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The weekend before last, I took the illusionary form of Brings-the-Pack and went to see what kind of gossip or current events were happening. I ran into Briari out at Edgewood. Somehow she saw that BtP was an illusion. I'm not sure how, and when I asked she didn't say. Perhaps the illusion was not as potent as I'd assumed? Maybe I had an off day. I'd been testing bringing in a physical component so that the illusion could actually interact with the world as opposed to just observe it. Anyway, she'd then insisted I take a different form--listing a number of celebrities--so we could get into her Ferrari and go somewhere to get food. I declined, twice, before she settled down and simply talked. I inquired about her apparent fixation on status. She claimed that was what Walkers back at her old sept did. Disposable income wars. And that the Walkers and garou at this sept do not seem to operate by the same rules. She's feeling a bit lost, a bit disrespected. I suggested she not try so hard to impress and try more to simply support. In hindsight, this is probably terrible advice to give to a garou with the societal structure that's so fixated on deeds and renown.
We talked for a time about video games. Tetris. It has been a long, long, long time since I last played that game. We ended our discussion amicably enough and went our separate ways. My way too me back to my cabin where I packed a suitcase, got in the Audi wagon, drove to Seattle, and checked into a hotel not too far from the Woodland Park Zoo. I spent a day using sensory magicks to get a feel for the shape and movement of the gray wolves there. I spent another day getting the feel for the shape and movement of the brown bears. But I spent a full five days getting a feel for the rare Malayan tigers. On the second day, one of the zookeepers dropped by to chat, having noticed I'd been hanging out at that one exhibit from opening to closing time for the past two days. I told her I was just enthralled by tigers, was an artist, and was studying them and their movements so that I might better sketch them in the future. She pointed out I had no drawing equipment with me, and I told her I like to just look and think prior to doing any drawing. The next day I showed up with a newly purchased artist's notepad and pencils and a few other supplies I grabbed from an art store the night before. I did some sketching, which I think actually proved to be fairly helpful in reinforcing the form in my mind's eye. The next day, the zookeeper showed up again to chat (she'd been off the day before), and we had lunch. I showed her my sketches and she--Sharon--told me about working behind the scenes with the big cats. She's missing the tip of her index finger from where she slipped, fell, used a hand to break her fall, and it slipped just under the bottom of the vertical grate for the lion enclosure. A lioness nearly took her finger off, but ended up just getting that one bit. We met again the next day again for lunch. Oops. She thought I was going to ask her out. Awkward. Told her I was already seeing someone and that, no, I was just there to look at and do sketches so I could commit the form to my head for future reference. She seemed disappointed. She was kind of cute, too. Oh well.
Before I left, I did a few Mind ride-alongs with the tiger, getting a feel for how it felt to be a tiger. Feeding time illustrated how much of a predator these cats are, even when they're well fed. They'd eat even the keepers if they stepped into the exhibit. And there's something alluring about flicking one's tail and sunshine and naps, though I knew that already from my time as a cougar.
Briari asked why I didn't take other forms. I told her I liked the cougar form, which is true. It's familiar. I've spent many weeks living as a (vegetarian) cougar and have a good feel and understanding for the form. It's easy. I once made a passable illusion of Silvertip to distract a Dancer that had captured Mr. Lee. It was a sloppy, hasty illusion, but good enough for a distraction. Perhaps I ought to branch out more? Study some other forms so I can very closely imitate them?
We talked for a time about video games. Tetris. It has been a long, long, long time since I last played that game. We ended our discussion amicably enough and went our separate ways. My way too me back to my cabin where I packed a suitcase, got in the Audi wagon, drove to Seattle, and checked into a hotel not too far from the Woodland Park Zoo. I spent a day using sensory magicks to get a feel for the shape and movement of the gray wolves there. I spent another day getting the feel for the shape and movement of the brown bears. But I spent a full five days getting a feel for the rare Malayan tigers. On the second day, one of the zookeepers dropped by to chat, having noticed I'd been hanging out at that one exhibit from opening to closing time for the past two days. I told her I was just enthralled by tigers, was an artist, and was studying them and their movements so that I might better sketch them in the future. She pointed out I had no drawing equipment with me, and I told her I like to just look and think prior to doing any drawing. The next day I showed up with a newly purchased artist's notepad and pencils and a few other supplies I grabbed from an art store the night before. I did some sketching, which I think actually proved to be fairly helpful in reinforcing the form in my mind's eye. The next day, the zookeeper showed up again to chat (she'd been off the day before), and we had lunch. I showed her my sketches and she--Sharon--told me about working behind the scenes with the big cats. She's missing the tip of her index finger from where she slipped, fell, used a hand to break her fall, and it slipped just under the bottom of the vertical grate for the lion enclosure. A lioness nearly took her finger off, but ended up just getting that one bit. We met again the next day again for lunch. Oops. She thought I was going to ask her out. Awkward. Told her I was already seeing someone and that, no, I was just there to look at and do sketches so I could commit the form to my head for future reference. She seemed disappointed. She was kind of cute, too. Oh well.
Before I left, I did a few Mind ride-alongs with the tiger, getting a feel for how it felt to be a tiger. Feeding time illustrated how much of a predator these cats are, even when they're well fed. They'd eat even the keepers if they stepped into the exhibit. And there's something alluring about flicking one's tail and sunshine and naps, though I knew that already from my time as a cougar.
