Archive | December 12, 2014

The Powers That Be, a continuation of Aunt Family (@kelkyag)

Dec12

First: Visiting the Family
Previous: Still in the Family

Rosaria found herself watching, much as she did with children, much as she had done as a child. She’d angered Evangaline, and she didn’t blame the girl at all for that. They did tend to meddle, the older women in the family. They spent so long being young, chafing under the meddling of those older than them, and then they were old, and found themselves meddling.

The truth was, they had, Rosaria and her peers, grown old with Asta as Aunt. They knew Evangaline was stronger, they knew she was different, and none of them knew what to do about that.

Watching Willard and Evangaline, Rosa was coming to another understanding.

“I’m proud of you.” Willard thumped a hand on Evangaline’s shoulder. “For what that’s worth.”

She grinned at him, a wide and open expression. “I’m pretty proud of me, too.”

“You’re not one that didn’t dodge the bullet, are you?” He smirked about it, the way nobody who lived in the family did – at least not where women Rosaria’s age could see. She remembered – she wondered if her peers remembered – being that age, and sniggering about things when their grannies were away.

“Oh, no.” Eva’s chin lifted. “I’ve known for a long time.”

“I wonder what Asta thought about that, mmm?” Willard’s eyes were twinkling. It had been years since Rosaria had seen him – but it had been decades since she’d seen him smile like that.

“Well, from what she told me…” Evangaline shifted, putting her weight evenly on both feet. “I think she was relieved. She always knew she was a place-holder, you know. She always knew she wasn’t the actual power of the family in her generation.”

Next: https://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1274555.html

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December Meme – Day Eleven (Yesterday) Roll dem bones.

Dec12

(reference: http://gosimpsonic.tumblr.com/post/54091186115/roll-them-bones)

The Meme

Today’s prompt is from [personal profile] thnidu: Rolling the dice.

Oh ho ho I could go so many… okay, two or three ways with this.

The first that comes to mind is the literal. I have, like any good pen-and-paper gamer, a bag full of dice, most of which have more than six sides (I have some D4s because they amused me; I don’t think I’ve ever used them in a game).

The thing is, although I’ve been playing tabletop games on and off since college, and although I learned HOW when the kid down the street ran D&D for me back in high school (My guy friends who had a regular game wouldn’t let me play with them. Seriously), most of my gaming career has been LARPing.

No, not like that movie. Well, maybe a little bit. (Not like the Supernatural episode, either.)

I did World of Darkness (Vampire, Werewolf, Changeling, Mage…) LARP, which wasn’t boffer and was rock-paper-scissors. No dice involved! I tended to describe it, offhandedly, as “I spend my weekends pretending to be a vampire. Or a werewolf.” And it really is just make-believe.

You see, I never outgrew make-believe. Other kids stopped playing with me, but I kept thinking up the stories. Once I found out I could get other people to write stories with me – or read and engage in those stories – I was right back on the playground, having the time of my life.

So rolling the dice comes from, for me, a very similar place as writing. I’m playing in a fictional world, and I love it.

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