#I just keep thinking about cosplay and cons lately

[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?

[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.

[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 😊

[kingkatsuki]

hello miss jo! i wanted to share my new fic obsession with you, which is reading fics about hero cons! but mostly can only find character x characters ones..

are you a convention person? like, i'm imagining so many fun things with this setting. tagging along as dynamight's plus one, are the two of you out to the public or are you being confused as a staff member?

OR attending the con to meet dynamight, getting in line for an autograph and katsuki has to shift awkwardly when you come up in your cute little cosplay because he's chubbing up at the sight of you in his costume

even better, katsuki walking around the con early incognito because he's a fanboy as much as he is a hero. catches his name in a couple conversations, your voice sticking out the most when you talk about riding his face and having him bend you over the nearest merch table. man nearly chokes as he heads to his panel he's already a couple minutes late for because he couldn't tear himself away from eavesdropping. and you swear later when your sitting among the audience he keeps shooting smirks right at you, but why the hell would he? it's not like dynamight's ever seen you before this!

I’ve definitely got some little drabbles about this!! I can try and find them tomorrow, although I vividly remember one in particular is sleazy Red Riot taking advantage of his cute fans (and Dynamight fans) and there was one about someone being mean about your Dynamight trivia at a con and Dynamight steps in and says you’re right and they’re wrong ahhhh.

I love cons! I don’t go to them as much anymore, but I’m obsessed with the idea of being able to meet Dynamight at a con and you’re doing everything you can to secure the photo pass and the signature so you get to meet him twice.

I love no one knowing who you are, so they think you’re staff and they try to boss you around and Bakugou is like excuse me??? That is my wife. (You’re not even married but you get the idea). Or you’re just bored sitting at his table all day, because to the world this is Dynamight but to you it’s your boyfriend so you end up going shopping or going to check out the other guests that are there. Maybe you have a teeny tiny crush on Pro-Hero Hawks so you go to his Q&A and Bakugou is jealous, but he still sets up a private photo op for you— “You know you could just go to his agency any day of the week.” “Yeah but then I wouldn’t be wearing this cute outfit, Kats🥺”

But I also love the idea of being a staff member, and maybe you’re not from Japan you’re just a member of the event team so you don’t really know who any of these Pro-Heroes are; and you accidentally run into Red Riot? And you both end up talking over lunch or something and then you go and watch him on stage later doing the Q&A and you have no idea what he’s saying but you just think he’s super cute.

But omg your last idea, of him being incognito? Like just wandering around and buying merch and action figures or whatever— because he’s an All Might collector himself. And then he sees a pretty thing dressed up as him and he can’t help but listen to you go on about the sinful things you’d do to him, and he prays later that you have a photo pass. But now he’s gotta spend his entire Q&A panel with a raging hard on because of you, and of course he spots you in the crowd.

[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.

[spook-e-snail]

Also wait what the fuck

Stg I've talked about this before but here we go again lmao >:3

It was late 2021 and some local conventions had just opened back up. This was during the first huge wave of popularity and I was fucking living for it so I did a lil BF cosplay and my girlfriend at the time of course cosplayed GF with me :))

We were like 16 or 17ish back then and of course we did the responsible thing: Skip school for the entire day and not tell our parents we were traveling an hour away to the largest city in the state to go to a fucking anime convention.

The con itself was actually super fun??? Our cosplays weren't like top tier (again keep in mind we were young we did this shit on a highschoolers budget). We met the fucking ninja turtles?????

Anyways though after the con we were super hungry and walking down the street to the parking garage and attempting to find a place to eat because our asses were STARVING.

This super tall older dude (like clearly balding, at least in his late thirties) got our attention as soon as we walked out of the convention center because he did the fucking pico rap at us all the way across the street but like??? With his voice?? (It did. Not sound good. He had to yell it because cars were passing and it just was not a thing you should do with your voice compared to calculator noises or some shit)

I kinda ignored the funny rapping and asked if he knew of any hotdog places nearby. I don't think I was rude or anything but he stopped making noises at us and just kinda hit us with this blank stare. We weren't really creeped out and just kept walking.

The parking garage was like half a mile away so we had a lot of walking to do. We noticed him behind us on the other side of the road a few times but again weren't really creeped out or anything (neither of us had been to a big city before, we had no idea what the hell to look out for).

Once we were like halfway there the street got kinda narrow and had less traffic. We heard someone running and when we turned around the guy was fucking booking it twords us. Thankfully we had enough common sense and survival instincts to realize we were about to get fucking snatched and started running like our asses were on fire. We hid in a coffee shop for like 20 minutes until we knew for sure he was gone.

The best part was me n my gf switched shoes as soon as we left the convention (she couldn't walk that well in heels but I could, we also wore the same size shoes so it just made sense to swap) so for a couple of blocks I was hauling ass in fucking stilettos.

We didn't see him again thankfully but we seen him on the news a year later after he got arrested for attempting (and thankfully failing) to kidnap some different cosplayers at the same damn convention.

Uhhh TLD;r Dumb teenager harnesses the Boyfriend kinnie energy and almost got kidnapped because he wanted to get some chili dogs

Also bonus but while I was looking for pictures from the convention I found a picture of my dad's dog when he was a puppy wearing my fucking pentagram choker

[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

[sassy-hedgie]

putting this here just ‘cause the least amount of irl peope follow me here and I just kinda want to scream into the void lol

but anyway idk having a really tough time lately on every front and can’t even motivate myself to work on cosplay for con or think of dnd stuff or make an effort to draw or tbh do anything fun bc even fun things keep ending up so stressful and anxiety inducing lately and I just…..man, I was at my limit literally a month ago and I still can’t get my brain back on track because all I can think is how much easier life would be if I didn’t have something so deeply inherently wrong with me like

imagine not having a deep seated mental inability to be a “functioning” person. and instead everyone is all fine with you having it…except when you need grace on something, or even the smallest accommodation, or when they treat your oddities like they’re so annoying when you can’t help them. or when you have to watch everyone around you connect on a personal level that you know deep down you’ll never be capable of and it fucking sucks.

and idk i just…..want to feel like priority sometimes, or even a thought and not just an afterthought. except then I have to remind myself I don’t deserve it because I’m not exactly a great friend either, especially lately, and I’m too deep in my own anxiety and depression issues to try and be better when all I want is go back to deep isolation like I was for most of 2020-21 and I know that’s bad but I’m so fucking tired and don’t want to feel so rotten all the time. I want to not look at every facet of my being and feel utter disgust for every bit of it. I want to be able to believe that people do genuinely love and care about me bc that’s not fair to them but all I can see is my own inability to form this connections and know it’ll never be good enough.

anyway idfk what this is but I had to get it all out and now I’m going to bed peace out ✌️