Bard Needs Women!

As you may already know, I'll be helping GM Bard of Avalon at WPI, at 1:00 pm this Saturday.

Unfortunately, one of our players will be unable to make it to the con, as it turns out, which leaves open a major role. This role needs to be filled! We're looking for a woman who's comfortable playing a romantic, somewhat naiive character, with a major love plot. Please e-mail the primary GM at cynwakefield[at]gmail[dot]com if you or someone you know might be interested. If you could also cc me at mllelaurel[at]yahoo[dot]com, that'd be great.

I've played in a previous run of Bard, and rank it among the best games I've ever been in. Seriously - it was that good an experience. I'd highly recommend it to Shakespeare buffs and fae affectionados alike. The SFS Live Action Weekend Site offers a more detailed description. (http://sfs.pagodalarp.com/schedules/15)

If you have specific questions, please e-mail me or post 'em here.

In other news

I've registered for next semester's classes. I'll be taking Psychology of Preadolescents and Adolescents, Women's Lives (Sociology), Contemporary Issues in Human Services and the Senior Counseling Practicum.

I'm really looking forward to the practicum, since it's taught by one of my favorite professors and one of the major components of it is going to be roleplaying. Women's Lives also looks really good, especially since it has a non-Western focus.

I know very little about Contemporary Issues, except that it's a core requirement for my major.

I really hope Psychology of Preadolescents and Adolescents focuses more on the adolescents than the pre, since I'm much more interested in teens than kids. With my luck, though...

I'll be taking my final internship and the adjoining class the semester after that. Due to the number of hours I'd need to complete (180), I'd prefer not to be taking other classes at the same time. Also, I'd be preparing for my GREs and looking at grad schools that semester, so I want to do my sanity as many favors as I can.

I guess being a super-senior was unavoidable after I transferred, but I'm getting severely sick of academia. And with grad school being 100% necessary, there's no end in sight. At least I'll only be one class over the projected graduation date.

Meanwhile, this semester, I'm taking three classes: Social Policy; Politics, Psychology and Power; and the internship class.

My advisers kept telling me that Social Policy was going to be a challenge, but I'm just not feeling it. It's interesting and relevant, but I don't find the material remotely difficult or even too high-volume. I guess I'm still on Bennington standards.

Politics, Psychology and Power, on the other hand, scares the shit out of me, in that 'awesome but insane' way. I'm loving every second of it, but I realize that most of my classmates are Poli-Sci or Global Studies majors and I lack the basic political theory knowledge they take for granted. I really, really hope I don't fuck up my final paper. Alas, the professor is currently out for neck surgery (poor guy!), so I can't whimper at him. (Ok, I do think I have a good topic; I'm just paranoid.)

The internship class is useless. There's really not much else I can say about it. Thankfully, my internship is not. I like it a great deal, and I love my supervisor.

Monochrome Factor

I've just finished all the scanlations available on Manga Fox, and now there isn't any more. Wiiiiiibble! I wish I was fluent enough in Japanese that I could go after the raws, but at this point, I've forgotten most of what I did know, and that wasn't much to start with.

I picked up this manga on branchandroot's recommendations, and blew through it in less than three days. She describes it better than I could, so here's her entry: http://branchandroot.dreamwidth.org/906104.html

Why do I love it so? Let's start with the characters.

( Cut for some spoilers )

It's worth mentioning that the scanlators have included some 'gag reel' translations, some of which I find in entirely bad taste, but that really shouldn't be held against the mangaka.

Seriously? Read it! Just be aware that it's coming out at a fairly slow pace. Even so, I think it's worth it.

Monochrome Factor

I've just finished all the scanlations available on Manga Fox, and now there isn't any more. Wiiiiiibble! I wish I was fluent enough in Japanese that I could go after the raws, but at this point, I've forgotten most of what I did know, and that wasn't much to start with.

