Carbon Costume

Ace Visconti is a lucky gambler who always manages to make the most of a situation.  Having grown up in Argentina, Ace was quick to take advantage of every opportunity.  However, he eventually incurred a plethora of debts, but when his enemies came to collect, it was like Ace had vanished into thin air.  Even when being hunted by killers in Dead by Daylight, Ace always has a smile on his face.

Rich Goranski is a character in the musical Be More Chill. Before taking the SQUIP, he was rather shy and unpopular. However, once under its influence, he becomes a bully. His newfound confidence quickly becomes arrogance, and he purposely terrorizes the other students. Rich used to torment Jeremy Heere, but they later become friends once their SQUIPs are synced up. In “The Squip Song,” Rich mentions that he was suicidal before obtaining the SQUIP, and that the SQUIP fixed all his problems as soon as he took it.  He is also openly bisexual. Gerard Canoncio portrayed the character in the original Two River production as well as in the Broadway transfer.

Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) is a main character in That 70’s Show. He is the childhood friend of Eric Forman and Steven Hyde, and the on-again off-again cheating boyfriend of Jackie Burkhart. With the exception of Jackie, his friends refer to him as simply Kelso. Despite his good-looks and charisma, he isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. He’s known for his loud outbursts and impulsive decisions that always end him in trouble. He seems to gets along best with Fez and the two provide much of the show’s comedic relief.

In Satoshi Kon’s science fiction anime film Paprika, Doctor Kōsaku Tokita (voiced by Tōru Furuya in the original Japanese and Yuri Lowenthal in the English dub) is a genius inventor.  He is the creator of the “DC Mini” device, which in the film allows users to enter other people’s dreams.  He works closely with Doctor Atsuko Chiba, a psychiatrist and researcher who uses the device for her work.  Doctor Tokita is shown to be have a childish personality and his wardrobe favors an orange polo shirt paired with green slacks.

John Freeman is a character created as part of a fanfiction story written for the Half-Life video game franchise.  John is the brother of Gordon Freeman, the scientist players become when they play the game.  The poorly written fic was given new life when it was adapted into a five-minute YouTube video.  John’s character design is based on Citizen 07 from the original game, and he wears and fingerless gloves and a dark grey beanie paired with a grey vest and jeans.

Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck is a main character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is a Hobbit who joins the Fellowship of the Ring and its quest to destroy it and defeat Sauron. Although Merry is actually one of Frodo‘s cousins, Pippin is his constant companion. They like to adventure and pull pranks together, and while more silly than resourceful, they’re the ones who form an alliance with Treebeard. Merry himself even fights in the Battle of Pelennor Fields, and helps Eowyn kill the Witch King. He likes boats and ponies, while also taking interest in the maps of Middle Earth. In the movie adaptations of Tolkien’s novels, Dominic Monaghan plays this role.

2021 marks the tenth birthday of the one of the internet’s most beloved memes: Nyan Cat. Also called “the Pop-Tart Cat” or the “flying rainbow cat”, Christopher Torres created Nyan Cat as part of a donation drive for the Red Cross on his website LOL-Comics. It’s since faced some controversy as people tried to use Nyan Cat without permission. But its viral status is as enduring as the comic is cute!

Pop-Tart costumes are unfortunately hard to come by unless you can find an adult one on Etsy. Your best bet is a quick bit of DIY following this simple tutorial.

1. Measure the length of your Pop Tart, starting at the top of your shoulder and going down whatever length you want the costume to be. Add on an inch and a half for gluing and cutting mistakes, then purchase enough tan felt to cover the length twice (so you can make a front and back). Use this same measurement to buy the light pink felt, but only buy enough for one side. Add in a glue gun and hot pink felt dots to finish up the DIY shopping.

2. Cut the tan fabric in half width wise so you have the front and back of your costume.

3. Mark out how large a space you need for your head to fit through the top of the costume. Put a pin on either side of this head hole, then glue the top edges together, except the space where your head will go. Repeat this process on the sides while leaving holes for your arms.

4. Put a piece of cardboard between the front and back of your costume, then lay the pink fabric on the front. Trim it down so that a “crust” is visible around all edges of the pink felt. Glue the pink fabric down to the tan, making sure cardboard separates the front and back of the costume in any place you add glue.

5. Glue on the hot pink circles as sprinkles and glue your tail to your costume (on the side or at the back depending on how you want to interpret the meme). That’s it!

With your Pop Tart done, use a face painting kit to add in your cat features. Put on your ears and the grey underclothes, then slide into your pop tart. Grab a rainbow scarf to trail behind you and you are set! May you bring as much joy to your convention as Nyan Cat does to the internet!

Signs was something of a cultural phenomena when it came out in 2002. A genuinely scary movie with a twist that most did not see coming, it set the tone for the next decade of horror movies. Part of its appeal was a cast that delivered consistently strong performances. This included Joaquin Phoenix as the washed up local hero Merrill Hess.

Once destined for baseball greatness he now lives and works on the family farm without much ambition toward anything. His clothes – work jeans, work boots, and a dark henley – are all ideal clothes for working on a farm. And when the aliens touch down, he’s one of the first to accept the idea that it’s aliens and reach for a tin foil hat. Of course it’s his trusty bad that really makes the costume and with a little help from Etsy you can have your own Merrill Hess slugger ready and waiting! Just don’t forget to keep a glass of water nearby.