In which the blogger is too tired to figure out a decent title

It is unbelievable how slowly time passes when you are tired. Make that exhausted. When one is exhausted, time seems to ooze by sluggishly, just like a very thick jam spilled over a countertop... that's right: it oozes (that is worse than crawling, if you ask me). I swear, I have been up since 8:27 a.m. It feels to me like I have been up for at least half an hour and should leave for school asap. But then I look at the clock. 8:35 a.m. I look again. 8:38 a.m. It is now 8:44 a.m. and, in the hopes of having time pass a little faster for my bogged down, foggy brain, I have decided to update you all on just how tired I feel.

I am certain that all of you feel tired as well. Lets face it: it is the end of the semester - crunch time for the best of us. We have papers and exams and life currently really (really!) sucks. I am fully aware of that right now. But today sucks more than usual for me. I have pulled my first full-on all-nighter since my first year at McGill. It still sucks. In first year, though, all I did was hand in my essay in class, leave class and go home to sleep. This year, I have spent the night writing, only to have to go to a 9:30 lecture, in order to retrieve one of my essays. Then, I have to think of a presentation for my current, crappy, result-of-an-all-nighter essay, because I have to present my bloody argument in 5 minutes, in front of the whole bloody class at 2:30 this afternoon. Class will not be over before 4:30. Yup - it sucks. All I want to do is sleep! Is that such a crime?

Certainly, I could have written my essay earlier, but I had essays for other subject due all week, and so I worked on them instead. When it came down to this essay (a paper for my Mass Culture in Post-War Japan class... my most hated class this semester), I actually started much earlier than usual. I started working on it at 6 last night (I did not get home from class until 5:30, so that is a very fair time to start) and got so confused, bogged down and scattered in my ideas that, until a long discussion with a good friend of mine, I was stuck with not even a thesis. It was 3 a.m. when I finally started writing something. Miraculously, I wrote 12 pages in 3 hours. I do not know how I did it. But I certainly am a speed writer. Is the essay good? Hell no! Will I proofread it? Rather not - I am afraid I will fall into depression if I see just how bad it is. Right now, my mind is blissfully unaware of how terrible the essay is (though there is a nagging at the back of my mind that bothers me) and I would like it to stay that way...

My God, I am tired! My head hurts and feels like it will explode. When it does not feel like it will tear apart, it feels like it is filled with cotton or duvet fluff... it is a really weird sensation. Also, everything I perceive right now seems to be coming from the other side of a very large volume of water (a large aquarium, maybe?), because sound is kind of muffled for me at the moment. As for my eyesight, I feel like a horse with shutters: my peripheral vision decided to take a nap, while I have to stay awake... Bleh... I want my stupid presentation to be over already so I can sleep all afternoon until tomorrow morning!! I truly look like death warmed up right now... this promises to be a cheerful presentation...

I will be off to class now. I feel numb all over (except for the pain in my lower back, which is quite sharp and annoying right now). I really am worried about this essay. Due to the all-nighter factor, it really sucks. It is full of riddiculous mistakes (of tiredness), and the argumentation sucks anyway, because I had no idea what I wanted to write about. Or, rather, I did know what I wanted to write about, until I read the supporting texts I was supposed to use for my class, and I just became seriously confused as to what my topic was... And this stupid bloody paper is worth 50% of my final mark in this stupid f*cking class! And I am certain that the highest grade I will get on it (if I am lucky) is a C... damn it!

I have to stop writing and get going. I will update again soon, when I am actually awake and less likely to completly misspell my own name and not even notice... Cheers, I guess... And goodnight in a few hours...

*Edit: I forgot to let you all know that I slept for about ten minutes between finishing my essay and getting ready for class. During those 10 minutes of dozing, I had to have a nightmare. It was horrible and gruesome: I dreamt that bloody corpses wrapped in plastic cling-wrap were being put on the bed beside me. It was gross... and scary... and really unpleasant... talk about a good sleep, eh? *sigh*

In which an essay is completed

Okay, I will have to finally admit it. I AM BRILLIANT!
No, seriously.
I finished an essay last night in roughly 4 hours. I had done absolutely no work on this essay beforehand. I had done no readings. I simply started writing what I thought would be a crappy essay - as a spur of the moment thing - at 8 p.m. last night. The essay was due this morning. The people whom I had proof read it thought it was an excellent essay. I must say, with 10 secondary sources and 7 pages, for a "quickie" of an essay, it is, indeed, a creation of pure genius. Especially as I managed to write something good about a really crappy play.