I picked up this manga on branchandroot's recommendations, and blew through it in less than three days. She describes it better than I could, so here's her entry: http://branchandroot.dreamwidth.org/906104.html

Why do I love it so? Let's start with the characters.

( Cut for some spoilers )

It's worth mentioning that the scanlators have included some 'gag reel' translations, some of which I find in entirely bad taste, but that really shouldn't be held against the mangaka.

Seriously? Read it! Just be aware that it's coming out at a fairly slow pace. Even so, I think it's worth it.

(Incidentally, the links above are at Dreamwidth.)

Resistance is futile

Meme from contradictacat:
Rules:

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

1. What draws you to counseling?
It's hard to describe, exactly, without sounding cheesy and therefore insincere, but I'll try anyway. I want to know how people work, so that I can help them feel better. I want to give people whose lives might have screwed them over someone safe to talk to. If I can provide that place of safety, where my clients can feel like they trust me - and, more importantly, trust themselves - then I think I'll get what I want out of the profession.

Which is not to say I won't burn out, or hit a wall, or find out it's not all sunshine and roses (I already know that, but in a more academic way.) It's even possible I'll find out I suck at the whole thing utterly (I'm aware I'm not the world's most patient person, for instance.)

But I won't know till I try.

2. What is your favorite kind of character to play
I think that what separates my favorite characters from ones who were just ok is that they're the ones who have someone they would walk through fire, die and kill for. There's another character who means more to them than their own well-being. It doesn't have to be a romantic bond, necessarily. In Mary Celeste, for instance, it was my character's child. But it does have to be an intense bond.

To generalize it further, I need, need, need genuine connections in-game. It's ok if said connection forms in-game without precedent (that happened to me in TMA.) But having those connections from the start is the best, and I really can't work too well with a character who lacks the means/desire to form them.

Shallow bonds that pretend to be deep ones also don't work too well. If my character sheet says my character's in love, but there's no history or commonality between her and the other character, it'll just come off as a farce in my head, though I'll do my best to portray it as real. (Translation: no one likes playing "The Girlfriend.")

Some examples of my favorites and their people:
Benny Monday (Project DIANA) --> Everyone. No, seriously. She was that sort of character and I loved her for it.
Lady Acacia (Bard of Avalon) --> Jasmine, her best friend.
Jamie Schreiber (The Last Seder) --> Chris, her best friend/sister figure
Sarah Briggs (The Final Voyage of the Mary Celeste) --> Lizzie, her daughter.
Celeste Alba (Shebopaleileigh) --> Michael, her brother, and Angela, her best friend. Especially Angela.
Valefar (Martha Stewart's Guide to Interdimensional Demon Summoning and Basting a Turkey) --> All her humans, but especially Evangeline.

3. What is your favorite kind of character to read about/watch?
That's a harder one to answer. Let me think... I prefer decisive characters over waffly ones. I do ultimately go for good guys, but prefer said good guys to have a ruthless/pragmatic streak to them. A snarky sense of humor will win me nine times out of ten. Any sense of humor, in fact, is a bonus, and makes me that much more likely to forgive whatever sins the character may have.

I cannot stand characters who moralize, particularly ones who do it in word but not action. It's a serious deal-breaker for me.

To provide some examples:
Heroes (season 1, i.e. before it began to suck): I loved Nathan on first sight and Peter annoyed the shit out of me. I also loved Claire and Hiro pretty much on sight.

Torchwood: Loved Jack (though preferred his characterization on Doctor Who), loved Suzie. Owen was an ass, but his sense of humor redeemed him. Hated season one Gwen, but got to like her in season 2, when she developed a sense of humor and lost the preachiness.

4. What does home mean to you?
Home is where my people are. Bennington was home, then abruptly stopped when all my friends graduated or left. I think Boston will always be home.

Decent heating also doesn't hurt.

5. If you had to pick just one, what's your favorite indulgence?
Sleep. I'd literally go psychotic without it. :)