I Am a Childe of Caine

Parody Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Original Lyrics: Naomi Ward Randal and Darwin Wolford (I Am a Child of G-d)
Original Tune: Mildred Tanner Pettit (I Am a Child of G-d)

I am a Childe of Caine
And he has made me here,
Has given me an eternal quest
With powers strong and queer.
Keep me, drive me, chase behind me,
Teach me all the rites.
Drill me in all I must do
To be as strong some night.

I am a Childe of Caine
And so my Beast is great;
Help me to comprehend this news
Before it grows to late.
Keep me, drive me, chase behind me,
Teach me all the rites.
Drill me in all I must do
To be as strong some night.

I am a Childe of Caine.
Rich vitae is in store;
If I but learn to hunt my prey,
I’ll live for all time more.
Keep me, drive me, chase behind me,
Teach me all the rites.
Drill me in all I must do
To be as strong some night.

I am a Childe of Caine.
I commit for sure;
Eternal glory shall be ours
If my pack can endure.
Keep me, drive me, chase behind me,
Teach me all the rites.
Drill me in all I must do
To be as strong some night

NOTE: This is from the perspective of the Sabbat in Vampire: the Masquerade. It's the first filk I have ever entered into a writing contest and it won the first prize in the parody category. This was at CONduit 21.

Another Scion RPG Filk

Called to Action
Parody Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Original Lyrics: Grace Gordon (Called to Serve)
Original Music: Adam Geibel (Called to Serve)

Called to action, break the bonds of chattle
Chosen e’er to struggle against retreat,
Far and wide we fight the holy battle,
Far and wide our foes defeat.

Forward, pressing forward, as we battle for our homes;
Forward, pressing forward, as we battle for our homes;
Beyond, ever beyond, as clam’ring battle rings
Worship our power; thrust beyond ever,
Called to fight our war.

Called to guide the people of this the world-
Sons and daughters, children of the gods-
Strong of soul, fury and vigor hurled,
Triumph against all the odds.

NOTES: Filk song inspired by the Scion RPG.

Scion RPG Filk

I’ll Be a Weapon
Parody Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Original Lyrics: Nellie Talbot (I’ll Be a Sunbeam)
Original Music: Edwin O. Excell (I’ll Be a Sunbeam)

Amun wants me for a weapon,
To kill for him each foe;
In ev-ry way try to kill them,
In shine, in rain, in snow.

A weapon a weapon,
Amun wants me for a weapon.
A weapon a weapon,
I’ll be a weapon for him.

Amun wants me to be cunning
And kill all foes I see,
Showing how rapid and ready
His righteous wrath can be.

A weapon a weapon,
Amun wants me for a weapon.
A weapon a weapon,
I’ll be a weapon for him.


NOTE: This was inspired by my Scion RPG sniper, child of Amun-Ra, player character.

This Week's Convention

Despite what my previous rant may have made you think, I truly do participate and help improve our local convention. I have been a part of the CONduit family for a very long time. We're just going through a dysfunctional period and I'm trying to decided whether to move out of the house into my own place or help the family work on the existing house.

I plan on dressing in costume for at least all day Saturday. Friday is a maybe on the costume front and Sunday is a definite no on costuming. Sunday is my sloppy shorts and nerd t-shirt day due to lack of sleep. I'll be bringing my laptop and dice, that way I can drop in on any game that may appeal to me.

The Camarilla and UFO will have hall tables. The Camarilla will be selling the usual awesome buttons and NEW this year are hand crocheted, stuffed Chtulhus of various sizes and colors. UFO will be selling the group's CD, UFO: First Contact. Please buy from both groups. The money helps pay for the clubs' activities. Come say hi to me, I will be sitting off and on at both tables throughout the weekend.

Here is my official panel/events list for CONduit. These are just the ones where I am officially listed. It looks like the bulk of my stuff is on Friday. I will do my best to not fall asleep during the Sunday one, as I doubt I will be sleeping much Saturday night due to the all night filk on Saturday.

Friday
Noon: Convention Etiquette 101
4pm: Why to join a fan club. You start your new job. What happens when your co-workers find out that you are a Lt. Commander on the USS Tsunami or that you are an Honorable Lady in the SCA? What you could say could frighten them off or introduce them as possible new members to your organization.
5pm: Archaeology in SF media
9pm: Filk Showcase as part of the UFO Chorus
10pm: Late Night Filking/Hymnal Filk Never been to a Filksing? Come try it out! We’ll be here late! (2:00am) We will start the evening off with a sing along and then move to a poker chip-bardic circle. Hymnals included!

