#I just keep thinking about cosplay and cons lately

[fgumi]

i need more loser!heeseung after reading that oh my gosh . yes yes yes yes. #needhim #needthat

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ LO$ER = LO♡ER

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 { PAIRING; non-idol!heeseung x reader, GENRE; fluff, headcanon, WC; 2.7k, WARNING(S); mildly suggestive (what’s heeseung supposed to do when you’re so hot?), A/N; your wish is my command. i absolutely love loser!heeseung. it's a need. TAGS; @en-dream @heeheesang @httpenhoon @r1kification @seungheartyou, @starfallia @sugarikiz @hoondolls @bamguetismee @jnysaln @cixrosie @wensurr @heartheejake @m1kkso @hollyoongs @hoonieyun }

loser!heeseung was excited. so excited. why you may ask? because you agreed to go to anime con with him. you even suggested that the two of you cosplay. you asked to go as lucy and david from cyberpunk edgerunners, something that fit the aesthetic you two had built. so, heeseung checked himself out in the mirror, fumbling with the yellow jacket you sewed for him and fixing the pieces of his hair that fell out.

“baby, i think we’re gonna be late if we don’t head out n—”

you came out in your outfit as you adjusted the belt resting on your hip. heeseung didn’t have any words. you looked… gosh, how could he describe you without being weird? you were beautiful, even on the days you didn’t feel it. but… right now? heeseung felt ashamed to say that he understood all those nasty guys thirsting over cosplayers. holy crap, he hit the lotto. you were a vision.

“hee? do i look weird? i wasn’t sure about the wig either,” you pouted as you touched the long white strand.

“no!” heeseung shouted, then cleared his throat. “you look really good.”

you smiled and walked up to him, checking out the two of you in the mirror. “you also look very handsome. we make a good lucy and david, huh?”

your eyes glanced at heeseung through the mirror and noticed he was still looking at you with his mouth agape. you turned to him and waved your hand in front of his face. “hee?”

as he kept staring at you, you shifted. you couldn’t help but blush under his gaze. heeseung gulped. how was he going to keep all those creepy guys away from you? he can’t even fight! he’d have to cover you up! but then he wouldn’t get to look at you in this… this outfit.

you softly planted a kiss on his cheek and that brought him out of his daze. his ears were bright red when he stepped away from you.

“i— uh. um. we— you—” he stuttered, unable to form a coherent thought.

a giggle escaped you at his lack of words. you did a little spin for him. man, heeseung couldn’t help his eyes drifting down at the cutouts on your hips and how short your—no! stop objectifying her. bad heeseung. that is your lovely girlfriend, who you love very much and who, for some odd reasons, loves you too.

“hee,” you interrupted, your lashes lowering—wow, you looked ready to eat him. “i thought we were gonna be late?”

you crept up to him, your hand ghosting over his arm. you pressed into him. “i mean, we don’t have to go. i just thought you wanted—”

you didn’t end up going, by the way. your couple’s cosplay never saw the light of day. instead, they were scattered on your bedroom floor.

loser!heeseung didn’t know how to feel when you asked to play d&d with him. while he said yes (because he’d never say no to you), he was admittedly nervous. what if you thought he was a big nerd and wanted to leave him? what if you hated how he dm’d (dungeon master)? well, it was too late now. you guys were on your way to jeongin’s apartment.

contray to heeseung’s overthinking, you were excited. you finally got to experience one of heeseung’s favorite pastimes. you didn’t really understand the whole thing, but you were open to it! you did some late-night research and built your own little character. she was an eladrin sage druid at level 6. heeseung made sure to let you know that you’d be thrown right into the middle of this campaign and that all the other characters were at level 6.

when you guys arrived at the door, jeongin threw it open and you were taken aback. he was in full costume, armor and all. apparently, jeongin was also taken aback. he didn’t think you were actually coming.

“oh! uh, welcome to my apartment, y/n!” he stepped aside to let you and heeseung in. inside, you saw unfamiliar faces who were also in costume. jeongin pulled heeseung aside and whispered. “i didn’t think you were serious when you said that y/n was coming! and where’s your costume?”

heeseung gave him an apologetic look. “dude, i’m sorry. you know i can’t say no to her. and i didn’t want to overwhelm her before we even left the apartment.”

jeongin sighed. “you better still dm the same with the voices and everything. and no preferential treatment!”

heeseung nodded and went to sit by you. you leaned into him and whispered. “i feel incredibly underdressed. did you know they were going to dress up?”

he rubbed the back of his neck. “we usually do for every session.”

you pouted and looked him up and down. “i would’ve tried dressing up too if i knew! where’s your costume?”

oh, how heeseung loved you. you didn’t even bat an eye that they were all losers that liked to play dress up on a weekly basis. you were just put out that you weren’t told.

“i didn’t wanna pressure you when it’s your first time,” heeseung said, patting your knee. usually, heeseung would kiss your pout away, but he was in a room full of friends who were very blatantly staring at you.

a throat cleared, drawing heeseung’s attention towards jeongin. in a (poor) scottish accent, jeongin said. “dungeon master, the fellowship awaits ye!”

heeseung nodded and pulled out his notes for the campaign. when you tried to peek, he immediately leaned away, keeping the notebook shut. “the people in the campaign can’t see this,” he said.

understanding, you stopped trying to look. you just pulled out your phone with your character sheet on it. jeongin paused in his seat. “oh, y/n, did you need to build your character first? we can wait for you,” jeongin said in his normal voice.

you shook your head and waved your phone. “i built one in d&d beyond! i came prepared, sort of?”

now, jeongin didn’t have much opinion on you other than that you were heeseung’s really hot girlfriend. but, after seeing how you tried to prepare, he could say that he liked you.

once everyone settled down, heeseung resumed the campaign. it amazed you how he was able to switch between all those voices, acting out the npcs of the quest. the way you were staring at him intently made heeseung unusually nervous.

whenever his eyes shifted over to you, his dialogue faltered for a sec before he continued. he interacted with the others of the campaign before coming to a point in the story where you could hop in. you put on a proper english accent, trying to sound as much like arwen from lord of the rings (you watched it countless times with heeseung). if no one else was in the room right now, heeseung would’ve died from your cuteness. a part of him was geeking out right now. his girlfriend, the love of his life, was playing d&d with him. what did he do in his past life to deserve this?

then came the fights. as he narrated, his friends rolled on their turns, fighting against the monsters that heeseung created. when it came to your turn, you looked a bit out of your depth. you were scrolling through moves in the d&d index to see which ones you could do. everyone was thankfully patient with you.

“i use a 3rd level spell slot and call upon lightning to strike the monster closest to jeongin?” you commanded unsurely.

heeseung leaned over, careful to not expose any notes. “baby, you’re gonna hit jeongin with that spell and you gotta reference his character, not him. that spell has a damage radius of 5 feet. the monster is only 3 feet away from him.”

you deflated as you scrolled through your list of spells. you turned your phone to heeseung, showing him the spell you wanted to use instead. “can i use flame arrows instead?”

heeseung could just die from how cute you were. he shook his head and scrolled through your list and clicked on wind wall. “you can use this one and surround the monster. it’ll take bludgeoning damage once the wall forms, regardless of his strength saving throw.”

you nodded and got back into character. you acted as if you were really putting a wind wall up and commanded more confidently. “i erect a wind wall around the monster and separate him from thralladin.”

heeseung got back to dm’ing and rolled his dice, falling short for a saving throw. he took note of the damage and continued everyone else’s turn. the night was fun! heeseung couldn’t believe how quickly you picked it up or how into it you were. at the end of the night, when everyone was leaving, jeongin pulled him aside again. “dude, y/n’s actually cool.”

pride swelled in heeseung’s chest. you managed to get the okay from his friend, not that it really affected how he felt for you. you two said your goodbyes to jeongin and walked home. you were filled with excitement for the next session. “what kind of clothes should i get for illanaria? i’m thinking white robes with some sheer drapes to add a bit of flair. i really need to study up on my spells so i don’t keep wasting time scrolling through the index. should i also get a notebook?”

just when heeseung didn’t think he could fall for you any harder, you proved him wrong.

loser!heeseung has met your parents, but in passing. however, today was a dinner meant to force—he means give a chance (don’t tell y/n he said that)—him to talk to your parents in length.

