nishatalitha

It's ten past eleven, and I haven't updated for about two weeks, so I shall ramble. There will be much on roleplaying; read or do not read as you please.

( Lace & Steel and other roleplaying thoughts )

I think a random dude tried to pick me up at the busstop after work drinks on Friday night. I have to admit, this was when I was waiting for the 8.20pm bus, and I was more than slightly inebriated, thanks to the above work drinks, and quite a few glasses of a very nice sav. So he introduced himself, and I introduced myself, and because I was didn't feel like reading on the bus, we chatted until he got off at Kelburn. I mentioned roleplaying as a deterrant see-what-you-make-of-this kinda thing, and he said he used to roleplay, so I mentioned Kapcon and NZRag, and talked a lot about writing LARPS. I think I scared the crazy downstairs neighbour lady who was sitting behind me on the bus, though. For some reason, I can't bring myself to care.

I have Pear, Cardamon and Sultana cake in the oven. It is my entry for the Bake-Off at work, and while I'm sure it will turn out really well, and look great, and all that, I'm also starting to angst about whether or not it will turn out well enough, and maybe I should have tried doing minature fruit pies instead or mocha cupcakes instead or something. It should be cooked soon, then I glaze it with honey, wait twenty minutes, take it out of the tin, set it to cool, and then I can go to bed.

When I've been home today, until I finished it, I've been reading Two Household IV by MadMartha, a Harry/Ron novel length fic. It's very good, very well written, not very smutty, but the main thing I really like about this series is the way that she expands on wizarding culture in a way that I don't know if JK would like, but that kinda fits in with what I understand of social history in the upper classes, and from what I understand of general wizarding behaviour. It's beautifully written, and most of the traditions make sense, and not always in a these-wizards-are-crazy sort of way.

When it comes to reading fic, I talk a lot about the slash, and about the smut, and the porn, and yet, those things aren't what I primarily read fic for. I read a lot of fic for the same things that I seek in published novels - good editing, writing, good plot, length. Perferably in that combination. I've just found, and this is probably thanks to HP being my first major fandom, that it's a lot harder to find all of the above in het fics. You have to search through a lot more dross to get something mildly entertaining. And dammit, if I've read through a characters torturous relationship, then I want to get the smut payout at the end. I'm a sucker for angst with a happy ending. I like happily ever afters, even if they're completely unrealistic.

...I might go and reread The God-Eaters, which isn't fanfiction, but is really really good, and I read it for the plot and the writing more than anything. One day, I might get it printed out and bound.

The last few days have been rather learning intensive and busy for me. I started at Baldwins on Monday, and refused to sacrifice my Monday and Tuesday games so that I could collapse. The games were fun.

Lace & Steel feels like it's finally coming to an end - our GM reckoned maybe a month or so more of playing time was left. We even covered ten days in our last session! We've wrapped up one plot arc, Isthian is getting married in two days, Sebasatian proposed and was accepted by Ines, we have an army marching on us, Esmerelda is in hiding after assassinating the ruler of the city we currently live in, so on and so forth. It's been good playing with the same people for so long, but I become more and more aware that nine months is a long time, and that I've never played in a campagin that is as long as this one, nor one as intense as it. Isthian was the first real fuck-with-me character I've played. I asked, she was, and it's been good.

Earthdawn is heating up. We've spent three or four sessions in Cathay (not in the Earthdawn manuals, so based off L5R), training and learning things about our core pattern items and ourselves. We're now fourth circle, so we can thread to our weapons and talents and things, which is nifty. Maree is becomming more and more convinced that she wants to be a Questor of the Riftweaver one day; I think she just wants something worth serving.

I am adjusting to my ergonomic keyboard at work. It's still querty, so everything is more or less where I feel they should be - except the B, which I now have to hit with my other hand. I planned this witty and entertaining account, but I'm going to go to bed soon, since I'm pretty tired. I like my team so far, and they're being careful not to overload me with too much information - I've only woken up dreaming of filing once.

They've actually had to hunt for work for me to do, since some of the people we work for have been sick, and haven't been generating work. So I've been learning some of the less commonly used tasks, and all sorts of things. Reviews are just now, and I have to put into place things that I want to learn by six months and a year, so I'll ask my Team Leader what sort of training I might need for all this.

Generally I feel confident that I'm doing okay. And that's a good thing.

I am so glad that I live in town, and don't actually have commuter issues. Compared to what some people are going through, waiting twenty minutes for the bus, and then taking another thirty-five to get home tonight really isn't that bad. I do wonder how many people will make it in tomorrow, though.

