The Pale Queen of Nowhere

The Spice is Life

2009-11-13T01:02:27Z

www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0690.html

What is it about Dune and webcomics?

In Flanders Field

2009-11-10T00:36:09Z

In Flanders field the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amidst the groans below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, saw dawn, felt sunset's glow
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders field.

Radio Silence

2009-10-31T12:31:10Z

Btw, phone has gone kablooey and has lost a big load of people's numbers. If you'd like to make sure I have yours, please text me and tell me who you are.

the_pale_queen @ 2009-10-31T11:43:00

2009-10-31T11:43:21Z

I know this isn't that bad. I know it isn't. I'm holding up okay, I think.

It's worrying quite how much constant pain tires you out.

More Dental Woes

2009-10-29T10:51:00Z

Well, the dentist took one look at the tooth even after antibiotic treatment and said she might as well take it out. Which was fairly nasty - I had no idea how much force it took to extract even a pretty wobbly tooth - though surprisingly about £50 cheaper than the root treatment.

My mouth is draining nastily and feels like raw hamburger, but tbh it's still an improvement over most of the last week.

Radio Silence

2009-10-22T18:55:51Z

If I seem to be ignoring you, I'm terribly sorry - my phone has gone kaput yet again...

The Hunt for Gollum

2009-10-16T20:31:53Z

www.youtube.com/watch

If you haven't seen this before, I cannot recommend it enough.

The Skint Also Have Teeth!

2009-10-16T19:42:01Z

Curent dental bill: £141.

And this is on the NHS, for root canal treatment and one other filling. At a private dentist, I believe it would be around ten times as much.

The next time anyone at all tells me the NHS is the worst thing that ever happened to this country, or makes the death panel joke, I'm going to break their fucking hose.

Shit, I'm skint :(

Regency Yumminess

2009-09-26T15:53:33Z

To celebrate the A&A downtime being out, I've just bought four metres of cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll - gorgeous embroidered flannel and mean to talk poor squintywitchinto showing me how to make a gorgeous Regency winter dress from it.

Of course, knowing my luck, the player event won't go ahead and I'll die in beautiful flannel dress next July...

The Shudders

2009-09-24T23:59:10Z

Can't believe how backwards this bloody sickness is. I seem to be getting worse instead of better. The runny nose has more or less dried up, but the cough's got worse, my throat feels like someone's taken a wire brush to it, my stomach's upset, I'm hot and cold constantly and I'm still getting dizzy from strenuous exercise like moving between one room and another, or not lying down for more than three minutes.

The Dreaded Lurgy

2009-09-23T12:14:32Z

Ugh. Sick again, and now breaching the work absence policy, so I'll be up for an HR interview when I go back. It's clearly flu - feeling slightly better today but still have a temperature, muscle aches, sore throat, cough, sore throat... the usual roll of misery I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing of by now ;)

:D

2009-09-08T00:41:34Z

Happy birthday, herecosyouare !

Nestly goodness

2009-09-02T22:56:30Z

Back on the net after about a week offline; partially due to my flat turning itself into some sort of wireless blackspot (again), but mostly simply because I was just too damn knackered. It was an insane week at work last week, what with catching up on my own work and doing work of several other people currently on leave - sadly, one of the other admin staff is on long-term personal leave because her daughter has just been diagnosed with lymphona.

I am very, very much looking forward to the Nest tavern night tomorrow. I'm mostly happy with my kit, though I do wish my goggles would come, but more that I feel I have a handle on the characterisation now after the IC chat with Orev last night. Essentially, I'm playing an ex-slave wemic from a vaguely Japanese-style culture. My real main worry was that she would turn out too much like Sas, so I was glad to find myself in an entirely different mindset. If I can just get that too come across tomorrow, everything should be coming up roses.

I do hope the dear boy is well enough to make it, though. He was sick at lunchtime today and he's still looking on the green side.

Back to work...

2009-08-24T17:24:06Z

...apparently have managed not to get myself sacked or blown anything up by absent-mindedness in my absence.

I'm taking this as a good sign.

Intrigue, Steampunk and Corsetry

2009-08-23T21:39:54Z

Well, I just had a truly fantastic week off in the Lakes with the lovely boy, and a truly fantastic weekend down in Coventry Steampunking with the lovely people in Zeitgeist. Am so horrifically inspired with Bowdy et al's lovely work that Mark and I ended up coming up with a concept for a new larp game to fill the long drive home.

The basic concept is that it would be set in Elizabethan England, probably the year after the Armada (depending on a few things I'll need to look up). Some magic, but more intrigue - information networks, gossip, rumours, propaganda and misinformation. And a whole bunch of other random things, but those are FOIP :)

I'm not sure how much room there is for another system in Glasgow, but if Zeitgeist can exist in close proximity with Scarred Lands, I would like to think we have some flexibility up here as well.

