Today, our little “family” (myself, my husband, and our cat Rory) became complete with the addition of this tiny little darling:
Meet River, Rory’s new little playmate. Yep, we’re those annoying Whovians. Get over it 😉
River’s been home now for almost two hours, and she and Rory have been cautiously ignoring each other for about an hour. There was a lot of hissing and growling on both sides when she first arrived, and they haven’t been very close to each other, but I’m optimistic that once they get used to each other they’ll get along swimmingly.
Rory has always enjoyed playing with the cats living at my parents’ house when he went over there to visit, but he’s never had a permanent “sibling” living with him. He’s been, essentially, an “only child,” which means he’s never had to share his territory. For an animal like a cat, that’s a huge adjustment to make. I think they’ll be okay though. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start getting along within a couple of days at most.
I’m happy that River feels safe enough here to doze a bit. She’s still wary enough to fight going fully into a deep sleep, but she’s doing really well. I look forward to when she and Rory start playing together and cuddling and all the things that kitties do when they’re friends.
Category: Fandom
A page in the life
So I manage a cosplay page on Facebook (that has stalled at the wayside as SCA overruns cosplay on the priority scale), a “fan” page for our cat, Rory, a page for my oft-forgotten Etsy shop, and of course the work I do for the Barony. So why did I add another page to keep track of?
Oh yeah, author Facebook pages are a thing. That’s why I did it.
You see, it goes something like this: I was typing up a scheduled post for Friday (keep your eyes peeled, folks!), and I realized that I haven’t had a proper page for my writing in years. I just keep losing track of what I’m doing and forgetting to post and then I ditch the page in favor of just using Twitter and this blog to promote moi.
Can’t keep doing that. People like having “fanpages” they can use to get updates on their favorite authors’ comings and goings. Granted, I don’t come or go much, but I do write, and I can write about writing. So off to Facebook I went to create a page.
Except I can’t get the damn URL to be custom. I guess not enough people like the page yet? Maybe that’s why…anywho, for now this is the URL: https://www.facebook.com/AJ-Mullican-143311953045804/
Yeah, you see why I want a custom one. I think if enough people like the page I can pop in and create that custom URL in a jiffy, but right now it’s the middle of the night and no one’s up to add it.
It should be interesting to see how the viewership of this blog changes with the new Facebook page. You see, I changed my Twitter settings so my tweets go to the author page, not my personal Facebook feed. Say what? Yeah, WordPress is cool like that; it lets you share to different social media platforms when you publish. So why does changing my Twitter settings change my WordPress posting? Okay, so Twitter does a cool thing, too: it lets you share your tweets to different social media platforms as well. So WordPress –> Twitter –> Facebook. Easy peasy. Or something. It’s worked so far; guess we’ll see how well it works now that the settings are tweaked. If worse comes to worse (or is it worst comes to worst? Damnit), I can just share from the page to my personal feed if I want my blog read by more friends and family. A P.I.T.A. to be sure, but eventually people will see that the author page is the original poster of the blog posts and thus go to the author page and like it and then everything will be swell. Or not.
Facebook, you see, is tricksy.
More tricksy than nots. What they have are these silly metrics things, which are apparently arbitrary and only to Facebook’s benefit. To make a long story short, if you don’t pay them monies to get your posts seen, even people who “follow” your page won’t see your posts. Lame.
So, again, why make the author page?
Because it gives my publisher a link to show people, that’s why. Yeah, it’s a new page and doesn’t have much content (yet)….it’s still something. And the more links they can give, the more exposure I can get once it’s time for Book 1 to get released.
Credit to the Oatmeal. Because that guy fucking rocks, and he deserves both exposure and monies for the work he does.
Seriously, though, as an author a little exposure can go a long way. I mean, if people don’t know I’m there or that my work is there, how can they be interested? Yeah, exposure itself doesn’t pay, but if people see the thing and want to read the thing, then (in theory) if they want it enough they’ll pay to read the thing.
Or maybe I’m just nucking futs at 1:30 in the morning, having very little sleep and being unable to either get to sleep naturally or take more sleeping medicine. (I already took my prescriptions hours ago…they worked to get me to sleep initially, but not to keep me there or get me back there.)
We’ll see how the page goes once people wake up and start liking the page and once I can update the URL and all that fun happy stuff.
Until then…to the writing board!
Godly aspirations
Well, I have my newest cosplay obsession. I went to see Thor: Ragnarok last night and now I’ve decided I have to do a Hela cosplay.
