-------Random Pics-------
So, Laura and Charlotte both posted up 'Blast From The Past' pics of them out of cosplay, and I wanted to do the same. However, I'm at work, and I don't have many pics of that sort uploaded to the net. So, instead, here is a link to some pics of me, out of cosplay:

[link]

I'll search my home PC sometime for some older pics.


-------Flash Mob Freeze-------
So, on Saturday, myself and my buddies took part in a Freeze on Leicester Square. Dunno what a freeze is? [link]upR5V9aE2s Go to that link to see an video of a sucessful freeze done earlier in the year.

Basically, the freeze we went to ended up being a bit fail. Out of the 300 confirmed attendants, only 15 or so turned up, and even the organizer didn't show. We went ahead with it anyways, but it got me thinking...

I'm going to organize a Cosplay Freeze Flash Mob.

Basically, the plan will be this. I will post details as to where and when the freeze will take place. Turn up a little early and mill around that area. Don't all clump together in one spot! Then, when you hear the horn or whistle, you freeze. Dead still. If you're the type who laughs easily, try keeping your gaze on the ground or sky. You stay like that for five minutes. When the horn/whistle again, you just unfreeze and walk away as if nothing happened. We'll have a few people filming and photographing the event.

The trick is to KEEP IT ON THE LOW. If I were to go ahead with this, I want it to stay on deviantArt and not be posted on major public sites like Facebook and Myspace. The shock and confusion factor that these freezes give the general public are the best part!

So, if I were to arrange this, who would wanna get in on it? It only takes five minutes of your time!

-------Mailing List-------
People are almost always asking over the next episode of Demyx Time, and I noticed today that The Sora Show also has a page littered with requests for the next episode.

So, and I hope Jenn agrees with this idea, I'm going to make a mailing list. Basically, you send me an email saying you want to be added, and whenever Jenn and I have an update regarding either of the shows, we will send a mass email out to let you know. We'll also let you know when we're uploading new episodes.

Want to be added? Then send an email to KJTPPRODUCTIONS@LIVE.CO.UK and I will add you to ze list!


-------iScribble-------
A few people now have contacted me, implying that they know myself or Jenn via a site called iScribble.

I'd like to make it quite clear that whoever has been claiming to be us on iScribble are imposters. We do not, and have not, used that site. Ever.

The only sitse Jenn and I are active on with anyone other than our real life friends are DeviantArt (as Kellyjane, TealPirate and MelodiousFlames), and Youtube (as TouchMyKeyblade, JenxTheJinx and numbereightAxel).

-------MSN and Friendship-------
I know for a fact that this isn't an issue with just me.

One of the most ANNOYING notes/comments/emails I can get is the dreaded "Can we be friends?" message. I HATE people who send me this bleedin' question. You cannot just DECIDE to be someones friend, and I personally would never go so far to classify ANYONE as my friend until I've taken at least a short amount of time to get to know them and decide if I want to include that person in my friendship circle. Now, you may think that sounds harsh or arrogant, but that's the way I roll, so I'm afraid y'all just have to deal with it. I make friendships, I don't just DECIDE to have them.

Another point under this topic is that of my MSN. Now, so far, I have NEVER denyed someone from adding me on MSN messenger, though I do ask that people ask me before adding me. As of late, people have NOT been doing this, meaning when I log on I nearly always have a new add request that I have no clue who is sending. From now on, I will not add ANYONE on MSN unless they have asked me first. To those of you who have had the courtesy to do this, thank you.

Also, the topic of my RESPONDING to MSN messages. Between 9am and 5pm GMT, I am at work. Yes, I may be online, but I'm also at the office, so I cannot always reply or, if I can, I only have the time of multitasking power to reply to those people who have priority on my "reply to" list (i.e. my girlfriend, family, and real-life friends). I do go online in the evenings too, though perhaps not quite so regularly. By this time, I've been at work all day, usually come home and worked a few hours on cosplay stuff, done my workout and just want to relax. Sorry, but sometimes I just don't WANT to talk to people. I go on MSN on the off-chance that Jenn or one of my close friends are on, or to save me the effort of walking down the corridor to speak to my sister (yes, I'm that lazy) so, again, I don't always reply.

