#I haven’t been to a convention or cosplayed in a long time | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

blossom-adventures · 11 months ago

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A little update…

Hi everyone, soooo… I thought I’d best drop a little update here about some stuff that’s been going on as I’ve been rather quiet again recently. There are a few things to cover so please bare with me ☺️💙

First of all a little bit of positivity! I got complimented on my weight loss today! It made my day because my brain was saying I’d put the weight I’d lost back on and I was on a bit of a downer recently because of it.

And also, I’ve got the longest time off work for Christmas than I’ve had since I started working! I’m off from the morning of the 22nd and I’m back on the night of the 26th! That is an unbelievably long break for me and I’m looking forward to it so much!

Now, for the reasons I’ve been a bit quiet on here…

- Work is insane right now! I work in a supermarket/grocery store and obviously with Christmas fast approaching, more stock comes in and we don’t have extra staff to do it, I work 4 days a week and I’m having to do extra hours in almost every shift and it’s very tiring, not to mention the temporary staff hired to cover the workload are terrible at the job, so I’ve been spending more time correcting their mistakes each night too.

- Christmas prep in general! Because my mum works at the same store we’re both finding it hard to make time to do what we’d normally be doing on the run up to Christmas (watching films, specific days to go out and do shopping, spending time with my brother and his husband, etc) so any time we have free is being taken up with this sort of stuff

- Writing! I am trying, in whatever time I have free, to work on my projects, I also have 2 Secret Santa stories to write too which is incredibly daunting. I’ve been finding it hard to make time to sit and write over the last week but I am hoping to get some stuff written on the 2 nights I’m off work this week (tonight and tomorrow)

- Cosplay work! My convention is at the end of February and I haven’t finished assembling the Buster Sword for Cloud or the wing for Ardyn, I also still need to get a wig and make the rest of the costume for Cloud too! There is a lot to do and not much time to do it 😬

So… yeah, very busy, I’ve not had chance to interact as much as I want to on here and I’ve been very quiet in regards to my writing, but please bare with me, I am trying ☺️💙

Much love everyone 🌸

#blossom rambles #love you all 💙🌸

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ladyk23 · 7 months ago

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List 5 topics you can talk on for an hour without preparing any material.

I’ve been tagged by @imsfire2 to list 5 topics I can talk on for an hour without preparing any material. I don’t know what kind of weird lecture she needs speakers for, but here goes:

1) Outlander. How could I not pick this as my first topic? It’s been my utter obsession since 2020. The TV show first, then the books by Diana Gabaldon, the actors - some whom I’ve been lucky enough to meet several times, the locations I’ve been to, the ones I haven’t been to, conventions, premieres, cosplays, you name it, I can probably talk about it, even if you would prefer I didn’t.

2) History. I don’t pretend to be an expert. Ims never said your talk had to be accurate. But I am definitely passionate about it, or at least parts of it. Obviously I said Outlander as my first topic, and that is historical fiction, but a lot of it is based around real events that happened, such as the Jacobite rising of 1745, the battle of Culloden, the American revolutionary war etc. Before Outlander (and still now) I had a big obsession with the Tudor period, so my fascination with history has long been a thing, and Outlander just added fuel to an already raging fire. My secondary school history teacher Mrs Fogg was my favourite teacher for good reason. I often wish I’d continued my education and gone into history more and maybe today I’d be a historian or history teacher myself.

3) Movies. That’s very general, again I don’t know ALL movies, but I could certainly talk for an hour about some of my favourites. I could also throw in stories about movie premieres I’ve been to, actors I’ve met, actors I wish I’d met, which ones I would invite to my imaginary dinner party where you can have anyone alive or dead. How River Phoenix’s death affected teenage me, my crushes from my earliest to my latest, great movie soundtracks, how one person can be a horror fan and love Disney movies too, Jane Austen adaptations, Marvel movies, yep I can talk at length about movies.

4) Writing. Again, I’m no expert. This won’t be a talk about how to get published. But I can talk about my process - how to write a thing and not finish it - or I can talk about my other process - how to write a thing and not finish editing it. I can talk about blogging, writing fan fiction, short stories, and yes, novels, even if I probably won’t ever publish mine. I can talk about the importance of having a writing community to keep you going even when writing is the last thing you want to be doing. I can also talk about how bad grammar and spelling really ruins a novel. My grasp of both of those things leaves a lot to be desired (which is why I clearly need Ims’ proofreading skills), but even I can be taken out of the moment of reading and enjoying a novel, if the writer misspells their main character’s name. 🤦🏻‍♀️

5) I was going to lump this in with Outlander, but honestly I could easily talk for a separate hour about my AMAZING Outlander book club. Established in 2021 by a woman who just wanted a group to keep her accountable in her attempt to read all eight books in the Outlander series. That was it. What actually happened is an incredible community formed, where women support each other and are there for each other in every aspect of life. We became so much more than a book club. We still ARE a book club though. We read all of the eight books we set out to read, then we read the ninth one that was published while we were in the process of reading the eight. Then we started a chronological read of ALL of the books in the Outlander universe, as there are spin off books and novellas too, and we’re currently reading one of the spin off novels as our book this month. We have been on two retreats to the smoky mountains of Tennessee, 30 women in a castle sized cabin for 4 days, and there are no fights, no disagreements, no arguments, no cat fights, just 30 women getting along, laughing together, working together to cook and clean, we tell each other deep important stuff, and get nothing but support back. We’re a family at this point. I love every one of those women and never thought I’d ever find a group like this that has come to mean so much to me, just from joining a book club.

Thank you so much for the tag Ims. I nominate @arms-and-arrows, @littleblueartist, @fishyandclintbarton, @katsdisturbed and @uuuhshiny but only if you feel so inclined.

#tag game #5 topics you can discuss without preparing anything #Outlander #Outlander Book Club #Movies #History #Writing #Tagged by Imsfire2

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ick25 · 2 years ago

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Rockman EXE Movie Review. Part 1

Oh yeah! The people have spoken! The Megaman Battle Network Legacy collection is finally here! So to celebrate it I’m “Reviewing” the Rockman.EXE movie, The program of Light and Darkness.

