D*C List, Part-2

More from Hawk...

List, Part-2: Dragon*Con 2007 Memories, from Hawk

1. You CAN dance with a sword on your back.

2. Only at Evening in Bree does the song "Merry Merry May" = Macarena dancing.

3. Armour is NOT good for dancing--especially full chain mail.

4. Registered nurses, docs and First Responders like to dress up as Elves and Hobbits.

5. People love Carmen Sandiego--and DragonCon-ers want to catch her too!

6. "Munchkins" doesn't just mean characters from Wizard of Oz...its a game, too!

7. The silent ones are the most dangerous.

8. Don't let Hawk near the Pinata.

9. Beware the Harley Quinn with the mallet...or was it the hyenas?

10. James Mamoa looks EXACTLY like his character.

11. Ten pounds of candy is not enough to throw during the parade (30lb per person! )

12. Beware the Stormtroopers-- it might be a star inside!

13. Bohemian Rhaspody in a full elevator = great times!!!

-Chyna

Lists, Part 1

Well, feedback from Dragon*Con has been pretty scarce. I know from the news that it was the absolute biggest crowd ever. I heard 45,000 ... and I heard they're adding a 4th hotel to the convention hosts for next year because of it.

Hawk has sent me a couple of things, stuff she learned from her convention experiences and put into lists. So I figured, hey why not? I'll share them here. I'm sure her DC companions will appreciate them, and future con-goers might get a clue, yeah?

Anyway, here's list-part-1: Regarding Costumes, from Hawk

1. Details can make or break a costume. Makeup is one of the essential details.

2. Half-hearted makeup should be avoided. Put the time into it or don't do it at all.

3. WARNING! If you choose to make it realistic...you might want to warn your friends. Otherwise you'll have them planning revenge for the "scare you give them."

4. Real scars are rarely in a straight line.

5. Body paint looks great...until you sweat.

6. Wings are cool...until you need to fit into an elevator.

7. A dress with a train is regal...until you navigate the lobby of the Hyatt in it.

8. Georgia heat + air conditioning + 30,000 people = essential factors in choosing a costume.

9. Remember, you need to eat. So plan accordingly when you design your costume.

10. Likewise, dependable pockets are a must!

((and Chyna adds this one: Likewise, remember you have to go to the bathroom sometimes too!))

11. Chose a costume that fits your figures--your body, and your pocketbook

12. High heels look cool and will kill your feet.

-Chyna

Another Anniversary

We're a few weeks shy of KTDARPG's 3rd anniversary. The game came into existence on the streets of Fort River on Oct. 17, 2004.

It's been a bumpy ride. Our players created unique, fascinating characters. Some died in the game. Some are still with us. Just like our players--they've come & gone, and we really miss the ones who had to go in a different direction.

The game has changed a lot since those first days. More like the game has grown as the players have grown & gotten more used to role-playing together. We've tried new things; some worked & some were kind of a bust. But still, it was fun!

Hard to imagine 3 years have gone by. In our game, the characters have lived through 8 months of challenges, battles, births, deaths, and dealing with life in general.

So tonight, this is Chyna's tribute to finishing off the 3rd year of a great game with great friends. I'm really looking forward to whatever the new year holds for us.

-Chyna, Game Co-Owner, KTDARPG

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Was anyone else disappointed?

Maybe it was just me. [sigh] But the buzz about "Kid Nation" made a lot of us flashback to "The Tribe" and look forward to this new reality show from CBS. I mean wow--actually taking the no-adults-kids-alone-build-society premise and doing it in real-time.

Did you see it?

Yeah, not exactly what I expected either.

But c'mon, guys. This is TELEVISION. Even more, it's AMERICAN television. Take it one step farther, REALITY television. And this is from the network that brings us "Survivor" every year. Guess I shouldn't have been surprised at the similarities, properly watered down for the 8-15 aged audience.

It started promising enough. Deserted ghost town, 40 kids...the scene where they dumped the pot of totally inedible macaroni in the street was a laugh. But the minute the announcer-dude said there was gonna be a challenge ... yeah. That was it.

They don't have to worry about water or finding food. They've got a well-stocked "soda" saloon along with a general store. Each kid is "paid" according to his status in their "society." There's even a phone locked up in one of the buildings.