“don’t be nervous! my mom’s loved you since high school!”

ya, it’s not your mom he’s worried about. your dad on the other hand? what was he even going to talk about with him? football? heeseung could barely understand the sport. home improvement? he always needed your help to build ikea furniture. there wasn’t much he could do to gain some points with your dad. he just prayed that he wouldn’t hate him too much.

after 4 years (you recently celebrated your anniversary!) of being together, heeseung was finally going to talk to your dad. no more small talk while he waits for you to come down. he was actually going to have to make conversation with your father. if his phone didn’t tell him how cold it was, he’d think it was summer with how he was sweating.

the door swung open to reveal your mom, who looked as jovial and vibrant as ever. “kids! come in, come in. it’s freezing out there. that stupid global warming is really messing with the temperature.”

heeseung greeted her warmly, awkwardly accepting her bear hug while balancing the mac n’ cheese in his right hand. she pulled away and gasped. “you brought your famous mac n’ cheese! y/n’s been raving about this ever since she had it. i can’t wait to try it!”

when she rushed off to set it on the dinner table, your dad appeared with a dish towel thrown over his shoulder. he peered up at heeseung, since heeseung was slightly taller, and stared at him for a moment.

“so… you brought mac n’ cheese,” your dad said plainly.

heeseung laughed nervously. “i hope that’s okay?”

when your dad didn’t say anything for a second, you slapped his chest. “dad, stop intimidating him!”

your dad cracked a smile before ruffling your hair. “alright, sweetheart.” he clapped heeseung on the back and grinned. “i love mac n’ cheese! dinner’s almost ready, so make yourself feel at home!”

wow, he was a lot less intimidating than heeseung remembered. he thought back to all those moments in high school and wondered if your dad was just pretending to be stoic. your dad guided him to the dinner table before entering the kitchen again. as he moved around, your mom leaned forward. “so, heeseung, when are you going to ask my daughter to marry you?”

you choked on your water, water spraying out of the side of your mouth. heeseung quickly offered you a napkin and patted you on the back. you wiped your mouth and glared at your mom. “mom, that is not one of the preapproved questions. actually, i explicitly said you and dad can’t bring up anything about marriage.”

your mom tsked and pouted. “honey, you’ve been dating for so long. it’s a natural question.”

before you could protest, your dad brought over the rack of lamb, fresh from the oven. he placed it in the center and took off his gloves, kissing the top of your head afterwards. “your mother is just excited to have a son-in-law that can cook. you talk about him all the time. sue her for being curious.”

you talked about him with your parents? you glared up at your dad. “we haven’t even talked about that yet. i wonder why? oh ya, because we’re still in college!”

your dad raised his arms in surrender. “hey, i asked your mom to marry me when we were 16.”

“to which i said no,” your mom playfully jabbed. “we were far too young.”

“we’re also too young,” you grumbled, leaning into heeseung’s side. he wrapped his arms around your shoulder. he hoped your parents didn’t look at him too closely. his blush was probably covering his whole face. he didn’t realize your parents were also high school sweethearts.

“you also rejected dad until you were in college, anyway,” you added, clasping your hand with heeseung’s. ah, so not high school sweethearts.

when your dad settled beside your mom, she patted him on the chest. “he wasn’t always the hunk you see now.”

“okay, that was gross. can we eat now?” you groaned. your dad started making a plate and handed it to your mom. heeseung should also probably do this for you. he pulled away from you and started making your plate, avoiding the deviled eggs and piling on the mac n’ cheese. when he placed it down in front of you, your dad raised his eyebrow. “you still avoiding deviled eggs?”

you brought your plate closer to you, waiting to eat until heeseung had his plate. you stuck your tongue out at your dad. “i don’t when hee makes them.”

your dad looked at heeseung with a surprised look. “you made her eat deviled eggs?”

“i just added miso and switched the regular mayo out for the japanese one,” heeseung sheepishly laughed. “she seemed to enjoy them.”

a boisterous laugh escaped your dad as he leaned his head back. when he caught his breath, he gave heeseung an approving nod. “good on you, man.”

the rest of the dinner went smoothly, and heeseung felt himself relaxing. your dad wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he thought. they easily bonded over cooking and how the women in their life shouldn’t have to lift their pretty little fingers if they didn’t want to. heeseung felt relieved. your dad seemed to like him, especially after you telling him how much heeseung takes care of you.

by the end of it, your dad was inviting him back over—without you. “you should come over and we can workshop a course menu for the girls.”

heeseung grinned, promising to come back soon. you said your goodbyes and drove home. on the drive, you kissed your intertwined hands. “thanks for doing that.”

heeseung shook his head. “it’s no problem. i’m glad i got to talk to your parents.”

“nothing to worry about, right? they really like you,” you teased. “they even want you to marry me so they can trap you forever.”

heeseung hummed. he’d gladly be “trapped” by your parents if it meant calling you his wife. should he go ring shopping? he didn’t have money for that right now. maybe once he gets his return offer. he could at least scroll on through websites.

“good thing i already do wanna marry you.”

disclaimer: this, in no way, reflects the idol. this is purely fiction. ✧ comments and reblogs are appreciated! ✧ give my other works a read too! you can now leave requests!

[hannahhasafact]

Thinkin about cosplay tonight

Just thinking about how I’m constantly frustrated about how my cosplays come out and it’s not (necessarily) because I can’t sew. It’s because I constantly size up because I’m worried about making my cosplay too small and then I can’t fit in it

Like an example:

Here’s my princess peach jumpsuit from two years ago. For my first time making pants, I think I did a pretty good job. But even with the belt pulled super tight (which it is) you can tell it’s immensely baggy.

And here’s my Imelda from last year:

Doesn’t look too bad in this pic but here’s a pic from the con itself:

(Ignore that I had the sleeve pointed in the wrong direction WHOOPS) but like. This is absolutely not flattering. And it’s not the photographer’s fault, it’s because it’s not well fitted to my body.

And this isn’t me being weird because of my body. I’m not small, I’m pretty much the average for an American woman. Because I CAN look flattering in my own cosplay (in my own opinion):

Yes she’s a lil lumpy and bumpy even with the spanx but it’s a LOT more flattering. Because it actually fits my body????

I think for a lot of my life I’ve been so used to getting clothes that are big for me I’m always nervous to fit to my actual body because what if I get bigger??? And then I can’t wear it??? Which technically has happened for cosplays of mine. But like… a cosplay that doesn’t fit right isn’t going to make me feel good.

So I guess what I’m saying is next big cosplay I’m going to not worry as much about it being too tight???? I dunno. Cosplay is hard, sewing is hard, but I guess I can’t stop so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Bonus cosplays/halloween costumes that I didn’t sew the garments but I added things to/etc:

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AiTA for not wanting my friends at my booth anymore?

I (29 F) have been trying to get started as an artist at our local conventions. So I found a few friends willing to booth share so we could split the table cost. I always put the down payment on the table for cons in full.

The first year was really hard. People haven't shown as much interest in my fandom merch as I had thought they would (prints/keychains/etc).

They (25) make bags by hand (non fandom related). They're cute items, but people don't show as much interest in them.

The first year we boothed together they were late to the con, and to when the vendor hall opened, and to when I had set times I needed a break from the booth, and wasn't answering their phone. When they have been on booth duty, they spend all their time on their phone and don't talk to attendees unless people ask them questions.

