Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Stephanie Pegg's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
9:00 pm	I just published a game! (And I'm telling everyone. :-) Apologies to the people who've seen this in multiple places.) The Bell is a science fiction suspense live roleplaying game inspired by The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky), Five-Twelfths of Heaven (Melissa Scott), Vacuum Flowers (Michael Swanwick) and the works of Cordwainer Smith. The Bell is intended to be an emotionally intense game that pushes moral dilemmas. It draws on a trope of science fiction which treats space travel as a spiritual journey. It doesn't make assertions about any particular religion, but it does examine metaphysical themes and ethical issues. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 2nd, 2012
11:21 am	Yuletide Reveal And now all the anonymity has been removed, and we're OK to talk about who wrote what. Mine were: The Affair on Strigoi Street (3785 words) by DaisyNinjaGirl Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Ivan Vorpatril, Ethan Urquhart, Terrence Cee, Gregor Vorbarra, Byerly Vorrutyer Summary: In which Ivan goes to Athos, and furthers the course of True Love.Allusions to pornography, but nothing explicit. One character has minor problems with homophobia that he has to confront, and there’s canon misogyny. Mostly about Ivan, but Gregor, Byerly, Ethan Urquhart and Terrence Cee appear as minor characters. This one was my assigned story. I got really lucky with the prompt - the recipient wanted a story about Ivan Vorpatril (because he's awesome), was happy with any kind of content, and made a side comment about the Ethan of Athos novel and how it would be fun if the major characters from that got to meet up again, and it all just gelled in my head. I was originally going to have a much more serious side story, but then Cat wanted Byerly to turn up and I couldn't think of anything snarky for him to say, but figured that videos 'of a certain type' would be By's idea of a good farewell present. And Cat made some suggestions for movie titles, and the rant about fire fighting and plot in Lance Goes Logging II, and then suddenly Bernard, Reggie and Ron were in my head and the rest just happened. Five Endings, Five Beginnings (1883 words) by DaisyNinjaGirl Fandom: Princess of Flames - Ru Emerson Rating: General Audiences Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Elfrid/Baldyron, Rolend/Juseppa, Fialla/Gespry Characters: Elfrid, Fialla, Gespry, Baldyron, The Reader, Juseppa, Sigurdy, Rolend Summary: Some things that might have happened after, in The Princess of Flames. Note to people who haven’t read the novel – this story is pretty spoilerific. But you should totally go read the book, it’s awesome. The Princess of Flames is one of those books where you know someone has read it because it comes up in conversation and someone says: "but I loved that story!" And other than that, it's quite rare. This was written as a treat for someone else with Princess of Flames love. Letting Go (1062 words) by DaisyNinjaGirl Fandom: Never Let Me Go (2010) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Original Characters Summary: Near Hailsham School, a woman is arrested for theft. And this was a last minute story, written as a treat for someone who wanted some fixit fic for Never Let Me Go. I saw this movie quite recently and found that it made me feel quite dreadful about the passivity and acceptance of their fate from the donors. So this was hoping to write in a tiny bit of hope into their story. All up, this was lots of fun! Thanks fellow Yuletiders. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 26th, 2011
8:54 am	Someone wrote me a story about Becky The little maid in A Little Princess, who is very faithful, but also second most in people's thoughts.  I asked for a story where, just for once, she came first, and it's lovely and sweet and kind. Thank you very much Yuletide Goat! http://archiveofourown.org/works/299955 (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 24th, 2011
9:31 pm	Since Cat's doing poetry, I shall too... My Sweet, Crushed Angel You have not danced so badly, my dear, Trying to hold hands with the Beautiful One. You have waltzed with great style, My sweet, crushed angel, To have ever neared God's heart at all. Our Partner is notoriously difficult to follow, And even His best musicians are not always easy To hear. So what if the music has stopped for a while. So what If the price of admission to the Divine Is out of reach tonight. So what, my dear, If you do not have the ante to gamble for Real Love. The mind and the body are famous For holding the heart ransom, But Hafiz knows the Beloved's eternal habits. Have patience, For He will not be able to resist your longing For Long. You have not danced so badly, my dear, Trying to kiss the Beautiful One. You have actually waltzed with tremendous style, O my sweet, O my sweet crushed angel. -- Hafiz http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.com/2000/06/my-sweet-crushed-angel-hafiz.html Merry Christmas everybody. Stephanie (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