I still find it unbelievable how good I am at writing essays, despite hating them. The worst grade I have ever gotten on an essay was a B-. And that was after a Savoy cast-party and tons of red-bull (in my first year, the essay was completed at 6 a.m.). When I start essays at a proper time (the evening before the essay is due) it turns out very well... despite how much I detest, loathe and scorn essays.

Enough self-flattery now. I just thought that I should make those few people who were NOT jealous of my essay writing skills yet, jealous as of this moment. (Lol, just kidding - you know that, right?)

One of the plays I decided to write about was Aphra Behn's The Rover. This stupid play is super popular because, apparently, Aphra Behn was a feminist. FEMINIST MY ASS! She does give her female characters determination and, more importantly, "a voice" at the beggining of her play, but during the entirety of the play, she seeks to subdue that voice and eventually silences it completely by having her female characters "bravely" married to "men of quality."
The play has about three plots, but the one turning around Florinda, the main (and typically romantic) heroine, is absolutely riddiculous! She is in love with a dude called Belvile and she tries to go against her brother's will and marry him in secret. But the stupid tart fails, because the one time when she doe have the guts to do something sexually licentious, she is mistaken for a whore and nearly raped! So much for representing female desire as a good thing, Aphra Behn! Obviously, Behn thought it was wrong, otherwise Florinda would have succeeded in her plans with her lover and there would have been nothing more to it. I am certain that Behn thought that women had their place as properly married, and virginal (and faithful) until their wedding. This is certainly what transpires from her allegedly "feminist" play!

Also, Florinda proves herself as being an even GREATER nit-wit later on in the play! After a THIRD rape attempt on her person, by no less than 4 men at once, she is discovered as being a "maid of quality" i.e. a lady of good birth. The men are shocked to discover this, as all they wanted was to "ruffle a harlot" (... "rape a whore"... nicely said) and they apologize. And the stupid tart Florinda ACCEPTS their appology! Although she does not say it, what the bottom line of her words are is this: "Oh, well, because you appologized, it's all okay!!" (She is totally what inspired the stereotype of the airheaded, dumb-blonde cheerleader!).

*Sigh* The Rover was a waste of my time. But I still think my essay about it was pretty good - considering the material I had to work with!

On another note... my new computer is AWESOME!! Okay, so it was expensive... and yes, bloody Windows 7 is going to take some getting used to... (*sigh* I want the CLASSIC XP view back! I do not care about how "cool" and Mac-like Windows 7 looks... Apple computers suck anyway!) I really wish XP were still in place. On the other hand, my computer still rocks. It is larger than the old one and lighter. It performs better and much more smoothly... It. Is. EPIC!

... I think that's it...

Oh, yeah. I e-mailed some professional cosplayers for some cosplay advice (about the costumes I will make for the summer). I may be starting to make my own latex prosthetics!! ^_^ Their advice was awesome and I truly appreciated it! (Thank you Sarcasm-Hime and Lillyxandra!) I cannot believe how nice these people are, and how willing they are to share their knowledge. It is heart-warming and makes me want to give them a great big HUG! ^_^
Anyways - look forward on more cosplay news... I will probably be posting pictures of my progress. Until then, I will let you guess what I will be doing next year. Feel free to discuss it if the suspense is too much for you! lol ;-P

That is it! for now...

Cheers!

*MAJOR SIGH...*

I wish that the Thanksgiving weekend was longeeeeer!!!! *cries* I do NOT want to go back to school tomorrow. I already had enough grief writing my stupid essay tonight. Not. pleasant.

*pout*

I do not want to go to school!!! *throws tantrum*

More on this subject tomorrow. I will go to bed now. I am sorry for the short tantrum post.

