Basics:
There are many labels which can be used to describe me and my
philosophies/attitudes: Gothic, Punk, Cyberpunk, Hippie, etc. And there
are many names i go by. Hardrock Llewynyth is how i'm known on Usenet and
various mailing lists, and often in Real Life. On IRC and ICQ I'm known as
IjonTichy. I have a given name, but it's pretty common and dull, so i
don't use it much.
My heritage is exclusively Caucasian, primarily Anglo-Saxon. I have
Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and pretty much the whole UK in my family on both
sides. Also, on my mother's side i have a lot of German, and on my
father's a substantial amount of Ukrainian.
Appearance:
Beliefs, Philosophies, and Politics:
My philosophies, aesthetics, and ways of dealing with the world tend to
owe much to Eastern beliefs, specifically Confucianism and Zen Buddhism.
I particularly like Zen's ideal of simplicity. I've also been heavily
influenced by the writings of C.S. Lewis (see Interests for more info).
Though i am a Christian, i am far from prudish. I'm an incurable flirt,
and a major sleaze :) I consider myself to be bisexual, (though i
generally prefer the female of the species); and transgendered--though i
haven't made any real physical alterations, and probably won't. The men
that i'm attracted to tend to be thin and androgynous, with a stylish
spookiness. Among the more famous ones are David Bowie, and Jhonen
Vasquez (the creator of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac), whom i had the
honour of meeting at Convergence III. I'm rather thin, androgynous, and
stylishly spooky, so i guess i choose men who reflect me to some extent.
Most of them do it better than i do though. Oddly enough, the women i
like tend to be much more classically feminine; voluptuous, large-figured,
with a healthy amount of body fat. (i tend to be rather low in body-fat,
due to genetics, both sides of my family tend to be rather trim until they
get older; so perhaps i can look forward to plumping up when i hit 50 :)
I am not an advocate of recreational drug use, and prefer not to use
synthetic drugs if i can possibly avoid them, though i don't get religious
on this. I am an advocate of legalization/decriminalization of
drugs because i feel that governments have no business telling me how to
live my life. I do use Cannabis occasionally for medicinal purposes, but
will not touch aspirin and such. I prefer herbal medicine and other forms
of alternative medical practice. That is not to say that i am opposed to
the western system of medicine; merely that i don't hold it as infalliable
as most westerners seem to; and recognize its flaws and shortcomings.
I'm a vegetarian, ovo-lacto. Not for philosophical reasons, more for
health purposes. Neither do i preach the lifestyle. It is just something
that works for me, it may not work for others.
Likes and Dislikes, Interests and Activities:
I like fetish fashions in general, and have a particular fondness for PVC,
leather, and shiny metal. I tend to dress rather mundane most of the
time, kilts or jeans (blue or black), boring skirts, turtlenecks,
cut-offs, and t-shirts. I do like to dress more "gothic" or "punk" or
"fetishy" when i go out, which is rare. My wardrobe contains a wide
variety of clothing, from old military gear (in some cases highly
modified) to velvets to PVC and chains. Colours tend to be black
predominately, with lots of dark colours, green being my favorite.
I like wearing elaborate skirts and dresses, and corsets; but cannot
afford much in the way of clothes, so i'm pretty much limited to ordinary
clothes and military-surplus gear for most of my wardrobe. Though i have
stolen some cool stuff from my friends' wardrobes (especially my
life-partner) :) And i've recently found quite a few really nice items in
local thrift stores.
I am very fond of cats, and like animals in general; but have developed
strong dislikes for some animals i have had to deal with too closely,
namely dogs and horses. I used to own several cats (well, family pets)
and a fish--a blue and red Betta named Fred. I currently live with my
girlfriend's two Green Iguanas: AquaNet and Agatha.
I like art, especially photography and old Asian (Japanese) art, and one
of my favorite places to hang out is the Seattle Art Museum. My favorite
photographers are Jerry Uelsmann, Joel Meyerowitz, Jock Sturges, and
Elliot Erwitt. I'm a photographer myself, but i'm still working on
developing my technique (no pun intended) and am a long way from having
anything presentable.
My taste in music varies widely, from classical and baroque to classic
rock to techno/industrial. Some of my favorites are Beethoven, Mozart,
Vivaldi, Dead Can Dance, The Beatles, David Bowie, Boston, Rush, The
Shamen, Bob Marley, Queen, Woody and Arlo Gutherie, Jimmy Hendrix, Bob
Dylan, Front 242, Dire Straits, Teargarden, The Future Sound of London,
Ministry, The Ramones, Bauhaus, The Dickies, DeVision, Roxette, Devo, The
Sisters of Mercy, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. I also love traditional Japanese
music and instruments and have recently started getting into
swing--classic and contemporary.
I love to dance, especially to techno-indusrial and gothic music, and have
been told i'm somewhat good at it.
I am fascinated with Japanese culture and history, and to a lesser degree
the various cultures of the UK (Scotland, Ireland, and England). I don't
speak Japanese, aside from a few words and phrases, but hope to eventually
rectify that. I also want to learn Gaelic (Scottish and Irish), and
Russian.
