As John and I skid through the finish line after nearly two solid weeks of work,
I have to thank you for still being here, and for cheering me on even when
you have no idea what most of the costumes in our videos are, ha.
(Although I bet you recognize these!)
Convention season is mostly over - just themed Halloween & holiday ones
after this - so it's been a blast going all out with my Dragon Con coverage
this year. Not gonna lie; my spark has been dimmed of late, at least when it
comes to working online. It's so easy to get discouraged when your only
measures of success are fickle social media numbers. So I needed this
real-life celebration. I needed the face-to-face energy and laughter and creativity
to fill up my nerd tank, and now I'm fired up and SO READY to tackle our next
big project: Halloween.
But first, let's wrap up the best convention of the year with one more "best of" for
Sunday. The song we chose is a total chair dance, and this compilation has more silliness and sound ducked in so you feel like you're right there
with us:
If you've ever spent a full week at Disney World then you know that post-vacay
stubborness: the one where your brain refuses to do anything but look
at pictures and videos and remember all the fun you had, instead of getting
back to normal "real" life.
So I hope you'll continue to indulge me while I get all this magical
wild wonder out of my system.
("NEVAAAAHHH!") ("Quiet, brain.")
That's the
nice thing about being a con photographer: I get to re-live all this
goodness while I work on editing, and that goes triple for video
editing. Exhausting as it is, John and I haven't stopped for a moment since
we got home. So while part of me never wants the work to end, another part
is ready for a nice long nap. ;)
That said, early yesterday we
wrapped our Saturday video, the longest and arguably best one yet. So. You
ready for this??
Happy Tuesday, dragons and (if you're like me) draggin's! I hope y'all had
even half as much fun this past weekend as I did, because I'm still riding
that Dragon Con high.
I'm also exhausted, of course, since John and I filmed Thursday-Sunday for 8-10 hours, then went back to the hotel to edit until 4-5AM each
morning. Annnnd REPEAT.
We also had three separate Epbot meetups, which let us have smaller groups with different folks each time, so we could
chat a bit more. (Or try to, over the deafening DJ, ha. Next year
we'll go somewhere quieter!) Huge thanks to Rebecca for putting these together, and all y'all in the FoEs Go To Dragon Con group.
Of course the scheduled meets are just for folks who want a
guarantee of seeing us; throughout each day we met even more of y'all who prefer the hunt. :D (I do love hearing happy shrieks in the crowd when
someone spots us.)
I was a little amazed how often I approached some jaw-dropping
cosplayer to ask for a video, only to be told they love us/Epbot.
Makes me feel like a blushing fangirl every time - "YOU know who I am??"
- and it fills me up. (Korg, I remember meeting you years ago, too,
and you always make my con!)
On Saturday I scribbled in my gratitude journal, "Today made me feel like I
add value to this community," which is seriously my life goal, so thanks,
y'all.
Now let's get the VIDEOS. Woot woot!
John and I filmed and photographed so much this year we put ourselves at a
disadvantage editing-wise: so much content, it was impossible to crank out
quick daily videos like we did in 2019. BUT. We do have the first 3 up!
And John's working furiously at this very moment to get Saturday done,
which will be our longest - and best - yet. Sunday will be epic, too. So definitely go follow the Epbot Youtube channel to see those as soon as they go up.
For
now, though, let's watch these in order. I recommend sound on,
because we worked really, REALLY hard to incorporate the music, not to mention the
Bunny Hutch song is a chill bop.
And even better, after a too-long pandemic-y hiatus, John and I are heading back to Atlanta this Wednesday for the one, the only, Dragon Con.
Eeeeee I'm so excited.
We've been going to this con every year since 2009(!!), and Dragon Con was the only cancelled event I truly missed the last two years. Take the rest, but gimmie my dragony chaos crew. DC fuels me up all year, and feels like home in a way you just have to experience to understand - which is why I tell everyone to try it at least once.
Baby Jen's first Dragon Con, 2009. This was pre-Epbot! Also my first time asking for a photo with cosplayers, because Ghostbusters 4evahhhh.
And while I'm feeling nostalgic, here's my favorite photo from that first year:
Sparkly Edward Cullen & Mighty Mugs Chewie. Yep. That' about sums it up.
Anyhoo, so today we're revisiting my Dragon Con Survival Guide. These are helpful tips for newbies and veterans alike, plus it gives me an excuse to post some of my favorite photos from last time (2019), which always hypes me up.
PORGEOUS
To keep this entertaining you'll be getting a mix of crappy cellphone pics and my dramatic black-out portraits:
So if nothing else, I hope you enjoy the eye candy. :)
First, the Dragon Con basics:
What is it?
Dragon Con is an internationally known pop culture, sci-fi, fantasy, and
gaming convention held in Atlanta, Georgia. It spans 5 days over Labor
Day weekend, and prior to 2020 had grown to an attendance of over 80,000 people.
That's by no means the largest convention in the U.S., but Dragon Con *feels* the largest because instead of a convention center, it's held in 5 large "host hotels" and two shopping center buildings, all of which span several blocks in downtown Atlanta.
