Summer Bucket List 2017

Every year I decide I want to create a summer bucket list to make sure I don't waste a single day off sitting in my bedroom wasting my time being unproductive. This year isn't an exception. I thought I'd share with you guys what I have so far starting from May to the beginning of September and maybe this inspire you to create your own.

Summer Bucket List 2017

@awanderlustbeing

1. MCM London Comic Con 2017 (27th & 28th of May) - I already have my tickets book for Saturday and Sunday! I'm hoping to cosplay Kylo Ren on Sunday and Dr. Jillian Holtzmann on the Saturday (We'll see if I finish them in time!). I'm planning to go to a meet up to see Nyx Rising Industries (at the moment it'll be at 1:30pm - check their website for updates!) and a Disney meet up on the Sunday (2pm next to the statue). If any of you are going I'd love to meet you so leave me a comment down below! I could make a group chat on Twitter and we could all organise to meet!

2. Explore Wales - I have lived in Wales since I was nearly 2 years old and I still haven't been to a lot of places in this country. I just want to explore and see more of what this beautiful place has to offer before planning to move away.

3. Film - I feel like I'm slacking with filming and uploading videos to my YouTube channel at the moment. This is partially because I don't really have a good editing software and Windows Movie Maker severely kills my motivation to edit. I'm hoping to use the editing software at college and get some videos done and ready to upload over the summer!

4. Develop My Cosplays - Work on finishing touches and details I may have missed or had to leave out before Comic Con in order to get them ready. I don't want to start any new major cosplay projects over the summer due to no. 5 but I want to have the majority on my cosplays finished and ready to wear at any time.

5. Save Money - I want to save money over the summer for multiple reasons. One being I plan to go on holiday with my good friend and her two friends for her 21st birthday in September. I want to be able to have some spending money whilst out there to explore a bit more. Save up for a laptop (high hopes but fingers crossed!) and to just have some money saved in my bank account for moving out or starting university.

6. Delve into Portrait Photograph - I have already taken some portraits and have found a desire to do more. Over the summer I'd love to find a few people willing to model for me so I can practice and hopefully get some nice shots for my Instagram.

And last but not least:

7. Get Fitter - I plan on starting going to the gym and eating healthier to loose weight, build muscle and live a healthier lifestyle. This is my choice because I am overweight and I know I have an unhealthy diet. I want to do this to feel more confident, health and positive.

If you guys are inspired by this post to make your own summer bucket list or you've already beaten me to the punch I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Perhaps you may strike me with inspiration and I may add to my own!

The story behind my tattoo

For the past 3 or 4 years I have been dreaming of getting a tattoo. I think it's a phase a lot of people go through in their teens. At least, it was between me and my friends in school. When I was 16/17 I remember being infatuated with looking at tattoo designs on the internet and thinking about having them done when I was old enough.

Come my 18 birthday I knew exactly what tattoo I wanted to have as my first: a forget-me-not flower.

Forget-me-nots are my favourite flower of all time. The reason for this is because they used to grow in an abundance in my Nanny's garden. As a child my Nanny was and still is one of my favourite people. I used to spend all of my free time with her. Her house was only a couple of streets over from my mother's so after school I'd rush over to her house and I'd sleep over there most weekends. She was such a caring and lovely lady. 

I have so many memories with her. Simple things like how she taught me to boil an egg, how I sometimes used to help her make rock cakes, that she used to take me on the bus down town to pick out a new colouring book whilst she had to go to the pet shop and bakery, her three Yorkie dogs and the dozens of birds she had. How I used to help feed her fish in the pond at the back of the garden and how when she became ill she never failed to make me happy.

Forget-me-nots always remind me of my Nan before she suffered with Cancer. I was too young to realise at the time that she was loosing her battle and really suffering and I didn't really understand what had happened too well when she had died. I understood what death was but I don't think I grieved right away. It took a while to sink in and I still sometimes have moments where I miss her so much and get upset.

I felt that this tattoo would help to keep her memory alive. I'm no longer able to go to her old house and I have very little physical things left of her. I have a few of her things like a doll, a watch and some broaches. I thought dedicating my first tattoo to her would be nice. 

