Phil Brucato atttacked me over me not agreeing with culture appropriateion. I no longer feel welcome in Mage.

I might be slow responding today for I am quite frankly devestated. I love Mage, the game have been such an important part of my life since I was 16. My first date with my husband was spend playing this game and World of Darkness games made me come out of my shell made me go to cons on my own made me want to be independant and are probably the reason I am married today, living on my own. These games are so important to me, which means that when Phil Brucato attacks me and threathen to ban me for not agreeing in his view on culture apropriation it hurt so much I do not know how to continue playing. Earlier World of Darkness games where inclusive, they are not inclusive anymore, the only ones that are allowed to take part in them are the absolute extreme left.

It is not good enough that I want equality for everyone and believe that where such equality are not found steps have to be taken to remedy it. It is not enough I believe sexual orinetation, gender, gender identity, skin color, religious believes any of that, that I believe it do not matter and should not matter, that what matters are what a person say or do. It do not matter that I try to live my life as a good person and I try to make the world just a little better around me, none of that is enough, what makes me the fucking devil is that I do not think it is wrong to mix religious practices and I do not think it is wrong for a white person to eat Chinese food, wear a kinomo, practice Hoodoo, wear dreadlocks or dance bellydance. I do not believe that being inspired by or using elements from another culture is wrong even if I have the horrible audacity to be born white.

And this is not the first time. I was called cruel and a horrible person on the Mage group of Facebook for saying I see nothing wrong with a white person smuding their own healing crystals, that I harm no one with what I do to practice my religion in my own fucking home, and Brucato told me to get the hell out of the discussion or I would be banned and more or less prasied the one who attacked me.

The is the problem with the SJWs, no other opinion are allowed, it is not about justice, it is not about equality it is about having 100 percent the same opinions and I feel so disapointed, betrayed and just hopeless. I mean I should have understood this is the way it went when a guy who really had exactly the same opinions as me was told by Brucato he did not deserve to play Mage, yeah for saying he wanted everyone to be equal and have equal rights but he did not agree with the culture appropriation bullshit was enough that the author told him that if it was up to him he would not be allowed to play the game, because he disagreed about 5 percent with the SJWs.

I do not feel welcome to play Mage anymore. I have the wrong political views. I mean I am Hitler I think that gasp everyone should be allowed to practice whatever spiritual systems they bloody well please regardless of their skin color, and I have the audacity of claiming it is racist when it is seen as completely ok for a black person to practice Norweegian folk magic but I am a racist if I practice Hoodoo. Can you not see how me using Mudras to deal with my hormone problem makes me the same as a KKK member. I am tired of the SJW bullshit that is taking over the World of Darkness fandom, it is driving pepole away and they just do not care.

So yeah I will continue playing but I just do not feel welcome in the game anymore, I feel ill treated and betrayed and I feel bullied and ganged up on because I am just not left enough and I do not flaggelate myself over being white enough. I will post as soon as I can but right now I am just trying to deal with the author of my favorite game, the game that have been one of the most important things in my life banning me over me not agreeing that a white person selling Chakra stones and praying Buddhist prayers over them is a bad thing or that me using Mudras is a bad thing. I just do not agree that sharing cultuural elements are wrong, and for that I am being banned from the official outlet of the game I love. I do not think I have ever been this far down. I will post when I able to again.

'A slave begins by demanding justice, and ends by wanting to wear a crown'.
- Albert Camus.

I too have suffered the chilling effects of this mentality of late. In my [perhaps] smug superiority felt that I'd managed to avoid chilling effects, echo chambers and the shrill cry of what I will call the 'progressive bigot' [not wanting to use 'SJW' due to it's hijacking by the alt-right]. But I know now I was wrong. Actually, wrong twice; for I was a little surprised that it actually got to me. Not much, but enough that I couldn't instantly shrug it off.

Without going into details which are frankly of no interest to anyone except perhaps as an example for the unaware, I've run afoul of the 'party position' of said bigots. I have chosen this word deliberately; for their monochrome [Us vs Them] mindset, intolerance of/inability to see differing views, zeal to avoid discussing the actual issue [instead of personal attacks, or banning the 'culprit'] and a general petty-mindedness puts them, ironically in a very similar mind-space as the alt-right. [See: 'Horseshoe theory']

Naturally, they're utterly unaware of this. Their internal workings assume automatically that if you don't agree 100% with the Line you're one of Them and therefore The Enemy. Which was a little ironic when my points actually agreed with their *principle*, only questioned some of the tactics. More irony; the 'groupthink response' to my points illustrated my point perfectly - if they treat 'an ally' like this, how the hell do they think they'll be able to gain new converts to The Cause?

