There'll be actual real live people, it'll be totally strange

I went to London Comic Con this weekend, it was a bit of a last minute decision but I obviously haven't been able to go since 2019 and it felt really important to get out and do things I enjoy as this year has felt a bit weird and isolating. And I think I enjoyed it more than last time! I always feel really comfortable at cons, I really love people who are passionate about stuff as I can relate. I'd like to get a table and sell my illustrations there someday, I've never sold at cons before but I'd love to meet the people buying my art instead of the anonymity of online sales. The whole experience was really inspiring and I came home brimming with ideas for future illustrations and things to make! 

I obviously had to go in cosplay, and as it was October and a bit chilly I decided to go as Anna from Frozen. I went as Elsa last time so it only felt right!

Because I had to stay in a hotel I made a proper weekend of it and went to see a couple of shows. On the Friday night I saw the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cinderella, which I didn't know a whole lot about before going other than it was an updated retelling, but as I love fairy tales so much I wanted to give it a chance. And oh boy! I really hated it!

I especially like the original story of Cinderella because it's a really important story about abuse, grief, and hope. Cinderella loses both of her parents and is enslaved in her own home by her legal guardian while she's a minor, and her step family attempt to completely erode her feelings of self worth out of sheer spite. Even when she goes to the ball, whether in the Disney version or the original folktale, she never went there to meet the Prince, she didn't even recognize the Prince, she just wanted a night out to go dancing. She never dreamed a Prince would come and save her, she just hoped that one day she might be in a better position to be able to leave her step family behind: "No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true." And I hate this modern "empowered" interpretation that she just waits for a man to save her because she never once does that. And while I knew this musical was a retelling I was hoping it would still have some of that spirit, but unfortunately they just went down the "not like other girls" route instead.

It's set in the town of Belleville, where all of the female characters are 'Valley Girls' and all of the male characters are 'Jocks'. All except for Cinderella who is a tomboy 'Goth' (because an outcast always has to be a goth 😑) and Prince Sebastian who is nerdy and introverted. Naturally they're both hated by the townsfolk for being so different, and they've been friends their whole lives despite coming from entirely separate social backgrounds and are secretly in love with each other. It's just so boring and predictable that I was rolling my eyes the entire time. Some elements of the show are so over the top and ridiculous that it almost feels like pantomime, but it also takes itself far too seriously and straddles this really weird line where it can't decide what sort of story it wants to be. Even the Fairy Godmother is entirely changed; originally she's the literal embodiment of Cinderella's faith in her own abilities, now she's a plastic surgeon who Cinderella goes to and pays so she can look like everyone else. And this is such a horrifying message and not anywhere near as subversive as it thinks it's being!

This next bit is a huge spoiler, but the 'twist' at the end is that Prince Sebastian's older brother Prince Charming isn't actually dead like we're told throughout the musical, and naturally he interrupts Prince Sebastian's wedding to announce that he faked his death to avoid an arranged loveless marriage to a woman because he's actually gay and in love with the Duke. Which could of been an incredible social commentary on the whole royal thing, except it's the punchline. Also it's immediately accepted by absolutely everyone in the town, including the Queen who is thrilled with her gay son and accepts the Duke, so why exactly did Prince Charming feel like he had to run away in the first place? The plot line has no substance because there was seemingly never anything to overcome, it's like the writers just thought to themselves "what do young people like right now? Ah, the gays!" and just slapped something in to look woke. Especially when compared to something like the recent Netflix series Young Royals which genuinely dealt with a story line of a young Crown Prince realizing he's queer and dealing with the consequences of that in a very realistic way.

On Saturday night I saw Frozen, which felt appropriate as I was cosplaying Anna that weekend (not at the theater though!) I saw Frozen when I went to New York in 2019, and I didn't think I was going to see it in London although now I don't know why I was avoiding it as I love it so much! It's also changed quite a bit from it's Broadway run. The theater is larger so some of it's been re-staged, they've included references to Frozen II which I was less happy about, and they've included a new song and cut and shortened some others.

