Scribbles in the Margins

Wow. So. We have incredible friends.

Long story short, we just spent about an hour looking for Julia's engagement ring (which had flung from her finger in the midst of a particularly emphatic gesture) in the grass of the common. We cordoned off what, in retrospect, turned out to be a ludicrously large area, swept it meticulously... and finally found it less than a foot from the paved path.

We had a well-deserved mulled wine to celebrate. And, hopefully, we'll watch the rest of Half-Blood Prince after foods. :D

OMG I'm remarkably drunk.

I've just arrived home (read: arrived home about 30 min. ago) with Remus after having 1.) taken a few shots of rum straight with vanilla and 2.) ---

...

Okay. Though the task of chronicling my epic night of epic drinking was clearly of dire importance to me last night I was pulled away from the computer for one reason or another and, soon after, found myself incapable of getting off the bed, much less finishing this post. But since the above made me LOL upon waking I figured I'd keep it -- and, to an extent, finish it.

So after the rum (tasty, tasty) -- //Tesco's// brand, no less. We don't cotton to the fancy stuff in our household! (Actually, we rather do, but that's another story.) -- Remus and I stumbled forth in the direction of Clare for the formal Christmas dinner, part one of two. The second part (as we applied for both of them) is tomorrow night. As it was a black tie affair we wore our best black ties and I was be-waistcoated. :) There we had pre-dinner champagne in the MCR and, over some damned fine food, white and red wine and some port. And then it was back to the MCR for a post-dinner glass of mulled wine and a bit of smokey, smokey whisky.

And, by the by, Remus pennied me with the dinner wine, the bastard. Twice.

( Notable Happenings: ) Only under a cut because I love you guys and don't want to //completely// spam your f-lists.

Hey all,

Just a note to say that I'm working on the card(s) -- and to acknowledge the peeps who sent me PMs and comments. :) I //should// have them sent out soon.

In the meantime... OMG, Christmas shopping. I have so few presents taken care of. Some will be bought, some will be joint gifts, some will be gift art... but the fact remains that most of it has yet to be done.

I should be back in California on the evening of the 15th in any case. What does this mean? It means I'll be scrambling to see my friends and family, soaking up the time with them -- I've been a bit homesick lately -- but it //also// means that I'll be online at more reasonable hours (or 'more reasonable' for my fellow North Americans, anyway). I'll be hitting up the MU*s and, in all likelihood, much more available for RP. In fact, I'll be jonesing for it. Damned timezones. Damned Cambridge firewall on the home connection. :P

I'm a bit late on this but... Anyone want to exchange holiday cards? I'm going to draw some up and get them in the mail either late this week or next. They might be a bit silly -- I don't know what I'm going to draw just yet. It'll come to me.

In any case, if you want one, PM me you address. And I'll gladly give you mine if you're sending out cards as well. :)

Okay. More weird dreams, though these were a little more LOLworthy than last night's. And fandom related as well!

So. I had a dream that I was Snape. This, as you might have guessed, wasn't the first time. But there was also a sense layered on top of the billowing robes and greasy hair that I was role-playing. (As a note, I've never LARPed -- I always felt that my shyness would prevent me from participating/expressing myself in all the required ways. Embodying Snape at Azkatraz over the summer, though not LARPING and not quite cosplay -- rather more than cosplay, actually -- might have changed my mind a bit on that score. Time will tell.)

I remember stalking the halls of... wherever the hell I was (wherever the hell the RP was set), my black robes flaring out dramatically in my wake. Of course. Because what sort of Snape would I be without creepy hall-stalking? I think I'd just finished a Potions class 'scene' (or, for some reason, had given the class a break -- LOL not a particularly Snape move, I'll admit) and I had the feeling I'd done a pretty good job with the character. But my hall-stalking was focused -- I'd left to find someone or do something before the second scene. So vague and unhelpful. Meh. In any case, I'd planned on sweeping into the classroom, letting the door slam behind me, just to start things off with -- ha! -- a bang and get in character. Unfortunately I realized, rather suddenly, that I was already in the classroom, that I'd been zoning out all the way in and that the students were all eyeing me. I wasn't in the mindset for the scene anymore and, worse, I wasn't really in the character's mindset; I was suddenly totally unprepared and when I attempted to go on as usual I stammered and forgot the spiels I'd planned.

