Can't Stop the Signal...

This past weekend Gavin and I attended ‘Serenity Forever’, a Firefly/Battlestar Galactica con run by Starfury Events.

This is the second Starfury con I’ve attended. I was in Birmingham in December for ‘Midnight’ to meet David Tennant and Billie Piper. I enjoyed it but found that there were a few things lacking – no dealer or screening rooms, and long periods of time with nothing to do.  As an attendee there alone, these were very noticeable to me. While I was looking forward to ‘Serenity Forever’ I was also slightly wary of being a bit bored. Turns out my fears were unfounded.

Approx 300 geeks descended on the Renaissance Hotel at Heathrow for the three day event, which began with an opening ceremony introducing all the guests: Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Jonathan Woodward  and Nectar Rose from Firefly and Serenity; Aaron Douglas, Leah Cairns and Stephanie Jacobsen from BSG, Elyse Levesque of Stargate: Universe and Magda Apanowicz of Caprica.

For us the big draws were Jewel and Sean (I‘m a BSG fan but Gavin hasn’t seen it), but all the guests were utterly amazing. Interesting, engaged, and entertaining; they created a warm, welcoming and relaxed atmosphere.

The guest Meet and Greet for the Gold ticket holders began straight after the opening ceremony. Think speed dating on a large scale: 8-10 attendees per table and the guests work their way around the room, spending a few minutes at each. Jewel and her friend Jen were first to stop by with tales of their visit to Paris, and our table fed the guests well. Sweets were dispensed (some with a health warning), while Magda ensured we all sampled a bottle of whisky, something I slightly regretted next morning! Afterwards we partied and danced into the night, with Leah throwing some shapes and leading the Hand Jive crew.

Saturday dawned early with photo sessions. I opted for a double pic with Jewel and Sean (no hover hands from them), while Gavin had a moment with Jewel and a lady combo of Elyse and Magda. The rest of the day was spent in the Q&As. It being Nectar’s birthday,  Jonathan decided to make a human birthday cake for her, and then proceeded to jump out of it. Trouserless.

Elyse and Magda were up next, the latter inadvertently started a burping competition, which she won with ease. BSG then represented, and Aaron regaled us with tales of his first scene with Edward James Olmos, who welcomed him to the show by breathing the foulest stench into his face. He also informed us of the importance of wearing underwear to work. That poor sound guy.

Jewel and Sean then took to the stage, and the friendship and love between them is undeniable. The shorthand you have with a friend when you’re on the same wavelength was plain to see and they collapsed in giggles frequently. Tales of Morena Baccarin’s ‘Bitchy Neutral Face’ were hilarious, and left people practising theirs all through the weekend.

Autographs were up next, and fun was the order of the day.  Gavin was teasing Jonathan about hair, I was talking to Aaron about whisky distilleries for his trip to Scotland this week. Magda in particular took care to write something different and amusing  on every person’s photo, while Jonathan (whose table was just before hers) took every opportunity to deface every pic of her.

The costume competition revealed a parade of fabulous (and disturbing) outfits that included the Serenity crew, a Borg Swedish Chef, Cylon daycare (involving nappy wearing toasters in a pushchair, and Aaron rocking one to sleep in a blanket), and the runaway winner, a giant Jayne hat.

Then it was party time again, and what a party! You know those nights where it starts out rather quiet, and you think you might just have an early night? Yeah, really glad I didn’t do that. As I was thinking about heading to bed, Gavin overheard the Starfury organiser Sean Harry approach Jonathan and inform him that some bloke called Joss Whedon was in the house. Bed forgotten, we headed into the main hall, fully expecting it to be a joke or a rumour. Then I approached the sizeable group at the bar and realised the man in the middle was indeed Joss.

To say there was mild hysteria at this point is rather an understatement. Everyone was positively vibrating with excitement, and watched Jewel, Sean and Joss strut their stuff on the dancefloor. They had a ring of security (who were fab and ensured there was no inappropriate behaviour, but still allowed people to mingle with Joss and have fun). This is one of the things I loved about the Starfury attendees: everyone was respectful of their space and just enjoyed dancing with him, and felt so lucky that we were having this experience. There was a lot of love in the room as strangers hugged each other and squeed repeatedly.

They didn’t just make a ‘show face’ appearance either – I didn’t check times but they were there for a good 90 mins at least. As the last song began I had an opportunity to approach Joss so I took it. After asking if he’d mind saying a few words, I was able to thank him for giving me so much over the years, and tell him how much his work meant to me. That minute was brilliant, and one that will stay with me forever.

I always worry about meeting my heroes (what if they’re not as nice as they seem?) but he proved once again why he is my King. Listening to everyone chanting “WHEDON! WHEDON!” as he stood on stage was fab, and as he left a spontaneous singalong of the Firefly theme broke out, and brought a tear to the eye.

Next morning, everyone was buzzing and those who hadn’t been at the party woke up to realise what they’d missed. It turns out it wasn’t just some attendees who’d been unaware of what Jewel and Sean had done, other guests were a tad miffed they hadn’t met Joss either. While people were excited at what had happened, they were respectful of those who’d missed out.

The focus soon turned to the experience that is Communion. Led by Jonathan, it involved being fed a Pringle by Madga, blessed with whisky by Aaron and given a shot by Jonathan, culminating in shouting ‘Hallelujah’ into the mike in Jonathan’s trousers. A typical Sunday morning, then. 

For Babylon 5 fans there was a drop-by from Bruce Boxleitner to enjoy, who was posing for photos and signing autographs and copies of his new book. More talks followed, and we found out that Elyse stalked Jensen Ackles on a flight and attempted to give Chris Pine her number in a coffee shop, whilst Jewel countered with her “I dropped a load of tampons at Chris Pine’s feet” and "Matthew Fox thinks I'm an idiot" stories. Celebrities get starstruck too, clearly.

