Aveline, 25 January 1968 to 28 January 2007
I was rung today at the Cairnfell Surveying Event to be told the very sad news that Aveline had died that morning. tyggerjai rang me about a hour or so later to make sure I knew. I was told she went to hospital with stomach cramps, had a seizure, an operation and did not make it through. kitling, who has been posting information on various arrangements and requests for assistance in her LJ, provides better details here. And, in a joint post with bunnikins, here. ozgenre has more details, and a fine obituary, here. mikz has a fine obituary here. yasutani one here and is struck by her hero qualities here. tyggerjai remembers her here. neefsck reacts to the news here. mr_cvb here. hasimir here (and is waiting for the words to arrive here). sly_girl reacts here. pollyana_n here. catbiscuit here. nuwishas_tail here. subtle_eye here. lirion here. xole here (and experiences Aveline continuing to touch people who hadn't met her here). quatrefoil (who knew her even longer than I did) has a fine memoir here. gadge here. qamar celebrates her here. azahru here and has more to say here. seedy_girl is eloquent here. lokicarbis remembers her here. nigelw here. Someone who knew Aveline in Canberra posts memories via kitling's LJ here. Someone who met her only briefly here. meljayles shows her respect here. A fellow dominatrix appreciates her here. bunnikins also provides an expanding set of links here. nakedteddybears (who did not know Aveline) is struck by the outpouring of loss, love and grief here. Same with drjon here (now moved to here). As also is halloranelder (who knew her slightly) here. And arthwollipot (who met her once) here. politas is wryly touching here. sjkasabi has a wonderful SCA Aveline anecdote here.
The above does not include locked posts (unless I didn't notice they were).
I have been trying to work out how long I had known Aveline. About 15 years I believe. I used to say that I had known Aveline so long, I knew her real name (Heather Ann: which I would then refuse to tell folk). But, of course, that was only her given name. Her real name was Aveline.
She had a dramatically varied life. I can remember her talking about having been the mistress of a drug boss in her teens. She explained how, when a new distributor took over, they often flooded the streets with high grade heroin to kill over the distribution network of those they were displacing.
I got to know her through the SCA. She was in the processing of jettisoning a very unfortunate relationship (from memory, an actual marriage) and took to the SCA as something completely different from what she had known. She became apprenticed to Mistress Magdelena/Deb, from Dismal Fogs. It was perhaps a sign of where things were going when Aveline increasingly focused on medieval torture as her area of interest. SCA apprentices usually have green belts. Aveline had a green studded collar. I can remember Magdelena being very funny in describing Mistress Rowan Peregrynne's rather startled reaction to this unusual emblem of apprenticeship.
Aveline effectively founded an SCA household, Domini Luni, which used her crescent moon tattoo for its symbol. She was still living in Rowany/Sydney at that stage. She began a relationship with Kaelin/John, which seemed good for them both. They remained good friends even after they broke up. They moved to Melbourne, still a couple then, roughly the same time I did.
Aveline increasingly became involved in the BDSM scene and pagan spirituality. A conventional heterosexual relationship really wasn't for her. For a while, she was living across from a Catholic Church in Nicholson St (near the Melbourne Cemetery, which she thought was particularly cool). When the Church was all lit-up during Christmas or Easter, Aveline would respond with a brightly lit reverse pentagram in her window.
Aveline very much found herself in the BDSM scene. Her look became very punk-dominatrix. After a few years, she moved to Canberra where she studied political science and international relations, getting an internship in Parliament House. During the five years I worked there previously, my bum-length pony-tail was dramatic (and something of an icon, as I discovered after I cut it off), but Aveline was rather more so. I visited her periodically, or we would talk on the phone, or occasionally meet at other venues. We would talk about what she was studying, which was fun.
More recently, she had moved back to Melbourne. I last saw her at thorfinn & seedy_girl's wedding, where we had a bit of chat. Didn't know she had an LJ (abiuro). (Last entry here.)
Aveline was someone in a continuous process of remaking her life. But she remained vividly herself. In many ways, what she was doing was becoming more herself. In shedding the conventional, she sharpened her independence of thought. I have rarely met anyone who seemed to so thoroughly see you, unburdened by either conventional or fashionable prejudices. She is someone I am very glad to have known, and am deeply saddened by her death.
When I finally got through to Kaelin, he was having drinks with a mate at the Dan O'Connell, to celebrate Aveline's life. It was a life with much to celebrate.
The above does not include locked posts (unless I didn't notice they were).
I have been trying to work out how long I had known Aveline. About 15 years I believe. I used to say that I had known Aveline so long, I knew her real name (Heather Ann: which I would then refuse to tell folk). But, of course, that was only her given name. Her real name was Aveline.
She had a dramatically varied life. I can remember her talking about having been the mistress of a drug boss in her teens. She explained how, when a new distributor took over, they often flooded the streets with high grade heroin to kill over the distribution network of those they were displacing.
I got to know her through the SCA. She was in the processing of jettisoning a very unfortunate relationship (from memory, an actual marriage) and took to the SCA as something completely different from what she had known. She became apprenticed to Mistress Magdelena/Deb, from Dismal Fogs. It was perhaps a sign of where things were going when Aveline increasingly focused on medieval torture as her area of interest. SCA apprentices usually have green belts. Aveline had a green studded collar. I can remember Magdelena being very funny in describing Mistress Rowan Peregrynne's rather startled reaction to this unusual emblem of apprenticeship.
Aveline effectively founded an SCA household, Domini Luni, which used her crescent moon tattoo for its symbol. She was still living in Rowany/Sydney at that stage. She began a relationship with Kaelin/John, which seemed good for them both. They remained good friends even after they broke up. They moved to Melbourne, still a couple then, roughly the same time I did.
Aveline increasingly became involved in the BDSM scene and pagan spirituality. A conventional heterosexual relationship really wasn't for her. For a while, she was living across from a Catholic Church in Nicholson St (near the Melbourne Cemetery, which she thought was particularly cool). When the Church was all lit-up during Christmas or Easter, Aveline would respond with a brightly lit reverse pentagram in her window.
Aveline very much found herself in the BDSM scene. Her look became very punk-dominatrix. After a few years, she moved to Canberra where she studied political science and international relations, getting an internship in Parliament House. During the five years I worked there previously, my bum-length pony-tail was dramatic (and something of an icon, as I discovered after I cut it off), but Aveline was rather more so. I visited her periodically, or we would talk on the phone, or occasionally meet at other venues. We would talk about what she was studying, which was fun.
More recently, she had moved back to Melbourne. I last saw her at thorfinn & seedy_girl's wedding, where we had a bit of chat. Didn't know she had an LJ (abiuro). (Last entry here.)
Aveline was someone in a continuous process of remaking her life. But she remained vividly herself. In many ways, what she was doing was becoming more herself. In shedding the conventional, she sharpened her independence of thought. I have rarely met anyone who seemed to so thoroughly see you, unburdened by either conventional or fashionable prejudices. She is someone I am very glad to have known, and am deeply saddened by her death.
When I finally got through to Kaelin, he was having drinks with a mate at the Dan O'Connell, to celebrate Aveline's life. It was a life with much to celebrate.