But enough of my woes.

I won't go into the particular details of your particular issue, but there's a perfect reply in British English to Brucato: he can go and fuck himself.

MtA is not the sole baby of any one person; even without taking a look at the authors of each of the books, you can tell this by the writing styles etc. His hand was a strong one, yes - but not the sole.

Secondly, MtA is not a novel, song or film. That is, it is not something which the creator had a definite 'story' to tell within it, which allows people to consume and come to the 'wrong' conclusions. [As in 'who is the villans? who is the heroes?' etc].

We have a saying here; 'pot calling kettle black'. WoD is littered with cultural appropriation. Wouldn't have Verbena without the Celtic Druids. The Ventrue stereotype is so close to the ideal 'British Gentleman' I actually had to incorporate this into my own UK-based VtM game to explain it away. Half of the WtA totems are directly lifted from Native American culture.

Hell - the biggest 'cultural appropriation' of all [which I can think of right now] - the use of the word 'Metis' [which is a name of an ethnic group of mixed European-Native ancestry in N. America] as the term for a sterile creature which everybody regards as a mistake and perhaps should be killed on birth. Oh, and my pet peeve - the Fianna. I'm Irish enough to find *that* cringe-worthy at times. [How about invisibility too? Don't the proud Welsh produce sturdy warriors for Gaia too?]

You wanna bitch about appropriation? Go and clean your own face before lecturing others, m'kay?

The best term of 'cultural appropriation' I have seen is 'borrowing something from another culture without respecting the origin or original purpose of it'. Wearing a kimono, appreciating Chinese Jade jewellery, enjoying Indian food etc is not appropriation [in fact, I'd say that's cultural appreciation]. Nor is using such things to inspire others to experiment, to create new things - the whole sum of human culture to date has been thousands of years of different groups adopting and mixing things up. Example: Ska-Punk [British Punk and Jamaican Ska]. I wonder who 'appropriated' who?

Not that there isn't examples of appropriation: yoga, martial arts in general, 'Oirish' tattoos/jewellery, plastic 'Native American' shamans etc etc. My pet peeve? Hipsters - appropriating working-class culture, all the while sneering at said folk. For, to quote the old song: 'poor is cool'. Ironically, often the ones who'll be the first to shout about 'cultural appropriation'. But moving swiftly on...

My personal view is this: don't let the views of one single opinionated bastard get you down. MtA is what you make it. That's kinda the whole bloody point of it. Even if it's a person you otherwise respect and/or admire. That doesn't mean they're exempt for being stupid or wrong. I've just in the last week seen a musician I respect seemingly champion a bunch of violent alt-righters and unabashed Nazis. I want to think he was simply mistaken on this... but I know he's neither an idiot and is old enough to know better...

It's the 'chilling effect' in action. It scares people who don't toe the 'Party Line' into silence. This makes others who feel a similar way into thinking they are a minority of one. That if they dare - however mildly - to attempt to buck the Line they are shouted down by a vocal minority who appear to be 'the majority' 'cos they're loud.

When all the 'sane people' withdraw from debate etc, due to fear, tiredness etc - the bigots have won. Then the world is truly buggered. And in an more immediate case, WoD games will become unplayable. [If 5th becomes generally a progressive bigot's dream, I'm mentally hellbanning them].

There's a very good reason why the play 'The Crucible' is enjoying a revival...

Thank ou for your post. The problem I think is that the extreme left first of all drive pepole away, I know several who have turned completely to the right because they have been relentlessly attacked by the extreme left for a slight disagreement. I mean what I want is that pepole should not be discriminated against based on race, gender, gender identity, religion, body type, the list go on and I think that where such discrimination happens we have to take steps to end it. I think there should be pensions for those who are unable to work, and aid for those who just can not find work. I think there should be a minimum wage that are livable, I think every nation should have free or nearly free healthcare for everyone, one should think that having those views should be enough and the rest of the details we can discuss but no, that I do not agree with the idea of culture appropriation. That I think it is wrong that in Canada a professor is being compared to Hitler and risk being fine 200 000 Canadian dollars for being a sticker to grammar and refusing to use made up pronoms for non binary pepole. I mean if they said he was rude sure by all means I think that if someone are more happy if those around them call them shir for example then the polite thing would be to do that, but comparing him to Hitler? That makes no sense. He already call his transgendered students by their preferred pronom but he do not want to use made up words do that make him as bad as Hitler?