8:42 pm	And I'm done. Yay! It's hardly ever that something I write goes that smoothly.  Double yay! Hmm, there's supposed to be a big spreadsheet of other people's story ideas.  I might just go check it out. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
8:38 pm	Dear Yuletide Goat Dear Yuletide Goat, Thank you very much for offering to write a story for me.  This is my first time in the exchange, and I'm looking forward to it.  I'm posting here, because the exchange is based on LiveJournal, but most of my actual blogging is over here.  (It's pretty political right now, because we have a General Election coming up, but there's more random burbling earlier on.) I think that overall I'd love a light and fluffy story (did I mention that there's an election coming?).  I'm fine with any pairings that you may like, either friendship or relationships.  I'm also fine with implied erotica, but I blush easily, so writing in the Gen/Teenages rating would probably work better than more explicit material.  I'm really not fine with non-consensual, violent, underage, or incestuous relationships (or anything that's illegal in most jurisdictions, I guess?)  BDSM is something that... I'm happy for my friends who find it makes them happy, but it's not something I really grok at an emotional or erotic level. Of the Fandoms I asked for, some possible prompts: Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer is a bit of an elusive figure in the Tales and his other works.  He'll write himself in, but at a very self-deprecating level, and gets insulted and told to shut up by the other characters a lot.  It might be nice if one of the characters he's writing about manages to corner him and gets some plain speaking and honesty from the man. Derkholm - At the end of The Year of the Griffin, Blade and Flury decide that they're quite keen on Claudia and Elda, but that the girls are too young to be approached.  It would be nice to find out what happens when Claudia and Elda are old enough, and find that they have their own opinions on the matter, thank you very much.  Preferably with lots of running around and shouting, because it's Claudia and Elda, and they're both strong willed and spreaders of chaos. A Little Princess - it always struck me as unfair that Becky, who is just as deserving as Sara, is always treated as a tagalong in the gifts from the Ill Neighbour Next Door, and all because she didn't have the good fortune to speak Hindi and have elegant habits and diction.  It would be nice if there were someone who thought she were the most important girl, just for once. But, of course, these are just prompts.  If there's something else that you're keen on writing, please go ahead, and I'm sure it will be wonderful. Thank you! Stephanie (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 12th, 2011
10:41 pm	Happy Yuletide To Be! I've decided to participate in Yuletide this year. For those who've never heard of it, it's a fanfiction exchange focused on obscure fandoms. So, Geoffrey Chaucer's in, Harry Potter's out. They have this scheduly matchup process thing that they go through, which I think is going to be happening this week, but in the meantime, they've opened things up for nominating which fandoms you think ought to be included: http://yuletide-admin.livejournal.com/121604.html Omigosh!  I've never done one of these before - I hope it comes out alright. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
7:25 pm	Larp: An Ecumenical Matter A light-hearted theatre-style larp for 15 players, published by Peaky Games. It was loosely inspired by the tv series Father Ted, Nuns on the Run and similarly daft movies about religion. Set in the diocese of Peaky-in-the-Sea (consisting of Rocky Island, Stony Island and Pebbly Island), An Ecumenical Matter is an irreverent religious themed game involving priests, nuns and a geographically dislocated archbishop. A word of warning... An Ecumenical Matter is not for the easily offended. It contains drinking, comedy satanists, unfaithful priests, references to unchaste activities, and horrendously bad accents. Gender mix is 9 male to 6 female, but cross dressing is strongly encouraged. When: 16 July Where: Turnbull House Where: NZLarps members $10, everyone else $12 Contact:Me! More details: http://nzlarps.org/games/anecumenicalmatter/ (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 15th, 2011
9:15 pm	Self Publishing is Fun! I've just turned a couple of live roleplaying games that I wrote with Cat into published PDFs on an online roleplaying store. First sale went through about 5 minutes ago. Yay! (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
7:23 pm	Super Sparkle Action Princess GX! Because telling everyone is fun! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
3:35 pm	The Book Club Redux Is now running on Thursday, 11 February, arrive from 7pm with start time at 7.30pm, at Nasia's place.  Runtime is expected to be 2-2.5 hours.  We have a couple of spaces left if anyone would like to come but hasn't gotten in touch yet.  (Naomi - did you get that link to the date poll I sent you?  Would you still like to come?) Cheers, Stephanie EDIT: One spot still available. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
