Springtime in the South

-sigh-
It's officially springtime in Alabama.
The weather is HORRIBLE right now, I'm surprised my internet works.
Tornado warnings everywhere, schools in lock down.
My family is home but we have the amatuer meterologist/storm chaser/photographer/Computer God aka Daddy here with us so it's all good. We have the bathroom set and ready to go with pillows, blankets, a lantern, plushies for the babies and of couse... a novel and my cell phone for me. The babies won't shut up but whatever. My dad showed me a few minutes ago the rotation in the clouds outside. Scary. I've seen it before, just not in real life right out side our house. It was really eerie. The sirens have gone off at least three times.

And the weirdest thing is that when the weather started up me and my sister were doing our own hair for my mom's wedding which brings me to another point. My mom has been telling us that her friend would do our hair nice for the wedding, as a treat. And also possibly as a trade off for having to wear a hideous champagne colored dress and ugly jewelry that I'm probably allergic too. But she informed us TODAY, the DAY of her wedding, that we would not be getting our hair done and that me and my sister basically had to fend for ourselves from the neck up. Meaning makeup, hair... and my mom is supposed to come and get us in a little more than an hour and my hair is only blow dried. I guess I'm wearing it plain and straight unless my sister can do something with it AFTER she gets hers done. Wwhy don't I do my own hair you ask?I can't. I'm utterly UN-girly.My hair, even for a wedding, would probably just get pulled back in a ponytail with some bits left down.

-sigh-
Not to mention my mom was basically planning on leaving us home alone after the reception so that she and her friends can go to a bar. Unh-uh, I don't think so. I asked my step-mom is she could come get us, me and my sister and brother, afterwards. I mean, we even looked at the custody papers and BY LAW me and my siblings are not allowed to be unsupervised in the prescene of those under the influence of alchohol. And even, due to the surgery she had a few years ago, though my mom probably won't get PLASTERED like my new step-dad probably will, she will probably come home buzzed which is in fact, drunk.

So yah. AND not only that BUT I found out the other day that my mom basically doesn't like my boyfriend because he's "over-protective" and "possesive", which isn't true. He loves me and he wants to protect me.

Crap, sirens are going off for the fifth time. I hope its an all clear. I think so because the tornado warning was only supposed to last until 3 pm.

Anyways, back to my mom vs boyfriend contreversy. The reason it makes me mad is because ONCE my boyfriend punched some things when two drunk old guys, friends of my new step-dad, started messing with me (pulling on the chopstick in my hair, patting my back, messing with my phone, calling me names like "honey" and "little girl") and him wanting to come get me when that happened automatically makes him possessive and overprotective and qaulifies him for having "anger problems". NOT ONLY THAT, but my mom acts so hypocritical. We go somewhere and its "Why don't you invite him?" or something like that. So she acts like she likes him but really doesn't and I hate that. I hate lying hypocrites.

So now, just in case my mom gets in a bad mood and he comes over and she starts tearing into him, I can't see him when I'm with my mom. I can't go out, or have him over when I stay with her on the weekends. Which sucks, because I'm only with my dad one or two weekends out of the month so that doesn't leave us a lot of oppurtunities to go out and see a movie or go manga shopping or just hang at my house and watch a movie and throw popcorn at each other. All because my mom lies and because she has so different morals than me. She would have NO problem leaving us alone in a room together. She doesn't care. I guess that's why she got pregnant with me when she was my age. 16.

Yeah.
Life is weird as a sixteen year old, homeschooled Christian otaku, 5 foot one girl trying to get a job at Winn-Dixie living smack in the middle of tornado alley.

Good news is, I'm going to prom! I got my dress it's SO pretty. It's a darkish blue, really long and flowy and sort of bunched at the waist with these awesome fanned out sleeves. My boyfriend nosebled when he saw me in it.

This is interesting.

My cosplay article got published. NICE.
What's not so nice?
The fact that I think my colored inu yasha pic wasn't posted because it looked too real.

*slaps artistic talent* LEAVE ME ALONE.
Well, I guess I have no choice but to try submitting it again. Also, if you will notice if it does get publish.... some of the coloring is patchy and pixely, especially around the beads... and the back of hair, on either side of the neck, isn't shaded right.
so nyeh. I did draw it. Heh heh.

Instant Cosplay Ideas!

So. You're standing around your room. You feel like cosplaying but don't have the time, money, patience or skill to make some huge elaborate costume. Or maybe you're going to a con last minute and everyone else is dressing up and you don't wanna feel left out. And you're a girl...

This is your life line, my friends.

There are a few things every good amateur female cosplayer, such as myself, should keep around. Some are easier to find than others, but it's all about improv!

Some good things to have that you should be able to find in a consignment shop, thrift store, or in the back of your mom or grandmother's closet is (1) a crinoline and (2) a pleated skirt with suspenders.