Observe:
Weight issues aside, it’s not too far of a stretch. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that I look similar to Cate Blanchett, and let’s face it, Hela is a badass. (Ok, so I might have dozed a bit during the part where Thor kicked her ass… what can I say? It was past my bedtime.)
It should be an interesting challenge. I’ll have to make a bodysuit, figure out the shoulder cutouts, and figure out all the piping and stuff.
Oh wait. I have two Italian Renaissance outfits to make before Yule. And a synopsis to polish. And revisions out the wazoo. And Christmas presents to make. And work.
Not to mention that we’re not really going to as many conventions lately. Not since this year’s Phoenix Comicontroversy. Still…it shall happen.
Some day.
Cosplay Crunch
Oops. I kindamaybesorta have been slacking on the cosplay stuff. I have a little over a month to get it all done, and I’m starting to get nervous.
The fabrication of the weapons we’re getting help on, but the sewing is basically all me. Which I can handle I guess, but I’ve got to motivate myself. I still have all the pattern pieces for the corset to cut out (I had cut out all the other pattern pieces & organized them earlier to save time, but I forgot the corset pattern pieces), then the fabric (of course), and then there’s all the sewing of stuff. And there’s the Spandex sewing. Still a little intimidated by the thought of that.
I don’t know why I put myself into this crunch all the time. I guess I just have an issue with motivation. When I first wake up in the morning I’m super tired, and messing around on the computer for an hour or so helps wake me up…which turns into two or three hours on the computer because I get sucked in by the Internet. Damn you, Internet!
I’ll probably get the pattern pieces cut out this evening (or maybe tomorrow morning) after we get back from out Poke-walk. Then I’ll cut the fabric & get to busting my butt this weekend. I think I’ll have to change out the needle on my sewing machine to a heavier-duty needle because I’m sewing pleather. Yeah, man, pleather corset. Hawt. Or something.
Well, I’m off to get ready for work. Gotta make that cosplay money. Oh, and money for bills, I guess. That, too.
Step it up
I bet you thought this was another Pokemon Go post…well, you were wrong!
It’s getting to be about a month & a half until we leave for Dragon Con, so I need to step up my work on our cosplays. Tick tick tick. The timer’s running out. I still have to put the lining on the Shatterstar coat, cut the pieces for the corset (& everything else that I haven’t started yet), sew the shit together, & learn how to use my serger to sew Spandex. Oh, and there’s the fabrication of the weapons and painting of my boots once they’re ordered & shipped. So yeah, gotta step it up.
I think I’m going to go into the sewing room & start cutting the pieces for the corset. Since I’ll need to order the boning (as soon as I know the lengths I’ll need), I should probably get started on that next. Then it will be on to the shrug I’m going to make, and then all the Spandex stuff.
When I made the Naruto cosplays it took me less than a month for both of them, but they were less complicated. These involve a lot more work, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’ve got to alter almost every pattern I’m using, so it’s going to be tough. I also need to lose weight before Dragon Con so things fit better, but I think I’ll be okay on that front.
Oh yeah, I’ve also got to do some alterations on my husband’s Star Wars/Doctor Who mashup cosplay & the Naruto cosplay. So there’s that.
Tick tick tick.
Poke-splosion
After just four days of playing Pokemon Go (with a break one day due to extreme exhaustion after work), I have to admit that this game’s addictive.
I don’t play “to win” (capture gyms, etc), but it’s a good game to get out and get exercise and potentially meet new friends. Since I mostly farmed in WoW, it’s kind of like that for me, only with walking and being outdoors. I “catch” the Pokemon, get experience, etc. I’m getting a good mile and a half plus every day that I go out and play in the evening (or morning on the weekends)…now if I could just find an app that had a fun way of getting you to eat better or eat less…but I don’t think anyone’s come up with anything like that. Maybe a game where you get special perks for eating veggies and lose those perks when you eat ice cream. Or something.
Until I went to the local park (we’re in a pretty small town, so there are only a few places that have multiple pokestops and whatnot to catch Pokemon & collect pokeballs), I didn’t realize exactly how popular the game was. I mean, I know tons of people were talking about it, but I didn’t expect the sheer numbers of people wandering around looking at their phones, talking about the Pokemon they were trying to catch.
I also didn’t expect the sheer numbers of adults playing the game. Like, vastly greater numbers than the kids. I know that Pokemon started when I was a teenager, so there are a lot of adults my age or younger who basically grew up with Pokemon. It’s yet another blast from the past in this golden age of nostalgia.
