To go along with my top ten list for this week, here’s an appropriate license plate I spotted around town two years ago.
Author Archive
04
Aug 2020
I find watching good RPG shows to be just as entertaining as produced television shows, if not more. The episodes can be long (some are more than 5 hours), but that just means more time to develop and explore the characters and adventures. I end up falling behind easily, then binging to catch up. Here are some of my favorites in no particular order.
10 RPG Shows I Enjoy
- Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana – This was actually the first RPG show I ever watched, and I was immediately drawn into it, eager for a new episode to launch. All I really knew going in was that it was Wil Wheaton and Hank Green, and that it would be a mix of classic fantasy D&D but in a sci-fi setting. 5 gold and a party!
- Critical Role Campaign 1: Vox Machena – An amazing cast of voice actors and run by a masterful DM, this is widely considered to be one of the best RPG shows ever. We join this campaign in progress, so relationships and stories have already been established and developed, but there are still more than a hundred episodes, one shots, comics, fan art, and an entire world to explore.
- Critical Role Campaign 2 – I have only seen a few episodes of this so far, as I work my way slowly through the more than hundred episodes of new characters and stories but the same, familiar faces I grew to love during Campaign 1.
- Wildcards – Similarly, I’m still making my way through this series. Using the Savage Worlds system, this adventure set in the Deadlands: Reloaded setting. Jordan Caves-Callarman is maybe my favorite GM ever.
- Wildcards: East Texas University (ETU) – I was lucky enough to get to see this campaign from the beginning, and I loved the mix of college life plus supernatural. Being able to craft an episode narrative plus overarching story arc plus university studies/pursuits was magical. And following the study group’s discussions with each other on Twitter between episodes made it feel all the more real.
- Prickly Tallstag and the Danger Seekers, Pears – In-between Wildcard seasons, the cast relaxed with one-shot episodes following the adventures of four over-the-top fantastic stereotyped characters gone wrong. The episodes were zany but so much fun. This is the first RPG show I ever bought merch for, and will proudly wear my Prickly Tallstag and the Danger Seekers, Pears shirt to this day.
- Mysterium – Based on the board game of the same name, Meghan Caves put together this game of psychics investigating the paranormal. It consists of several short arcs with characters played by different cast members at Saving Throw. As I love the game and RPGs, this one was an insta-watch for me, and I was glad it returned for more story arcs.
- Tempting Fate – Using the Fate Core (season 1) and hacks of Lasers & Feelings (season 2 onward) systems, the current episodes are DMed by Rick Budd, who is amazing. I have not seen all of it, but I have watched many of the fandom-specific arcs such as the Breakfast Club, Star Wars, and Into the Spiderverse. My favorite fandoms + amazing RPG fun + talented players = I’m there for it! I might also have a bit of a crush on Sam de Leve, but who doesn’t, really?
- RPG Exploration Society – Another non-regular series, this one uses different systems including pathfinder, Roll for Shoes, and various home brews. Some of the adventures have included adventures in the worlds of Harry Potter, Supernatural, and Ghostbusters. Again, I can’t resist my fandom loves combined with good RPG playing.
- New Pantheon – I have only seen a few episodes of this, but the concept is fascinating and the characters are epic. It’s the stories of ancient gods and goddesses (from various cultures) in modern day society.
24
Jul 2017
This was my first time at ConneXions, and I had a blast! It was a great group of attendees, though light in attendance on Friday and Sunday. I felt extremely lucky to have such a great slash con so close to my home. Still, I got a hotel room so I didn’t have to worry about traveling to and from every day. I was especially glad for this when a panel I suggested and offered to mod was accepted.
23
Jun 2017
Sunday, Day 3:
I got up a few minutes earlier and had no problem getting to the Convention Center by Metro. The headache I had was another story, but it wasn’t too bad. I got in line for Stan Lee by 9am and immediately made friends with the guy behind me in line who happened to be Ace as well. We had some wonderful discussions 🙂 It made the hour and change just fly right by. As the lines started winding around toward the main stage, I ran across another friend of mine.
Even though I could have had a pretty good seat, I sat at the back so I could slip out a little early if needed in order to get in line for Garrett Wang’s Q&A. I even considered skipping Stan Lee, but I’m glad I didn’t. Stan Lee can never die, but he’s definitely getting older, and I didn’t want to miss a chance to see him in person. But Garrett Wang portrayed my favorite character on Star Trek: Voyager. Decisions, decisions! My new line friend advised me to skip out as soon as the Q&A started.
