Doctor Who

My Favorite Cosplay Projects

Posted on by kevinthemusicguy

For those who haven’t guessed yet, I’m a colossal nerd and I’m proud of that fact. I enjoy the art of costume-playing and creating my own costumes to pay homage to some of my favorite characters in popular culture. I love old school cosplay, insane attention to detail, re-imagined cosplay (like gender bending and race crossing characters), and the “controversial” sexy cosplay (which simply shows a more human side to the art, the people slut shaming the models are the real problem). I don’t read comics that often, so I have yet to head into the world of comic book cosplay. However, I have amassed the photos of some of my past projects to display here on WordPress for the world to see.

1. The Angry Video Game Nerd:

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One of the forerunners internet reviewing, and one of my biggest influences in the world Critiquing, the AVGN always managed to make me laugh even the saddest times of my teenage years. I love his reviews, and to show it I dressed up as him in Halloween in 2011 and 2012. The hardest part was finding the right type of glasses, which I found at a dollar store and punched out the lenses.

2. Merle Dixon of The Walking Dead

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***Season one and three spoiler warning*** Merle Dixon (played by Michael Rooker) is a foul-mouthed racist we meet in Season one of The Walking Dead who was handcuffed to the top of a roof by protagonist Rick Grimes because he was a danger to the rest of the group (he was attracting the attention of the all the zombies down below by shooting them with a snipe rifle). He had to cut off his hand to escape, and returned in season 3 with a badass prosthetic with a bayonet on it. Merle causes a lot of chaos to the story line alongside The Governor (the biggest bad guy in Walking Dead history), but eventually Merle redeems makes an effort to protect his brother Daryl and the rest of the group by confronting The Governor and his men with an army of walkers and a sniper rifle. Merle was killed by the Governor in that confrontation, but he’s still a fan favorite.

Of course I deplore anyone with racist tendencies, but in the name of great fiction, I think Merle’s just a massive badass character who has all the right traits to survive in a zombie apocalypse. I cosplayed as Merle and even met Michael Rooker and Scott Wilson last year at Rock and Shock 2013. Wilson and I had a fun conversation. Alas, Rooker’s people rushed me through seeing him though because he had a very long line. I did make a joke about wearing the prosthetic was a pain in the ass though to Michael and his crew members. Louisiana has Mardi Gras to celebrate, New Englad has Halloween and we take it very seriously. The  pics below depict my steps gathering the costume and making the bayonet prosthetic.

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3. The 9th Doctor

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The 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) was the first Doctor introduced in the reboot of Doctor Who, and despite being around for only one season is still considered an underdog and fan favorite in the series. I often liken myself to different incarnations of The Doctor, with 9 being the most common that I can relate too. It was only natural that I would pick to be the 9th Doctor for Halloween this year. This was by far my easiest cosplay as I already had the proper sonic Screw Driver and most of the correct attire, the hardest part was getting a good sweater that fit the look. Alas, the lighting inside my house is awful, so my purple shirt comes out looking like it’s either blue or black. Next year I’ll save up my money and buy the authentic leather jacket, but what I have now means I don’t need to spend $150 on a jumper I’m maybe going to use three times a year. Feel free to comment below your thoughts as to whether or not that these cosplays are “Fantastic!”

Also feel free to recommend any cosplays for me in the future, I’ve wanted to go as Light Yagami from Death Note for a long time, so that might be my next one!

-Tatteybe

 

How I Relate Fictional Characters to Myself

Posted on by kevinthemusicguy

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*I do not own this image, credit(s) unknown. Show spoilers ahead!*

This blog is meant to be a peek into the inner workings of my highly nerdy brain. As such, this blog is not for the faint of imagination: you have been warned!

Cutting to the chase, I’ve been through a lot of emotional struggles in my life, and being somewhat reclusive I didn’t always want to be around people. So in my reclusive times I had a tendency of watching epic television shows and anime to forget about said problems. I’m happy that I picked the entertainment mediums I had since these television shows taught me awesome morals when I was younger, and continue to still do so today.

For instance, the lesson of the manga Naruto taught me that hard work will always overcome natural genius (which I relate too with my bass playing). Breaking Bad taught me how easily money, pride, and power can corrupt a person. Doctor Who showed me how Regeneration is a brilliant metaphor for a personal rebirth.

