Aino Gylling, opera singer, grande diva, and completely unscrupulous murderess. "Vanerikreivitär" - "The Plywood Countess", a murder mystery in 30's Finland, June 1997, by Peter Munter, Esko Vesala, Kalle Kivimaa and many others I can't remember. The dress is red lamé gathered on top of a red off-the-shoulder dance leotard, and was ankle-length; you can see a later incarnation in one of Kaarina's pictures.

The Snow Leopard, a spirit of the Northern Taiga. "Taverna - A Short Introduction to Randomness 1B", July 1999, a crossgenre-crossuniverse-game by Lin Savisalo, Susi Vaasjoki and myself. Had a great time, all thanks to the players; learned a lot. Makeup by Nina Kalugin. Dress is mostly pieced together from a real foxfur coat (second-hand of course) and white fake fur, attached with the usual battalions of safety pins. Picture by Kalle Mikkola.

Corona Kawa of Domus again: the God-king's taciturn tomboy daughter whose mother comes from a Japan-esque culture. "Domus II", September 2000. The amazing underdress of black chiffon is on loan from Nina "Spider" Hämäläinen. In addition to that and the cream jacquard overdress (kimono-shaped except for the curved, flared hem), I'm wearing a short kimono of thin black satin tied with a sash of changing red silk, and black hakama on loan from Jukka Z. You can see me in the same costume, minus chiffon underdress, and with a different sash, in a more mischievous mood at the Ropecon costume show in 2001.

Weeping Willow, a Shawnee chieftain's daughter. "Neshwa", August 2001, a fantastically atmospheric day-and-night in the life of a Shawnee village in Ohio, 1809, by Anni Tolvanen et al. Picture by Anni herself (during debriefing). The dress is made according to the period-correct instructions given for the game, and consists of a wool apron-dress with ribbon trim, a cotton shirt with a big ruffle and flowered trim, and leather leggings, boots and belt. She's wearing a cross simply because she thought it looked nice when she got it in exchange from white merchants.

Two pictures of Sorja of Hopiakoski, widow of the village sage in a small settlement in pre-Christian Finland. "Hallayö" - "The Night of Frost", September 2001, by the Greywolves. A day in the refugee camp of the first battle in the Finnish crusades, in 1150. Sorja's not wearing an apron, because she supposedly has torn it into bandages, but the true black of her wool peplos dress betrays her wealth. Note the lovely shoulder brooches of heavy Estonian silver - they were lost for four years after this, hiding in a secret side pocket of a tennis bag, and only recently turned up again. They are slightly wrong for the dress, a most of the Finnish finds for women's peplos dresses are of round bronze brooches, but this style was worn in the eastern parts (though in bronze), and I adore them.

I can't remember her name, but this is a dealer/assassin on a God-forsaken lunar station in the 23rd century. "Hämärän Rajamailla 6: Nexus" - "On the Borders of Twilight 6: Nexus", April 2002. A 330-person science fiction game by a load of people from Jyväskylä. Picture by Samuli Airaksinen. (And yes, that is another hairpiece. And yes, I love my pink protective glasses!)

Marquess Genevieve du Villeneuve, known as "Madame Glace" in the most fashionable salon of the French rococo. "Elegance", July 2002, by Laura Kalli and Heli Aho. An incredibly stylish thirty-person game in the spirit of "Dangerous Liaisons", in which my character fulfilled the Michelle Pfeiffer role and then some. Well, I had asked to be seduced...

Julieta Ibarra (I think it was Julieta), a widowed houseservant on a rich hacienda, "Hacienda Eldorado", a game set in a small banana republic in the fifties, in the guaranteed style of PT et al. This was the game where the electricity failed due to a thunderstorm, and we ran out of soda that was substituting for drinks, so whatever anyone wanted for drinks, what they got was cold, diluted coffee. Despite these anecdotal misfortunes, it was a good game.

Jofrit of Borg (yeah yeah, I know, but what can you do?), the proud mistress of house and clan in an Icelandic valley in the eleventh century. "Lohilaakso II", August 2002, by Alasin ry. The General Ting of several neighbouring valleys in historical Iceland, according to the Saga of Egill. Wonderful, wonderful game, not least because of the lovely people who played my sons and daughter (as you may know, I am extremely reluctant of playing mothers of grown children).

Caladnei, Royal Magician of Cormyr, from Forgotten Realms 3ed. sourcebook. "Faerun II - the Meeting", November 2002, by Atte Iiskola. This picture, taken by Atte, is actually half of one that also included Samu as Drizzt, but I worked on it some to have a proper portrait of Caladnei. Wanna go and compare? Here. (Yes, I'm wearing a leather vest: I thought it was more sensible than fabric for an experienced adventuress. Also, those shoulder metal thingies make no sense, so didn't even try to figure out what they were, but borrowed Anni's big bronze brooches once more for attaching the cape). And yes, my staff has a light, though not one that bright in reality.)

"Lady" Hsaio Xin, mistress of a high-class bordello in 7th-century Middle Kingdom. "T'ien Ming I", May 2003, by Katri Immonen, Nino Hynninen and Roni Saari. Picture by Nino Hynninen.