Chapter 23 - In which the wallowing phase is over

So... I've been thinking...
Yes, I am disappointed about Japanese. Knowing your grade will be bad in advance just totally sucks!! However, all things considered, ale iacta est. What is done is done. Japanese is over, let's take a deep breath and move on. Hopefully I'll pass the class... but, come to think of it, I've never ever failed a class in my life before... Breaking that habit would certainly be an experience (not fun, by any means!! but it might harden me against my fear of failure). Sure, even if I pass, I know I will not be satisfied with my grade anyway - it definitely below 80%. This will not do for my 90% average (or more) ego. But, I guess I'll just have to deal with it... God, this reminds me of math class! Except that I hated math and that was my excuse for not doing as well in it as in other classes. And, to be fair, unlike everyone else in my class, I did not exactly study Japanese.
I find studying exceedingly difficult, because I'm just not used to doing it. I usually pass with ridiculous ease and without lifting a finger (I think Michael resents me for it... just a little... ;-D ) For Japanese, I actually had to make an effort. That seems to have taken my brain by surprise. I crammed for all the in-class tests and did average, but good. And I did study very hard for the final - but I probably could have done better. I believe the problem is that I have no studying method... It's what happens when you're a master procrastinator with anxiety issues like myself. I need to face the facts: when I study or cram, I am usually completely and utterly overwrought and a big unmanageable explosive ball of stress. And I still somehow manage to procrastinate everything, essays included, to very late at night and then I basically spew out an essay, usually very good ones too, in 2 to 3 hours tops. If I get distracted by Doctor Who or something while I write, it might take me 4 hours... but usually, I'd say my average is 3. Damn - I'm good! ;-D
So yeah. The point of all this chatter is that I have no proper working method when it comes to school. I usually figure that listening in class will suffice to pass the semester. It usually does, even if I do not listen in class at all. Too bad it did not work that way for Japanese. Oh well, I did my best (I really did! Who else is nuts enough to recopy her textbook by hand???) and, as I said before, what is done is done. No regrets - I enjoyed the class and learned a lot. I probably did not do well - but I did what I could.

And now, the fun part of the post!!
I went to a concert tonight. My brother's first concert actually. He sand (yelled into the mic) four songs, including 'Rasputin' by Boney M. He was painted all in red, wearing faux-fur and some kilt he quickly put together and I helped him sew... A little ridiculous if you ask me - but no bad showmanship at all. He and his band were good. But if he wants to go on with his band, he needs to learn to use his vocal chords properly. He insists that Death Metal singers always scream into the mic without holding back and so he also bawls into it recklessly. But, according to Michael, screaming is very bad for the vocal chords. So, I suspect that the Heavy Metal singers actually have a technique to scream into the mic that spares their voice in some miraculous way. My dear brother needs to learn that. Otherwise, his band career will be very short...

And in other news: my mum is back!! She came back from Germany today!! She survived the stupid ash-cloud from Iceland. Honestly, when I heard about the cloud and all the fuss about the European airspace being closed I nearly threw a fit! I was kind of pissed, because I wanted to see my mum really badly (she's always a good person to turn to during exam stress - and in general as well - she's awesome all around!), especially because I had not seen her in a while, and then the volcano erupted. I was starting to joke (this IS a joke - please don't hate me for it!) that Iceland should be bombed and that way all frequent volcano eruptions done away with. That way, we'd also solve the problem of my brother's obsession with Vikings! But that was just a joke - nothing against Icelanders or their country... I just have an issue with their volcanoes (and I bet that the couple of thousand stranded passengers across Europe are of my opinion as well when it comes to those freakin' magma pits!).

And I think my shower is haunted. No, I'm serious! I think we have a ghost who takes a shower there regularly. It sometimes just randomly starts dripping A LOT of water for about 2-5 minutes (even though all taps are closed) and then it stops... Weird...

Oh great! I DID have something else to say... but I completely forgot it. Darn! This is what happens when ghosts take showers - they distract you! And then there's nothing you can do anymore but kick yourself for forgetting your absolutely brilliant idea for a blog post! *sigh*
Crap... I'm being fussy and wallowing again, aren't I? Apologies...