A few things before starting. First, the “movie” is less than 50 minutes long, so it’s more of a very long episode with better animation than usual. Second, the movie takes place during the Stream saga, a season of the anime that never aired in America because the plot was “too dark” for a kid’s show, like Axess wasn’t violent and dark enough already. It’s even worse for people in Latinoamerica because Axess never aired there either, so enjoying this movie would’ve been impossible for me if I hadn’t watched the episodes online.

For those who haven’t watched the Stream saga, this is what you need to know:

1. The movie takes place somewhere after episode 17 but before episode 31 of Stream, I say episode 17 because Raika, the Hypocrite, now uses Cross fusion, just like everybody else.

2. The plot is based on Battle Network 5, minus the whole teams thing.

3. The whole story of Rockman.EXE Stream is not relevant, except for episode 2 because that is when Forte came back to steal Rockman’s Ultimate program, but after he fails to get it, he was defeated by an extraterrestrial Navi named Slur who throws him into the depths of the Undernet, where the movie begins.

Forte is shown floating in the cyberspace of the Undernet where he is woken up by strange light and a familiar evil laugh.

Those who played BN5 know what that thing is.

We cut to England, which is probably called Kingland, where a giant beam of light suddenly appears and disintegrates everything in it’s path.

Leaving behind a very ugly but also familiar face.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Japan, our heroes are in a Net Battle tournament taking place in a very weird building with roller coasters coming in and out of it.

Seems very dangerous to be honest.

Of course, as Netto plugs in Rockman, we get the theme song Be somewhere, with the karaoke, timing, and Spanish translations provided by yours truly.

Don’t believe me?

Yep, I was the head of this project, sure, I didn’t get paid and other people helped made this possible, but I’m still proud of this. Too bad not many people have access to this.

During the intro song we see Rockman fighting Gridman’s aka Footman’s first appearance in the anime, before becoming some random Navi in Beast. And in case you were wondering, no, Meijin is not Footman’s operator, it is actually this guy.

The guy who just gives hints in BN3 white version.

I think he is Mr. Famous’s aide, but I don’t remember.

Anyway, Netto wins, his friends, with new changes of cloths, congratulate him, and Meiru appears out of nowhere to hug him like she was already his girlfriend or something.

I personally don’t like this art style, it makes Dekao look even uglier and Meiru looks like she has less hair than usual.

Now, a surprise for those who haven’t seen Stream, Dingo and Tomahawkman are now part of the cast! And Dingo for some reason has blue eyes in this shot.

I honestly don’t know why.

After Dingo wins his battle, we see more of the weird and unsafe building where they are with the indoor rollercoaster and all. Apparently this is Akihara’s 100th theme park.

We get a small appearance from Shuko and Higure-san who are riding the roller coaster, but its more of a segway to the next scene because Higure somehow spots Mariko-sensei while screaming. Like, how? Mariko-sensei was wearing a helmet until Netto and friends arrived. Turns out, she is cosplaying as her favorite Sci-fi character in a convention that also takes place in the weird building.

But she only appears for Netto and friends to mention that she has a lot of hobbies, and to have this very weird cut to the next scene that made me think it was an editing mistake.

Seriously, she didn’t even finish her line.

We immediately jump to a not so traumatizing scene of a group of men getting vaporized by the same light beams we saw in Kingland.

NOT TRAUMATIZING AT ALL!

Turns out this was in Ameroupe as we join Meijin and Yuichiro watching footage of the damage.

Yuichiro seems to know something and after seeing a satellite image, his suspicions are confirmed.

The Internet service that is NOT all about you.

The light beams left what looks like giant algorithms, this is enough for Yuichiro to say some vague words, first “Spectrum”, and then “The Wily Program is active”.

HELLO? Why did we cut to a Duel Master scene?!

Oh, right, turns out the people who worked on this movie also worked on the Duel Master movie which was still a thing back then. That is why they made a little animation at the beginning of the movie were we see Crossfused Netto and Shobu working together to fight their respective opponents. They also put like 3 second cameos in both movies to let us know that both the Net Battle and the DM tournament are happening in the same weird building.

For this movie, it’s a clip of Shobu summoning a monster or something, and for the DM movie we get an actual shot of Netto and friends cheering for Shobu in the audience.

It’s not even the same art style, or background! At least Meiru still has her hair intact.

In that movie they actually say Shobu’s name, in this one they just play the clip and then cut to Netto and friends reacting to something. Personally, I never cared for DM, I watched one episode and that’s it, I always saw it as a Yugioh bootleg.

The cameo is interrupted by Yuichiro who calls Netto to tell him that he must get to the Trident Tower ASAP, with no details whatsoever. Netto says bye to his friends and wishes them luck for their upcoming battle

Apparently some time passed after Netto leaves for the tower, because in the very next scene we cut to Yuichiro typing really fast in a computer (still not giving Meijin details as they watch the light beams appearing in Choina), and then asking if Netto is already at the tower.

LOL, he is stuck in traffic.

Although it is nice to see taxi drivers still have jobs in this future. At least the paying method is accurate.

Netto decides to skate all the way to the tower. I like this scene, its been a while since we’ve seen Rockman giving Netto directions from inside the PET and Netto showing off his sweet skating moves.

Will Netto make it to the tower in time? Will Yuichiro finally tell us what’s going on? And will Meiru’s hair ever grow back? Stay tuned for part 2.

