#and i got some prints and a poster from a twitter artist too but again ive no clue what i ordered?? i think i got a poster of angel

[chloelouygo]

i've got like 3 things from 3 places all on preorder and dude it's so exciting like i ordered everything like a month ago i've got no idea what i'll be receiving in the post when they finally get dispatched it's like a gift from my January self

[shookethbrooketh]

Christmas Constellations

Summary: Phil works putting up signs at a department store, and the signs never stop getting bigger and better. All the department store chains never cease to attempt to one-up each other, and this holiday season Phil’s has decided to try to beat out the competition with inclusiveness and feature a gay couple in their ads. As annoying as putting up a whole line of ads is, Phil can’t help but find himself infatuated with one of the men in the picture. After staring at him for too many shifts in a row, Phil ends up obsessively wondering if he’s single and if he’s even gay. Eventually he decides that there’s only one way to find out.

Warnings: Alcohol, Food, Cheating (sort of)

Word Count: 13.3k

Artist: @snekydingdong Beta: @diamond0604

A/N: This is one of two fics I’ve written for the @phandomreversebang, and as much as I love the other one, this one is definitely my favorite. I’d also like to give a MASSIVE thank you to my beta, Rachel, who was absolutely incredible. I hope you all enjoy! 

Read it on Ao3

“We have something extra special for you today!” Cheryl, Phil’s manager announced, her tone coated in a false sense of cheeriness, even though Phil could have told from a mile away that she was just as miserable as the rest of them. The only thing giving her the incentive to even attempt to spur excitement in her workers was the extra money in her paycheck. “Today, we’re going to be revealing this year’s Christmas advert!”

There was a collective groan from all the employees, but Phil didn’t bother. Logically, he should have been the one groaning the loudest, since he was the one who would have to put up all the signs, but the adverts were no new news. It was the first of December, and it was the same thing year in and year out. It was that shitty, shitty time of year once again.

“Come on, guys! Christmas is exciting!” Cheryl tried to egg them on again, but to no avail.

“More work,” Gail muttered, and Phil snorted. She seemed to be joking, but only to a certain extent; she didn’t want the Christmas rush any more than Phil did. Gail, a short woman with long, red hair, was by far his closest friend in the store, and they had the same, terrible sense of humor.

“Not that I don’t love Christmas,” Phil chimed in, “the holiday itself is great; I just can’t stand the signage. There’s so much of it, and there’s so much stuff to stock, and not enough room to put it on the shelves. Not to mention the millions of customers. I love the holiday season, but I hate the busy season,” he ranted.

“Well, do you want to see the ad, or not?” Cheryl huffed, gesturing to the small flat screen they’d carted in to show the video.

“Sure,” Phil replied. “Might as well become get to know the people we’re going to hang out with for the rest of the month.” He couldn’t help but dread the piles and piles of signs he’d end up forced to hang up and then look at with the same few faces on them.

Cheryl turned on the television, and Phil kicked back in his chair. It opened with a little girl looking out her window at falling snow. She appeared dreamy, and she reminded Phil of when he watched the snow fall as a child. It was completely dark, the only light coming from a lamp outside. Her father appeared behind her. “Isn’t the snow a beautiful sight?” he asked.

She smiled and turned to him. “It reminds me of stars in the night sky.”

“Cheesy,” Phil heard Gail mumble.

“You know,” said a male voice through the screen. “I thought that when I was growing up too.” From the other side of the girl appeared another man, and Phil’s brain short circuited.

“We’re gay now?” he heard a coworker say.

“Oh, they’re GAY gay,” Gail, the local lesbian, joked.

Normally, Phil would have responded with some witty yet stupid remark, but his eyes were glued to the screen. He couldn’t tear his stare away from the second of the two dads. There was just something infatuating about him. Well, really, in Phil’s opinion, from his curly, chestnut hair, to his eyes, twinkling like the stars around him, to his flawless smile, there really wasn’t anything about him that wasn’t infatuating.

By then they’d been magically transported to space and were floating around and pointing out festive shapes in the stars.

“Space? Come on, how random can it get?” Gail criticized. “Amirite, Phil?” she added, reaching out and punching him softly. “Phil?”

“Oh, yeah, totally,” he responded blankly, still refusing to turn his gaze from the screen.

Gail raised her eyebrows for a moment before smirking in realization. “Philly has a crush!” she whispered excitedly.

“Do not!” Phil whispered harshly, finally glancing away to give her a dirty look.

“Whatever you say, buddy.”

Phil and Gail spent the morning printing and putting up signs, as they usually did on Mondays or days when sales started. As much as Phil hated the manual labor of either carrying or climbing the ladder, the job was always made tolerable by Gail’s presence, but that day things were a bit different.

“You really can’t take your eyes off him, can you?”

Phil shook his head, tearing away from the actor’s face as it printed from the massive printer. “What?”

“I get we’re the only two gays in the store, but do we really have to act like the only two gays in the store?”

Phil rolled his eyes and groaned at her. “What does it matter anyway? He’s just an actor; it’s not like I’m ever even going to meet him, let alone have a chance with him.”

“So you just think he’s hot.” She narrowed her eyes at him in questioning.

“I just think he’s hot.”

“Fine,” she said, pulling the last poster out of the printer. She took a good look at the man on the poster as they went to get the ladder, “honestly, I’ll give you that. He’s pretty attractive, and I’m a lesbian.”

“Glad we can agree on something.” Phil sighed, pulling the ladder out of storage. They silently went about their normal routine of carrying the ladder out together to where they’d hang their first sign. It was completely normal for them; they’d always follow the same route through the store to hang the signs. They even knew exactly when to switch who was climbing the ladder and who was holding the other steady. It was a sort of a sacred morning routine for the two of them; although climbing a massive ladder to reach the ceiling of a retail building terrified Phil, it was worth it to be able to spend a morning alone banting with his best friend. It was their morning, and no one could take it from them.

Well, maybe the man on the poster could.

“Phil!” Gail shouted, and Phil had to grasp the ladder so tight his knuckles turned white to keep from falling.

“What? You scared the shit out of me!” he shouted angrily down at her. Luckily no one noticed, since he was too distracted by his own exasperation to remember he was screaming obscenities to an entire family-friendly retail store.

“You’ve been up there staring at that damned sign for a minute now! Just put it up and get down!” she breathed up at him. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a moment before carefully hanging the sign and coming down. As much as he hated to admit it, the attractive man on the poster was already starting to keep him from doing his job.

“Time to switch?” Phil asked, taking his end of the ladder as they carried it to the next stop.

“I swear, Phil, if you get distracted and drop me, as soon as I recover, I’m gonna kill you.”

“Understood.”

Somehow, Phil managed to stay focused throughout the rest of their signage. The death threats, however unrealistic, might have played a part, but Phil liked to convince himself it was due to his own self control rather than his primal instinct to stay alive.

The afternoon was long and fairly uneventful; Phil spent most of his time helping out on a register to help with the beginning holiday rush.

After they finally clocked out, Phil and Gail walked into the Underground together to catch trains back to their flats. “You really like that guy, huh?” she asked, catching Phil off guard.

“What?” he questioned, starting to sweat. “I mean, yeah, he’s cute, but I don’t know if I’d say I really like him. I’ve never met him.”

“Hm,” she grunted as her train arrived and she stepped in.

“Hm?!” Phil shouted back at her. “What the hell is hm?”

Later that evening, it became very obvious what “hm” was.  

At first, when Gail texted him a link, he was simply terrified, as she had a horrific tendency to send him either cursed videos or terrible memes, but when he opened it, he found a surprise he wasn’t quite sure if he could call pleasant.

There, on his screen, through YouTube, was the very ad they’d watched in the break room that morning. There was the same curly-headed, gay dad he’d been pining for all day. And he still couldn’t take his eyes off him.

It took him a few replays of the video to even remember that he was living real life. He’d fallen into an abyss where the only thing on his mind was the actor’s face until he got a Twitter notification. “Oh, shit!” he yelped, throwing his phone down on the couch beside him in a sudden attempt to keep himself from watching the video for a second longer. He sat for a moment, deep in thought about how utterly pathetic he was, and picked up the phone and swiped away the YouTube tab. “This is ridiculous,” he said, shaking his head. “I need some fresh air.”

It wasn’t that cold of an evening, but it definitely warranted a light jacket. He threw on a hoodie and stepped outside, hands in his pockets. It had already grown dark, but, for a retail worker, he lived in a pretty good part of London. His neighbors were fairly nice, and there was little crime in the area, so he felt save as he wandered the sidewalks in the dark.

He got bored of walking quickly, but he didn’t want to go back to his flat, so he sat down on a bench and looked up at the stars. They were underwhelming, given he was in the center of London. He couldn’t help but wish he could see them all. “Why am I so weird?” he asked the void. He glanced around to make sure there were no people around him to avoid an awkward encounter before he continued talking. “Like, what kind of person has a crush on the actor in a Christmas ad anyway? It’s so overwhelmingly stupid.”

He put his head in his hands and blinked hard before jolting back up. “What does one even do with that? Am I just supposed to walk around all day staring at him for the next month?”

“I wish I could fix this.”

He watched the sky as he spoke, and snow began to fall. It immediately began piling up on the concrete around him. He was in a sort of a concrete jungle; he was sat on the lone bench on his street, and his surroundings were solely buildings and road. It was nice to see snow add some beauty to the grey. He was surprised, though, as it didn’t feel nearly as cold as it would have to be to warrant snowfall, and they didn’t tend to get snow that early in the winter, but he smiled at the snowflakes as they fell onto and melted off of his black hoodie sleeves. Phil had always loved snow.

There was a certain something about snow that just made him smile. He remembered watching the snow fall as a child and being so excited. Snow was uncommon in London, and it was even less common for it to accumulate, so when it did, they almost always got out of school. Snow, for him, just brought back a childlike glee he didn’t get from anything else.

He sighed and stood up, making the short walk back to his flat. He paused before opening the door to his building, taking one last look at the beauty of the falling snow. He watched as each individual flake fluttered to the ground, and his breathing slowed. It was calming, more than anything else. When he got back up to his flat, he made himself some popcorn and put an anime on his television. Finally at peace, he smiled as his phone was left discarded on the other side of the couch.

“You sent me the ad?” Phil laughed at Gail the next morning.

“Yeah, and you didn’t even thank me! Busy, eh?” she asked, nudging him with her shoulder.

“Oh my God, no!” he squeaked, his face going red. “That’s just weird,” he added in a normal voice.

“Okay, okay,” she said, raising her hands as if to defend herself, “but I’m sure you at least enjoyed it in a completely wholesome and appropriate fashion.”

“I did,” he said, folding his arms and holding his head up high. “However, I ignored it for most of the evening.”

“Well, that’s great! I’m proud of you!” she said, reaching over to give him a pat on the back. “Good luck ignoring it for most of the month.” She pat him a bit harder after that line, and he almost fell forwards. “See ya out there!” she called over her shoulder as she left the break room and went out to the floor.

Phil sighed. “This is gonna be fun.”

Whether or not it was fun was debatable. Trying to ignore the posters was not only not fun but also nearly impossible; they were massive and all over the store. But every now and then, when he did take a look, that could have definitely been considered fun.

A couple weeks passed uneventfully. Well, if you count Phil’s suffering as uneventful, that is. Nothing new happened, but the old was still garbage. It was like the actor was taunting him; everywhere he looked it felt like he was being laughed at.

“You have a crush on a poster!” the cardboard man seemed to say.

Phil didn’t even want to start with the other man. “I get the hot one, and you don’t!”

Worst of all, Phil had been pushed so far that he imagined rude lines being spoken to him by inanimate signs.

“Pathetic,” he sighed as he stared at the poster during a rare slow hour at the register. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey was playing in the background, and it couldn’t have been more accurate. He was enamored by a picture.

“Man, you’ve really got it bad for him, haven’t you?” Gail asked, appearing at his side after closing her empty register.

“Yes, Gail, I do!” he shouted, and her eyes bugged out of her head.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

“Yeah, well, I give up. I’ve been trying to get rid of him for the last two weeks, but I can’t stop staring at him, and I watch the fucking video five times a day! It’s an obsession, and I’m losing my mind!” he shouted, all his frustration finally pouring out.

“Well,” Gail dragged out, a mischievous look in her eye, “I may be able to help you with that.”

“I can’t tell if this is a wonderful idea or a terrible one.”

“Oh, it’s definitely both.”

Phil groaned, rolling his eyes back in his head. “What is it this time?”

“What if we find him?” she asked, eyes wild.

“Gail, how the hell are we going to do that?”

“I don’t know, but we’re in London, and the Internet has a lot of power. I’m sure we can find it somewhere.”

Phil took a deep breath. At that point, he was desperate. “Fine.”

“Yay!” she exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. “Your place at eight.”

“Wait, what?”

“See you there!”

Sure enough, Gail showed up at Phil’s flat a couple minutes even before eight. He was a bit annoyed that she was early, given that he had five minutes left in his episode of Bake Off, but he turned it off and went to answer the door anyway.

“Ready to find this bitch?” she said cheerily, clapping her hands together. She seemed to have a bit too much energy for Phil’s taste.

Phil bit his lip. “Well, when you put it like that, I’m not-”

“The answer is yes,” she interrupted, carelessly tossing her backpack onto Phil’s couch and heading straight for his kitchen.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“What?” she asked, already popping a bag of popcorn into the microwave. She’d been over to his flat enough times to know exactly where to find the popcorn. “I’m hungry.”

Three minutes later, they were settled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and open laptops. Apparently Gail’s backpack was packed only with her laptop, her charger, and a good portion of her candy stash. She seemed to be under the impression that they’d be up late and need some sugar.

“First step…” she trailed off, one hand browsing the Internet as the other stuffed her face with popcorn, “the YouTube video. See if there’s any traces from there. Look at all the intricate stuff, like the tags.”