The reason for all this explaination? I am getting really fed-up with the number of people going "Hello? ... Hello are you there? ... Hello? Are you ignoring me? ... Have I annoyed you? ... If I'm irritating you, you can just tell me ... Helloooo?!"

To be frank, my MSN once used to be for people I knew in person ONLY. Since joining dA, I have opened it to people who know me purely over this site and just want to chat. I am not OBLIGED to reply to anyone. I don't owe anyone anything. Quite frankly, it's getting extremely tiring, having people constantly pester me because I don't always reply. If it carries on consistantly, I'm sorry but I'm going to be purging my MSN of everyone who I don't know in-person, and blocking all future add-requests.

So please, if I don't reply, respect that.


-------Constructive Critisism-------
The best thing about dA is the fact that you can receive good-quality constructive critisism from your peers.

What I DON'T like is a)outright rude critisism and b)critisism from someone with no knowledge about what they're saying.

Now, say you are just an average dA lurker. You like watching cosplayers, but you don't know much about doing it yourself. If you were to leave me a comment saying "I like this costume, but in my opinion this, this and this are too light," then I can understand and respect that critisism. Anyone is capable of looking at a cosplay of a character they know, and pointing out what parts just aren't quite right. However, if that same person goes "Well, this this and this are too light. You shouldn't have done it that way. What you should do is this and that," then, quite frankly, I will take no mark of your words, unless you have personally tried-and-tested that method yourself and can properly advocate it. DON'T give advice on a topic you have no knowledge of. This is a good way to go about ALL types of advice-giving. Now, if I received that comment or similar from a cosplayer who had tried it themselves, then the words would have more weight. From someone just trying to sound smart about the subject though, it just sounds ridiculous.

Also, saying "It's crap" is not constructive critisism. It's just being insulting, and I have made sure NEVER to leave a comment like that on anyones work on dA, even if I DO think it's crap! I might give an honest opinion on what I think is bad about it, and possibly ways to improve it, but I'd never leave a comment just intended to shock or hurt someone. Anyone who leaves comments like that on my work will simply have their comment hidden. To anyone else who receives things like that, I can suggest you do the same.


-------Lies-------
This has been an issue for me TWICE now within the past two weeks or so, and has been a background problem for longer.

Firstly, do not tell lies to people about myself or Jenn. Likliness is that, eventually, they will come back to us, and if anyone knows me at all, you know I -WILL- confront people about it. At the end of the day I may accept an apology from people, but that doesn't mean they are automatically forgiven. If you live overseas, then you should already be smart enough not to lie about Jenn or I because, quite basically, the likliness of you really knowing anything about us is minimal.

The 'background lying' I refer to is mainly directed towards people Jenn and I know in person. We have found that several picnickers have been told things about us that just aren't true. On more than one occasion, when people we don't know very well from the pincics finally start talking to us properly, one of the first things they reveal after warming up to us is "Oh, you're nothing like what I expected. So-and-so told me you weren't very nice,"

I've been told by MANY people that this is down to jealousy on the liars part. As arrogant as it sounds to admit it, Jenn and I have become quite popular, both thanks to dA, Demyx Time, and all the friends we've managed to make at picnics. Some people just seem to resent that. Well, to those people, I say this: Fuck you.

Quite frankly, no matter what you may say, it won't stop me doing what I enjoy. You liars know who you are (And, quite frankly, WE know who you are as well), so while you may pretend to be civil to my face, be aware that I know you are just two-faced pillocks. You certainly will not find yourself on my christmas card list, that's for sure.