#Rockman.exe #MegaMan NT Warrior #Megaman exe #anime #megaman battle network

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dei-ryuu · 1 year ago

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I wanna do a trainersona thing with my team being based on my pokeplushes. Haven’t figured out how to design my trainer yet, but here’s the team

Names and bios under the cut (including background info from the original plushies)

Sapphire - Dragonite - Main battler of the team and mostly in charge of flying everyone place to place. She’s the biggest team member and tends to act as their bodyguard as well. Caught as a dragonite

Plush was picked up at a convention and stayed in the back window of my car for a few years, but has since been moved inside with everyone else

Regent - Kingdra - Raised from an egg by his trainer, so he sees her as his mother. Considers himself the favorite because of this

Handmade by me because kingdra doesn’t get much merch and I needed one as a cosplay prop. Also the only pokeplush on my bed because he’s over 3ft long and doesn’t fit anywhere else

Prince - Horsea - Adopted by Regent as his little brother. Baby of the group, here for moral support, does not battle

Gift from a friend specifically to go alongside Regent

George - Vaporeon - Caught as a Vaporeon and while he battles with and is cared for by the trainer, he’s unofficially become her mother’s pokemon.

Another con purchase. My mom adores him, but declined my offer to give her the plush. She also named him

Charizard (Orange Juice) - Charizard - The starter. Doesn’t battle much anymore due to his old age, but will if he’s in the mood. Missing a foot from a bad battle ages ago. Got the nickname Orange Juice late in life, but doesn’t respond to it

Childhood plush from when the anime was first airing so VERY old. Foot was chewed off by my dog at the time. I never nicknamed as a child (probably cause Ash didn’t in the anime) so a friend gave him his name a few years ago

#pokemon #pokemon oc #dragonite #kingdra #horsea #vaporeon #charizard #my art #now I just a backstory for my trainsona and a design #definitely something there with the blue/yellow pallet the mons mostly have #pkmn fanart

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enneamage · 2 years ago

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so do you think there will be a new wave of Something like dream manhunts were or dsmp (though qsmp seems promising af in smp department) that will bring hype back and make everyone obsessed? or did people generally become normal enough after the pandemic and unlikely will reach that level of commitment?

From a surface skim it feels like you’re asking if I think fandom in general is going to still exist, to which the answer is always going to be yes. DSMP and manhunts were massive because of timing and skill level, blowing normal transformative fandom practices to new levels of visibility from the number of people who were interested/involved, but fandom is old as dirt and a lot of these practices came well before and will continue long after. Things a lot less hype get this type of attention, it’s just harder to spot from the outside unless you’re looking for it.

(Fun fact, or at least a phenomenon that I haven’t heard people taking about yet: the pandemic actually boosted fandom productivity in general. Me and a friend discovered that old fandoms that hadn’t gotten content or budged in years had a surprising influx of work across the board, especially if they were old comfort media. It seems like a lot of fandoms got a buff on top of what would happen normally.)

I think that the manhunts and other videos were a good mainstream hook to fall down the rabbit hole of DSMP, which is were a lot of the deep investment came from. Dream proved himself as a skilled player and an interesting protagonist, the foot in the door that would eventually seed interest in the DSMP. (Tommy held up the other half of this momentum by taking the role of the shounen protagonist down the line, a good POV character for the younger crowd.)

The DSMP wing of MCYT has had a lot of comparisons to Homestuck fandom for different reasons, but one of them is the intensity and involvement with the content. I remember passing by a post years back in awe of the fact that someone whipped up a shockingly competent overnight cosplay for an update that came out the previous day. At a convention hotel. The devil worked hard but Homestuck fans worked harder, and that’s one of the first impressions I got from the DSMP fandom, everyone was operating at that tier of involvement. I can say for a fact that it is possible to have a fandom lean towards Homestuck-level involvement while people are still in school because there was no pandemic when Homestuck was snowballing in popularity and people were still living that fandom moment-to-moment. I think the key ingredients are for a massively complicated story with interesting characters to always be updating frequently yet randomly-- Drinking from a fire hose tier content. I think the secret ingredient is that the people watching never really switch off, the chances of a content drop are always there so it makes more sense to always (kind of) be thinking about it. That was Twitch in a nutshell for the pandemic, it was something larger-than-life-shaped that people could follow along with in their new “wealth” of free time, in and out of character.

If we’re talking about DSMP (people not server itself) and co in particular ever getting that kind of hype again, that seems less likely because of the choices that have been made lately. Aside from most people pulling back and scaling down from fatigue and other natural causes, nobody seems to have anything going on that feels as expansive as the DSMP other than Quackity. (Leaving this open ended because apparently Dream has something cooking, we’ll see if that becomes relevant later.) I think QSMP and karmaland are big beyond the language barrier, it’s just hard to see from an English POV.

It’s probably impossible to fully take stock of all the things that poured fuel on what supercharged the scene we’re talking about. (Side-note locking me in to talking about how people needed to romanticise internet life and how the incidental dynamics of mcyt met that need, will do soon.) I think it benefited from being a trend, people tend to like the novelty of a rising star but new-ness naturally fades. People are also getting good with talking about how a good amount of appeal to the content was being able to be part of the fandom (Infinite content, absolute goldrush, a full buffet), so people coming and going will influence what happens as well. For better or for worse people recognise that fandom activity and expectations are what really blew the DSMP as a phenomenon to new heights, even when the fandom was kind of dragging the DSMP along behind it in its momentum.

I feel like we won’t be due for something that snowballs into being that intense for a while, but that may not be a bad thing. Something more measured and easy to consume and less overwhelming is better suited to the pace of a lot of peoples lives right now. I’ve got my four year superstition and also knowledge of the old Yogscast and Mindcrack waves, all of this seems tied up in the way that Minecraft itself tends to ebb and flow over time—there’s a boom and then a lull by nature.

People may become distracted or short on time, but they’ll never get normal, anon. If there’s one thing I stand firm on it’s that people who define normal by being aloof to things just don’t know enough about what’s going on in other peoples lives, people are off the wall by nature.

#tubeposting #this mc boom was like a million bullets hitting eachother in the air at once

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callgespenst · 2 years ago

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My Ohayocon 2k23 Writeup

Every time I go to a con and I think “wow, so much happened, that was fun” and then it all blends together with every other con I’ve ever been to after a few weeks. This will be the first of hopefully many convention diaries/life updates so I can look back in a few years and -not- wonder where the time has gone.

