La Belle Fille Qui Rêve

Pictures by Decline Gothica

Sat, 03 May 2008 20:20:45 GMT

"All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman. What else is a woman but a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, and an evil of nature..."

Excerpt from 'Malleus Maleficarum' by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484

And lastly, a more traditional gothic shot with Sapphrine

Lies to tell tourists

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:55:21 GMT

"Oxford Street used to actually be in Oxford. It was dug up and moved to London after the West End was demolished in the Blitz"

"In keeping with the capital city's keen sense of history, haggling is standard practice in all of London's museum shops"

"Waterloo station was built on the site of the Battle of Waterloo. The spot where Napoleon was captured is commemorated by a plaque in the Upper Crust near platform ten"

"If you've enjoyed your tube journey, you can tip the driver. To get their attention pull the 'emergency' cord in each carriage"

Supernatural Scary Tales

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:50:01 GMT

I can't wait for this tonight - an evening of the macabre and the gothic at one of my favourite little bookshops...

Magical experiences, indeed spirit hauntings, can be induced by a good ghost or horror story. This is a night where you can prove that to yourself again, listening by candle-light to tales by that master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. Your necromancers are two engaging reader-performers, Mike David and Dedwydd Jones. They will be performing complete readings of The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Oval Portrait,as well as Annabel Lee, 'Alone', other poems and extracts from Poe's letters. The readings are interwoven with short narrative passages from Jones' novel about Poe, The Raven Man.

Treadwells provides the red wine, moody setting and candle light. Let the horrors be summoned on this night.

Anticipation

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:48:48 GMT

January and February were pretty horrid months, so it's only now as we're into March that I'm starting to think of what 2008 will bring.

Things I'm really looking forward to:-

* Pilgramage to Manchester to kiss the ground of the sites important to the history of The Smiths
* Travelling to Romania and Bulgaria
* Seeing Kate Nash live
* Being in the same room as Emilie Autumn and her Crumpets and dressing up all silly
* Rocky Horror singalong show
* Steampunk shoot with Decline Gothica
* Gore shoot with Deville Photography
* Radiohead live
* REM at Twickenham
* Whitby in Autumn
* Just being around my wonderful family and friends
* Anything involving _tonylee_

MA in Victorian Literature

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:14:49 GMT

I've been thinking for a while now about aiming to complete a Masters at some point. I do miss the continual learning from my degree and while I am quite happy in my job (and law is challenging), I would like to aim to complete a Masters as a personal ambition of mine. I don't think it would be something I would be able to do within the next five years or so as I want to get my own place/cat/car first and possibly move away from London. That way, once I've got those big investments out of the way, I could start a part-time Masters for my own enjoyment. While I adore literature from all periods, it is the Victorian (1860s through to the fin de siecle) that has always truly captivated me. When you feel that you know certain books inside out, writing about them is wonderful, and I miss that. I adored working on my dissertation (going back five years since I was at Uni) for the research side and this is why I feel that a Masters would be a wonderful ambition to aim for.

One slight flaw to this plan - the most appealing Masters programme in Victorian Literature is at the University of Liverpool. And while studying up north was wonderful, I want to remain in the south close to my family as this is where I intend to be based. But I haven't yet found what I am looking for here at a University in London or the South East.

Penetrans ad interiora mortis

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:14:22 GMT

Peter of Darkest Angel Photography is one of my favourite photographers to work with, and I was lucky enough to get to spend a weekend in Suffolk working on some location shoots. I don't set out with particular shots in mind; I like to see how things evolve but I have begun to want to explore darker images and Pete was very willing to run with this. I hope you like them.

"Rapidly growing larger, it declareditself as a figure in pale, fluttering draperies, ill-defined."
'Oh whistle and I'll come to you, my lad' by M.R. James

Some wonderful locations:

Pete wanted to do his first gore shoot so a rambling attic location was found, complete with scythes, chickens strutting around and precarious floorboards...

Nasty monsters tearing up NYC

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:09:35 GMT

Saw Cloverfield last night. It rocks!! Although I did feel a bit sorry for the monster...

