Another Dragon Con has come and gone. As anyone who takes a yearly trip knows, it’s a bit terrifying how quickly the year between them goes by, but I’m also glad because it really is the most fun I have all year.
For me, Dragon Con is always full of memorable moments. So for once I decided to sit down and write some of them down. Maybe this will help me when I’m telling my “one time at DragonCon…” stories when I’m old and can’t remember if something happened in 2015 or 2025. So here are seven especially memorable moments from my 2015 Dragon Con experience. (It would have been eight, but my mom reads this and I don’t think she wants to know how I ended up at an Atlanta strip club on Friday night.)
7.) I Got Locked in a Stairwell!
I realize this doesn’t sound great, but I’ve been hearing about people getting stuck in stairwells since I started attending several years ago, so it kind of felt like a rite of passage. Why was I taking the stairs you ask? I’d love to say it was for my health, and working off the insane amount of junk food and beer I was consuming probably would have been in my best interest, but we all know that’s crap. Really, the Con hotels are so frakking overcrowded that sometimes it’s either take the stairs or wait 45 minutes for an elevator. So stairs it is. Once I was realized the door to my floor was locked, I just had to climb a few more floors to find a door that was propped open. Not too dramatic in the end, but I’ll take it!
6.) Leslie Knope
This was my second favorite cosplay of the weekend. I was waiting in line for a BSG panel when she wandered by with her campaign staff. I was so excited I couldn’t even get my phone out in time to snap a picture. So instead, I made the poor guy in line next to me hold the button he got from her so I could take a pic. Thanks random guy! Knope/Biden 2016!
5.) I Missed the Arrow Panel
Despite waiting in line for more than 2 hours, I didn’t get to see the Arrow panel I tried to go to on Saturday. I’m realizing this one also doesn’t sound very good, but give me a minute. In the four years I’ve been coming to DragonCon I’ve never got gotten into a panel I wanted. Sometimes I’ve waited for hours to make that happen, but that’s a part of the experience. So I knew this was inevitable, it was going to happen someday, and now the first time is out of the way. It sucked but I survived and got a desperately needed nap instead. I’m also looking at this as a positive because it shows how truly popular the show is. I’ve written about it before and it is REALLY good. I’m glad people love it. We need more genre shows on TV, so the success of shows like Arrow and The Flash can only be a good thing.
4) John Barrowman Taught People How to Take a Selfie
To be completely honest, this entire list could have been John Barrowman moments, but I’m trying to contain my obsession so this is the first of only two. I was waiting in line (theme alert!) to meet him on Sunday with several hundred of my new best friends, and things were apparently moving a bit too slowly at the front of the line. We’d been warned that there was no time for pictures, but if you could take a quick selfie John would look up from his signing and smile. That was far too complicated for a room full of squealing fangirls and fanboys, and things were falling apart. So finally John stood up, took some lucky bastard’s phone, and gave us all a lesson. It was amazing. And as someone who actually had never taken a selfie, I can admit it was somewhat helpful. Captain Jack saves the day again.
3) My Cosplay Idea for Next Year!
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what it is because it is very likely the only original idea I will have in my entire life, so I’m realizing this one is pointless. Oops…but, if anyone knows how to get some sort of dry erase material onto a t-shirt for me, that may or may not be helpful…
3)Hodor!
I met Hodor (Kristian Nairn)! I felt tiny, and I told him that, and then felt really bad because it has to be unbelievably annoying to be reminded that you’re tall every five minutes your whole life. So I’m really sorry Kristian Nairn, you were lovely and such a good sport. Sorry for being annoying. Maybe he was just glad I didn’t yell “Hodor!” at him?
2) My Favorite Cosplay
Mt favorite cosplay of the weekend was genius. It was a group that did a Game of Thrones and Westboro Baptist Church mashup. It was incredible. I couldn’t get a great picture because they moved around quite a bit, and because I was laughing my ass off. I also saw a couple of guys that were either Mormon missionaries or cosplayers. I honestly couldn’t tell. One of them had on a bright green tie, which made me question if they could be real, but then I realized if that’s a rule the cosplayers would know that and get it right, so I just confused myself more. Yaaay, DragonCon!
1) John Barrowman’s Second Appearance
We’ve arrived at my favorite moment of the weekend, and the second appearance of the ever lovable John Barrowman. After missing out on seeing him at the doomed Arrow panel on Saturday, I made sure to get in line super early Sunday morning for his solo panel. After a couple of hours and not enough caffeine for Fern, he appeared on stage in a Tardis dress and red pumps and woke me right up. My photography skills failed me again, but there are pictures all over twitter if you want to see. He looked amazing, and proceeded to be his vulgar, inappropriate, amazing self for every minute he was on that stage. He even demanded that the lights be kept on so he could see the crowd. Lost in the middle of such a huge Con I sometimes can’t help but wonder why I bother, do the actors and writers even care that I’m there? John Barrowman can make a ballroom full of people feel loved. It’s pretty special, and it’s why I’ll be back next year.
Anyone else make it to Atlanta this year? Hope you had as much fun as I did!
