Mark: I had this urge to write tonight, and a few of us are also inclined to post our thoughts tonight. I'll start, and let others put their two cents in as well. This is going to be stream of thought, so if we seem a little disjointed, understand that while we want to talk, we have nothing specific in mind, this is going to be whatever comes to mind.
To begin with, I've been playing in a friend's Pathfinder game. Well, to be perfectly honest, I share a character with Kit, and we take turns using the character as desired. It really depends on who has the most focus, and what is going on with the game - though character advancement is my decision. My sister, Samantha, is also playing, and she's been enjoying herself.
My friend Scott picked me up a book for Christmas, Night's Black Agents. This is a game system that Kit is not familiar with. I've been going through the book slowly, and even picked up a companion book for it called Mutant City Blues. The game seems interesting, and I have no problem with the rules, so I feel it is time for me to try my hand at game mastering, instead of Kit. This is new for me, but I felt it was time to try to do something.
Part of trying this is using our old city of Trois Portes. Night's Black Agents is a vampire setting, where you are people who have to hunt vampires, once they've discovered you are aware of them. Mutant City Blues is about a world where one in two hundred people have developed superpowers, and you're a member of the police force trying to keep an eye on things.
I've never game mastered before. I've helped with Kit running games, but I'm going to try my best to be the one to do this. We'll see how this works out, because I have time to get things done while Kit runs his D&D campaign.
Samantha: A thing has been kind of gnawing at me for a few months, and I thought I'd talk about my life coming into 2015. As some of you might know, mom had a bit of a falling out with Kit and Cat not too long ago. Well, things are kind of settled, though not resolved. During this time though, Shawn and I tried to talk to mom, to let her know what's been going on. It didn't work very well, because she ignored both of us, and decided to talk to Kit instead of us - even when he had no desire to talk to her.
And that's rude. I've talked to mom from time to time, though she doesn't really seem to notice, but I thought addressing her directly, we could finally talk with each other. I'd e-mailed her, from my own account, in hopes she'd reply to me, but she didn't.
That kind of hurts, actually. It feels like she wants to just dismiss me because she's uncomfortable with facing the fact I exist. This reminds me of something I read a few weeks ago - a trans woman had killed herself, because her parents were putting pressure on her and ignoring who she was. When she was buried, her parents used her male name, and put out an obituary with her as male. Her school addressed her as a male. Effectively, they were all saying they knew her better than she did, and that her views of herself were wrong.
This dismissal pisses me off. And while not as severe as what this woman faced, I feel some parallel to it. I'm here, and I wanted to talk to her. And she effectively ignored my existence, as if who I am and how I feel doesn't matter - it doesn't exist in her world.
I think this is one reason we as a whole can identify with the trans community, and why we're willing to dig in our heels when it comes to arguing in favour of them. While Kit isn't trans - he identifies as male, and in a male body, I guess I would be considered 'trans' in that I'm a woman in a man's body. So, seeing trans women dismissed, derided, and bullied piss me off, and Kit, knowing what I have to live with, is willing to step forward and defend transgender men and women.
So let's see what else I can talk about! Well, in 2014 I talked on a radio show a few times - it was a bit scary doing it, and kind of depressing hearing it. My voice is nothing close to what I want to sound like, and so hearing it on air was .. gah. Still, it was something. The DJ I work with will be coming up in May we hope, so he'll be doing one of his shows up here. He plans to stick around for 3-4 days, and will be showing up at CanGames. That'll be cool.
And hopefully we'll be going to Cape Cod this year, and I hope my boyfriend can make it. It's been about fifteen-sixteen years, and I want to see him. It'd be a nice week, seeing Provincetown, showing him the sites, and getting a chance to relax. We've got another friend who might be coming with us, and I think he'd love it too. My grandparents are awesome, kind folk, and the cottage out in the middle of nowhere is perfect. Trees, ocean beach, and lighthouses, and Provincetown not too far away to visit. I really hope this works out!
