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I voted out yesterday in the UK European referendum. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Yet the outstanding majority of posts on my Facebook and Twitter feeds were overwhelmingly favouring Remain, my humble opinion for my choice was that in times of austerity, we need to cut unnecessary expenditure, and paying for membership to the EU was an expense we can do without.

This morning, the last thing I expected was to hear the result from a friend in Canada, who, after I’d told her how I’d voted, said that I must be happy now then. At that point I didn’t know the result, I had literally just got up and had logged into FB while waiting for the kettle to boil, but took from context that the majority had voted to leave. My morning cup of tea was forgotten as I followed the progress of the news, and Cameron’s ultimate resignation.

And there I think (at least this is my opinion anyway) is the hub of it. The people weren’t voting for Britain’s best interest at heart. The Government for years have been telling us that in times of austerity, that difficult choices have to be made, that we are all in it together, and have been slashing benefits for sick and disabled people left, right and centre. People who really shouldn’t be in the workforce are being told they are capable of work and are struggling to find suitable employment, while at the same time trying to cope with their own personal ailments. Government sanctions have plunged people into more debt when their attempts to find work are ultimately unsuccessful. Whether it’s cuts to ESA or the bedroom tax, ordinary people have been squeezed dry under this government, and with no obvious signs that the leaders of this great country are also bearing the brunt of these so called ‘austerity’ measures.

Maybe if they took a salary cut, or even freeze,(like they expect teachers and nurses to do) maybe if they would forgo their generous expenses claims for a term of office, we would appreciate they were making an effort on our behalf, but these things have not happened. Instead we get reports that they still increase their salaries way above the rate of inflation, and this makes people mad.

We are obviously not all in it together.

Both sides of this referendum fought a dirty campaign. There were no unbiased reports given to the public, the Government, with Cameron at the helm would say We are stronger in Europe, listing any number if facts that I, if not many others, couldn’t follow. If they had given us an unbiased summary of the pro’s and con’s, the electorate would have made a more informed choice and just maybe the results would have been different.

As it is, I believe the UK are fed up to the back teeth of being told what to do, has voted with it’s guts, and rebelled against the political establishment.

Only time will tell if I, and the rest of the UK, are right to have done so.

My first memory of watching Battle of the Planets was back in 1979, and I was living in a different town to the one I currently live in.

I would have been around 7 years old at the time, and walking home from school with my mother, we had to pass by a small playground. Some of my friends were there already, and I wanted to join them. My mum asked me to put my coat on, but it was a warm, sunny afternoon, and I thought it wasn’t necessary, despite my mother’s warning that rain was forecast.

Well, I was on the climbing frame when the first rumble of thunder occurred. Not sure I’d heard it right, I asked my friend, who confirmed she’d heard it too, and not having my coat I knew I had to get home quick.

It really wasn’t far, maybe about ten minutes, to my house, but in that time the rain came in torrents, along with loud rumbles and scary flashes of lightening. By the time I got to our back door, I was soaked to the skin.

upon seeing the state I was in, my mum insisted I got out of my wet clothes and into some dry pyjamas, but I was still cold and mum got a blanket for me to wrap myself in, and I settled in front of the TV while she made me some tea.

There was a preschool program on first, one that I used to enjoy when I was in the relevant age bracket, then it was time for the older children’s shows. I was waiting for a different show to start, so was somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t what I was waiting for, but once the music started and the characters introduced, I was transfixed to the screen. I believe I cheered when the team returned to Centre Neptune, safe and sound after defeating the evil Spectra, to the extent that my mum came in from the kitchen and asked me what was I watching? I turned round briefly and told her it was G-Force, and went straight back to the screen.

I cannot for the life of me remember which episode it was, nor the day and time of broadcast, and it seemed like an age before I saw another episode, but more of them I did, and it soon became my ‘never to be missed’ favourite show. I was heartbroken when Keyop thought he’d found his mother only to lose her again, sad when his first love moved to a different planet and terrified that Princess had been killed after being swallowed by the giant flower. I often hoped Mark would kiss Princess at some point, and that was my only disappointment of the program. I think in those early days, I even liked Zark, although that changed as I got older and realised he was always interrupting just as the action got exciting!

Even as the show came to the end of it’s run, it never really left me, the characters became my imaginary friends, Jason even became my ‘boyfriend’ and in my mind Mark and Princess were going steady.

Of course time moves on. I left home, married, had kids, and my favourite show was put to the back of my mind. it was 2011 before I rediscovered the magic once again. my youngest son was awarded a grant to get himself a laptop for educational purposes, and of course I would use it while he was at school, or in bed. he also got a year’s free internet access, and I had to take classes to understand how it worked.

Because the internet access was provided for children, the laptop came built in with ‘Adult content’ filters, and when I attempted to research my childhood favourite, access was denied for’violent content’. This was a mystery to me, since I didn’t remember an excessive amount of violence in the show. sure, some robot planes got blown up, but cities were evacuated before Spectra attacked them, thanks to Zark’s early warning system.

It was a chance evening at a friend’s house one evening, when I decided to hold a nostalgia night, and we looked for all the old programs we used to watch as Kids. my first choice obviously was BotP, and I got such a shock when all the different incarnations came up. I picked a video, watched for a couple of minutes, and thought “This is all wrong.” I had inadvertedly picked “G-Force, GOS” episode. The names were wrong, the voices different, and I didn’t like it one bit! My friend had WiFi, and had a spare dongle she had no use for, so she let me have it, and from there, I was able to access my favourite show once again.

The dongle wasn’t perfect, it often stopped working, but it was better than nothing. I was able to research the various incarnations, discovered the more superior Gatchaman, and an obsession was born. Better than that though, I discovered I wasn’t the only one that was as fanatical about the show as I was. I read fanfics that mocked Zark, and ‘shipped Ken/Mark and Jun/Princess, and was inspired to write my own. I tried to watch every episode of Gatch in order in three part Youtube videos before finding out that a few episodes were missing, and while searching for those missing episodes, I stumbled upon the fandoms, by way of episode reviews.

I registered with Gatchfanfic first, more because of my curiosity about ‘adult’ rated fics that were only available to members only. That was quite the eye opener! But I started uploading my own fics, then began joining in with BotP episode discussions on Saturday evenings. I was instantly made to feel welcome and got to know some of the people behind the fics. After many, many years I was again watching complete episodes, but this time sharing them with folks who loved the show as much as I did. A few months later I registered with Gatchamania, and have never looked back.

 

 

 

I do have friends. Sometimes it’s hard for me to realise it, since I spend so much time at home, alone. But at the (literal) end of the day, there are at least a couple of people I can rely on to help send me to bed in a better mood than the day put me in. And if it was a good day, they make it even better. I can’t ask for more than that.