Thursday, 25 September 2014

Cosplay Spotlight: TARDIS (Doctor Who)

Costume: My fourth cosplay, though it was not really a cosplay initially, just a costume that I was making for the Student Nationals. Our chosen theme was Doctor Who, and I instantly pounced on the idea of being a TARDIS. I thought about making a box initially, but then I realised that would be hell to design and transport (planes being the awkward beasts that they are), and on reflection I thought a dress would be better.

Since I’d never made a dress before in my life, I went simple. The skirt is a circle skirt and I cannot begin to describe just how long it took to sew all that ribbon on. Each ‘side’ of the TARDIS is marked by thick ribbon, and the individual panels are made out of slightly smaller ribbon. The sign is white cotton with black fabric paint. The top bit of the dress and the straps are just more cotton in basic shapes – I went for an empire waist because that meant that a) I did not have to fiddle around with a complicated bodice and most of the outfit could be skirt, and b) it fit the shape of the TARDIS with the skirt being the ‘box’ of the TARDIS and the top being the ‘roof’. The black “Police Box” sign is black ribbon with white fabric paint, tied as a sash.


I usually wear black tights and black flats with this outfit. I discovered while at the Nationals that the bras I had brought with me came up over the top of the dress, necessitating the addition of two safety pins.


Make up: I normally keep my skin fair with little colour, but I try to play up my eyes with dark blues and silver.


Hair: A blue hairband completes the cute factor of this outfit, until I can make myself a fascinator with a light on it (I’m sure it must be doable!)



(Nationals 2011) Group Doctor Who shot! 


(Nationals 2011) Parking!


(Nationals 2011) TARDIS down for maintenance.

Thursday, 18 September 2014

A Public Service Announcement from Mei

So, as most authors know, the most terrifying thing that you can experience is losing your work. Most things can be replaced or repeated when they're lost, which is why nobody can really appreciate the devastation you experience when you lose your writing, apart from other writers. Rewriting might sound like a simple enough thing to a non-writer, until you consider that those files were a culmination of years of work, lovingly crafted and sculpted with as much attention as any master stonemason. And that's before you factor in the simple truth that it is impossible to write the same thing twice - no that's not exaggeration. It is literally impossible to write the same thing twice. You can write the same events, but they will never come out the same way and with the same flow that they did the first time, and you will always unfairly judge them against the first long lost draft.

I did this recently with a scene from chapter twenty five of Magic Monsters Dominions and Destiny. It was a lovely scene, that I spent the better part of a day working on, getting the interactions between the two characters just right (not easy when they're both ancient Egyptian spirits having a deep discussion about their place in the world next to noisy London roadworks). And then through the deviance of the copy/paste feature (yes, all right, and my own stupidity) it was gone - vanished in a puff of binary, lost to the forest of cyberspace.

I was distraught, and immediately started redoing it, in the hopes that some of the lingering inspiration would help me reclaim what I had lost. But as the words were pounded into the Word Document, I could feel the smooth syrupy flow becoming sticky, and that magnificent inspiration evaporated. I stared at my new scene, a shadow of something beautiful and great, and I wept.

Dramatic, I know, but surely understandable to a degree? You wouldn't ask a painter to redo a piece of their artwork exactly the same as before if someone knocked their jam jar of water onto it, would you? Because it would never be exactly the same as the last piece - it would have a completely different kind of energy and feeling to it. It is the same for writing. Each piece of creativity that we authors undertake is unique, and cannot be replaced or replicated to the same standard that it was before. And certainly, when most of us have several hundred thousand words under our belts, it would be downright cruel to make us try.

So I was understandably horrified today at lunchtime when I plugged in my memory stick to do a little bit of editing over my sandwich, and found that the computer refused to recognise my USB device, telling me that it would run faster on another USB port. Sensing something amiss with this, I tried the second USB port, which yielded the far more alarming message that my USB device had malfunctioned and could not be fixed. Doing my very best not to panic, I put the memory stick away and went back to my sandwich, hoping that my laptop would be able to assist me when I got home.