A crinoline is often mistaken for petticoats. A crinoline is basically a skirt made of layers and layers of stiff, lacey material that women wore under skirts to make them poofy back in the olden days. I inherited one of these amazing things from my step-great-grandmother for a play I was in. I was required to be a french-style maid and wanted to have as poofy a skirt as possible. Needless to say, I had the best and poofiest costume. A crinoline is priceless for any last minute amateur cosplay costume. It's worn under a loose, long (maybe tea length. If you can find one, buy a loose ankle length and pin up the hems) skirt. You can add an apron and a matching colored shirt, and a maid's hat made out of a paper doily folded in half and hot glued to a ribbon for a non-slutty maid costume in about 10 minutes. Add kitty ears or even a tail for an instant anime classic. Experiment with other things. It also might make a good poofy lolita skirt with some ribbons and bows added to the skirt.

A pleated skirt with suspenders is also great for instant school girl costumes. I got mine from my step-mom from in the 90's when she was younger. Paired with a classy white button down, long sleeved shirt, one of my daddy's ties (any style, or you can make and ascot with a colored scarf and a brooch*), and either a pair of flats, chunky loafer-style platforms, or loafers, it makes a great costume. Just pair it with the anime hairstyle of choice and voila! Of course, you can always add some animal ears for that weird furry touch.

Some other things that are great to have: animal ears, wings, and cheap wigs.
Most of that crap can be bought at a party shop. Animal ears show up around holidays. Bunny ears show up around Easter, so grab a few pair in different colors during those handy after-holiday sales. Kitty ears are abundant during Halloween. Party shops probably carry them all year round, so give those party shops a try. Because they also carry wigs year round as well. Wigs are great. During Halloween, they are abundant in all major retailers. Wal-Mart and Target, etc. They come in all sorts of weird styles and colors. Party shops usually carry better quality, quantity and have a better selection. Party shops are an amateur cosplayer's best friend. It's best to stock up on animal ears and wigs during those after-holiday sales if you are shopping at a Wal-Mart or Target. It's impossible to find costume pieces like that not during a holiday. But major-retailers are great for find bows, hairpieces and jewelry. Not to mention parts for last minutes weapons, staffs, and other accessories.

Wings are a little harder to come by. Try one of those nifty party shops. During Halloween, you're able to find angel wings, fairy wings, bat wings... all very good to have. So stock up!

Now, lets say it's not a holiday and you aren't able to get to a party shop. Or, you don't have any money! It always good to check your house, especially if you have younger siblings or children. People like to buy little kids' stuff like animal ears during holidays, and little girls always have costume pieces like tiaras, fairy wings and jewelry. Or, you could always raid your mom's closet!

So, my best advice to you is this: Check party shops, stock up during holidays like Halloween and Easter, and check with the old people.

Happy cosplaying!

* You can make an easy brooch to accompany your scarf to make it a school girl's ascot. All you need is a hot glue gun, a safety pin, and some sort of pretty stone or other small object. Just glue the object to the pin and attach it to the scarf. Or you could use one of those things... napkin holders. Not sure how well that would work though....

** Maid's Cap Instructions: Get a paper doily, the kind they put under cookies and such at fancy parties. Fold it in half and hot glue it to a ribbon that matches your outfit. Tie it under your hair and secure with pins and voila!

BAH. HATE.

Well. I was drawing Haruka from "Noein" and my comp froze and I lost it all because apparently Gimp has no auto-save feature. CURSE YOU, GIMP.

Anyways... I have ONE subscriber. Whoever that is, fess up. Tell me who you are.

Well, great then.

Bah. After a month of writers block after totally PWNING myself with a very complicated plot (and the fact I still didn't understand what the central conflict was in my own fanfiction) I have finally completed Chapter Nine of Eternal Fate. Finally. And it ends with a pretty good cliff hanger, too, and I think I know where to pic it up in Chapter Ten. The handwritten draft, which I used for chapters 1-7, hit TRIPLE DIGITS in page numbers. I'm not sure how many pages that is in typed (I don't have a print preview on my laptop because I haven't registered a printer and I don't have Word, just Wordpad), but it's a lot. Now, we've hit double digits on Chapter numbers. Wow. Just... wow. This is the best and longest fanfiction I've ever done. I hope I finish it. Bah! the KHU forums are DOWN for some reason, and thats where I get most of my traffic. That sucks. I guess I'll get it up on here and the official site, http://www.kh-eternalfate.bravehost.com/, and hope I get a little traffic from that.

In other news.... well... life is boring. I hate being 16. I need my liscense so I can get a job so I can get money to make my life less boring. BUT Oh! I got a call from the local community theatre. I had signed up for backstage stuff, which I prefer over acting, and they called me back after like... forever of waiting. They want me to do backdrops, props, art, sets.. stuff like that! Well... they want me to HELP with that stuff. I'm so nervous, but soooo happy. They'll just have to give me a lot of refs. I can't believe they took my word and didn't even look at my portfolio. Oh well. I usually do fairly well as long as I have a reference, and this is a children's musical so....

I guess that's about it.