31 Days of Fictional Characters: Day 20 - The Cat in the Hat
Let's intersect some things that have been on my mind lately!
As I've been doing this character meme thing, I have come to terms with the fact that, ayep, books are how my brain does the media thing. Sometimes comics, but mostly just text. Of the nineteen characters I've posted so far, fifteen of 'em are from books or comics. (Well, okay, Zaph' is originally from a radio play but *I* encountered him first via the books.)
In the rest of my life, I have taken on a twice(ish) weekly nannying gig, running around the world with the Rbeast. She's a damn good kid, as these things go, but I still had her mother declare me "the baby whisperer" the other day when I was getting her into diper and pants and outside clothes. Which is...a pretty true thing. Like, I could be modest, but why bother when I am genuinely and seriously good with kids. Obviously not every kid every time, but the vast majority of the time, if given a chance to interact one-on-one with a small child, the child is going to come out of it liking me immensely.
So what's a character associated heavily with books and children? That's right, it's the one, the only, The Cat in the Hat.
I have owned a red and white striped hat for _years_, since before college I think. I picked it up from mum at some point, and it sits casually in my collection, to be worn on rare occasion. But tonight, for Halloween and dancing, I needed a proper costume1, 2, so I grabbed the hat and dug through my room and in well under an hour, I had a proper outfit --red tie, black vest, white gloves, and the iconic hat. I even found myself a good looking umbrella to try balancing things on.
Because the Cat is a symbol of reading, and a caretaker of children, but he is also a chaos demon incarnate, and damn doesn't that feel good. He's dapper and polite and will leave your house a wreck and your fish having an anxiety attack --except for the part where he's ultimately good and will come back and clean it all away when he's done playing.
And there's the word, play. The Cat believes in playing, as more important than just about anything else. So much of my life and who I am is predicated on playing --I mean, what is the whole "I wanna be the sort of person who dances on empty subway cars" thing if not an affirmation of playfulness. I like games and I like fun and I don't care who knows it!
So there you go. For the first time in twenty-seven years, I have gone ahead and taken the easy route, and dressed as a Kat for Halloween. And yes of course I put my twist on it, because I'm a little bit chaotic too, some days. As long as no one gets hurt in the long run.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I have a...thing about Halloween and reusing costumes. In that I pretty passionately don't. It's gotten shakier the last few years, as I have fewer incentives to wear good costumes (I miss trick or treating) but it's still a bit of a rule.
2: Now, I don't cosplay particularly well, but this? This is my strong suit. Find something interesting and creative to wear in less than an hour using only the contents of my bedroom? Done and fucking done! I even made myself a tail.
As I've been doing this character meme thing, I have come to terms with the fact that, ayep, books are how my brain does the media thing. Sometimes comics, but mostly just text. Of the nineteen characters I've posted so far, fifteen of 'em are from books or comics. (Well, okay, Zaph' is originally from a radio play but *I* encountered him first via the books.)
In the rest of my life, I have taken on a twice(ish) weekly nannying gig, running around the world with the Rbeast. She's a damn good kid, as these things go, but I still had her mother declare me "the baby whisperer" the other day when I was getting her into diper and pants and outside clothes. Which is...a pretty true thing. Like, I could be modest, but why bother when I am genuinely and seriously good with kids. Obviously not every kid every time, but the vast majority of the time, if given a chance to interact one-on-one with a small child, the child is going to come out of it liking me immensely.
So what's a character associated heavily with books and children? That's right, it's the one, the only, The Cat in the Hat.
I have owned a red and white striped hat for _years_, since before college I think. I picked it up from mum at some point, and it sits casually in my collection, to be worn on rare occasion. But tonight, for Halloween and dancing, I needed a proper costume1, 2, so I grabbed the hat and dug through my room and in well under an hour, I had a proper outfit --red tie, black vest, white gloves, and the iconic hat. I even found myself a good looking umbrella to try balancing things on.
Because the Cat is a symbol of reading, and a caretaker of children, but he is also a chaos demon incarnate, and damn doesn't that feel good. He's dapper and polite and will leave your house a wreck and your fish having an anxiety attack --except for the part where he's ultimately good and will come back and clean it all away when he's done playing.
And there's the word, play. The Cat believes in playing, as more important than just about anything else. So much of my life and who I am is predicated on playing --I mean, what is the whole "I wanna be the sort of person who dances on empty subway cars" thing if not an affirmation of playfulness. I like games and I like fun and I don't care who knows it!
So there you go. For the first time in twenty-seven years, I have gone ahead and taken the easy route, and dressed as a Kat for Halloween. And yes of course I put my twist on it, because I'm a little bit chaotic too, some days. As long as no one gets hurt in the long run.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I have a...thing about Halloween and reusing costumes. In that I pretty passionately don't. It's gotten shakier the last few years, as I have fewer incentives to wear good costumes (I miss trick or treating) but it's still a bit of a rule.
2: Now, I don't cosplay particularly well, but this? This is my strong suit. Find something interesting and creative to wear in less than an hour using only the contents of my bedroom? Done and fucking done! I even made myself a tail.