Anna's lost her only solo song True Love, which was one of my favorites and one of the moments where Anna has the most growth so I was really sad to see that go. It's always been my complaint even on Broadway that the betrayal scene between Anna and Hans is far too rushed, and unfortunately it's even more so now True Love is gone. I've also always felt like they missed a trick by not giving Hans his own song here - a mocking reprise of Love Is An Open Door would be absolutely perfect detailing how vulnerable and easy to fool Anna was. It's the linchpin of the whole final act so I've never understood why it's so hurried, but they have at last given Hans a couple of lines to sing if not a full song, and it's yet another reprise of his Hans of the Southern Isles track. I don't know why I'm surprised, they always do Hans dirty.

Overall I really loved it though! I loved Oliver Ormson as Hans, and the Duke of Weselton is always a character I don't take much notice of but he was wonderfully slimy here, and Samantha Barks is an absolute powerhouse and it was very exciting getting to see her live! I know it's not important and coincidental but I feel like she even looks the most like Elsa too in her face shape and features. And I always love seeing different interpretations of the character - on Broadway I saw Charissa Hogeland who played Elsa very anxious and timid, whereas Samantha was much more proud and you could feel the weight of her duties on her. The cast performed it with American accents too, which I appreciated. Wicked is performed as British, and it always feels really jarring to me as Oz is an American story and I'm so used to the OBC, and although they could technically get away with British accents for Frozen with it being European I'm glad they stuck with what sounds more familiar to the characters. I definitely need to see it again!

What a night! What a crowd! Makes you glad, Makes you proud

The Phantom of the Opera was the first musical that really got me into theater, and probably the show I've seen the most. I last saw it back in August on a whim as I knew it had been updated and I was curious - I knew it was a long shot, but I was kind of hoping that they might be making it more like the Oslo production from 2019. They didn't, but changes or not I fell in love with the story all over again.

I knew I wanted to see it again, and when I saw TodayTix were having a sale I bought a cheap ticket on a random date. I didn't think much about it, I literally just bought the best ticket at the best price, so I was floored when I arrived and saw they were filming it for the 35th anniversary and it was some huge event! There were roses on every seat with a note from the Phantom, and we were each given complimentary glasses of champagne. I think I enjoyed it all even more because it was all so unexpected!

Here's what I wore. I made the blouse the weekend before, and it ended up being a real headache! I mostly wanted to make the sleeves which I drafted myself, and I bought a pattern for the bodice as I figured it would be quicker and easier but that was a mistake! Apparently thinking the pattern will match the measurements on the outside of the packet is asking too much. But it came together in the end and I'm really happy with it! My dress has a painting of bears on it!

Must be the season of the witch

I love finding mushrooms. I don't pick any as I'm still learning to identify them. I was taking a photo of the big mushroom shelf growing from the side of this tree stump, and didn't even notice the tiny little wispy guys on top until I was looking at the photo.

"It's good to see me, isn't it?"

I finally went back to London to see Wicked last night, and I don't even know if I have the words? The last time I saw this show was March 2020, a week before I left Europe to go live in Japan. And then, you know, something else happened. I remember feeling at the time like I was content to take a break from the show as I'd seen it so often by this point, but the old saying be careful what you wish for comes to mind as I didn't mean like this! It's almost the same cast as before it's temporary closure, with the exception of Sophie Evans now playing Glinda, and as she's my absolute favorite I couldn't be happier about that! I really think this current cast is perfect 💚

This is what I wore. This dress was one of the last things I bought in Japan before I left, I'd been admiring it on the mannequin in front of the shop for a couple of weeks but it was kind of expensive. Knowing it was the last time I'd ever have the opportunity to buy it made me go for it though, and it's probably one of my favorite clothing items I got while I lived there. I wore it with my Doc Martens sandals, which are not very comfortable but I'm persevering.An old punk in Camden called me 'Alice in Wonderland', so that made my day.

Dress - LilLilly // Sandals - Doc Martens // Headbow - Innocent World // Necklace - Tarina Tarantino

Turn and face the strange

I meant to post about this sooner, but I went to the antiques center last week! I last went in December 2019, and I always love taking photos and seeing how much it's changed every time I go. I used to come out of these places with armfuls of things, but I'm definitely more chill nowadays and I just really like looking at quirky old stuff and seeing how things have changed over time (or not!) and thinking about the kinds of people who maybe owned it before. Especially as these places always get me thinking about consumerism and how much old stuff exists and how much new stuff is constantly being made, and how all of these lovely old things often end up in garbage dumps or left to rot in attics and how unsustainable it all is. Which really bums me out so I try to only buy stuff that I want to give a forever home.