So far the most real thing to me was (a) the fact that the oldest guys are looking like the bullies, seeing how they can maneuver over the younger kids, complete with graffiti when nobody's looking; and (b) that when they finished their first challenge, they actually chose a collection of outhouses over 1 television set. Imagine that?

I'll probably keep watching it for a while to see how it develops, but my expectations have been properly lowered. They were out there for 40 days. I think I'm more interested in seeing the last episode, to see who's left standing when the dust clears.

Hey, if you've got an opinion, share it! I'll be more than glad to give you "comment" time right here.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright CBS Broadcasting Inc.

Death & Dying, Tribe-style

Our game has finally calmed down a bit. Honestly there were whole seasons when every time we turned around somebody was dying. Mostly from bloody battles. And it didn't matter if they were insignificant crowd-NPCs or primary characters. Some players were hit pretty hard when characters they knew so well suddenly had their final grave-side scenes.

That got me thinking about "The Tribe." (Yeah, yeah, I know. What else is new, right?)

My overall impression about the show since it ended a few years back was that death wasn't a very big theme. Sure lots of people died but my memory insisted it was pretty sterile & clean, befitting a tv-show meant for kids.

So I strolled back through the dvd's & the season summaries ... boy, was I wrong.

First of all a lot of people died. A lot more than I remembered. Start with the obvious--"Zandra" in season two (blowed up), "Dal" in season three (fell off a building), "Ned" in season four (the "Guardian" got him), and "Pride" in season five (killed by Technos). So how many of just those few had you forgot about? And that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Kids were dying or being killed all over the place. And some of it was actually pretty gross.

Remember one of the early scenes where The Chosen first took over the city & the "Guardian" was threatening "Dani" trying to get her to bow down to him? Yeeeaahhh. I'll never forget when he ordered some of his men to drag somebody upstairs & throw 'em off the roof. Or season one where they found "Spike" floating dead in "Ebony's" pool. (It never did pay to piss that lady off.)

There were a lot more, mostly nameless people dying in fights or electrocuted when the power unexpectedly cut back on & other stuff like that. It was certainly more than I remembered.

But there was one thing worse ... when people disappeared. I really really hate that little tv-technique. If an actor gives you any trouble like wanting a pesky pay raise or a new lightbulb in his dressing room--WHAM! All of a sudden his character disappears in the script. You never ever know what that means! Is he dead? Will he be back? Well that depends...and it really sucks. They teased us with a few scenes of Techno-"Taisan" at the beginning of season 5. And later that season we glimpsed a very grown-up-looking "KC" and a caged "Alice" & the "Guardian." But what about the others? Dammit, what happened to "Bray" 'n "Patsy" 'n "Cloe" 'n "Ved"? Where did "Ryan" wind up? Or "Luke"?

I know, they're all somewhere out there in mythical Tribe-land & we can only speculate.

Hehe...that's ok. Speculating's kinda fun.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

C'mon, guys. We're waiting for it!

Today is Tuesday. Dragon*Con ended yesterday. Those of you who were lucky enough to be there, we're waited for our con-reports. C'mon give! The less fortunate at least want to know about the fun second-hand!

-Chyna

KTDARPG: A Life of Its Own

I'm not sure when orhow it happened. Probably somewhere in 2006, along about game season four. And probably when we found out how much we had invested in our game characters, enough for them to take on lives of their own and essentially grow beyond us.

What started as a small little rp with a handful of people, a tribute to an obscure little tv show from New Zealand called "The Tribe," took us farther than we could've imagined. "Keep The Dream Alive" was pretty much the motto of the show so it became the name of the rp.

We've gone a long way with that title. Through 3 years and a lot of different dreams and into six game seasons now with 61 members/readers/players. In '06 we even had our own mini-Tribe-gathering; rp players meeting up for the first time at Dragon*Con with some surprising results.

Players have come & gone but friendships continue to endure. Our youngest players have sorta grown up with the game. It's fun to see how much their writing & plotting skills have grown through the seasons.

We started with a little concept--a Virus wipes out all the adults leaving the kids to try and survive--and we've made our own world of it.

Ok, yeah, I'm proud of our rp. Our players have given me lots of reasons to be.

So this is sort of an early anniversary shout-out to the players and the characters and the readers and everyone who's been involved with KTDARPG. Thanks for the story. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for your friendship.

-Chyna