“YouTube has tags?” he asked, dumbfounded as his mouth fell open. How much about his precious Internet did he not know?

“Exactly.”

Phil leaned onto Gail’s shoulder as she expertly opened a screen he had never seen before and began scrolling through it looking for names. Phil began to wonder how many people she had stalked on the Internet.

“Nothing,” she said, closing the tab. “Now what?”

“I don’t know! This was your idea, and, quite frankly, it scares me.” Phil receded to a corner of the couch and put in earbuds, deciding to simply rewatch the ad. “Do whatever; I don’t particularly want to be a part of it.”

“Suit yourself,” she said, getting down to business. As much as Phil tried to ignore her, he couldn’t; he still found himself looking over at her screen. One moment she was on Twitter; the next she was on some sort of Twitter-like website that seemed to be a search engine. After his third rewatch, he closed the ad tab and opened Tumblr. He glanced over at her screen and saw her cropping an image of the actor’s face.

“Now what are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m just gonna run his face through the database,” she said nonchalantly.

“The database?” Phil shrieked. “What the hell is the database?”

She shrugged. “Just the database.”

“Alright, that’s it!” Phil shouted. “No more stalking.”

“But-” she stammered.

“Go home, Gail,” Phil said, straightfaced and stern.

She sighed and packed up her things, leaving without a word. Phil felt a bit guilty; he hoped he hadn’t upset her too much. She was a great friend to him, as was obvious with her going to these lengths to help him. He just didn’t particularly want that help. At least not in the manner she was going about it.

Of course he wanted to find the actor he was crushing on; hell, he’d been dreaming about it for two weeks. He just didn’t want to stalk him. He loved Gail, but she had a tendency to go too far, especially when it was either related to the Internet or the gays.

Phil chose to avoid Gail for a few days as the holidays drew near. He wasn’t ignoring her; he was just giving her space. She never approached him, so he never approached her. Eventually, they met on their way to the Underground and had a casual conversation. It was more of a colleague one than a friend one, and Phil could barely endure it, but it was a conversation.

Eventually, the holidays rolled around. The twenty-third was one of the worst days, but it didn’t get worse than Christmas Eve. Phil and Gail both would have loved to take the day off, but they didn’t have much of a choice. All the other workers had families they needed the break to spend the holidays with; since they’d each come out, their families didn’t like them much. Without an excuse or a place to go, they were lucky to even get Christmas Day off.

About halfway through the hellish day, Gail approached Phil at the register. Their shift had just ended, but Phil was working a double, and Gail had just clocked out. She was checking out two microwave dinners, a box of microwave popcorn, and a few candy bars. “Got plans?” he muttered.

“Not yet,” she replied, not making eye contact with him.

“Who’s the second dinner for?”

“Maybe I’m just buying ahead!” she exclaimed, acting offended.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, growing quieter on the second word.

“But I was thinking maybe it could be for you… If you wanted it.” She looked up at him, obviously extending an olive branch to end their argument, if one could even call it that.

Phil smiled as he rung up the dinners. “It’s on me.”

After Phil got off work, he headed straight for Gail’s apartment. The two spent the evening on Gail’s couch eating absolute garbage, and it was the best night either of them had experienced in as long as they could remember. Not once did they discuss their conflict or the man from the poster; they simply ate their junk food and watched an anime.

Phil was already tired from his double shift, but his eyes began to droop around the sixth episode. “Hey, Gail?” he reached over to her, but she had already fallen asleep. He picked up his phone and looked at the time; it was 12:13. He smiled at Gail, picking up the blanket she’d fallen asleep with and tucking her in. “Happy Christmas.”

Phil took a cab home and managed to sleep in late. He didn’t have any celebrations to attend that Christmas, so he simply sat in his lounge and watched as many Christmas movies as he could find. He loved the holiday, but it was difficult to do so when he had no one to celebrate it with.

The next day was Boxing Day, and it was all hands on deck at the store. Phil could barely stand the crowds; Boxing Day made him wonder how completely normal human beings could act like such animals. Every now and then he’d see someone who he went to school with come in for the deals. Normally, he’d be embarrassed to be seen working retail in his thirties, but when he saw one of his old classmates fighting an old lady for a vacuum, he realized he probably wasn’t the one who needed to be ashamed. Regardless, the Boxing Day crowds scared the absolute shit out of him, but the one decent thing about working that day was the fact that he rarely had to interact with them. Phil’s Boxing Day job was always signage.

Sure, he had to go in early to take down the Christmas signs and put up the Boxing Day ones, and he had to stay late to change Boxing Day signs to normal sales signs, but it was worth the long day to avoid human contact. He occasionally had to work a register, but most of the day was spent printing out the signs for the next round of sales.

Luckily, he wasn’t the only one working that schedule. Gail was right there with him on the “Hell Shift,” as they’d decided to call it.

It was still plenty dark outside as they took the ladder to the first of the Christmas signs; the doors would open in a few hours, and there were already plenty of people camping outside. Boxing Day was insane. “So,” Gail said as they set the ladder in place, “guess you’re glad to get rid of these, huh?”

Phil shrugged as he climbed up the ladder. “Kinda. I’ll definitely be glad to be rid of the curse of my irrational love for this man, but I won’t miss his face.”

“It’ll always be on YouTube,” Gail joked quietly. She seemed to be acting a bit odd, but Phil chose to ignore it and blame it on the ungodly time of day.

They went about their morning and took down most of the signs. All the posters and displays had been collected, and all that was left was one hanging sign. It was Phil’s turn to climb up, so he made his way up to the colossal face of the actor he’d been gushing over a month and sighed. “Goodbye, mystery man,” he said as he took the sign from its hinges and replaced it with the Boxing Day sign.

On the ground, Gail exhaled, stomping her foot. “Damnit, Phil, I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?” he asked, a little worried as he climbed down the ladder.

“I know who he is.”

Phil nearly fell and broke his leg. “What? How the hell did you find out?” he shouted as he reached the ground.

She bit her lip, looking down at the floor so as to not make eye contact with Phil. “I may or may not have put him in the database.”

“Gail! I literally told you not to do one thing and one thing only.”

“I’m sorry!” she shouted, blowing steam from her nose as she ran her hand through her hair. “I’d already pushed enter when you got mad, and when I opened my laptop after I got home it was just… there. I never told you because I didn’t want you to be angry.”

Phil closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Obviously he wasn’t happy with the means by which Gail figured out the identity of this man, but he couldn’t deny the childlike glee he felt when she told him. He still had butterflies in his stomach, and his heart rate still hadn’t recovered from the fact that he jumped and almost fell off a ladder. “What’s his name?”

“Daniel Howell. Dan for short. I looked him up on social media, and according to his Instagram he frequents a bar downtown. I can send you the address if you want.”

By then it was too late to turn back.

“Sure.”

For once, Boxing Day was bearable. Phil had a certain livelihood about him throughout the day that he’d never felt on such a busy day; he even interacted pleasantly with a few customers. All the joy was solely due to the fact that he’d have the chance to meet Dan at the end of the day.

Dan. It was odd for Phil to think of the man as an actual person with an actual name; until then, it had been completely unknown. Learning more about Dan only made him more and more interested in him.

The day finally rolled to an end, and Phil giddily caught Gail on her way out of the store. “Well?”

She cracked a smile, pulling out her phone. “Impatient?”

Phil simply nodded as she sent him the address. He went home and changed clothes before setting his GPS to the address. It was time for a drink.

The bar was fairly nice; it seemed like the sort of place a commercial actor would go to. It wasn’t a home for deadbeats, but there certainly wouldn’t be any bouncers standing outside. There were a few tables around the bar area where people could order and eat a limited selection of food, and then the room opened up to a dance floor. He sat down at the bar and ordered a margarita to sip as he watched the bar scene unfold around him. It was a bustling place, with music and dancing; the bar and seating section was the only calm place in the room.

It had a good vibe to it, Phil thought. If that was the sort of place where Dan hung out, they would surely be compatible. It was chaotic, but in the best possible way. Phil surveyed the room as he had a few drinks, but there was no sign of Dan. Phil sighed, heading back to the bar to pay his bill. He put his head in his hands; he’d finally had a hint of how to find Dan, and he’d come up empty-handed. He’d been waiting a month to meet this guy, and he couldn’t even figure out how to find him. It was stupid of him to think he would find Dan the first night anyway. No one who isn’t a drunkard goes to a bar every night. Hell, it was probably a good thing that Dan wasn’t there all the time. Not being a drunkard was definitely a plus when looking for a boyfriend.

Phil crashed on his couch and pulled out his phone. On it he found multiple texts from Gail containing links to Dan’s social media. Phil smiled; Gail never failed to provide for him. He would certainly have entertainment for the rest of the night.

After reading up on Dan, Phil made a few conclusions. Firstly, he was definitely gay. Secondly, he was either single or didn’t particularly like talking about relationships on social media. Phil would take that bet. Thirdly, it was clearly worth his time to return to the bar. So Phil made his way back to the bar every few nights in search of Dan. Eventually the scene got boring, and he insisted on bringing Gail.

“Damn,” she said, looking around at the bar as they walked in, “this place is nice.”

“Yeah,” Phil said blankly, having gotten more to used to the bar, “it’s alright.”

They took seats at the bar and had a few drinks. Phil was relieved to have finally brought Gail, as she decided to call an Uber so neither of them would have to drive home. After spending enough time at that damned bar, it was about time he could get wasted.

The two each had a good few drinks, and Phil lost more and more hope with each one. “Gail, there’s no hope,” he said, not yet slurring his words, although he knew he was almost there, “I’m never gonna find him.”

“Do you wanna go home?” she asked, sipping down the last of whatever drink it was. Phil had lost track.

He nodded sadly and pulled his wallet out, handing it to Gail. “Pay for our drinks; I gotta piss.”

She giggled drunkenly and nodded, calling for the bartender as Phil slipped away towards the bathrooms.

The bathroom had a push door, and Phil simply walked straight into it and flung it open. To his surprise, there was a body on the other side, and it got a faceful of door. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry!” Phil exclaimed, his drunkenness immediately fading and being replaced by embarrassment and a bit of fear. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, mate,” the stranger said, clutching his face, “just be more careful next time.” He straightened up and pulled his hand away from his face. “Do I look alright?”

Phil froze. There he was, looking into the eyes of Dan Howell. The dark brown eyes stared back into his, and he couldn’t tear his own eyes away. His brain froze along with his body; he was too mesmerized to even be able to think. And then it hit him; he bashed his crush’s fucking face in. “Yeah, you look great!” Phil exclaimed, a bit too bouncy. “I mean, you’re fine. Nothing bad happened. Your face looks like a completely normal face.” He scrunched up his face; that could not have gone any worse.

But Dan was chuckling. “Your face also looks like a completely normal face. Do you wanna go get some drinks?” he asked casually. “I can get you home, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Phil’s eyes widened, and he struggled to keep his mouth from falling open. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but he was too nervous to get it out. His brain was working fine, but he was so terrified his body refused to cooperate with it. “Uh, yeah! I’d love to!”

“Nice.” Dan carefully pulled the door in and gestured for Phil to walk out. “This way you can’t hit anyone.”

Phil rolled his eyes, his nerves gradually melting away. He was still plenty nervous, his body a bit stiff, but at least he wasn’t fully panicking anymore. He had himself under control, despite not having a clue how to speak to Dan. Somehow, he had begun to go with the flow, and it appeared to be working. Dan seemed nice, with a compatible sense of humor to Phil’s, and he even seemed to like him already! Phil still had to pee, but he supposed he’d take what he could get.

“By the way,” Dan said, elbowing Phil as they made their way through the crowd, “you’re repaying me for that by buying our drinks.”

“That’s more than fair,” Phil chuckled.

They reached the bar where Gail was sitting. She took one look at Dan, and her mouth fell open so wide she could have fit her entire drink glass in it. “This is my friend Gail,” Phil said, giving her a look that told her she was acting ridiculous. She promptly shut her mouth. “She was about to leave, wasn’t she?” he said, gritting his teeth for the last two words.

“Oh, yeah,” she said with a grin. She stood up, grabbing her coat and patting Phil on the back, slipping him back his wallet. “See you at work.”

And then she was gone, and Phil was left alone with Dan. They ordered drinks and sat silently for a moment until it got maddening.

“So, you’re gonna tell me I’m hot and then not talk to me when we get drinks? I see how it is,” Dan said. His voice was intimidating yet obviously not cruel. Phil could tell Dan didn’t mean to scare him, but he was already a bit terrified of him, so his tone of voice, albeit joking, definitely didn’t help.

“I-I’m sorry; I’m just quite awkward around attractive people.” He delivered the compliment confidently; there really was no point in beating around the bush.

Dan shrugged, a slight blush stroking his cheeks. It was the first time Phil had seen him be anything but perfect. His curls were just as bouncy as they were in the ad, and when he smiled, he showed deep dimples. He had perfect teeth and chiseled cheekbones; he was truly perfect. “I get that. I used to be like that too until I started acting.”

“Oh, you’re an actor?” Phil asked. He wasn’t exactly sure why he said it, but it was barreling out in a desperate attempt to not make him seem like a fan. He wasn’t sure if Dan was even aware he had fans.

“Yeah, actually. Not any sort of famous one. My biggest gig was a department store Christmas commercial. It wasn’t much, but I got some money out of it, and I finally got to play a gay guy on screen. The whole ordeal, both the commercial and my acting career in general, really upped my confidence.” He looked Phil up and down, and Phil could tell he was aware of how nervous he was. “You should try stepping outside of your comfort zone some time; it really helps.” The bartender slid them their drinks, and they each took a sip.