6:33 pm	The Book Club (Larp) The Calvino Bay Book Club has been meeting for a few months now. It's been OK. The books you've been looking at have hopped around the literary spectrum from the 'classics' like Austen and Dickens, whatever new wunderkind book has got the critics excited, and that time someone wanted to talk about Harry Potter. Something for everyone, you reckon, and you get to meet people you wouldn't otherwise know. But now, oh now, you're going to talk about The Book. That Book, the one you read when you were 18 that suddenly made the universe make sense to you. The Book that helped you work out who you were as a person. You want, no, you have a visceral need to make everyone else understand what The Book means to you. This game is a semi-larp in which people talk about The Book from different and passionately held points of view, and in which The Book itself becomes a construct arising from the discussion. English Lit geeks will probably have fun with this one. (I ran this game for one round at Kapcon, and there were enough people who didn't get a chance to play that I'm doing a private rerun.  If you're interested in a spot, please get in touch, and I'll send you a link to the Doodle Poll for finagling times.)   (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
9:06 pm	LARP: But Nobody Loses An Eye! (Oops, one more place to post this. Apologies to people who have seen it already.) But Nobody Loses An Eye! It was supposed to be the greatest day of your life, the pinnacle, you doubted it could ever be cooler than this; you were invited to a birthday party. But now you're here you're not so sure: someone's widdled in their shoe, the little kid next door is hyped on sugar, the birthday boy is crying, and now you all have to play Pass the Parcel. Just pray they don't get round to Charades or Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Join the horror of a 5 year old's birthday party: the laughs, the tantrums, the food stains. But it's OK - nobody loses an eye! Introduction This game is about the magic, chaos and terror of childhood. The characters are children in the 4-7 age bracket, at a fifth birthday party. While there are some competing goals and personality pressures in the game, But Nobody Loses An Eye! is mostly about giving people licence to let loose their inner five year old. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
10:08 am	Tsunami Alert In case anyone reads LJ but not the news, there is a Tsunami alert. I think they're expecting a wave of about 1m to hit New Zealand, but even so, I recommend staying off the beaches.  More details on arrival times here. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, August 28th, 2009
2:59 pm	Interested in Live Action Roleplay in Wellington? (Hoiked from Amphigori.) We're having a meetup on 6 September at 1pm at JJ Murphy's to discuss getting more LARP going in Wellington. All interested parties are welcome to attend - even if (maybe especially if) you've not done much (or any) live action RP before. We're keen to get everyone's input on what kinds of games they'd like to see run and get your feedback, suggestions and ideas. More info can be found here: http://www.diatribe.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4041 Hope to see you there! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 30th, 2008
9:38 am	Gosh It turns out that Amazon is bullying small publishers.  It seems an odd business decision - most of what I buy from Amazon are the rare and hard to find purchases that small publishers specialise in. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 28th, 2008
1:57 pm	Sanctuary: The Aftermath (Afterlarp Report) Introduction Sanctuary was a theatre style live roleplaying event written for up to 66 people, held at the annual KapCon roleplaying convention in Wellington in January 2008, written by myself, Naomi Guyer and Sean Broadley. It had a low fantasy setting inspired somewhat by A Song for Arbonne and The Princess Bride, and was billed to potential participants as a festival held at a religious sanctuary. Also, we said, there might be a certain amount of romantic comedy. This was the largest theatre-style larp I’ve ever helped to organise and I feel it is worthwhile sharing some of the insights I gained as co-organiser. ( Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics ) ( Technology Is Your Friend ) ( Psyching Out The Players ) ( My Personal Thoughts ) Conclusion I had a great time organising this larp. My co-organisers brought a lot to the table and I think that we complemented each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which is always a useful thing. I learned a lot, just as much from what didn’t go as well as I would have liked as the things that were great. My general comments to future larp-writes are: don’t be afraid to run romantic and emotionally heavy plotlines; do highlight to players what kind of experience they’ll have; and do what you can to get people comfortable with each other in and out of character before the larp begins. And do what you can to psyche your players out with genuine surprises in the game.   Best of luck. Stephanie ( Appendix ) (15 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