Now why am I listing these things? Because I like to imagine myself as these characters depending on what mood I’m in. In times of great consideration of my past and personal life I liken how I feel to this scene of Walter and Skyler White:

For those who don’t watch Breaking Bad, Walt always justified his selfish and murderous actions of cooking meth and killing people by saying “I did this for my family!” Here, Walt is coming clean and in my eyes earned a tiny bit of redemption. This feeling of redemption and honesty is how I feel when I come clean about something selfish I’ve done (though obviously in a less dramatic overtone).

Another character I imagine myself as is the War Doctor from the 50th Doctor Who Anniversary Special:

The War Doctor was tasked with ending the Time War and saving the galaxy by having to destroy his home world. I love when the Doctor declares “No more” and “What I did, I did without choice” because I sometimes relate myself to him when I have to make very difficult decisions (genocide not being one them, ahem).

At other times I imagine myself as Merle Dixon from the Walking Dead, who did anything to protect his baby brother in the zombie apocalypse.

I’m not saying I’m a white supremacist or anything like that (whom Merle’s character was). I just adore how complex Merle’s character was which is why I enjoyed Cosplaying as Merle and meeting Merle’s actor Michael Rooker last October. I like to think of Merle as the more sarcastic part of my personality, and I still can’t get over just how much of a complete bad-ass he was.

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I could go on, but I think you’ve got the gist of what I’ve been blogging about. If anyone has any favorite fictional characters they relate themselves too, then feel free to share them in the comments section!

-Tatteybye

Doctor Who “The Time of The Doctor” Christmas Special Review and Discussion

Posted on by kevinthemusicguy

*Spoilers ahead*

“And now it’s time for one last bow, just like your other selves…

Eleventh’s Hour is over now, the clock is striking Twelves…”

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(Image credited here)

Many Matt Smith fans said their last heart filled goodbyes this Christmas Night as he left his iconic role as the 11th Doctor. The Christmas special was written by show runner Steven Moffat and it echoed all of his previous seasons starting from Series V. The plot was set on the planet Trenzalore (the Doctor’s future burial planet) in a town called Christmas. The Doctor was investigating a signal of unknown origin and was surprised to see all of his old enemies lingering about. Eventually the Doctor became the town’s protector and had to fend off his oldest foe; The Daleks.

Summaries obvious to fans aside, I really enjoyed the references to past seasons and how Moffat always knows how to balance drama, comedy, and nostalgia seen throughout the episode. Some of the highlights included: an aged toy making 11th Doctor remarking how the Daleks have been trying to kill him his whole life, and how it was old age that was going to finish the job. I also enjoyed Seeing how The Silence was formed and their fight against the Daleks alongside the Doctor, and how it was confirmed that Galifrey is still around and how they granted the Doctor a new regeneration cycle (Moffat, you clever devil you!) Lastly, the actual Regeneration it’s self was freaking epic as it was like a huge bomb going off and sent the Daleks back to kingdom come!

The only things I didn’t really like about the special is how they basically left the Oswald family sitting tight not knowing where Clara and the Doctor left, how River Song was absent from the special (with nods here and there though), and how long BBC America aired those stupid commercial breaks for. Speaking of impatience, the Oswalds must be starving waiting for that freaking turkey being baked by the TARDIS! And how will Clara explain where her “boyfriend” has gone now? Many questions remain.

As Matt Smith steps out I will always think of how I went from despising him during series V, to falling in love with his Doctor after watching Series VI and onwards. Smith went out like a total bad ass and I respect him for that. I should also point out that Smith’s regeneration felt more wholesome and happier than David Tennant’s regeneration, whom some people still wrongly give the 10th Doctor crap for today. The 10th Doctor went through many traumatic events and had every right to feel anguish to his last breaths. 11’s life cycle to me was The Doctor coming full circle and becoming whole again haven shaken off the trauma of the time war along with 9 and 10s escapades.

Now that Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor, I look forward to seeing Capaldi perform in the role and where things will go. Like many other Whovians, I’m going to miss Matt Smith very much.  On a separate note, I know that Steven Moffat is an unpopular show runner for Doctor Who to some, but I think the man is a very brilliant writer and I could careless anymore if he messes with the show’s continuity. To Moffat’s credit, writing about time travel can be a messy “timey wimey” affair.

-Tatteybye