“Believe me, I’m trying,” Phil said, spinning around on his barstool and gesturing to the room around him. The room was buzzing with activity; it was the last place one would expect to see Phil Lester. Phil was one to keep to himself, and that particular bar was a place for anything but. On the dance floor, a few dozen drunken people were screaming Despacito. Normally the scene would have scared the hell out of Phil, but he had more important things to worry about.

“Not a bar man?”

“More of a quiet bar man.”

“Well, then it’s time to try something new,” Dan said, slamming his drink on the table and taking Phil’s hand. Phil’s face flushed bright red, his body seizing up with nerves when Dan touched him, but Dan didn’t seem to notice. “Let’s go dancing.”

“Wait, what?” Phil barely had time to respond before he was whirled away from the bar and into the crowd, his only tether to reality being Dan’s hand. His nerves shot back up to an all time high, but the alcohol reaching his bloodstream was working to calm him down. He knew for a fact that he would have been shaking from head to toe had he been sober, but the sedative relaxed his nerves just enough to keep him cool. Phil wasn’t quite sure how to feel, or if he was even feeling in the first place. All in all, the only word he could think of to describe it was… exhilarating.

Phil wasn’t particularly experienced in the field of club dancing, but Dan attempted to help him. “Just bop, my dude!” he yelled over the blaring music. Phil tried to bop around and enjoy himself, but he just felt awkward. He was being jostled by people dancing around him, and one of the annoyingly bright dance floor lights was shining in his face. Had Dan not been there, he would have bolted immediately. Dan could obviously tell he was uncomfortable, because after a few minutes he grabbed his arm and pulled him towards a circle of people with one young man, no older than 25, break dancing inside. Phil didn’t even know dance circles existed outside of grade school dances. “Here,” Dan said, making a path for them to reach the front of the circle, “all you have to do here is enjoy yourself.”

Phil took a look at the man dancing inside the circle. He seemed to be enjoying himself; who was to say Phil couldn’t enjoy himself too? It wasn’t exactly a tall order. So he clapped along to the beat and watched as people around him switched in and out of the circle. It was like a dancing tag team, and eventually Dan slipped from the ranks and made his way into the circle himself.

Phil, the drunkenness starting to settle in, was very amused by this; Dan moved so gracefully to the song, feet keeping perfect balance with the time as he rotated on a nonexistent axis. His hips swung to the music, and Phil found it very attractive. Phil couldn’t help to smile at the sight of it. Somehow, Dan was even better in person. Not only was he prettier, but he had a certain aura that made Dan never want to leave his presence; he was the life of the party, but he would still take the time out to make sure Phil was enjoying himself.

“Come on!” Dan shouted, reaching out and pulling Phil into the circle.

“Wait, I don’t know about this!”

“Dance with me!”

Luckily, Dan already knew dancing wasn’t Phil’s affinity, nor was being put on the spot. Dan more than willingly led the way, spinning Phil in circles until he felt like he might throw up. It was all a blur to Phil, the world moving too fast for him to keep track. He ignored the urge to vomit, though, as it was overcome by pure joy and maybe even a little bit of love. His heart was racing, about as far up in his throat as the drinks he was struggling to keep down.  As the song drew to an end, Dan tipped him back into his arm and launched him back up, gasping for air. People around them applauded, and the circle began to dissolve as a slower, less danceable song started to play.

Phil hadn’t felt that alive in years.

“That was incredible!” he shouted. He was being quite loud, but he didn’t even notice; he was high on adrenaline and completely oblivious to the world around him. All he saw was his own hand being held by Dan’s as they trekked back to the bar.

“Wasn’t it? I told you stepping out of your comfort zone would make you more confident! You did great!” Dan shouted back at him. At that point, they were well out of the range where they’d need to shout over the music, but neither of them cared.

They spun back into their seats and ordered another round, neither of them getting up again until Phil finally remembered how badly he had to piss. By that time, the night was winding down, and it was about time for each of them to go home.

Phil paid for the drinks (his wallet was hurting that night) as Dan got an Uber. Phil’s flat was closer, so they would go there first. They stepped out into the cold, sobering air and slid into the back of the Uber. Unsurprisingly, being outside for ten seconds didn’t make them any less drunk.

“Hey, Dan?” Phil asked, resting his tired head on Dan’s shoulder.

“Mmm?”

“I like you,” he said, smiling up at Dan’s glowing face.

Dan smiled back. “I like you too.” Dan gasped, pulling his phone out. “Do you wanna call me?”

Phil, somehow understanding the meaning of that sentence, perked up and nodded excitedly before pulling out his own phone and trading it with Dan’s. They each put in their numbers and started a text conversation to make sure their drunken thumbs hadn’t mistyped a digit.

The streets were relatively empty, given the time of night, so they got back to Phil’s flat quickly. Phil opened the door and the frigid air began to pour into the car. “Phil, wait!”

Phil slowly turned back to Dan, too intoxicated to realize what was coming next.

Dan leaned in close but stopped himself, eyes widening. “Can I kiss you?”

At least he was a respectful drunk.

Phil responded by leaning in himself. At first he ran straight into Dan’s nose, but rather than feeling awkward they simply both giggled before connecting their lips. Phil’s body panicked at first, but it quickly relaxed into the kiss. He thought he would have been overexcited, as he was earlier in the night, but the kiss was comfortable; he felt almost as if he were at home in Dan’s arms. It was a short kiss, but it sent warmth through Phil’s body despite the cold air blowing against him.

Phil slipped out of the car and got one last look at Dan as he closed the door. “Text me.”

The morning sun shone through the window as Phil blinked his eyes open. He groaned, feeling as if the sun was directly assaulting his brain. He was hung over, quite obviously so, and the sun definitely wasn’t helping. He picked up his pillow and forced it against his face, refusing to let any light reach his eyes. The morning was not treating him well.

Suddenly, Phil jerked up straight in his bed, remembering the previous night. “Ack!” he exclaimed, the light aggravating his headache. He dragged himself out of bed to close the blinds before searching his sheets for his phone. Eventually he found it and lowered the brightness before fumbling for his charger. He was a bit annoyed that his drunken self had forgot to plug in his phone, as he always charged it overnight, but his annoyance faded as soon as he unlocked the phone and saw it still open to his conversation with Dan from the night before.

It was an odd relief to see the conversation on his phone; it served as proof that he truly did have Dan Howell’s phone number. Until that point, a small part of him had been convinced the entirety of the night before was just a dream.

Should he text him? Was it too soon? Phil hadn’t even had a date in over a year. He hadn’t a clue where to go from there. Without the drunkenness protecting him, he was left with all his normal social anxieties. He decided to text Gail and ask for advice first, but she was of no help. She simply keysmashed into oblivion in excitement that Phil got Dan’s number. So Phil decided to leave it for a few minutes to get some food and try to cure his hangover.

When he came back, Dan had made the decision for him; he had a message already waiting for him. Phil gasped and snatched his phone off his bed, eyes glued to the screen.

Dan: hey

That was underwhelming. However, Phil still felt the overwhelming need to start a conversation, and a good one at that. He wanted to see Dan again, and he couldn’t fuck that up. He’d been head over heels for Dan since he saw him on a damn poster, and it was a miracle that he managed to meet him. He’d gotten so far; he had to make it work. He just had to.

Phil: Hey! Does your head hurt as bad as mine?

Dan: fuck, it really does. i feel like garbage atm (but tbf i am)

Phil: I mean me too but you’re not garbage :p

Dan: don’t use :p it’s 2019

Phil’s heart raced; was that wrong? Did he fuck up? His eyes darted wildly around the room in panic. How could he fix that? Did Dan think he was lame? He typed the only thing he could think of.

Phil: sorry

Dan: lmfao it’s fine :p

Phil: Hey!

Dan: hehe :)

Phil: This is unfair

Dan: as it should be :)

Dan: so do u wanna meet up again sometime?

Phil: hell yeah! When?

Dan: tonight good?

Phil: Sure! But we’re not getting hammered tonight I have work tomorrow morning

Dan: fair enough

Dan: meet u at yours at 6?

Dan: i’ve got plans covered :)

Phil: rad!

Dan: seriously, don’t say that. it’s 2019.

Phil: :( you’re no fun

Phil: See you tonight :)

Dan: see you :)

Phil struggled to get through the day without texting Dan. He already missed him, and he wanted to keep talking to him, but they hadn’t even gone on a date yet. He couldn’t just text him all day. So Phil spent the impossibly slow day watching anime and scrolling through social media. He texted Gail in the morning, but eventually he abandoned that conversation because all she did was remind him of his upcoming date. Time only managed to pass slower and slower.

Finally, the clocks rolled around to 5:30, and Phil started getting ready. Anxiety crept into his stomach as he tried to pick out an outfit. He didn’t want to overdress, but he didn’t want to underdress either. He tore through his closet looking for anything that was presentable enough to wear on a date; usually Phil wore either quirky jumpers or his work clothes. Finally, after making an absolute mess of his room, he decided on a nice, blue button-up with and a pair of black jeans and went to look at himself in the mirror. Hands shaking, he slicked back his quiff and took a deep breath. He looked good, he told himself in a futile attempt to calm his nerves.

After the saga of choosing something to wear, it was nearly six. Phil barely managed to finish getting ready before he heard his doorbell ring. He rushed to answer it and was relieved to find Dan dressed about as casually as him. “You look great,” Dan said with a smile. Phil couldn’t help but notice Dan’s dimples pop out of his cheeks; he was absolutely adorable, and Phil nearly froze both from nerves and from infatuation.

“As do you!” he blurted out. He hadn’t a clue if he’d come across as such, but he was just about as nervous as the night before.

“Ready to go?”

“Yeah, let me just grab a coat.” Phil peeked around his door and pried a dark coat off the hanger. It was a heavy coat, but the night was cold and Phil hadn’t a clue where they were going.

The taxi Dan took to Phil’s apartment was still waiting for them, and they piled into the backseat. The driver took off without instruction; Dan must have told him where to go on the ride there. They were silent for the majority of the cab ride; Phil was much too anxious to speak. Every time he even thought about saying something, he felt nauseous. He knew there was a chemistry between them that would come out if they started talking, but he didn’t know how to initiate that conversation.

“We’re almost here; don’t look,” Dan said, pulling Phil towards him so he couldn’t look out the window. Phil blushed a bit as his thigh grazed against Dan, but he was starting to get at least a little bit more accustomed to Dan’s physical presence.

Phil laughed. “Dan, I live in London. I know where we are.”

Dan furrowed his brow in fake anger as the cab stopped. He paid the driver and slid across the backseat to follow Phil out onto the curb.

“You know, I’ve never actually been to the planetarium before.”

It was Dan’s turn to laugh. “Clearly you haven’t, because this isn’t a planetarium. This is a restaurant called The Planetarium.”

“Oh,” Phil said in a small voice. “That’s misleading.”

“It’s awesome though. The ceiling is clear, so you can see all the stars. And in case you haven’t noticed, it’s getting dark.”

“A starlit meal?” Phil asked as they entered the dark restaurant. There was a fountain in the center of the restaurant that was sculpted in the shape of the solar system. Water rolled over the planets as they rotated around a lit sun. It was an architectural feat he’d never seen the likes of before. The rest of the dining area wasn’t any less impressive; every table was lit by candlelight, and he was probably the most casually dressed person there. “That actor’s salary must go a long way,” he joked.

“Howell,” Dan said to the hostess. He even had a reservation! Dan had obviously put plenty of effort into this date, and Phil wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. He felt a warm love in his stomach because of it, but he also felt like he had some high standards to live up to.

Dan turned to Phil and smiled. “Definitely not. Usually I struggle a bit, but that Christmas advert paid the big bucks. That’s only a once in a few years sort of gig, though. I was quite lucky to have it.” He seemed fairly modest about his career, but he was obviously proud of the advert, and Phil certainly couldn’t blame him.

“Oh, no, you shouldn’t spend your money on me! You should save it!” Phil whined, his mouth falling open. He felt….guilty, almost, for drawing that much money out of Dan’s wallet. The anxious feeling in his stomach had been fading, but that brought it back just enough to bother him again.

“Nonsense,” he said, waving his hand, “sometimes you’ve just got to live in the moment. It’s worth it.”

Phil wanted to respond, but a waiter was ready to take them to their table. They were seated near the fountain, allowing Phil to admire it from closer up. “This is incredible,” he said, eyes glued to the water flowing down the orbit of Neptune as he took off his jacket.

“It really is,” Dan responded, a soft smile on his face. It was a smile Phil hadn’t seen yet--one of content. Dan appeared almost mesmerized by the fountain. He gave a peaceful smile, and it gave Phil some peace as well. “It gets better, though,” he said, tapping Phil’s hand to get his attention. “Look up.”

It was a clear night in the dark restaurant, and when Phil looked up through the clear ceiling he could see the entire night sky. The moon wasn’t in view yet, but the stars glimmered overhead and reminded him of Dan’s commercial. Phil was amazed that the stars were so visible from the center of a restaurant dining room, especially since they were in the middle of London; he could see every constellation in the sky. “Wow.”

“Wow is right.”

They picked up their menus, and Phil was astounded once again. The food was just as expensive as he assumed. “Dan! I can’t let you pay for all this!”

“Then don’t.”

“Okay, well, I certainly can’t pay for it.”

“Then let me.” He smiled slyly and Phil rolled his eyes. There was no winning that battle.

Phil ordered the least expensive thing off the menu and watched Dan order some fancy fish he couldn’t even pronounce the name of. Of course, neither could Dan, but Phil assumed that was a common occurrence, as the waiter simply laughed and took down the order on his notepad.

“Glad to hear you’re still a normal person who can’t pronounce foreign names,” Phil said.

Dan chuckled. “I’m no celebrity, nor can I speak French.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not French, but okay.”

“Too bad, because we don’t have our menus anymore. Now we’ll never know.”

Phil snapped his fingers in fake disappointment. “Darn.”