And Blick, I blame you, dammit. Because one of the students pulled a You and got all antagonistic -- fist-fight status. XD Just as I was trying to deal with the little prat one of the other students spoke up OOC -- "You have a better voice (better vocabulary? That was the implication, anyway) than that.", meaning that I was DOIN IT RONG. And I knew it. So I just apologized to everyone, said I was tired and not in the mood for the scene. Overall they were pretty neutral, the lot of them, but one of the girls ended up expressing sympathy and befriending me and... it sort of spirals off into vague thoughts and images. So. Scene.

Man, I need to RP. Though the dream spiraled into weirdness and, probably a subconscious critique of my levels of self-confidence and my methods of operation, I rather enjoyed embodying Severus in all his sneering glory. I miss my regular RP schedule. :p

So I think I'm getting a cold. I woke up this morning (from a dream in which I threw up no less, though it was a little more complicated than that) to find that the back of my nose -- where my nasal passages connect to my throat -- is sore, dry and a little swollen. Most unfortunate.

On a positive note, however, I started carving away at my (generalized) statement of purpose last night as I was playing editor to April and in the process I remembered for one glowing moment or two that, yes, I actually can write. I also have a fic idea that'll hopefully be longer than a drabble/double-drabble. And speaking of drabbles, I'm considering posting one of the other ones that I scribbled into my little Advanced Potionmaking sketch book. And-and... I have a harpy drawing. :| I'd like to post it too.

Until then, I'm going to cast about for something suitable to wear out to English breakfast with Remus and Lily and, perhaps, see if I can steal a few more moments with the book on text-based gaming that I checked out from the UL. My God, I really am rather a bookworm.

Okay, so I'm starting to get bad at this updating thing again. So. Time to update.

I've been writing a bit lately -- fiction, drabbles+ no less -- and so I thought I'd actually pluck up the courage to post them. One at a time though, if only because I only have one handy anyway. Also: This is where I unveil my Snapely Holidays submission (which I just sent off). I got a bit distracted, what England, grad school considerations and general craziness and stress and I had to ask for an extension. In any case, the double-drabble-plus goes with the drawing.

Damn. I haven't written for a while and I realized that, despite months upon months upon //years// of RP, I'm still rusty. But it feels good to write in any case.

( Here There Be Snupin )

God. So I'm up. I'm writing (Yay!). But I'm at a bit of a stand-still for the moment and need to get my creative juices flowing again. So? I started another idle search on that wonderful place that is YouTube. And I found this, which I hadn't seen since theatres.



Despite my emetophobia I had to LOL. God, Snape, you unflappable bastard.

So... Yeah. I'm not dead. I've just been absorbed into daily life here in... ENGLAND OMG.

It still makes me squee at times. At this point my Magical Rail Pass has expired so I'm through with my free and easy travel throughout the land. But I've seen a good many things at least. I'll elabourate later perhaps when I'm in more of a writing mood. There's just been so much -- so much cosplay, so many day trips, so much //everything//. And still I've been feeling restless, due in large part to the deadlines creeping ever closer for grad school application. (Yes, I've realized that I want to (and, moreover, am capable of) applying to grad school, especially out here in the Land of Tea and Crumpets.)

On a related note, I've come to terms with quite a lot of my issues -- issues that so very often cause me to stagnate, paralyze me in place and prevent me from taking risks because I don't feel I'm capable in the least. And, of course, there's my guilt at not having overcome these things sooner (and having still not overcome them). WTF neuroses. At least I'm realizing how much I have to push myself to overcome all of this crap.

In any case, I've been pretty successful at negotiating this new trans territory (not so new anymore, really). I've been living, for the most part, as a male here in England, and it's rather liberating -- and no doubt rather confusing for anyone in earshot when they hear April and Julia alternately call me Crystal or Severus (in and out of costume). Funny that: I'm actually rather used to being called Severus/Sev and, in fact, rather enjoy it. The things one gets used to.