Because
the con is spread out over such a large area, it's easily the most
confusing and potentially stressful event you'll ever attend. Don't worry, though, I got you.
What, you thought just because I wasn't at Dragon Con this year I wouldn't have any cosplay roundups?
P'ffft.
P'FFFT I SAY.
I spent most of my free time this last week relentlessly seeking out and saving the funniest, punniest, and overall best of the best cosplays to share with y'all, which has been such a blast.
Let's start off strong with the most popular fandom all weekend: Loki. Dragon Con's famous Marriott lobby was actually featured in the show, so you knew folks were going to have a field day making their own variants, right?
Well never fear, because it looks like the Time Variant Authority is
here to prune both Totoro-ki and Ky-loki:
Ahh, but wait, I think I can do you one better. In fact, this may be the punniest cosplay of the whole con this year. I'll give you a sec - can you guess who this is?
It's Dragon Con week, gang, and you can bet your scaly tails and glittering hoards I'm draggin' a bit myself, missing all the fun. (Usually we'd be driving to Atlanta tomorrow.) BUT. Thank goodness for the internet, am I right? Dragon Con is going virtual again this year in addition to the real-life events, and you can buy a streaming pass for just $10.
But that's not what I'm here to talk about.
I'm here to talk about the unique breed of geeks you can only find at Dragon Con, and how they band together to meme-ify and create in-jokes of just about ANYTHING, which is why I love them so dearly.
You probably already know about the Marriott carpet: how 70,000 geeks developed a love affair with a long-gone carpet pattern:
You may also have heard about the time FexEx foolishly left a cardboard standee in a main traffic hall at the con, and spawned The Cult of Jon.
Jon is the standee. When FedEx finally removed him the con-goers held a memorial, which was hysterical. (You can watch the whole ridiculous progression of this one here.)
In this same spirit of creativity and complete and utter silliness, I am DELIGHTED to share with you the latest Dragon Con in-joke cult, and how it came to be.
::sits down in comfy reading chair::
::opens story book::
Ahem hem hem.
It all started when the official schedule released on the Dragon Con app. People immediately noticed a bunch of these "events":
Yep, the con scheduled several cleaning times each day for the large meeting rooms.
So of COURSE someone meme'd it:
And boom shaka laka, a new Dragon Con cult was born:
It's been only 11 days, y'all, and this group has already amassed nearly 1,000 members. You won't believe the amount of cleaning-themed cosplay, swag, & merch these beautiful geniuses are cranking out. Here, let me show you some of my favorites:
Last weekend Dragon Con went virtual, streaming 3 channels of 24/7 content, from reruns of old panels to fresh new content like interviews, musical performances, and even costume contests. (Don't worry if you missed it; you can still buy a membership pass for $10 and have access to it all and watch at your own pace.)
My favorite so far, though, has to be the Dragon Con Virtual Parade.
I missed the livestream and instead watched Sunday morning, before I even got out of bed. Within minutes I was grinning ear-to-ear, and by the end I'd laughed out loud, gasped with delight, and even shed a tear or two. I don't want to overhype it, but this really captures the spirit of Dragon Con: fans coming together to play and laugh and create cool stuff.
So what exactly is it? It's a socially-distanced parade, put together virtually. Fans submitted short videos of themselves walking a "parade route" in costume, and the Dragon Con team edited them all together - by fandom! - then added crowd and traffic noises (ha!), and two hosts doing live color commentary. Like the real parade, there's a huge range of fandoms, ages, and skill, featuring everything from young kids in their backyard all the way up to professional builders using slick videography effects. So we get about 30 minutes of pure, geeky joy.
And best of all, you can watch it for free on Dragon Con's YouTube channel! I'll embed it here to make it easy, though:
The actual parade doesn't start 'til the 10 minute mark, but if you're a fan of What We Do In The Shadows,
then watch from the beginning to see the two commentators - Nadja and
Nandor The Relentless - doing what they do best. The parade ends around 42 minutes, so
it's not the full hour the video shows.
I've watched this twice now, and for the second run I decided to jot down a few of my favorite moments. I left a LOT out, because most of this is awesome, but here are some bits that most jumped out for me:
13:40: The Spider-Man/Jonah Jameson interaction is SO clever & fun
14:45: Doctor Who use of forced perspective, yasss
20:30: Mind, BLOWN. Daaaang. There's our reminder that some Dragon Con fans are professional builders and videographers!
23:05: Awesome use of effects for The Flash, and again at 23:18 for Aang!
25:30: Excellent Alien group. I like how so many of these are like quick skits in-character.
27:17: Someone beams in!
27:29: This whole History channel "Aliens" interaction is GOLD. Ahh, there's that Dragon Con wackiness we know and love.
29:28: TINY RAINBOW BRITE - and then a little Rosey the Riveter not long after!
33:20: Dragon Con gives you wiiiiings
34:48: Awww, dancing in the woods is so perfect for these two. Makes me hope Dragon Con does this every year, so folks who can't be there in person can still do entries like this.
34:54: !!! That's some professional-level Hocus Pocus!
35:33: They cosplayed the crowd watching the parade. Bahaha!