They both broke out into a quiet laugh as Phil’s anxiety dissipated. The conversation was all he needed for his muscles to finally relax. He knew he’d be able to speak with Dan; he just had to get it going, and once he did, it went wonderfully.

The wait for their food was obnoxiously long, but they managed to entertain themselves with conversation. Phil was shocked; a few minutes earlier, he hadn’t been able to speak with Dan, and then suddenly he couldn’t stop. It was magical, to him, in a sense.

“I blame your freaky fish,” Phil said, becoming tired of waiting for the food. “I just got pasta and chicken.”

“Maybe it’s your crazy chicken!” Dan argued.

“Are we just putting adjectives in front of meats now?”

“I guess so.”

They laughed again, a constant of the evening. The people around them were giving them looks; they definitely didn’t belong in that restaurant. They were two normal people in a house for extremely rich people, and they weren’t faring well. But neither of them cared, and they just kept on laughing. The laughter brought Phil a certain joy he hadn’t felt in longer than he could remember; it had been so long since he’d smiled so much his cheeks started to hurt, and he didn’t realize how much he missed it until he was doing it again. When the food did come, he was almost sad the conversation had to slow down.

The food was incredible. Of course, for those prices, Phil would have been angry if it wasn’t, but he enjoyed his simple pasta dish, and Dan seemed to enjoy whatever the hell he had on his plate.

After the food was eaten, the waiter came back and read them the dessert menu. At the end, they looked at each other.

“Solar system sundae,” they said in unison. The waiter simply smiled, nodded, and walked away.

They spent the next twenty minutes demolishing the biggest ice cream sundae either of them had ever seen. It was in a circular pan only a couple inches deep, and it had a simple vanilla base, but it was then coated in chocolate fudge and had planets drawn on it in different syrups and icings.

“Dan…” Phil trailed off, his breathing heavy. “Can’t...eat...any more ice cream,” he breathed out, hand shaking as he shoveled another bite into his mouth.

Dan laughed, but he wasn’t doing much better. “It’s so good...but I’m so full!”

“On three,” Phil said, “we put down the spoons. Okay?”

Dan nodded. “One.”

“Two.”

“Three!” they yelled at the same time, each of them slamming their spoons down on the table. There was a collective groan from the two of them.

“I don’t want to move,” Phil complained.

“Luckily,” Dan choked out, “you barely have to.”

Phil raised an eyebrow as Dan gestured to a patch of fake grass Phil hadn’t noticed before. There were benches around the grass where couples sat and chatted, but Phil much preferred the concept of lying aimlessly on the grass and admiring the sky. “Would you like to stargaze while you digest?”

Phil smiled both at Dan and at the concept of lying on the floor for a while. “I’d love to.”

Dan paid the check, and they stood up and made their way over to the stargazing grass. Phil laid down and looked up at the constellations, snuggling up under his jacket. “Hey, leave some blanket for me!” Dan said, jokingly nudging Phil as he laid down beside him. He promptly pulled some of the jacket onto him as he nestled up to Phil.

“The stars are amazing,” Phil said dreamily, “how did we get lucky enough to have such a clear night?”

“Dunno,” Dan whispered back, “same way I got lucky enough to find you.”

“That was so cheesy,” Phil teased.

“And so is this.” Dan leaned up and pressed his lips to Phil’s, and Phil’s body filled with life. It was their first kiss they shared with neither of them being intoxicated, and it was just as wonderful, if not more. In that moment, that was all Phil felt: wonder.

After a moment they pulled apart, and Phil smiled. “That was definitely cheesy, but I’ll give you a pass because I’ve always wanted to kiss someone under the stars.”

“Glad to check that one off your bucket list,” Dan said, beaming.

They returned to their original position of simple closeness, and Phil was more than content. He felt like he could lie there in Dan’s presence forever. He so wished he could, but he knew he couldn’t.

“I don’t feel gross anymore, do you?” Dan asked him in a whisper. It was a simple conversation, but it felt like an intimate experience kept just for the two of them. Phil shook his head. “Are you ready to go?”

“Am I going home?” Phil asked, and Dan nodded. “Then not really,” Phil replied, “I want to stay with you.”

Dan chuckled, breaking into a smile. “You know, me too.” He paused for a moment, deep in thought. “How about this?” Dan sighed happily, “You’ve got to get some sleep and work tomorrow morning, and I’ve got some lines to learn for a shoot tomorrow. We meet up at the Eye tomorrow at seven and go see a movie. You know, just for the sake of being together. Does that sound good?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

They hailed another cab to drive them home, and they refused to break contact throughout the ride. Thighs pressed together, they felt as if they were at home in each other’s presence. They each craved the same feeling of safety that came from simply being in the same space.

This time, Dan’s flat came first on the route home. It was a simple building, a little bit nicer than Phil’s, but it was nothing special. It was a bit comforting to see that Dan truly was no celebrity; he was simply a normal person, perfect for Phil, the most normal person on the planet.

They kissed goodbye and let their touch linger as they separated. As they pulled apart, Phil felt as if a part of him was being dragged away from his person. Neither of them wanted him to leave, but it was necessary. There was an empty feeling in the air as the door shut and the space between them began to grow, but Phil was comforted with the knowledge that they’d meet again in a short day.

He sighed as he leaned back against the headrest. Finally, all his emotions truly began to hit him, and he couldn’t help but smile. After all those hours spent staring at the posters, he’d finally gotten to truly know Dan, and damnit, Phil was in love with him.

Phil hated the day at work leading up to his second date with Dan. Not only did he have to wait, making the day longer, but he also had to put up with Gail annoying him the entire time.

“So, how was the date?” she pried, raising an eyebrow as she elbowed Phil.

“Good,” Phil said, monotone.

“Second date?”

“Tonight.”

She squealed like the fangirl she was. “Where are you going? What are you doing? Are you excited?”

“Yes, Gail, I’m excited,” he said, rolling his eyes as he put up a sign. Of course it had to be sign day; everything had to fall into place for Gail to have as much time as possible to bother him about Dan. “We’re going to the Eye, and I don’t know what we’re doing. Apparently he likes planning dates.”

“That’s so cute. I can’t believe this actually worked out!”

“Neither can I, but you know what I believe?”

“What?”

Phil turned to face her and gave her a stern look. “You being so utterly annoying about it.”

Gail pouted, refusing to make eye contact with him. “Sorry. But you’ve got to admit, it would never have happened without me.”

“Fine, fine. Just come up with at least ONE other conversation topic.”

“Deal.”

Although it certainly didn’t cease, the annoyance decreased throughout the day. Their morning routine was basically back to normal, despite seeming to last twice as long as it did. Phil and Gail worked adjacent registers in the afternoon, and she actually managed to help the time pass.

Mid-afternoon, they started a conversation about their favorite television shows and only stopped talking whenever a customer showed up at either of their registers. They probably weren’t supposed to be spending so much time talking. In fact, Phil knew they weren’t supposed to be spending so much time talking. But the conversation made the shift manageable, and he couldn’t have been more thankful for that. There was no better reminder of why he was friends with Gail.

“Good luck,” she said to him as he left for the Underground after his shift. It was the first time in hours she had mentioned it, but this time it was in good faith. He nodded, a soft, genuine smile on his face.

He took the train home simply to change into nicer clothes and then headed back out to catch a train to the Eye. He managed to lay out an outfit before he left that morning, so he would be a bit early, but he didn’t want to risk something happening on the train and making him late. Besides, he was starving. He knew he’d get dinner with Dan, but it couldn’t hurt to pick something up in between the station and the Eye.

Phil stepped onto the platform at the station nearest to the Eye at 6:30. He stopped at a Starbucks on the way and picked up a small muffin to snack on as he walked. He managed to arrive fifteen minutes early and take a seat on a bench near the Eye. He looked up at the wheel and let it mesmerize him as he nibbled his muffin. The slow circulation of the Eye was quite calming. Watching it slowly rotate numbed his mind and effectively calmed his nerves.

He finished his muffin and pulled out his phone to check the time; it was 6:03. Phil raised an eyebrow and glanced around him; Dan was nowhere to be found. He quickly shot a text to Dan saying that he was there and on a bench and opened a game on his phone. Dan must have gotten caught up in traffic; either that or the tube managed to fuck up. Neither would be surprising. He played a couple levels of his game, and Dan still hadn’t arrived. He texted asking Dan if he was alright; by then he was fifteen minutes late.

Phil sat for a few more minutes and stared at the Eye, the main source of light in the night sky. The spokes of the wheel were lit in various colors; the rhythmic change from color to color was soothing before, but it didn’t relieve his fear anymore. It was getting late, and Phil was freezing. Phil dialed Dan’s number, but he didn’t answer. He bit his lip; he was starting to get concerned on multiple levels. Was Dan alright? Had something happened? Nearly as bad, had he simply ghosted Phil?

Phil tapped the ‘Favorites’ tab in his Phone app and called the first number on the list.

“Gail?”

“Yeah?” she answered. “Why are you calling me? Aren’t you on your date?”

“Should be,” he said, disgruntled.

“What happened?” Her concern was evident; for once, Phil was grateful for how much she cared about his love life.

“How long do you stay before deciding someone stood you up?”

He heard a sigh through the phone. “Oh, Phil… I’m so sorry.” He wasn’t planning on crying over it, but hearing her sympathy made him fight back tears. Phil struggled to maintain even breaths, the pain pooling in his throat from restricting his tears. He wasn’t angry at that point; he simply felt like human garbage. He was in his thirties and he needed sympathy over getting stood up on a date. It was pathetic. “Did you text him? Call him?”

“Did both; he didn’t answer.”

“Do you want to come over and hang out with me?”

Phil’s first instinct was to say yes; bad dates were Phil and Gail’s best nights. Whenever one of them had a bad date, they’d go to the other’s flat and eat enough ice cream that they didn’t care anymore. That wouldn’t work this time; the ice cream simply reminded him of Dan. Besides, something was nagging at him, telling him to go somewhere else.

“Actually, I think I’ve got another idea. Thanks for the offer though. Be sure to keep it open; I may show up later if this ends up sucking ass.”

“It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Phil wiped the freezing tears out of his eyes and stood up, taking one last look around for Dan. He took a deep breath and marched back towards the tube station. He had new plans.

After a few Google searches, Phil found himself at the bar where he first met Dan. He wasn’t quite sure why he’d brought himself there; he assumed his brain thought it to be a good way to grieve. Again, he didn’t understand why, but there he was, rolling with his impulse.

He stepped into the bar and took a seat, ordering a glass of liquor. He usually was one for more fruity drinks, but at that point he just craved the warm, familiar feeling of drunkenness. He wanted to feel the way he felt when he fell for Dan in real life. He wanted a fuzzy mindset that would wash away his sadness. He didn’t care how he got there.

A couple drinks later, someone swiveled into a stool a few spots down from him. “Phew,” they exhaled, obviously coming straight off the dance floor. “Usual,” they said to the bartender.

Even drunk, Phil would recognize that voice anywhere.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He turned to Dan, his eyes piercing into Dan’s skin with anger. His vision was a bit blurry, but he could still see Dan’s fear.

“Oh, shit, Phil, I-”

“Don’t ‘oh shit’ me! You blew me off!”

“No, I didn’t mean to, I genuinely just forgot, I swear!”

Phil’s mouth fell open, his body shaking with rage. “You forgot? You forgot you had a date! That’s significantly worse than just blowing it off!” he snarled.

Dan exhaled through his nose, trying to find words. “Listen, I’m sorry. There’s more to this than meets the eye.”

Before Phil could respond, a man came from the direction of the bathrooms. He approached Dan and put his hand on his shoulder. “Hey, babe. You got our drinks?”

Phil’s body relaxed, the tension in his muscles relieving as he realized he hadn’t the remaining energy to be angry. At that point, he wasn’t even sure he could call his emotion anger. More, he felt a certain understanding he hadn’t had before. Finally, he knew what was going on, and as much as it hurt him, it was almost relieving.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said to Dan, taking out some money from his wallet for his drinks and slamming it on the bar, “there is more to this than meets the eye. Thanks, Dan.”

He pushed himself off of the barstool and stormed off; Dan didn’t bother to follow him. He pulled open the door and stepped outside, letting the cold air hit his face. As the cold sobered him, his feelings didn’t change. Phil took a train to Gail’s flat, not because he wanted to spend time with her, but because it was farther away than his own home. All Phil wanted in that moment was to put as much distance between him and that bar as he possibly could. He succeeded, and he never went back to that bar again.

~ Five Years Later ~

“Finally.” Phil sighed as he crossed a red x over the fifth of July on his calendar. The sixth was circled for a very special reason. “One more day and I can get out of this hellhole.”

It had been three years since Gail found a new job. It paid twice as much as her shitty retail job, and it actually had room for improvement. Room for a better life.

Of course, she and Phil remained friends, but they didn’t see each other nearly as often as they used to. She still lived in her old flat for a while, and they met there often, but then she found a girlfriend and moved into her flat. Phil even went to their wedding, but it wasn’t nearly as happy for him as he hoped it would be. He basically watched Gail get her life together while he was still stuck in the same rut.

Shortly after Gail left, Phil decided to go back to university. He’d started going after secondary school, but some things had come up and he ended up having to quit, throwing him into the dead-end retail job he’d held for twelve years. As he watched his only friend move up in the world, he decided he couldn’t sit still any longer.

Of course, he still had to work his retail job for money while he got an education, which basically made his life a living hell. He couldn’t work as many hours, and he never had any free time, let alone time to try and find someone to settle down with as Gail did. Undoubtedly, it was the worst three years of his life.

But finally, he’d finished his degree from years ago, and he’d gotten a job in filmmaking. He would be working on a commercial, and he started July 6th. Although he was absolutely terrified to start the new job, he felt as if he was a prisoner finishing his sentence; he could finally leave his old job.