Meme - Oh, go on then...

2009-08-16T22:24:10Z

Well, I wasn't going to do this.

But then Willow died, and I find I'm having a bit of trouble getting her voice out of my head. So, what the hell?

Dramatis Personae:

Major Sasagani Kotetsu Ipesch (Maelstrom)

Willow Na'Vie Ash, Paladin of Peragus (The Cuckoo's Nest – very recently deceased)

Kitten (The Cuckoo's Nest)

Promise LaFayette-Moreaux (Masquerades and Massacres)

How old are you?
Sas: Unas and I agreed on 21, festival before last. Flip says he would like me to keep it at 20, so he has the pleasure of sleeping with a 20-year-old no matter how old he gets, but I think this runs the risk of being ridiculous.
Willow: 27 when I died. Not sae uncommon fer a hafllin', really. I died deaeing whit I wis meant tae, so that's fair enough.
Kit: Um... I think I am 10, perhaps? Or twelve?
Willow: Tae of ye don' know how old y'are? Whit?
Sas: I was born a slave. I do not remember my own birth, so I am going off my husband and my best friend for this.
Kit: Likewise, though I do remember my mother. Besides, I seem to age far faster than these Pure...humans. I am guessing. Why does it matter, anyhow.
Sas: Exactly. What one does matters most.
Promise: Well, I knows I'm sixteen, no matter what any of you says. Youngest a' the family, even though Baby's the youngest they acknowledge public-like.

2. Who is your family?
Promise: I got Family an' no mistake! Whether they can acknowledge me or not, they takes care o' they own. Plus I got Grandpa, and he's enough fo' anybody all by his lonesome, even if he makin' life difficult for Jean-Phillippe about that!
Sas: My husband, Flip... my children... all four of them... Can you believe that? Me, with a husband and children... Sometimes I think of myself, three or four years ago, and think that I could not believe myself as I am now, with this lap and this life full of such riches...
Willow: (sadly) I had children, once. I... had a husband too, but I could not look him in the face after the children... it wasnae his fault, but he is largely the reason why I'm deid. My friends came frae me, though, and I did get to tell Salvatore that I loved him, before I died, and do my best tae tell Ramona the same too. I wis taken into the greater life by my grandmother, and I will guide my people tae a new future. It's a good end, aye?
Sas: Everyone wants a good end. And to be reunited with those who they have lost...
Kit: I have Raphael, my master. He is like a father to me, I suppose. And the Guild. That is family enough for anyone, I think.

3. What do you think is special about yourself?
Promise: Oh, lots. Special...that ain' so much of an issue. Sometimes, I'd like a bit less that's special, an... Well, that ain' gonna happen. So I gotta do what I can with what I got.
Willow: I knae whit you mean. I wis marked by a god at my birth to bring my people back to the wider world, an...there's been joy in it, but it's never been easy...
Kit: There is no one like me in this part of the world. I am always different from everyone else, and many would see me as no more than an animal, and no more deserving of consideration than one, had it not been for Master Raphael and the Guild.
Sas: Special... I would not say there is anything special about me. Except that I am so lucky. So very lucky, for what I have been granted. My love. My children. My friends. Havocstan.

4. Are you a virgin?
Kit: Never had any kittens, so I suppose so...
Willow: That cannae be the ainly way ye'd measure it.
Kit: There's things you do, when you are in a patrol, to survive. One of the reasons I liked being a scout. I preferred things on my own terms, my own risks, rather than selling myself for my own safety.
Willow (shocked silence.)
Sas: (nods)
Promise: Well, I am. And likely to remain that way. Ain' nothin' bout me likely to attract a husband, and Grandpa made it mightily clear he ain' havin' anything else. Is it...odd to say that on one hand I glad of that, an' on anotha I...a little bit disappointed?
Sas: (laughs) Well, I have not been a virgin since I was...thirteen? Fourteen? Whenever they thought me old enough to breed, and I would not put too much stock in losing your virginity. What comes after, what you choose...very different. If you are lucky.
Promise (blushes)
Willow (blushes, strangled voice) Well, I had my litter...an' it was good, fer a while...an' then they died. An' then I learned...other things.... Other ways...

