Feature by PETER NOLAN
Above: Athena Stamos as Cinder, the War Doctor’s companion.
Photo © Greg De Stefano.
First com es the appearance on TV of a new outfit and the desire to cosplay it, follow ed by the scram ble of com m unication and research as people try to identify the shoes, the coat, the shirt, the everything. Then there’s the draw ing up of plans and schem es and tim etables before getting distracted by som e shiny new idea. Ultim ately, there’s the sw eat and the tears (and occasional passing out from spray-paint fum es at 2.00am) once you realise the convention is only a w eek aw ay. Finally, the bittersw eet epilogue: the dreaded ‘con crud’, w ith every virus that was going round the venue attacking you sim ultaneously on the M onday m orning.