Is that a hobbit? No, it's a Roman spy masquerading as a house-servant in an alternate medieval Germany. "Kristuskeisari 5" - "The Christ-Emperor 5", September 2003, by Juuso Marttila, Inka Tuomaala and Mikko Tähkänen. A very nice game, even if the character was not much to my liking - but it was my own choice, as I applied for a late substitute spot anyway.

A fire elemental, an NPC servant for the mysterious Count at "Ruusu ja risti" ("The Rose and the Cross"), a late-medieval-Mage-flavoured game by PT et al. This was a spur-of-the-moment creation, but I ended up having surprising amounts of fun with it. The makeup is less artistic than could be: just basic red water-soluble Grimas cake and deep-gold powder colour (plus some brown shading and the obligatory eyeliner). The other monsters are Katri, Nino and Tyko (those things on Katri's face are beetroot ends). Picture by Roni Saari with Nino's camera.

Maria Elena, a 19th-century Andalusian girl with a romantic heart. "Vaikuta kohtaloosi B" ("Control Your Destiny B"), 2004, by Marika Harjusaari, Salla Ojanperä, Annika Rehn, Sonja Toropainen, Ari Rekonen & Mika-Matti Karikko. Picture by Mika-Matti Karikko (cropped by me). Scarves on loan from Marika.

Ilmatar, Mistress of Pohjola, legendary matriarch and witch in a mythological country to the north of Ancient Finland, from the "Pohjolan häät" replay in Pukkisaari, June 2005, by Laura Kalli (produced by Nina Talvela & Inka Harju). My vanity is sorely tested by all the old-person makeup that the scowl accentuates, but at least I can be proud of the nifty jewellery, most of which is, again, really cheap imitations! Only the shoulder brooches and the wolfshead brooch in the chains are real silver. The Kalevala Koru earrings belong to Kerttu, who kindly switched with my smaller version of the same design. The dress is dark-blue wool, the heavy wool chiton-dress a lengthened version of the one in the Jofrit picture, and they nearly baked me in the midsummer heat! I'm also wearing a linen undergown, and the veil is a linen mix. Fantasy elements, again, include the veil trim and the silk apron.

The miqmac chieftain's wife at "Savujen lahti" ("Bay of Smoke">, by Juho Lindman et al. (a huge team of Greywolves), August 2005. Interesting game - two nights living the life of native Americans meeting with Vikings in the eleventh century. I managed to wear the wig through all of it (French braids and lots of hairpins is the secret), but the makeup took some work every morning, as no makeup lasts through the smoke and heat of open-fire cooking. The dress is a quick mishmash of leather and vaguely appropriate trim.

Bey Hurra-Zi bint Mirlah-Zi al-Mirtab-Rashad, a highborn lady from the (exiled) court of a matriarchal pseudo-Arabian-Nights planet. "Four Colors", August 2005, by Mike Pohjola. A sci-fi game of pulp adventures, smuggling and movies, where our group had great fun, setting up our bazaar and being as foreign and exotic as possible. This picture is actually taken this May, at a friend's birthday party where I wore the costume.

Ariadwen, Countess of Bath, in "Avalon 5", December 2005, by Teemu Rantanen, Jonna Kangas et al., another very successful game of pure political negotiations in the Avalon campaign. This is the preliminary version of my silk bliaut's current incarnation - the neckline decoration is now twice as wide as it was here, and it sits better, too. The dark-blue bands with pearl and spiral embroidery are from an Indian tunic bought second-hand from UFF sales. The belt is the old one from the summer of "Siamin tytöt" (see other events), the hair is another black wig. Picture by Nino, again.

Wanda Firve, Countess of Firve and now Countess of Filanea, at "Calbourne IV", February 2006, by Laura Airaksinen et al., a game of pure politics (again, and again not bad!) in the Calbourne campaign. I'm borrowing Heli M's blue velvet giornea, which is why there's rather too much shirt and bosom showing (she's much smaller than I am - or was then!). The silk of the detachable sleeves is from another Indian dress bought second-hand from UFF sales. They are lined with dark blue satin, and open at intervals at the back seam. The white-and-silver brocade giornea is a remake into the appropriately flaring shape from Ripa's Japanese tabard (from the groom outfit for Domus IV, which can be seen on Juho for T'ien Ming in the section of costumes for others). It is fully lined with purple satin, and is open both at sides and front. The belt is a quick affair out of black-and-silver trim and gold lamé, and is completely wrong for this late-1400s Florentine style, but I forgot to pack a more proper belt.

Lisa Silmu, a successful and unscrupulous businesswoman, at "Rikos Kannattaa", by PT et al., a game in an imaginary (harder, grittier) criminal underworld to Helsinki. I had a great time, despite or because of my character being in lots of trouble. The wig was on loan from Jaana-Mari, and I absolutely loved it! The rest of the costume is from my own closets, plus some flashy rings that were cheap costume jewellery. Picture by Samuli Airaksinen.