I had a convo abt how disappointed I was with the lack of communication and them being late months after the con. They said they'd work on it and I tried to make it clear that this was my booth (since it's my money we're gambling with). I didn't mind renting out space on it. I had already promised them they'd have space at the table this year, so I didn't push the issue further, but I made it clear if we were to keep being friends I couldn't be in a position where I relied on them professionally. They said they understood, but we had been drinking when talking abt it.

This year, they were late to set up again. They brought people not involved with the booth to sit with us without asking me. So there was four people and my partner didn't feel comfortable being the fifth even though though my partner was the one that helped with set up the day prior. They were an hr late to dinner plans with us that night with 0 notice for an important phone call (their partner found out abt the DBZ guy dying. That was the importaht call) They didn't show up today until 2 hrs after open today with no notice of what was going on (they're rooming with 2 other people that have my # and were at the booth day 1) supposedly due to a migraine, but I know they drink hard after con closes. They have been there when I needed a break and responded when I asked where they were, they've had matching cosplays with me all con and it's all things I'm into. I can see they genuinely tried compared to last year.

Then my partner thought they heard them complaining about me while I was on lunch break today. (I only got food for my family/SO during the 2 hrs their half of the booth people was MIA. I assumed they were getting their own food in that time. Since yesterday they had food before showing up and didn't want lunch). And I had included them in my paid cosplay shoot without asking for them to chip in.

I spent way more money on the table this year literally the day we drove up to the con (long story, but point is I locked in the space, they weren't involved in getting table space this year) It's turned out better than before against all odds. I broke even day 2 not including their sales.

Then they were talking abt how next year they want more table space to take commissions and bring more stuff and be "more involved" with the table. I don't want that. It's like they don't remember agreeing it was my table at the end of last year.

I'm known for being flat/blunt when I'm upset. And at this point it's gone passed inexpeirience to just not thinking abt this as work.

Last year we agreed they'd give me $50 or what sales they made and this year it looks like they won't sell enough to make it to the $50. If I don't take their cut, I know my SO will be frustrated with me for being a push over and them for not following through on our agreement.

Idk how to firmly establish the boundary that it's my table and I don't want them having any more space/control over it without them saying I'm the asshole. I think it would be shitty to do that after demanding all their sales, but idk when to bring it up. It's also their birthday week this week.

I don't mind renting space, but at this point they don't understand that's what they are doing and I'm kind of done. This is our 2nd year doing this convention together, but my 4th table. My partner's furious with them abt the whole thing. I just want the freedom of making choices with my booth without being disappointed by people who say they care about it, then act like working the booth isn't a job.

AITA? Is there a way to not have them less involved with the booth next year without coming off as an asshole?

What are these acronyms?

[notnights]

This is way late posting but I was waiting to see how the organizers would handle this situation before I posted this but they have seemingly ghosted me so;

Criticisms I have about Corpus Christi Kadabracon 2024, while its evident I also had incredible experiences while there but I also feel avoiding the bad won't help anyone improve. So hear we go. First of all I knew going in this would be a tiny local con and wouldn't be perfect. I don't know how much experience the organizers have but my goal here isn't to rag on them but give some criticisms to hopefully help them think about how they can improve.

The venue was way too small. My nephew's school cafeteria was probably bigger than this room. Everything was in the same room. I assume this was the main reason as to why there were even artists placed outside. Which sucks it was 90 degrees on the coast. Inside wasn't much better, there probably was air conditioning but it was just so packed it was stuff and warm.

They originally had their event taking place at the Emerald Hotel in Corpus Christi when they changed venues to the Mansion Royal a wedding venue. They had replied to a comment on instagram why they were moving saying "the event outgrew the previous venue." Makes sense this was after they announced all the TADC cast would be there, and would have got an influx of tickets. And I was honestly happy for them because it meant this little con was earning a lot.

However this comment has since been deleted. Probably due to the fact the Emerald Hotel had 8 rooms, a total of 10,000 sq ft of Event Space while the Mansion Royal has 4,420 sq ft.

Apparently the hotel would be under construction the week of the event, makes sense they'd scramble to try and find a new venue near by in such a short amount of time and ended up getting stuck with something small but why would they lie about moving to a bigger venue? Be honest, scale down. I've never hosted an event like this but there's got to be a better way. I've been to cons before that had to change venues last minute but still had equitable room. Because everything was so packed the lanes between artists could barely fit two people. I can't imagine how much people with mobility aids had to struggle. I don't think a wheel chair could fit through there, at least not without grazing both edges of the lanes.

I keep joking about Jax and Gangle being kicked out of any place we stood in for too long because it kept happening. Understandable there was very little room. At bigger cons you'll see people sitting at the edges of rooms, against walls etc. Here that was not possible any space was taken any free space if stood in would be blocking something or someone. Our cosplays got in the way a lot, I get it. But its hard to move in those things, the lights were dim (what was up with that??) we can't see our feet, moving was more of a hassle than not in most places, here moving or not moving were both bad decisions!

One of these times included was for the TADC Q&A panel. Again I get it there was no room. When I had asked if there was any place we could stand, or if we should just fuck off I was ignored. I would've preferred being told "sorry fuck off" over being ignored. When we went to the only spot we could find it was too far to hear anything. My cosplay partner was kind enough to let me go find a seat while she stayed behind but it wasn't even 2 minutes when we were told to move again.

I had purchased VIP which means I should have gotten into this panel anyways but turns out they didn't give me a VIP badge! I spent $130 back in august, only to not even get it. I unfortunately did not notice this until we left. I'm trying to see if they can at least give me the $100 back since a weekend pass was only $30.

I wouldn't be as upset if I got my VIP exclusive items and wasn't kicked out of that panel but I didn't, and I was!

-

Update Oct 13th: I was able to get into contact and they're giving me a partial refund and the items I was suppose to get along with the VIP. The person I talked to seemed very understanding, hopefully I get this solved.

Update Nov 26th: They have not replied to my emails for the past 3 weeks. I have to admit now that after I spoke on the phone with them when I hung up I hated that because I realize they told me what they would do--not in writing--and I was like huh, that sucks. And I hate now that that happened! I'm so sure I have to have had that in writing if I want to take legal action. And admittedly that's a lot of work even if I do have a case here but I'm also starting to get kind of mad.

-

We had to ask 5 different people to find out how to sign up for the cosplay contest the last one didn't know they tried to find someone who did, only to just find the sign up sheets by happenstance. How is it 5 different people didn't know where this was. Each time we were told to find "so-n-so he knows," Thanks I don't know who that is.

There was not any water stationed. No outside food or drink was allowed. I'm not exactly sure if its even legal to have that many people in one place and not have water available. There was a food truck outside that was it, it was small enough that going out to get some wasn't big of a deal and there was no room to put water even if they wanted but sheesh.

There was a vendor who was selling stolen art, AND AI generated art. They had stickers but when looking through them it was very apparent these were all done by different artists. I didn't get a good look at the rest of the stuff but my cosplay partner told me it looked like AI generated stuff (Update: from several other attendees and artists there, have also agreed it was generated). We were probably not the only ones who noticed as he kept trying to get attention to their booth getting people to buy but everyone was kind of awkwardly passing over.

Bad enough as it is but extra sucks especially since so many artists got stationed outside or out of room when one could have had that space.

Its a small con I can understand maybe some of these things slip through the cracks, I've seen bigger cons accidentally accept vendors who are selling stolen art (even before the AI Gen stuff became a thing) but the last thing really makes me question this and its that I'm 98% sure the art on the badge was AI generated.

I would love to be proven wrong and have the artist come forward and just say the rushed and that's why some parts look uber weird.

This is already bad enough as it is, but they actually had an art contest for their badges. The only innocent explanation I can come up with is one of their contestants entered was AI generated and they just didn't notice. But I just don't know and even then I'm sure people have noticed and they haven't said a thing.

I have had some talks with several other people both artists who were there or attendees how had a mass of problems too. And I'm so fussed about it.

