seen from Malaysia
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seen from China
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seen from Yemen
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seen from Malaysia
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seen from United States
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seen from Malaysia
Statue of an f/f couple from the Theban necropolis photographed by Guy Courtois. I did a lot of research about ancient Egypt for a story I wrote a little while back and there’s evidence they were pretty liberal minded about same sex relationships. Attitudes to women were pretty good as well. We could work, own property, get divorced. Hell, a few of us even managed to become pharaohs. It was only later that the oppression started to kick in...
Classic metal song from one of my fave bands. It’s perfect for rocking out to, singing along to, screaming away your problems and frustrations. The video is great too... really showcases Maria’s blood dancers. That’s a dance gig I would sooo like to get. They add a whole extra dimension to the performances that you don’t really see anywhere else.
Another Tank Girl cosplay shot with modified background. Shame this isn’t really my ride.
A typical Buffy/Giles exchange from an old Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine. I bought a bunch of these on eBay a couple of weeks ago and am enjoying them immensely.
♦♦♦Harley Quinn, Queen of Bats♦♦♦
REVIEW OF...
💀 💀 💀 HARROW THE NINTH 💀 💀 💀
HARROW THE NINTH is the second book in Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb trilogy, following on from GIDEON THE NINTH. If you’ve read the previous book, you’ll already be familiar with the main character, Harrowhark, but for anyone else, let me say by way of introduction that she’s a space-faring necromancer, whose hobbies include conjuring skeletons from bits of bone... and making soup, because in the words of the Emperor of the Nine Houses (aka God), “It’s the little things.”
Now a Lyctor (one of the Emperor’s elite bodyguards) Harrow travels to the Emperor’s space station and begins training to join his fight against planetary ghosts, alongside her hated rival, Ianthe. She is aided by a set of notes in sealed envelopes which can only have come from herself, but which she has no memory of writing. Her new life turns out to be far from easy, however. She cannot touch her sword without vomiting and is convinced she is going mad. Her mentor, the joyless Saint of Joy, despairs of her, the Saint of Duty wants to kill her, and Ianthe keeps flirting with her despite her very obvious lack of interest. The threat of battle looms and the general consensus among the other Lyctors is that Harrow will prove to be a hindrance rather that a help. Interwoven with this storyline is a retelling of events from the GIDEON THE NINTH minus Gideon herself. Taking her place is a cowardly cavalier called Ortus Nigenad, whose love for quoting epic poetry provides some nice comic moments. I won’t tell you the reason for the change, because it would be a major spoiler, but it is explained towards the end of the book. I found the shifts between the two narratives could be a little disorientating, but they work for the story, as they give you a good sense of Harrow’s fractured state of mind, and you quickly learn to distinguish between the two, as one is written in the second person and the other in the third. I’m not a big fan of second person narration on the whole, but it fits well here and there is a good reason for it… which I’m not going to tell you, as again, it would be a major spoiler. HARROW THE NINTH is a great book. There are gory parts, exciting parts and genuine laugh out loud moments, especially around Ianthe. Harrow and her have a complex relationship, which is beautifully handled and produces some great dialogue, like when Harrow tells the Emperor, “We—are not—intimate… Neither are we romantic—neither are we, frankly, platonic—”. There is also great comedy in Harrow’s meetings with the Emperor, the Saint of Duty’s murder attempts and the Saint of Joy’s references to Harrow and Ianthe as increasingly young children. The characters in the book are all memorable and the interaction between them feels very authentic. I loved the way the Emperor and his older Lyctors are constantly bickering, for example. The book’s biggest strength is probably the world-building, however. The environment Muir creates is as fantastical as any I’ve come across, but it’s so immersive that it really comes to life. There are sensory descriptions throughout (e.g. the references to the mysterious smell of upchuck and the strange aftertaste to thousand-year-old food kept necromantically pure) and careful thought has obviously been given to the mechanics of necromancy, etc. All in all it’s a book I would definitely recommend. It provides an intriguing perspective on a range of themes, including life, death, relationships, power, fear, madness, secrets and sacrifice, and is exciting and unusual. It’s not the easiest of reads, but if you let it draw you in, you’re in for one hell of a ride. A word of caution, though – you probably need to read GIDEON THE NINTH before you start on it, or you’ll struggle to make sense of it. That’s all I’m going to say for now, but watch this space for my thoughts on the final book in the trilogy. Not sure when this is going to be released, but I’m looking forward to it greatly.
I ❤️ this cover. Looks like Ivy has the Bat right where she wants him. Pity it doesn't play out that way in the story. Poison Ivy is another great Batman villain who is on my cosplay to-do list. Perhaps once I've done her, my houseplants will like me better and stop randomly dying. I live in hope. Anyway, before I get onto Ivy, I want to try my hand at Harley Quinn. Just a few days more stitching and the costume will be ready...
Like many cosplayers, I put a lot of work into my costumes and my Tank Girl hat is a good example. It's pretty much impossible to make an exact replica of the hat Lori Petty wears in the movie, because you only see it from a distance and it has a load of random stuff on it that you'd simply never find, so all you can do is capture the basic look. I started with a cheap pilot cap from a fancy dress shop and added better straps and a few other bits to make it seem more authentic. Then I copied as much of the customisation from the movie hat as I could. The rest I improvised using ideas from the comics and my own interpretation of the character. Most of what I used I had around my apartment and the rest I picked up at places like Poundland. I thought about making my own goggles, but saw a cheap pair on eBay that were such a good match that it seemed silly not to go with them. And there you have it... not the most practical piece of headgear, I admit, but classic Tank Girl.
