shameless rp stuff, continued!

Totally just an image dump this time. Stuff I drew like 1-2 years ago. First, four of my characters as playing cards. Silence, fenrir modi, as the ace of spades:



Oberon, unseelie satyr king, as the ace of hearts. I gotta say, this was the second one I did, and spades took WAY longer, but I think this is my favorite. I just like the stern, cruel expression on his face and the BLOODY SEVERED EYELESS HEAD. cuz. i dunno. people think "hearts" and they think whoamance, LURV. but this is like. HEARTS. BLOODY, CONVULSING, VIOLENT HEARTS.



Vast, fang galliard, as the ace of diamonds:



Coll, fianna ahroun, as the ace of clubs:



Moar Decker. This is where the whole sketch began. Later on I tacked on the rest of the body + Imogen, but tbh the proportions were always off. I think it looks best like this --



And last up -- I forgot I'd even drawn this. I think this is actually inspired by someone else's art, that I wanted to put my own spin on, but I lost interest mid-project and moved on to something else *LOL*



Hey! While I'm coalescing creative crap, might as well add this on:



...yeah, that eye totally wasn't green by accident *LOL*

character survey, ii.

So I first ran this survey in like, 2004. I asked chilltank again tonight:

Complete this sentence: "In a hundred years, if anyone still remembers my characters, they'll remember me for my ... "

Me: twinked-out tall dark and handsome ahrouns. *LOL* I'VE CONSOLIDATED.
I will remember you for your ugly metis BSD with the cleft lip. and his online dating encounters. - Liz

Kai: "Impeccable and incredible smut-writing!"

Jamie: "... uncanny ability to convince straight male players to RP gay sex scenes."
"... inability to keep a PC alive longer than six months."
"love for Red Shirts"
"SEXUALLY AND MORALLY AMBIGUOUS ASSHOLES."

Angelina: "Gleeful willingness to be tortured."

Kenna: "My spitfire Kin and Cold Death"

Myr: "I would probably be remembered for my sentence fragments and abuse of punctuation :("

Poison: "I would be remembered for my delightful off-the-cuff kinfolk."

Jacqui: "I would be remembered for my germ-phobic Philodox Silver Fang Katherine, who terrorised Chicago's masses with her beauty and style. "
"a lady on the streets and a freak between the sheets" - Jamie

Lessa: "my anti-social characters, with deep, moving, meaningful backgrounds no one ever discovers because they're anti-social characters."

Liz: "fierce." you don't even need a noun for liz's PCs. - Jamie

magnificent geekery in chicago (viii)

On the last day I was in Chicago, I was up before dawn, but by the time I got my metro ass groomed and out on the streets it was a little past seven and the sky was getting brighter.

As I was driving off to my meeting, I happened across this, so I quickly pulled over and took a pic:



Hee!

Then, as I was crossing Chicago River between Mag Mile and the Loop, I wanted to take a pic from the bridge, but I could only stop when I was past it. This pic isn't nearly as cool as the one looking over the river would be :[



I was out of my meeting around 1:30pm. I decided to go have a look around Elk Grove before I headed to O'Hare. This is a pic on the big open highway heading out to EG. That is, as I discovered the hard way, actually NOT a freeway. The speed limit is 45, not 65. I got pulled over by a cop >_< Fortunately, after apologizing a billion times and explaining that I honestly did not know the speed limit was 45 and thought it was a freeway because I'm from California, he let me off with a warning. I was amazed, and incredibly grateful. I already have two speeding tickets and a running-stop-sign ticket from like. THE LAST YEAR :[[[[



When I got near Elk Grove, I saw this really gorgeous little stretch of road:



However, Elk Grove itself was kind of ... not at ALL what I thought. It was, in fact, not even a residential town. It was like a giant transportation hub -- and not even the cool rundown sort. Just tons and tons of humongous warehouses, railways running through, truck parking everywhere. All very corporate and blah.





I did, however, discover that Katherine also really lives in Chicago, but is actually a street:



After Elk Grove, I pretty much headed to O'Hare. Right before turning my rental car in, I snapped this pic at the gate to the airport. This is the back side of the airport, and all that endless white expanse you're looking at is airport land. It is absolutely, mindblowingly huge. You can't even see the terminals from there -- just some hangars.