THURSDAY: while the con had events (mostly badge pickup, really) on Thursday, we elected to skip out to go see the Reincarnated as a Slime movie before the weekend really got started. Good movie! Got cash out for the con and some last minute supplies (more E6000 glue for my boot covers).

FRIDAY: My wife and I both had to work in the morning but as soon as that was done we got our costumes on and got out the door! I wore my Paptimus Scirocco cosplay, which I haven’t taken the chance to do since ANYC 2019. (There haven’t been a whole lot of anime cons since then, or at least, not ones I’ve felt safe going to). Got in, bought our badges at the door (almost glad we didn’t pre-reg, the line for that was much longer) and went straight to the dealer’s room. Ran into a few friends, went to our long time favorite vendors of Otaku Joseph and Megaroad, and didn’t actually spend a whole lot of money because our collections are already massive and out of control. I got a lot of small stuff (my last daily photo) going through some dealer’s bins and chatted with a guy who was also looking through for cool robots. After that was dinner with friends at the local pizzeria, and a panel, and then we left early.

THE PANEL: Went to a guest panel for Shin Kurokawa, who worked on the AnimEigo Macross release in the early aughts. I’ve learned a lot about early anime fan culture (exchanging raw VHS tapes, some of the first cons, etc), but never really heard anything about working from an official perspective at that point, so that was fascinating. Used to be a lot harder to make DVDs, that’s for damn sure. Kurokawa revealed that the release of the DVD set got pushed up, after being delayed for a while, because 9/11 happened, a lot of people cancelled their preorders, and they wanted to cut their losses. So then someone at the end of the panel, starts to ask “So, if 9/11 hadn’t happened...” and everyone starts laughing because, what a way to open a question about anime.

SATURDAY: Our friend Koji came up for the day so a lot of our Saturday was showing them around the dealer’s hall, artist’s alley, and taking photos (I was Gamlin on Saturday, and my wife was dressed as Nekki Basara all weekend). We got lunch at North Market during the only lull in the ramen place’s line, and managed to show Koji around and have a good time. Took those two back early and then went back to the con center on my own.

KARAOKE: Fumbled my way through Totsugeki Love Heart, I usually do a lot better but I felt weirdly self-conscious at the time. The funny part was before karaoke, when we were sitting outside the room in line. The hosts were doing a sound test, and it sounded suspiciously like “The Borderline” by Sharon Apple. So I turn to my buddy next to me in line and say “Hey, isn’t that The Borderline?” and he says “I don’t think it is”. So I go up and open the door just to confirm, and I was right! And in my con-powered enthusiasm I turn around and shout “IT -IS- THE BORDERLINE, FUCK YOU ANTHONY!” to the confusion of most of the other people around us.

SATURDAY EVENING: Went to go get pizza again with a slightly different group of friends. Met a Quattro cosplayer who seemed pretty cool. Ended up sitting around for three or four hours just bullshitting, which is always good. Got tired and left just before midnight.

SUNDAY: Designated Mahjong Day. Most of the rest of my usual group didn’t show up until one, so I played some DDR (did awful) and some Initial D (did alright). I think that was the exact motivation I needed to get back into playing DDR more seriously, accidentally put on a ten-footer (on basic mode!) and got most of the way through it even though it wasn’t a song I was familiar with. Just gotta build my stamina back up. Then I helped with a mahjong teaching session, which was a nice confidence booster, I felt like I was doing pretty well with three players who were mostly unfamiliar with the game. We had -both- genders of Americans interested in riichi mahjong, “played it via Yakuza”, and “played it via FFXIV”. The game room closed early due to snow, and then we went home.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS: the literal, honest to god barbershop quartet that was there on Sunday. I don’t think they were there as attendees, they just went to entertain a crowd, and they were pretty damn good. Their group name was “The Fourskins”, and you can “follow them on nowhere”.

All in all, I had a great convention! No drama, no bullshit. Fewer of the lads made it this year than usual, but those who did come, I got to have a good time with, which is what counts. For my next convention I really need to submit some panels, cons don’t quite feel right without them.

#gespenst updates

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elementalsight · 2 years ago

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Using My Photos!

Facebook got rid of the notes system, and I don’t have a dedicated website anymore, so I’m putting this here!

So! Sharing, posting and using my work! Since I’m slowly getting back into the swing of photos and because I am asked this on a regular basis, here are my general ground rules for photos I return to you after a shoot. Please note this is specifically for the models in the shoot, not the ‘net in general. Editing: You may do small edits to my images such as removing blemishes, fine lines, scars, costume mistakes, changing your eye color and fixing makeup if I’ve missed doing so. My rule of thumb is if I can’t tell you changed it at a glance, it’s just fine. If you’d like me to make those adjustments, shoot me a message. If you have extensive adjustments you’d like to make (such as full body makeup) we may discuss me sending you the files before final edits to adjust makeup first. If you want to do major editing such as background changes or special effects, just make sure your post states the edit is yours, not mine! Image Use: You may use my images of you for any and all of the following without checking with me: Social Media profile images, headers, website design, personal galleries, icons & thumbnails, business cards, selling your costume posts, giveaways and handouts, contest entries including calendars or website headers eg: vs cosplay, Arda banner contests, Guest Announcements and Social Media pushes for convention announcements. HOWEVER if my watermark is removed or rendered invisible I should be credited as either Elemental Photography and Design on Facebook or @Elementalphotodesign on Instagram. This is as simple as “Photo by Elemental Photography and Design” or “Sailor Mercury photo by Elemental Photography and Design” (or @Elementalphotodesign if on Instagram). Convention Print Ads must ask for permission to print and credit in print, newspaper articles likewise have to contact me for permission to print my images. AI Use: At the moment I ask that you do not use my images for AI programs/edits, as the whole process is a mess with rights and useage and artist permissions. Cropping when creating a profile image or a header collage is normal, but if you are uploading to Instagram please try to leave the image in its original format, using an app such as No Crop, to prevent cropping. Likewise try to avoid filters when sharing on Instagram. Subtle ones are fine, but if you’re using a heavy one please note in the post you’ve used a filter. These days I usually send you Instagram ratio images that just need you to use the little [] bracket when uploading to avoid cropping. Selling: You may not sell my images as prints, stickers, postcards etc without prior agreement. You may not use my images for non-contest print runs such as calendars or other material that will be sold by a third party without discussing it with me first. General Credit: I do ask that you link me/credit when you share my images, but I understand folks can mess up. If you haven’t in the past - don’t worry, I’m absolutely not offended, these requests have always been more verbal than in print requests and it’s hard to keep track of everyone and everything. If you miss me at times, as long as my watermark is visible I don’t mind. If my image has been cropped however, my credit is important. Have any questions? Did I miss something obvious? Let me know! I’m hoping this is easy enough to follow (and folks won’t have to worry about asking to use my pics for Arda anymore. :D)