Again if they just made a public saying sorry that sucked, we'll do better next time, I'd take it but they haven't, and they're ignoring me, and short of getting lawyers involved I'm not sure else what to do other than to write a sad little post about it!

[blookitty]

Flashback Weekend Chicago 2024

I didn't think I was going to go to this convention for many months. After plans fell through to go to the North Carolina one, I didn't want to plan going to another any time soon. Especially not on the weekend of my first wedding anniversary. But an idea came to me late one night after rewatching SeaQuest for the umpteenth time that I just couldn't stop thinking about. Cue me scrambling for the last month or so to cobble together my cosplay, get tickets, and convince hubby to go with me.

More convention details below...

Not pictured is two other bloody dolphins. I had a mini dolphin mounted on my shoulder with magnets, hence the bloody shoulder and neck wound. Ted got a picture of it on his phone, so maybe he'll post it in a story later? Who knows with him? The other was a medium sized one I carried around and offered to people who wanted a picture with me to hold and pose with. The medium one was originally for the photo op, but figured Ted's hands would cover it up if he held it. Hence I got huge Darwin last minute.

In regards to actually talking to him at his table, I introduced him to my husband, who is a sheriff's deputy in our home state of Indiana. Ted predictably adored him immediately. Even more so when my husband gave him a patch from his office. Ted's eyes lit up just like they had whenever I had given him bourbon in the past. He stared at it for a good 10 seconds or more. That first time at his table, between that interaction and getting my Tim action figure signed (where he signed my name wrong, but I get that it was loud in there), we had to come back around because he was getting a long line. Being near the entrance to the vendor floor, he really had to keep the line moving or else he'd get in trouble for causing a blockage.

Second time around, we asked him for specific places to go and see on our anniversary trip up into Michigan at the end of August. He suggested blueberry picking in Saugatuck as we had told him we were planning on stopping in Holland.

Unfortunately, I flubbed the second aim of my con visit, which was to show him my tattoo (shown below) in person.

He was getting a long line again after talking to him about Michigan, so I should've just left and circled back around. But no, I'm a dummy and took my swing. I crouched and asked if I could briefly show him my tattoo away from his table because I knew I'd probably cry when I showed him. He unfortunately said he couldn't because of legal reasons, then was about to suggest I take a picture of it, but I cut him off because I had already done that before and gotten nothing from him. So instead of getting up and coming back later, I insisted I just show him now when he was clearly feeling rushed.

I panicked and just lifted my sleeve and quickly explained how the first three letters spelled his name. He simply said "Wow, that is so special! Thank you for showing me." then shook both my and my husband's hand and turned to the next person in line.

I don't blame Ted at all. He was probably panicking and I was panicking and we both reacted badly in the moment. For the rest of the day, I stressed about redoing it and apologizing for being brash, but I just couldn't find the right time to do so. I got the photo op at the end of the day (where he remembered my name upon seeing me, so that was nice) and had planned to ask for a hug right after it, but unfortunately I panicked again and let my dumb ass get rushed by staff again. We were leaving the photo op area before I remembered and I cursed inwardly at myself.

Funny enough, husband and I had a reservation for our anniversary dinner at a local steakhouse near the hotel. Near the end of our meal, husband said "No fucking way" out of nowhere, told me not to look, but Ted was at a table three tables down from us. I pulled out my phone and pointed the camera behind me, and sure enough, he was standing up near a table nearby. (I got a picture, but I'm keeping it private for my and his sake)

Not wanting to be creepy fans, we decided to just leave him alone. But the universe wasn't done with us yet...

As we paid and headed out the front doors, who do we find but not just Ted, but all 3 Raimi brothers! Well, technically 2 because as soon as we walked through the doors and processed what was in front of us, we saw that Ted was staring out into the street in front of him, completely oblivious. Husband tapped him on the shoulder, but he didn't notice at all and just said aloud "We're lookin for a Kia, right?" and just walks out into the street. We just blink and say "Uh, bye Ted" and the others laughed.

Husband says "Ah, there's Ivan and Sam." I guess we were dressed classy enough because Ivan asked "How do we know you two?" We ended up talking to Sam, Ivan, and (I assume) his wife Terry(?) for about a minute. Didn't last too long and we didn't want to bother them as they were clearly waiting on a ride from a Kia and had had a long day. I saw who I assume was their sister come and hug them good-bye, so we bowed out and just processed what the Hell had just happened.

I promise you that will never ever happen again so long as we live.

I won't get into what all happened after that as it involves me having too much alcohol, but nothing else of note really happened.

We'll see if Ted posts the patch or the mini Darwin in his story, but if he doesn't, oh well. That man has a lot going on in his brain.

[fanaticsnail]

hellohello snail! hope you’re doin well :) just had some random thoughts to share, one is more “serious” while the other is borderline crackfic material so we’ll see.

Not sure if you’re a Star Wars fan, but I’ve been keeping up with their new series The Acolyte and it reminded me of your Apprentice series with Mihawk 🤭 Just, the hatred and loathing but begrudgingly acknowledging each other’s skill, I absolutely LOVE IT. There are so many different dynamics that could work with Mihawk, always fun to think about him 🫶 I was also a big fan of this one anime called Welcome To The Ballroom which focused on competitive ballroom dancing, and I could absolutely see Mihawk being a perfect (but intimidating) dance partner. El Tango De Roxanne, La Distancia, and La Espada are all songs I can see him dancing to. (I also think he could walk in heels better than me, that man would KILL in a stiletto).

On the other hand I’ve been getting so much convention-content on my FYP, makes me think of ModernAU!Law where you’re coworkers/ his assistant, and you’re also both nerds so what happens? You meet each other at a Con, while in cosplay, and neither have a clue that it’s the other person. Just, Fanboy Law having an S/O match his freak when it comes to comics or mutual interests. But imagine the CHAOS, both are super excited to hang out with their new cosplay friend and somehow figure it out through clues (seeing a picture, keychain from artist’s alley, etc) that this is literally the coworker you’ve been pining over for several months. Love me a nerd 😋

i also am a sucker for all this doffy content, despite the fact that i haven’t gotten to see him in the anime yet LOL. regardless of whether i’ve seen a character or not i’ll always want to read your writing 🫶🫶

give griswold a kiss for me!!

-🪶 anon

The amount of times I've written Mihawk dancing is just crazy (3 times, and one is in a series). He needs more dancing. Every time I feel like he shouldn't have another dance, you have my permission to slap me. I have not seen the Acolyte, my Disney+ subscription jumped up $45 per year and I did the classic Aussie "yeah, nah" to that price raise.

I NEED TO KNOW YOUR CONVENTION CONTENT! It has been YEARS since I've done a convention. Last time I did one, I cosplayed with my husband Cyclops and Madeline Pryor while heavily pregnant with baby Cable (I don't know if you know Marvel, but it was a fun cosplay). Nerd!Law is my favourite thing.

I love you 🪶. More bird Mihawk for you. I'll have him dance in there too 🥹. I'm so glad you enjoy reading my silly things. I have been aboard the Doffy train for a little while lately. He's awful. I love him.

I'll tell chef-husband to give Griz some kisses from me and you. I'm interstate and missing them both terribly (I've only just landed in the plane).

[puffins-studio]

Gallifrey One 2024!

Ignore the fact this is 3 maybe 4ish months late I couldn’t write well for a while. Since it been a bit since I went and am typing going off of notes, I may keep rambling a bit, but I always ramble, I mostly do this just so people know the actors reactions to my dolls but it also fun to share experiences too.

It was fun as I made ribbons for this year! It was also fun I got so many little trinkets in return and some special ribbons because I was In cosplay!. I had some that were audio reference so not many understand them but people really liked them and for the people that got my random references made me so happy! I think my favorite had to be my “for the love of spoons!” As I got the 7 lovers, a few Hebe Harrison fans who got the reference! And fellow spoonies who read and it and loved it and asked for more to give to their friends too!

