From FALLEN - Marcus

My last science fiction and fantasy submission for the semester. This time I tried to introduce a lighter element by showing Gabriel having a friend. There are in the Ministers of Grace who have gotten past his appearance and nature. One of them is Marcus, a student from America who was sought out for his manifestation of powers of superhuman strength. He tries to be a good friend, even when it's hard, and calls Gabriel "Batman." There's also a mention of Rachel, who is an English student with the power of empathy, and her agnosticism has not been improved by witnessing what Gabriel has to go through.

( "Whatever you say, Batman." )

International Steampunk City 2012

Jared and I just got back from a day spent at the International Steampunk City Fair held in downtown Waltham. I have to say, I love that this thing exists. Steampunk is a slightly obscure subculture, and a very geeky one at that. And yet the town authorities are cool enough to see the connection it can make to Waltham's history of watchmaking and development with the Industrial Revolution. And all the artists and artisans in this style get a venue with a ton of support to display their wares and their work. And geeks like me, who eat this stuff up, get to experience it for ten bucks and a short walk from my house. I think that's incredibly cool. I feel like, slowly but surely, various aspects of geek culture are going more and more mainstream, and over time we'll get more and more people who are open to fantastic stuff like this.

I had a lot of fun there. I loved walking around looking at the art pieces and the items for sale, and we attended some interesting panels too. Steam Fashion was great for definitional things, like a good, solid way to define the subculture and the aesthetic of steampunk as "the long (around one hundred thirty years) 19th Century," and the ideas behind the "ragamuffin," "aristocrat," "adventurer," "soldier," and "professorial" steam fashion styles. Thrifty Costuming had a lot of information I already knew-- at this point I'm a pretty experienced thrift store scourer --but also gave me a lot of great pointers for DIY props and pieces. They emphasized deconstruction very heavily, using pieces of things to build new things. I especially liked the idea of taking soft leather purses and cutting off the embellishments so as to turn them into belt pouches; a couple of the presenters had done that and I never would have guessed that they were repurposed modern items. I even picked up a battered old purse at the thrift store to try it out with and make a present for Jared.

We walked all over the town today, and though my feet are aching now, I'm very happy to have gotten that much exercise. I also loved the people-watching, seeing all the people going by in their costumes. It's really a great idea, and it supports the Charles River Museum of Industry too! So it's socially responsible as well as good geeky fun. :-D