Dragoncon Comics and YA Costumes: In Anticipation of Labor Day Weekend!

Since I have a passion for strong female protagonists in YA literature and comics, I will be revisiting some of these costumes from the past again this year at Dragoncon. Also, I have a couple of possibilities in store for this year…spoiler alert! As usual, I am waiting until the last minute to decide for sure. :) Therefore, I would love to hear input from interested parties.

One day, when I am no longer a Ph.D. student and graduate assistant, I am going to commission someone to make me an awesome Arwen costume and a dress to play Margaery Tyrell from Game of Thrones. Yes, she can be "witchy" at times, but she keeps Geoffrey somewhat in line. Sometimes, I think that is my role in people's lives, whether or not they like it. The difference between Margaery and me is that my intentions are good, although maybe misguided at times, and Margaery does so more for her own gain. At any rate, those costumes are on hold for now. I also would love to do Kayleigh from Firefly, especially in a dress for the Mighty Fine Shin Dig. In a couple of years, hopefully I will be more financially stable and able to do these more high maintenance costumes.

For now, though, I will go for some oldies, but goodies. I think some of them are quite timely:

1. SUPERGIRL!!

See, this costume was so fun that it made an appearance at LeeAnn's Halloween party about a month and a half later! Besides Christmas, Dragoncon and Halloween are my favorite holidays. They gave me a chance to be myself, but to explore a duality, or another side of myself. Only so many people know this about me, but when I was barely 15 years old, I had facially reconstructive jaw surgery and got a new face. It was both amazing and sad to see how differently people treated me as a result. I'm told that I became another version of myself, a girl who had her footing, had lost it and become invisible, and then took her invisibility cloak off to show her personality to the world once again. Part of why I love Dystopian, Fantasy, and superhero comic stories is that I can relate to characters who have dualities and who can shape shift. Spoiler alert, I might explore some of these ideas from an autoethnographic lens in my dissertation. :) For now…I think the Supergirl costume will be timely, as the TV show will come out soon and it looks AWESOME! Supergirl doesn't always know where she fits, like me, but we both have a way of finding people who care about us and who can show us the way.  

2. Wonder Woman 

Again, this costume is timely with the New-52 publications of Wonder Woman and with my March publication in SIGNAL Journal of my article Female Representation in Comics. Also, to complete the next phases of my Ph.D., comprehensive exam essays, I will have to be a Wonder Woman, although I believe I can do it! Three years ago, I never would have believed in myself enough to do a Ph.D. I've had to grow and stretch myself a lot these past few years, and it's still a process, but I've been able to accomplish things that I never thought I could, given my spatial learning disability and ADHD symptoms. Wonder woman too has to overcome obstacles, but she stays strong.

3. Hermione

I started dressing as Hermione in 2005, when I first went to Dragoncon, and the costume just kind of stuck. I think I pretty much am Hermione, and people tell me I look enough like her to pull it off, so…there you go. In 2013, I lost my wand and Griffindor Scarf due to some unanticipated drama that went on, so I had to wear my cousin Cindy's Ravenclaw tie instead of my normal scarf:

 I have contemplated getting a Ravenclaw scarf, because the TRUE Harry Potter sorting hat test put me in RAVENCLAW! However, Hermione is indeed a Griffindor, so at least for this costume, I plan to stick with this scarf. Oh, and by the way, my friend Matt makes a pretty wicked Professor Snape:

Okay, so writing this post is making me want to pack my costume back this weekend, which I shall probably do. However, a few costumes for this year are also under consideration:

1. Katniss from The Hunger Games: Um, I think my reasons for wanting to be her are pretty obvious. :) I pulled her off for Halloween one year, but I would up the costume a bit if I dressed like her for Dragoncon. The trick would be, how to pull this costume off without getting too hot:

Just so we're clear, my friend Whit is a gnome in this picture, not an elf. And my friend Ryan is…some kind of scary Ravenclaw wizard guy, LOL! This was us in Halloween 2012.   By the way, Ryan is also the one who introduced me to Dragoncon oh, so long ago, back in 2005! And ever since, I've been going, nerding out, and recycling the costumes for Halloween.

2. Captain Janeway from Star Trek: I'll do it if I can find a black skirt that can keep me from being too hot in the costume, at least temperature wise, hahaha!

3. Willow from Buffy: I know, I know, I do not look like her at all! But I think I AM her in many ways, with a bit of Cordelia mixed in. And plus there's a Buffy Horror Picture Show this year that I REALLY want to go to!! I'll confess that I'm only on Season 1 of Angel and Season 2 of Buffy because unlike most of my peers, I did NOT watch these shows in high school and college! But I'm catching up, and I'm in love with the Whedonverse, which is no surprise after my Firefly obsession. And I love how Willow is dating a band guy who is also a werewolf. That's totally me, haha!!

And, as a side note, I will be dressed as my nerdy, quirky, hopefully still lovable self. I usually make a stop over to the Decatur Book Festival too, but that's worthy of its own post. :) At Dragoncon, as myself, I am able to meet awesome people, such as KELLY SUE DECONNICK!

One year, in 2007, I got to meet Matthew Lewis (Neville) and James & Oliver Phelps (The Weasley Twins) from the Harry Potter movies, which was awesome, and their autographed pictures still hang up in my house, along with Jayne Cobb from Firefly, Astrid from Fringe, and the psychologist/Jimminy Cricket from Once Upon a Time. Who knows who I will meet this year…I am not sure I can ever top my cousin Cindy having a drink with Nathan Fillion, but I will try! I look forward to seeing what this year at Dragoncon has in store for me.