I still forgot what I wanted to write but I have one last thing to say: I downloaded two of my favourite movies recently for Michael to watch. They are German comedies subtitled by Michael Bully Herbig. They're fabulously hilarious! Of course, we've got them with English subtitles, so that Michael could understand what it was all about. He loved them!! I'm soooo pleased! Here's a video from (T)Raumschiff Surprise: Periode 1, one of their movies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBhaXQ3UaDo&feature=PlayList&p=CA49A852F3907E42&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=12
Ah! These Germans are so wonderfully nuts! No one can do a Star-Trek/Star Wars/Time Machine parody like they can!! I'm sorry Mel Brooks, Space Balls is just... well, balls in comparison to this!
The other movie is called Der Schuh des Manitus and actually was made before (T)Raumschiff. Watch them in order if you watch them, please! Otherwise, some of the jokes in (T)Raumschiff are lost on you!

And with that, I wish you all the best! Pray I get my brilliant idea back! ;-D Ta-ta!

Chapter 21 - In which there was a final, a formal, and meeting with Churchill

Greetings Blog! (and also to all potential, may-be readers out there!)
I am very sorry for neglecting you for so long... you know it is not in my nature! I am very sorry - but that's the finals at McGill University for you. All notion of time stops and you start calculating in "how many exams are left?" rather than hours or days...

Anyhow, I have already have my first final. Alas, by far the easiest one of all my exams. I am still quaking in my boots at the idea of the Japanese final. But I shall study hard (or try my best to do so) and we'll see...
My first final was for my Folklore class. I think I was pretty brilliant with it. I wrote, for the short essay section, 3 pages on how Rhiannon (from the 1st Branch of the Mabinogion) and Branwen (from the 2nd Branch of the Mabinogion) compare in light of the motif of the Calumniated Wife. I concluded that Branwen had to die at the end of her tale because she spoke out against the injustice done to her and that is totally unacceptable in Medieval Welsh society (I do not agree with this view in the slightest, especially since Branwen was humiliated and dishonoured for the DUMBEST reasons!!! But that is how the story goes and I cannot change that...) Anyways: I think my essay was bloody well brilliant...
But not as brilliant as essay #2, which was 6 pages single spaced about how right speech is applied in the 3rd and 4th Branches of the Mabinogi, as well as in the Tain and in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I argued about how fairies and folk of the Otherworld will use words and loopholes in speech against humans and how this can be avoided by right speech, and also that right speech spoken by humans can take advantage of loopholes in fairy speech to turn the tables against them.
*Sigh* God, am I good! ^___^
(I might have been completely rubbish, but I like to think that was not the case...)
Now I still have a Victorian Lit essay to write... *brain melts* I don't WANT to!!! *throws a tantrum* I am very sorry, but the texts we have to read a bloody BORING! (Venting done, thanks for your patience.)

And yesterday was the formal. Wonderful, wonderful Savoy Formal! It was really, truly great fun!! The food was a little scarce, but it was otherwise fantastic! We went to an art gallery where we danced and had food. And, of course, everyone was dressed up and glamed up to the utmost! I had the greatest trouble getting my hair right: for the second year in a row, we've had positively rotten weather for the formal! And what is the result of bad weather?? Frizzy hair! I wanted some light curls in my hair, so I slept on some cheap foam rollers from the dollar store (that's what happens when you don't have heat tools...) and it worked really well. Except that all the humidity made the beautiful, even curls frizz halfway through the day and, by evening, I had so many flyaway frizzies, I was sorely tempted to just shave off my hair! But after pouring a couple of ounces of hairspray into the palms of my hands and running that over my hair, I was able to flatten the frizz. I ended up with an easy updo (with some light finger waves) and a cute fascinator. I also had a gorgeous dress which feels light as air and has (I found that out when the formal came to a close) POCKETS!! It's awesome! Vanessa is the one who found the dress for me, so I am very grateful to her. Oh, and, if you must know, Michael looked super handsome in a navy pin-striped suit! (God, I love this man!)
Conclusion: great formal! It was amazing! And everyone looked stunning!

