devilkept

Sneaking about, checking things out...

I'm not the craftiest sort, so I'm not sure how well this site will suit me, but I've got an idea that's been stewing for a while for which this might be a very good vehicle. So, I'mma poke and prod and try things out to see how well this all works.

I am a thirty-something, happily married, bipolar geek working in a strangely satisfying corner of the corporate world in technical support. Love good storytelling, worldbuilding, roleplaying, tarot, board games, comics (usually without superheroes), music (see below), sci-fi, fantasy, samurai and heist flicks, soup, soap, snowflakes and moths.

Colors: red, black, white, pale pink, grey, brown.

Scents: herbaceous (e.g. rosemary, sage), spicy (e.g. ginger, cinnamon), clean (e.g. citrus, sea).

Food/Flavors: cheese of just about every variety, soup, thai food, german food, risotto, almonds, caramel (not salted!), chai, ginger, sweet-tart (e.g. cherry almond or lemon vanilla), cranberries, white wines, green tea (black upsets my stomach).

Tarot: I'm a big old tarot geek. I own a few decks, but my Gill is my go-to girl. I tend to think in tarot archetypes. Other forms of divination and introspective meditation also interest me, though I don't branch out as much as I would like to.

Board Games: A recent obsession, we went from owning about five games to over fifty in one year, though some are just expansions and several were gifted to us by a friend cleaning out his own collection. My favorites are currently Lords of Waterdeep, Carcassonne, Courtier, Galaxy Trucker and Legendary.

Tabletop RPGs and Worldbuilding: These two, for me, go hand-in-hand, as all the worldbuilding I do tends to be with some game in mind. I grew up on D&D, and I still play (and run) as an adult. I love the theme and setting of Changeling: The Lost and Unknown Armies, but have yet to play either. I've been working on my own campaign settings for years, and I love it. Favorite hobby, by far.

Video Games: I play them a lot. I love action RPGs like the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. I use Steam a lot.

Soup: My favorite food. I could happily eat soup every day, no matter the weather. Favorites are mulligatawny, cabbage soup, tom kha gai, asam laksa and just about anything with rice.

Soap: I'm a soap addict. I love handmade and organic soaps, and hope to learn how to make my own fairly soon. Especially love herbaceous, spicy and clean smells.

Moths and Snowflakes: I am fond enough of both (and what they mean to me) that I have both inked on my body permanently: a small black snowflake on my right wrist and a large beautiful emperor moth on my upper back.

I also love stickers and small stuffed animals. I have respectable collections of both.

I listen to a lot of postpunk, electropop, synthpop, new wave, shibuya-kei, k-pop and triphop.

Some of my favorite artists include: Joy Division, Bauhaus, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Dresden Dolls, Dragonette, Yelle, Eleni Mandell, Talking Heads, Takako Minekawa, SunnyHill, Big Bang, f(x) and Block B.

Some of my favorite albums, from beginning to end, include: Elvis Costello & the Attractions' Trust (Rykodisc Reissue), Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting, Gary Numan's Jagged, M83's Hurry Up We're Dreaming, The Smiths' The World Won't Listen, Faith No More's Angel Dust, His Name Is Alive's Stars on ESP, Van Morrison's Moondance, and capsule's More! More! More!.

A few songs I listen to on repeat way too much: Block B's Nillili Mambo, Big Bang's Still Alive, Dragonette's My Legs and We Rule the World, Florrie's Call of the Wild, Miike Snow's Silvia, SunnyHill's Princess and Prince Charming, SHINee's Lucifer and Neon Indian's Ephemeral Artery.

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As a general rule, I read more short stories, graphic novels and poetry than I do full novels. Themes and genres I enjoy most include dystopian, post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, magical realism, urban fantasy and high fantasy.

My favorite short story is Alan Moore's A Hypothetical Lizard, which is difficult to find but entirely worth the search.

My favorite novella is Catherynne Valente's Silently and Very Fast, which you can find here. That's just the first part, but parts two and three are in the sidebar.

My favorite novels that I've read recently were both by Valente as well: Palimpsest and The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

My favorite graphic novel series are Mike Carey's Lucifer (That's Mazikeen in my profile pic.), Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Joe Hill's Locke & Key, Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan and Freakangels, Bill Willingham's Fables and Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise.

I also love Kaja & Phil Foglio's Girl Genius (Team Tarvek!!), John Allison's Scary Go Round and Ursula Vernon's Digger.

My favorite poets include W.S. Merwin, Susan Mitchell and E.E. Cummings.

Currently watching: Supernatural, Fringe, Burn Notice, Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Haven, Arrow and Lost Girl.

Also love: Sherlock, Battlestar Galactica (new), Skins (UK only), Boys Before Flowers, Game of Thrones, Spartacus, Sons of Anarchy, Chopped, Project Runway and (more than I'd like to admit) America's Next Top Model.

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 is my preferred Star Trek. By far.