#note #notes #my photography #putting this on my personal tumblr because I want to #my photography tumblr is much ignored

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burning-bubble-tea · 7 months ago

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I love seeing people interviewing cosplayers and I sorta wished there were people in my convention community that did that but also when I go to cons it’s very, I AM IN ARTIST ALLEY i am sitting on the floor… I AM IN ARTIST ALLEY AGAIN i sit on the floor again. Especially since the only convention I go to HAS NO AREA TO JUST LIKE WALK AROUND. Like I love the con to bits cause it’s like the only fan convention in the city that’s big and also pays its employees instead of capitalizing on volunteers…. But like it would be better if it happened in the summer cause the outside area around the convention centre is super nice but alas the con is in winter so it’s more like we go outside to cool off and then go back inside to warm up.

Maybe it’s an age thing and the city being kinda known for being difficult to meet new people but like as a teenager I would just meet new cosplayers and have a super fun time but now I kinda have my friends and I both miss and don’t miss being more integrated in the cosplay community.

I should also probably make more comfortable cosplays as constantly switching between my high heels and flats is super annoying.

And maybe next year I’ll like, hang around the public areas more and try to like socialize I guess? But also I have my friends? It’s weird.

Cause also stranger danger, I haven’t had too many creep interactions but whatever.

Maybe next year I’ll actually be wearing something popular and I can be apart of a cosplay group HAHAHAHHA

But I’m often not into what’s popular as I’m a late adopter to a lot of things and I kinda like cosplaying characters I know I’ll like for a really long time as I used to cosplay trendy characters and it was fun… until I stopped liking the show and never wore the cosplay again :/

Like I’ll keep on going to cons as I love Artist alley but it’s really sad cause I sometimes wonder if I’m chasing nostalgia.

Like being a teenager and conventions being like a plan I was making with my friends where I was essentially planning a vacation on my own was really good. Like I would save up for it as I knew I wanted to spend lots of money and I’d budget food and stuff. And since it was a new experience back then the entire experience felt surreal.

Now I still love cons (and I’ve been fortunate enough to be paid to perform at cons) but the magic is sorta gone but I mainly attribute that to lack of space and over crowding.

It is fun being kinda the only cosplay drag queen in the city though.

I used to look SO bad and go to conventions cause it didn’t matter how you looked but ever since cons reopened I got to show off my drag makeup that’s actually good and my costumes that are actually good and it’s so cool.

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jinx-aesthel · 8 months ago

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Stay tuned for Somsnosa cosplay pics in the morning I’m so so so excited I haven’t been this excited for a convention in a LONG ass time!!!!!

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bigmack2go · 8 months ago

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Ok so i found something from a while ago and never posted it so here u go ig

Ok first coment: „hey, i just noticed qll the little deatails. You’re really in character, good job!“

(Might not have been abozt that but like i feel like it was)

LMFAO SOMEONE PASSING BY JUST YELLED AT ME ACROSS THE ROOM„wrong foot!“ I CANT 😭💀

Ok so apparently a lot of people know what foot kaz hinks on???

Lmao this one came from my friend who went to the con w me??? „You wanna be completely in character? Hink! Trust me thats the deatails“ i just sort of looked at him fir a minute and then he went „cuz rn ur just walking like u alsways do“ and idk what do respon😭😭😭

Cleared tho whole thing up. Apparently the motherfucker didn’t knew i hinked??? Anyway so i think he’s just an idiot bc i cant believe what he said later. Half an hour later he said „you’re hinking with the wrong foot“ LIKE MF I CANT CHANGE ME DAMAGED FOOT IM SORRY

Ok so i won a price omfg

Im honestly embarrassed by how fucking dumb and oblivious my friends are cuz i think at least seven strangers noticed my limb today and pointed it out and at least as many friends of mine that know me for a very long time haven’t even known about it? I mean i dont rly bring it uo but you have eyes.

Just won another price for being in character. Like the guy SAID IT OUT LOUD.

Why do so many people know which foot Kaz Brekker the Bastard Of The Barrel™️ hinks on?

Someone asked if i choose the character with the limb on purpose 💀💀 (worst part is: yes. Yes i fucking did😭😭💀)

Ok this one was kind of cute. I dont think they knew the character but they noticed i was hinking and asked if i was okay🥹 my heart melted

Its really weird how people are super supportive about kaz and tell me they really like that i represent disabled people by cosplaying him but at the same time just assume that my limb is fake??

Lmfao someone just said im a furry for hinking😭😭

I didnt think that ACTUALLY so many people would notice that im not hinking on my left.

I made this more as a joke tbh. I expected them to notice the limb but the side guys?? Seriously?? I was joking!!!

So turns out that i the only reason i permanently hurt my foot when i was eight, was so i‘d get attention (which i absolutely love! I love love love being the centre of attention for something that isn’t even represening me as a person! And the pitying? *cheffskiss*🤌🏼) and could say im representing kaz? Who I absolutely totally knew about when i was EIGHT? I mean ofc like duhhh. What did u think?