Category: conventions
Tags: angel, buffy, buffy: the vampire slayer, comics, doctor who, marvel, star trek, star trek: voyager Leave a Comment
22
Jun 2017
Saturday, Day 2:
I spent the night driving around dead bodies in the streets and saving my town and my daughter from tiny glowing balls that were trying to invade our bodies. So I woke up exhausted and shaken from my nightmare. But David Tennant was speaking at 10:30, so I got my butt out of bed. I hauled myself to the Metro and arrived at 8am. However, I just missed a train by 3 minutes and had to wait 17 minutes for the next one. Even worse, there was an issue with the trains when I tried to transfer and it was 40 minutes until the next Yellow train I needed arrived. So I didn’t get to the convention center until 9:35, which was when the doors were supposed to open for seating. As I arrived in the registration hall, I heard one of the best quotes of the con from one of the volunteers “David Tennant is by the garage door!” It was only to indicate that’s where the end of the line to see him currently was.
I hurried over to the pretty sizable line that was weaving from one side of the room to the other. I heard my name called and turned to see a friend from grad school I hadn’t seen in over 10 years! It’s great running into people at cons, but I was still in my one track mind of “must get to end of line!” During the next hour, nearly the entire room filled up with the line and, as far as I saw, every one of the 5,000 seats ended up being filled. The line volunteers were amazing, though, packing us all in there and keeping order. They would say things like “Welcome to the line! This is all part of the experience!” and “You’re doing great! You’re almost there!” VIPS got in first. Not including them, I think I was about a third of the way from the front. There was a WHOLE LOT of line behind me; I cannot imagine much of that portion got in.
Category: conventions
Tags: comics, convention, doctor who, harry potter, power rangers, scotland, sense8, star wars, supernatural, torchwood Leave a Comment
21
Jun 2017
Friday, Day 1:
I woke up about an hour later than usual and had a leisurely but efficient breakfast before heading off to the Metro. I began reading Pack Animals (Torchwood #7) by Peter Anghelides on the long ride to the Library of Congress. While walking from the metro station to the LOC building, I passed two women around my age taking photos of a group of people walking across the street, escorted by the police. I have been watching news nonstop for the past two weeks, but I didn’t recognize anyone in the group (and I’ve been watching a lot of news). Looked like it might have been a representative and her congressional aides, but I’ve no clue. Anyway, I got to the Thomas Jefferson Library of Congress Building a little before 11.
The Library of Congress put together a really neat pop-up exhibit only available for a few days, called Library of Awesome. It was filled with parts of the LOC collection, grouped by themes. It was a great reminder that the LOC preserves these parts of culture that are important to fans. The people behind me as we went through the different exhibit rooms were in the most AMAZING Wonder Woman and Black Panther outfits ever. There was also a brave young man in an amazing Fantastic Four outfit. There were so many great comics on display, I couldn’t begin to list them all. But I did take photos of some of my favorites. In one room they had clips from TV shows playing and I walked in just as Buffy was sacrificing herself (feels!), following by a clip of Doctor Who with the Tenth Doctor. It was a surreal to be standing in the largest library in the entire world, watching Buffy and Doctor Who and looking at first appearances of comic book characters in print! There was also a neat letter from Gene Roddenbery to Carl Sagan.
Category: conventions
Tags: captain america, comics, convention, harry potter, marvel, slash, star trek, star wars Leave a Comment
20
Jun 2017
I am exhausted but full of elation after three days at Awesome Con in Washington, DC. I’m not a big fan of huge cons, and this one is definitely a little too big for my comfort zone. I don’t like the feeling of not being able to do and see all of the things I want to do and see. But one of the things I love about big cons is that your experience with the mix of activities you choose to do at one is unique. For example, I’m not into photo ops (ew, I don’t want to see myself) or meeting celebs (I would embarrass the hell out of myself). But I am into panels and into fitting as much as possible into a day.
I started a comprehensive write-up then realized: no, there is too much. Let me sum up…
Highlights included:
- Seeing John Barrowman in a kilt and sporran, talking about the Battle of Culloden and Bonnie Prince Charlie using his full Scottish accent
- Getting to sit inside a Supernatural Impala
- Getting signed art from Karen Hallion
- Attending the Stucky anthology reading
- Seeing Scott Gill in Captain Jack’s greatcoat
- Wanting to as Garrett Wang a question and having him read my mind and answer it for me before the Q&A portion even began
- Seeing so many rare comics, panels, and memorabilia
- Seeing David Tennant, Catherine Tate, John Barrowman, Garrett Wang, Clare Kramer, Stan Lee, Felicia Day, Jason David Frank, and Eliza Dushku in person all in one weekend!
By the numbers:
- 3 days attended
- 11 panels attended
- 8 celebrity Q&As attended
- 21 pieces of art purchased (only 3 are gifts; I have a problem)
- 2 books finished
- 4 DADA business cards bravely handed out
- 3 meals skipped entirely, replaced by protein meal bars
- 7 friends I ran into/came across/spotted
- 33,265 steps taken
- Infinite squees
I will be posting the rest of my adventures one day at a time.