The dolls I made for this year

Adric (Matthew Waterhouse)

He is great! I went to his panel and there wasn’t many of us there but it was just calm and full of little jokes and it was just a good feeling, he talked about his writing with the book and audios he did and recommended some, and of course I bought them to listen too! I think I also love that he jokey also calls his adric outfit ‘Pajamas’ he also had ribbons to give out

I think the most memorable thing at the con as a whole was when I went to his script reading it was the last day and I had a lot of my sewing ribbons left so I just went done the line of people waiting to get in a ribbon as there not a lot of classic fans and i found a kid waiting in line and I just got excited that there was another young person in the classic crowd,I made sure to sit next to him when we went in, he said it was his first con so I was just giving him things I have gotten at the con, as I always thing those are some of the best parts, I gave him a beaded blanket I just got that read river, I let him pick any pin I had on my lanyard, he picked a vote Saxon button, and since he was dressed as the 2nd doctor I found him a 2nd doctor ribbon from ones I have received and I give that to him too. I keep trying to encourage him to go up and read the lines when they called on people, I helped him go up and read Adric’s lines as I was just pointing at him and trying to encourage him that it’s just fun, there no need to worry as I can’t read too and I went up and people wouldn’t remember you so it okay if he think he can’t read and Matthew Waterhouse himself picked him and the kid choice to go up. Then the host of the event had a Adric star and stop them before they all started to read, and gave the kid the star pin for the scene as he was reading Adric’s lines. He got to say the closing lines of the script the host let the kid keep the pin afterwards! I felt so happy for him! And I have to think it must have been fun for him too, and to just have a 13 cosplayer with the crazy goggles and apron giving him two thumbs up trying to encourage him as he was up there must have been funny

Rose (Billie Piper)

She is so nice! I always feel a bit awkward giving my dolls to people, and it even more so when I try to give them to actors but she liked it! And it made me happy, and then one of the handlers saw I had ribbons so I also got to add to her ribbon train, I think meeting her made me like Rose even more. I can’t remember if I got a ribbon back but it was really nice to give them to people and to actors who like to collect them!

Jackie (Camille Coduri)

She was also really nice, I went to one of her talks and it was so great. When I was making her doll I had a hard time trying to decide on the outfit. I finally picked it when I read in the doctor who magazines, the costume edition that she got to keep the coat and shoes from her final episode but then one day she just give it to a charity shop, I was just I need to do that one. When I give it to her she was like ‘Oo shouldn’t really!? And I was just ‘I made it for you, you can have it’ and she was just saying how good it was and we laughed over the coat as she recognized it and re told me the story and I told her that how I picked that outfit. Sorry to any Peter fans i didn’t make him a doll as I was cuting it close and to be honest I kinda forgot about his character and didn’t know how much he care for the character

The Master (Eric Roberts)

He was cool, He was the only other actor J didn’t give a doll too, you can see I made one to take a picture with. But how I do my pictures and dolls is I look at the schedule (I love schedules) and I take a picture before I have them autographed my book and I give the doll after the picture during the autograph. I like this way as sometimes am bad with names and faces and this is a quick way to figure out who in the picture for me as I can just look at the doll and I never know what pose I should do so this give me one, his schedule didn’t work with my plans and I thought since he was American he probably wouldn’t want this random British character anyways so I didn’t give it to him. He was cool at his booth as he was taking selfie with almost everyone in front of me. (I know after the fact I realized i could have just taken a picture with him and the doll then at the booth, but am sometimes bad socially as I don’t want to take up their time even tho that what you pay for when you pay for photos and autographs but I also feel like am holding up the line when it like last then a minute) in the photos he was nice as he was like here come front and stand here and we can do this nice picture

River (Alex Kingston)

I was excited for her as she was the first actor I have meet at a con. I did feel a bit embarrassed as when she show my doll as was like “oh it’s a little me? Without any eyes?” And kinda did a laugh and i couldn’t tell if she didn’t like it and was just trying to be nice, but I bet she have a lot of people like this. When I was getting her autograph I was like one of the very last people on the very last day so by that point everyone was tried so when I got up to her booth I had her sign my new book and the old one I had and she seem confused why she was signing it twice, but I thought it was neat as with doctor who is all about time, and meeting again, and I thought it be cool having her sign the same book like 10 years later. Looking back I should have asked her to date it too so it goes with that idea better but that me just reasoning my anxiety and the looking back on it. It was still really great to see all the river cosplayers and having people understand very minor references and getting excited over it! There was one that give me one of tho red round glass stones for a reference to the Ruby in the ruby’s curse

The Master (Derek Jacobi)

Okay I got super excited again when I learned Jacobi was coming to Gally as I just love the war master audios! And if you know me you know I love the Shaka doctor and master! I made him professor Yana as again I didn’t know which to pick and I thought the first version to officially make it to air, I have a picture of him with the doll and I feel a bit awkward at the moment so I don’t think I will put the other one of me in my Jo cosplay with him. But I feel I look bad in it and it just look like all the others. I got him to sign a shalka picture and I give him my master ribbon with my doll thr ribbon that reads ‘*gasp* “Doctor you’re alive! I mean how dare you!”’ Was that line is actually from the shalka episode. When I was getting food I looked to my left and saw an amazing Simm and Missy pair and I just stop for moments to look before rushing over just “I have a master ribbon! As it just a master line and there so few master ribbons are there, They laughed at it so I think that enjoyed! but for Jacobi my anxiety kicked in and just kinda left like “I hope i didn’t come off as to weird” as I also just keep nodding as I didn’t have any words for that moment

Sylvia (Catherine Tate)

And the best for last! She was just so sweet 😭

I had her sign my river diary first and she said she really liked all the crafting people do for their costumes and props and I was like ‘oh I made that book’ and she was just ‘what!’ And then I showed her the dolls I made her, she couldn’t believe it, first she thought the doll was the doctor but then once I said it was her she got so excited! And I had to give her a wilf too! I thought a Sylvia doll shouldn’t be without a Wilf doll and I thought who wouldn’t want a little Wilf, I give her a ribbon too the one that said “We keep them alive by telling our stories”. she was asking how I made them and looking at all the detail and she was so thankful she got up and give me a hug! Later on I ran into the person who was after me in line at her booth and they told me I accidentally start a crying Chain because it was just so sweet. Oops… I accidentally killed them with kindness. She had ribbons to give out,they said ‘I’ve made you a nice curry’ I think she think it not a cool enough line to give in exchange but I like it as it sweet like a nice cooked meal. But For the picture I wanted it with both so when I went up I asked if she wanted to hold one and she was just “aww Wilf”

These were all the little other trinkets I got from other people! I was givien them by trade with other fans. All except my little felt dolls obviously

I had a great times just stopped and handing out ribbons that matched people’s cosplayer a ribbon! It was the last day and I saw a kerblam man and I was going to ask to take a picture and I wait as there was this other person and they turned and I saw their full cosplay and there briefcase and I was just ‘Delgado!’ And he give me a fake daffodil and some pins!

I just loved giving things to people, I was in line for photos and I just hand out ribbons to everyone around me and there was a bill cosplayer and I was just “Bill!” Earlier that day I got another beaded bracelet that was bill theme as this person had bracelets for the female companion, it had Bill’s name and the beads matched her shirt. and to the cosplayer I was just “here do wanted it!” and they like “yes!” So I just give it to them and they give me some trans stickers in return and the person next to us was like this is why I love gally

Another thing that I loved was I give the people at the cosplay repair station my sewing ribbons and they loved it. It was actually sweet as I made the ribbons as I was going to try and make things to pass out but I didn’t finish them, so I just had the ribbons and i wasn’t sure if I should even put those ribbons in my box, but I did and people really liked the saying on it and it made me happy that it was people’s favorite one.

