It’s a week later, and if my Twitter feed is any indication, I am very much not alone in my feelings of ennui at no longer being at Gally. There’s even a hashtag (#PostGallyBlues). I’ve seen a few good reviews of the weekend as a whole, though most of them seem to be, like my posts, recaps of personal experiences rather than analyses like I saw last year.

Since I’ve promised various people I would, then, I’ll keep my own “recap” to photos of my own forays into cosplay and my Saturday panel. We begin with Friday, and my femme!Three. Not as many people as I’d hoped recognized my costume for what it was, but those who did seemed appreciative. In return, I really appreciated seeing other cosplayers in costumes of related eras. When I saw someone dressed as the Brigadier, I had to ask for my photo with him. Then a Sarah Jane Smith (in her reporter guise) got in on the act.

Later, I saw someone dressed as SJS as she had been when sneaking into Irongron’s castle as a servant in her debut story The Time Warrior. Needless to say, we had a bit of fun fangirling at each other.

On Saturday, I got to wear my most elaborate get-up, my TARDIS costume! Although the electronics crapped out midmorning so my headlamp no longer lit up and made the vworp noise in time, it was still pretty, and did its part for our TARDISpod group cosplay. Also, it was a heck of a lot of fun to be in costume while on a panel.

Since the dress had been modeled after Grace’s ball gown from The Movie, I particularly wanted to track down Daphne Ashbrook, the actress who had portrayed her. She was, like last year, extremely personable and gracious, and remembered that I’d mentioned the costume to her on Twitter. She was as good as her word, and posed with me for photos both on my camera and hers.

The highlight of the TARDISpod, though, had to be the group photos. We all met by the 2nd TARDIS in the morning for an all-TARDIS cattle call (I didn’t manage to get any photos on my own camera, but there are plenty floating around the Internet, like on photographer Alex Halcyon’s Facebook page). But in the afternoon, most of the original “TARDISpod” group got together for a photo with Sylvester McCoy himself. It was brilliant.

 

“Invasion of the Dinosaurs” panel
photo credit: Michelle Watkins[The panel, about the differences in our perceptions and appreciation of pre- v. post-Hiatus Who seemed to be very well received. Thanks to Emily “emilyooo,” you can listen to the audio track, posted at her blog Sports & Stitches!]

 

By Sunday, I was feeling a bit tired, so it’s a good thing I’d planned for a more low key costume: my femme!Nine. While you can’t see them in these shots, the spiky boots were the most obviously femme part of the costume – other than, obviously, the hair and general body type. But it was great to get together with a bunch of other femme!Doctor cosplayers and be silly for a while. Part of me regretted not changing back into my Three (I’d have been the only one), but it was also fun to vogue with a couple other Nines. Eleven was best represented, as you can see below, but there was also a few Fours, a couple of Fives, and some Tens. We’ll see how things pan out next year, but I have to say I think I’m a cosplay convert. Expect more from me in the future.

 

 

What can one really say about Gally that will explain it to someone who hasn’t been there? All the clichés are true – everyone there is “family,” and such. All I know is, I’ll be back every year I can swing it. I hope to see a few more of you there every time.

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