (Linn-aa-yah) Roarke, a Black Fury Ahroun.
Scott G.- Will, a White Howler/recovered Black Spiral Dancer Theurge.

Our group is the current Luna's WarBand, a group gathered by Luna's servant Nemesis to basically kick ass and take names against the foes of Gaia. Notably, the WarBand tends to get killed and recreated with distressing frequency...

Our campaign runs for 5 sessions, two weeks apart, then we cycle to one of two other games- either a 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'-inspired Horror campaign, or a Traveller SF game. We just finished the Werewolf series, and will be going to Buffy in about a month- Memorial Day Weekend is throwing us off a bit. The rest of this post is behind a cut, cos it's long, and has much gamer-geekery. ;)

( Mary's Dreams )

Today, ataramos and I will be off roleplaying with the rest of the mob- the game is Werewolf the Apocalypse, and we're gonna kill shit. (grin)

Actually, there is a LOT of roleplaying in our group- no ruggies or powergamers here! I'm prolly the victim du jour today, due to events in game earlier...

I'm expecting it to be a blast. :)

Note- A name was poofed from this entry by the person's request.

Just a 'I'm still here' kinda post. The week has gone well for the most part, starting with the Traveller game on Sunday- The last run before we switch to the next of the three games we alternate between, I received much unearned satisfaction as my character, a Vargr named Deyn, was vindicated in many things when our group of starship skiptracers got sucked into Imperial Intelligence service... Which for Deyn is a dream come true, tho its a bit of a nightmare for some of the other characters. ;)

The next game up, starting on the 19th of this month, is the Werewolf game- I'm WAY looking forward to it. :) We'll play that for 5 runs or so, two weeks apart, then switch to a GURPs Horror game.

Tomorrow, I'm in our DC Heroes/Blood of Heroes game- NOT associated with the above games. Its called 'Vanguard' and is a VERY longstanding campaign world- joshuwain is the GM and creator of the world, of which the current incarnation is the... 10th? I think? In any case, look to his journal and he's got most of the runs posted there in synopsis form- somewhere in my journal I've a run or two described in my own words.

Playing in Vanguard are: Myself (Goblin, A nonhuman vaguely spiderman-like character with limited ability to alter her form), ataramos (Kaya- Capable of controlling kinetic motion, accelerating and decelerating objects in motion, including the air around her), foeclan (Dr. Chimera- A man with enhanced intellect who has been changed to semi-animalistic form by an experimental drug which interacted with the Vanguard agent in his body; he can mimic the ability of any chordate creature that he has had contact with), feezlekhan (Dru- Apparently a form of dryad, she is hyperstrong, capable of flight and projects solar beams as an attack), danshrugs (Poundstone- A Brick's Brick, hyperstrong and tough, and capable of shaping the earth itself) and Mysterian, a bizarre form of occultist who can 'feel' magic and mimic auras.

mirrdae formerly played Mr. Fixit, who was a gadgeteer who had the additional ability to repair almost ANYTHING. He may return to the game. :) kint was also a player briefly (2-3 runs), but left when he moved outstate RL.

As to other things... Life is. I paid bills tonight (OUCH! OO! EE! AAIEE!), and I'm about to make dinner. Sunday I think I'm gonna make my Swedish Meatballs, and indulge in something akin to real cooking. Tonight'll be Hamburger Helper.

Oh- and I found out that Orudis KT (Ketoprofen) gets my hand and neck to stop hurting. Yay!