Ok so ive never had so many people even notice my limb on one day and now they’re all kinds of people noticing?? some are insulting my about it?? Why tf are you insulting for a limb? Like thats a genuine question: why?

Conclusion: even tho there were less people at that convention than living im my town, there were still 5 times more that ever noticed mine in years of having it there at one day

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psychoticwillgraham · 1 year ago

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long ass fucking emotional post about what it means to make it to my 28th bday under the read more

also making two bday playlists for myself: a funny one and an emotional one celebrating my journey so far. I know, 28 doesn’t seem like an important birthday, but for me? it’s everything. from something who planned to die on its 16th birthday to now, has been a hell of a journey. the vast majority of it has been heartbreaking, but through all the new trauma and old, I’ve become a much different person. i used to be a hermit basically, a high school dropout who wouldn’t talk to anyone irl and even barely online. then, the glee fandom (for all its evils) happened for me and I got to meet an Australian person irl, someone who flew all that way just to meet their weird little klaine mutual, at just 14.

then, I discovered cosplay and conventions, and in that process, the beginnings of my personal identity. I’d already been struggling with severe self harm and the realization that I was some kind of queer (initially a lesbian, then a trans man within the span of less than a year), and cons gave me a place that I could dress however I wanted, act how I wanted, even get lost in acting as the character im cosplaying. I didn’t have to be a girl, I could be a boy (which I did, and used the excuse of cosplay to get my mom to buy me my first binder, but after that she caught on), I could be everything, I could even be nothing. That was my outlet creatively which would eventually lead to my drag career once I turned 21, which was an impossible dream for 16 year old me since I thought I’d never make it to that age.

unfortunately, I met my major and longest abuser (for at least 9 years who continues to be in my life bc I can’t let go) at a con around this age (16). that would set off a 9 year period of sexual abuse, grooming, and rape, that I still struggle to recover from bc it was all I knew until I was 25/26. I’d never had a relationship with a man that wasn’t abusive in some way, and still haven’t. that’s a whole other post for another time when I can handle it better.

but over that period of time, I consumed all drag related media that I could and eventually responded to an open casting call for local drag performers, pretty much anyone who’d ever wanted to do it. most of them had already been part of established local ish drag families, except for me. I literally started from jack fucking shit and I was almost too scared to perform every time I did. I’d been in theatre, but I was always in the chorus and could never get the courage to actually be on stage in any kind of speaking role. but then fast forward to age 21, where I worked the grind for 5 years up the local drag hierarchy, even though I’m still being discounted on account of me being afab and a king, im more of the ‘underdog’ in ppl’s eyes. ppl love me and want more of me, but the current ones on charge just don’t. im still gonna work the grind until I get where I want to be.

but through drag, I found myself. i became an entirely different person. im miles more social than I’ve ever been, im light years more confident, and learning to assert myself. it was like a rebirth for me and I will defend this art form till my death.

i beat alcoholism, the thing that nearly killed me several times, most notably in 2019 when I was so far gone that they didn’t think even activated charcoal would work. thank god it did but if I’d had just one more glass of straight vodka or two more acetaminophen I’d be dead. and if I hadn’t told mom about what I did when I did, I would’ve also been dead. even five minutes later and I would’ve been dead. y’all I was legit about to be coded when they gave me the charcoal, and I did have a near death experience (i hovered above my body and saw the harsh hospital lights above me and they were extra bright, but I wasn’t being forced to go, I didn’t hear God or anything at all, i just hovered there for about 30 seconds and went back to my body) which I’ve suppressed the memory of until now.

I’ve come such a long way from that, and from my horrible childhood, and yes I was thrown off guard from grandma’s death, and I consider everything before that my old life, and everything since a second rebirth, like I have an entirely different life. it’s still haunting me every single day and it does whenever I go past her closed off room, and I still feel her very presence in this house and with me everywhere I go.

things have been immensely difficult, but I’ve survived, and yes I’ve come out a completely different person, and I’ve changed. but we all change through life and I was changed by my grandmother’s love for me and her presence from the very day I was born, and changed by her death. it’s been a change for the better, and she can rest easy knowing that I’ll never forget her or how fiercely she fought for me through my addiction when everyone including my psych team gave up on me and were about to just let me drink myself to death, but not her.

she let me lay on her floor every night and rant and talk about literally anything and everything, would share her saltine crackers and tootsie rolls with me so I’d have at least something to eat even if it was nothing substantial. she insisted that if I drank, I had to drink in her room so she could watch my every move since she was terrified of me dying alone in my room. if I passed out there (which I did most nights in the later stages of my addiction), she would do all she could to make me a bed out of blankets on the floor, even when she couldn’t walk anymore, so that I wouldn’t be sleeping on the hard, nasty carpet.

she gave me a place to just be, and I still think she’s the only reason I’m still alive.

because of grandma’s love, I’m still standing here today, a completely changed person, but at least I’m still alive.

i planned to die at 16, then 18, then 21, then 25, and then at 28. but I’m still here, against all odds, and I’m so grateful that I am.

here’s to the rest of my life, a very long life.

#god this was fucking long #i just started rambling sorry

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hkblack · 1 year ago

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All right, kiddos, buckle up cause it’s time for some labor organization education.

Again, I want to reiterate. I am a member of a SAG-AFTRA sister union. What’s that mean? That means that as a member of Actor’s Equity (known as Equity in other parts of the globe), I can work on a SAG-AFTRA contract and get the full coverage of that union while on that contract without paying dues to SAG. Likewise, my peers in SAG-AFTRA can work on Equity contracts without paying dues to Equity. This is a unique thing to the entertainment industry. You don’t have two separate unions for baristas who work at the Starbucks in a Mall vs Starbucks in their own store. But you DO have two separate unions for actors, that’s because the contracts, time demands, etc, are incredibly different between screen and stage. The point is, however, as sister unions, it’s incredibly important for members of both to understand what the other is saying, to keep in line and in step. My union may not be on strike, however, as a sister, my union cannot support me taking on SAG work right now otherwise I’m a scab.

