Riding the Dragon

DragonCon is one of the biggest and longest-running comic conventions in North America. This year, nearly 80,000 attendees took over downtown Atlanta, and I was one of them!

I have a bit of history with DragonCon, not all of it pleasant - my experience there a couple of years ago ended up being emotionally difficult for a variety of reasons, and I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to go back. I’m glad I did, though, because this year was an absolute blast. Judging the MuscleNerdz competition, making new friends, showing off my cosplays, having adventures with my boyfriend… It ended up being one of the best convention experiences I’ve ever had!

The highest of the highlights has to be judging (and doing a guest performance at) the MuscleNerdz showdown. I had only been working out for 6 months the first time that I competed in MuscleNerdz, all the way back in 2021, and hearing the feedback from the judges that I could really compete was what gave me the bodybuilding bug. It’s been quite a journey with them - getting second place in 2021, winning in 2022 but not being able to enjoy it, then coming back in 2024 as a judge, feeling strong and healthy and happy and giving a performance that I’m proud of. I even connected with the organizers to suggest that they expand to other conventions outside Atlanta, possibly with my help, so who knows that the future may hold?

This is the first time that I’ve flown to a convention, so packing was a bit of a different experience. I had to be really thoughtful about what costumes and props I could bring, but at the end of the day it all came down to shoes. I tried to do sporty versions of the various characters that I was cosplaying as, so all I had to bring were a few pairs of sneakers. It ended up working out even better than I’d hoped, and I felt both cute and comfy the entire convention. The photos I’m featuring here are of my Gym Mirko cosplay, inspired by artwork from Iron Pinky on Instagram.