*and breathe*

-------Upcoming Stuff-------
Amecon is almost here.

I'm hoping to have Dark Link done in time for it. Jenn is going to try and finish off her revamped Link, and Sora1992 is going to try try try TRY to get Majora's Mask Skull Kid done for it. I reckon it can be done, don't you?

Thanks for all voting on the poll. Most people wanted Sora and Riku but, to be honest, I can't see them happening. For one, the Way To Dawn is all but destroyed, and Jenn won't be able to make a new one in time. Second, I need to fix parts on Sora's costume that I just won't have time for. Sorry, but I doubt they'll be there. We were up for bringing Lust and Envy but, due to the revealing nature of Jenn's costume, I don't think that's going to happen either. To wear it, Jenn has to feel happy about how she looks. Due to her working out in the sun all day, the tan lines that'd be revealed in that costume just wouldn't look right. She needs to pale down again before Envy will be back.

I hope you guys can settle for Link, Dark Link, and Skull Kid to make up for it!

Also, I'm going to be TRYING to get my second version of Cloud's sword done. To be honest, the previous one was purely because the costume felt incomplete without the ridiculously oversized weapon. I've had the styrofoam for the second attempt for some time now. I just hope I have the time to do it..... and enough wire filaments for my styrofoam cutter!

-------Dark Link-------
So, I'm sure most of you have seen pics of my Dark Link by now. So, here's the low down:

Still To Do:
- Finishing and stitching detail
- Gauntlets
- Boots
- Sword (50% complete. Needs painting)
- Scabbard
- Shield
- Ears
- Chainmail (50% complete. Lower chainmain needs attaching)
- Straps and belts (20% complete)

Things I'm Pleased With:
- Recycled Kotetsu wig
- Visibility through Zentai
- Pattern (made from scratch) works reasonably well
- General appearance

Things I'm Not Pleased With:
- Colour differences in material (nothing I can do about that though)
- Thin tunic material (may line it if I have time)
- Tunic slightly too tight on hips (again, too late to change that now)

So yeah, so far so good, I think, considering the WIP pics are after only half a days work. I should be able to get it into an acceptable state before Amecon, me thinks!

God, what a ranty journal! XD

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Events I Am Attending

• 9th-10th August - Amecon - Leicester University Campus
• 23rd August - Tim's Bday Picnic - London
• 13th September - MCM Expo - Midlands, Telford
• 25th-26th October - MCM Expo - Excel Centre, London
• 30th - Grand Cosplay Ball - Clapham Grand, London (possibly attending)

THE OFFICIAL KH AXEL OF
*Castle-Oblivion-UK
VISIT MINE AND TEALPIRATES PAGE
~Melodious-Flames
WATCHER OF
~London-Cosplay-Club

Those Who I Admire

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Cosplays

Priority/'In Progress' Cosplays
- Dark Link styled after Twilight Princess
- Judy Nails from GH3
- Jessie from Team Rocket/Pokemon
- Secret Cosplay from A Movie

Cosplays I've Confirmed, But Haven't Started
- Apollo Justice, from the Ace Attorney games
- Sailor Neptune, from Sailor Moon
- A Sim, from The Sims
- Merle from Escaflowne
- Hexadecimal from ReBoot
- Mi (Shigure's assistant) from Fruits Basket
- More AU Axel from KH
- Kurogane from Tsubasa Chronicles
- Reno, from Final Fantasy AC.

Current/Completed Cosplays
- Axel from Kingdom Hearts CoM/KH2
- Cloud from Final Fantasy:Advent Children/KH2
- Lavi from D.Gray-Man
- Nymphadora Tonks from Harry Potter
- Kotetsu from Naruto
- Lust from Full Metal Alchemist
- Haruhi from Ouran High School Host Club
- Classic Rogue, from Xmen comics

Retired Cosplays
- Pein from Naruto
- Cheshire Cat Axel


Thanks to DNKyriaki for the icons!