6:40 pm	In which I am tagged... (Courtesy of Morgue: http://www.additiverich.com/morgue/archives/002129.html)  1. You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?  Erm, Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull, I guess.  It's a very good book with lots of interesting characters, and everytime you think you have a handle on what the book is about it suddenly changes direction on you. And Friedriech Engels is a secondary character, and Karl Marx puts one of the primary characters up for the night, which has got to be a recommendation right there.  2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?  Not nearly so interesting a crush as I've had on real living people. :-) I suspect that the fictional characters that I find interesting I probably wouldn't get on with well in real life. All the spiky sparkly things about them that make them exciting to a passive reader would likely make them very annoying to try and get on with.  3. The last book you bought is:  The uppermost book in my DCM book sale bag is The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book by, well, Arthur Rackham. But I also got The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, an omnibus of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, a book called The Unfair Sex (written in the 50s as dating advice to young women and was all about how reprehensible men are, although really it should be The Unfair Sexes because the advice the author gave on how to behave was pretty damn reprehensible to me.) And some fairy stories which  repton_infinitykept trying to steal. All hail the Downtown Community Mission!  4. The last book you finished is:  Howard's End by E. M. Forster, a love story told in food and furniture and real estate.  Part of a university course I'm reading right now on novels. I enjoyed it a lot, although I found the pacing a wee bit odd. It's like Forster got four fifths through and suddenly realised his deadline was two weeks away, so he squished half a novel worth of plot into the last fifth.  5. What are you currently reading?  Passage to India, also by E. M. Forster. (See comments on university course above. This would have been a somewhat more varied meme a couple of weeks ago when I was on study break and reading whatever I felt like at the time.  type: The secret history of letters by Simon Loxley.  It's a slightly racy history of the development of type faces (although it isn't very detailed about the varieties that turned up in the 15th century*), and is actually quite interesting. 6. Five books you would take to a desert island.  I am at a loss to answer the question. It would probably depend on what day I was going to be kidnapped. Um. OK, a try.  Freedom and Necessity.  Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers.  Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks.  A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer.  Um. Inspiration fails me. The Uplift War by David Brin, I guess, that happened to catch my eye in the bookshelf.  7.Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?  elven_alchemistbecause I think she's read a lot of different books to me.  allovabecause she's a literature geek like me, and we're always fantastically interesting.  And modest, too.  :-) clarityburntime because she usually has something insightful to say.  You have permission to not answer until February 2010. (Steph adds: Or at all. :->)   * Says the girl who recently had to identify a typeface from c1475.  It turned out to be from the 'Fere-humanistica' family which was popular for about 25 years in the second half of the 15th century and was developed from the bookhand used for scholastic and theological texts.  But not bibles.  Back then they used a bookhand that was the inspiration for what's now called 'blackletter' or 'textura' to do religious texts and legal documents.  All this came from another book which was of the more boring reference quality, rather than the one that I took home and started reading all the way through.  Very likely this is far more information than anyone really wants to know. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 7th, 2007
11:40 am	KiwiNoWriMo Some of you already know about NaNoWriMo (that's when a whole bunch of people take November off to pump out a 50,000 word novel. It's not about quality, it's about getting the words on the page. :->) Anyway, November inconveniently falls in the middle of Uni exams for many Kiwis who would otherwise like to participate, so they're holding a Novel Writing Month of their own over June and July: kiwinowrimo (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 16th, 2006
7:00 am	Sorry about the hacker I was in an internet cafe (with a bunch of boys playing shoot em ups) and my hour ran out before I could log off. I'll be a _lot_more careful about that. (5 Comments |Comment on this)