Seize the Stars

So I bought the fabric for Clara's governess dress, & now I officially have waaay too many Doctor Who cosplays in the works! But if it turns out, it'll look really cool. I wish I knew some other Whovians in real life so I could rope someone into cosplaying the Doctor with me, but oh well! Hopefully I'll run into one at the convention. If I can afford to even go, that is. It's going to be at a new hotel this year & I may be too expensive now. *cries* But at least I can still wear Clara's Victorian dresses to non-Doctor Who events, because they're just regular Victorian outfits.

I missed the Steampunk convention this year though, drat! Hopefully they'll have it again next year, I really like the dress I came up with.

Been listening to missing Classic Who eps. I actually think Vicki had a really good exit in 'The Myth Makers', and I totally ship Vicki & Troilus now. I'm not really a proponent of 'let's marry off this companion to this character they just met' stories, but even on audio, Vicki & Troilus have real chemistry & you do believe they'd fall in love that quickly & want to stay together. I have to say that their reunion scene at the very end is one of the more beautiful, romantic scenes Doctor Who has ever done. (I may even have started writing some fic for them for dw_guestfest...heehee!)

'The Daleks Master Plan' was really good too, & I'm so sad they killed off Sara Kingdom! Arg! She was such an interesting character, and really should have been a long-term companion. I guess there's her Companion Chronicles now...

'The Massacre' I really disliked though. It was an engaging story, but pretty dark stuff, and it ultimately felt like a pointless waste to have Steven go through a rather horrible experience & fight with the Doctor over it, only to have that waved away & dismissed when Dodo suddenly shows up at the end, in a scene that's very goofy & totally at odds with the very somber tone of the rest of the serial. ( Extended musings on 'The Massacre' and late Hartnell era Who in general under the cut. )

I think I'm going to have to have a mid-winter houseclean, because I need a more organized workspace for sewing. I've already got most of my cosplays planned out for next year's Doctor Who convention, and I'd like to get them done early so that I don't end up finishing last minute sewing in my hotel room all night during the con again!

Also I'm going to Costume Con next year, so that means all the historical dresses I ever wanted to make will have an indoor event to be showcased at, and thus, I need to get started on that too! I've been hoarding silks for Victorian bustle dresses for too long, they shall get done this year at last!

I should also get back into my Classic Who watching, since I still have 5 prompts to fill at dw_allsorts and I would ideally like to finish them before I start the second draft of my play, and I need something to inspire me. But now that Downton Abbey is back, and I'm in the midst of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, my TV viewing attention has been a little diverted. I'm listening to some of the missing Hartnell eps though, just watched the recon of 'Galaxy 4' which was a little slow, but still worthwhile.

Been trying to watch Pertwee's era in order too, and am currently in the middle of 'Colony in Space'. It's rather amusing to pick out actors who have been in other Doctor Who stories and play the 'where do I know them from?' game. Correctly picked out John Ringham and Bernard Kay this time! Third Who story for both of them, and now I think I'm getting to be one of those fans who knows every actor in every episode. Eek!

And I think I'm getting into Steampunk. There's a convention not too far out of town in March, and I started planning a dress for it the other day. I've already got all the Victorian stuff, so why not? We'll see what happens!

Over Thanksgiving weekend I attended the Chicago TARDIS Doctor Who convention. I think I'm still recovering! I went the whole weekend, cosplayed the whole weekend, and met lots of fabulous people, and saw lots of amazing costumes. Also spent a ton of money, since so many of my favorite actors were there, and hey, you gotta have the photos and the autographs! I literally danced around my house shrieking for joy when I heard that Deborah Watling, Wendy Padbury AND Frazer Hines (aka Victoria, Zoe, & Jamie) would ALL be there. And I told them this at the photo session; Frazer asked me 'can you show us the dance?' and I said yes! When I did it, they all laughed, and a guy in the room gave me a ribbon 'for squeeing'! (I got lots of ribbons this year! Mwahaha! I only got one last year, and I was afraid I wouldn't get any after I forgot to order some of my own to give out this year, but people were pretty generous with them, maybe they felt sorry for me having to try to maneuver those hallways in a giant hoopskirt! Someone even gave me one that was the same as I was going to do! In the original Coal Hill School colors and everything!!! )

