Alison Drinks Alone

Scene 1: Blake (#1)

Five minutes for a draft beer? Haven't these people ever heard about optimization and scheduling algorithms? No. Definitely not. And they're not the kind of people you could explain them to. Not in the low light, without a projector and some PowerPoint.

Stop. You're doing it again. People skills, Blake. People skills. You need to level up at social. Several times.

Part of the frustration came from your afternoon LARP, Psycho Rollerbladers From Planet Q. Derivative, dull, and more than a bit disparaging to actual rollerbladers, it didn't live up to its blurb.

Besides, you have a game in an hour, so can only stay for a bit. You've heard that Alison has invented this freaky new mechanic for Consensual Pirate Sexy Throne Time Games. Is this something you can steal for your current LARP writing project? You have to admit you're a bit stuck on Galaxies To Go In Search For Home, your science fiction epic LARP. Talking LARP and LARP design with Alison always helps.

Frankly, you're on the fence about Consensual Pirate Sexy Throne Time Games. You've played in most of Alison's games, but there are a few that are based on a best-selling series of fantasy books. You don't do fantasy. There's too much good stuff out there to read, even if you focus on hard science-fiction. It means most of the references and concepts in her LARP will go right over your head. You'll feel stupid. You'll look stupid. Well, more stupid than usual.

How does she do it? Every game she writes gets talked about in the best ways. The games aren't small, either. Sure, you can write a five or ten or even fifteen player LARP in a weekend, with a team. Beyond that, the complexity gets crazy fast, and the time needed grows exponentially. What's her LARP writing secret?

What's Parker doing here? Weren't they told to stay away from the con? It wasn't "stay away, you're banned," just "go away, we don't like you now." Small group politics and cliquish infighting happens everywhere. It shouldn't happen to anyone, let alone Parker. What could Parker have possibly done?

And you're stuck with beer, because the damn bartender wouldn't know port if it reached out and aged nicely under their nose. That will have to be later. There's always port later. Some nice people always bring some good port to share.

So many new people at the convention. So, why can't you find someone nice, for a partner? People skills, probably. It doesn't help that you're a total LARP geek, too.