Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 9: Did We Mention There Was a Cosplay Parade

four cosplayers as a bobsledding team walking behind a Jamaica banner

Jamaica’s 1988 Olympic bobsledding team from Cool Runnings!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (my day job, my streaming stories, and so forth). Rather than continuing to fussily sort them into themed galleries, let’s plow through the rest and get these out into the world in case any attendees are still Googling themselves two weeks after showtime. Please let me know if we old folks misidentified any characters. Enjoy again!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 8: More Than Cosplay at the Parade

Happy Zildjian cymbalist marching in parade with Beagle Boys shirt.

The Seed & Feed Marching Abominable band, once again at Dragon Con!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (chores! doctors’ appointments! binging The Paper!). Not everyone in the parade was there just to cosplay — some brought other artistic talents to the fore.

Case in point: special guests of the con and the parade!
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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 7: Pimp My Cosplay Parade Rides

Multicolored 1951 Studebaker Commander painted multiple colors, with bubbles painted atop those.

It’s Fozzie’s car from The Muppet Movie! Refurbished by Razorfly Studios.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (such as a family reunion this weekend). The parade had more than just costumes, though — next batch up is the unused $25,000 Pyramid category “Things People Rode or Drove at the Dragon Con Cosplay Parade”. Well, the ones we haven’t already posted in previous chapters, that is — geek-themed cars! Trucks! Bikes! More! Enjoy!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 6: The Cosplay Parade, Marvel and DC Comics Division

Blade cosplayer crouched right in front of us, fake rifle outstretched to his left.

It’s Blade! Star of the upcoming Marvel Zombies animated series and four movies so far!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (such as a family reunion this weekend). If you or someone you know was in the parade and you’d love to see them, pretty-please let us know! We’ll be happy to search our files and show ’em if we caught ’em. No guarantees, but we’ll oblige if we can. Also, please let me know if any characters have been misidentified. As we get older the number of pop-culture universes keeps multiplying and we can only contain so many of ’em in active memory at once.

Next batch up: the heroes, villains, and supporting casts of the Marvel and DC Universes, virtually the only comics-related characters we captured that morning. Enjoy!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 5: The Cosplay Parade, Video Game Division

Fallout Technicians Costuming Group holding their banner. Some have Vault jumpsuits, at least two are New Vegas dancers.

Fallout fans welcome you to pre-Wasteland Atlanta!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (such as a family reunion this weekend). If you or someone you know was in the parade and you’d love to see them, pretty-please let us know! We’ll be happy to search our files and show ’em if we caught ’em. No guarantees, but we’ll oblige if we can. Also, please let me know if any characters have been misidentified. As we get older the number of pop-culture universes keeps multiplying and we can only contain so many of ’em in active memory at once.

Next batch up: lots of video game characters, just because. Enjoy!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 4: The Cosplay Parade, Star Wars Division

Banner on side of real-life Jawa Sandcrawler, depicting cartoon Jawa holding their own circus. Titled The Greatest Show on Tatooine. A Jawa with clown nose and eyes leans out a window.

The Dragon Con 2025 Cosplay Parade presents the greatest show on Earth! Screw you, ordinary circuses!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Same as our visits in 2019, in 2021, and in 2023, one of our favorite D*C features was the annual Saturday morning cosplay parade. Each year hundreds of cosplayers team up in appropriate factions or categories and march the streets of downtown Atlanta in their costumes, sometimes even driving their own geek vehicles. The roadside crowd lineup around the parade route is the best opportunity for the public-at-large to join the festivities and get a taste of comic-con life for free.

We amateur enthusiasts took nearly 800 photos (maxing out my memory card at one awkward point), from which I spent two nights culling maybe 200+ to post. We’ll be sharing batches of them over the next several chapters, time and energy permitting. If you or someone you know was in the parade and you’d love to see them, pretty-please let us know! We’ll be happy to search our files and show ’em if we caught ’em. No guarantees, but we’ll oblige if we can.

First up: lots of Star Wars characters, just because. Enjoy!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 3: Slightly More Cosplay!

Four costumes as in caption

Insurance mascot role call: The General! Lady Liberty! Flo! AFLAC Duck!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

…but in the meantime: more cosplay pics! Except where noted, the following pics were taken Saturday between 11:30 a.m. (when the final marchers in the annual cosplay parade reached the end of the route) and 7:00 p.m., when we dragged ourselves down the Marriott’s fire-exit stairs to circumvent the out-of-order escalator and take our leave of the festivities. Same as last time, we snapped a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total talents on display, as mere amateur appreciators who like sharing such sights and wonders to You, The Viewers At Home. Sorry we missed thousands more! We just kept doing other stuff! And we’re too old to keep up this pace for 72 straight hours!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 2: Some Cosplay!

Peacemaker and Eagly costumes in a giant hotel lobby.

Peacemaker and Eagly! They’re here to bring peace no matter how hard they have to party to do it! (Full disclosure: the gent at left is an official Friend of MCC. I’m sure the other guy’s cool, too.)

[CONTENT WARNING! The following entry contains one (1) crude gesture, in-character.]

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

…and of course costumes abounded everywhere. Thousands of cosplayers surrounded us on all sides at any given moment. No single human, duo, or entire international photography company could hope to capture more than a tiny percentage of the costumes that graced the hotels, streets, and downtown hot spots with their welcome presence. Over the next several chapters we’ll be sharing batches of pics we took in between our moments of gawking and recognizing and racking our brains trying to remember some of the more obscure character names. Our meager galleries will number several, yet will represent a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total talents on display. We’re merely amateur appreciators passing along some of those sights and wonders to You, The Viewers At Home.

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 1: The Stars in Our Galaxy

Us doing jazz hands with four guys from Voyager.

Star Trek: Voyager jazz-hands role call: Robert Duncan McNeill! Tim Russ! Garrett Wang! Robert Picardo!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: in 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America, Dragon Con had received rave reviews from internet friends who refused to shut up about it. It’s become a biannual tradition for us, even in the face of 2021’s rigorous pandemic precautions and 2023’s unfortunate coinciding with Hollywood’s dual SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which meant the celebrity guests couldn’t actually talk about work, as if actor Q&As at comic-cons weren’t already awkward enough.

Newbies no more, we once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle, this time unhampered by pandemics or greedy studio-exec shenanigans. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it.

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Indiana State Fair 2025 Photos, Part 4: The Year in Lego

Lego Taj Mahal!

Lego Taj Mahal!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…

Lego is a frequent sight at our State Fair. 4-H kids and competitors in other art contests routinely turn in works of Lego as their favorite sculpting medium. Some submissions are store-bought kits; some are original creations. There’s nothing emphatically Hoosier about them. To my knowledge we have no Lego factory and no Legoland theme park. Indiana was not a beachhead for Danish explorers. The old Lego Indiana Jones sets have nothing to do with Indiana per se, much as we might wish to contrive otherwise. But at our state fair there’s always room for Lego.

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