I'm currently sequeeing because cesperanza recced my Atlantis, baby SGA fic on a 10 things she likes about the SGA fandom at #4. The last line, the one I wrote the story for. I've written one SGA fic, and in a fandom full of crack, it's a deathfic. I agree with a lot of her recs - the story ones, anyhow. Haven't downloaded the vids yet.

We lit the fire for the first time this weekend. It draws really well, and I'm the firelighter, apparently. All that practice with my parents woodburner is paying off. The basic principle of how it's laid out is the same. You just need to remember to check on it more regularly than a woodburner. But it works, and it's really neat.

Lace & Steel was very cool tonight, as Robert was finally rescued in a daring infilitration mission by Sebastian, with help from Esmerelda (planning) and myself (finances), and Dominici (support). I'm really looking forward to seeing how much decorum Isthian is going to lose when she sees him for the first time. How much will depend on how public it is, I guess, and how he's presented. Yay! *does happy dance* But it feels like we've actually accomplished something, and it's really good.

Also, I don't work tomorrow, which means I have a lot to do in the afternoon, but I can still sleep in and vaccum and the like. Earthdawn tomorrow night, and I'm looking forward to it, if only so that Maree will stop trying to be the center of attention in my head. I have a lot of characters, and rpg ones don't usually end up being story ones. Maree, because she's the most cheerful character I think I've ever had, wanders. Which is okay, but kinda weird. It's not as bad as Isthian wanting to be in the Firefly universe. Thank goodness I talked her out of that.

Played in Guild Council on Saturday night. It was lots of fun, and the team who organised it clearly put a lot of work into it. I'm not sure what they vaguely thought the end result might be, but at the end of the evening, the Terrans and the Jerali had allied together against the rest of the Guilds, and all the Terrans present were on the assassination list of the Shadow Guild. Also, I inadvertantly bought plague (the common cold) to Guildspace.

One of the things I found really fun was being infected by a mindleech. The person who did it was initially planning to give me a ring, and make me wear that, but I cleverly hadn't worn any rings that evening, and made up some cock and bull story about only ever wearing one to symbolise marriage. I was the Terran Anthropologist, and none of the Guilds knew anything about us, so it might have worked. I thought it was clever, anyhow. Alas, I was overpowered, and infected, and it was heaps of fun, trying for two sets of goals. I was almost disappointed when the leech was killed. Still, that was one of the things that made me much more agreeable to the alliance - I was rather suspicious of them beforehand.

End conclusion from the Terran Captain was that since all Guildspace members were descended from a colony ship sent out from Terra several thousand years ago, they were all subject to Terran law, and therefore we could just waltz in and pick up where we left off. Terra had the armada to do so.

This has ended up being a roleplaying post, which I didn't initially intend it to be, but oh well.

After managing to find all of our players, we headed off to gaming. Conclusion for the evening's session: Ivan is evil. Which, admittedly, is a frequent conclusion, but I feel particularly vehment about it tonight, so much so that I'm not actually going bed now that I'm home, but posting instead.

( Lace & Steel commentry )

Tomorrow, I imagine that I'm going to have Isthian and Maree competing for space in my head. Isthian's going to be running around screaming for a while, because she doesn't know what to do, and frankly, neither do I. Maree, on the other hand, while focussed on her personal philosophy of balance, and on getting higher ranks in the Weaponsmith Discipline, isn't looking beyond buying a suit of chain mail, which she really, really wants, and eventually travelling to a different city.

Isthian got involved in social politics, and actual politics, poor girl, and for some reason, I'm reminded of The Zangre, in The Curse of Chalion, and Cazaril's assessment of the courtiers there. For some of them, it was a deadly game of politics and intrigue. For others, it was the social whirl that it seemed. Isthian would like to be in the second group, but is being dragged into the first.

I feel better now.

I had a surprise when I came home yesterday after Lace& Steel. The house was hazy with smoke, as though someone had left something smouldering on the element. Turns out flatmate S. had burnt the toast. He must have burned it really badly to get that particular effect.

Oh, and at Lace & Steel, Isthian fixed up Sebastian, got Ines to the tailor for her final costume fitting, and went to the Prahov ball with the rest of the party. And there, Lord Robert, the man Isthian has been pining over since they first met in the first year of her marriage, requested her permission to court her. She said yes, of course, which means I now have to research eighteenth century courtship rituals for a respectable widow.

I was woken at 7.45am this morning by the phone, from an interesting dream. The phone was my boss, asking if I could come in and work today (yes, but only until two). The dream had nothing to do with work.

