Mindscanner Issue #68
Autumn 2004

Previous Next

Life is Like a Bowl of Ghargh
by Qob


When you decide to participate in a real life MUSH (MUTUAL SHARED HALLUCINATION) Like Klingon fandom (klindom), you have to constantly make some decisions. The most important is this: how real is this going to be? People have in the past slipped to one of two extremes, the mundane one where, like a "Christian" that goes to church on Easter and Christmas constantly glancing at his wristwatch to see if the hour is almost over, and the psychotic one where you lose touch completely with your real humanity. Either of these extremes dooms you to failure as a Klingon.

To truly do Klingon well, you have to find a mental place difficult to achieve for people who aren't trained actors. You have to throw yourself deeply into the part so that you react as a Klingon would when "on," but you have the self-discipline and sense of self to stop
when it isn't appropriate.

I am reminded of Hamlet; a valid interpretation of Hamlet's madness is that he is play-acting it to survive, and does it too well and truly falls into madness. You also see actors fall in "love" with the actresses they are paired with on screen, marry/shack up for awhile until they realize that they were too deeply into a part and divorce.

The ideals of the Klingon, ruthless aggression and occasional duplicity make for a fun character to play, but when you are dealing with other members of our MUSH, such values and dealings will result in hurting very real human beings. While being firm and aggressive may be fine for playing with K'Veela, the rudeness and insensitivity may cause irreparable harm to Suzie (the human under the latex) and your relationship to her. On the other hand, when you find the groove, when everybody "gets it" and their blood wine flows freely, there are few experiences to compare with a full-blown Klingon session. It is intoxicating, satisfying and psychically freeing. When you can walk into a room as the undisputed alpha species and have the freedom to say or do whatever comes into your head (as long as the mental fail-safes are in place) is an experience that cannot be described.

Finally I can't quite tell you how to find the proper balance, but I can give you some rules to hold to. Have Fun! And it isn't fun unless everyone is having fun. And remember, as a wise Klin once said, "you have to remember that most of us are middle aged fat guys wearing funny rubber heads."

- Qob
[email protected]

PreviousTop_of_PageNext