( Meeting the actors at the Thurday reception )

( The schedule was jam-packed, as usual, and I have gripes about some things, but squee about others )

( The Chronological Cavalcade )

( Met Billie Piper, but was too tongue-tied to say much! )

( More encounters with the Troughton Trio, and how they are both cute, fierce, and like an adorable family. Aww. )

( Cosplay, the Masquerade, and I buy lots of Whovian swag )

( The Fudge of Rassilon, TARDISES everywhere, and Victoria Waterfield eats a hamburger )

I pretty much collapsed the minute I got home, and I'm still exhausted and afraid to go through all the stuff I brought home! There were so many things to do that I didn't get a chance to do them all, but really, on the whole, I feel pretty darn lucky to have had the opportunity to hang out with so many cool people over an amazing, crazy weekend, and share the love for our amazing, crazy show. I love that there's a place I can chase someone down the hall with a camera shouting "Leela! Leela!" and have them turn around and know I'm not crazy, I just love their costume! I'll cherish the memory of meeting Deborah Watling, especially, forever. I worked so hard for a year to get all those costumes done, but when other people recognize them, and give you a smile or an 'omigod!' that makes all the hard work worth it entirely. Was it exhausting? Yes. Would I do it again? You bet. I'm already plotting for next year. In the best spirit of the Eleventh Doctor: Geronimo! :D

Second to last episode of Poirot was on tonight. I have to say, I'm really disappointed. In 25 years, I've never seen an episode where the killer was so blatantly obvious, and actually given away in the middle. The way the actress was playing it was certainly the biggest problem, but there was a line in the script that confirmed it had to be her. I'm really aghast, as I've been watching Poirot my whole life, and I've never figured out the killer before Poirot announced it, the surprise reveal is the fun part. I've never read the novel it's based on, so I can only guess how much of this is from the novel, and how much was bad adaptation, but nothing in it felt like Agatha Christie. (The whole thing with the Countess was especially confusing. I'm positive she was supposed to be the same character played by Kika Markham all those years ago, but suddenly they recast her much younger, and she somehow has an American daughter who hates Poirot? Like, what? Someday I'll have to read this book and find out what was actually going on with all this!) And now I only have one more new episode, and it's the one where he dies. This is absolutely going to destroy me. *sobs in the corner*

My Doctor Who cosplay plans are mostly on track, I finished my Abominable Snowmen Victoria, yay! Working on Invasion Zoe now, but may have to scrap my Barbara outfits, because I can't get the wig I need for it anymore, and I can't get my own hair to do a bouffant (and wouldn't want to even if I could!) The wig I ordered for it apparently only comes in red now, and they don't make the brown version anymore. (Which would have been nice to know BEFORE I ordered it! Don't just say it's in stock and send me the wrong one! ARG!!!) And only two weeks to go before the con! Eek! Somehow I'll make this work as long as I just keep sewing!

Since life is dull, and full of tedious things I don't want to do at the moment, time to distract myself with fannish rambling!

Television hasn't provided much distraction as of late, since The Paradise continues to be a clichéd soap opera. The costumes have gotten somewhat better since last season, but I still find the romance between Denise and Moray rather gross and creepy. Aside from the fact that he's too old for her, the whole employer/employee thing is icky. I cringe every time he calls her 'my little champion'. Eeeew. I can't think of a creepier nickname to have for your employee OR for your girlfriend, and she's BOTH. Like what even??? But I heard it got cancelled already, so we won't have to sit through any more after this season. Hopefully a better period drama will take it's place on the Masterpiece schedule. (Of course, they already had better in Lark Rise to Candleford and Garrow's Law but I guess those shows were too intelligent. Sigh.)

Apparently, PBS isn't showing any more of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries even though it's already had another season in Australia. Boo. I'm just going to have to track down the DVDs then, because Miss Fisher is awesome, and I love that show so much!

