daybreakers

Ambitious is not usually a term I use to describe myself -- I don't have much in the way of career goals, and I've never been able to answer that whole "Where do you see your self in 5/10/20 years?" question. (When inevitably asked by students come interview time, what is your dream?, I totally bullshit about whatever topic they'll actually understand my answer for. Recently, becoming a fashion designer.)

But I'm coming to realize that in a few areas of my life, I actually do have ambition -- but I lack the drive to back it up. One is my long-term interest in small to mid-scale exportation of goods, despite recent setbacks with #fanservices. The other, as you're probably sick of hearing me blather on about, is cosplay.

I'm not a very good cosplayer. I mean, I have standards, but I don't have terribly much experience with proper garment and prop construction, and I procrastinate so badly that I'm very rushed for time before presentation at events. This blog post is one of those procrastination tools -- I'm supposed to be constructing a Captain America cosplay right now, for an event in two weeks. Guess who hasn't started cutting/sewing? Fortunately, Castiel is wearable, minus shoes and possible wig changes, so I won't be without a costume.



Yeah, I like to play dress up (and the prestige of not buying a ready-made costume) so much more than actually making it.

My wishlist for cosplay keeps growing longer and longer, not helped at all with the fact I'm apparently working on obtaining /all/ of Tony Stark's wardrobe, or at least off-the-rack imitations thereof. (My next post here will be all the reference shots I'm using -- if anyone else can make use of it, since I have yet to find any posts focusing on the non-battle-suits of those movies elsewhere...)

List of characters off the top of my head:
( Read more... )

...am noticing the tendency towards desiring to cosplay both characters in a pairing I like. ^^;; There's definitely a ton more I'm leaving off the list, but I'll have to add them in later.

Annnnnd since I'm so far behind (and am procrastinating on my current cosplay project and my dropped writing project), here's the next batch of links! Also a smidge shorter than usual, as I spent half the month in Austria/otherwise without internet.

August 2010 fannish links

1. Oh yeah! Watched How to Train Your Dragon on the airplane, and it was wonderful. (Toothless was adorable, and made me miss having a cat.) Actually, thinking about it, I think I need to watch HtTYD again. And again. Just for the adorable-ness that is Toothless. I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD GET ADDICTED TO CUTE
2. Also, I haven't posted fic recs in god knows how long (god or @backupmytweets, anyway), so here's a couple possible repeats. Rec: Variations on Forever, by janeturenne . Doctor Who, Doctor/Master epic, 10/13parts posted completed! l Variations is amazing amazicalness and everyone with the slightest interest in Doctor Who should read it. Master POV.
3. Rec: Fear and Loathing at the Phoenix, by curiouslyfic . HP/DM, NC17, Harry as Hunter S Thompson 
4. Reading: These Things Were Promises, by paperclipbitch. Sherlock Holmes (pre-movie), NC17, H/W. 
5. Rec: Onfindan, by astolat. Merlin, R, Merlin/Arthur. Arthur finds out. 
6. Rec: The Difference Engine, by sam_storyteller . SGA, R, John/Rodney.  Summary: Sheppard remembered dying in Afghanistan, but since he was still walking around he didn't pay that memory too much mind.
7. Reading: A Thoughtful, Moving Exploration of Passionate Youth, by thehoyden. Naruto, NC17, Gai/Iruka. http://bit.ly/9ijFEB
8. Reread: Drastically Redefining Protocol, by rageprufrock . Merlin, modern AU, NC17, Arthur/Merlin, +multimedia! http://bit.ly/baRyf2 Which makes me want to read a tangential crossover where Connor Luthor (Superboy) is the reporter interviewing them.
9. Rec: His Father's Son, by gaudy_night . Batman (Nolan), R, eventual Jim/Bruce, alt Jim bkgd, WIP. http://bit.ly/dxnQNn
10. So! Pic of me, sent by nozomu (one of the Comiket attendees). http://yfrog.com/8bshcsj (I really need to learn how to pose, lol.)
11. Reading: Something About Toads, by pyrebi. SPN, PG13, Dean/Castiel, crack a la fairytale AU. http://is.gd/ekfLr
12. Oh god. *buries face in hands* So at orientation today, manager had made picture cards for our self introductions, with our likes/dislikes and apparently, he managed to come across all of the yaoi blogs in search of a good Renji pic. He was like, "Is this character gay?" *red* I was so flustered and could barely keep from cracking up at the same time. (But hey, I got nicely printed fanart outta the deal, lol.)
13. Oh god. Who wants Chaucerian-style Doctor/Master? You know you do. http://anadapta0801.livejournal.com/6650.html
14. Rec: Staring at Squares, But My Eyes Never Focus, by twentysomething. Sherlock, PG, Sherlock/John, crosswords http://is.gd/epASu
15. ...I think I need to watch this anime. (Warning: TVTropes.) http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SetoNoHanayome
16. Doctor Who: the only fandom with NO CANON. Never has been, never will be. Huh. http://is.gd/ewyCD
17. There we go! Somehow, I had forgotten to save that Steve/Tony boot!kink fic when I first read it. Whoops! http://is.gd/eA3Yd
18. Reading: Some Assembly Required, by valtyr. Avengers, NC17, Steve/Tony. Tony gets turned into a woman by Doom. http://is.gd/eAUji
19. Rec: An Ever Fixed Mark, by seanchai and elspethdixon. Avengers, PG13, Steve/Tony. Loki turns Tony into a girl. http://is.gd/eBjTm
20. This is pretty damn amazing: Man invents machine to convert plastic into oil. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGGabrorRS8
21. Rec: CITIES OF SAND, by tongari . Inception/Sandman xover comic, Saito and Dream. http://tongari.livejournal.com/353730.html
22. YAY OMG THANKYOU!! (btw, NWS Inception fanart) RT @ajafair: @feikoi LOOK LOOK LOOK AT THIS TENTACLE FILL :DDDDDD http://is.gd/eJ1K0
23. Girl!Eames fic with mirrors! To read: http://bamf-hbic.livejournal.com/1964.html
24. Also, alwaysagirl!yusuf fic: http://community.livejournal.com/inception_kink/7339.html?thread=12310443
25. Arthur/Eames femmeslash NC17 rec: http://community.livejournal.com/inception_kink/5987.html?thread=8656227#t8656227 #inceptionkinkmeme
26. Also, @ajafair is the reason I got into this fandom in the first place. Blog with recs and meta: http://bookshop.dreamwidth.org #iblameaja
27. Hmm. So, random fandom note: why does the genderplay usually get heaped onto the physically slighter characters? That's lazy thinking. :P On #inceptionkinkmeme, there are a bazillion girl!Arthur prompts, about equal girl!Eames & boy!Ariadne, and 1 each Saito & Yusef. No Cobb. Y.
    