So, when I say something isn’t scabbing, I’m not saying this because I want us all to cosplay and have fun. I’m saying it because it’s. not. scabbing.

Okay. That out of the way. Let’s break this down.

SAG-AFTRA’s FAQ for Influencers is where the confusion seems to be coming from. Let’s define the word “influencer” yeah? An influencer is someone who uses social media to market and promote for brands. This is these people’s jobs. They are not just someone with a big twitter following, but someone who literally makes a living by asking companies to pay them to promote their goods and services. Influencers MAY be Content Creators. But Content Creators are NOT always Influencers. Influencers, specifically the Influencers SAG-AFTRA is talking to, are generally folks who are self-employed and have created an LLC or other corporation entity to perform their work under.

SAG-AFTRA recognizes these folks as actors in their own rights, and knows those folks need health insurance. So, they created the SAG-AFTRA Influencer Agreement. They make it pretty clear who this is for:

“If you are an individual who works directly with brands who hire you to create, perform in, produce and distribute content through your own social media feeds, this contract is for you. SAG-AFTRA members can use this agreement, and so can influencers who aren’t members yet.”

(emphasis mine)

And part of their requirements include:

“You have a corporate or business entity, such as a corporation or LLC.”

If you are not hired or contracted as part of your corporate or business entity to create content for brands, you are not an influencer. You may have a huge following. You may be an amazing content creator. You may be really cool! But you are not an influencer.

SAG-AFTRA has told these Influencers that they should not accept any new work, however, they have said that “if an influencer is already under contract to promote struck work, then the influencer should fulfill their work obligation.”

(emphasis again, mine)

Influencers previously contracted are not scabbing. Additionally, influencers who do not have deals to promote shows or companies for struck work are able to participate in conventions etc, so long as their participation is wholly independent of characters from struck work, or sponsorship by struck companies.

So, if I’m Influencer with a deal with Netflix, I’m probably not going to go to a convention as a character from Nimona, even if I haven’t been asked to do anything for Nimona recently. However, if my buddy needs an Aziraphale to their Crowley for a day, and we’re doing it for fun, and I don’t have any deals with Amazon, and Amazon hasn’t reached out to me about doing deals. I can probably get away with going to the convention as Crowley, so long as I don’t then jump on my influencer social media accounts and go “haha! Let’s all go watch Good Omens!” But if a fan of mine sees me and takes a pic, I'm not in trouble and I'm not a scab. I can even say on my own accounts "Having a great time at comic-con!" and share a picture of something that isn't me, and I am STILL not a scab.

If I’m not an influencer (and I suspect most of you who are confused by what SAG-AFTRA means right now are not, in fact, influencers), but just a Big Name Fan, or a Content Creator with a large following, or just HKBlack, overwhelmed by you-know-who reblogging a flowchart (hi Neil), I can do whatever the heckadoodle I want and it is not scabbing.

You have to think of a picket line as a physical thing. You can literally cross a picket line and walk onto a set and work. And for many people who work in positions that are not covered by unions (interns, administration like HR, finance, IT, etc) do, but they are not scabs because they are not performing work or services that is covered by the strike. The strike is for WRITERS and ACTORS. Yes, that includes a bit of promotion, but that’s because promotion is literally in the contracts for writers and actors these days. It’s part of their job description. But promotion is also the Marketing department’s job, and it’s their entire job, but the Marketing department is not covered by SAG-AFTRA. They have to keep working in order to get paid, and they are not eligible for union benefits if they don’t do their work. So, they are still promoting and they are not scabs. Other union members (IATSE) who need to get paid who are not currently on strike are ALSO not scabs if they have to cross the picket line. In fact, that’s why unions publish when the picket lines are going to start, so that if you are an electrician who needs that paycheck, you can get on set before the picket begins, and then when the picket shuts down work for the day the studio still has to pay you. You are not a scab. If you’re an electrician who can afford to go without a day of pay, you can wait to show up until after the picket begins and then are able to say “I’m sorry, but as a member of X union, I don’t feel comfortable crossing a picket line.” HOWEVER, as an electrician whose union is not striking, you risk losing your job on that set, and having to deal with it. Solidarity between unions doesn’t just mean we sometimes strike together. It also means understanding each other when the other union isn’t striking, and someone has a baby to feed.

In a digital world, there is still an element of physical that has to happen to become a scab. There has to be a physical exchange. A physical exchange of money. If you are not paid to write or act or to promote as an influencer (which is its own writing and acting), then you are unable to cross that picket line.

If there is not a physical crossing of the line to do work that is being struck, or an exchange of money, you are not scab. Period. End of statement. Anyone who says otherwise does not understand labor movements. And may be parroting Studio Propaganda.

What’s that? Studio Propaganda?

Yes. Studio Propaganda. We cannot just talk about what we can and can’t do in the vacuum of not understanding why the strike is happening.

Studios are saying that Streaming is Volatile and Unknown. It’s “too new” for them to pay fair wages.

Unions are calling bullshit.

If viewership goes down, if subscriptions get cancelled, you are actively proving the Studio’s point.

If viewership/subscriptions remain the same, or, even better, go up, you are actively calling bullshit with the Unions.

Union members cannot currently promote their stuff. This means there is a very real risk of viewership going down. Mr. Gaiman recently shouted praise for the lovely human behind the Good Omens marketing. Do you think a man with membership in both striking unions would be praising the person responsible for promotion if the unions didn’t want things being promoted?

Every ticket bought for Barbieheimer, every full watch in the first 28 days of Good Omens and What We Do in the Shadows, directly translates to money in Cast, Crew, and Writer pockets. Immediately. Because the Studios still have to pay during Strikes for contracts that have been executed. Additionally, every viewer number counts in favor towards the union. If there’s enough viewership and demand for a show, that weakens the studios position as they have to meet the unions in order to get the people who created that show back. Less viewership = less demand = Studios retaining their positions of power that streaming is just an unknown. Will people stream? Will they? (yes. We…all literally are.)

