I consider my wife, Rachel, one of the best things to happen to me in my life. She is smart, funny, beautiful, and she gets me… for the most part. She understands my warped sense of humor, my love of graphic design, and the joy photography brings me. She just couldn’t understand why I enjoyed LARPing so much.
Everything I do seems to tie back into it. I had her modeling for rulebook pictures. I bounced ideas off of her to see what her feeling was on it. For someone who has never LARPed, she has a good insight into things. I blame her addiction to Elder Scrolls. Rachel is artistic, which is extremely helpful to make the game look good. I got her making things for our first event, but she was doing it to be helpful more than out of any real interest for the game.
Despite our team’s years of experience, starting off is always a challenge so I asked Rachel to come along and help. We needed cast badly. To me, it seems that folks in the USA see LARP as a bunch of nerds running around in the woods with bad costumes beating each other with plumbing supplies while shouting “Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!” Those who have actually tried organized LARP see it from a different point of view. They enjoy the creativity and cooperative play that results in lifelong friendships, networking, and a sense of belonging to something bigger.
At Rachel’s first LARP experience she jumped in headfirst playing a variety of roles ranging from roleplaying to combat. I’m not sure she ever stopped going. As always, the event seemed to fly by leaving us on the road home after breaking the event down. Everyone seemed to have a great time. It was on this trip Rachel told me that she could see why I enjoyed this so much. Now she is just as passionate about Myth as I am. She is always making new props. Good costumes, convincing props, and solid storytelling are always important, but it is the people – the friends you make – that make the overall experience what it is. Together, we can laugh at the stories and crazy things that happened once upon a time – the positive memories that keep us coming back for more.