I’m hoping this Poke-splosion helps me lose some of this extra weight, or at least tone up a bit. It would be nice to have the corset that I’m making for Dragon Con fit a bit better. It would also be nice to have people quit asking if I’m having a baby. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t try to be diplomatic with my answer. I just say “No, it’s just fat” and get on with life. I used to try not to hurt people’s feeling and not make them feel bad for asking, but eff that. Maybe people should feel bad for assuming that any woman with a belly is pregnant.
How did I get from Pokemon to preggerbellies? What can I say? That’s just how my mind works.
Off now to get ready for work. Maybe on my lunch break I’ll go for a walk & try to catch a few more.
Caught by the balls
Yeah, it happened. I hate Pokemon but I wanted to get involved in walking like my husband has been with this new Pokemon Go craze (and I wanted to walk with him), but I couldn’t find an augmented reality app that I liked that I could use while we went walking. So there it is. I have a Pokemon Go account. I’m level six. I gotta admit, the avatar’s pretty cute.
Last night we went on an hour-and-a-half long walk, mostly spent searching for “points of interest” (or whatever they’re called) and catching different Pokemon.
Am I addicted to the game already? I’d like to think I’m not; I mean, I’ve only been playing for half a day. And it’s not like I’m going outside at 4:30 in the morning because I’ve got a wild urge to catch Pokemon. Sure, if one shows up in my apartment I’ll grab it, but I’m not going to go looking for them this early in the morning. Yeah, we went out late last night–“late” being around 8:30 to 10:00 pm–and spent the time searching for and catching Pokemon. I probably got more exercise in that hour and a half than I have since Phoenix Comicon. I certainly got the most number of steps in a day since then.
It was kind of funny…as my husband and I were standing on a street corner next to a church in the dark, with another Pokeplayer next to us, a car full of young guys–probably early to mid 20s–pulled up to the corner. When one of them leaned out the window to holler at us and ask what we were doing, I half-expected some jeering or taunting or at least him yelling “Fucking nerds!”…but none of that happened. He simply asked what we were doing…so, being the proud nerd that I am, I said, “Pokemon, man!” His reply? “Pokemon Go? Hell yeah!” That’s right. The quasi-thug hanging out the car window was a Pokefan. Who knew?
I was surprised by the sheer number of people in our small town who were wandering around late at night to play this game. Given that there isn’t much of anything in the area we were walking–especially nothing that was open for business–there were still random groups of people walking and chattering. Occasionally we’d find a car full of people playing, driving around to the different points of interest or “gyms” and playing there (one car had small children in it, so I assume the parents didn’t want them walking around that late at night), but most of the people we passed by were walking.
Good for Pokemon. They got nerds to get out of the comfort and societal safety of their homes and go out into the world and be active. We even chatted with one or two people briefly (not counting Car Guy).
Will this interactive motivation to get moving stick? Will I continue to play and get more exercise? I’m not sure. I tend to lose interest in things like this relatively quickly, but we’ll see.
For now? I gotta catch ’em all. Or something.
Reading too much
Why would I post something with that title just a day after putting my books online for free? Well, it’s because I’m not talking about that kind of reading.
I’m talking about reading more into things than is really there, particularly in regards to TV shows.
There has been tremendous uproar in the LGBTQ (I think I’m missing some letters, but they kind of keep getting added on so it’s hard to keep up) community over the deaths of some LGBTQ characters on some fictional TV shows. And you all know my opinions on getting uptight about fictional shows.
Let’s start with the flame that started a spark that ignited a brushfire faster than a cigarette butt tossed onto the dry Arizona grass: the death of Lexa, one half of the lesbian couple known as “Clexa” to The 100 fandom. (Dont’ know what “Clexa” means? See my previous post on shipping.) The Internet was abuzz with LGBTQ fans lashing out at producers, showrunners, writers, the network…pretty much everyone involved in the making of the episode. The majority of this outrage was over the perceived notion that the network had killed off Lexa because she was a lesbian. Now I don’t watch the show, but my husband clued me in to the gist of what happened and it sounded to me like there was a valid reason for the character to die. And even if there wasn’t, why does it necessarily have to have anything to do with the character being a lesbian?
It wasn’t too long before other fandoms got caught up in the inferno. Soon every LGBTQ death on a TV show was being called into question, with accusations of bigotry flying left and right. Suddenly every fan was an activist, and they all had one message: don’t kill off any more LGBTQ characters or else.
The irony here is, the fans got so caught up in spewing their hate that they didn’t realize they were rapidly becoming as just as bigoted as the accused–more so, in fact. Every time that anything bad happened to an LGBTQ character it became viewed as an act of war, an intentional slight against the gay and lesbian community.