His last day at the retail job was undoubtedly the best; they even had a party for him. He didn’t particularly care much, as he had virtually no friends in the store without Gail there, but the cake was good, and there was nothing that had ever given him more joy than walking out of the store for the last time.

The next morning, after an anxious night of little sleep, Phil walked in to his first day on set. He would be the assistant to the director of the commercial, and it paid about as much as his retail job did. From there, he’d hopefully be able to move up in the industry. It was scary, but anything was better than retail.

“Phil!” the director called out, walking towards him with a spring in his step, “good to see you. Meet our actors.”

A few adults followed behind him, and all but one waved at him. He didn’t take much notice in them; he was doing his best to pay attention to the director. “Meet Emma, Riley, Will, and Dan.” He looked down the line at all the faces and gave a smile and a wave to them each as he said their names. But when he got to Dan, his smile quickly turned to a frown. He’d gained a few age lines on his face that he didn’t have before, but it didn’t take from his features; he was still as attractive as ever, if not more. Other than that, he simply appeared more mature. In front of Phil was a man who knew the ins and outs of life.

“Hi, Dan,” he said, his voice quiet and stern.

“Hey,” Dan said, a tint of shame in his tone.

The director simply looked confused. “Do you two know each other?” Each of them nodded, and he nodded in understanding. “Ah, well, whatever happened in the past is in the past now. Let’s get going with production!” The director clapped his hands, and Phil turned and walked as far away from Dan as fast as he could. The last thing he wanted was to ruin his first job in the film industry by causing drama with his ex-boyfriend.

The morning went seamlessly; they got all the shots they needed with the first set and took lunch while the crew replaced it with the next. Phil took his lunch and kept to himself, eating in a corner away from all the actors and even from the director. Still, he couldn’t avoid the inevitable.

“Hey, can I talk to you?” As expected, Dan was standing over him, wringing his hands. He was biting his lip in an anxiety Phil had never seen from him before; usually Dan was the confident one, but he was a nervous wreck.

Phil sighed. He didn’t much want to talk to Dan, but he decided it was probably best to just let him talk and get it over with. “Sit down,” he said, defeated.

“I just wanted to say...I’m really, REALLY sorry about what happened a few years ago. If you don’t want to hear me out, I completely understand, but I’d really like to explain myself.”

Dan? Showing him respect? What a feat. “Might as well listen. Maybe it’ll be fun,” he said, straightfaced and full of resentment.

“Okay, so you’re still mad. I can’t blame you. But let me just explain what happened,” Dan pleaded.

He paused, and Phil gestured for him to continue. “I’m not getting any younger.”

“Well, I was in a long term relationship with a man who I was in love with. He, however, didn’t love me, and was extremely manipulative. He had broken up with me about a week before I met you. I was empty, and when I found you, I felt like a little bit of that void he left inside me was filled. So I went out with you, and I made plans for a second date. And I swear, I really did plan on meeting you that night. And that was when he texted me.” Dan sounded almost ashamed of his past relationship; he’d obviously been taken advantage of, and he wasn’t happy to admit it.

“I want to stress how head over heels I was for this guy. He had me in his trap; I would have done anything for him. He told me he missed me, and I fell right back in. I know now that I should have ignored him. I should have gone with you instead. But this guy just had some terrifying control over my brain. He was my number one priority, to the point that when he texted me I completely forgot you even existed. I know, that’s shitty. That’s what you told me when it happened. But believe me...my relationship was fucked up.”

“Clearly,” Phil interrupted, still struggling to let go of his years-old bitterness. He couldn’t help but feel a bit sympathetic, but he wasn’t particularly ready to react positively.

“I… completely understand if you can’t forgive me. Obviously I’d love it if you could, but I probably wouldn’t be able to forgive me either. Just know that I’m not that person anymore. I’ve been to therapy; I’ve dealt with my shit…. it’s been a wild five years.”

Phil chuckled. “Same here.”

“So, are we okay?” he asked tentatively.

There was a long pause for thought before Phil could answer. First, he thought back five years. So much had changed since then. Five years was a hell of a long time, and Phil, too, had become a different person since then. But he still remembered the happiness he felt on the one date he had with Dan, eating ice cream and lying under the stars. It was a certain type of joy he wasn’t sure he’d felt yet. Plus, Phil decided Dan had somehow gotten even more attractive as he aged.

“Yeah, we’re good.”

Dan exhaled, a smile of relief crossing his face. “Good.”

As the shoot went on, Phil learned that Dan wasn’t lying. It was obvious just from how he interacted with both Phil and others that he really had changed. Even back then he seemed like a nice guy, but now it was on a different scale. The way he cared for other people, the way he cared for himself...he really had dealt with his shit, and he’d grown from it.

After a few days, the shoot wrapped up. Phil wasn’t worried about his future; he’d worked with the director to line up a few more shoots to work at. The first shoot went off without a hitch, and he was content with the fact that he might have a future in the industry. Things were going well for him; he was ready to move on with his life.

But Dan wasn’t.

“Hey, Phil, wait up!” he heard Dan shout from behind him as he was walking to the station to take a train home. Dan ran to catch up with him. “Okay, okay,” he panted, trying to gather himself. Phil stopped walking to give him a chance to catch his breath.

“Listen, Phil, I know this is a long shot, but-” he blinked hard, and it was obvious that he thought he was being ridiculous, “I like you. I liked you years ago, and now that I’ve met you again, I still like you. I know things went horribly last time, but I’ve gotten rid of those terrible influences that drove me to hurt you, and-” he threw his hands at his sides. “it just doesn’t feel right to let you walk out of my life again. I shouldn’t have let you leave the first time, and I can’t make that mistake again.”

He stood in silence for a moment, looking like a deer in headlights. Phil smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Is this you asking me out?”

A small bit of color entered Dan’s previously pale face, but he still appeared a being of pure fear. “Yeah! Yeah, that, um-” his eyes darted wildly around the parking lot; he obviously didn’t think he’d get that far, “could I take you out for some drinks? Maybe? Tomorrow night? I promise I’ll show up this time.”

Phil smiled. Something told him this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He watched as pure relief replaced the panic on Dan’s face, and he couldn’t help but smile wider. “Same apartment. See you tomorrow.”

“Great!” he shouted as Phil began to walk away. “Seven?”

“Seven!” Phil called back to him.

“Awesome!”

Suddenly, Phil turned on his heel. “Oh, and Dan?” A few feet had been put between them, and Phil began making up the distance. “If you fuck this one up, I will NEVER talk to you again. Deal?”

By then, he was standing right in front of Dan. He stuck his hand out, and Dan, regaining a small amount of confidence, offered Phil his own.

“Deal.”

About a year later, Phil took great joy in inviting Gail to his own wedding.

[god-fucking-dammit-mizutani]

you’re the cherry on top

Rating: G | Word Count: ~3,200 Pairing: Ruri Mihashi/Chiyo Shino’oka  Tags: Future Fic/Apartment AU, Dog AU, Artist AU, Workaholic!Chiyo, Dog moms, Aged Up Summary: Chiyo only wants one thing when she knocks on her neighbor’s door in the early hours of dawn, but what she gains is perhaps nothing short of a family.

Hi DC! ( _ghost_type @twitter??)(Sorry I have no idea how to link or tag back to you!!!) But I was your pinch hitter for @oofurixmas!! I was so elated to see rare pairs being asked for, especially ruri/chiyo because I’ve never thought of them before?? And it was so cute I immediately wanted to write a million things, but I compromised and squished two of them into one haha. I hope you enjoy this and that you’ve been having a great start to your year!!!

Read Below or on A03!

~*~ Overhead, something clinks repeatedly on her ceiling— back and forth, back and forth— and something in Chiyo snaps.

Every tap of her feet on the cement steps sends a cold ache up her already tired legs. Chiyo mourns her decision to leave her slippers behind on her way out, thinking it would be inconsequential to her short plight. She had remembered her coat at least, pulls it in taut around her like one would a blanket. Despite the blistering mornings and muggy nights inside in her room, Chiyo had been aware how much chill lingered outside in the early summer nights, had trudged through it without a single extra layer on her way home from work in the early hours of today.

Her eyes sting as she moves forward and up, sleep as foreign to her as another country, but the searing hot determination in her belly brings her to her upstairs neighbor's door. Cicadas cry through the quiet morning, like her own personal war song.

She knocks.

It is after the deed, that Chiyo worries she may have woken them. That she has come to the wrong door. That she shouldn't have come at all.

But half way through her panic, the door opens.

“I live beneath you and I have to be at my next job in three hours,” pours from Chiyo’s mouth. She'd been rehearsing it in her head the whole way up, but her voice catches in a way she had not planned. Still, she pushes forward, squeezing her eyes shut, “And I can't sleep and keep hearing the barking and the scratching and the running and I've been wondering all week—”

“I'm so sorry!” the voice of another woman starts, panicked. “It's just—”

“—Can I please pet it?” Chiyo rushes in a hushed whispers. She cracks her eyes open, hands squeezed before her to beg, back ready to bow.

The woman before her stills for a moment, then seems to trip over her own feet despite not taking a single step. Chiyo fears that if the door slams shut she'll never get another chance.

But the woman blinks at her, bewildered, wispy waves of brown hair framing her cheeks. “I'm sorry,” she murmurs, eyeing Chiyo skeptically. “What?”

*

“So soft,” Chiyo sighs. In her arms, the little orange-brown dog wiggles. She buries her face into the warm, silky fur. Her mother's voice in the back of her mind reminds her to never put her face near a dog's she doesn't know, but when the little corgi finally pushes away, it—she— leaves several, slobbery kisses to Chiyo's face.

“I know we're not supposed to have pets here,” the other woman—Ruri— says. Her voice is still quiet, as if she's afraid someone else might hear, “But I found her wandering the streets, fur matted, skin and bones and I couldn't leave her out there.”

Chiyo let's the corgi hop down from her lap. She doesn't go very far from her, curling up in a small pile of pillows and blankets against the kitchen wall. Chiyo turns and smiles up at Ruri who's sat at the kitchen table, working on something Chiyo can't see, just the flick of her wrists and the pointed end of a painting brush. The surface is messy, she notes, with an assortment of items Chiyo doesn't quite recognize and a giant mirror in the center with lights so round they make her think of bubbles.

“I think you did the right thing,” Chiyo says, rubbing at her eyes. Ruri smiles back down at her. “She looks happy.” Through the blinds Chiyo can see the stirrings of sunrise, little strips of sorbet pinks and oranges sitting so peacefully on the other’s cheek, highlighting her hair. “Should make posters, though. Put ‘em up. See if she belongs to someone…”

Chiyo leans back, her head meeting the thigh of the little dog and nuzzling it's fur once more. She gives Chiyo a short kiss, curling inwards until her little black nose touches Chiyo's own. It feels like her heart could burst and with a deep yawn, Chiyo closes her eyes.

*

Ruri shakes her awake some time later, cool fingers wrapped gently around Chiyo's upper arm. She blinks herself to awareness, but doesn't move. The little corgi is still tucked around her, soft and warm, and Chiyo breathes in deep. It feels like months of stress have suddenly vanished in—

“How long was I asleep?” Chiyo shoots up. The dog follows her in a clamour, little claws tapping on the tiles.

“Just two hours,” Ruri grins. Chiyo feels her shoulders droop in relief. Ruri helps Chiyo to her feet and collects the corgi in her arms. At the door she waves a little paw at her, wishing Chiyo a good day at work.

It's a lovely sight, Chiyo thinks as she waves back. It's a sight that keeps her smiling through her shift at the restaurant, a pretty woman and an adorable puppy seeing her off. She wonders if she'll be brave enough to knock again.

*

But Chiyo doesn't have to wait. She doesn't even need to take the initiative. When she opens her door later that evening after a barrage of knocks, Ruri greets her with a wide grin.

“Good morning!” Ruri says, cheekily, backlit by dusk. She calls attention to the bag strapped around her arm. “Got any time?”

Chiyo steps aside to let her in. The bag rustles and she jumps. As soon as the door is closed, Ruri holds a finger to her lips and unzips the very top.

“Oh!” Chiyo gasps. The corgi comes jumping out, shaking herself momentarily and huffing. Chiyo kneels down, the corgi excitedly running between her legs, mouth open and panting excitedly. “You came, too!”

Ruri pulls a few more items from the side of the bag. Chiyo notices the sketchbook tucked under her other arm when she brings it forward to sit on her lap. “I've been thinking about what you said,” she mentions, tapping the cover of it.

Chiyo stares.

“Posters,” Ruri giggles. “You gave me the idea last night. Figured you knew something about them,” she continues, ruffling at the dog's ear as Chiyo strokes the chin. The corgi looks like she's in paradise. “And I figured you might want to see your friend again.”

“Oh,” Chiyo repeats.

They settle at the kitchen table, markers littered here and there, and a fresh sheet of Ruri's notebook open, drafting the information at the top. The puppy rests it head down on the surface where she has a close-up view from Chiyo’s lap, watching with barely opened eyes. Chiyo strokes her from the head down.

“You should get a picture of her printed,” Chiyo mentions. Ruri looks up at her, surprised. They've only met twice now, but Chiyo finds her focus admirable. “That way her family can find her,” she explains.

“How would I…” Ruri purses her lips. In the dim kitchen lighting the red of them are vibrant and beautiful. Chiyo never wears lipstick, but she licks at her lips and wonders if the brand is flavored, if it would taste like cherries.

Chiyo's heart pounds as she rushes to say, “You can send me one. One of my jobs is near a printing place, I could get the copies done there.”

Ruri beams at her. “Excellent!” She grabs one of the brighter markers from the table and takes Chiyo's hand. Her fingers are warm, eyes focused, and Chiyo's pulse skyrockets. When Ruri pulls back she points at the series of numbers now going up the length of her arm. “My phone's at home, so text me later and I'll send one over.”