One last funny thing, I had on my ace cosplay and I accidentally let me mom walk away with my phone and in the moment of realization I was just *pat jacket* empty pockets*pat skirt* no pockets. literally my whole schedule and everything was on my phone and with my disability i can’t remember phone numbers or anything (i literally have a note on my phone with emergency contacts and stuff so if I need it) luckily my mom saw she had 2 phones and rush back downstairs to give me my phone back but obviously as a 13 fun I had this scene running though my head

[lunawings]

Today was a big day for me.

After finally starting treatment earlier this month for the health problems I'd alluded to before, I've been feeling a lot better.

So much better in fact, that I submitted a very last minute somewhat spontaneous application to the Idol Showcase at Another Anime Con this weekend and... I was accepted!

The song I applied with was Analog Heart, my favorite Rina Tennoji song that I've been practicing on and off for a long time. (Pretty much ever since I decided I wanted to try IRL idol activities.) And I was really, really excited to finally perform it.

But, due to circumstances at my work impacting my schedule the week before, I had to go an entire week without practicing before the event and I found myself unusually nervous. Then, this was exacerbated by two other factors. First of all, I was scheduled to perform very late in the event for some reason (perhaps my bad for applying late) so I had to sit and watch so many wonderful, wonderful performers before my turn (including another Rina who did SO GOOODDDD). Meanwhile, this was all taking place outside in a tent.

In the POURING rain.

As I felt the occasional droplet on my head and watched the wall of the tent cave in and split open beside me I felt increasingly concerned that the entire roof would just burst open at some point to inundate us all. It did not, but one of the biggest leaks happened to be right on the stage, so when I got up there and saw that puddle it was like.... uurugughghg.

In the end I got through my performance just fine and everyone cheered for me! The crowd was so kind!

But

I felt my movements were a lot more jerky and rushed than they should have been.

Which sucks considering I was SO happy with my audition video. I felt like I'd finally captured the fluid, confident movement I'd been striving for, for so long and I was SO. PROUD........

I shouldn't be this disappointed in myself but unfortunately I am.

*sigh*

Thing is, this was supposed to be my last solo performance as a Love Live character. I was hoping that, after this performance, I would feel fulfilled enough to close that chapter and move on to the other things I have planned.

But I don't feel that way at all.

I don't think I'm ready to let go of Rina quite yet...

Well.

My next opportunity to perform probably won't be for quite some time, so I do have a lot of time to think about it. I can always learn new things and still keep Rina on the backburner if another opportunity comes up short notice. I mean who even knows when I'll feel confident enough to perform the next thing I've got planned anyway because it'll be even harder and more nerve-wracking.

So I guess that's where I currently stand as a soloist.

As for my group idol endeavors... we'll see :)

To end on a high note I guess I'll leave this photo. My friend was cosplaying Lanzhu. Lanzhu was killed by pirates. She died. I don't know if Rina has noticed yet.

[ardenteclipse]

Hi there ! I was wondering if i should send you a message because i followed your reddit account, and we discussed about the cons you went to.

But i had to delete my account. Non i created a New one and i'm so happy to see your improvment in cosplay!

And, to be honest i love your nsfw content! You are beautifull and really got a hot body (i hope i don't shock you...)

Just keep going with the hard work and keep doing nsfw stuff for real, you are gorgeous 😉

Hii! I think I remember you from Reddit, I've discussed cons with a few people, but yeah. Went to a few more lately as youve probably seen! :)

Haha, awww thank you so much!! <33 I'm always working hard to try and make my cosplaying come out better and better!

Hehe, thanks, I definitely don't dabble in it often but it had been ages since the last time I did a shoot with Officer 2B. That new shoot came out really well I think! Glad you loved it! Don't worry, you're not shocking me haha. very sweet words :) thanks!!

[angelmichelangelo]

I have a prompt for your Kappa's Constellation oneshots.

I read somewhere that box turtles, much like birds, are unaware of glass. I was hoping that you'd make a oneshot that shows this fact through rise Mikey. (/nf, of course. You don't have to if you don't want to.)

Anon

any chance i get to write the turtles like.. well, actual turtles, i gladly take. thank you for this prompt anon! enjoy!!

x

The convention hall is bustling with people, a growing thrum of noises as voices climb higher and higher with excitement. Raph’s anxiety stacking itself equally as high as he tracks Mikey’s movements as he zips through the crowd, following only his squeaks of joy as he blends in with the other fans.

“Mike,” he whispers, jogging closely behind. “Stay close, bro.”

Someone clips his shoulder, paying him no mind as the pass him by still happily chatting away to their friends in tow, Raph, even though he seemingly slots into this very room surprisingly well without a hint of suspicion, still feels his heart kick up in his chest with worry the more he finds himself surrounded by such large crowds of humans.

“Raph!” Mikey whips around, zero consideration for his surroundings as he begins to walk backwards, beaming up towards his brother with a toothy smile. “I think I saw the comic book artist panel that way! C’mon. I don’t wanna be late!”

Raph whines as he watches Mikey slide back into the bustle of people, picking up the pace to catch up with him, he gets a few gawks and stares.

“Nice cosplay, dude!” Someone calls from one of the stalls. “Though, I don’t recall any version where Godzilla wore a mask...”

Up ahead, given his extra head on most people, Raph can make out the conference room where the panel is taking place. Tired looking workers are moving about foldable chairs and there’s a bunch of old guys watching on up front that Raph doesn’t recognize at all, but would bet his bottom dollar that these are the people Mikey wants to see.

Mikey squeals in delight, rounding back around on his brother, this time clinging to his arm which quells some of Raph’s anxiety. “Look! Look! They’re just ahead!”

He slips out of his grasp, seeing an opening of people that part out of the way, he breaks into a run, laughing trailing behind him, Raph tries to snatch him up but he’s just too fast.

Mikey flies away from him, nobody turning their attention on him because this is a comic con. People tend to get over excited at the best of times. But it seems his brother isn’t slowing down his pace, he keeps going and going and Raph isn’t sure he’s going to stop when—

Thud.

That gets everyone looking around.

Mikey bounces off the glass wall, body wobbling as he takes a few unexpected steps backwards to steady himself, everyone on the other side having stilled to look at what had almost just burst through with wide curious eyes. Raph catches up to him, curling a large hand around his shoulder.

“Michael! You okay? What was that?”

Mikey laughs nervously, rubbing at his snout with the palm of his hand. With a quick glance over, Raph can’t detect any real injuries other than perhaps a bruised ego. The rest of the room carries on around them.

“Heh, all good Raphala. Just didn’t see that uh...” he looks towards the large glass wall, brow furrowing with confusion. “Force field?”

Raph blinks. Okay. Maybe a concussion was at play here. How hard had Mikey hit his head against this pane?

“Force field?” He parrots back to him, hand slipping away from his shoulder to rap gently against the glass. More heads from the other side turn before they give up their attention to fixing the room up. “Mike. That’s glass. You didn’t see it?”

Mikey doesn’t look entirely convinced. Not until he’s pressed himself up so close that his breath fogs up the surface and he can just about see his own reflection peering back at him with parallel curiosity.

“Oh!” He says with a bubble of laughter spilling from him as he throws his head back. “Glass! Of course! Hey look, they’re getting the seats set up, we better move if we wanna get the best ones!”

And with that he’s wrapping his hand around Raph’s, effortlessly tugging him along with him, dumbfounded at what had just happened.

And later that day when they’d arrived home, Raph would find confidence with Donnie and Leo, nervously spouting off his worries about concussions and possible brain tumors or maybe waning eyesight because how could Mikey have not seen that glass wall and—

“Box turtle thing.” Donnie tells him, squashing his overflow of panic, not bothering to look up from his phone, a hue of blue illuminating his face. “They’re like birds. Can’t figure out what glass is and try to go through it. We may need to put stickers on any glass entryways and windows we have to stop him from throwing himself through them.”