Doctor Who was actually pretty good this week, and I would say 'Flatline' is one of the best this season, but on the whole it's been a wash out for me. ( Some criticism of the direction the show has taken this season )

Sewing is coming along rather slowly. I'd hoped to have at least half of my planned cosplays for TARDIS done already, but alas, only my off-the-rack outfits are finished. Lots of re-working to do before I get the patterns right for the outfits I'm making. But I'm trying to stay focused; Victoria's outfit from 'The Abominable Snowmen' only needs the knickerbockers and it'll be done! So close!

Haven't had a lot of time for my Classic Who watch lately. But I'm still saving 'Keys of Marinus'; I'm going to watch it for my birthday next week. It'll be the best gift after a horrible couple of months. My fave team TARDIS!

Wow, I'm actually updating! It's a miracle. Been so busy though! Finished the first draft of the play I was writing a few weeks ago, so OMG YAY! But I'm cosplaying at a con this weekend, so as soon as I finished writing, I had to jump right into sewing for the con. I finally finished Jane's yellow bustle dress from Disney's Tarzan, so that will be making it's debut this weekend! SO excited! Also threw together a basic Snow White costume using the Simplicity pattern, so I'll wear that tomorrow, and the Dalek dress I bought at Hot Topic will be for Sunday. The only thing I'm kind of upset about is that the Masquerade is at the exact same time that the season premiere of Doctor Who is airing. I'm not going to compete in the Masquerade, so it's not like I couldn't skip it and go watch, (and it would probably be more entertaining than most Masquerades), but it's also true that the Who premiere will be repeated later that night, so I could watch it then, and it's murphy's law that the one time you skip the Masquerade is the one time it'll be awesome. Ugh, geek problems!

I am so, so not ready for the new season of Who. I wish it was another week or month yet! ( Cut for Whovian angst and fannish worries )

But enough worrying for today; I'm not going to even THINK about Who until I see the new eps. Except for the actual Doctor Who cookie-cutters I just got today, I might have to give some thought to the best way to make K9 and a Dalek look pretty and taste delicious. (I could have a time-travelling tea party, omigosh! I must make it happen now.)

Ugh, life. As if trying to write isn't hard enough in itself, I just found out someone had gotten hold of my credit card number and was making hundreds of dollars worth of charges. Luckily it was only for a week, but um... oh my god. Now I have to wait for a new card and my card company said the fraudulent charges will be removed immediately, but is it ever that easy? And who knows what else someone might be doing with the rest of my personal info, which they clearly must have if they were using my account online. 9_9

So that's more for me to worry about, as if I didn't already want to beat my head against a brick wall over finishing this play. I'm reasonably close to being done, and I know exactly what needs to happen, it's just that the minute I sit down to do it, my brain rebels and starts going:'Omigod words! Words are too hard! Me no can think thoughts today!' (Half the play is set in the 18th century, so actual historical knowledge is required, which makes it worse.) I think maybe half the problem might also be just me being scared of this being 'it', like actually doing something I've wanted to do my whole life and will it be good enough, will it mean I'm a grown-up, will I feel different, or will it change nothing and I'll be the exact same person and what was it all for? I don't know what's weirder/scarier, but damn, I'd like to at least find out!

And I have to deny myself Classic Who until I finish, which is killing me, because I need Classic Who with a fiery passion that burns brighter than a million suns. But that's why I have to keep away, because Doctor Who hijacks your brain to the point where you can't think of anything else, and I need to use my brain and think of things when I write!

So I just keep telling myself I'm almost there. And the thought of finally having an actual work of fiction in my hands, instead of wistful thoughts of 'if only', is so incredible & exciting. ♥ (Almost as exciting as the fact that I'm going to let myself watch 'The Keys of Marinus' for the first time when I'm done! Seriously, I'm warning everyone, Classic Who will own your soul if you get into it. I've had this play in the back of my mind for more than a decade, and I'm finally realizing my dream and getting it out on a page, and I've put more of my heart into it than I thought I would, and it's the most amazing feeling. But 40% of the time when I sit down to write it, I can't, because my mind is too full of the latest Doctor Who crap I've watched or read. No one warns you when you start Classic Who, no one! The DVDs should come with a warning label: ALL YOUR MOST CHERISHED DREAMS WILL SEEM DIM AND INSIGNIFICANT IN THE FACE OF YOUR ALMIGHTY ADDICTION TO WHO. YOU ARE THE DOCTOR'S BITCH FROM NOW ON. DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200 (OR YOUR LIFE) EVER AGAIN. SURRENDER AND LOVE IT.)