    • In SGA fandom, it's usually Sheppard, though I've seen a bunch with academia-politics for McKay and Jackson, too.
    • Oh god. Was trying to think of other fandoms with genderbending and now want Naruto/Inception xover SOMEHOW. Dream ninjas? SexynoJutsu? IDEK

As I sit here typing this entry, a cool breeze is blowing through my apartment -- rainy season here in Japan is to start next week or so. But that's not why I had an awesome day, though the not-sweltering weather probably contributed.

Today was Super Diner, a Supernatural-only fan event in Tokyo. Last week I had gone to a similarly advertised event, for Final Fantasy 7, which was a bit small and quiet (though had awesome cosplayers), so I wasn't expecting too much from this event.  I headed out a bit before noon, to arrive halfway through the event.

Which was AMAZING.

This event was definitely bigger than I had anticipated, though still Japanese-style and thus entirely composed of what we call Artist's Alley in American conventions I've been to. It was... probably comparable to the Artist's Alley at AWA, size-wise. Anyway. Walked in to this lovely sight: <a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/?action=view&current=CA3D0073.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/th_CA3D0073.jpg" border="0" alt="10.6.13 SuperDiner" ></a>

And after getting my little wristband (one of those rubber ones: yay souvenir!), I wandered around a bit. I was kinda being my quiet awkward self as I often am in social situations like, well, happens a lot in Japan, with the language barrier. (I can speak some, I can understand more, but I get easily flustered.) Bought doujinshi -- like lots of it. Yeah.

And then I found someone who had the Supernatural prequel comics at her table. The official, English ones published by Wildstorm? Damn was that an icebreaker. So I stood there, reading all four issues she had, and another girl had come up and was reading them after I finished each one, lol. Apparently the woman had bought them through auctions, but she said that they have them on Amazon, too. So, yes, mental barrier broken!

I then proceeded to wander more, shop more, and chat more. Got a free poster from one artist after it had fallen and I picked it up for her, and commented it was cute. Got stopped by one seller who said she was going to Vancouver in August for a Supernatural convention there! She was really excited -- so would I. So cool! And she spoke a little English after my Japanese came out all broken (I always get tripped up by past time phrases -- I'm starting to hate answering "When did you come to Japan?"). And then I went to another table, and the artist's friend who was hanging out with her was pretty comfortable with attempting English, at least, and so we were chatting half English, half Japanese, about the show and fandom. (By the way, internet, what is this about Misha milk-drinking pictures being posted on Twitter? They couldn't remember the account name, but then they asked their neighbor who said (in good English!) that I could find it on the SuperWiki. When Twitter resumes service, I will be going through twitter.com/mishacollins) They had a lot of questions -- did guys like the show in America too, or was is mainly a girl fanbase? Was there western fanart/comics, or mainly fanfic? Like that. It was fun to talk about, though I'm definitely not fully in the fandom, so it was difficult to answer sometimes. Heck, I only watched the first three episodes yesterday!

And the next table I went to, another fan started chatting with me in very very good English. Turned out she went to university in England. (Crap, I can't remember her name! ;;) And yeah. So I had a lot of fun talking to people. Got a few free things when I commented on how cute they were -- it was the end of the day, and I wonder if part of it was because of being a token foreigner there. Some people wondered how I had heard about the event -- I think they were expecting "the Internet", but I never would have known this existed had I not picked up the event flyer back at December's Comiket.

Really happy I decided to go.

On my way back to the station, I passed the Edo Museum (but decided to save that for another time), and stopped for cheap kitsune soba. Mmm, kistune-style.... And then at the station, on a neighboring platform, there was a taiko drumming performance going on. I happened to be standing next to a few other foreigners, and the leader/teacher guy called us over from across the tracks. Eventually found where the entrance was, and went to watch. Apparently, they were from a taiko-drumming school, and half of them were Westerners! The teacher/leader dude was doing things at least mostly bilingually, and dude, it was so awesome, I want to do that too! So I think, if I remain in the Kanto area, I have a new hobby. <a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/?action=view&current=CA3D0074.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/CA3D0074.jpg" border="0" alt="10.6.13 Taiko"></a>


So. Assuming you got this far...

I have to move soon, but I keep buying stuff. A LOT of fan stuff. I'm kinda a compulsive shopper at conventions. Now, I'm not looking to get rid of it all, but if anyone is interested in fan merchandise for Supernatural, Final Fantasy 7, Bleach, or other series... well. I'll probably be putting up a sales post sometime. (Mostly doujinshi, but also things like calendars and other random shit.)