Three times the charm

It is nearly here. In two days time, MCM Scotland Comic Con will commence!

This is my third year going and I can’t wait! I have my cosplay ready, I’ve saved up and I have my supplies together.

However, I thought it might be interesting to talk about my last two cons while we wait for the doors to open.

Since this is my third time attending the event, I feel confident about going, but I was absolutely terrified back in 2015.

I don’t go to conventions often. Mostly because I can’t afford to travel around the UK like other con-goers. I used to go to Collectormainia Glasgow every year but that was it. Even then I struggled with the crowds.

I had never gone to a con as big as MCM before and I was thrilled to finally go but at the same time, I wasn’t sure I could handle it.

When I went for the first time I was shaking in my genderbend Kaneki Ken cosplay, partly from fear but the freezing cold Scottish winds didn’t help. Once I got inside I was overwhelmed by all the amazing cosplays and stalls.

I had a blast, I got to meet up with some friends and meet awesome people. Not to mention all the geeky goodies I got my hands on.

Meeting TomSka

The next year I went by myself but planned to meet up with friends when they arrived since I had a priority entry which meant I got in a few hours before they could.

So I was wandering the convention by myself in a somewhat decent human Suicune cosplay. Well, decent for my low standards at least.

However, the staff I made was still wet and didn’t completely dry until the day after, so by the time I was heading home my hand looked like I had squeezed a smurf to death.

Overall, I had way more fun that year as I knew more or less what I was getting myself into. I was more relaxed and had my guard down which in turn meant I could enjoy myself a lot more.

I have mentioned in a previous ramble that this year I am cosplaying as Kobayashi from Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. along with my best friend who is going to be Tohru. This year, I think it’s safe to say, will be the best yet. Bring on MCM Scotland Comic Con 2017!

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Hopes and Fears: Star Trek Discovery

It is nearly here, after what feels like light years we have a new Star Trek tv series!

Don’t get me wrong, I love the movies as much as the next Trekkie, but in my opinion, the franchise shines best with its series of tv shows.

Star Trek, by design, is character driven and focuses on dialogue, debates and discussion rather than action. The episodic format is perfect for content like this.

Star Trek: Discovery is set ten years before the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise and follows the crew as they discover new worlds while dealing with the threat of the Klingon Empire.

So, while we wait for the warp engines to warm up, I want to talk about my hopes and fears for this new series.

Firstly, I hope that Discovery continues to go where no man has gone before. Star Trek has a proud history of commenting on political and social issues in a nuanced yet blunt way. The best examples of this are the episodes Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (TOS), The Measure Of A Man (TNG) and Past Tense (DS9)

I hope that Discovery continues this legacy.

I also hope that like the previous series, Discovery inspires a new generation. Any Star Trek fan can tell you about the people who made waves in their respective fields after being inspired by Star Trek, such as Mae Jemison.

In such turbulent times, it would be nice for Discovery to motivate the next generation to achieve great things.

Time to reveal my fears. Well, in all honesty, I only have one fear.

I can’t help but worry that Discovery has so much to live up to and it will suffer for it.

Since this is the first Star Trek show in 12 years many fans like myself have high expectations. With that being said, is it really justified?

Do not get me wrong, I hope that this show lives up to its expectations and then some, but I don’t think it is fair to the showrunners to compare it to the previous series right out of the gate.

After a few episodes have aired? Maybe. After the first season has been released in its entirety? Absolutely, but not right now.

I have seen people complain about Discovery and have heard others call it the worst Star Trek show yet, and the first episode hasn’t even aired!

Come on, people. Just wait before you start your rants. Besides, we waited 12 years, we can handle one more week.

The best worse film ever now has a Docudrama

If you have never watched the beautiful mess of a film that is The Room you are seriously missing out!

Here is a quick spoiler free summary of the film. Johnny is engaged to Lisa, who has grown bored of their relationship and starts cheating on him with his best friend Mark.

This might sound like some cheesy rom-com but trust me, this film is comedic gold. However, that was not its intention.