If someone dislike a black character or a female character in a film they are racist or a mysagonist. I was called a woman hater for supporting free self defense training for women who wanted it since that indicated there was something women could do to stay safer and that said rape was a woman's fault...no it do not. It is always the one who choose to rape who is at fault but there are things one can do to reduce the chance, by for example learning a bit of self defense which did save me once.

And I mean it is not thinking these things in an off itself that is a problem, let someone think every white person who eat sushi is a racist, but when they then attack and bully those who do not think the same that is a problem. My husband loves this YouTube channel called I think the Adventures of Rachel and Jun, basically you have a married couple in Japan where she is from USA and while they make allot of other videos as well, about their cats and cooking videos and visting pretty locations and filming walking around it is also about what it is like to be from USA and live in Japan and Rachel is being overun by mails telling her that she is a racist for using a Japanese style bath, waring a kinomo and generally existing.

Oh and about the Fienna, well here is the most infuriating thing, it do not count when it are white pepole's culture that are being appropriated. So for example a Japanese person can dress up as a mockery of a Irish dancer, or buy a Norwegian bunad and wear all they want all is fine, but if I get a kinomo I am Hitler for white pepole should bow their head in shame. I saw a video once where a black man sat where with a Celtic knot pendant talking about how horrible white pepole where if they ever wore micro braids. Anyway an Irish man asked him how he could say that while he was wearing a symbol from another culture and he was jumped for being racist for just like the SJW claim that anyone non white can not be racist and a woman can not be sexist and so on, a black person can not appropriate only white pepole can and that drive me up the wall.

I say why don't anyone wear, eat, practice, listen to, dance and so on whatever they damn well please. If some person in India decide to get a bunad let them, hell they can have mine I do not use it anymore, and if I want a sari let me do that as well. The only thing I do disagree with is taking elements of a culture and dressing up as it just to mock it, that is not ok. But someone from the West thinking that putting stones the colors of the rainbow on their bodies will improve their Chakras and by that their health, who do they hurt?

The problem is that the whole leadership of the Mage fandom are this way mean you either follow the party line or basically not be welcome and that is what makes me so sad.

It is the primary issue with fanatics; their zeal is so strong, so pure that they're unable to see that their very methods drive away 'amiable neutrals' and even others who support them. That fixating on the relative minor issues [eg: non-gender pronouns] is ignoring the major ones facing that group [eg: folk still being forced into 'correction therapy']. A complete disdain for 'the ordinaries', feeling that attempting to bludgeon them is the way to go, not to attempt to 'talk their language', to 'meet them on their own terms', to get enough of them on side [or at least neutral] so a true cultural shift occurs - instead of a false shift merely imposed from above.

Lastly, they also utterly lack a sense of humour. This is a critical problem, for it means they are unable to see when position X they take can be laughed at by outsiders. Critical - for if it is laughed at, the point is instantly dismissed and ignored by others, and any other points made will be tarred with the same brush. A good example of this is PETA.

Yes, we are also suffering from double standards. Can't admit that it's possible for women to think all men are inferior, that ethnic minorities can be racist, that members of the LGBT community can be bigoted against others in their own group and so on. It's something which has do be dealt with; for every example of this will be seized on by the alt-right as an example of hypocrisy. Which is more powerful because it's a 'stopped clock' incident and gains them kudos.

'The whole leadership of the Mage fandom'; a bunch of self-appointed folk who are too loud, usually have too much free time and often infected with delusions of knowledge. Sometimes sporting a persecution complex to boot. They're not representative of anything, really. If they'd like to play in a sealed bell-jar where everybody agrees on everything and there are no questions for 'the truth' has been found already, they're welcome to it. After all, how can you run a Mage [or Vampire, Werewolf etc] game well *without* differences of opinion or questions?

It is the primary issue with fanatics; their zeal is so strong, so pure that they're unable to see that their very methods drive away 'amiable neutrals' and even others who support them. That fixating on the relative minor issues [eg: non-gender pronouns] is ignoring the major ones facing that group [eg: folk still being forced into 'correction therapy']. A complete disdain for 'the ordinaries', feeling that attempting to bludgeon them is the way to go, not to attempt to 'talk their language', to 'meet them on their own terms', to get enough of them on side [or at least neutral] so a true cultural shift occurs - instead of a false shift merely imposed from above.

