The Ongoing Campaign

Today, we celebrate 13 years of this blog. That seems impossible, since I only just started this blog yesterday, I'm sure. Well, no, checking my archive shows that I was working without a gaming group, something that is again the case due to personal conflicts with a couple of the members of my last regular group (and I volunteered to step aside to prevent any dramatics from happening), though I have also played in a couple of short-term games since leaving that group.

Since 2011, I have honed my gaming focus somewhat, moving away from my "gaming ADD" habits and narrowing my gaming to a few games that really do interest me. I'm old enough that I've tried most everything and now am fairly sure of what I like and don't like so I don't need to search around anymore. It's still a fairly broad range, from D&D-style games to Traveller-style, RuneQuest-style, and GURPS. There are also a few other specific games that remain of interest, such as Fantasy Wargaming, and Barbarians of Lemuria. I'm pretty willing to play any of those, as well as a few others like Pendragon, Lace & Steel, Chivalry & Sorcery, CORPS, EABA, Cyberpunk (Red or 2020, heck even 2013), and some others, but I'd probably only run AD&D (1st edition with some house rules), Swords & Wizardry: White Box (with extensive house rules), White Star (Galaxy Edition, probably), The Hero's Journey (2nd edition), MegaTraveller, RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, GURPS (4th edition), or Fantasy Wargaming anymore, and I've got AD&D, Fantasy Wargaming, or GURPS games more or less ready to go. Maybe I'd run Majus, Stars Without Number, or Worlds Without Number if someone pushed the issue, certainly I'd play them. And that's where I stand with gaming today.

This may be a person who uses the name "Lady Izabella" (not related to the early 2000's lingerie fetish model, as far as I can tell). Or she may not be that person.

I notice, belatedly, that I forgot to set up a Goth of the Week last week. And the log of the Faerie Queene is behind schedule. My life has gotten a bit busy since Halloween, so while I hope to get back on track I may not be able to. We'll see.

No idea who the model is, but the picture seems to be associated with DevilInspired Clothing. I can't find this particular dress on their site, though they have several that are similar in their Gothic Lolita collection.

Erica "Unwoman" Mulkey

One of my favorite musicians right now. I'll give you a couple of music videos after the cut.

This week, we feature the lovely Chloë Noir, wearing knocking-around goth clothes (black denim is very useful) up a tree. Found at the delightfully amusing Goths Up Trees blog.

It's been a while since I've posted anything from Gloomth & the Cult of Melancholy, so here is Carmilla. Found here, on their Tumblr.

Kali Kurashi

Aurelio Voltaire! Musician! Singer-songwriter! Animator! Author! Stand-up Comic! Roleplaying game designer! The multitalented Voltaire is well-known in goth circles, and not that unknown outside of them. He occasionally attempts to describe what "gothic" means to the subculture ("We almost never kill people").

Here, have some music:



Sorry I didn't get any gaming content written this week. I will try to get some in before the next Goth of the Week.

Gothic Lolita, or Loligoth, fashion is related to the rest of the gothic community, though it is mainly through crossover. Much of the Loligoth community is more closely associated with the general Lolita fashion community in Japan. These particular women dressed in Loligoth fashions are, I believe, in the Harajuku district in Tokyo. I wasn't able to find any further information about their names or the photographer. I found the picture here.

There is some crossover in musical taste between goth and loligoth, though those who follow loligoth fashion might just as easily listen to regular J-Pop. The fashion is not tied as tightly to the music as it is in the West. I'll put some music videos loosely associated with loligoth and other lolita fashion after the cut, one from Japan, one from the UK, and one from the US (the last put together by the musician from scenes in anime videos).

Aleksandra "Apsara" Kilczewska. There are many other beautiful shots and outfits that she has on her Facebook page.

Claudia, picture by Mick Mercer (from his Gothic Rock). Found here.

The incredible Laurel R. Dodge, artist, burlesque performer, all-around wonderful woman, and another of my friends. This photo is from the 2013 Vampire Masquerade Ball in Portland, OR.

I began the Goth of the Week series on this blog two years ago today, with this entry. The idea for the series came from a blog called Underworld Cleaning Service, which has since gone quiet. He had his own Goth of the Week running for a while, though he didn't tag every post in that series. When he first went quiet, before he came back very briefly, I decided that I liked the series enough to want to keep it running. I picked a photo of a woman who was particularly lovely in my eyes, and I still think that she is among the most beautiful women I've seen. I had originally intended to use her picture to illustrate a V&V character I named Titania (and I'll probably give her stats at some point). I've since learned that her photo was taken at Wave Gotik Treffen in 2011, and have found more pictures of her, but still do not know her name. Anyway, I thought that maybe I should include some more photos of her today to celebrate two years of lovely goth people.

Sinflower, who is too weird to live, too rare to die. Photo found here.

The 10th will be two years since I started this series, so I have a special post planned for Sunday. See you then!

Chadwick Heger, a gentleman of my acquaintance and of impeccable style.

The beautiful Katrine Elisanth. As a bonus, have a second image under the cut!

A model who goes by the name of Forbudt. I really like this look, though it's not my own style.

Lil Bo Creep (Jessica Kendall).

The ever-awesome Carl McCoy of Fields of the Nephilim (the best band you've probably forgotten or never heard of*).

Happy Independence Day to those of you from the US!


*OK, that's probably an exaggeration. Still, I have a lot of love for this band, and most people seem to not really know of them.

I haven't been able to track down any information about this lovely lady, except that the photo is pinned on Pinterest as an example of "green hair". Judging by the file name attached to the photo on some sites, it seems like it is probably a private photo that made the jump to public reposting.

Edit to add: Hamel™ is a better investigator than I am, and seems to have found her. It seems to be Desiree Stinho, who has many more lovely photos as well.