Studios want you to not remind folks that Good Omens Season 2 premieres on July 28th. Because they don’t want you to watch Good Omens because they don’t want to pay Neil and Michael and David more money for (Hypothetical) Season 3. Studios don’t want you to tell your friends to see Barbie on July 21st, because they don’t want to pay the cast and writers once the movie goes off the screen and into the streaming void. Studios want you to think being a fan and talking for free hurts them, not the actors and writers, because the very opposite is true. The more we create demand for the things we love, the more we put the people who created those things—the actors and writers, NOT the execs—in a position of power at the negotiation table.

So, stop drinking the studio propaganda. Get out there, cosplay, get hype, and be a fan. Because right now we are the most powerful tool the unions have to put those studios in their place.

Hi folks. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what we as fans can and can't do with the striking happening. So I made a flowchart.

Let me make this SUPER DUPER EXTRA CLEAR. Unless an AMPTP studio reaches out and says "We would like to give you X (money/swag/whatever) to create content for us" (that would include writing or acting in anyway on your part) you will NOT be crossing a picket line.

Cosplay, fanart, fanfic, going feral, sharing marketing posts, watching your favorite show, getting your friends to watch your favorite show, etc does not count.

It is ONLY scabbing if you are getting REIMBURSED by the STUDIO.

Please take this flowchart, repost it, spread it everywhere!

The studios benefit from us being confused. The studios benefit from us not promoting and not watching and cancelling our subscriptions. The unions, the actors, the writers, they all benefit from us promoting in their absence, they get paid when we watch the shows, we bolster their argument when we boost the shows numbers. If we make the media popular and successful the studios have to meet the writers and actors at the table, and the writers and actors will be in the position of power.

#wga strong #sag strike #wga solidarity #fandom #good omens #sandman #what we do in the shadows #barbie 2023 #barbieheimer #oppenheimer #oppenbarbie

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modern-oedipus · 2 years ago

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Personal update! I haven’t posted in forever on any of my online profiles so here is a bit of update on what’s going on. 💓

Life is life, typically, there are things that challenge me on a daily basis, just like there are things that excite me on a daily basis. I have graduated, so congrats to me and everybody who finished this journey! 🎉

I have yet to decide my Future Plans, it is so annoying to have everybody asking you this question when the answer is simply I don’t know yet. I guess this is what you get for being a gifted child who now graduated from one of the most difficult/complex majors to get into. Jokes on me, I decided I don’t even want anything to do with this major anymore! I noticed, through great misery, that I was only pushed to this major by the adults back then, for being Smart and Capable. Don’t get me wrong, I still love science and analytic thinking and I can completely relate to the evil scientists and/or Jakurai Jinguji, but I can’t imagine the rest of my life in a lab setting anymore. It turns out that I was Ramuda Amemura all along. It is a big pill to swallow. I don’t know what to do with this information, yet.

On a wonderful note, I have been pulled into the wonderful world of cosplaying by a mutual friend of me and my partner— and ever since I went to conventions not only by wearing the costumes but also role-playing as the character I dressed up, it has been so fun that I keep adding more cosplans and buying convention tickets! Of course, Ramuda is included in my cosplans and oh god, I have my Jakurai and my whole Fling Posse, which is f a n t a s t i c! I can’t wait to exhaust the hell out of my Jakurai (with full complete set of costumes & accessories we crafted, even their mics!) by so many couple poses 💓 JakuRamu is and will be canon in my universe by each and every aspect of them.

On a mental health update, according to my therapist, I am going on a healthy path. I only see her once a month now, while it is challenging and sometimes I wish I could afford weekly vents, she said that it is normal and healthy that the sessions gets less frequent after the intense 3-4 months of therapy is completed and that I can give myself permission to rely on my own decisions and have some mental space instead over asking my therapist about whether I’m doing things right. I guess, “Making The Wrong Decision” was my major life trauma that led to a bunch of very unpleasant things, so no wonder why I am so freaked out about the Future Plans. Except, me being freaked out can no longer avoid them.

I also drive a lot recently, hence the inactivity— can’t afford to check my phone in traffic can I? Since I’m not used to driving long hours, it makes me feel oddly tired at nights. I don’t collapse, instead I just binge watch Bleach to get ready for the upcoming arc and remember how I used to watch it when I was almost at the age of a toddler 😂

On a fanfiction update, I still want to update my fics, especially Home— add some JakuRamu one shots, conclude Rabbit Hole, and and— recently Mari and I had been talking about this and I really don’t want to leave Conflict unfinished, either. Even if I am no longer hyperfixating on TPN, Conflict has its most special place in my heart, its birthday is my secondary birthday at this point— even this year we threw a party for July 1st! So, yes, I want to update them too. I just don’t know how to make the time table for all of these— cosplans, socializing, driving, keeping up with friends and family, doing career druff, taking care of my dog and house and chores and reading real paper books and writing fanfiction and all— But on the other hand, I am really sick of the answer “I don’t know” that I keep repeating.

I mean…

If you don’t know, Grace,

How about you just… find out?

It can’t be that difficult to find out what to do. Even if you don’t like your major, you are officially a scientist now, the fact that you have become the dream job of your childhood cannot be taken away from you even if you pretend to be stupid to avoid certain responsibilities (winks at Ramuda, I know my love), so maybe just… find out. Maybe stop whining on the background like the female love interests of protagonists that everyone hates and actually get the wheel of your life..?? My lady? Please?

Oh oh oh! Also going on a vacation soon, a well deserved one finally! Forgot to update on that. Anyways! Long story short, since I’ve not been active and my inbox has a lot of pending messages, I just wanted to give a general update here. I can’t afford to invest so much time on social media nowadays— but since I do want to stay up to date with the messages and my fics, I will try to put in more consistent efforts for my updates. I can’t promise that I’ll definitely do it but I can promise that I’ll try. ❤️ Hope y’all are having a great summer too! じゃね！

#update #nila stuff

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