I do not really have much to add to that other than to say I completely agree.

Lastly, they also utterly lack a sense of humour. This is a critical problem, for it means they are unable to see when position X they take can be laughed at by outsiders. Critical - for if it is laughed at, the point is instantly dismissed and ignored by others, and any other points made will be tarred with the same brush. A good example of this is PETA.

I agree and sometimes even if one laugh about a matter it do not mean one is not serious about it. My mother worked as a nurse for many years in everything from the ER to pedeatrics so she saw allot of tradgedy, as she said she and the other nurses would have a pretty dark sense of humor when they met one another in the hallway during the night shift it is what kept them going. Sometimes a joke about a serious issue do not mean that issue is not serious. Allot of groups PETA social justice warriors and others take one another so seriously than any humor is seen as an attack on their person.

Yes, we are also suffering from double standards. Can't admit that it's possible for women to think all men are inferior, that ethnic minorities can be racist, that members of the LGBT community can be bigoted against others in their own group and so on. It's something which has do be dealt with; for every example of this will be seized on by the alt-right as an example of hypocrisy. Which is more powerful because it's a 'stopped clock' incident and gains them kudos.

I agree I see particularly some feminists who seam to think all men are evil and need to be controlled in some way and the problem is that bring a bad name to every woman who just want to have equal rights and be treated as a person. The same with there being allot of racist minorities and when they say oh no a minority can not be racist that just give the right more ammunition, had they instead said yeah sure they can be racist but since it is hard for a minority to fuck up the lives for the majority let us work on getting everyone equal rights first and then we can talk about that racism, then that would have been allot more fair.

'The whole leadership of the Mage fandom'; a bunch of self-appointed folk who are too loud, usually have too much free time and often infected with delusions of knowledge. Sometimes sporting a persecution complex to boot. They're not representative of anything, really. If they'd like to play in a sealed bell-jar where everybody agrees on everything and there are no questions for 'the truth' has been found already, they're welcome to it. After all, how can you run a Mage [or Vampire, Werewolf etc] game well *without* differences of opinion or questions?

That is actually a really good point. I mean I already have the books and will pick up the new ones created I do not need their approval to play with them I already gave Onyx Path my money, perhaps I do not need to be that sad. Thank you.

It's a serious problem: the 'I don't object to X, I object to followers of X' [X being any 'cause']. An author has written a good bit about this; a 'curious neutral' attending say a meeting of group X, but finding them so zealous, cliquey and humourless that it drives them away 'to find the nearest bar', and at worst into the arms of the opponents of X. That was written in 1937 - so it's nothing new. [The 30's has much to teach us about our current world, in my opinion].

As for the last part: roleplaying WoD requires you to slip into other people's skins and minds. People [or creatures] who will have a different backstory, experiences and views to yours. To do it right, you have to get how they tick and why, so you can for example realistically RP a libertarian conservative, a staunch Christian, or whatever. If you are so blinkered that you cannot understand the reasoning of said opinions [even if you personally think they're 100% wrong, stupid or even dangerous] any character you play will be nothing more than a 2-D figure made of straw.

Point being: bigots [of any type] do not make good RP'ers or ST's. Therefore, your [and mine, and anyone else who agrees with me] RP'ing experiences are improved by not playing with them.

t's a serious problem: the 'I don't object to X, I object to followers of X' [X being any 'cause']. An author has written a good bit about this; a 'curious neutral' attending say a meeting of group X, but finding them so zealous, cliquey and humourless that it drives them away 'to find the nearest bar', and at worst into the arms of the opponents of X. That was written in 1937 - so it's nothing new. [The 30's has much to teach us about our current world, in my opinion].

You are right about that. I would add more but really you say it right there.

As for the last part: roleplaying WoD requires you to slip into other people's skins and minds. People [or creatures] who will have a different backstory, experiences and views to yours. To do it right, you have to get how they tick and why, so you can for example realistically RP a libertarian conservative, a staunch Christian, or whatever. If you are so blinkered that you cannot understand the reasoning of said opinions [even if you personally think they're 100% wrong, stupid or even dangerous] any character you play will be nothing more than a 2-D figure made of straw.