( Dream )

LATER:

*bounces* We have a flat! It's the Pembroke Rd one. It's absolutely lovely, and I can feel a post coming on about how good it is. Signed the lease today, bond will go out tomorrow, so I'm going to be completely and utterly broke until I'm next paid. I may have to get some money off my parents. It also means I will have no money on my cellphone for the forseeable future.

Met up with the parents and a couple of the Oggs, and went out for dinner to Instanbul, and had coffee at Expressaholic afterwards. It was absolutely delicious, and I've more or less convinced Dad to help me bring some boxes up to the Harbour View flat, which will help with the packing, and I have to do things like call Telecom, and call Contact, and I'm not sure who is calling the movers, and there is so much to do. I've packed 7 boxes of books so far; most of the mass market paperbacks, A - Z + Anthologies.

Occasionally, I check my Wraithbait account, and see if I have any reviews for my one story that I posted there. I have 15 so far, and the following was the latest one, anonymous, of course:

I dont understand why are you making John and Rodney Gay Lovers ?????? When they are clearly not......


I wrote a polite response, but really, I'm not sure why the question. If they don't want to read John and Rodney being gay lovers, then they probably shouldn't have read something clearly marked McKay/Sheppard. And if they're curious about why I write or read it, then there are far better places to find out that information.

So, yay, Isthian! Yay, flat!

Last evening, on the way to Lace & Steel, house_monkey, mashugenah and I were discussing fanfiction, primarily slash. And somehow, being roleplayers, the subject of Cthulhu came up, and I was essentially dared to find out if there was any Cthulhu slash online.

I found this, Cthulhu/Aragorn, and there is a fairly inactive lj community, eldritch_slash, which is dedicated to Cthulhu fanfiction. There is also a Cthulhu sex magazine, but I'm sufficently wary not to follow that link. Although, this one could be tried, as it appears to be an archive (last updated in '97, so don't be surprised if you've already read some of it, and I'm not checking for quality, btw).

I told you guys that someone would write it.

*scrubs brain out*

My conclusion about Lace & Steel on Monday is that the GM is evil.

The kittens were cute, though. Moving around, and slowly growing accustomed to us. I took a few photos, but considering I have weeks to file and sort through, I doubt I'll be posting them anytime soon.

Had lunch with Alessan, seeing as he was having lunch outside too, and kept me company for a while. I have two more books of my pile to finish, and considering I just started Line of Polarity by Neal Asher, I doubt it'll be long until there's only one, since Asher's books tend to read like action adventure novels set in a science-fiction universe, where the sf is of some relevance to the plot.

Played Ultimate this evening. There were enough people on the Dirty Creatures team there to make up two teams. We lost, 5 - 9. I think. Something like that, anyway. Haven't counted steps today, since the podometer stopped working yesterday, and I haven't attempted to fix it yet. However, I probably did close to 10 000 yesterday, considering my day, and over today, since I walked to work, worked, and played Ultimate. I'll fix it tomorrow, or at least plan to.

Also, if anyone has a nice cameo broach that they'd be prepared to let me borrow for an evening, I'd muchly appreciate it.

I am not at work today, as I really should be. And surprisingly I don't feel any actual guilt over this. I would, but I'm too tired, and if I'm tired enough that I am seriously considering having a nap soon, even though I got up two hours ago, and went to bed earlyish last night, then I really shouldn't be at work. Still haven't woken up properly since Friday evening.

Sunday was nasty. Yesterday. Words fail me. A text to mashugenah involved the sort of language one sees in Asterix, only minus the thunderclouds and skull & crossbones, since my phone doesn't offer them up as symbols. Shame on them. The last room we did was the breaking point for me. I'd been considering the idea of taking today off all day yesterday, since I was getting to the non-functional stage of tiredness, and that room hit my breaking point and made the idea a plan. I've seen a few rooms worse than that one in my time in the hotel, but not many.

Had Lace & Steel in the evening. I enjoyed being Isthian for a few hours - probably the first time I've ever deliberately used gaming as an escape. It's not something I plan to do very often. Still, Isthian's general calmness was a nice change from my hyper-tired flapping around. And we had a new person start, too. I've never been in a game where someone joins part way through, and it's interesting. We've been learning how to act as a team, and we're still learning, and now there is another person to add in. Makes the dynamics interesting, especially when you add in the fact that mashugenah and house_monkey and I all know each other socially as well.

But most importantly - there were kittens. Last week, we all noted that Sploge was rather fat, and you could almost feel the lumps of kitten in her belly. This week there are kittens! They're about five days old, and incredibly cute. I took a couple of videos, and a number of photos, which I will post when I work out how.