I had it done on the 14th of April, 2017 at 11:30am; a week ago today. I have waited nearly two years to have this tattoo done and I couldn't be happier with it!

@yagooobian

I hoped you enjoyed this little story. I thought it'd be nice to share with you. What are your feelings on tattoos? Do you have some or are planning to get one? Leave me a comment below!

Cosplaying Harley Quinn

If you happen to follow my personal Intsagram account (yagooobian) and/or my Amino Cosplay profile (awanderlustbeing) you may already know that I cosplay Harley Quinn from the Suicide Squad movie. At the moment I don't have a lot of the cosplay done. I basically just have the wig, make-up and t-shirt sorted for her 'superhero outfit' and the wig, make-up, slippers and props for her outfit in the last scene in her cell.

I recently wore the 'superhero' cosplay to Film & Comic Con Cardiff back at the beginning of March, despite the plan being to cosplay Kylo Ren. As this year goes on I'd like to add to my Harley Quinn cosplays so at least the prison cosplay is done and the 'superhero' cosplay will be further alone or even completed.

I want to tackle something though which pushed me into writing this blog post on a Saturday morning before work. Leave Harley Quinn cosplayers alone.

It is entirely up to each individual person who or what they want to cosplay. Some people are negatively pointing out that there are a lot of Harley Quinn cosplayers with the Suicide Squad cosplays yet I don't think they realise that there were a lot of Harley Quinn cosplayers before the movie was announced. I have seen plenty of classic Harley cosplayers as well as some from the videogames and cross overs or original pieces for the character.

You are allowed to cosplay anything or anyone you want to cosplay. I would love to cosplay Foreteller Ava for example, yet I haven't played that particular part of the Kingdom Hearts series. That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to cosplay that character. Even if you haven't seen the movie/tv show, played the game or read the book the character belongs too doesn't mean you can't cosplay them. Cosplay is to celebrate characters whether that be you're drawn to a character because of their design, personality, backstory or if you feel a connection to them in some way.

So what if they are now more Harley Quinn running around at comic conventions? I think it's pretty cool that all those people want to celebrate her as a character. I'd also like to just say, not one cosplay is the same.

Are you a Harley Quinn cosplayer? Have you experience this judgement first hand or seen people criticising people for cosplaying certain characters? I'd love it if you left a comment below!

Cosplay: What It Is and What It Isn't

Cosplay, or 'costume play', is the art of dressing up and pretending to be a character. It's something I found out about around the age of 14/15 or what I like to call my Japanese phase seeing as this is around the time I was obsessed with everything Japanese culture. Through Anime I found people cosplaying on YouTube who went to conventions and created skits. Instantly I was hooked.

To me cosplay is a creative outlet. I barely draw or paint anymore like I used to in school, I seem to have lost a lot of motivation to continue with it despite it having being a big part of my life. I've mentioned before I struggle with bad mental health and cosplay is a huge help with keeping positive. It give me a goal to work towards and I feel a huge sense of achievement by the end when I wear a cosplay.

Of course cosplay is a wonderful thing where everyone in the community interacts with you as your characters at conventions and it can lead to making new friends and learning new skills. However, there is also a negative side like everything has now. The cosplay community is full of lovely people with different skills and tips if you can find them. There are also those who find it hard to understand that anyone can cosplay and that everyone's cosplay efforts should be respected and celebrated.

It doesn't matter if you are black and want to cosplay a white character or vice versa. It doesn't matter if you want to cross dress to cosplay a character identifying as a different gender than the one you identify as. It doesn't matter if you buy or make your cosplay or do a mixture of both. It doesn't matter if you don't have the skills another cosplayer does. It doesn't matter if you weigh more or less than the character you are cosplaying. The thing about cosplay is that it should make you happy. Having made the effort to research and make/buy your cosplay is personally the best feeling to me. 

Cosplay is everything to me and I'd love to learn new skills and develop my cosplays to make them the best I can. I want to build up the range of cosplays I have and build up a portfolio of sorts just for my own entertainment and the entertainment of others.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Tell me what cosplay means to you and if you send me a link to where you showcase your cospalys I'd love to have a look.

Let us all support one another and celebrate cosplayers of all ages, genders, skin tones, heights, weights and abilities!