#dimensions 2014

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I can't remember which Who actor Dimensions '14 photos I posted...

...and I keep wanting to hide because I look like Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, plus I've got a droopy eye, but...

Paul.

Kindly man, as advertised. I felt guilty and secretly gleeful for holding up the autograph line when he lit up and had to tell his very own "what happened to me in a California earthquake" story after finding out where I was from.

KAAAATY. Dear ditzy Katy, who was the companion I wanted to grow up to be when I was a little girl...

I told you it wouldn't be too hard for me to cosplay Iris.

Syl and Sophie!

Last day of the con. You can tell I was in a heap of pain by that point. But it was still great to see them. 

LOU. Look at her eyes. 

Yes, I wore that shirt to match her hair. I wanted to stay right there. She was pretty much holding me up. She was startlingly kind to me. (Many of them are extremely gracious and warm with fans, but she... had a few quiet words for me earlier that day, and I think she was feeling extra maternal because I was barely on my feet.) 

Jumping ahead a week to the Nov 1 London gathering, which was smaller and more informal...

Nicola looking cute...

How she can be that vivacious and warm with an awful head cold I don't know.

Whereas Sarah -- even more ill -- was acting more like a normal person does when sick, but still managed that magic smile.

Yeah, I know I posted some version of this before. I went a long way for it.

...and yes, we are exactly the same height; the difference here is our shoes.

There were a few other shots I can't bear to post: a group shot with Lou and Sophie bracketing me, but my eyes are closed and I look like a sack of potatoes; my photo with Frazer, Carole Ann Ford and Peter Purves wasn't much better (plus that had Richard Martin, who annoyed me by talking over Carole during their panel); and a ghastly photo of me with Wendy Padbury -- she looks cute, I look heavily sedated.

Considering how ragged I was on that trip, I'm just grateful some of 'em came out.

Next time I go to one of these, I'll be in so much better shape. 

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My Sarah Sutton / Nyssa fan saga

TL;DR: Normally one doesn’t; she’s a fairly private person. But I think Sarah was sending them as a personal thank you.

Here’s the full story:

I’ve been a Nyssa fan since Keeper of Traken first aired. Last year, I finally discovered Big Finish and got hooked on Sarah & Peter audios. In February, after reading this sad post on Tumblr, I embarked on a quest to find Sarah Sutton so that I could tell her WE THINK NYSSA IS COOL. I had the crazy idea to fly to England to attend Dimensions 2014, because Sarah was one of the first guests listed. I paid for VIP tickets to make sure I’d have a chance to talk to her.

I enjoyed the Big Finish audio plays so much that I was inspired to write a classic Who novella featuring the Five/Tegan/Turlough/Nyssa Team:

(it’s posted on Archive of Our Own)

Unfortunately, after I bought the tickets, Sarah had to cancel her Dimensions appearance. There were many fabulous classic Who actors attending — including Peter! — but I was flying 5000 miles to see the one person who wouldn’t be there. Distraught, I wrote to 10th Planet, the con organizers. They talked to Sarah, who was kind enough to agree to an autograph signing the following weekend (Nov 1) in London.

Over the summer, I wrote Sarah a fan letter, enclosing a cute portrait of older!Nyssa I’d commissioned from LadyYetaxa. I thanked Sarah in particular because her audios are a coping mechanism I use to help me deal with chronic illness. When I can’t sleep, I put one in and distract myself. Her voice is very comforting.

Bad luck kept getting in my way. Peter Davison had to cancel from Dimensions, I had to cut my UK itinerary a week short because of health setbacks, and then I caught a godawful cold from another passenger who coughed all 10 hours on the flight from LAX to Heathrow. But finally I made it and had a wonderful time at Dimensions meeting Katy Manning, Louise Jameson, Sophie Aldred, Lisa Bowerman, Paul McGann, and other stars, plus some really great UK fans!

I spent a week at an online friend’s house in Ireland, then headed to London on Nov 1st to see Sarah. By that time Nicola Bryant, Wendy Padbury, Hex whose real name I can’t remember (ack)! and Sally Knyvette of Blake’s 7 had joined the event, making it even better!

Ironically, Nicola and Sarah had caught the same godawful cold and were utter champs to be there. Nicola was inhuman and managed to be vivacious and dazzling as ever, but Sarah wasn’t quite her usual bubbly self. Nevertheless, she was very gracious. I gave her a copy of the novella (Nyssa as the protagonist!) plus this adorable Team Nerd (Five and Sarah) fanart I’d comissioned from AdeleLorienne, and we had our picture taken…

(t-shirt I had printed with the aforementioned “Team Nerd” design, hoping to see that beautiful smile of hers)

…but I’m ugly as a toad, so what really made me happy was asking Sarah to autograph my own copy of the novella…

… and I clumsily told her how many online fans she has and probably scared her a bit by being too enthusiastic.

So I’m guessing she wanted to send me a little thank-you after all my fangirling, because it’s not every day some crazy person from the other side of the world flies 5000 miles to see you.

Also, she may have been giving me a little Nyssa-treatment, since I was not in the best of shape when I saw her — in fact I’m going in for a medical procedure tomorrow and haven’t been allowed to eat since yesterday, so that was absolutely serendipity to find her pictures in my mailbox!

The character is fictional, but there’s something very appealing about an alien genius with a lovely voice who’s dedicated her life to healing and helping people when you’re stuck in the impersonal real-world cogs of the American medical system.

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Tomorrow is the big day!

I flew from Belfast to Heathrow and then took the tube all the way to Barking, so I am ready and waiting for Sarah Sutton signing tomorrow! I wish I weren’t feeling so utterly horrible; I am hurting and knackered and could barely eat tonight. Travel and packing and diverticulosis are not a good combination. Also I’m still getting over that cold I picked up last Sunday (hope none of you caught it from me:()

But I am here and I will see her. No matter what.

I hope I can get someone to take a picture when i give her the book.

On the plus side, UK hotels seem to have draggable beds that I can kick close enough to an elrctrical outlet for my heating pad. it has utterly saved me, this trip.

P.S. if you haven’t seen them, check my ex cetra blog for my travel photos: http://x-cetra.tumblr.com/search/ireland http://x-cetra.tumblr.com/search/scotland

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Oops, sorry about that long double post...

…as some of you know, the hotel wifi for Dimensions was awful. My con photoset didn’t post when I first wrote it, so I tried again when i reached the airport ;)

[galaxyfour]

:D :D :D

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Dimensions 2014: cosplayers, Louise Jameson, Frazer Hines & Michael Troughton, Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, Sophie, swag. (My iPad is my Big Finish library that helps distract me from discomfort when I’m having a rough patch, so I had my favorite people autograph it. There’s a blank spot waiting for Sarah. Wish they’d left a little more room for Peter, but it would’ve been rude to ask them to write smaller!) Hope you had a safe trip home, everyone. It was lovely to meet you!

[galaxyfour]

Safety cling!

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The problem with being an introvert at a con

1) Being all alone in a crowd suddenly becomes overwhelming, especially when it’s noisy. 2) I have cute photos of myself with KATY and Paul McGann and K-9 (thank you!), but I’m uncomfortable posting pictures of myself.

On the other hand, there are many lovely people here, and I am absolutely delighted to have made the acquaintance of a few of you!