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sheliesshattered · 7 months

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Dragon Con 2023 Retrospective

We've been home from Dragon Con for two weeks as of today -- but we've spent most of that time recovering from a particularly nasty Con Crud™. I tested negative for covid, but Jack tested positive and we had the same symptoms, so eh I figure I finally actually caught it, after several rounds of head colds that tested negative.

I always get some level of Con Crud and/or spoonie post-event exhaustion, so I was prepared to feel pretty awful for a week or two at least. The fever and sinus headache was a bit novel this year, but as I'm getting over this infection I'm actually feeling okay-ish. Hopefully my energy will continue to return over the next few weeks (I've got a big day of walking planned for the end of October!) but otherwise I might actually be feeling better now than I have two weeks post Dragon Con (or post Wasteland Weekend) in previous years.

And unlike previous years, I got through the whole con and the trip home without feeling sick at all. A little dehydrated at times (the wait for airport security at ATL was the worst honestly), and my body taking the trouble to remind me how much stretching in the evening helps me, but nothing worse than that.

I've had Dragon Cons in past years when I was too wiped out to even leave the hotel room by Sunday evening, but this year I spent Sunday evening standing around and socializing at the Doctor Who Ball, and didn't hate myself for it later. A combination of being in better physical condition now in general, and pacing myself (and Jack needing to pace too), and staying on top of vitamins and electrolytes and water all really seemed to help.

We got home on the Monday of Labor Day weekend, and then Tuesday morning I was feeling well enough to go grocery shopping on my own and make corn chowder from scratch when I got back. I was tired, but not too bad, honestly. Buuut by that evening I had a sore throat, then by Wednesday morning both Jack and I woke up with a fever. The rest of the week continued more or less like that, with a lot of lying around on the couch and watching movies and tv shows, lol.

Despite feeling like death, we did spend some time talking about what went well at Dragon Con 2023, what we'd want to do again and what we'd want to do differently. I really enjoyed the House of the Dragon photo meetup on Saturday, and wearing my Rhaenyra cosplay in general. I even ended up wishing that I'd carved out time to go to the Game of Thrones/ASOIAF photo meetup in the same costume, just to have more time in that dress and hanging out with that fandom.

There's something that I really enjoy about working hard for months on end to make something screen-accurate from a fandom that is active but also fairly focused. I recognized every costume worn at the HotD meetup, knew which character wore it in which episode, etc. Everyone I talked with at that meetup knew exactly which dress I was wearing, which character I was, and noticed the details I spent so much time working on -- just as I did theirs. There's a wonderful camaraderie and bonding in appreciating each other's hard work to achieve screen accurate reproductions of well-known and visually compelling costumes.

Between that meetup and late night drinking shenanigans while wearing my Rhaenyra cosplay, I really felt like I achieved my peak Dragon Con experience this year while wearing that costume.

By contrast, while I did have fun wearing my Harley Quinn Taylor Swift mashup cosplay, I didn't have nearly as much fun as I did as Rhaenyra. I got some nice compliments from complete strangers who saw the shirt and got the mashup concept, and I had one funny in-character interaction with a Joker cosplayer, but by the evening I was ready to switch back to being Rhaenyra.

The Harley mashup was clever, but not people-stopping-to-take-pictures clever, and honestly there are just a lot of Harleys running around the con. And her canon is a lot more scattered than HotD/GoT canon, and costumes are much more commercially available, so there wasn't nearly the same level of bonding over hand-making the costumes.

The Swifties meetup was fun, and exchanging the beaded friendship bracelets I made was a good experience -- but honestly I had more fun handing out the few Rhaenyra ones I made than I did exchanging the Swiftie ones. I don't regret making the Harley Quinn Taylor Swift mashup, but it did really help clarify my priorities for future Dragon Cons.

So Harley Quinn was fun, but won't be repeated, I don't think. But because I'd worn Rhaenyra's red dress so late into the evening on Friday, I hadn't had a chance to wear my punk!Rhaenyra original concept yet, so on Saturday night when I wanted to switch back to Rhaenyra for awhile, I got to break that one out for late night parties and shenanigans (and also Dairy Queen).

Sunday was lower-key by comparison. Quite a few Doctor Who cosplayers looked right at my Oswin and didn't seem to recognize it, which seems to be par for the course for mainstream Whovians when it comes to Clara's era. That said, just when I was starting to get snarky about that (quietly, only to Jack), a Sixth Doctor cosplayer complimented my Oswin, which made the whole thing feel worth it.