Chiyo stares at the pink numbers, feels her cheeks turning a matching shade. “Couldn't I have just… texted you with my phone, though?”

Ruri smiles bashfully.

*

True to her word, Ruri sends over a photo of the dog, small little snout open mouth smiling at Chiyo through the camera. She gushes over it for the whole night, sets the corgi as her background.

And then she awakens to several more.

I couldn’t choose, Ruri writes her with a worried little emoji. One of the pictures has the  corgi fast asleep in the new bed they had gone out and bought together, another of her draped over the back of Ruri’s couch. Chiyo’s heart thuds over the cutest picture of the pup, cradled in Ruri’s arms. It’s angled just so that most of the woman’s face is in view of the upper left. They both look so happy and if Chiyo saves all of the images to her personal phone gallery, that’s absolutely only her business.

“We should come up with a name for her,” Chiyo says one night a few days later, kneeling on the carpet of her living room. Ruri looks up from her sketchbook. Chiyo breaks eye contact long enough to toss a ball for the corgi. It’s tiny little tail wobbles as it gives chase and Chiyo clamps her hands to her mouth to keep in a squeal.

“Should we?” Ruri asks, adjusting her feet on the edge of the couch cushions. Her toes flex as she considers it. Ruri frowns, tapping her pencil to her chin. “We’ll just get more attached.”

“I know,” Chiyo sighs as the dog drops the tennis ball in her lap. “But I feel bad having nothing to call her.”

Ruri’s eyes on her are intense, and Chiyo has to turn away. “Ai,” she says finally. The light scratching of her pencil on paper starts back up.

Chiyo swallows. “Ai?”

“Because she’s a lovebug!” Ruri says. Chiyo blinks at her. Ruri’s cheeks are bright, darker than the rogue she’s wearing and it causes her own pulse to hammer. The corgi—Ai— decides that fetch is over for the evening and hops her way up on the couch, nuzzling under Ruri’s bowed arm and resting her little head on the woman’s leg. Ruri laughs, ruffling her hair and adjusting further into the couch back. Chiyo can still hear her drawing, but the sketchbook is now too far raised to see Ruri’s face. “And because she brought you to me.”

And Chiyo’s very glad that Ruri probably can’t see her face, either.

It’s a week before either of them has time to run by the printers before they’re closed; Ruri says she’s in the middle of a big job and is hardly home, and Chiyo doesn’t have work on that side of the city until the weekends. But on Friday night she bypasses her own floor and heads straight to Ruri’s apartment. It takes a minute to open the door with the spare key without dropping any of the papers, but Chiyo’s in catering and so  she manages to slip in without issue. Ai greets her, hopping at her legs and Chiyo slams the door shut before anyone can see in.

“Have you been a good girl while I was gone?” Chiyo asks, smiling. Ai lets out a small oof noise as if to let her know that, yes, she’s been very good.  

“Good, good,” she continues as if they were actually conversing. She pulls out one of the posters and shows it to Ai, bending over and petting her atop the golden crown of her head. “Do you like it? Think your people will be able to find you?” Ai wags her little tail and Chiyo just giggles at her.

She slips off her sandals in the foyer and pads down the hallway as Ai follows behind her, leaping at her heels. Down the hall she can hear light humming and Chiyo asks, “Is your mommy home today?”

Ai sits down on the carpet, looking up at Chiyo and tilting her head.

Chiyo stops and realizes, “I meant Ruri.”

“Yes?”

Chiyo looks for the source of the voice, but she doesn’t find who she wants. What she finds is nothing short of horrific and Chiyo lets out a shriek, every single last poster flying up and scattering in the air.

*

Ruri looks like an artist, the paintbrush and canvas kind, with her wild hair tamed into a top bun and splotches of what-could-be paint marking up her cheeks and neck. Her overalls are caked in whites and browns and glitter just above her knees where she's wiped off excess powder. In her left hand is what looks like a single, long claw. Ruri holds it up, grinning. “Ready for some horns?”

Chiyo musters up a nod as Ruri begins coating the base in a glue-like substance. She then takes the seat right in front of Chiyo and places the horn directly to the side of her forehead, holding it there for a short while.

“This is what you do for a living?” Chiyo asks, awed. Ruri nods, still grinning as if she’s having fun applying monstrous extensions to someone’s face.

“I’ve always had a passion for art,” Ruri says. She turns back around and reaches for another horn just a little bit of a ways down her kitchen table. She coats that as well in glue and places it on the symmetrical end of Chiyo’s forehead. “But I was watching horror movies with my friend Kanou one day and I saw the kind of monsters people could make and it got me thinking: Someone has to design those creatures. Someone has to execute that somehow. And since then getting into special effects makeup was my dream.”

“That’s amazing,” Chiyo breathes. Ruri’s grin widens, showing off the dimples on the far edges of her lips. She dabs Chiyo’s face with a purplish-gray little sponge and the wetness makes her wrinkle her nose. Ruri giggles, padding the very tip with her sponge before turning back to apply more—paint?— humming as she goes.

“My grandfather didn’t really like it,” Ruri says, making a face. “He’s always been kind of controlling, but he couldn’t say anything if I spent my own money on supplies.” She gestures at her apartment. “And I pay for this place myself. It’s cheap and small, but I like it. That’s what matters.” Ruri frowns, “But I wish they’d allow pets. Probably why it’s cheap, though.”

Ruri’s so animated, in her own world, telling Chiyo about all the sets she’s worked on, grabbing at brushes without a thought as she talks. Under the kitchen lights, Ruri’s eyes shine brightly. This close Chiyo can see the little flecks of gold hidden between the amber browns, the quiet hum of hazel freckling around her pupils. It is intoxicating and humbling to be the center of Ruri’s attention, and Chiyo thinks she could become addicted to this.

Ai makes a low whine over Chiyo’s shoulder.

“She’s dreaming,” Ruri tells her, reaching for another prosthetic. She holds it up on several parts of Chiyo’s face before deciding the perfect application spot. “Speaking of,” she says, licking at her own lips, “how about you?”

“I cater on the weekends,” Chiyo says. “And I have work at a local restaurant three nights a week.” Ruri watches her, eyes furrowed as Chiyo continues listing, “Sometimes I assist at the library, and I have a part time secretary job, Monday through Thursday.”

Ruri sits back. “Wow. No wonder you passed out cold on my kitchen floor. But what I meant was,” Ruri says with a little laugh, “what’s your dream?”

Chiyo colors. She wonders if Ruri can tell under all the makeup on her face. Chiyo breathes in, Ruri’s eyes still sharply regarding her, and finds the courage to say, “I want to be a sports announcer. Specifically for baseball!” Chiyo feels excited momentarily as she continues, “I was the manager of my high school’s baseball team. We made it to Koshien— Oh, Ruri, it was beautiful.”

She can almost see the field in her mind’s eyes, remember the brilliant summer sun beaming down as they took their victory and pride swells anew in her chest.

“I’ve wanted to go back ever since,” Chiyo admits. “I’ve wondered what it looks like, from the top.” The last bit comes out as a mumble, “But I need to save up to get my bachelors.”

“I see,” Ruri says. “So you’re here because you’re saving up.”

Chiyo nods. Ruri turns away to grab at a dark palette on the other side of her light up mirror. The brightness of it burns Chiyo’s eyes and she looks away. Ruri readjusts in her seat and opens the top to show an array of powdery colors. She dips a brush into one of the darker blacks. When she looks back at Chiyo, Ruri stills for a minute. “It seems kind of like a shame,” she mutters, “to hide such a pretty face.”

Ruri smiles, rosey cheeks caked still in a ghastly white with smears of red, and it is almost too effervescent to stand. When she tells Chiyo to hold still the command is irrelevant because she can barely even breathe.

The end result is terrifyingly realistic and somehow, hauntingly beautiful. But Chiyo still screams when she sees her own image in the mirror, devil horns and bruised skin.

*

Ruri lays across her lap, eyes straining backward to watch the first cascade of snowfall that winter. “Your hair’s grown longer,” Chiyo notices as she runs her fingers through it. Ruri turns her gaze on her, smile as vibrant and as red as one of the first days they had met.

Ai sploots along Ruri’s stomach, dozing softly. Her head perks up to hear Chiyo’s voice, dark brown eyes blinking tiredly, before draping back over the other woman’s side. Both of them laugh.

“It’s a shame no one’s claimed her,” Ruri remarks, poking one of Ai’s pointed ears. It twitches lightly and Ai whines at the distraction from her sleep.

“Yeah,” Chiyo sighs, reaching over to run her hand along Ai’s back. Ruri sits up suddenly, maneuvering the dog seamlessly into her lap.

“It’s cold,” she mutters, reaching for the old gray throw blanket Chiyo keeps over the couch. She holds it open, staring at Chiyo in question. She nods and Ruri grins, burying the three of them underneath the quilt. Ai sighs, but Chiyo thinks it might in gratitude. This close to the window brings in quite a chill, but bundled up together brings its own warmth and the dark sky filled with flurries and city lights is perhaps Chiyo’s favorite part of winter.

Ruri hums next to her. “Are you still thinking about starting school this Spring?”

“Maybe,” Chiyo laughs. She grabs for her mug of hot chocolate, tempered now from where its sat against the windowpane, collecting the outside chill. The chocolate is still delightful to taste. “But I don’t know how I’ll afford school and an apartment on my own.”

“And a dog,” Ruri adds, leaning her head onto Chiyo’s shoulder.

“And an illegal dog,” Chiyo agrees.

“My lease is up in the Spring, you know?” Ruri grabs her free hand under the blanket, squeezing it gently. “We should find a place where dogs are legal.” Ai sits up in her lap, her little cold, dark nose poking up through the quilt’s edge. She pants excitedly, as if she understands, too, and agrees.

“We?” Chiyo's heart pounds and she smiles at the pretty woman and her—their?— dog and her heart accelerates. Ruri nods, eyes bright when she looks at Chiyo. Ai settles back down, her weight distributed evenly between both of their laps. Chiyo breathes in, the rush of her heart against her rib cage feels like a war drum pushing her forward and she finds it in herself to press her lips to Ruri's and is ecstatic to find that, yes, her lip gloss does taste like cherries.

[livinginlandmarketing]

The better-known Paris is famed for its artistic heritage. Our Perris, not so much.

But a new, eye-catching mural adds a blast of color to the corner of Fourth and D streets. And Friday brings an art walk, believed to be — sacre bleu! — Perris’ first.

From 4 to 9 p.m., some 25 artists will set up outside the picturesque Santa Fe train depot. A band will perform. Two vendors will sell food. A dance performance is set for 7:30. As befits an art walk, there will be wine. (No word on cheese.) Attending is free, as is parking, in the north parking lot.

Perris Valley Historical Museum is the host. The art walk is the brainchild of Greg Acree, a painter who volunteers with the museum and who is coordinating the event.

“It’ll be the first art walk Perris has ever had,” Acree told me.

“There was always a lack of art in Perris. No galleries, no studios or anything,” Acree said. “I’m trying to get the youth to come out and see they have an art venue near them.”

To be truthful, little walking will be involved. With no galleries or studios to walk to, the event will be confined to the depot courtyard, with one artist set up inside. But “art walk” is a term people understand, and anyway, the official name is Depot After Dark, the museum’s umbrella name for its nighttime events.

Acree, a former resident who now lives in Yucaipa, has participated in art walks in Riverside, San Bernardino and Pomona and said it’s time Perris stepped up.

Last month he ran an Artisans Market at the depot for the society, drawing 14 vendors and positive feedback. It was a short stroll from the established Farmers Market run by the Chamber of Commerce at the same day and time, creating synergy.

There’s some overlap between the Artisans Market and the art walk, but the latter is primarily made up of painters. Even if Perris has no art scene as such, the majority of the 25 artists live in the city or next door in Moreno Valley or Nuevo. Featured artist Mike Kim is from Perris too.

It’s unknown if any of these Perris-ian artists will show up in berets and striped shirts. But I’m guessing not.

Greg Acree slides promotional posters into A-frame signs as he prepares for Perris’ first art walk, which takes place Friday. The plan is hold an art walk the last Friday of the month. The Perris Valley Historical Museum is the host. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Acree, 40, wore a Transformers T-shirt when we met on Tuesday at the depot, which is home to the museum. We walked to a nearby print shop where he picked up posters for the event, then back to the depot where he slid them into A-frame signs.

“I’ve already spent $1,000 on advertising,” said Acree, including for Facebook and Instagram boosts. The posters can be reused — they say the event is “tonight” — and have QR codes that take people to a page Acree can update with details on the specific event.

As for the artists, “I was at 23 two days ago. Now I’m at 25,” he said Tuesday. “I’m going to pack this place full.” And after we had spoken by phone the day before, he’d arranged for a second food vendor to take pressure off the first and for volunteers to open the museum.

Plans call for art walks on the last Friday of each month through November. With a set schedule, Perris’ event can be easily remembered and be part of a circuit that includes San Bernardino on the last Saturday of the month.

Acree, a comic book fan since boyhood, paints pop art images. In progress is a version of the cover of Fantastic Four No. 1, the comic that kicked off the Marvel Universe.

“I’m a diehard Spider-Man fan,” Acree told me. “I’ve got a Spider-Man shirt I want to wear. I’m saving that for art walk night.”

Right there you know he’s taking this seriously.

Go exploring

The second of two Discovery Days events in downtown Riverside takes place Saturday, and once again it’s free.

You can check in from 9 to 11 a.m. and take the self-guided tour until 1 p.m. of six sites: Riverside Art Museum, UCR Arts and Photography Museum, the Main Library, the police station, the courthouse — perhaps you’ve, er, toured the police station and courthouse already? I won’t judge — and Mariposa Alley.