To Elyse’s slight embarrassment we discovered she not only raps about vaginas, she has a music video too. Jewel’s face went from stunned horror to astounded admiration while the hall cracked up. If you want to see it, you can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMtMJSMw33k

Then it was all over bar the closing ceremony. Jonathan took his rightful place at the naughty table, while all the guests talked about the fantastic time they’d had, and how they’d be back. And you know what? It wasn’t just polite bumpf, they really meant it. They genuinely had enjoyed themselves, and the weekend had gone too fast. It was sad to say goodbye to such a fab bunch.

I must thank the Starfury crew and volunteer stewards for a fantastic weekend. Well organised and relaxed, everything ran smoothly and everyone went home with a huge grin on their faces. While the event is pricey, especially once travel and accommodation are factored in, I would definitely attend another event and hang out with my Starfury family again.

To Cape or Not to Cape…..

Recently I read a comment on FB that got me thinking about people who put on costumes (outwith fancy dress parties), and why they do it.

For the uninitiated, there are two different categories that these people fall into – costumers and cosplayers.  A cosplayer is someone who not only wears the outfit, they essentially become that character - mimicking their speech, their movements, ensuring that their outfit is what some like to call ‘screen accurate.’  It’s roleplaying; acting without the stage or camera. 

  

The Galactic Knights, an essential part of geekcamp

Within the geek community, perhaps the most well-known are the Galactic Knights (you can find their website here and follow them on twitter - @GalacticKnights), who have a variety of cosplayers covering films such as Star Wars and Dredd.  They give a lot of their time to raise money for charity as well as entertaining the masses at conventions around the country.  They’re fantastic, and I am honoured that a few are my friends.  I even participated in a flash mob with them a couple of months ago.

Then there are the costumers like me; people who enjoy dressing up but do not act the part, as such.  I have attended all three SFX weekenders and this year’s SciFi Weekender (known to most of us as geekcamp), and with the exception of the first year I’ve always donned at least one costume.  I’ve been Leela from Futurama, a Gryffindor (Harry Potter), the First Doctor (as part of a Femme Doctors group), Cinderella (kickass Disney Princesses), Sweet Pea from Sucker Punch and Thor.

Victoria Matthew, fulfilling a dream as Femme Hellboy

So why do I enjoy this?  Well, a few reasons really.  The first is that it’s a fun project that I can work on, trying to put together an outfit that is recognisable as that character.  Sometimes it’s frustrating, not helped by the fact that I can barely sew, but I’m learning and expanding my skills.

Secondly, I enjoy brainstorming with my boyfriend and friends, throwing around ideas and getting tips that perhaps hadn’t occurred to me.  If it’s a group costume having the support and encouragement from my ladies (aka the GeekCampGirls – check us out on FB and Twitter) is paramount.

Thirdly, but perhaps most importantly, is how I feel when I wear them.  By February last year I was the heaviest I have ever been, and to say I had pretty much no confidence in myself would be an understatement.  Unless you’ve carried a significant amount of extra weight, it’s hard to imagine how that impacts on you in every respect.  It’s not just the effort of dragging your lardy arse up flights of stairs and finding yourself breathless at the top, it affects your personality too. 

Countless times I have thought that people don’t really like me, or made an excuse not to go out at the weekend because I was feeling fat, ugly and had nothing to wear.  I’ve thought that people in restaurants were watching me, waiting for me to stick my head in the plate, or that they were judging me on how I looked.  Maybe they were and maybe they weren’t; it doesn’t really matter though because I was judging me.

One of my friends once told me that I was very much ‘talk to the hand.’  What she meant was that whenever a guy came near me I gave off a very negative vibe.  I understand her point – I’m very aware that when guys would approach us, I withdrew into the background.

So what has changed?  I guess my ‘lightning bolt’ moment came when at SFX3 last year, I had my photo taken with Toby Whithouse, the creator of Being Human and Who contributor.  He was as gorgeous as ever (I may have a huge crush there), whereas I looked like a blob in clothes.  That photo, plus looking around at all the amazing ladies in their fantastic outfits, was when I decided enough was enough.  I used my costumes for this year as my motivation and by Christmas I had lost 4 stone (56lbs). 

At geekcamp this year I not only wore corsets for the first time, I felt better about myself than I had done in years.  Yes, I got attention in my outfits but I didn’t go looking for it.  Anyone who’s lost weight knows that it’s good to catch up with someone you haven’t seen in ages and receive nice comments on your weight loss.  It encourages you to keep it off/lose more and motivation is absolutely key.

Stepping into Thor was a revelation.  I actually felt different – I stood straighter (helped by the corset), my confidence soared and I knew I looked as good as I possibly could.  I positively strutted my way through the camp.

The GeekCamp Girls

Our Femme Avengers group drew a lot of attention, certainly.  People took and posed for photos, commented on the different outfits and examined them in detail, marvelling at the work that went into them, particularly in our Loki’s case (huge props to Samantha and Jane, I’m utterly in awe!)  A young man approached me and asked for a pic.  I assumed he wanted me to take a photo of him with his friend, so held out my hand for the camera.  It wasn’t until he stood beside me that I realised he actually wanted a photo WITH me. Me!

Gavin and I getting our Marvel on

Even though we didn’t manage to get all our Sucker Punch girls together for photos I loved wearing that too, and walking back to my caravan in the dark my shadow looked like Blade, which made me feel pretty badass, I have to admit.  I forsee Thor and Sweetpea making a return next year.

So, that's why I costume - for love and fun. Love of the characters, and a whole heap of fun with my friends.  And if one of our outfits can motivate someone else the way my man, my girls and my fellow geeks motivate me, then it’s all good.

Hugs and fairy dust

V x