For the love of fantasy

Two years after my first larp event, I got married. October 13th was chosen for one very important reason. Okay two. My husband wanted Halloween, but one of his best friends nixed that idea as they'd had other friends who'd married on that day and then split up. So he liked the idea of 31 -> 13. But my reason for the 13th was because it also commemorated when I met him. Almost exactly.

Remember that fey lord I mentioned on Monday? That was him. So you could say I met my husband on the day he got married. Har har har. Okay, so it's a lame joke growing older every year. Tough. ;D

I didn't talk to him at all that event. He was kept busy by the plot team, but he was memorable. Kinda hard to forget the sight of a big guy in a kilt, especially when he's part of the main plot. But I hadn't really taken any "special" notice of him.

However, he and his buddy, the mage who'd been so surprised during our introduction, had certainly noticed and remembered me. When I posted on the Pigeon Coop, the out-of-game forum for our NERO chapter, about how much I'd enjoyed my first event and was grateful to everyone who'd made it so much fun, the two of them responded by trying to lure me to the Halloween event at a nearby chapter. (I still have a printout of those postings somewhere.)

After the luring part, there was a series of postscripts, the first two being my favorite considering my relationship to them now. Chris is my hubby; J is one of our best friends.

P.S. Chris thinks you're cute. So do I. -J
P.P.S. J wrote this, not me. -Chris

Adorable, right? A very nice boost to my ego, but I didn't make it to the event; I was committed to a conference that same weekend for my fraternity. (a co-ed service frat) In some ways, I regret that I didn't skip the conference, especially since, when I got there, I found out the money hadn't been sent in ahead of time. My frat brother still had it and turned it in when we arrived. (I was so mad at him that I got even by hooking up with friends from the National convention the previous year, instead of staying where he'd arranged. He was miffed, but that's what he deserved for not telling me he still had my check; he knew I'd changed my mind about wanting to go.)

Perhaps if I had skipped out and gone to the larp event instead, I might have hooked up with my hubby sooner. The conference was good, but the stories from the event were better. Werewolves and vampires and succubi, oh my! And the Charlie's Angels pose and the "stopping a troll charge with a Detect Magic spell." Sigh. The things I missed. I'll get Chris to tell you a couple of the stories sometime. So funny.

As it was, I got to know J pretty well, before I had a chance to know Chris. J had just moved nearby, so I saw him every week for D&D. He was very easy to talk to, even promised that if I wasn't married by the time my 10-year high school reunion came around, he would be my date. (For some reason, I was worried about that. ;) ) I even had a bit of a crush on him for awhile. In fact, Chris had once thought that because I'd met J first, he didn't have a chance. Shows that sometimes you have a better chance than you give yourself credit for.

Once I did start getting interested in Chris several months later, J helped foster our growing friendship. He even gave me a sprig of mistletoe in encouragement. He was delighted that two of his best friends were hooking up with each other and stood as groomsman at our wedding, though in a kilt rather than the mage robes.

Chris's college gaming friends weren't sure what to make of me at first. They are protective of each other, so when he started making trips to see me, they didn't know whether they should be glad for him, especially considering his previous relationship. Their first picture of me wasn't much help. Haha. Oh, the infamous "duct tape picture." I swear that's just shiny ribbon above the ruffle. He did not tape my legs together to keep me from running away. Honest. Hehe. (Aren't we cute?)



From the first meeting, one of their gaming nights, they welcomed me. It took awhile before I was comfortable calling them "our" friends rather than "his" friends, but that was because I needed convincing that they were serious about me being one of them rather than a hanger-on. Wonderful people.

Though my life has been no fairy tale, fantasy has brought me to my greatest treasures. God bless the dreamers.