Category: conventions
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29
May 2017
This weekend, I had a wonderful time at CONfabulation, a multi-fandom convention by the people who brought us Wincon. As always, it’s hard to adjust to real life again after several days of being a fangirl at the height of excitement and being uncensored around/among my people. So I thought I’d write it up while the experience is still somewhat fresh.
03
Mar 2017
The Friends of the Arlington Public Library hosted a Muggle Ball last night, and more than a dozen DADA members were in attendance. There was trivia, a costume contest, hors d’oeuvres and desert, themed drinks, a jazz band, and raffle baskets.
18
Nov 2016
I started watching Arrow when it first appeared on television, but my DVR kept filling up and not catching episodes. I ended up rewatching the first season on Netflix but didn’t go back to it when Season 2 came out. Then I learned that the Flash was actually sort of a spin-off from that show’s universe. The idea of missing out on two great, related shows eventually pushed me back to trying again with them. So this Marvel girl took the plunge back in to do things properly. But there’s a whole lot I wish I’d known earlier that would have made this easier for me.
10 Things I Wish I’d Known About DC Shows Before I Started Watching Them
1. Order!
I understood that Flash was a spin-off of sorts from Arrow, so I had to do some research to figure out what order to watch the episodes in. I was surprised to find that it wasn’t just an episode or two I needed to be careful of, but more than a handful of crossover episodes as well as episodes that mention what’s going on in the other show by way of a news report on in the background or an offhand comment someone makes. Luckily, there were some nice people online who have made excellent lists to help us keep it straight. Unfortunately, the lists I was going off of were not quite as comprehensive.
2. Supergirl
I had NO idea that the shows were in the same universe, so imagine my surprise when I’m watching Supergirl and suddenly the Flash shows up and mentions a tiny little spoiler, offhandedly. Gah! All my attempts at watching things in order and then I miss up? Typical.
3. Jesse L. Martin
Why does this guy look so familiar to me? Where do I know him from? It took me until halfway through the first season of the Flash before I finally broke down and IMDBed him. Then I flailed. He played Tom Collins (my second favorite character) in RENT! OF COURSE HE DID! And if someone had told me he was on the show, I would have watched it a hell of a lot sooner (especially if someone had told me there was an episode where he sings–which there is!)
4. Wentworth Miller
OMG How did no one tell me Wentworth is a reoccurring baddie on the Flash? I would have been there in a heartbeat if you’d told me that! So great to see him in such a fun, complex role again.
5. AND Dominic Purcell
And when Wentworth Miller’s character has to team up with another baddie on the show, who appears? Why, Dominic Purcell, of course. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME my favorite Prison Break teamup was alive and well in the DC tv universe? This is EPIC to me! I’ve loved Dominic’s acting since John Doe and Wentworth’s since Dinotopia, but seeing them together again like this is so great.
6. Legends of Tomorrow
Wait, SERIOUSLY?! I must be way too stuck in the Marvel ‘verse lately, because this show didn’t even get onto my radar. I had no idea it was another spin-off and certainly didn’t know that both Wentworth and Dominic were part of the main cast. The most amazing moment came several episodes in when Dominic’s character is in a Russian Gulag and Wentworth’s character turns to his teammates and actually says “This isn’t my first Prison Break.” I might have actually screamed. Unfortunately, I didn’t pick Legends of Tomorrow up at the right time in the timeline either, so everything’s all wonky in my head until I get to the end of Season 1, I expect.
7. Vixen
Another spin-off to keep track of?
8. Constantine
Okay, I am thrilled at the attempt to make everything all fit in the same universe. But I haven’t watched any of those episodes on my DVR yet and when Constantine shows up on Arrow multiple times I was angry at myself for not having done so. I wish I’d known to watch those!
9. Tone Differences
For two shows in the same universe, Arrow & The Flash have vastly different tones. Arrow is so dark and angsty and The Flash is much lighter (though definitely has a lot of darkness deep down that’s masked by the humor). I wish I had been prepared for that when I needed to bounce back and forth from one to the other. The contrast was sometimes hard to take if I was intensely into the feel of one show and then had to move to the other for an episode or two.
10. To Not Wait
I wish someone had just forced me to give the shows more of a chance, then I wouldn’t have had to play catch-up the way I did. After Season 1 of Arrow, I really wasn’t sure if the shows were for me. But I should have known to keep at it for the sake of more John Barrowman, if nothing else. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to enjoy this goodness.
Category: top ten, tv show
Tags: arrow, dc, dinotopia, legends of tomorrow, prison break, RENT, supergirl, the flash, top ten, tv One Comment