And then when I switched to my MOTOE Clara cosplay for the evening hours, there were a few more people who clearly recognized the costume -- including one woman who gasped and yelled 'Clara!!' at me as we were passing each other in heavy Marriott crowds. I didn't get a chance to do more than gasp in surprise at her excitement, but the cycling of the Marriott crowd being what it is, we eventually passed each other again, and I ran off through the crowd to catch her that time. We chatted for a bit and I gave her the beaded bracelet reading 'Don't Stop Me Now' that I made for exactly that situation, lol. We ended up hanging out at the Doctor Who Ball, but her excitement over the MOTOE cosplay really made my night.

The Doctor Who Ball had a costume contest (that wasn't real well organized, but sounds like it will be a more official thing in future years, because it was such a popular event) that I entered on a lark. The announcement of the winners in particular wasn't well done, I missed it completely because I was talking with people, but I went and asked afterwards and found out that I'd done well and (according to the woman running the contest, who immediately asked to take a picture with me) apparently I only lost the Companion category to a Wilf cosplayer who was spot-on, and tugging on everyone's heartstrings. I don't know how close the vote really was, but her enthusiasm for my cosplay felt like such a gift.

I haven't felt like going to GallifreyOne in recent years, since I've felt so much on the outside of the Doctor Who fandom (between the hate focused on Clara's era and my own dislike of the most recent era), but the Doctor Who Ball was a great time to talk with like-minded Whovians, and to remember why I love this corner of the fandom in general.

I think MOTOE Clara will probably make an appearance at future Dragon Cons, and Oswin met the original purpose of being a comfortable easy-to-wear cosplay for during the day, so in all likelihood that one will come back too (after just a little bit of repair work on the belt).

The red silk Rhaenyra gown held up well, much better than I feared it would. I maaay need to handwash it, but I washed the fabric with shampoo before I sewed it, so theoretically it can be handwashed again, if it really needs it. I need to replace the shoes, but that's already in progress. At this point I'm planning to bring Rhaenyra's Red Dress back to Dragon Con 2024 (and maybe even to something else in between, like Wonder Con?). Quite possibly punk!Rhaenyra too.

I think season 2 of HotD will air before next Dragon Con, or at least start before the end of August. There's every possibility that there will be new costumes from s2 that I'll want to make -- but either way, I know now that I want to lean into cosplay from fandoms like HotD/GoT, and focus less on fandoms like Harley Quinn.

I've already started thinking about and planning cosplays for next year, but this is already way too long, so I'll post an update about that tomorrow...

#Dragon Con #Dragon Con 2023 #my cosplay #my sewing #RRD cosplay #Harley Quinn Swiftie cosplay #Oswin Oswald cosplay #Clara Oswald cosplay #House of the Dragon cosplay #Rhaenyra Targaryen cosplay #Harley Quinn cosplay #Doctor Who cosplay #long post #my costumes #2023 mood

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scarletttries · 2 years

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I'm Being Really Brave About This (Kendall Roy Request)

Pairing: Kendall Roy (Succession) x Reader

Rating: Just fluff, one very loose reference to drugs

Word Count: 1.3k

Request: “Requests for Kendall 💕. I loved the last one! 🥰 "I love seeing you smile." "I'm never leaving... I promise."

Author's Note: Thank you so much for this Kendall request, I have a couple of Kendall pieces on the go at the moment and he's such a cute character to write for :) Let me know if you have any more requests for stories or headcanons with him!

I'm Being Really Brave About This

First thing in the morning you always check your phone, by now you know exactly what to expect from Kendall Roy, business man, insomniac and boyfriend extraordinaire. A reliable stream of 'Good Morning Beautiful','Have the best day babe', 'I'm already so fucking excited to see you later.' Always sent at 6:58, two minutes before your morning alarm so you'd never fail to wake up to a sweet reminder that Kendall was thinking of you. As your eyes adjusted to the bright screen this morning, you smiled at his name at the top of your screen, but your text this morning was a bit rougher around the edges than usual;

"Hey, do you feel okay today? Because I feel like crap. Like a literal dumpster filled with garbage and bodily fluids. So I hope you are okay <3"

You couldn't help but laugh at Kendall's way with words as you took a quick inventory of yourself; no headache, no stuffy nose, no sore throat - you were good to go. You quickly rang him back as you started your morning routine, taken aback but the weak, congested voice that answered.

"Hey babe, are you okay?" Kendall asked nervously between sniffs, sounding the absolute picture of pathetic, your heart breaking at the thought of him shuffling around his office with a pocket full of used tissues.

