Intercon

[usernamenumber]

Ok, I guess there's no denying it anymore: I really, really like LARPing. Intercon was an absolute blast. Five four-hour LARPs, one of which was a musical and none of which involved vampires. Well, one of them had a vampire... and we ended up voting him king of the universe, but that's different.

I really hadn't realized how much I missed acting, or how perfectly the "theater style" (prewritten characters, mechanics-light, roleplay-heavy) LARPs met my need for it. I really am a character actor at heart. The more over-the-top the character is the more fun I have with it and over the course of last weekend, I got to play:

• A senile ex Spaghetti Western star
  
• A homicidal, shapeshifting alien going incognito (my first bad guy!)
  
• A flamboyant toreador/duelist named Don Gilberto De Ordonez aka "The Golden Pants"
  
• The King of the Goblins (no relation to David Bowie)
  
• The White King in a game that involved characters from Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and The Matrix.
  

I loved the challenge of coming up with a distinct voice and attitude for each of the characters, even though the voice I used for the Goblin King has left it completely thrashed for the upcoming week of teaching (it involved a great deal of high-pitched shrieking). Going into Intercon I was most worried about whether I'd be able to think on my feet well enough to do a good job with the roles I'd been given, but the community there is fantastic and I got a lot of really great, supportive compliments.

I think the role that got noticed the most was Don Gilberto. This was because

a) He was in the musical LARP and those of you who have heard me sing know that I don't sing softly
b) He had Golden. Pants. (thanks to the wonderfully wonderful penguinkraft who crafted (krafted?) them for me)!

I only got two of my five-or-so songs out over the course of the game, but one of the ones I did get out went:

My pants mean something special
Oh yes they do!
My pants mean many things
to me and you.
My pants can make you happy
when you feel blue
Touch my pants and you'll feel special too!

I am called the Golden Pants
so brave and bold!
My pants are very special.
In my pants you will find solid gold!

Sadly, it was not successful in wooing the woman I sang it to. Well, not too sadly I guess as she turned out to be Gilberto's younger sister in disguise. Whoops.

The Wonderland game was an especially great way to finish off the weekend as I got to just be completely mad for a few hours (having a character with an excuse to sit on the comfiest chair in the room all game also helped). I spent the better part of my time trying to get the Lion and the Unicorn to fight for my amusement. At one point this involved giving the Unicorn a flamingo from the croquet match when she'd lost her sword. =:) Oh, that and trying to get someone to steal the looking glass for me so that the white queen and I could use it to "reflect the blast" should an explosion happen nearby.

So yeah, anyway. Intercon good. I'm already signed up for next year's and, after looking at the list of games I already can't wait. I mean, one's described as "Star Trek meet Gilbert and Sullivan". Teh rock!

Comments

[tacotortoise.livejournal.com]

I believe you mean to say that the pants were made by penguinkraft.

[penguinkraft.livejournal.com]

or perhaps, that they were crafted by penguinkraft

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

D'oh! Korrected.

[penguinkraft.livejournal.com]

sw00t. I'll explain later.

[penguinkraft.livejournal.com]

PS http://www.flickr.com/photos/scriabinfiend/109514625

[choose-again.livejournal.com]

i just want to add my vote that you keep larping, you were so much fun to watch, the people really enjoyed you, and you had so much energy!!! love!

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

There isn't any as far as I can tell. It sounds like their installer was just umm.. a bit overzealous about logging what goes on during the install process. It's definitely an Ubuntu thing, not a Linux thing, so it doesn't affect us a whole lot.

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

The best responses I've seen were at the beginning of that Slashdot thread:

"But Open Source passwords are more secure!"

"Information wants to be free!"

etc. =:)

[csharpmajor.livejournal.com]

AARRRRR!

DA-VARRRRK!

Mars

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

?

Was that an intentional Jason Webley quote, or just coincidental?

These sounds confuse me.

[csharpmajor.livejournal.com]

I have researched your claim. Upon consideration of this new evidence, I hereby conclude that Jason Webley is, indeed, the shit.

Now shake it like a polaroid pictchah!

Mars

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

Hey, cool. I'm glad you're enjoying him. Those are both non-album references, even. Did you see him play or have you been listening to live bootlegs? If you get to see him, he's now doing a song called "No Woman, No Fly", which is the best thing ever.

[drunknfisherman.livejournal.com]

Alas, I must admit to the live bootlegs.

Who could resist a man with long hair and a sweet hat playing accordion, though?

"No Woman, No Fly" sounds like a serious canidate for "Best Thing Ever". I'll have to give it a listen.

Mars

[csharpmajor.livejournal.com]

P.S.: I love the picture of you in the Golden Pants of Flambouyancy (+9).