I'm really into bears lately, and I love old carved stuff like this that looks handmade.

I've been admiring this painting for years! It used to be at another antiques place locally, now it's moved to here, and I swear I've been looking at it for about 6 years so it always makes me really happy to try and spot where they've hung it up this time.

I love old packaging design, and this iron was tiny. I did think about getting it as it would literally be perfect for travel, but it was super heavy which isn't airline friendly.

I've never seen canisters specifically for different types of sugar before.

We'll make it beautiful

I went down to London yesterday to go to the theater and I can't believe how long it's been since I've been able to type that!! It all felt a bit weird and surreal all day as I haven't been to London since coming back from Japan. I haven't been much of anywhere really and I did feel anxious and a bit of reverse culture shock because I've become so used to navigating Tokyo and Japanese etiquette and customs that things kept taking me by surprise and I found myself unsure of what to do. I posted about it on my Instagram stories and I had a couple of my friends from Japan messaging me to say they've felt the same since returning home so at least it's not just me!

I went to see Heathers which is a show I've wanted to see for years as I really love the cast recording. To be honest I'm not often drawn to musicals based on movies, there's been a lot of them lately which is kind of it's own gripe. I think Heathers works better as a musical though as it's such heightened reality anyway, although to be fair I've never much liked the movie so it's not hard for it to be an improvement. The issue I often have with musicals I've only ever listened to and not actually seen is because I'm such a visual person I kind of make up my own version of it in my head because I don't know how it's staged (I don't like bootlegs personally, watching something through someone's shaky phone camera where they're constantly zooming in and out is not a fun time for me). So sometimes actually seeing the show can be a bit of a letdown compared to what I pictured, but I really enjoyed it! And I'm so glad it opened as restrictions have been so up in the air lately which has affected the theater and arts industries the most, so it just felt so important to be back.

There was so much I wanted to do in London before the show that I kind of didn't know what to do. I wanted to go to a museum or art gallery, but I also wanted to check out a few stores I can't get to locally. I was still deciding on the Tube when I suddenly decided to jump off at Tottenham Court Road and spent most of the day in various book shops, so I guess I'll go to the museum in a few weeks. I also stopped by the Japan Centre, which I've been going to for years but it really hit different this time as I recognized absolutely everything on the shelves from when I lived there. Especially as I'd been having that reverse culture shock anxiety all day too, it was comforting!

“Stop trying. Take long walks. Look at scenery. Doze off at noon. Don't even think about flying. And then, pretty soon, you'll be flying again.”

One of the things I really wanted to do the most in Japan was visit the Studio Ghibli Museum as I'd missed it when I first went which I was super gutted about. Then Covid happened and it closed, and then while locked down they decided to do some renovations and keep it closed longer and it was basically shut for the entire time I lived in Japan and I thought I was going to miss out on it again. Until!! They announced they were opening mid-January, 2 weeks before I was due to fly back to Europe. Serendipity!

The building itself is completely magical, I don't know how else to describe it it's just so whimsical and full of tiny details even down to the doorknobs and Jiji shaped faucets. Some of its almost like a maze with tiny doors you have to crouch to go through and spiral staircases that lead to no where in particular. There's all kinds of different rooms, from detailing the history of the company and how the animations are made, to all of the behind the scenes artwork and research that goes into everything.

This was my favorite bit as it's set out like spaces where the artists are in the middle of working and like they just got up for a break, and the walls are covered in genuine concept work, story boards, and background art. I found it so, so inspiring, so much that I even bought a set of the watercolors the artists use (the Japanese brand Holbein of course). There were photo albums to flick through of the photographs the researchers had taken on locations, shelves of books they used as reference (nothing specific either, just books about birds or certain cities that are the kind of thing you'd probably overlook at the thrift store). I think the reason I found it so inspiring was because there wasn't any fancy expensive equipment or tools so it all felt really accessible and realistic. It made me want to thrift a bunch of books and paint from them as reference, and I loved seeing that all of the fantastical locations and creatures in Ghibli movies are based on things so mundane.

They also have a movie theater showing exclusive short movies that are only viewable at the museum, I think there's 8 or so that they rotate through, and t one I saw was about a caterpillar and you saw him hatching and experiencing the world for the first time and it was so cute! It also had no speech, just sound effects, so you could understand it in any language which I thought was smart although I don't know if they're all like this.