And now, the grand finale... Doctor Who!! I saw the third episode of the 5th season today. The Doctor meets Winston Churchill!! During the London Blitz!! >w< *squee* It was an awesome encounter! The whole episode is like Star Wars meets Sky Captain, but with the Doctor (which automatically makes it better written). It's great fun and fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed it!! ---Spoiler Alert--- The new Daleks are really funny: their paint jobs make them look like they're straight from a Smarties box!! XD
So, three cheers for the Doctor! I'm looking forward to next week!! *fangirl squee* I love this show! I found it to be my life support (aside from Michael) during eggzaminashun time!

So, I hope I've allowed you to catch up (and that you, dear blog, haven't missed me too much!) and more will be coming soon! But not before Wednesday. Wednesday is my huge-ass-evil-massive-three-hour-exam-of-doom Japanese final... until then... I guess all we can do is pray! *sweatdrop* Until then!

Some photos from the Victorian Photoshoot...

So here are some photos from yesterday's photoshoot. All rights reserved to Wallsoft photography.


Two Victorian "lingerie" shots... I did my own hair and make-up. I'm quite proud of how it turned out! And obviously my favourite corset...

I think I look like Jane Austen here (or like one of her characters... I could be a new novel cover!)

Hope you enjoy the shots. The shoot was great fun!

Oh, and, regarding essay... one down, two to go! Plus a Japanese skit... but that will be easy... right? My essay on Slayers is awesome!

Chapter 15 - In which there is a funny dream, essays and lack of sleep

HI!!! HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!!!
(... I didn't just write that, did I? Hold on... yes... I did.)

Okay, so I had this ueber wacky dream last night. I swear, it sort of made me giggle in my sleep it was so odd! The funniest bit was that I was utterly convinced it was reality until I woke up in bed! And now you're all thinking: "get to the point, you silly girl who writes too much" so I shall indulge you.

In my dream, I was dating Michael like I am now... Except that I was in high school. My high school. My beloved, uniform-wearing Academy, where I hated the guts of three-quarter of the students for a period of six years. Anyhow... I was sitting at a table in the school cafeteria (THE school cafeteria, line with windows on either side, looking out on the playing field, the place that was a former dance studio...). I was wearing the dark green plaid skirt, the pale-blue oxford shirt and the ugly navy polyester cardigan. Even my hair was short, like back in the old days! Odd thing was that Michael was there with me. In high school. Dating me.

Now, this may not strike anyone as odd... yet. The thing was, in my dream, Michael's ex showed up. Not his real ex. Some nondescript, bland and boring brunette, the type of girl I used to hate in high school; the type of girl whose name you're not likely to remember... that was his girlfriend in this dream. She was just another typical high school girl that my imagination fashioned for the sake of the dream. Anyways, she was also a student at the Academy, for she was wearing the same uniform, though she was wearing it in the way that I used to consider "pompous and slutty".

Here comes the funny part. The ex-girlfriend sat down at the table with both of us, looking incredibly moody and in a huff. She started bad mouthing me about how I stole her boyfriend, etc. For some reason, Michael was very porcelain-doll-like in this dream: he just sat there, smiling an empty smile, not noticing anyone and unaware that two girls were fighting over his affections. Michael, if you read this, it's nothing against you: I think you were just... an accessory to the dream - like a very, very minor character. (I'm sorry!)

But back to the foul-mouthed ex. So she started ranting about me and insulting me and calling me names. I started to get really tired of her and it could potentially have degenerated into a cat fight. Not the case. Exasperated, I opened the little knapsack I had with me (now this is REALLY weird because it was so... well, SMALL! I usually always carry around an oversized heavy schoolbag!). I started rummaging inside the little bag to see if I could find anything that would shut her up (because whatever was in the knapsack was the obvious solution). I was mostly thinking about throwing something at her head. But the only things inside the bag were a pen and a flyer add for a "Miss Sixty" razor (WTF?? seriously!).

So I looked up at the girl and I smiled my nicest smile. I cut accross her ramblings and said: "I feel like acting sixty!" (which seemed a perfectly normal thing to say at the time) The girl cringed with dread when I pulled out the pen and the paper... but I just started scribbling down notes, completely unrelated to the situation, blissfully ignoring her... Because scribbles are the obvious solution against people who bad-mouth you...??? *puzzled look* And still, I was quite CONVINCED that this was reality. This seemed like a perfectly natural reaction to the situation. In the dream, I felt quite proud of my coolness and how I had handled the situation.