Guys, seriously, I doubt that show writers and producers sit in their weekly meetings and pitch various ways to injure, maim, or kill LGBTQ characters. They don’t wring their hands and cackle maniacally. They don’t have a pegboard of LGBTQ characters that they throw darts at to figure out who they’re going to kill next. It just doesn’t work like that.
TV executives are concerned with one major thing: ratings. Those are fueled by the stories they tell. If the story requires a beloved character to die, then guess what? They die, whether they’re white, black, straight, gay, young, old, thin, fat, etc. Has there been an upward trend of bad things happening to LGBTQ characters? Maybe. I sure see a lot more about it on the news and in social media. But did any of you ever consider that maybe it’s a good thing?
Before you start sending me hate messages and death threats, let me finish. Maybe the reason that we’re seeing more gay characters being hurt is that there are more gay characters being represented in TV. Isn’t that a plus?
Personally, I don’t see the rate of LGBTQ deaths/injuries/etc as being out of proportion with the deaths/injuries of straight characters. Straight characters die a lot. It’s just that no one rages over those deaths the way they react to LGBTQ deaths. It’s the same with any minority: the minority gets better representation through casting and storylines, then when the increase in minority population there’s an increase in stories–good or bad–surrounding those minority characters. It just happens to be that the current fad is to kill off characters without warning.
Don’t blame the networks, or the producers, or the writers. Think before you explode, and calmly consider whether or not the treatment of the character was part of the plot or whether it was gratuitous…and don’t base that consideration on how much you personally like the character. Be rational. No network is going to stalk fansites and other social media just to find out what LGBTQ character is the most popular just for the purpose of senselessly killing them.
If you’re going to blame anyone, blame George R. R. Martin. I mean, he kinda spearheaded the “sudden death” fad. Ever since Ned Stark, no character is safe. No character, no matter their gender/race/age/sexual orientation/etc.
(Disclaimer: Do not seriously blame George R. R. Martin. It’s not his fault the viewing public eats it up.)
Lost momentum
I’ve been trying to figure out why I can’t seem to get anything done in the mornings before work (which used to be my most productive time of day), and then it hit me: without cosplays to work on nonstop, I’ve lost steam.
With so many mornings of gogogogogo in preparation for Phoenix Comicon, my brain doesn’t know what to do with nothing to do. Well, I guess I don’t have nothing to do. I could write, draw, read, color in my coloring books…so there are things that can keep my mind occupied–I just don’t have the drive to do any of them. My inspiration on my new novel has evaporated, so until that comes back to me I’m a little at a loss there.
Once we get some fabric for my husband’s coat and pants for his next cosplay, I can get back to spending all my free time in the craft room frantically cutting, pinning, and sewing.
Well, maybe not frantically. I have three months, give or take a week or so, and I got the Naruto cosplays finished in a month. So one could theorize that I have some breathing room here. I’ve already used the pattern for my husband’s pants once, so I know how everything goes together; I just have to do some mockup work to get the color blocking I’ll need to do. That’s going to be the interesting part of making these–his costume has some cool color blocking, and mine will have a lot of modifications to the designs of the patterns I’ve purchased for it.
The good news is that I found several pairs of boots that might work for my cosplay, so that’s one less thing to worry about. I think those boots are pretty much the only things (aside from my husband’s boots as well) that we won’t have to make from scratch. This should be fun.
Now if I could just find something to do until we get that fabric….
De-con-pression
Yeah, yeah, the con titles are getting old. This should–maybe–be the last one…for a while. Possibly.
So as my husband and I decompress from the convention, we’re catching up on TV that we missed and discussing our next cosplay pairing for Dragon Con in September. Being that I have an awesome husband and mom, I’ll soon own a new serger and be able to sew knits and Spandex for more cosplays. We also attended several panels on cosplay design and creation, so we’re hoping that gives us a start on accomplishing bigger and better cosplays.
You’ll be seeing progress photos as my husband and I get to work, partly because I get super excited and geeked out over it all, and partly because I like to see the progression myself. It’s fun to see what started out as, say, a couple bouncy balls from the toy section in Wal-Mart to a larger-than-life prop gourd that got tons of compliments during Phoenix Comicon.
We only have a couple of photos of our cosplays so far, so I’ll wait and see if I find any more of them before I post the “finished” looks here. (I put “finished” in quotes because we’re already brainstorming ways to improve on our first attempts.)
On to interview transcription and article writing! (That’s right, I didn’t forget that I was attending as a member of the media) 😉