Leo snorts a laugh. His arm is still in its splint but he still rolls his shoulders like it’s no big deal. “Oh cool. Miguel won’t even care about his turtle deficiency if you tell him stickers are involved.”

And Leo is completely right. Within a week any glass surfaces or panes are smothered in a plethora of stickers and posters and decorative signs like THIS IS A WINDOW, and Mikey doesn’t seem to be bothered by it at all as he gets to work on adding his Mikey touch to the already Mikey touched lair.

And in turn, neither is Raph.

[perilousandwicked]

Val Pearson cosplay: a saga. A blouse and a skirt, basically my average Friday night ensemble, what could go wrong? Read on at your own risk. TMI incoming. Let's skip past the part when I spend an hour trying to get my hair to whoosh. It refuses to whoosh. It just sort of lays there, limp, probably on strike from having been forced into waves and painted silver yesterday. Finally give up and move on to the face. Another hour trying to give myself a hint of Con's stunning cheek bones and jaw line. Six face washes and now covered in concealer, highlighter and other bits of makeup I don't even have names for up to my elbows, I finally give it up. That's two strikes. So I get my eyes to look ok and call it. On to the easy part, put on the clothes, check. Tie the shirt and roll the sleeves, check. This is when I look in the mirror and see that it's basically see-through. Now, I have no problem with my nipples, I love them, they make me happy. But as we all know, fem nipples are extremely dangerous. Basically, like Medusa, if anyone sees them, they'll turn into stone or maybe die. Children specially. So it's time to hide those suckers, for the sake of public safety and all. My pasties go on and (my brown people will feel me) these skin-tone adhesives are basically 8 shades lighter than me. I now have nipple highlighters on. Time to think on my feet. I look down at my make-up bag and the solution is staring back at me. I begin the painstaking process of painting my pasties with concealer. Amazed at my own brilliance, I turn away from the mirror to start shoving my feet into 7 inch stilettos. Turning back in triumph to get one last quick look at my masterpiece I realise I've made a critical error. I did not let the concealer dry before letting the white blouse cover my chest again. There is concealer everywhere. It's like I tried to splatter-paint it a nice, warm honey brown. By this time it's only sheer bullheadedness that keeps me from throwing on one of the three other customs I have. Wearing civilian clothes is an impossibility. To a con? Perish the thought.

So I take off the blouse and start washing it with hand soap. This was surprisingly successful. The top is no longer completely white, but it's close enough to pass. Next up, trying to dry a blouse with a hair dryer. I get it close enough that it doesn't look like I'm cosplaying as someone in the middle of a wet t-shirt contest and head out into the world. The good news is that the shirt has time to dry further as I walk around with fellow convention attendants in desperate search of an ATM. All the ones around the convention center are out of money. Workout tip: get your cardio in by walking a couple of miles in shoes that only allow you to take steps that are about 1/4 of your regular stride.

But now, I'm here, late, slightly damp, bleeding into my footwear, with plasters over my offending nipples and singing-along to Disney tunes. What a great time to be alive 😊

[karofsky]

Yesterday I found out a friend of mine passed, which was very sudden. He was battling cancer late last year, and was on the mend, and I guess something just happened so fast, and then he was gone.

I'm okay; regrettably, if you've known me since I've been around for a bit, I'm no stranger to losing friends, and especially regarding cancer. It's a shitty fucking thing that tends to plague those I care about, and I hope to at least live on to see at least some regression of diseases in the world. It's all I can hope for.

It's just... a weird feeling now. He and I were not as close these last few years, due to my moving and just some general friend group shuffling and collapsing. I regret not talking to him more, but I kept up on him and his wife (another friend), and in this day and age, that's pretty good for me.

But he was also the first friend I made as an adult. Not from school, not a friend of a friend, not a coworker, not someone I knew from online. I met him at a con, alone. I was lost looking for a friend, and he was dressed to the fandom I was in at the time (DA). I loved his cosplay, so I stopped him for a picture, and we talked for a few minutes before I mentioned my friend was also cosplaying DA, and they weren't answering my texts. He ended up already knowing them, and, being lost at my first con, I asked him if he could text me if he ran into them, and quickly shoved my contact into his phone. As far as I know, I was still "[Robin], Lost" in it, because that's what I entered, and he always told me he never changed it.

He was an older brother to me, after that. Genuinely one of the kindest people I'd ever met, and he introduced me to a lot of people I later called friends. He had no issue taking detours to pick me up at my house or from the train station, and in fact, was the first to offer every time. I went to the con with him where he met his wife. A few months later, he brought her to a cosplay gathering for the first time, and as he was driving me home after an event he thanked me for making her feel welcome. We had a long chat about his life and his relationships, and how much he really cared for his then-girlfriend. They were inseparable after that. I think I can count one time when I hung out with either of them alone post that car ride. Really just a wonderful pair, and I couldn't imagine it being any other way.

He was always the first person to hug me goodbye when our friend group all hung out. I wish I could remember what he said to me one time that got me teary-eyed, but I'm sure he'd just make fun of me for having a shitty memory, and then realize he couldn't remember it either, and I'd roast him right back.

Death is weird. I'm not... sad about it anymore. Not with all of the death that's touched my life. It's all a bit melancholy now, and in the end, I really just think about how fortunate I am to have years or months or days or hours or minutes behind me. I wish I had more with him, and I wish things had been different, but ultimately I'm happy I had him in my life, and that I can keep carrying him on. He'd hate it if we were all just a mess anyway, so I guess I'll hold down that fort on his behalf, lol.

Here's my favourite pictures of him I've taken, where for whatever reason, both of us were just being toddlers in the middle of an Islands. I don't remember the context outside of that.

Rest easy. Don't haunt me.

[kelmcdonald]

Spooky Season is Here!

Hi everyone! And welcome to everyone who signed up for my newsletter at Rose Comic Con. It turned out to be the best Rose City Comic Con I've ever been to.  If you're new here I'm making these comics:

Blue Moon is a werewolf romance gn I'm writing and Meredith McClarren is going to draw. I'm late on its script.

The City Between is my webcomic about werewolves in the future. It updates Wednesdays. The current story is called Shards of Reflection.

You are the Chosen One is a fantasy comic about 23 kids who got the same prophecy dream. It was posting on Fridays on my Patreon. But my editorial work has been piling up/overwhelming me lately. So it's on hold until I finish up some other stuff.

My day job is an editor at the manga company Seven Seas and the indie comic publisher Iron Circus Comics. I like folklore, fantasy, and especially like werewolves.

The big exciting thing this month is I've been helping my good friend and streaming cohost, Alina Pete, build and prep a backerkit campaign for the anthology they've been editing, Indiginerds.

Indiginerds wants to celebrate the ever evolving Indigenous culture. Organized by the ever talented editor Alina Pete, one of the co-editors on Iron Circus's wildly successful anthology Woman in the Woods, this book collects work from several indigenous artists and writers. From gaming to social media, pirate radio to garage bands, Star Trek to D&D, and missed connections at the pow wow, Indigenous culture is so much more than how it’s usually portrayed.  Join this anthology as it examines balancing traditional ways of knowing and pop culture.

It will launch October 16th. If you want to be one of the first people to backer, you can sign up to be notified here. It's a great book and I'm excited for the world to see Alina's hard work. 

This month, I'm also gonna start making comics that answer reader questions. If you have one post it here!

Also on full moons, I host a werewolf movie watch parties in my discord. Next full moon is October 28th. And at noon PST, we will be watching the 70s Japanese werewolf movie, Wolf Guy! If you'd like to join click here.

I'll also be doing my usual streaming

As always I'll be streaming art on Twitch. My schedule is currently the following:

Tuesday 8pm-10pm PST

Wednesday 8pm-10pm PST

Thursday 6pm-9pm PST (during the Iron Circus Geekshow)

Stop by!

