Category: Psi Corps

A Circle Skirt of Fandoms

And trying to make progress on my novel!

I swear I will hit one of my monthly writing goals at one point this year! I’m going to go out on a limb and say I was aiming a bit too high when I sat down and made a game plan. I haven’t been able to finish anything since completing my Sisters novel, and I desperately want to change that.

#HighCastle/#Babylon5 Bester Circle Skirt

Say that ten times fast!

No. Seriously. I am making this, and it is A Thing. I bought myself a sewing machine with Christmas money in January, and life is too short to not aspire to create your own vintage fandom ensembles.

Isn’t she lovely? I got a great deal on her with Amazon Renewed!

My First Sewing Adventure Since 2010

I took time to plan this out because I want this to be the most beautiful and unlikely combination I’ve ever created, which means I wanted to start with something simple. Circle skirts are simple, right?

Step 1: Math. Circles. The waist is the circumference, and you need the radius of it in order to sketch the pattern and cut a proper waistband.

w = waist
r = radius
d = diameter
s = desired skirt length - don't forget to decide how long you want that skirt to fall!

w/π = d
d/2 = r

Step 2: Order enough fabric or you’ll find yourself having to buy another panel and having to sew it together. I must say that sewing was a breeze with my machine.

Step 3: Make an old school compass. No. Really. This is the best way to do it. Get a strand of yarn, make sure it’s a few inches longer than (r + s), and grab the nearest pen. Tie the yarn to the pen. Tie the other end to a pin, and stab that pin into the carpet! It is helpful to secure some measuring tape to the pin as well.

You’re going to use the radius you calculated in the first step and wrap the yarn around the pen until it’s there.

Using the pin you stabbed into the carpet as an anchor, draw a half circle. Add the radius to your desired skirt length (r + s) to draw the skirt part–if you don’t, your skirt will be too short.

Step 4: flatten the fabric (and pin if necessary) and cut 1/2 inch outside the lines.

Step 5: The fun part! If you want to add some flair now is the time to do it.

The next step is to do a little bit of my favorite thing in the universe: hand sew the iron on patches to ensure they stay in place. I am not going lie. I hate hand sewing, so it might be forever before I get around to it. Oh the absolute dread of hand sewing!

Review – Psi Corps Replica Pin

I am overdue for a review. I got a little Babylon 5 gem in the mail, so here’s the scoop!

This is my in-depth look at the Psi Corps replica badge you see floating around places like Ebay and Amazon. You can view Amazon’s listing here: Babylon 5 PSI CORPS Replica

Don’t be fooled by the crappy product photo. At first glance, it looks like a cheap, plastic replica not worth your time. I’m happy to say that I scoured the Internet for reviews to confirm that the badge is metal (not that cheap Halloween-bend it-break it metal either).

Imagine the way my heart sank when I pulled this out of the packaging. I was fully prepared for a broken badge.

Phew! A perfect badge.

My thoughts:
1. As I said before, it’s made of a decent metal and has a good weight to it which makes it feel like a proper badge. Sign me up for the Psi Corps right now!
2. The clasps in the back are just as the descriptions say: military style.

3. The size is perfect. It appears to be as large as the ones seen on the show. I couldn’t be happier with that aspect of it.
4. The casting/mold has dents in it to give the badge a realistic worn feel, but not to the point of being ugly and unwearable (see the large image above). 
5, There is a slight deviation from the badges on the show (I can see why this would anger people, but the product image–as crappy as it is–shows you this). The psi symbol in this badge is curvy, whereas the ones seen on the show are blocky. 
The difference between psi symbols got me curious (hey, I *am* a huge fan, after all!) Where did the curvy version come from? Take a look at the collage of screencaps I gathered below and click on the image to enlarge it:
I looked in my Babylon 5 Images folder to see if I could spot anything obvious. There was one possible deviation from the blocky version (circled in bright green). It’s hard to tell if the badge in that picture is an instance of the curvy psi, or if just looks that way due to the angle. If it is the latter, where did they pick up the curvy version from?
There it is. 
So why did they mass produce the curvy version instead of the show’s more prominent blocky version? I can only speculate…It could be that phantom badge I circled in green, an early prototype that was nixed in favor of the blocky version, but was somehow sent to the manufacturer instead, or maybe Alfred Bester didn’t like the idea of exact replicas being mass produced for Mundanes…I don’t know!
If there are any Babylon 5 fans who know the answer to this, I am all ears! 
There you have it! More than you ever wanted to know about the Psi Corps replica pin!
Conclusion
4/5 Teeps – The only reason it gets docked a point is because it is not an exact replica of the ones in the show.
Would I recommend this to a friend?
Unless you are a stickler for something that is 100% true to the original, then yes. If you are a fan of Babylon 5, it is a fun replica to have and a nice little addition to any collections you own. Get on Ebay, Amazon, or what have you and purchase one right now! 
*Tosses in more photos just for fun*

All Your Fanart are Belong to Us

All your fanart are belong to us. Set up us the draw.

My mind is back on Babylon 5 (as if it would stay away for long!). I’m always striving to improve my art by testing new styles. Enjoy!
I got this idea from a Beauty and the Beast gif. I liked the mood the original invoked, so I made my own….Psi Corps, of course!

“Vy am I vearing all black?” Chekov asks himself as he gazes through the looking glass.

It’s a rainy day at your friendly Psi Corps headquarters!
And just for kicks and giggles, I wandered into the deep, ancient drudges of the Internet to uncover one of my old pieces of fanart. The .jpg quality is atrocious, but it just goes to show you can improve with practice.
Created some fanart of our own? Feel free to share!

Return to…Bed!

I’ve been sick all weekend, so I will have to postpone Part II of last week’s post. However, I was digging around and noticed that I had neglected to post a drawing in October. I had even posted a preview for it back in September.

The preview:

The completed drawing:

Mirror on the Wall – Sketch to digital. Oh, Photoshop, how I miss thee….

Inspired by Babylon 5!

Return to Tomorrow: September

I’m trudging through a nasty cold right now, but the rest of this month has been fabulous.

Disclaimer for the Babylon 5 fan art: Babylon 5 (c) J. Michael Straczynski. I did not create that universe, and nor do I own it.

Remember this? I completed the digital version!


Full/Large version
“End Game” – based off of a Babylon 5/Psi Corps RP I was a part of.


“Dream the Stars” – A watercolor painting I did just for fun

Preview
I’m always striving to improve my skills, so here is the sketch version of something that I will digitalize in October.

Books read
8/3 – I finally completed All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. It was an emotional book. There were instances where I had to put it down for weeks at a time. It was an excellent book, five stars. A warning: it is a heartbreaking read.