Superman and Wonder Woman, Sitting in a Tree...

...although what this will mean for Lois Lane is anyone's guess.

Samhain Festival 2012

Pagan Future Fests are holding a Samhain festival this year on Sunday 21st October. The venue is The Bedford in Balham (full address below), a great music venue... handy, since Inkubus Sukkubus will be playing! There will also be workshops and stalls selling all kinds of goodies!

The Bedford (Pub/Theatre)
77 Bedford Hill
Balham
London SW12 9HD

 Tickets are available in advance through their site (here) or on the door. Should be a good one!

Pope Decides Gay People Aren’t Fully Developed Humans

Aged bigot in a dress decides gays aren't fully developed humans. Priests who commit pedophilia are fine though... Full story here.

Brother

Did I know you once?
Or was that just a masque,
Once worn, now discarded?
Reality ill suits you,
A face set in cold, hard lines.

I am unchanged,
Older, wiser, perhaps -
But still, at heart, the child you knew,
Craving your attention.
Denied, ever denied
By the bitterness of shared blood.

If man's love for man is such a taint
In your eyes
That hatred can be made a virtue,
Then better I am tainted!
Should I deny myself, my heart,
For your approval? No.

And so I cut you free.

2012 so far...

First post of 2012 - I'm getting very lax...

So here is my new roleplaying character, Anastasya Nicolayeva. She is a former KGB agent, now self-employed...

In other news I had another fantastic Zombie LARP experience (for more on these great events see here). So want to do another one RIGHT NOW but there are no more in the pipeline. Sigh...

Off to Cornwall next week for a much-needed break, so hopefully will have fun things to post when I return.

That was all a bit of a ramble. I should be more concise.

A Valiant Death

A tale of Zombie LARPing.

It was my last survivor run. Two teams of us had banded together for safety. Yeah, that just made us a more tempting target.

We were crossing the mall from one unit to the next when someone shouted 'White Knight!'* And there he was, running full tilt down the mall with an axe in his hand. Everyone scattered! I found myself separated from my group with a guy I didn't know. I had a spade and he was unarmed. Of course, the White Knight came after us.

We ran through the store, down the stairs to the cellar, not stopping to switch on our torches. It was dark. We waited with baited breath, hoping the White Knight wouldn't follow us down. It may have been my only bit of luck on that run...

Hearts pounding, we crept back upstairs. The White Knight had left! Better yet, we could see our groups at the Bioflex Recruitment Desk, just across the mall from us!

Reunited, I allowed myself to relax in the illusion that I was safe.

We forged ahead. I was at the front of our group, the only person with a melee weapon. That was fine. I was backed up by my allies, all armed to the teeth. They had my back, right?

Turning a corner, there was the second White Knight. I shouted a warning, backing up with my spade en-guard . Someone shouted, 'Don't run! Stand and fight!' So I did. I even got a hit in against the Knight! But then there was a terrible roar to my left...

Father Flexmas attacked without mercy; a dark-robed, imposing figure in a featureless white mask, twin blades slashing. I fell beneath his knives wondering where my team had got to. Out of, what, eleven of us? only two had stayed to fight.

I died, but at least it was dramatic. And I'll know better next time. Apparently 'stay and fight' actually means 'run like billy-o'. Who knew?

* A White Knight, for those who haven't attended Zombie LARP, is a fast, strong, intelligent undead monster. Although savage in combat, they are also capable of coming up with strategies (such as keeping poor, stupid survivors occupied while Father Flexmas sneaks up on 'em). They are very scary indeed.

A Very Zombie Xmas

I spent a fantastic day running around a deserted mall on Saturday, fend off the hoardes of the undead. No, really, I'm not making it up.

I had never been to Zombie LARP before (see their site here) and wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I had heard stories, read blogs, but nothing really prepared me for how awesome my day was going to be.

First of all let me tell you about the setting - Friar's Walk Mall in Reading, a derelict shopping centre. I would soon be running through the empty shop units, up and down escalators, through the darkness of the basement... A fantastic venue, really creepy!

We had weapons to defend ourselves against the zombies. Nerf guns of all shapes and sizes, LARP melee weapons, the works. Our favourite was the foam spade, quite satisfying for smacking zombies across the back...




























And fun as it was to play as a survivor, being a zombie was great! There is something empowering about lurching around after terrified survivors, getting knocked down but never for long, monsters at the top of the food chain!

Some friends of mine got into the festive spirit as Santa and Mrs Claws with their elves - disturbing :)



Myself and Stephanie were not as organised as all that, just going for creepy zombie make-up. I was particularly impressed with Stephanie's bleeding eyes...




























All in all a fantastic day - I would heartily recommend booking up for one of these events if you are able to get to Reading. They sometimes run events at different venues (Norwich and London I think) but Friar's Walk Mall is such a great venue it has to be seen to be believed.