Inside the airport, there was this nifty little entryway to the American Airlines terminal:



And the last pic I got from Chicago was, appropriately enough, sunset from the terminal :] It kinda felt full circle, since I landed just after dusk on the 13th. I wanted to take a pic of the city from the air, but I wasn't sitting by the window. Anyway, we flew straight west, so we never passed over downtown Chicago. I'll just have to wait til the next time I fly cross-country over Chicago :]



All in all, awesome trip. I had a blast hunting down RP locales and snapping pics. I think at some point I might take some pics from around the Bay, too! But don't hold your breath for them -- my updates are slow and sporadic as hell *LOL*

magnificent geekery in chicago (vii)

Okay, so, after I finally made it over to Millennium Park, I went and saw the infamous Jellybean:



That is technically a self-portrait. However, *I* can't even tell where the fuck my reflection is. I think it might be one of the tiny black specks on the bean. I wanted to do the thumbs-up-deformed-reflection thing, but it actually didn't work at all :[

That's actually the back side of Cloud Gate. If you come in from the front, it actually sits atop this giant tourist trap with gift shops, a cafe, and restrooms. I thought it looked better from this POV, though, partly cuz on the other side there were about a billion tourists crowded around. Also, from the other side it wasn't as easy to get a nice shot that framed the city as well.

I walked through the bean, too. I have to say, the underside is seriously disconcerting. It's very concave, with a circular ... I don't know, recess/indentation in the very center. The effect was like there was a hole in the middle, except it wasn't a hole, it was another distorted reflection. It felt like walking through a black hole o_O I seriously had a moment of vertigo when I was looking up and walking through it!

After the Bean, I went to Crown Fountain. The water wasn't spraying, but the giant faces were still there. It's hard to exaggerate how fucking creepy this thing is *LOL* I happened to take the pic right as the face grinned, but for most of the time they just stare blankly out at you, blinking every few seconds. It was ... yeaaaah. It was creepy.



Just one more pic from Grant Park -- this is looking south from Crown Fountain:



After that, I hopped into the car and went to Bronzeville. I have to say, I take back what I said earlier about not being able to tell good areas from bad in Chicago. Bronzeville is officially a Bad Area. There were crumbling tenements everywhere, along with condemned buildings, old overpasses, and empty lots. I only took maybe 3-4 pictures there, and they're pretty tame pics tbh, but that's mainly because I was literally afraid to take pics of the really shady-looking areas. It was getting dark, and I didn't want to get shot *LMAO*

This is really the only pic of Bville I got that even looks remotely as scary as it was:



And you can't even see the details. Like how rusted that ... bridge thing is. And how cracked and falling-apart the wall is. I love how that grocery store is called Saveway though. Like Safeway, only ghetto!

Then it was time to come back downtown. This is yet another attempt at the city-rising-out-of-distance picture, but alas by the time I could stop and take a pic the best view (of the whole skyline) was already past:



And here's two pictures going north on Mag Mile. They're SLIGHTLY clearer than the ones I got the first night, possibly because there was a bit more ambient light so the glitz of the lights didn't totally blind my poor little cellphone cam:





And there ended my second day of insane pic taking! Only a few more pics left from the last day, which I'll post next :]

magnificent geekery in chicago (vi)

Coming back from Stickney, I tried to take a pic of the city rising out of the haze. It looked way better than this IRL, and even better than this at night. Alas! This is the best you'll get:



Then I swung by Grant Park for a look. This is a view of Soldier Field with part of the Loop in the background:



This is the Loop seen from the south end of Grant Park:



This is Shedd Aquarium, home of sharks and moray eels and whirling schools o' fish! I have to admit, this is totally not what I expected. I expected a much more squareish, modern building with a lot of glass sitting on a big parking lot. This is like... what I'd imagine an art museum to look like! Sadly, I didn't have time to go inside :[



After I dropped by Shedd, I went toward the Planetarium:



Adler actually sits on this long man-made peninsula thing, so you can walk down to the lake's edge for a look. This is looking out toward the open waters (or ice):



And these two pics are the Chicago skyline from Adler --





Oh and yeah. That shit is ICE. ALL ICE. I will have you know, my fingers almost froze off taking those pics. SO. FUCKING. COLD. And I couldn't wear gloves either, or else the touchscreen didn't sense anything! Agh!

After Adler, I ducked back into my rental car and headed for Millennium Park. I passed this giant, impressive-looking museum, the identity of which I remain uncertain of:



These residential towers overlook the museum-ish area of Grant Park. Very, very impressive. If Danicka ever wants to move...



Eventually, I made my way over the Millennium park. The streets are slightly confusing there, so after a few block-circlings I parked and got out to walk around. It turned out I was actually across a major street from Millennium Park, but it was all good because that let me get a shot of the north end of Grant Park, looking south --



Yay, ice skating :]

Then I got to go over a seriously awesome bridge. This is BP bridge. I could almost forgive them the massive oil spill for giving us this gorgeous work of art. I wish I could take pics that better encompasses what it looks like. It's like this huge, futuristic, organometallic sweep of architecture that takes you from Grant Park to Grant Park's newest addition. It sort of rises right out of the ground, sweeping back and forth a few times before soaring across the eight or ten lanes of the boulevard. It's also made of the same materials, and with the same overall design principle, as the main stage of the Pritzker Pavilion just behind it. So when you're standing on the east side looking west, the curving lines of the bridge really just flow across to the Pavilion, and up into the rising lines of the city.