At the latter, you can see a fire engine, as well as the alley’s primary feature, the butterfly decorations made by artist and restaurateur Martín Sanchez, and get a free snoball dessert from Lulu’s Snoballs.

You can also walk the exterior of the Mission Inn and, in a fun bonus, the Riverside Philharmonic will perform outdoors in the Main Library breezeway. Now how much would you pay? Oh, right, it’s free.

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The first Discovery Day, on Aug. 28, drew more than 150 attendees, and pre-registrations for Saturday’s sequel have surpassed 250. Sign up at exploreriversidetogether.com/events.

brIEfly

Josh Groban filmed a summer episode of HGTV’s “Celebrity IOU” in which he helped build a home studio for his piano player, Mark Stephens, in Rancho Cucamonga. A sharp-eyed friend told me a city sign was shown once or twice, the only clue where they were. Now that superstar singer Groban has seen Rancho Cucamonga, can the city entice him to the 536-seat Lewis Family Playhouse? Probably not. OK, can the city entice him to build his own concert hall?

David Allen writes Friday, Sunday and Wednesday, just to hammer that home. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter.

-on September 23, 2021 at 08:52AM by David Allen

[attract-mode-collective]

Just Another Late Night At The Game Center

And just another massive dose of game culture, as originally shared on the Attract Mode Twitter account, (most of) everything that was shared in the latter half of February. The first half was covered here.

Before I forget: the above is courtesy of erickimphotography.com.

Again, given how short Feb is supposed to be, I figured this post would be too... and it's not. So am wonder if going weekly might best going forward?

Anyhow, where did I leave off last time? Oh yeah; Valentine's Day. And here’s Amy Rose, from the day after, reminding us all that, as great as love can be, it also hurts (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

Check out this devastating big boot from Mario, one that would make the WWE's Undertaker or Kane proud (via suppermariobroth)...

You're no doubt familiar with Julie Bell's work, but are you aware of the close resemblance between her art & the artist herself? (via slbtumblng)...

Some nice, pixelated sukajans we have here (via kauzara)...

Look at these hipsters...

Look at these hipsters standing around, on a Brooklyn rooftop...

Look at these hipsters standing around, on a Brooklyn rooftop in leggings based upon the interactive menu for the Super Famicom's satellite modem peripheral. (via minusworld.co.uk)...

Am legit thinking of getting this shirt covered with quotes from people trying to figure out which Metal Gear character is gay (via kotaku.com)...

Am rather fond of Data Weave, which has more than a passing resemblance to the Eliss scarf that helped put the Attract Mode shop on the map (via prostheticknowledge)...

When you go to bed, don't forget to never use your Dreamcast as a pillow (nor should you ever place it on a bucket filled with leafy greens either, but you probably already knew that one; via posthumanwanderings)...

Not sure which SNK 40th Anniversary shirt I like more (via miki800.com)...

It's just Hidetaka Suehiro, playing... I think The Last Blade? Criminally underrated Neo Geo game btw (via nintendu)...

And the late, great Robin Williams playing Ground Zero Texas for the Sega CD (via celebgames)...

Plus the President of Turkey, circa 1990, playing Galaxy Force II for whatever reason (via historium)..

Pro-tip to any & all custom arcade cabinet sellers: if you're going to photograph someone playing a game on your thing, have said person actually play the thing (in this case, Robotron utilizes dual sticks and no buttons; via arcadephile)...

Today's recommended reading is a follow-up to another older post, one that's all about Willie Williams, who not only inspired Virtua Fighter's Jeffry McWild but also Tekken's Paul Phoenix (via lordmo)...

After seeing this gif of a young woman punching a dinosaur (or possibly a dragon) in the crotch, I may have to give Capcom Fighting Jam a second look (via kazucrash)...

Sticking with the subject of crotches for just one bit, everyone out there's familiar with PuLiRuLa, right? (via kazucrash)

Just a friendly reminder of how wacky commercials for the PlayStation 2 were back in the day (via kurhl)...

Back to the subject of dinosaurs... yet still sticking with fun under the sun (via sidestorygaiden)...

If I'm gonna share fan art of unofficial PlayStation 1 era mascots, then I have to pass along this rendering of Abe (via it8bit)...

Seen countless folk play music with a Game Boy or a NES... but a Dreamcast? @slowmagic is the very first, and with a Hello Kitty edition Dreamcast no less...

Does anyone know if these figures of Dorimukyasuko & friends were commercially produced or if they were just made for the Sega no Game wa Sekai Ichi~i~i~I ad that the image comes from? (via vgprintads)...

We've gotten snowfall here in NYC over the past few weeks, once during during sunset, but alas it wasn't nearly as pretty as this (via kirokazepixel)...

It's been ages since I've posted any Game Culture Snapshots, despite countless promises that I'd fix that. Well, until that finally happens, here just one, from IndieCade East 2018. Which was an epic bust, but hey, at least I finally got to play that Bill Viola game I first encountered at GDC 2008...

PLEASE tell me that GBA Video carts are the new hot means of distributing bootleg Hollywood flicks (via @katribou)...

This part from The Thing always reminded me of Asteroids on the Atari 7800 (via pixpunk)...

I posted this on Twitter, not realizing that I had shared it on the blog once before. But since I can’t find that original post, and since it's so damn nice, plus totally worth looking at again (via humanoidhistory)...

I also need to re-share that Tron movie poster cuz it's the first lead up to this Blade Runner-related spread from Joystik Magazine (via mendelpalace)...

As someone who fetishizes old video game magazines, I'm legit ashamed that I didn't know about Joystik sooner (via here & here)...

Please enjoy a healthy helping of scans from Lovely Sweet Dream, the dream journal that would become the basis of LSD for the PlayStation 1 (via here & here)...

Sorry, but I still think the idea of a multi-billionaire sending his sports car into space just cuz he can to be kinda cringey, yet that doesn't mean I'd don't think this pixelated recreation is any less pleasant (via it8bit)...

I've never been to Beverly Hills, so I have no idea if this portrayal according to Super Chase: Criminal Termination is accurate or not; maybe it was when the game was produced? (via obscurevideogames)...

Meanwhile, closer to where I am (somewhat; am not all that far from Long Island) is Mario & Yoshi & the Book of Revelation (via greathaircut)...

Are you playing Mario? Or is Mario playing you? (via suppermariobroth)...

Game Boys. And Game Girls. Mostly Girls. (via contac)

Before anyone asks, no, I do not have a bigger/wallpaper appropriate-sized version of this super sexy image of a couple of Wiis (via klaus-laserdisc)...

I think I kinda need to do this to my PlayStation (via dreamcast.tokyo)...

... Which reminds of those fancy, souped up by audiophiles PSXs I mentioned a whiles ago...

I celebrated Cat Day in Japan by posting this fave official King of Fighters illustration (via videogamesdensetsu)....

... along with this Monster Hunter fan art (via kerriaitken)...

... plus this highlight of a fave WarioWare: Twisted micro game (via suppermariobroth)...

So yeah, Flash sucks, I get that, but as the platform fades away, so does the opportunity to play games like Fear Less! (via zombie-chaser)...

Thankfully, WORLD OF HORROR, "a love letter to the cosmic horror work of Junji Ito", is something that's much more accessible (for now at least)...

I don't know much about Dujanah, which has you assuming the role of a Muslim woman with grievances against a military force that's occupying her Islamic homeland, other than it looks extremely compelling...

Yet another game I need to check out is CONTINUUM, which is a shmup that combines time manipulation and Tetris? (via alpha-beta-gamer)...

It's a legit shame that Jetpack Squad has seemingly fallen off the map (via shmups)...

Another shmup that I really, really want to play (though it's starting to feel increasingly unlikely) is AEROBAT, which looks just as gorgeous (and insane) today as it did the first time I laid eye (via shmups)...

Yet another game that was never meant to be, and the only thing we have here is some incredible looking concept art; if it ended up happening & was any good, I wonder if I'd be a PC-FX owner? (via videogamesdensetsu)...

If a Tokyo Dark Souls was ever to happen, which artist's take do you prefer; this one (via visor-visual)...

... or this one? (via mendelpalace)

You know about celebrity roasts, right? Well, a comedy club in Long Island City had one for Mario, though I have no idea how it went; I had kung fu practice that night...

Me, when the coffee kicks in (via anthony10000000)...

I had no idea that Typing of the Space Harrier was even a thing (via posthumanwanderings)...

It's a bit unsettling how some of Dreamcast Magazine's advice on how to survive Y2K are still useful today, in particular their words of wisdom regarding Seaman (via posthumanwanderings)...

Megadora Man, a Tokusatsu-esque take on the Mega Drive, for Beep! Mega Drive; am assuming his foes are inspired by the Famicom and PC Engine (though am not totally sure which is which; via obscurevideogames)...

Question: how hard would it be for someone in the US to get the first three issues of Famitsu from the Japanese Kindle Store? (via miki800.com)

Been well over a decade since first laying eyes and I FINALLY know the identity of the artist behind a series of Mario illustrations that has long left me stupefied: his name is Ishihara Gōjin (via videogamesdensetsu)...

I woke up the other day with a sense of purpose, with the knowledge that I finally have a mission in life: to do whatever I can to make this dancing kid from Sega Splash Golf a viral sensation (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

Though speaking of morning, been feeling run down as of late, though it's my own damn fault for not having breakfast. Which is why I can't wait for my Persona 3 toaster has yet to arrive (via gasp-theenemy)...

Had no idea that MAME can also emulate those crappy, Tiger handheld games; naturally there's not much to look at, since none of the background is part of the game's code (via lanceboyles)...

Eggman has a sense of humor (via voidirium)...

Eggman also has aesthetics (via posthumanwanderings)...

When you mess with the textures in Wind Waker for the sole purpose of making Vaporwave Link (via pmpkn)...

Man, I really wish each and every mech in Tech Romancer actually had its own anime (via ultrace)...

Before Mappy was a video game, it was a physical game involving real deal robots (via namcomuseum)...

And I swear, one of these days, we'll make available online Zac Gorman's print from Comics Vs Games 2...

In my time I've encountered lots & lots of BMO fan art, so much that it has become increasingly difficult to take notice and be impressed, yet this one managed to do so regardless (via it8bit)...

Let's all take a moment to appreciate the instruction manual for Cubivore, shall we (via skincoats)...

Cubivore's Japanese box art is also very nice (via gaygamer)...

An important message for all parents out there, concerning Minecraft (via reddit.com)...

When you can't afford the licensing fees for Miami Vice, Ghostbusters, Barbarella, I think... and maybe Logan's Run? (via mendelpalace)...

Given how Platoon ended up as a NES game, the idea of the Terminator on a Tiger handheld isn't totally far-fetched (via rewind01)...

And finally, PUT THAT CONTROLLER DOWN, NOW! (via fuzzyghost)

[canaryatlaw]