That is another problem the main moderator of the Mage group in question, not Brucato himself but a man who call himself Shawn Wolf are of the opinion that if someone ever play a racist or sexist character it means that player is racist or sexist, he have outlawed any such character when he GM. I asked him what he do about historical cames and he replied that then the retconned history so i was not racist, homophobic or rasist for anything else would not being vigilent, so yeah that is sort of the standin view in the group. I even commented that in a non WoD game I play a Roman priestess as in ancinet Rome and off course she is racist if you are not Roman you are inferior and he strongly dissaprove of playing such a character for off course in his version of ancient Rome there where no racism and men and women where equal.

Point being: bigots [of any type] do not make good RP'ers or ST's. Therefore, your [and mine, and anyone else who agrees with me] RP'ing experiences are improved by not playing with them.

Yeah that is very true that.

Heh. Can't take credit for that: it was Orwell's comment in Road To Wigan Pier.

As for your second point; I know it's bad form to quote yourself, but as an ST of a historical chronicle myself this is how I put it... http://eabn.forumotion.co.uk/t144-values-dissonance-eabn-and-you

I fully stand by the conclusion of my above post: this 'Wolf' insults the memory of the likes of civil rights protesters etc [some who died for the cause] by airbrushing said conflicts out of the game, and thus history.

I completely agree to forget history is not a good thing, bad things happened and it should be a part of an historical campaign. I mean one can play a character that was completely before his or her times, but we should recognize that the majority of pepole in Victorian London for example would have isems up the gazoozee, and chances are that a Vampire from that period would not have been able to leave all of those behind as well.

Ah, yes, that rationale... "My Ventrue was a plantation owner in Virginia in the late 1700s when he was alive. Right now, he's still mostly frustrated that black and white people don't get along. Of course he's never seen any ethnic or religious group as inferior, why would he?"

Or even better, "Yeah, my Brujah was a 12th-century Crusader. Never had a problem with religious diversity."

The sort of people who take so adamant a stance against characters with issues like that are more guilty of washing history than those they accuse of racism and whitewashing at times. :/

'My Fenris' Intolerance is against "people who are not tolerant".'

What are they gonna do about the Black Furies?

Ah, yes, that rationale... "My Ventrue was a plantation owner in Virginia in the late 1700s when he was alive. Right now, he's still mostly frustrated that black and white people don't get along. Of course he's never seen any ethnic or religious group as inferior, why would he?"

Or even better, "Yeah, my Brujah was a 12th-century Crusader. Never had a problem with religious diversity." Razz

The sort of people who take so adamant a stance against characters with issues like that are more guilty of washing history than those they accuse of racism and whitewashing at times. :/

I agree and also the thing is that having a chracter with morals far different than one's own do not mean one share those views. I played a Nephanda once she had a soul eating carpet she fed half of her former Cabal to, she made her former best friend into her sex slave and raped, tortured and murdered her way through the story and went out in a big bang when she was trying to destroy a Traditionalist realm filled with mages and several thosand inocent sleepers. Unfrtunatly the realm had defences and blew her and the battle cruiser she was the commander of out of the Umbra. Anyway it was a real fun time playing an completely unapolicly bad guy but that do not mean I share her values I have not tried to feed my friends to the carpet yet...then again...oh Warp want to come over and play cards.

Playing a racist do not mean one are actually racist or support them in any way it is called roleplaying after all.

'My Fenris' Intolerance is against "people who are not tolerant".'

What are they gonna do about the Black Furies?

They are women remember and women can't be sexist according to the SJWs, it is ok when a woman do it.

Which day did you have in mind for cards? I initially had other things planned today, but due to disease and an unpromising weather forecast, I might just decide to stay home for the next two days... Sunday okay, though?

As for the Black Furies, there might be some protests about a Greek tribe calling themselves black.

While it was originally a joke as in Shan Wolf think a player share the morality of her characters and I had a character that enjoyed feeding her friends to the carpet and me saying I have not fed any of mine to the carpets yet but come to think of it, do you want to come over to my house.

A game day would not be a bad idea and Sunday works well for me that is our regular day for playing and it have been to long. You can meet Hufsa she should have a hard shell again by then and might not be hiding anymore so you can see her.

Hmm... if I personally supported every viewpoint I've RP'd, I'm an egalitarian elitist, a conservative communist, a authoritarian democrat, a rabble-rousing cloistered scholar, a militant atheist who's sincere in their belief that the Lord is watching over everyone, a preening clotheshorse who doesn't change their underwear for days on end, a thuggish polyglot in Classical languages, an asexual prude who hangs out in gym showers to stare at people...

I believe the correct definition is: I'm further gone than a mass meeting of Malkavians.