"Hey Kendall, I feel fine, how are you? Are you at work?" You responded softly, listening to him breathe a sigh of relief that you weren't feeling as awful as him,

"That's good, I'm glad you're okay. I just feeling really fucking terrible, I think Iverson had something at the weekend and now it's trying to dissolve me completely from the inside out. So I'm staying at home, I figured one sneeze of this bullshit would be enough to kill half the Roys and if I'm gonna kill my dad I want to do it in a less pathetic way." You laughed at his dramatics as he listed all of his symptoms to you while you got ready for work, knowing he'd be feeling particularly lonely while he moped around his apartment on his own all day. Eventually you had to cut him off as he listed which of his family members he thought would and wouldn't survive the seemingly bloodline-ending cold he had.

"I've got to head out for work now 'Dall, but keep in touch today and let me know if you need anything and I'll come see you straight after work okay?" You heard the slight note of disappointment in his deflated tone as he replied,

"Yeah yeah, of course, go to work, you fucking boss badass and i'll see you later, don't worry about me." He quickly hung up, trying to hide the sinking feeling creeping inside of him that he wouldn't be able to spend all day talking to you like wishes he could. You felt bad for not being able to be there for him all day, but you had things you needed to get sorted and you knew he'd still be exactly where you left him when you finished for the day.

***

Throughout your shift your phone was vibrating in your pocket with constant updates from Kendall, clearly struggling with being left alone and feeling particularly sorry for himself.

"Made myself a cup of tea #Im Being Really Brave About This."

"Walked from the bedroom to the living room #unstoppable."

You snuck a glimpse at the latest message in a quiet moment only to see it was just a picture of Kendall wrapped in his duvet, sat on the sofa, followed quickly by "This could be us, but you're working." It took all your self control not to burst into laughter at his steady stream of consciousness, trying to send loving replies between meetings and inventory, getting your work wrapped up as quickly as possible so you could make your way to Kendall's apartment.

***

By the time you walked through the door, Kendall had crawled back into his bedroom, still cocooned in his duvet like a sad little dumpling. Kendall was always very comfortable being vulnerable with you, craving the nurturing kindness you showed him having been so deprived of it early in life, but seeing him looking so downtrodden still made your heart ache. His eyes slowly trailed off his screen as you stepped through the doorway, lighting up as they met yours, clearly the only thing he'd been waiting for all day.

"Hey! You got here early!" He said excitedly, spreading his arms out wide to welcome you into his blanketed embrace. You wrapped your arms around him, willing to risk the possibility of catching his cold if it meant you didn't have to reject his desperate hug.

"I got here as soon as I could, and I really appreciate you keeping me updated today. How are you feeling now love?" You cooed softly, settling on the bed next to him and gently running the back of your hand over his forehead.

"Better now that you're here." He let out quietly, smiling, resting his head on your shoulder. "But still fucking terrible. And I 've been so bored, and this place has a fucking hundred rooms and nothing cool to do, and my nose is so stuffy that I thought about having Greg fetch me some more park cocaine to just blow my nose clean off, but you should be very proud of me because I just took cold medicine instead like a loser." He nodded firmly, like it was the most sensible sentence in the world, watching the corners of your mouth turn upwards as you kissed his clammy forehead,

"I'm very proud of you Kendall." You praised , sincere in your sentiment despite the giggle creeping through your lips.

"I love seeing you smile." He returned softly, repositioning his quilt so he could share it with you, eyes fixed to your warm expression.

"Well you're very good at making me smile, so that's lucky." You retorted, cupping his face softly in your hands to place a gentle kiss on the bridge of his flushed nose.

"I probably am the funniest man alive." He pondered out loud, wrapping his arms around your waist to pull you backwards onto the bed to lay beside him. He tilted his head so your faces were barely an inch apart, adding seriously,

"But if I don't make it through this cold, I want to you to know that after a respectful mourning period of like ten fucking years, you have my blessing to get re-married. I want you to be happy, and go on without me, even though it will be a terrible life devoid of all joy and laughter." You burst out laughing at his monotone delivery of his last will and testament,

"Kendall you just have a cold, I think you'll live. Also we're not married?" You reminded him, wondering just how much cough syrup he'd got through today, as his brow furrowed.

"Oh shit, that's my bad, I'll fix that soon, just let me take a nap first." He mumbled, nuzzling his face against your now blushing cheek, wondering if he'd remember that promise when he was back to full health.

"Okay 'Dall, do you want me to get you anything?" you asked softly, running your fingers slowly through his hair as his limbs relaxed around you.

"Please could you just stay? Like forever." His eyes were wide and bright as he looked up at you like you were the cure to all his afflictions, silently pleading for your reassurance.

"I'm never leaving... I promise." Kendall beamed at your promise, the most sincere smile he could remember giving anyone for a long time, as he drifted off in your arms, knowing in his heart you'd be there for him when he woke up, and everyday afterwards.

#one shot #writing #fanfiction #requests #kendall roy x reader #kendall roy #succession hbo #succession

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