In fact, everything about this movie from the production, the writing and the acting is so terrible that it is hysterical.

It’s clear that the film was supposed to be a dramatic and intense story about love, betrayal and scandal but boy did that fail.

The Room wasn’t a big hit when it first came out back in 2003 but has since grown a cult following. Greg Sestero, the actor who played Mark and friend to the director, writer and executive producer Tommy Wiseau wrote a book titled The Disaster Artist about his friendship with Wiseau and the madness that was the filming of The Room.

Said book is now a movie.

The Disaster Artist stars Dave and James Franco as Greg and Tommy respectively. Just like the book of the same name, the film follows the chaos that is The Room and its creation.

At the time of writing I am currently reading the book myself, and if this film is half as entertaining as the book or even a fourth of The Room then we are in for a treat.

Here is the real question, what does Tommy think about the movie?

I 99.9% approve. No, football, the way he throw the football, I did not like that… I think you [James Franco] did a good job and I think I did a good job too. I have to be self-centered right now… No, you guys did [a] good job. They have the very good makeup artist, right? They did excellent job. So, I don’t have to complain about anything, actually.

I think he likes it.

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At the time of writing The Disaster Artist is due to be released in US cinemas on the first of December but there is no confirmed UK release date.

Confessions of a Cosplayer part two

With MCM Scotland Comic Con just two weeks away, I am glad to say that my cosplay for this year’s event is ready and I can’t wait to wear it!

This year I am going as Kobayashi from Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and my Best Friend is coming with me as Tohru.

I am really proud of how my costume turned out, especially considering the issue I had about the glasses. You see, when the glasses arrived there was a massive imprint that read “Exclusive for Geroge” on the lens. I was furious. This wasn’t in any of the pictures and was only mentioned at the bottom of the item description.

Unfortunately, in my attempt to remove the nuisance I ended up melting the lens. In the end, we had to remove the plastic lenses from the frame. I personally think this was for the best as I will be wearing a wig, long sleave shirt and a thick woolly sweater in a hot area. Chances are they might have gotten fogged up.

While I am decent with replicating outfits and know the basics of sewing, I am horrible with makeup. Enter bestie who has been trying to teach me how to apply makeup for years.

We try to hang out at least once a week and for the last three weeks every time I come over she practices my cosplay makeup on me.

Not that I am complaining. Quite the opposite actually. I am extremely thankful that she does my makeup for me and takes the time to try to teach me how to do my own.

I used to cosplay a lot, but there are fewer opportunities to do so these days. On top of that, there is a bit of drama in my local cosplay community. There is even a rumour going around about me, apparently. Ever since I found out I was devastated and lost my motivation to cosplay.

It took a while but I now feel confident enough to get back on the saddle and get back into the wonderful wacky world of cosplay. Bring on MCM Scotland Comic Con!

Dad Of Light Review

I had high expectations for Dad Of Light. As a fan of Final Fantasy XIV, non-fiction and stories about family connections, I thought this Jdrama would be right up my alley.

Even with those lofty expectations, Dad Of Light was even better than I hoped it would be!

The story of is simple. Aiko Inaba and his workaholic father Hirotaro have not seen eye to eye in years. Aiko can’t even remember the last time they had a real conversation.

One day Hirotaro quits his job out of the blue. In an attempt to find out why and to try to rebuild their relationship Aiko buys his father a PS4 and a copy of Final Fantasy XIV.

“Dad of Light Project! This is my project to invite my father into the Final Fantasy XIV world, a place I adore, and go one spectacular adventures with him while concealing my true identity. It’s my way of showing my father that I care for him!”

Aiko Inaba, Dad Of Light

Aiko has to be my favourite character. He is well meaning, hard working and patient. But he is insecure and doesn’t like to draw attention to himself. Hirotaro is very traditional and keeps himself to himself but he does have a sense of humour we see through his avatar.

The more we watch, the more we learn about the father and son duo.

There is a subplot revolving around the office Aiko works at. However, if I go into more detail about this element of the show I will give away some spoilers.