So there I am. Stressed, but trying. I really should get some sleep now, but tomorrow, onward and upward! (I hope!) ;D

Well, I went to Chicago Tardis this past weekend, and it was AMAZING. I figured the 50th anniversary would be the year to go, and boy was I right! Getting photos and autographs from 3 Doctors and 5 companions all in one trip is not too shabby! Plus, this year being the biggest ever meant tons of awesome cosplay! I have two memory cards filled with unbelievable photos, which hopefully I will sift through and post here sometime soon, but I'm still so exhausted I haven't even unpacked everything yet!

Anyhoo, I cosplayed for the first time! Thanks to getting really sick two weeks before the Con, the Barmaid Clara dress was the only big dress I got finished, but I wore it on Saturday night, and posed for pictures with two other barmaid Claras, which is so cool. And I wore my black & white Susan Foreman outfit on Friday night, which I have to say I was almost more excited about, because the Hartnell era is a much smaller segment of the fandom, but I got recognized several times, and everybody who knew who I was was SO appreciative it just made my heart swell. (I started watching Classic Who for the first time earlier this year, and I'm officially an Old School Whovian now. It's shocking how much worse the obsession becomes when you get into the old stuff.)

During the day I wore my Tardis dress with Tardis stockings, or Tardis tank top, all picked up at Hot Topic during sales, and I felt quite fabulously geektastic. And I think it's the one time where running into other girls wearing the same clothes as you is actually an awesome occurance!

I must note that I am officially broke now, for the record. Between all the merchandise I picked up in the dealer's room (including finally plunging into Big Finish audios; they were having sales and I went for it!) and the autographs and photos, I literally spent every penny I brought with me. But it was totally worth it, not just for the items themselves, but for the one-on-one time with the actors themselves. I am totally amazed at how gracious and nice all the actors were to everyone. It felt like we spent forever waiting in lines, but then you realize it's because they take the time to actually talk to everyone they sign an autograph for. Unfortunately my mom cried in front of Sarah Sutton and Louise Jameson, which totally set me crying too, and now I feel awful that they looked so worried for us! And I was totally cool as a cucumber the whole rest of the time! Well, actually I totally fangirled Frazer Hines when I ran into him in the dealer's room; I was proper giggling idiot then, but he put up with me very patiently! And either he forgave me, or didn't recognize me the next day when I went to get an autograph, because when I calmly chatted about how excited I was to see 'Enemy of the World' and 'Web of Fear' for the first time, and somehow the conversation turned to how people would tell him how they used to have a crush on him, and I said that I would always have a crush on him no matter how old he got, then he leaned across the table and gave me a big hug AND a kiss on the forehead! I was SO not expecting that, and I was just floating around with a stupid grin, squeeing like the ditsiest fangirl all the way home. I got kissed by Jamie, people!!!!

I also got the famous Paul McGann Soulful Gaze in person!!! I mentioned how I loved him in 'Our Mutual Friend' and he was like "my favorite thing I've ever done! Eugene Wrayburn, so many layers to that character, you know?" And he was giving me that look that he does, that 'I can peer into your soul and you will understand' look that makes me melt when I see it on screen, and I was just nodding and smiling and agreeing, because yeah, Paul McGann, I do know exactly what you're talking about! (Seriously, I thought that was just an actor thing he does for the camera, but apparently it's something indigenous to his actual person. No wonder he works so steadily, no female casting director could be immune to The Soulful Gaze! But I think he must not be aware that he's doing it, because that would make him a very wicked man indeed to be throwing that at fangirls knowingly. Oh boy, it's heady stuff!)

