lkh_lashouts | LKH, Gamer Girl

LKH wrote something today about Gary Gygax's death and what D & D had meant to her. Okay, I game. I have no problem with this. But she got some choice lines in there, which I had to comment on. Laurell's in bold, I'm in plain.

I was having one of those days yesterday where you question why you aren't out there researching a cure for cancer, solving real murders, or trying to find a solution for the middle eastern violence.

I can only say that I hope she's joking. I mean, I know why I'm not out there doing these things. I'm not trained in science, microbiology, radiology or medicine; I'm not a cop or a private investigator, and, aside from not being an expert on any country in the area, I'm neither a politician nor a diplomat. Oh, and LKH...it's "Middle Eastern violence." Proper nouns need to be capitalized, remember.

Then I heard about Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons and Dragons, dieing at the age of 69.

That's "dying." I suppose I should be glad that you didn't spell it "dyeing."

First, I was surprised that he was close to 70, that seemed wrong, somehow, that the ultimate gamer had grown old.

So he got older. That's better than not getting older and staying the same age, isn't it? There's only one way to do that without lying, and that's dying.

Then she starts talking about D & D. Okay, playing D & D was important to me too. But she has to make gaming holy:

It was damn near a conversion experience, I don't mean religion, but that moment that you find something that just fills up a piece of you that was empty before.

Okay, I could get that, though I think she's being hyperbolic, but then she goes on...

There is certainly a God, or Goddess, shaped hole in each of us. (All you atheists out there just puzzle me, so sorry.)

Well, speaking as an agnostic, let me just say that I don't feel any God- or Goddess-shaped hole in me at all. People have been trying to tell me since I was twelve that everyone feels a need for [fill-in-the-blank-Deity/religion/spiritual belief of choice]. At this point, I'm quite sick of having such people tell me that my lack of religious experience or need is invalid simply because it doesn't conform to their theory. And yes, Laurell, this does include you.

SNIP! as she then talks about gaming, making friends and having a place to belong. She doesn't seem to realize that D & D is a sign of geek cred, rather than edginess--but no matter, I can relate. But then she gets started on books vs. gaming.

...we adventured together to the kind of places we could only read about in books.

I'm with her so far.

The reading was great, and most of the gamers I knew were voracious readers,

Agreed and agreed.

but reading is a solitary act,

*puzzled* Isn't this like saying that water is wet?

and D & D let us do out loud in a group what was usually private and alone.

I'm pretty sure that I never had to make a saving throw after the villain attacked in a book. Or had to roll up a character sheet, either.

D & D is the bookworm's triathlon.

I...you know, I can't even translate that into English.

My first book NIGHTSEER, grew out of a campaign I Dungeon Mastered (I know it's Game Master now, but I'm old school and it will always be DM, to me). Alright the book grew out of my frustration with my gaming group. They just wouldn't cooperate in this great world I'd created for them.

LKH: Darn those gamers and their free will! How dare they not do what I want them to do!

I looked up the book Nightseer and found a review of it. Basically, it's about Keleios, who is...*takes a deep breath*...an herb witch-journeyman sorcerer-enchantress-halfelven princess who is a trained fighter and a survivor of demonic torture. She's only twenty-one, but she's lived a very full life. Oh, and there's a dark sorcerer who wants to screw her, and some nominal relatives of hers who want to kill her. I don't blame them. I'd like to kill Princess Sparklypoo myself.

Finally one of the guys said, "Fine, then go write it as a book, and stop trying to use it as a campaign."

I wish I knew this guy's name. Obviously we can blame him for LKH's entire career.

My grandmother hated that I played. She didn't think it was a suitable occupation for a girl.

Granny would have much preferred that LKH do something useful, like solving real murders or finding a solution to the problems in the Mideast.

Years later when my first book came out and it was magic, elves, and dragons, she apologized to me. "How was I supposed to know it would be so important to you?"

Laurell? "Well, how was I supposed to know...?" is not an apology. It's a justification for previous behavior.

The apology was nice to hear, and if you knew my grandmother, you'd value it for the truly rare moment it was.

Yeah, I'd say that a nonexistent apology counts as rare, all right.

I went to a Christian college, because it was the only one close enough to home for me to commute. But on the campus you didn't dare confess to reading fantasy or science fiction and playing D & D was considered Satanic worship. No, really, no joke, I had that said to my face.

So did I, and I went to Catholic schools from seventh grade on. What's your point? That you didn't have the guts to contradict people when they criticized/attacked something you loved?

So all of us that gamed kept it pretty quiet, just safer that way.

Why? Were the teachers of Marion going to burn the sci-fi fans and the gamers at the stake if they dared to contradict the ignorant?

At least this explains why LKH thinks that she's so darkity dark and edgy, though. She evidently heard so often at her evangelical college that she was dark and Satanic that now she believes it.

My first husband and I fell in love partially because we both played. I still remember the day we admitted to each other that we were both "evil" and played D & D.

I swoon from the sheer horror.

SNIP!

Do I game now? No. I've tried, but whatever part of the mind is used and happy during gaming, is the same part that writes for me.

Gee, it must be nice to have a part of your mind that writes for you--sort of like having a brownie who does your housework.

SNIP!

Jon and I tried to game together, but I've grown too cautious. I'm the person who carries that extra twenty feet of rope, and a host of poles, so I can tie it all together and poke at things.

Or have the poles poke ~~Anita~~ ~~Merry~~ ~~you~~ all of the above.

My longest living character, Sidon the Cautious, well, I chose the Sidon part, but my high school gaming group chose the latter.

A) That's "longest-lived."
B) Wait, didn't she just say that she'd GROWN too cautious? And now she's saying that she was cautious even back in high school when she started playing? Is anyone else seeing a discrepancy here?
C) Her longest living character, Sidon the Cautious...what? Is there a predicate in there? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

SNIP!

So on the day when I was wondering if what I did for a living actually mattered, I was reminded how much what Gary Gygax created meant to me.

Of course, whether D & D means something to her does not necessarily mean that her writing matters. Or, in fact, that the two have anything to do with each other.

Is it an exaggeration to say that I found my career, my first love, and good friends through D & D? Maybe, but if it's not absolutely true, then it's close, so thank you Gary Gygax.

Close to true? So basically...NOT true?