I'm a gamer, but no longer play regularly. I like White Wolf Games' Vampire the
Masquerade, though most of the people i know who play annoy me.
I generally play Malkavians and Assamites.
I also play
Vampire the Eternal Struggle (formerly known as Jyhad), a Wizards of the Coast Collectable Card
Game based on VtM, whenever I have the chance, and used to play in a local
informal league before it died. Other card games i like are The Legend of Five Rings by the Five Rings Publishing Group, and Mythos by Chaosium Inc.
I have also been involved in a couple of long-running Rifts campaigns (an
RPG published by Palladium
Books); and i play Necromunda (House Esher and some stuff i created)
and Warhammer 40,000 (Eldar, and i'm putting together two of my own--chaos
Eldar and corrupted Sisters of Battle) both made by Games Workshop whenever i get
the chance, though I'm pretty much a newbie at Warhammer 40k.
When i'm not working or gaming, i spend much of my free time on the
Internet and Usenet. I can sometimes (though rarely nowadays) be found on
Usenet in the newsgroups alt.gothic, alt.gothic.fashion, and talk.bizarre;
and used to be a regular on rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad,
soc.support.transgendered, alt.fan.monty-python, and
alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo. On the Internet i run one mailing list, Seattle.Gothic, am a member of several
others, and used to maintain a FAQ on a well-known net.kook. I pop up
frequently on IRC, #seattle.gothic on EFFnet; and am almost always on ICQ.
I also MUD when i have the time, usually NuclearWar MUD or DuneMUD.
I'm currently involved with a wonderful person, Deadrose, who is watching over
my shoulder as i write this. Not really looking to get seriouly involved
with anyone else right now; though we might have an opening for the right
sort of person. And we can always use a few slaves. :)
For anyone who might still be interested, though, i tend to be attracted
to people more for who they are than how they look. Physical appearence
really isn't as important to me as personality and character. However, i
do have certain things that i do like. My tastes in female physical
characteristics: red or raven hair, pale skin, green eyes (especially dark
emerald green), voluptuous/classical figures, short--5'2" to 5'6",
proportionate bodies (as opposed to the anorexic bimbos with plastic boobs
that so permeate American entertainment and advertising media), natural
looks. In males I like: tall, thin, not too muscular, androgynous is
good, as are accents. Especially French Mauritanian. I also like
freckles and am a fiend for tickling ;)
This all is not etched in stone, however. As I said, I'm far more
interested in personality and philosophy than physique, and i like a
variety of looks and styles. I also tend to be something of a crusader
for more realistic body image in advertising and media. Many women, and
men, have destroyed themselves trying to fit the unhealthy and unnatural
stereotypes embraced by American culture. So many beautiful people
torturing their bodies into rank parodies in order to fit the look that
Madison Avenue demands. And don't even get me started about clothing
designers who create all their styles for women with the figures of 12
year old boys.
The first thing in notice, physically, about a person is the face;
especially the eyes. I love large, expressive eyes. I tend to prefer
women who are younger and men my own age, though that is not cast in stone
either. My partners have varied by over a decade in age either way.
Accomplishments:
Misc:
I was born in the Year of Our Lord Ninteen Hundred Seventy, in
Seattle, Washington, USA. I live in Washington still, in the Puget Sound
region, on the beautiful island of Vashon.
I'm approximately 6'0" (1.86 m); 140 lbs (59 kg). I have shoulder-length,
slightly curly, very dark brown (almost black) hair, with the occasional
silver thread running through it. My dress tends to be either casual or
Gothic/Punk. I'm as likely to be seen in a long, flowy skirt as blue
jeans, though most often in one of my several kilts (i love kilts of all
sorts, traditional, great-kilts, modern, catholic schoolgirl... would
never be able to pull of a catholic schoolgirl look though). My colours
tend to be almost exclusively dark (except for the kilts), though i do
occasionally go for the all-white look.
Well, to begin with, i'm a Christian. I don't ascribe to the dogmas of
any particular denomination, and consider myself more spiritual than
religious. At heart i'm an anarchist, but for practical purposes i'm a
Libertarian. I feel that this
is the only acceptable position to take, based on my beliefs.
I am pretty inactive, sexually; but i'm hardly prudish. My tastes tend
toward the decidedly kinky, and i'm interested in the BSDM scene. I'm a
switch (i can be either Dominant or Submissive depending on my mood) and
I'm in various things, including blade and needle play, and light bondage
and sadomasochism. I don't really go in for role-playing, and despite the
fondness for cutting, I am not into blood or vampire stuff. I
don't see anything wrong with it (aside from the serious health risks);
but just find it not at all to my tastes.
Not a damn thing.
Well, My last job was at a commercial photo-studio/lab as a lab technician
and computer tech support person. I spent some more time in school
studying computer science, and hope to earn a Masters of Fine Art in
photography and digital imaging eventually. Currently, I work for Amazon.com doing customer service for
their online auctions department.