And then I woke up. Turns out I had onlly been dozing for a grand total of... 10 minutes. *sigh*

Oh, and as for going to Ottawa today - scratch taht. No; it's not because Ottawa is tiny and too far away to be appealing to me at six in the bloody morning that I didn't go. This morning, I recieved a phone call from my mum. She's really ill and has a bad fever. I will admit I'm a little concerned and I hope she gets better soon! Anyways, she can't go through with the two hour drive to Ottawa. It's not worth getting into a car accident for the sake of a bleeding passport (for those who didn't know: I need to get to Ottawa to get my passport renewed... fun times!)

In other news... I still haven't bought my fabric for the Erica Fontaine costume. I soooo want to work on the costume, but I am sooooo broke! It makes me very sad.

And as for essays... one of them is FINALLY done!! Three more essays to go! Two for Anime class (I'll be writing one about the use of genre in Slayers Next and one about the use of media/communication/technology in Gundam Seed), and another one for Victorian Lit. The Victorian Lit topics are so boring that I won't bother writing them down, else your brains will go to mush, dear readers - like mine did upon reading the topic. On top of the essays, I still have four exams and one 12 minute Japanese skit to go through. Then my semester will be over at last. *SIGH* I can't wait. It seems soooo loooooong! *cries* Needless to say, I'm tired of this semester: it's been a really crappy one and it's time for some vacation!

Speaking of vacation... I am FINALLY going back to Germany! We are planning the trip and it turns out that it is actually happening!!Michael and I will be leaving on April 30th and returning toward the middle of May! It will be great!!

And Michael will be RETURNING to Germany in August (lucky bastard)!! He got into a really cool summer programme in Weimar, Germany, where he score a lead role for the Mozart Opera, Cosi Fan Tutte. Not only that, he even got himself a good scholarship for it!! HUZZAH, MICHAEL!! I am really proud of him: the programme people obviously really want him!

Okay. Enough type now. Back to bed for me. Why? Because it's 5:30 in the freakin' morning and I barely slept (I couldn't sleep at all... fell into the weird dream doze around 4:00-ish). So I'm going to crash into bed and screw the rules of attendance policies - if I miss class, NOT my fault. Blame my brain for keeping me awake all night.

My typing is getting ridiculous. Get off the computer, Naria! GO TO BED!

Good day to all!

Chapter 13 - In which Naria still hates her essays and slash-fiction fangirls will squee

This post is dedicated to my favourite yaoi-girls! ;D Oh, come on! You know who you are!!

So...
The essay that is presently bogging me down is for the subject called English Literature and Folklore. Now, don't get me wrong: the class itself is fascinating! I wouldn't have chosen it if it weren't! We are studying Medieval literature and how folklore and folktales are included in said literature. It's fascinating what people believed back in the Middle Ages and how much of it transpired into their literature... And it's not just stories about King Arthur and Merlin either! You've got giants (in Ireland), fairy mistresses and lovers, journeys to the fairy otherworld, outwitting of magical foes, and many nonsensical references to how Britain and the ancestry of British monarchs is somehow descended from Troy... (I still don't understand how the Old Kings of England thought it made them more noble and honourable to be descended from Troy, when the Trojans are the morons who were gullible enough to let the horse in... oh, and when Trojan royalty was dumb enough to think they could get away with kidnapping another king's wife!)

Anyhoots. So the class is AWESOME. It's really interesting and very inspiring to someone like myself who loves Medieval lit and folktales... however...
the readings suck.
No, seriously, they SUCK!!
I said so in the previous post. On a literary aspect, when one looks at the style of writing, it's really, really bad!! The stories are interesting, but they are just not readable.
Right now, I am reading The Mabinogion. This book includes the four branches of the Mabinogi as well as a few other stories from Wales. Yes, I am reading Medieval Welsh literature. Of course, it's translated, because I can't think of anyone who's fluent in Old Welsh anymore. Even the Medievalists of McGill can't read the language fluently, though, to their credit, they can pronounce the tongue-twister weird-ass names really well! They can even understand scraps of Old English, Old Welsh and Old Irish... but, let's face it, no one really speaks any of these three...