35:44: I laughed out loud at this Jurassic Park group, and then GASPED. Eeeeee!!
41:04: Don't miss the Jawa big finish - and turn up your sound to hear the song. (So happy to see Chess Jawa in there! He's been a fixture at Dragon Con since at least 2014, when he was just a young kid. Now he's so tall!)
I hope this made you smile, fellow geeks, and made you think of happier things and better times ahead. Dragon Con is the only convention I've really been sad to miss this year, but it wasn't 'til last weekend that I realized just HOW much I miss it. I've been re-watching my videos from last year and bawling like a baby, but at the same time, I'm so grateful for the Dragon Con team putting this together - especially since it lets EVERYONE get a taste of Dragon Con, not just we lucky few who usually get to be there in person.
Sending y'all hugs and hopes that we can be together at the real deal again next year. ::MWAH::
*****
Psst. Need any new t-shirts? 'Cuz hey, we sell those! :D
Check out the Epbot Threadless Shop to see all our designs. (We're up to 7 now, I need to get on John to add more.)
John and I just got our "Should You Need Us" tees and they are SO CUTE. (Mine's on brown, John's is gray - but the artist Kristi got hers on navy blue, and I think that looks best of all.)
After taking October off for Important Halloween Things, I'm back with my final batch of Dragon Con portraits!
And you know, since this was my first year really getting into Halloween - and therefore being kinda sad when it was over - it's nice to jump right back into costumes and spooky/silliness. For cosplayers and convention-goers, Halloween lasts all year. ;)
Hmm, Billy and Eleven? Well, Stranger Things have happened.
:D
(These two were completely in character, btw. El kept telling him his mother was pretty while he staggered around. Amazing.)
This Nott was JAW-DROPPING, so many great details!
Hard to see in this photo, but she even had sculpted goblin feet!
(Hey Critters, anyone else watching UnDeadwood? Because I am loving it!! I'm trying to get John to watch it, since it's a stand-alone story even non-fans can appreciate. I will say the language is especially R-rated [even by CR standards], but dang it's a fun ride.)
Right, back to these two Doctor Jones:
Aren't they perfect? You can practically hear him saying, "Junior?"
Ohhh, you guys, here comes one of my best shots of the whole con - and it was pure luck with the timing:
We're in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds during this shot, and he was rapidly fluttering the fan scarf back and forth. This was my FIRST TRY with the flash. We tried it a few more times after this and couldn't even come close!
(This is Link wearing a Gerudo outfit from the Zelda games, btw, which took me way too long with Google to figure out, lol.)
It's hard to follow up a shot like that, but Gomez and Morticia do it in a snap (or two):
They're mysterious AND ooky. Bravo.
Which reminds me: just last week MGM uploaded 14 full episodes of the original Addams Family series to Youtube! I think it's a promotional stunt to advertise their newest animated Addams Family movie. Anyway, John and I watched a couple the other day, and the original show is a friggin' DELIGHT. I highly recommend Lurch Learns to Dance.
Speaking of delightful original series, check out this classic 'Trek couple!
I love Andorian makeup, it's such a pretty color combo - and their blues match!
My friend Alexie always blow my mind with her handmade and hand-beaded dresses. Here she is as Colette from Dumbo, and she literally started this entire cosplay TWO WEEKS before Dragon Con:
I've been putting this off while I work on too many upcoming projects (Halloween is gonna be LIT, yo), but I finally finished all my flash edits from Dragon Con, which now seems like a million years ago. Going through these has me all excited again to show you my favorites, though, so buckle up.
First my only non-flash shot, for your last look at sunlight this post:
This is my friend Emily as Sarah from Labyrinth, in Sarah's rarely cosplayed cosplay dress! (From the first scene of the movie.)
I wish I'd had flash for these to give them a little more oomph, but we weren't set up at the time. You can still see all the lovely details, though. Em made everything herself!
Now, let us turn to the dark side - or rather, the Dark Crystal side:
Aughra is wearing her outfit from the new Age of Resistance show on Netflix, and DANG. She looks like she stepped right off the screen! (Best quote from John: "Wait, she's a good guy? AND STILL THAT CREEPY LOOKING?" Ha!)
A stunning Storm:
And a spot-on Grandmaster & Valkyrie from Thor: Ragnorak:
With his melt stick!
Officer Dangle from Reno:911 cracked me up with his action pose:
Bahaha!
I'm all about Rose's giant hair in Steven Universe, and this cosplayer nailed it:
I always love a good mashup cosplay, but if there's a pun involved then I am over the moon. Lucky for me, Dragon Con is THE place for clever and groan-worthy costumes, so let's take a look at what 2019 had to offer.
Cap-unzel:
(This is Rebecca Buress - a friend and FOE who helped organize the Epbot meetups!)
And she's in search of the Winter Smolder! Ha!
The Sailor Moon Scots:
The two red pom-poms were my first clue, then as I got closer I spotted the Sailor Moon symbols on their kilts and the ribbons on their shoulders.
Dav-Ross:
That's Davros/Bob Ross, for those of you rusty on your Doctor Who villains. On the back he has a Bob Ross painting that reads, "A brother from another mother," and "Happy little accident."