5. What do you do to pass the time?
Promise: (sighs) I do whatevah Marie-Claire needs me fo'. I read to her, sew with her, help her with her Momma... An' I help Irish Molly with her healin' and her spells, and listen to her talk about the Old Country... An' I help Grandpa with all the little things, keepin' the house goin' and doin' things for the Loa, an... and wait for my life to start... an' dream of something special that just mine...
Willow: There were all these...things I was goin' tae learn, that Salvatore wis goin' tae teach me. Readin' an' writin'... a whole host of new ideas. But I ran out a' time. Other than tha'... I practiced a lot wi' my sword an' shield, and learned how tae sing again...
Kit: One thing about being a journeyman is that one is always busy. Perhaps if I am ever a maste I will have a moment to myself, but not in some years.
Sas: Currently, I am working for the state, for Lady Basilisk... and running after my children, and finding a few spare moments for Flip too. And the Protectorate, all those people who may need me from moment to moment. Perhaps I am insane, taking up two professions which mean one's life is never one's own... But it is such joy. Such joy... To belong.

6. Have you killed anyone?
Willow: Bandits, and proud of it. I made the roads safe for followers for Lord Peragus, and all of those who pray to him by walking on it. I only wish I had been quicker to act, and there might no' now be sae many wounds tae heal in my homeland...
Kit: I killed when enemies cornered me... for the Pure, I suppose. Not often. I was a scout, not a warrior. Killing does not really appeal, but I will happily claw my way out of any corner anyone puts me in.
Promise: No! What do you take me fo'? (tucks hands behind her back)
Sasagani: I... killed... one who asked me to, and one... who...(covers face with hands) Could we talk about something else? Please?

7. What roleplays can people see you in?
(All look baffled)

8. If you could do anything, what would it be?
Sas: Whatever Havocstan needs. Whatever my love needs. Whatever my children need. Whatever my leader needs. I... sometimes, I think I would like peace. Just a little peace, to be with Flip and the children, quietly, all of us together, without work, without enemies. But I am content with whatever we can snatch. Content, and happier than I could have once imagined.
Willow: I nae whit ye mean. I had tha', fer a little while, but there wis always tha' feelin' in my bones, that restlessness... I tried hard to ignore it, fer my children's sakes, but when they wen' I found I had nothin' tae keep me.
Sas: I...would not imagine... losing... my children. But... no matter what I did... We...Flip and I... would do it together. Life or death... whatever came.
Willow: Then ye're lucky, lass. I hope ye're righ' abou' him. Men... Arnae whit they always appear.
Promise: I'd... I don' know. Sometimes I think I'd like to meet someone special... exciting.. someone would wouldn' care wha... But that ain' gonna happen .I'd like to learn things, a thousan' things, and do somethin' worthwhile with it.
Kit: I..like guns? I would like to be better with guns? And knives?

9. Do you love anyone?
Sas: (smiling) As I said... I could never have believed it, once. But I have my husband, my children, my dearest friends... my lap spills over with it. Such love. Such love...
Willow: I tol' Salvatore before I died. I did my best frae Ramona. I leave friends behin' me, a family tae mourn me, an' I go tae see my children... It wis a good life, filled wi' good people. Better than I deserved. I wis blessed.
Promise: Marie-Claire...she been like a mother to me. Grandpa. Louis. Irish Molly, even if she got some damn funny ways o' showin' it. An' Damballa. I fel' that love... tha' endless love...
Kit: (shrugs and turns away, lashing her tail)

Today

2009-08-03T22:27:18Z

I got new boots.

They are very steampunky :D

Prestige

2009-07-27T13:38:47Z

Well, that was a bloody fantastic event. Annoyed at myself for letting myself get distracted enough not to win the final of the great weapon fighting competition, but still had the most fantastic time. I feel as though we have found our way back after wandering a bit for quite a while, and I find that mirrored in Sas as well - she has her road to walk, and now she's figuring out the ways to do that.

Thanks so much to everyone for the wonderful interactions I had with them this weekend, most particularly squintywitch for the awesomeness that is Helena, Casp (damn your complicated lj-name! :P) for singing, campfire angst and giving Sas a kick up the backside she badly needed, Clauds for everything with Hagar, everyone who made me feel badass about the fighting competition and everyone else for religous joy :D

WS Tentacle Haiku

2009-07-15T19:02:11Z

Don't hide the schoolgirls
The well-mannered octopus
Just wants to be friends

Aliens and Alienation

2009-07-07T00:11:47Z

My gods, what an event! Extraordinarily worth the drive to Bristol and sunburn for!

The Good

- BATTENBURG! BATTENBURG! Turning around from a very genteel discussion expecting to see aliens/vampires/monsters attacking, and instead getting attack-ancient gent whaling on the cake. Best "jokey" character I've ever seen.

- Dancing with the fey, and the subsequent "You can't marry her! She's our pretty dancing lady! Find another wife!" You guys were wonderful and made a little American wallflower feel like a million dollars (you can tell I'm not quite out the accent yet).

