Final Homemade Heroes Entries (3 of 3): Bratz
This entry is so damn cool. Really, they all have been, and I am running out of expletives to describe them. Especially since a recent post netted this e-mail from my mom:
I cringe every time I see the “F” word or reference to it on your peephole. Is that the kind of thing you want your fans to see? As for the homemade heroes, these people must have a lot of time on their hands. Some are absolutely mind blowing and you can see the amount of work that went into them. Awesome.
Love, Mom
I get these e-mails every once in a while. It’s kind of sweet, and shows my mom wants to make sure everyone knows I was raised right. Still, while I try not to be gratuitous about it, I’m not going to stop cursing. Words are just that, and none of them are “bad”. I figure anyone who reads my books can handle an occasional F-bomb, especially given that I am a New Yorker and we use them like commas.
Anyway, back to the Homemade Heroes Contest. This entry is from Margherita in Ontario, and it is the last accepted entry. It is also a SERIOUS contender. I mean, holy crap. Check this out:
Hi Peat,
Firstly, I hope you and your family had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.
Second, I know submissions for the Homemade Heroes Contest were supposed to be in before Thanksgiving, but I’m going to go ahead and use the excuse that I’m Canadian and didn’t know when your Thanksgiving fell on the calendar (Ya, I know… you printed the date on the contest info page). I figured it out when a bunch of newly found family members in Brooklyn sent me text messages this morning assuming we shared the same Thanksgiving date.
Anyhoo… I really don’t mind sending these in late. I had a blast putting them together. I’ve been wishing and hoping and praying that I’ll wake up with artistic abilities to allow me to get some Demon Cycle fan art going, buuuutt I heard Santa doesn’t do the whole early gifting thing. So, I’m just grateful you gave us all this opportunity. Plus, it was kinda fun ignoring my boyfriend for a couple of days to play with dolls.
I’ve got Leesha Paper, Rojer Inn, Renna Tanner and Arlen Bales. Leesha was probably the easiest of the four. Stuck the pockets onto her apron with some double sided sponge tape (doesn’t work very well). Was even able to change her eye colour from brown to the beautiful blue we know Leesha to have. By the way, she has no feet… Stupid BRATZ doll had feet with the shoes painted on. Strappy high heels wouldn’t have worked very well.
Rojer’s in the lovely warded cloak Leesha had made for him (He isn’t wearing any clothes underneath. Shhhh…). I got his hair to that orange colour with marker… yes marker. Chopped off a few fingers and threw in his fiddle with strings and all.
Renna’s hair took forreevvvverrrr. I don’t know why I cared so much. She’s wearing her slit dress, but she doesn’t have her skin warded. Gave her the necklace Cobie Fisher gifted her and her father’s knife. Renna is also footless. Big pink sneakers are not sold at Hog’s general store.
Arlen, Arlen, Arlen. Skin warded from bottoms of his feet to crotch to palms to head. Took a good amount of time to get all of the hair snipped away from his head with toe nail clippers. Fun times. Has One Arm’s claw scars on his back too. He was so much fun to photograph!
(I thumbnailed these, but if you click on any one, you can enlarge and scroll through! -PVB)
And just so you know, I am so so sorry for all of the Arlen photos. I just couldn’t choose :s Oh ya, there’s an Arlen/Leesha pic too. 😉
Well, I hope you enjoy my makeshift Demon Cycle characters as much as I enjoyed making them. 🙂
P.S. howz about coming over to Hamilton, Ontario (I can deal with Toronto if I have to) and doing a book signing? I’ll bring your friends Leesha, Rojer, Renna and Arlen along.
Have an awesome weekend!
Margherita
FYI, Margherita, I will probably be in Toronto again soon. I was there last year to visit the Resident Evil: Afterlife set, and I think there’s a Worldcon or a World Fantasy con coming up there in the next year or two.
World Fantasy 2012 is in Toronto. Nice figures. I wonder how you’ll choose, there have been so many fine entries.
I was about to say “Bratz have never been this cool” but I feel it doesn’t give enough emphasis on just how cool these are, nicely done Margherita!
Also, that cloak of unsight looks damn comfy, fancy makin’ a life-sized one?
Anyone agree with me on the “F” word? Anyone??
Thanks for the nice comments Elicius.
As for making a life-sized Cloak of Unsight… Rojer’s photos don’t really show much, but if you take a closer look at some of the other images you’ll notice I can’t sew. :s To be totally honest, I’m not sure how I got everything to stay together. Might be the Adhesive Wards I used. 😉
But you’re right, it does look comfy. I used a Dollar Store scarf to make it with the fluffy side on the inside so it’s nice and warm too. And I think you gave me an awesome idea… The Snuggy my boyfriend bought me last Christmas after I told him how rediculous I thought they were would look pretty cool with some wards drawn or sewn(not by me) onto it.
Thanks again. 🙂
P.S. De… what did you mean by that comment? Sorry, just not sure if it’s toward Mr. Brett’s swearing post or my entry…
Ha! De is my mom. She’s fishing for someone to back her up on the swearing thing. 🙂
Haha. I get it now. Sorry.
Unfortunately, I can’t agree. I swear like a trucker, which sucks because there’s this saying that creeps into my head every time I say something not-so-pleasant. It’s something like… Profanity is the crutch of a conversational cripple.
But no “proper” words can express the feelings that some swear words can give off.
Plus, it’s a habit. Can’t stop. Like biting my nails. At least I don’t smoke.
How Awesome!
Although… I hope they were your own toys because if you ‘borrowed’ your daughter / sister’s things – they are going to wake up and wonder what on earth has happened their toys! 😉