Now, for my essay, I am focussing on the third branch of the Mabinogi. Here's an example of how badly written the thing is. What follows is a rape scene:

But that night, Gwydion son of Don and Gwilfaethwy his brother returned to Caer Dathyl. And in the bed of Math son of Mathonwy, Gilfaethwy and Goewin daughter of Pebin were put to sleep together, and her maidens were forced out violently, and she was taken against her will that night.

I guess that censorship isn't really required here, is it? The girl isn't even upset about the rape the next morning. She's more freaked out by the fact that now she has shamed her lord than by the fact that she was raped... I mean, seriously???!! This was the rape scene?! Even the state of Michigan would rate it "G" for "general" - this text could go into a family movie an no one would know the difference!

And now I'm getting to the slash... Yaoi-fans attention!
So, the two brothers from the paragraph I quoted earlier raped the girl. Okay, you follow me so far? Check. Now, mister angry husband comes in, and he happens to know magic. So he decides to punish the brothers...
You got me: MEDIEVAL SLASH FICTION BETWEEN BROTHERS!!
The king turns the two brothers into animals, one into a male and the other into a female and he orders them to reproduce. The year after, he changes them into the oposite sex, the brother who was female becomes male and vice versa. And they MUST reproduce again!! And this was written in the 12th century!!
Now, I don't really understand what you slash fangirls really enjoy about some boy-on-boy (especially because gay men are just not interested in women - ergo: a complete waste!), but I have come to understand that incest between brothers is rather popular in fiction these days... Turns out, it was in the past as well, lol.
Oh, and the funniest thing? When, after 3 years, the brothers are turned back into humans, they immediately forgive angry husband man, even though he forced them to live like animals and reproduce... they must have had a hell of a good time then, eh? ;-D

Okay, I've ranted enough... I've probably traumatized my mum...
XD

The votes are in!!!

THE VOTES ARE IN!!!

And the winner of "Who will Naria be Cosplaying for Anime North?" is...

ERICA FONTAINE (battle outfit) from Sakura Taisen!!
Congratulations Erica!

The exact results are as follows (and I swear they were very hard to compile: I got votes via email, via blog, via facebook... I could never remember who had voted what so I kept going back to double-check)

Erica: 7 votes

Eclair: 4 votes

Lunamaria: 5 votes

Good job to all contestants! XD Incidentally, I noticed that all characters I proposed wear a massive amount of red... What IS it and my obsession with RED??? And here I thought I was a fan of the colour purple... This is so strange and I am positively befuddled (I went through my wardrobe yesterday and I really do have an overarchingly red selection of clothes...) But anyways, it seems I like red, and Erica wears red, so all is good.

So... what does this mean?
1 - I'll go out hunting for fabric after class tomorrow... hopefully I can scrape up some credit card money to buy nice red fabric...
2 - I need to find a pattern and I need to modify the daylights out of it, because no tailcoat pattern will come with weird, overblown, silver buttons...
3 - I need to buy a long, auburn, wig for a reasonable price and make sure it shows up in the mail in time for the con, preferably before departure for Germany (I should get on that right now then, shouldn't I?)
4 - I need to figure out how to do the weird metal knobs on Erica's shoulders and make sure they hold firm.

It should all work out nicely... one step at a time... *sweatdrop*

On another, side note, I loathe, hate and despise essays!!! As much as I love fairytales and folklore, having to write about them SUCKS!! The Four Branches of the Mabinogion are just not that interesting a read, frankly (at least not stylistically speaking... many "And the hero did this. And then he did that. And then there was a feast. And then... and then... and then..."... *massive sigh*) And I haven't even started on reading up on the Tain yet, and it's incredibly hard literature with loads of Old Irish words that I couldn't pronounce if my life depended on it. I swear there is a whole in my tongue from trying to pronounce names like Llefelys and Medb (which is, in fact, pronounced "Maeve"... all my efforts wasted on something spelled weird, but in fact, easy to pronounce). .... Okay, complaining bit is done.

I will soon start on my cosplay (hopefully) HUZZAH!!!

And, I promise, next post will be another "In which" chapter...