Saturday
6pm: Bad fairy! You're NOT a Vampire! How recent books and media have warped Vampires into fairies and love interests.
8pmish: Halftime Masquerade Show as part of the UFO Chorus

Sunday
11am: A day in the life of an ancient Egyptian

The only way to make things the way you want them to be is to make an effort at doing so. Show up to CONduit. Enter suggestions on the comments cards. Go to the praise and gripe panel on Sunday. Tell them where they went wrong or right. Let them know what fandom really thinks, not just what they think it should think.

CONduit and My Future

Other than our local general SF con, CONduit, I really only went to gaming specific conventions (Camarilla or GENcon) and the San Diego Comicon. Having dropped the Camarilla as an option, I've been using that money and time for filk and general SF cons. I never knew what I was missing, until I started doing that. Other conventions are so vibrant and active!

CONduit is slowly killing itself. They are aiming more solidly at being an writers' con and less at being a fan's con. This is fine, but they need to stop billing themselves as a general SF con. Perhaps a weekend long SF oriented writers' workshop might be better.

As a reader, I love literature. It isn't automatically a superior art form. Excellent, thought provoking stories are exhibited on the written page, in film and in music. They are all equally valid art forms. The people who create such things are not equally valid. Self-published does not automatically make one an author. Ask most fan fiction writes about that one. Self-published lands you in the same category as self-made films. Some of these things take off, most do not. The self-published, local author should not automatically be treated any better than the self-produced local filmmaker or the self-produced local musician.

When I first started attending CONduit there was a vibrant fan club scene, hall costumes were the norm, gaming was active and all over the con space, the dealer's room was full of interesting offerings, and filk was a cherished part of the convention. Over the years the fan clubs have been driven or dropped out. Gaming and filk are usually treated like the convention's red headed step children. Hall costumes are the exception, not the rule... and they are frequently the same ones you saw the year before.

The general age of attendees is getting older. The only young people regularly seen are the children or grandchildren of older attendees. Also, the majority of the organizing committee comes from a very specific cultural group. The majority of the Salt Lake Valley and Salt Lake Valley Fandom are no longer a part of that cultural group. This shift in population has yet to be truly dealt with by the convention.

The younger people are leaving town for other conventions or saving their money for conventions at other times of the year. The conventions they attend are ones where they can actually party (Yes, this sometimes means booze.), cosplay in the halls (Yikes, racier clothing than is accepted in a G rated film!), and see the things that they are truly interested in. The young people are much more interested in media than they are into literature. Think movies, anime, video games, tv shows, etc.

How this year's CONduit goes will determine if I join the younger people. Do I really have fun, or am I just going through the motions. If I find that I'm just going through the motions, I will spend my money elsewhere. Voting with my voice has rarely worked, so I will vote with my feet and my dollars.

Scion RPG Microfilk

I am a Child of Ra
Parody Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Original Lyrics: Naomi Ward Randal and Darwin Wolford (I Am a Child of God)
Original Tune: Mildred Tanner Pettit (I Am a Child of God)

I am a child of Ra,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me this magic gun
With bullets strong with fear.
Lead me, sight me, missile guide me,
Help me find the foe.
Show me who that I must kill
To be with him aglow.

This was inspired by a post game conversation about Scion RPG character concepts. When I expressed interest in playing a scion of Ra who was a Mossad sniper, one of my friends piped up with "I am a Child of Ra." This popped into my head just about whole cloth as I was crawling into bed after.

Fitting In or Not

Finding a group that works for you involves more than just finding fellow nerds who love to roll dice and play pretend. Once you've gone to the effort of finding a group, you then need to find out if it's a group that you can enjoy spending time with.

Don't base your decision to join a group exclusively on their game choice. All role-playing games can be taken in any direction that the group desires. What the publisher intends does flavor the game, but this expectation ends once a group rolls up their characters. If a group really wants to, they can run a hack and slash monster of the week Vampire: the Masquerade game. They could also run a politics heavy Dungeons and Dragons game that's more dependent on the player's interaction than dice.

Don't base your decision to join a group exclusively on them being your friends outside of game. When looking at joining a gaming group, you may want to sit in on a session or two. You may find your style conflicts with the group's. You may also find that the group's play style doesn't necessarily conflict with yours, but may overwhelm yours. Nobody should ever lose their friends over a game.

If you enjoy a good bawdy tale of sex, drugs and rock-n-roll and the rest of the group blushes at the word "crap," it may not be the group for you. When you are disastrously socially awkward and the rest of the game enjoys confrontational party role-play, it will just be stressful for you. You will find yourself sidelined if you prefer subtle, almost internal role-play, and the rest of the group tends towards the loud, active, expression of character. Should the rest of the group enjoy involved (to the point of taking time outside of game) intellectual exercises and you want nothing more than a beer and pretzels adventure, you will find nothing but frustration.

No group will ever be a perfect fit and nobody will have fun at all times. There are always compromises in a group dynamic. Everyone will have some give and take. The key is to not be selfish. The entire group cannot be expected to completely change to fit the needs of one player.