Le Weekend

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:09:31 GMT

Tonight: Metal night at Bar Monsta, Camden
Saturday: Sewing museum trip with

pvcdiva and the uk_steampunk community, providing I'm not too hungover :)
Sunday: bibliogoth to discuss Anatole France's The Revolt of the Angels

Cabaret of the Damned

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:21:11 GMT

When I first started modelling, there was one ambition which I always wanted to do - be part of Decline Gothica. I contacted Dave Charsley very early on (when I had very few pictures to my name) and he was incredibly supportive, so it was a real honour in November to be included in the burlesque shoot that would open 2008. When I received the first pictures back, I was thrilled with the results - I think they are the best pictures I have done so far and filled me with so much confidence in my modelling. With more shoots planned for this year, I am thrilled and still excited to be a Decline Gothica girl!

I've received some wonderful responses on MySpace regarding these images, so I hope you will all appreciate them too - please let me know what you think.

Sweeney Todd

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:08:16 GMT

Found this in the most recent edition of Rue Morgue magazine. Am going to plan a visit round the Sweeney Todd locations, so thought it would be useful to use this to refer back to.

A Nightmare on Fleet Street by Jovanka Vuckovic and James Burrell

Unlike Jack the Ripper, there is still speculation about whether or not England’s most notorious boogeyman actually existed. In two books, writer Peter Haining posited Sweeney Todd as a historical serial killer who slashed throats at his barber shop on Fleet Street around 1800, yet there is no concrete evidence to support his claims. No public records are known to exist documenting Todd’s arrest and execution, or that or Mrs. Lovett, the apparent accomplice who would bake his victims into meat pieces at her shop down the street. It’s most likely that Thomas Peckett Prest, who first wrote the urban legend into a story (“The String of Pearls”) in 1847, was inspired by the various crimes reported in The Old Bailey section of the London Times.

The product of apocryphal storytelling or not, the sinister, mysterious allure of Fleet Street’s bloody barber remains strong nearly 200 years after he (supposedly) cut his first throat. His continued presence in literature, plays and cinema keeps his ruthless, cannibalistic myth alive and often brings the morbidly curious to London, England’s 186 Fleet Street – the purported former location of Todd’s barbaric barber shop.

According to lore, the shop stood at the side of a long, dark and narrow alleyway that still exists – Hen and Chicken Court, located at the corner of Fetter Lane, Now an innocuous Kall Kwick print and copy store, 186 Fleet Street – which local sightseeing tours are quick to mention as the “location of the Sweeney Todd murders!” – attracts many tourist hoping to get a glimpse of the cellar where the bodies of his victims would have fallen from the trap door in the ceiling. Unfortunately, no such trap door exists today.

To the left of the barber shop stood St. Dunstan-In-The-West Church, its catacombs, vestry and courtyard connecting directly to Sweeney Todd’s shop,. This structure still stands, imposing and impressive even today among the mix of old and new architecture along the street. In the story, the Demon Barber would do away with his victims in the cellar of his shop, drop the bodies via his trick barber’s chair through a trap door and, with the help of Lovett, transport the “fresh meat” to her pie shop in nearby Bell Yard using the abandoned underground passages and catacombs below St. Dunstan’s. Access to the catacombs is now restricted, so there’s no way to know how many of them still exist, but it’s nevertheless interesting to note just how close the entrance to those tunnels are to the shop’s back door.

Real or not, the ghost of Sweeney Todd still walks the dark alleys of the imagination of many, waiting patiently for the precise moment to reach forward to open their minds and throats to his ongoing legacy of murder.

'After a While' by Veronica A. Shoffstall

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:16:31 GMT

After a while you learn the subtle difference
      between holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
      and company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
      and presents aren't promises
And you begin to accept your defeats
      with your head up and your eyes ahead
      with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child
And you learn to build all your roads on today
      because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans
      and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

After a while you learn that even sunshine burns
if you get too much.

So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure
      that you really are strong
      and that you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
       with every goodbye you learn...

Question for any photographers/models

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:55:37 GMT

I want to have a proper portfolio of my modelling pictures to show people, so I need to get my pictures printed out. Where can I go to get this done properly so they're on nice paper etc. And is this expensive?

Cheers
Trace
x

Gore shoot with Deville Photography

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 01:15:21 GMT

Special effects make-up by Akasha Deville.

Would love to know what you think of the pictures...