So is any other person who thinks this of me.

Someone told me and a friend of mine that if we played certain characters, then we secretly shared that view before which frankly I found baffling. I was like, first of all, no. Second of all, in all your RP and stories, your characters must be incredibly boring because they are all essentially you. Also, your villains must be /extra/ boring. Now, granted there's something in each character that I can relate to and with, when I get in their mindset but that doesn't mean I am them or any of their views. That's why the OOC/IC line exists and should exist. Actors aren't the people they're playing in movies, even /method/ actors...well, except for Ryan Renolds he may actually be Deadpool IRL ; )

I to usually have something I can relate to in each character I play but I love to play characters with completely different points of view from myself. I think this is a problem a few have though that they can not seperate themseelves from their character. We had allot of drama in the Dune play by post I played a while ago when one character got arrested accused of terrorism after he had set off several boms at a Landsraad meeting. The player went ballisic and left the game because we called him a terrorist. No not you your character seriously.

It is why I always refer to my own / other players as '[Character Name]', not 'you/I'. Yes, every character I've played [not as a ST] does have an element of me within; though sometimes it may be only one minor aspect - say a hobby, favourite food/TV show/etc or view on X. But I actually avoid making any character too much an expy of me; so I never identify too closely with them.

However, I have actually created 'me' a few times as ST. Only minor NPC's. Oddly enough, most of the time they end up in a bad way... [one was eaten by a PC and dumped in a canal, another got killed by a baton round to the head during a riot, another got fitted up for a crime to protect the Masquerade...]

It vary a little how I do it, I use both you and character name but I always make sure to mark a difference between when I talk to the player and when I describe something for their character.

I have made myself as a character in an Unknown Armies game and played and off course I have tried to fill myself out into a WoD character sheet. For most of my characters though I put a little bit of myself in them but I make sure they are their own creations and none of them are me, hell even when I made myself as an UK Armies character that was not me but a character based on me.

That is, perhaps one of the biggest bonuses that PBP has over LARP and tabletop; there is a much stronger wall between 'me' and 'the character'. It also allows me to hit the SuperWeb for quick research into aspects of the character that I don't personally know. From the glories of speed-reading, I can usually [hopefully?] at least vaguely make the character sound they know about X which I don't in RL [though I could no way fool anybody who really did].

For me that all the information remains so it is easy the check what happened in a conversation that was held two years ago is the biggest benefit to PbP. I do not manage to get as involved emotionally as when right there playing it out with players I can see, but having all the information there makes it easier to make a long term, consitant story. Checking things out online do add to things as well yes. I do think you do very well with Nicole at least.

*blushes*

I do try to at least to keep the 'internal logic' straight. Though it can be annoying to ST's [as you full well with the random questions I've asked over the last ~9 months]. Just because it's based on a 'willing suspension of disbelief', it doesn't mean everything has to be like that.

[Yay. I caused the 22,222nd post! What do I win?]

If I espoused all the traits of my characters over the years, I'd be pretty much an extreme pragmatic rationalist with immense magical and martial powers, and a very flimsy grasp of which reality I was inhabiting... not a very healthy combination for the surroundings...

That is quite ok not a problem. Nicole is a good character.

Oh my that is allot of 2's. Well you can have an exp since Nicole have some catching up to do to the characters who have been along from the start.

If I expressed the opinions and qualities of all my characters, well as they include Dune Navigators, Transformers and a transparrant with gltter inside pegasus named Cosmic Nurse let us not even begin to speculate what that would turn out as.

Warpmind wrote:If I espoused all the traits of my characters over the years, I'd be pretty much an extreme pragmatic rationalist with immense magical and martial powers, and a very flimsy grasp of which reality I was inhabiting... not a very healthy combination for the surroundings...

I've got it worse. Once played a Ratkin who's main hobby was arson, had no sense of personal space/modesty/private property and had a tenuous grasp on human culture/etiquette. Hate to think what folk thought of if they thought that was me... somewhere between a mental patient, pod-person, the village slut and a single-person crime wave, I suppose. *smirks*

As for Nick... I think the main reasons she's a fairly solid character is that a) I don't like huge snowflakes, b) it's not wish fulfilment and c) I make people I'd like to play, then give them fangs/shapeshifting/magick etc - from ST'ing, I see that most do it the other way. Plus, she's an import, which means she's got more flesh than a new creation.

Oooh, XP. What to spend it on? Heh, I'll let her decide that...