I have to say, the animation, while really cute, is a bit odd. The timing in some of these scenes is off, also there is something about the facial expressions that are a little weird.

I understand that they were trying to keep the feel of the game in these scenes, but a bit more polish would have been nice.

I knew going into this from the trailers that there was going to be some comedic moments, but again this show surpassed my expectations. While not a laugh riot, there are a lot of funny antics in Dad Of Light which left me giggling like a loon.

Dad Of Light is a rather short series. There are only eight episodes and each episode is around 25 minutes long. However, since this is only season one chances are we will get more episodes soon…ish…. I hope.

I love Dad Of Light to pieces. It has a lot of heart and quite a few laughs. It is a very sincere story that leaves you feeling good after watching it. I highly recommend you check it out!

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Dad Of Light is available on Netflix

Why So Serious?

Recently, I wrote about what we knew about the Joker origin movie. If you haven’t read it, here you go.

In it, I mentioned that I am not in favour of this film being made and that I would restrain my rant about it for another time.

So, here it is.

Since writing that article, more information has come out. The most noteworthy piece is about the leading role.

According to several reports, it seems that Wanner Bros has their eye on a certain somebody for the role of the Clown Prince of Crime.

Leonardo DiCaprio.

Yeah, you read that right. Leonardo DiCaprio.

I will be totally honest, I don’t know how I feel about this casting choice. I also don’t think that should form an opinion until it is confirmed that he will play the Joker.

Frankly, I don’t really care.

Here is the thing, I love the Joker. He isn’t Batman’s arch villain for nothing after all.

However, I do not want a live action movie about his origin. We already have The Killing Joke, which is one of my favourite comics of all time. It is the perfect version of his origin, in my opinion.

They even tried to bring The Killing Joke to life in an animated movie, look how well that turned out.

Not to mention, one of the best parts of The Killing Joke hints that even the Joker himself doesn’t know his true origin story.

“Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another… if I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”

The only time we have seen the Joker’s origin in live action, as far as I know, is 1989’s Batman. Even then, it was not the focus of the film. They showed us what we needed to know and the connection between Joker and Batman.

I don’t think you can have a live action movie solely about Joker’s origin. Going back to The Killing Joke, the animated film was one hour and 26 minutes long. Most Hollywood movies are at least two hours. Heck, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was three hours and three minutes long!

I understand that there might be a bit more in this film that just his origin, but to make the focus of a live action film his origin is not a good idea, at least in my opinion.

On top of that, several people on Twitter pointed out that one of the reasons that Joker is so beloved is that we know next to nothing about him.Even in The Killing Joke.

In fact, it is an established trait in many iterations of the character that he lies about his background. Whether to scare people like in The Dark Knight or to gain sympathy from people like Harley.

I’m sure there are several fans out there who are looking forward to this film, I for one am not.

I do have one question for DiCaprio, or whoever they get to play Joker, are you ready to dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight?

Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light is coming to Netflix

While scrolling through the list of upcoming Netflix shows, I stumbled on what promises to be a cute show.

May I present, Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light. Also known as Daddy of Light.

This Jdrama is coming to Netflix tomorrow. From what I can tell, it is based on a true story about a son who was able to connect with his father via Final Fantasy XIV.

The show will feature both live action and in-game animation.

As an avid player of Final Fantasy XIV myself, I can say from experience that this game is great to play with friends. In fact, it was my best friend who introduced me to it in the first place.

I don’t want to change the subject too much, so all I will say is that I adore this game and I have written about my opinions about it not once, but twice. You can read those articles if you want an in-depth view of my opinion, if not let’s continue talking about this upcoming show.

This isn’t the first time this story has been shared with the world. In fact, this show is based on the blog the young man wrote called Hikari no Otōsan.

In the series of blog posts from 2014 to 2016 described his plan on building a better relationship with his father by getting him to play the game.

In my research, I have found several websites trying to translate the original blog posts from Japanese to English.

I can’t wait for Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light to arrive on Netflix, it looks right up my alley.

What do you think about Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light? Will you watch it, or have you got something else in your list? Let me know!