So... I just woke up and figured I'd type out a few notes on my dreams since at least one of them is pretty sweet.

I dreamt I was in London with April and Julia. We rode the London Eye at night... but were strapped in not unlike on a carnie ride (as opposed to the neat little pods one actually rides in). It felt as though we were flying. I could sense that April was growing quite terrified as we steadily gained altitude, though she'd fallen silent as a corpse where she was strapped in to my immediate right. Just before we reached the crest of the loop, I strained to get my hand over to hers, taking it as I murmured, "It's okay, babe. You're alright."

But I must admit, even I got a little frightened when I actually looked down. But I couldn't stop laughing because I felt as though I was flying. And I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be. It was beautiful.

I'm going to England, I'm going to England, I'm going to England. OMG OMG OMG.


That is all.

I have my assignment for the Snapely Holidays exchange! Now to get drawing...

My tailbone feels as though it's bruised or cracked and I'm left to wonder WTF I did to it last night. :P I just hung out at a bowling alley with my friends and played audience member to my karaoke-ing friends (and later moshed a little to a punk karaoke, LOL). Nothing really hard on the tailbone.

Ah well.

In other news, I've been drawing a little recently, some fandom stuff (working on a Voldie :D ) and some original. I finally feel a bit inspired and I drew what I consider to be my first good creature design in a while. I might post some stuff eventually.

I'm trying to decide which holiday fests/exchanges to participate in and, since I'm largely new to this whole fanart/fic exchange thing I thought it might be a good idea to solicit some suggestions. I'm almost positive I'm entering snapelyholidays. Any others that you fine folks think that I should sign up for?

Posting from the toad, so to speak. I'm at the hospital, waiting with Mom for Grandma's CT. I'm fairly certain that most of the people that I might usually text are still asleep. Hell, I think /I'm/ only half awake myself. So that means LJ post to keep me busy!

And as so often happens in hospitals, I keep expecting to see Greg House limping around a corner. Heh.

... Wow. While I was typing Grandma was called back and sent back out. The nurse wasn't kidding when she said that it would take five minutes. And they'll have the results Monday!

ETA: Posting from the ROAD, rather. That's what I get for posting from the iPhone. Thought it was a rather cute typo though so I left it in. (Trevor? Is that you?)

Instead of replying to each comment on my last post, I thought I'd write up an overall gush of appreciation.

You lot are incredible and I truly appreciate the support and loving words that you're all offering me. I returned home late last night from work to find a wealth of encouragement and though there are obviously still issues that I need to work out and words won't reverse Grandma's condition (would that it were so!) I feel so much better today, knowing that I have wonderful friends close at hand. Though my family really does pull together in hard times, support from outside of the family tree is indispensable.

I've only known some of you since Azkatraz but I still consider you all close friends. Rest assured that my ears are open if ever you need to vent and my shoulder's free to cry on. Again, I can't really say how much I appreciate the support, given how depressed and relatively isolated I've been feeling in regards to some of this stuff lately.

So, suffice to say, much love to you guys. :) :)

Prelude to a real Dark Mark?

I haven't been around much, it's true. Suffice to say, I've got quite a lot on my mind these days and I'm going a little mad. But this isn't a Wangsy Post[tm]. This is a Happy Post[tm].

I finally got my non-disclosure agreement for my concept art gig. :D :D :D

It came in the mail yesterday. So... I can't give details now -- officially -- but I have a concept art gig for a TV show that's in pre-production. This shiz is happening, yo. And I'm elated.

Tremble in fear. This was taken on one of my work days between Az and Comic-Con so I I still had the blue-black hair.

Brain-breakage under the cut.

( Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Click Here )

I don't have pictures of most of them but suffice to say I have a lot of snakey items -- clasps and a heavy red-eyed pendant-like thing that will likely be transformed into some sort of decorative clasp for a cloak for next year. But this! I thought ahead with this one and snapped a picture before I took out out of its packaging.

For obvious reasons it reminded me of alabastard. ;)





I love that the company's name has something to do with Manors. Oh God, I'm a geek.