As a recovering World of Warcraft addict, I think I can get away with posting this...

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:28:07 GMT

For spy515

Music, aims and ambitions

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:19:12 GMT

I've made a decision to go to Whitby Gothic Weekend next April. None of my friends like that kind of music or lifestyle, so with the exception of two friends, who I occasionally go to Inferno / Slimelights with and who I am currently trying to persuade to come, I will probably be heading up there on my own. Turning up to the Spa and the events on my own is a terrifying thought, but I've decided that since I want to go so badly and experience it for myself, I should go regardless. Whitby is a beautiful town and to go and meet others who I am beginning to share interests with would be such a fun experience and good for my self-confidence and shyness.

When I was a teenager, my nickname at school was "Goth" but I have never thought of myself as a true Goth, more of a lover of all alternative genres. I've always loved the gothic style, the literature, the art and anything with elements of the macabre or the dark within, but my music tastes have always been indie-inclined. I will always adore The Smiths and Radiohead more than anything, and I am proud that while some follow groups and musical trends like a fashion accessory, I love my music simply because it moves me, be it guitar bands to catchy three-minute pop songs.

But recently, I have been really discovering true alternative music and it's making me hungry for more. Having discovered Emilie Autumn in the summer, who is now proving to be one of my favourite artists, her influence has had me prowling around MySpace music profiles to musicians and bands that are well-known to most of my friends list, particularly those that are Gothic-inclined, but have always passed me by. At the moment, The Birthday Massacre, RazorbladeKisses, Deine Lakaien and Trauma Pet are all filling me with excitement and a strong urge to go and buy all their albums, but what other bands are there out there that I would like? Going by my new-found Gothic musical tendencies, who else should I discover?

So in addition to WGW and a trip to Romania with The Dracula Society, I've also decided that I want to make a pilgrimage to Manchester to see the sites important to The Smiths like Salford Lads Club, Strangeways prison etc. I accompanied my Beatles-obsessed mother on a similar trip to Liverpool, so I feel it is only fair that I should do it for my favourite band.

In between planning these trips and hopefully mass CD buying, I need to sort out some new make-up and dye my hair. It's a strange shade of ginger at the moment so hopefully this weekend will bring enough time to dye it with a red tint (I'm a little worried about bleaching it first on my own to get a strong red shade so I think, for now, I will just put a red over my dark hair and that should give it a nice tint) and then one evening next week, I shall hit up a Mac counter and splash the cash. For the girls reading this, I want a kind of strong eye make-up look as the lipsticks I choose now don't seem as brightly coloured as they once were and I need to balance it. I'm feeling quite inspired by model Ulorin Vex's look and while I don't have her beauty or cheekbones, make-up is remarkable at giving you a whole new look or a bit of fun to play around with.

Off to see Beowulf at the Imax tonight - do I dare admit that as a literature student, I've never read the poem? I've never had much interest in Old English - of course, perhaps I should make up for that now if I have the spare time to read a poem of 3,138 lines in length...

'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:09:27 GMT

'I tell you I must go!' I retorted, roused to something like passion. 'Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton? - a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You are wrong! - I have as much as soul as you - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal - as we are!'
...
'I ask you to pass through life at my side - to be my second self, and best earthly companion.'...'You - you strange, you almost unearthly thing! I love you as my own flesh. You - poor and obscure, and small and plain as you are - I entreat to accept me as a husband.'

I adore this chapter - it still sends shivers along my skin when reading how Jane and Rochester express their feelings for each other.

Secret Agents and Nuclear Bunkers

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 21:57:50 GMT

Due to the works on the underground today, I got to Farringdon half an hour after our reading group meeting had started and I was too embarassed to arrive so late, so apologies to any fellow Bibliogoths for not making it - hope it went well. Having initially struggled with the chosen book for the meeting, Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, I found the story of anarchists, secrets and a corrupt London underground world surprisingly fascinating, and am pretty pleased I read it as I wouldn't have initially chosen to read Conrad.

After a monthly break from modelling, I took part in a shoot at the nuclear bunker in Essex yesterday. As soon as I get the shots back from the various photographers I worked with, I'll post them up for your opinion, but in the meantime, here is a little teaser courtesy of James Corrin...