In the Head Rogue's head

My mind is full of nonsense. "Mind fluff" I like to call it. It's mostly pointless, meaningless jibber-jabber but, oddly enough, I find it entertaining. This blog is a place for me to display the fruits of my mental fluffiness. It'll mostly be doodles and unfinished drawings with a few completed ones thrown in (or at least a link to the finished work). Occasionally I'll write a few things to flesh out the characters represented in the drawings, or to give a feel for the worlds they inhabit. As the content warning page should have warned you, there will be adult content. Definitely nudity (possibly graphic), profanity, mild, cartoon violence(possibly not so mild), and humourous adult situations. If these things aren't your thing, you've been warned, so don't complain. If they are your thing, then be welcome. Sit back, relax and (hopefully) enjoy.

TEM

Head Rogue

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Alice, Her Cows and Their World


Part 1: Alice
Alice McKay is likely one of the most rock solid people you'll ever meet. She's stubborn and fiercely loyal to her friends and cows, and she does have a temper (though it's difficult to unearth). Insult her to her face and she'll pretty much ignore you, insult her friends or her cows and you have no idea how sorry you'll be. Alice can take quite a beating and give at least as good as she gets. Her farm is the most important thing in her life by far. Her own, personal wants and desires are unimportant (at least that's what she says). Alice tends to excel at everything she attempts, usually with apparent ease. She is an expert shot with her favorite Winchester rifle, if she misses her shot it's because she meant to. Alice is very aware of her body shape. The way she typically dresses should indicate that. She is comfortable enough with her physique that she frequently forgets the effect she can have on others, male or female, good or bad. About the only thing that can unnerve Alice is proximity to the crumbling edge of the canyon. One of the most strongly enforced rules the cows must follow is to stay away from the canyon edge (Clarabelle's flight in that direction does not sit well at all with Alice).
Notable dates:
March 17, 1862. Alice Patricia McKay born to John and Molly McKay at the McKay farmstead, twelve miles due West of Granger's Folly, the tough little village that is the area's trade center. At this point in time Clarabelle is 15 yrs old and is the youngest cow on the farm.
June 3, 1866. Alice falls out of an apple tree and breaks her right arm. Tearfully relates that she just wanted to get a few nice apples for the cows. She's quite angry with herself for doing something as stupid as falling out of a tree.
September 27, 1867. Meets and beats the holy living hell out of one Gertrude Kincaid. Gerty's crime? Saying things about Alice's parents that any properly raised four and a half year old shouldn't be saying. Alice is reprimanded and ,through gritted teeth, apologizes to Gerty.
August 10, 1868. Enters her first junior rodeo (“A day of fun and sun for the young'uns!”). Comes in second place overall behind a fourteen year old “veteran” out performing several other older children who are not exactly amused at having been beaten by a six year old. Alice completely dominates the event for the next four years (fellow competitor Gerty Kincaid's dislike for Alice only grows) then, not finding it much of a challenge, chooses not to compete in it again.
January 5, 1873. Almost eleven, Alice is already shaping up to be the well endowed woman we all know. Findlebottom family moves in to Granger's Folly and opens up a general store. Alice meets Mary Jane Findlebottom (a few months younger than Alice) and an unexpected friendship ensues between the too serious Alice and the gangling goofiness of Mary Jane. Self proclaimed rival Gerty Kincaid is sent away to boarding school in Redwater City (roughly 200 miles South, South-East of Granger's Folly).
June18, 1875. While out for a solitary walk through the farmstead's rougher Western boundaries, Alice is attacked by a juvenile rock gator (more on these creatures in part 3). The gator grabbed onto Alice's lower right leg and began the instinctive head shake meant to incapacitate (possibly even dismember) prey. Alice's boot protected her leg from the gator's teeth but her knee was horribly wrenched. Somehow, through all the pain and shaking, Alice kept her head and went for the gator's only real weakness, its eyes (their relatively small brains are immediately behind their beady little eyes). Some hours later Alice dragged herself back to the farmyard pulling the dead, five foot long, rock gator behind her, both hands bloody from shoving her thumbs into the gator's eyes and scrambling it's brains. Her knee never healed perfectly and on cold days, or if Alice finds the need to run, a limp is very much evident.
May 31, 1878. Alice shoots her first man. A would be cattle thief sorely underestimating the sixteen year old girl with the rifle. The shot was intentionally not fatal but certainly slowed the thief enough for the authorities to round him up. If it bothered Alice to shoot someone she has certainly never showed it.
March 15, 1879. Horror. A cave-in of the nearby canyon wall trapped a few local prospectors in their mine. Alice's parents, her uncle and several other locals head to the rescue, leaving Alice to mind the farm. During the dig out a second cave-in buries most of the rescuers. An exhausted, filthy Sheriff Ezekial Walsh declares an abandonment of the dig after a third cave in injures a few more volunteers. The bodies of John an Molly McKay, Peter McKay and four others were never found. The farm's herd of 37 cows is the only “family” Alice has left.
April 22, 1881. Alice buys her first cow (all previous acquisitions were handled by her father), bringing the herd up to the current 38. She decides to name the newcomer Apple, stepping away from her parents' quirky tradition of ending every cow's name with -belle (yes, that's 37 -belle names).
October 26, 1881. After he ignores her warnings, Alice intentionally shoots a trespasser and, again intentionally, it isn't fatal. Unfortunately for the trespasser the fall from the canyon edge was. Sheriff Walsh has a long heartfelt chat with Alice about possibly not shooting every stranger that wanders onto her land.
July 7, 1883. Alice has made enough annual profit to replace the elderly milk collection system in the barn and, amid much protest from the herd, installs the latest and greatest setup she can afford. The cows decide, behind Alice's back, that the new machine should be properly tested for safety reasons. The vote is unanimous and , well, we all know what happens next...

to be continued in part 2: Cows