When you're about halfway across, you can look along the side of the bridge proper. Pritzker Pavilion is on the other side, and the Loop behind it --



On the other side, the sheer size of the Pritzker Pavilion is hard to really sense in this picture. When it's empty and covered in snow, there are really no visual references. Take a look at this pic, though, to get a sense of how huge it really is! -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pano-chicago.jpg

Okay. Next post: Millennium Park, Bronzeville, and more!

magnificent geekery in chicago (v)

On the way out of Stickney, I went to look for Czech Kitchens:



The name was absolutely apt. It wasn't a diner at all -- it was just a kitchen attached to a small storefront that had like 5 huge cold-cases full of homemade Czech food.

The owner was very nice, but kinda in that gruff no-nonsense eastern european way. There was a sign saying $15 minimum credit card charge, but my order only came out to $10 or so. I felt bad and wanted to make up the difference, but she waved it off. Then I asked if I could take a picture of the store, but she didn't want to be in it :[



This is looking the other way. There's one tiny little cafe table + 2 chairs, but I think it's for show. All the food is cold/frozen, and the owner said they were takeout only!



For all that Czech Kitchens didn't look like much, the food was absolutely fantastic. I wanted to try their duck dinner (of course), but they were out. So I got stuffed cabbage instead, which I took back to my hotel. It was a struggle finding a microwave, but eventually one turned up. Then there were noms:



I know that looks fairly gross, but it was actually really, really good. It was cabbage wrapped around a beef-and-rice stuffing (mostly beef, from what I could tell), stewed with potatoes and chunks of beef. It was really awesome.

And of course, kolaches:



They were actually smaller than I'd thought they'd be! They're like... the size of slender pigs-in-blankets. But they were so fucking good. I ate three of them before I thought to take pictures. Then I ate three more and forced myself to stop *LOL* I'll probably scarf the rest for breakfast tomorrow. I'm seriously considering stopping by again and getting another dozen to bolt down on my way to the airport *dies*

On my way out of Stickney, I ran across this frozen pond in yet another forest preserve (I think it was Cermak Woods off US-34):



...and this is a view off the bridge over the Des Plaines river, with snow on the banks. The river itself hadn't frozen. It was really beautiful, but assfreezingly cold on that bridge:



After I took that pic, I headed back to Chicago. Next up: Grant Park, plus Bronzeville and the Mile!

magnificent geekery in chicago (iv)

Just past aforementioned little playground, I saw this coming up on the right side. It was sort of almost jarring to see it, because it looked so familiar!



It was a little smaller in person, though. I think the half-basement makes it look deceptively large, but it's really quite wee. The house looked unoccupied still, so I pulled over for more pics. Sadly, it was easily the most neglected house on the street. There were two nice pine trees beside the garage, but the ivy on the chainlink had long since died:



The windows were boarded up, but the numbers were still on the garage:



BTW, I just have to say... even having BEEN there, I still haven't got the faintest clue what's going on with the interior floorplan. Nor do I know what psycho designed it *LOL*

A bit of a different angle, showing the tree out front:



And here's the front door. I seriously think you must go in and then up a flight of stairs. it definitely looks like the parlor area and the second floor are add-ons, though. Also, the front and left side look like a stone facade, but then around the corner it's whitewashed brick. Odd little thing!



This is a view of the garage's tiny window and side door, as well as the front yard:



The front, complete with boarded-up basement windows:



And the side alley, with random whitewashed brick!



Chipping whitewash :[



Annnd the back, where the brick isn't even whitewashed *LOL* Alas, there's actually no backyard, but I'm totally gonna fudge that bit of it.



Interestingly, I found these tracks in the snow around back:



I'm pretty sure those are deer tracks! Big, even-toed!

These are the neighbors on both sides of the street, up and down the street:









Everyone else's houses were pretty nicely taken care of *dies* I felt embarrassed for poor little 6944. I also felt a totally irrational urge to buy it and fix it up, which I quickly squelched.

By this time I'd walked and driven up and down the street so many times I was worried the neighbors were going to call the cops. But as I was driving off, I saw this:



40th and Home Ave! Daw. So I drove by one last time and took one more pic for the road :]



Next up: Czech kitchens and a lake and river 5 min down the road from the den!