- The worst proposal EVAR from Captain Fairchild

- The "I've been told that cheese raises the passions!" misunderstanding, and in fact Angelica the entire weekend. Wonderful, wonderful character, and so much looking forward to showing her the fun side of life.

- Being lectured at against slavery when *foip*

- Everything to do with dragons and the Aerial Corps (despite all the biting of the tongue on OOC knowledge)

- All the discussions with the Poles, particularly Ias' "You too can heal with the Power of Our Lady?" "Um... um... yes. Exactly."

- Lady Montague looking at me like dirt on her shoe for daring to start a conversation with a gentleman. *triple quash*

- The wonderful surgery scene and the Commodore fainting properly instead of gritting it out like most larp characters. In fact, the entire surgery game (except for a slight envelope shortage) and all the lovely photos I now have covered in gore!

- The wonderful interactions with Mr Fanshaw on the Friday night, and having to make such ridiculous excuses for the scratches on my arms for the rest of the weekend "I done got in a tangle with one of y'all's English rose bushes..."

- Both singing instances - out by the woods and in the house under siege. So wonderfully Regency! And Mr Kipling spitting his drink several yards when he made the mistake of listening to the words of "Hallelujah"

- Religion. There was such a genuinely period reverence for faith in so many different forms, played so well by so many people.

- Bunni's wonderful take on all the loa summonings, and most particularly on his take on the possession by Damballa - Jude just can't get away from girl-on-girl in larp! Not to mention the unfortunate double meaning of "riding" and the subsequent misunderstandings...

- Again, Captain Fairchild's response to the above, ranging from "Oh, they're doing a Summoning. I'll help!" to "Oh, this is a bit odd. Oh well, they're foreign" to "Oh blessed Father, forgive me the sin I have just committed..."

- The scrying. Once again, no idea how you can get such a genuine atmosphere out of twenty people all staring at a bowl.

- The Family. I cannot get over how damn wonderful you all are to roleplay with, and how much fun this was (not to mention how tenacious the accents are)

- The German Prince's most unexpected conversion.

- The aliens. Dear gods, those are terrifying!

- The band, and the man with the mike's wonderful attempts at dealing with the situation IC.

- Losing a patient on the operating table (well, floor) and finally playing a character who just burst into tears about it instead of getting on with things.

The Bad

- Could have done with more permenant death, cool as the Fey were about it. If it screws people horribly in DT though, it'll be worth it.

Less emo...

2009-06-30T00:27:04Z

On a lighter note, a couple of larp pics of myself I actually like.

balu.rajce.idnes.cz/09.05.31._-_TCN_-_Random_Heroics/#DSC04753.JPG

balu.rajce.idnes.cz/09.05.03_-_TCN_-_Last_Chancers_III/#DSC04036.JPG

the_pale_queen @ 2009-06-30T00:22:00

2009-06-29T23:25:20Z

I have come to the conclusion that I am both horrifically open to emotional blackmail and not all that bad at doing that to other people when I let myself.

One day, I'm going to grow up and grow myself a fucking spine.

Sleep lab

2009-06-26T21:41:18Z

Very glad to be back in the real world after two nights of just work and hospital. It makes the world strangely colourless, lacking in texture. Or maybe that was just lack of sleep. I hope they got a decent load of data from me, but I'm not that sure they will have.

I was wired up literally almost everywhere; head bristling like a porcupine with EEG electrodes, a heart monitor, legs, arms, even my fingers (which made typing a bastard), and a respiration monitor which was like nothing more than a hairpin up my nose. Eventually managed to fall asleep round about 2am; woken up at 2.40am by a fire alarm and didn't get back to bed until 3am. Then had a bunch of very unpleasant dreams - apparently my subconscious has read too much about torture by electricity - before being woken by the nurse taking blood at 6.30am.

I'm glad to have done something FOR SCIENCE, but I'm also glad to be getting paid for this one!

Ugh

2009-06-22T09:43:09Z

Well, went to the Western and the doc there told me he thought the ear inflammation was secondary to something to do with my teeth, most likely a dental abscess. So I have an emergency appointment down there at 11.40am. Getting down there should be extremely fun, given that it's just too damn painful to eat, so that the drugs are making me extremely woozy whenever I stand up...

Ech, all part of the merry-go-round... If I need the tooth out, I'm not sure whether to hope for a general or not. Yes because I'm a wimp, no because I suspect it'd put me out of action for quite a while...

Crap

2009-06-21T12:15:49Z

Well, finally phoned NHS 24, being essentially unable to eat and drink without immense pain, and the codeine no longer seeming to work. Got sent off to the Western.

This is really not how I would have chosen to spend my solstice.