So in addition to the aforementioned encounters with two of my biggest Doctor Who crushes, I also got a personal recommendation from Nicola Bryant of 'Peri and the Piscon Paradox', shared an elevator with Michael Jayston, and rescued Colin Baker from missing his flight after my mother started chatting to him as we were both checking out of the hotel. I met Daleks, Cybermen, Doctors, amazingly creative cosplayers and knitters and crafters, and shared moments of squee with complete strangers who nonetheless felt like friends because we all spoke the same language of loving Doctor Who. I've never been to a convention where you could leave a sweater or a camera on a chair and expect it to be there when you got back, but we did here. Everyone we met was so nice. And I think that's the real magic of Doctor Who. Beyond fantastic adventures in time and space, there's an underlying philosophy of openness and caring and doing the right thing that makes the show special, and the people who love it embrace that totally. And just like that, life imitates art, and the Doctor really does make the world a better place. :)

(At least at one Chicago hotel for one weekend out of the year. Hurry up, 2014, I can't wait for next year! Where's the Tardis when you need it? ;-D)

Well, having heard about Matt Smith leaving at the end of the season, I am, of course, horribly sad, if not too surprised. (And the Christmas special will be his last, no less! Seriously, do they have to ruin Christmas for all us poor little fans?) I really, really love Eleven. I think he may, in fact, be the one I always remember as my Doctor. Eccleston was great, and got me into the show, but he left so soon, and then Tennant I hated so much I almost gave up the show at a few points, but then Matt came along, and it was magic. SO. MUCH. FUN. He was the first one that I loved that we really got to know. I was so afraid when I heard they were casting a 26 year old, but the minute he popped out of that blue box in Amy's back yard, that was it. Love. This guy IS the Doctor. Matt has this wonderful quality of being ageless that's just perfect for Doctor Who; he can run around and be like a goofy, gleeful kid in the candy store of the universe, and then next minute, in a quiet scene, you can see an old man, with lifetimes of sorrow and regret looking out from his eyes, and it breaks your heart. It's so amazing, I just can't even describe how much love I have for this Doctor. I WILL MISS MATT SMITH!!! BEST DOCTOR EVER. SO THERE.

Quite honestly, I would be totally cool with this if it meant that Steven Moffatt would be leaving as well, but somehow I fear not. Moffatt's such a fangeek, he'll never give it up. I really wish he'd leave though, since the episodes he writes have been getting progressively less amazing over the years, and because his annoying Mary Sue seems to be popping up more and more often and ruining otherwise decent episodes. Seriously, how long do we have to put up with River Song? They've got to get a new head writer in there to WRITE HER OUT. If I wanted to spend lots of quality time with an annoying Mary Sue, I could just go read, oh say, maybe, every bad fanfic written by 13 year olds that the internet can contain, couldn't I? We don't need that nonsense on the actual show. I think it's time to get someone new in there, particularly since a change-of-Doctor is a great time to wipe the slate clean and retire some of the Doctor's old friends. But as far as I can see, Moffatt will stay forever, and Mary Sue Song will live to plague this next Doctor. *cries* At least Clara's staying though. Yay for that, at least.

( Because predictions are useless, I present instead: A wish list of actors who would make a good next Doctor )

Okay, enough fangirling! I'm still tired from being out all day yesterday with my Civil War reenacting group (yes, corsets and head-to-toe dresses are hot in summer!), so it's off to get some rest I go.

Made it through another Christmas. Whew! The shopping almost killed me, but I did manage to pick up a few things for myself along the way. (Surprisingly good deals on Monster High dolls were to be had! Woohoo!)

Ate far too much pie in the last few days, but there were banana cream pies AND coconut cream pies, so I had to try at least a little bit of each! I've really gotta stop soon, but then after the pies are gone, there's all the Godiva truffles I have to eat! And yes, I DO have to eat them. They're the tiramisu kind, you can't let THAT go to waste! But omigod holiday treats need to stop soon, because I need to fit back into my corset for reenacting this spring!!

Watched the Doctor Who Christmas special, of course, and am happy to say I adored it. It was very funny, which I loved, since I prefer it when DW is more fun and doesn't try to be deep, serious drama. Dramatic moments here and there are fine, but if you're being attacked by evil Snowmen, you have to keep the tone light, and thankfully they did. ( Thoughts on, and cheers for, the Doctor Who Christmas Special! )