I feel it necessary to clarify at this moment, that this wasn't one or two current projects that I was fussing over. Oh no. This memory stick is the primary location for all of my stories written in the last six years. And I mean all of them. It contains research, character sheets, plot summaries and timelines, and so many notes, in addition to proper grown up stuff, like the most up to date version of my CV. Now this may sound like a stupid idea, to keep all of my important things in one easily breakable location, but it's simply the most practical option for me. I write everywhere. I write at home. I write in Costa on Saturdays. I do editing at lunchtimes at my desk. I write in airports while I'm waiting for planes. I write on my laptop, a desktop computer and my netbook. It is simply not convenient for me to keep my writing on one computer.

I make regular back ups of my files to my laptop, netbook, spare memory stick, and even email important chapters to myself, just in case. But suddenly all these seemed insufficient in the face of losing my memory stick. I couldn't remember the last time I'd done a back up - it certainly hadn't been since last weekend when I made that all important progress on chapter twenty one, and I was pretty sure it hadn't been before I'd done that all important connecting scene in draft two of my novel. The prospect of having to start all those wonderful scenes all over again, never quite reaching the same quality as before, sent me into a state of near hysteria. And sure enough, plugging the memory stick into my laptop earlier this evening yielded the same messages. Malfunctioned. Not recognised. Nice job breaking it, dumbass.

I entered full on panic mode as I ripped the memory stick out of the second USB port and plugged it into number three of four. This time, I was rewarded. Access! To my precious precious files! How could I have been so callous as to not back them up sooner? I immediately copy/pasted everything to my laptop, holding my breath as the little green bar crawled slowly across the page, the estimated timer getting higher and higher until I was sure that at least one of my files must be corrupted. Then finally, peace. My heart resumed normal beating pace. Which was just as well, since my hand then accidentally brushed the memory stick as I sank gratefully onto my bed, and the computer suddenly realised what it had done, rejecting the device so hard you'd have thought it were carrying the computer equivalent of the Ebola virus. But it didn't matter - the files were safe on my laptop. I promptly backed everything up again onto my spare memory stick, and emailed the most important documents to myself. Crisis temporarily averted.

If you take anything away from my outpouring of concentrated relief, let it be this. Back ups are your friends. Your very best friends. And you cannot have enough of them. Buy memory sticks. Make sure that they are good quality. And back up everything. Even stuff that you don't think you will use. During NaNoWriMo, you are advised to back up your novel once a week. I'm starting to think that this isn't overcautious at all. In fact, why don't you go do it now. I'm ending this blog post anyway. So off you go. Back it up, and thank me later.

Thursday, 11 September 2014

Fanfiction scenario generator: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Stole this off someone's fanfiction profile page. Mostly for the lols, but also to prove that I'm not dead, in spite of rumours.

Name 12 characters from any fandom and answer the following questions.

1. Ryou Bakura
2. Marik Ishtar
3. Yugi Mutou
4. Yami Bakura
5. Yami Marik
6. Yami Yugi
7. Seto Kaiba
8. Joey Wheeler
9. Kisara
10. Mai Valentine
11. Tea Gardner
12. Tristan Taylor

Have you ever read a Six/Eleven fic? Do you want to?
(Yami Yugi/Tea Gardner) Yes I have – it wasn’t a bad fic. I prefer Peachshipping though.

Do you think four is hot? How hot?
(Yami Bakura) Heck yes!

What would happen if Twelve got Eight pregnant?
(Tristan got Joey pregnant) I think Joey would utterly freak out – he’s not mature enough yet to be a father, let alone give birth! Tristan would probably freak out too, but he’d calm down quicker, and start trying to think of a solution.

Can you recall any fics about Nine?
(Kisara) YES! Most of them involve Seto Kaiba or his Egyptian counterpart, but I have read a very good fic involving her and Thief King Bakura – it was rather hot.

Would Two and Six make a good couple?
(Marik Ishtar and Yami Yugi) Hmm...enemies turned friends they may be, but I don’t think they’d make a good couple. Yami would try to be the dominant one in the relationship, and I have a feeling that Marik would not stand for that.