Last month I was mostly keeping my nose to the grindstone except for selling stuff at Rose City Comic Con. Thanks everyone who stopped by and grabbed a book. I mostly took pictures of cosplay when I wasn't selling books. You can see them all here. But there are the highlights.

The leads of the Sabriel series by Garth Nix!

An excellent Claudia from Interview with a Vampire show

Nedry from Jurassic Park, complete with shaving cream dna holder.

And best for last, an older cosplay rocking a Granny Goodness from New Gods. 

This month I got several of the backgrounds done for the video game I'm working on for Iron Circus games. I have two or 3 more settings to draw. But I'm gonna spend next month focused The City Between and the manga I'm editing for Seven Seas. 

Speaking of manga, one of the favorite titles I've been editing for Seven Seas, Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout, is out now.

It's about a guy who is transported into a fantasy world and is turned into a hot girl. His best friend is also transported and the two have to stop a demonlord to get home. It's complicated by the fact that they are cursed to be attracted to each other. It's a deconstruction of both romance and fantasy tropes while talking about gender identity. It's a lot of fun!

This month I've mostly been watching Star Trek stuff. Particularly, Lower Decks. I appreciate that while Lower Decks is an adult comedy cartoon, it's humor doesn't come from one character being awful and abuse to other. That's a refreshing break from all the adult cartoons trying to copy Rick and Morty. I think the characters are just a lot of fun. Also, this season the little monster Moopsy has captured my heart (and my bones.) They need plushies of this little guy.

I also reread one of my favorite mangas, Pluto. If you are unfamiliar, Pluto is a retelling and modernization of an Astroboy story. It is a murder mystery as a robot detective looks into someone murdering the worlds most advanced robots. I decided to reread it because there was a question going around bluesky about what scenes from comics have stuck with people/"live in their head." For me it's a scene between Astroboy (or Atom as he is called in this book) and the scientist who built him, Dr Tenma, having diner.

Basically, this scene sticks with me because Atom was built to replace Dr. Tenma's dead son. This starts with Atom talking about his interests and how he happily did his chores. Everything Atom cares about isn't what Dr. Tenma's son cared about. Both of them realize over the meal that Atom is his own person and he can't replace Dr. Tenma's son. So even though Atom is the most humanlike robot ever made and is a grade scientific achievement, Dr. Tenma failed in his goal to bring back his son. And Atom is left is an impossible task. I think it's just such a well paced and laid out scene. In context, I think it's heartbreaking. 

That's it for this month! Have a good one everyone.

[nyrator]

I hope you're doing well. <3

Thank you, I be hanging in there.. A rough time mentally, but life just keeps going day by day

For a general life update for everyone: Kinda want to use this site more, but just not sure what I'd use it for.. Rambling time~

(tl;dr: anxiety's a butt, going traveling and cosplaying and will finally be seeing a therapist in a few monthss)

I've been in a huge art rut lately and just struggle with coming up with ideas what to draw, and have a lot of insecurities about the content of my past few pictures (which I think are against guidelines here so I probably won't post them on the RN tumblr after all.. I did update the website with all current images at least, but I still feel sick thinking about what I've made and regret it..)

Was in a huge wave of depression the past few weeks, but slowly climbing back out of it.. Still jobless and living off of being a vtuber on Twitch and art commissions, which is a struggle, but I'm just managing to scrape by- definitely been feeling the burnout, though..

Also going traveling across the country next week- meeting up with some online friends and going with them to a con, got a cosplay made and everything to go as my husbando Mizuno Yuu (I'd prefer a better cardigan, though.. the one I got was more yellow than I'd hoped and the only decent alternative I've found on Uniqlo won't be in stock in time, I think)

Still anxious about it, though.. will be gone for ten days, my social anxiety is very bad, and I'll be in an unfamiliar place hanging with people for the first time for ten days.. I'm not really interested in the con at all and I'm pretty scared about going, but will try to just keep my brain turned off and try to have a good time.

But yeah, otherwise just existing and floating around day by day- haven't been able to do much of anything and it really gets to me.. My anxiety has been so severe that it interferes with everything and I can't even think of doing anything because of it- anything can give me a bad panic attack these days, and I'm too afraid to take medication to treat it just yet, though I think it's needed at this point.

However, I did get a new primary doctor earlier this month, and they were able to find me a therapist for depression/anxiety and a nutritionist to see for my eating disorder- I'll be interviewed for that once I get back from my trip, so hopefully those go well..

[junkyardbluebox]

I’ve always wanted to cosplay as the First Doctor but I’ve never been sure what to do about his hair (and trying to find a reasonable price vaguely late Victorian/ Edwardian dr ss coat)

I'm thinking what you could do is find a shoulder length white wig and curl the ends under with a curling iron. Then maybe spritz some hairspray on it to keep it in place. You might just be able to use some foam curlers on it instead and spritz with hairspray to keep the curl in place, wait for it to dry and then remove the curlers.

I toyed with the idea of cosplaying as Victoria with her outfit from The Enemy of the World back during my first con. I already have long brown hair and I searched Amazon for similar clothes. I was surprised at how much they had there (eBay too). I abandoned it though because it was way too cold here in November to be wearing a short skirt and I'm a wuss XD

[squeemcsquee]

Anime Magic 2023: Friday

I'll be honest. I don't have a good reason for why I didn't feel like writing up this weekend. I mean, Anime Magic was in August and it's now early November. Normally, I'm more on top of this stuff, so that I don't forget details. And I had fun at Magic...IDK. Can I blame pregnancy brain? Let's blame pregnancy brain.

Since we had to wait until @lechevaliermalfet got off of work, we didn't do a whole lot at Magic on Friday night. We didn't have to wait in the registration line this year, since we were able to get our badges in the mail. That was a small timesaver, which was great, since we arrived just in time to get settled into our hotel room, meet with @shbumi, and then go downstairs for Oriana's Drag Race. It was supposed to start at 1800, but didn't really get underway until about 15-30 minutes later.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you - I bumped into someone I knew from the ACen Discord in the lineup outside of the Drag Race area when waiting for the doors to open. So I got to know him a little better. As always, once the show began, Drag Race was a ton of fun, with great performances, lots of courage and creativity from the contestants, and laughter. Onc

Honestly, Drag Show is where most of my Friday night photos came from. In a new twist this year, Oriana granted the winner of Drag Race two performances in the Drag Show on Saturday, and also gave the runner-up a performance in the Drag Show. After Drag Race, it was time for a late dinner at Sugar Factory. I think this might become a new thing for trips to Rosemont. Guess we'll see...

I decided to try something that wasn't a shake this time (though they had a deeply tempting Barbie shake). I couldn't even finish half of it - as always, very good, very rich food.

After dinner, back to the con for a little bit of exploring. We stopped at the manga library for a few minutes.

@lechevaliermalfet and I then said goodnight to @shbumi, who headed back to her room while we stopped in at the Kohei performance.

I think we caught the tiniest bit of Kohei performing at a previous Anime Magic, but this time we were there for pretty much the whole sing along. And there is something nice about sing-shouting your favorite anime tunes with a bunch of other fans that's energizing.

@lechevaliermalfet then called it a night, while I decided to stick it out for the beginning of the Midnight Dance Extravaganza.

There had actually been some technical issues during both Drag Race and Kohei's events and I'm sad to say that continued during the Friday dance. Props to the crowd for not getting super upset and finding ways to still have a good time, but it does sorta suck that AM keeps having these issue every year.

I didn't stay too long into the dance before cutting out to get some shuteye of my own. On the way back to the room, I saw these signs:

Definitely wonder what happened to bring those about! I couldn't tell you if they actually managed to enforce those rules during the weekend - I didn't pay enough attention.

All Anime Magic 2023 coverage

Anime Magic 2023 cosplay

Anime Magic 2023: Friday (current post)

Anime Magic 2023: Saturday

Anime Magic 2023: Sunday