Five/Nine or Five/Ten? Why?
(Yami Marik/Kisara or Yami Marik/Mai Valentine) Both options are equally horrifying, though if forced I’d take the first one, simply because Kisara is the Blue Eyes White Dragon, and I don't think she'd take any shit from Yami Marik, where as Mai has genuine psychological scarring courtesy of him.

What would happen if Seven walked in on Two and Twelve having sex?
(if Seto Kaiba walked in on Marik Ishtar and Tristan Taylor) Pffff! The only reason I can think that Seto Kaiba would walk in on ANYONE having sex is if they were having sex in his office on a dare, so he’d probably yell at them to get the hell out of his office...ooh that sounds like a hilarious idea for a fic!

Make up a summary for a Three/Ten fic.
(Yugi Mutou/Mai Valentine) "He had been ready to hold back. Been afraid to give the duel his all. But she had told him to look in the mirror and face his fears. She had been a true duellist today. He owed her an explanation. And a thank you." ....>.< I'm shit at summaries!

Is there any such thing as One/Eight fluff?
(Ryou Bakura/Joey Wheeler) Probably. I haven’t read any though.

Suggest a title for a Seven/Twelve hurt/comfort fic.
(Seto Kaiba/Tristan Taylor) o.O Seriously? Probably something along the lines of ‘Cheerleader’.

What kind of plot would you use of you wanted Four to deflower One?
(Yami Bakura to deflower Ryou Bakura) Who needs plot when the smut is this hot?!

Does anyone on your friends list read Three het?
(Yugi Mutou) Yup! I do too! Mostly involving him and Tea. They are so cute I should have cavities!

Does anyone on your friends list write or draw Eleven?
(Tea Gardner) A few people write her, but not many. There’s a very unfortunate culture of Tea-bashers out there in the world, which makes me sad.

Would anyone on your friends list write Two/Four/Five?
(Marik Ishtar/Yami Bakura/Yami Marik) None of my friends would I don’t think – I totally would if I could think of a plot.

What might Ten scream at a moment of great passion?
(Mai Valentine) Joey!

If you wrote a songfic about Eight, what song would you choose?
(Joey Wheeler) Really struggled with this. In my head, it's Joey and Mai post Orichalcos, and the song is 'Forgiven' by Within Temptation.

If you wrote a One/Six/Twelve fic, what would the warning be?
(Ryou Bakura/Yami Yugi/Tristan Taylor) Erm...warning for dangerous hair?

What might be a good pick up line for Ten to use on Two?
(Mai Valentine/Marik Ishtar) "Are you tanned everywhere?" I was informed by the boyfriend that "Is that a Millennium Rod in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?" was far too obvious.

When was the last time you read a fic about Five?
(Yami Marik) As the protagonist? Not for a very long time – it was a het smut, I remember that. BUT he is a bad guy in my crossover, and I'm LOVING writing him.

What is Six's super secret kink?
(Yami Yugi) I think leather is more Yugi’s kink. For some reason I can see our favourite Pharaoh being partial to a bit of skinnydipping (if someone writes this, I will love them forever).

Would Eleven shag Nine? Drunk or sober?
(Tea Gardner and Kisara) Erm...possibly. More likely with alcohol though.

If Three and Seven get together, who tops?
(Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba) Kaiba. Though since he’s all limbs, maybe Yugi should be on top for safety's sake...

(1) and (7) are in a happy relationship until (9) runs off with (4). (1), brokenhearted, has a hot one-night stand with (11) and a brief unhappy affair with (12), then follows the wise advice of (5) and finds true love with (3).

(Ryou Bakura) and (Seto Kaiba) are in a happy relationship until (Kisara) runs off with (Yami Bakura). (Ryou Bakura) brokenhearted, has a hot one-night stand with (Tea Gardner) and a brief unhappy affair with (Tristan Taylor), then follows the wise advice of (Yami Marik) and finds true love with (Yugi Mutou).

The first sentence actually makes a weird kind of sense, if you're a Tendershipper and a Blueshipper, but I think the thing that scares me most in this scenario is the concept of Yami Marik giving wise advice. o.O