ok, I need to get this post written and get to sleep because I’m way tired. Today of course was another awesome day, to finish off three awesome days of the weekend. My alarm went off at 7:30, 15 minutes to get out the door since I was gonna do my make up in the car, then 15 minutes to walk to Jess’ place at 8 (it doesn’t usually take that long, but I try to budget in extra time incase I run into some complications). Got there, got in the car and headed off to HVFF. This convention center is off by O’Hare, which is pretty much in the northwest corner of Chicago, so a bit of a drive even for those of us who live on the north side as we do. But we got there in pretty good time then tried to figure out will call to get our tickets. I had a VIP badge because I bought it on sale for super cheap sometime last summer, even though it was a two day badge and I only ended up using one day because I wanted to be at C2E2 with Caity yesterday, lol. So I got whisked off to a special VIP line because we got into the show floor a full hour and a half before the general admission people. So I got in and looked around, there were a few celebrities out but not all that many, and not many of the vendors were open yet, so I decided to venture over to the “Walker Stalker” side of the con, which is a whole Walking Dead con basically, Chicago is apparently the only city that does HVFF and walker stalker together, but it was basically an entirely different space with its own vendors and celebrities. I was going over there because one of the celebrities they had who’s apparently on the walking dead is Sarah Wayne Callies, also known as Sara from Prison Break. She was the only celebrity on my list that Jess didn’t want to also meet, so I figured I’d get her done while I was alone. We had to wait a little bit, I struck up a pleasant conversation with the woman in line behind me who had also not watched any of the walking dead and was getting this autograph for a family member, so it was nice to know I wasn’t the only person who felt soooooo out of place there, lol. literally have not ever watched an episode and I’m not terribly interested in doing so, but Prison Break, so here I was. Once she came out the line started moving pretty quickly, so I got up there pretty soon. She was super lovely, I told her I had mixed feelings about a possible season 6 because I just wanted the writers to let them have their happy ending they got at the end of season 5 and not make their lives more miserable, which she thought was very valid lol. She said it wasn’t confirmed yet (apparently “Dom talks like it’s alright a done deal when it’s not even written”) but they should know soon. So that was a nice pleasant interaction. After that Jess had gotten in with the general admission people, so we went to hit up Emma Dumont from the gifted. I’m not going to share too many details of the interaction because part of it involves a surprise for a friend, and even though I don’t think she’s on tumblr I don’t want to risk her somehow finding out and ruining the surprise. But basically Emma Dumont is the COOLEST. Like, I obviously adore Caity and think she's awesome, but like, for someone who’s not my favorite I think she had the best fan interactions of any celebrities I’ve meet so far. She was so chill, she spent so much time talking to every person on line, and at one point wanted to edit the sign stating her autograph schedule because it said she was supposed to take a break and she didn’t want to, so she crossed it out and just wrote “NO BREAKS” across it and it was so so funny. She was such a delight, and the surprise portion of the interaction went over SO well, I had no idea how she was gonna react, but it was legit the best case possible, so I was very thrilled with that. After that we decided to go to Franz table and chat with him, he didn’t have much of a line so we got up there pretty quickly. I had him sign my legends poster, which now has his, Brandon’s, Caity’s and Dom’s autographs on it. When I was talking to him I was saying how sad I was when they wrote Jax off and that I really didn’t like how they did it, with all the press surrounding Victor Garber leaving and then he was written off without so much as a warning, and he was like “yeah, you’re not alone in thinking that” haha but I told him I was very much looking forward to seeing him return in the finale tomorrow. After him we went over to Katrina’s table, she hadn’t come out yet so we waited for a little bit until she came out. We decided to split a selfie, and then each get polaroids with her because they’re doing the adorable little polaroid pictures for $10. We also wanted to talk to her about our idea for the photo op later in the day, because the actual photo op is so rushed there’s really not much time to explain something like that. So we brought up the appropriate meme and showed it to her, and she was totally in for it and thought it was great, so I was happy about that. After that we took a break for lunch for a bit, then wandered around the vendors and artists until about 1:30, then got in line for Emily Bett Rickards, since she was coming back at 2 to start signing, her general admission line was crazy long, but luckily there were only two people in front of us in the VIP line. Jess wanted to meet her because she wanted to get her Felicity funko pop signed for her brother. She took until like, 2:15 to come out, but we got to see her pretty quickly. She was very sweet, and I’m not at all insulting anything about how she acted, but you could kind of tell she had had some bad experiences with fans doing really awful things and just how that can make someone have a lot of hesitance about this stuff. Her board of prices for stuff also stated *no hugs please* at the bottom, which just tells me how bad previous interactions had gone that she would now need to post that. Apparently this was one of the first times she was even doing selfies. So I felt bad for her over all of that, but she was lovely and sweet and I have no complains about her behavior. After that we went to the bathroom so Jess could change back into her Ava cosplay for the photo op. We stopped at one of the booths and I got a green shirt that says “star city archery club” because why not. We then went to the booth that had some wigs on display and asked about a blonde one, because we wanted the photo op to be easily identifiable to people. I did manage to find a blonde wig that I was actually alright with how it looked, so that was a win. It doesn’t really look like Sara’s current white canary hair, but it actually looks a lot like her season 2 of Arrow Canary wig, so that works. Then we went over to the photo op area and ran into some bitch Jess hates which we had to act civil towards and make awkward small talk, but I mostly just stared her down the whole time, lol. Once we made it into the photo op area we got called in pretty quickly, we showed Katrina the meme again so she would know exactly what to do (it’s the distracted boyfriend other girl meme if you didn’t see me reblog it earlier) so we got into those poses and oh man, it came out so awesome, I loved it. Jess snapped a photo of the print out, not even the digital copy, and posted it on twitter and it now has like, 700 likes lol so my mentions have been blowing up all day about that, which is cool. After that we ran back to Katrina’s booth just because we wanted to show her how it turned out, and she loved it and hugged both of us and was just generally very sweet. We were more or less ready to go at that point, but Elodie Yung’s table was pretty much empty, so we kinda worked our way in there and were just like “I don’t have any money left but I wanted to say I love you and you’re awesome as Elektra” and she was very sweet. After that we headed out, walked over to the parking garage and then through that to where there are some attached restaurants, because apparently if you eat at one of the restaurants they’ll validate your parking. So we went to a cute little place where we had a nice meal, Jess had the biggest plate of nachos I’ve ever seen, so she wasn’t quite able to finish all of it, lol. After that we headed home, she dropped me off and I just took the costume off, got into comfy clothes, and sat down to binge some tv. I watched the episode of Riverdale that was first on the list of episodes I’d missed, and I was really like.....I don’t find this very interesting, which is kind of a shame because Madelaine Petsch was at the con today and I did get to see her from a small distance. Oh well. At 7:30 I turned on Brooklyn 99, which was excellent of course, then started to finally start Rise, which I watched the first 3 episodes of, and I have to say I really like it so far. I know it’s supposed to be based on true events, but the Glee parallels are like, REALLY obvious, the teacher is completely Schuester 2.0, they recruit the football player, the threatening football coach, and just stuff like that. but it was definitely excellently cast, Auli’i is incredible of course, and the girl they cast as Gwen, when she did the “soft” version of purple summer, I was seriously getting chills- like the depths they went to to cast that character is nuts, and they did it very, very well. So I’m looking forward to watching more of that. And yeah, then I got in the shower and got ready for bed and here I am, did I mention I’m TIRED?? So I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight dolls. Happy start of your week.

[artdjgblog]

​Innerview: Pete Dulin / Present Magazine​

November 2010

Poster: DJG Design

Note: Interview about a forthcoming art exhibition.

01) How has your art/design evolved (if it has) over the past few years?

It’s easier for an outsider or critic to answer this question, somebody who isn’t dragging around the body of work yet somewhat familiar. Although, I do feel an artist, a human in general, should always be growing/evolving. So, I believe I’m doing this and with an infinite back lot in reserve for improvement. Many milk the same cow over and over and this truly works for a few. However, I’m a different person every day, sometimes several different ones in one day. And I appreciate the timeline of the time spent down here to see how all of this builds. Looking and processing it mentally or physically in my documentation, there is something brewing. Even if I am still cave painting compared to most.

One also has to keep in check that everything has been done under the sun. But, one is their own voice and I listen to the one thumping at me on the inside and out. I get thumped a lot. That’s exciting and challenging. My timeline’s evolution might fit snug into an eye lash plot for the amount spent here. As in, you can probably put me in my artistic place. But, personally I’ve always got a new flavor of milk in mind. It’s like the height measurements climbing behind the door in Grandma’s back bedroom. Same vessel, different day. There’s growth as well as the things that have been wired since day one. Other than that, I don’t know. I’m always pushing and plowing for me, trying to figure me out. Obviously, something isn’t clicking with me elsewhere or I wouldn’t be doing this. Same goes with anyone doing anything. But, the undercurrent treat is when others find out it’s for them too, when they discover something that sparks an evolve in figuring themselves out. That is pretty rewarding stuff. 0​2) If you could go back and re-do one piece from early in your career, what would it be and what would you change? I mentioned that I value a timeline, but I’m not much for going back for a redo. Especially with something like art. I’d rather just make more art now. If there are mistakes or doubts in the look-back then they are part of the process, equal parts learning, artistic and life. I guess if I could go back and throw a change-up I’d try to save more money and make more connections, maybe work harder. But, that’s just stuff I can work better at in the now. And I never make money. Of course, there are always things told to me after the fact, and from a fresh set of eyes/mind, like, “Ya know, that poster art looks dirty! You sly devil! Ha!” Oops, I never intended that to happen (red in the face). To go back and redo it, why bother? It is what it is and it was born out of the creative process at that moment. It looked like a friendly face to me. It was also a poster and street expiration is limited. Yet, the stories and life after that expiration can continue. It’s a great laugh and better story now. And, I received the bobcat paw in the poster from a late uncle, so it’s a little tribute. Anyway, I love what others get out of things and how different people can perceive different things out of the same thing. Then, there are those days I look at something I made earlier on in my so-called career, even things made yesterday, and I’ll see something completely different or I’ll not be sure why I did it that way or what state of mind I was in. In the end, I did it and so it’s done and I’m fine with it. If it’s a project with a fat or relaxed deadline there is wiggle room to go back and give it a tune-up in the various stages of development. I suppose that could fall under evolution as well. Often in this situation I’m learning patience with the growth in this process, things like music videos, music packages, books, etc. Still, the majority of work I just crank out and move on. I typically have a minute to eat 400 saltine crackers. It has all lead to how I’m figuring things out right now. I do have worry jeans to wear, but the best is for me not to worry while at the work table and just keep on being the horse and the plow, only backtracking when looking at the timeline to see how it has stacked up or when answering questions like this one. ​0​3) What inspires your design lately? Life’s layers and languages, seen/unseen. The constant cacophony. Joys and sorrows. The seasons. Looking up/looking down. Taking pictures physically/mentally at the compositions in every turn. Finding value in most anything. Jotting and writing. Food. Movies, music and books are always on the menu. Taking time out. Watching squirrels. My cats and their constant curiosity and lack of boredom. Plucking the weird tree bark hairs on my face. Intuition. Realizing limitations and faulty wiring in some areas can lead to strengths in other places. Being open and accepting to happy accidents. Thinking about life and beyond. Not thinking can help too. Stretching my body’s shadow into traffic and realizing that I am still alive and loved. Everything from the flattened rat on the curb to the clouds and beyond. I feed off a buffet of life’s little things. The advances of Twitter has helped me to share all the little things that keep me in constant motion. I enjoy sharing the things that make me tick and in hopes they don’t tick others off! Ha!: http://twitter.com/#!/djgkcmousa I don’t keep up a whole lot on the happenings of art and design, but I guess I do follow it some. I also don’t really feel like a spokesperson for it. At times, I find I’m a bit of an outsider or that I missed several steps in the art/design play book. But, it’s me and there is a small number of people around the world who have become interested in what I do and that is really fascinating to me. I enjoy sharing and I like what I feel and do whatever I feel like. I’m in a unique position where I can pretty much work without boundaries. Many times I’ll just get it in me and follow where it wants to go. It’s not a big deal/ordeal. It only gets to be and gets to me when I can’t properly pull my weight in the resource department or do enough of it. I need more time, I guess. But, then again, if I had all the time it wouldn’t be enough as there are many things I’d love to accomplish and work on, artistically and personally. Life is so short. But, I shouldn’t be so selfish. ​0​4) How do you feel when you see a body of your work on display at The Brick? 01. There is an instant relief to get it up on the wall after 5pm and not get in the way of people eating or bringing in music equipment. I like to get in and get out. I’m nervous putting up art. I’m nervous not putting up art. 02. I think about the many nail holes I’ve put in the wall over the years and chunks of brick debris I’ve helped knock off the wall. It’s a brick timeline! Hanging a show on a brick wall is a tough go. You just sorta put a nail in where it can go in and start hanging based on that first piece. 03. I get a little down as I am the parent of the art. Perhaps it’s a form of postpartum? Or plain exhaustion? Taking it out of the context of my little part of the basement and inner world is such a weird thing as well. Even though I love sharing the art, I still end up with mixed reviews on a personal level. It’s hard to explain. I think today’s iPromote thing can be overwhelming and soul sucking. It’s best not to think about it. 04. I hang about 35-40 pieces of art selected from the previous 12 months and I feel it isn’t that much to show for a year’s passing. I shouldn’t feel weird about that, but I do. I just don’t feel like I’m doing enough. I’m just very thirsty, I guess? A year’s worth of work isn’t a body of work to me, more like a limb. Once I’m done with all this, then all those limbs can be put together. I’m not sure what you’ll get. 05. I’m worn out but I need to start making stuff for next year. 06. Insert misc. feeling here. 07. I’m hungry. 08. Only eight people showed up. Ah well. ​0​5) Best reaction to your work from an observer at The Brick over the years? Random Dude to Me: “Har. Har. That looks like something I made in Kindergarten. That ain’t art! Who is the artist!?” Me:  ”I agree. I don’t know who that guy is. I just know I’m not a fan.” Also, for the first few years at The Brick I hung up comment canvases with markers taped to them. I got a lot of fun and weird stuff in return. I should scan them in and share them someday soon. The comment canvases became a living piece of art experiment. I’m actually incorporating this idea into a piece I’ll have up this year. It’s called “Gum Mug No. 1″ ​0​6) Are the pieces for sale? Nothing on The Brick wall will be for sale. They are my originals and I rarely sell my kids. I’ve only really sold original art via special charity auctions. I’ve given a few away too. However, on opening night of Saturday, December 4, 2010, I’ll have some various cheap prints for sale and maybe some original little somethings I’m putting together. So, I guess I do sell originals, just not the stuff on the wall. Thank you for the time and support. -djg  

[wallpaperpainting]

18 Ugly Truth About Commissioned Dog Portraits | commissioned dog portraits

In D. W. Young’s lighthearted, lexical abbreviate blur “A Anatomy of Language,” a bookdealer shows off “one of the antique book world’s admired prints”: a burlesque of a bedraggled, aged bibliophile continuing in a ataxia of books, as if he has risen from them. His beard is hardly mussed, eyes blocked abaft spectacles, and he wears a clothing with a abridged square. Titled “Anatomy of an Antique Bookseller,” the poster’s ancestry makes it article that dealers of attenuate tomes abnormally appreciate: alone fifty lithographs of the design, by the artisan Ronald Searle, were produced, as a agency for the centenary of a Scottish book-trading firm. Searle labelled the account with agreement fatigued from the colloquial of book-dealing that administer appropriately to the clearing and crumbling of a body, which, already in accomplished condition, is now alone fair: dog-eared; blotchy calf; joints abominably worn; back cracked.

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It is generally alluring to apprehend experts altercate their craft, because the affirmation of acute adequacy and attention is effectively appealing: there is a name for every allotment and every assembly method, and decidedly for every malady. The specialized accent is all in the account of analysis and correction. When a book has been apprehend too abundant or admired too roughly, it’s “thumb-soiled” (deliciously icky-sounding). If the back tilts aloof a bit to the side, it’s “slightly cocked.” (“A little juvenile, don’t you think?” one book banker exclaims.) When cardboard is browning from age or moisture, it’s “foxed.” Some things complete bad but are not so: “stab holes” ability appearance that a book has been apprenticed from side-stitched installments that were appear separately. And that “mottled calf” from the affiche isn’t a assurance of decay—it’s alone the name for a adjustment of application dribbles of acerbic to accomplish adolescent covering attending added interesting. Accordingly, and comfortingly, the accent of cures for booky ills is additionally expansive. The blur tells us about wormholes in the binding, assuming spines chawed to dust by pests, but it additionally reassures us about the actuality of “remboîtage”: the

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[takerumin]

akon recap

so this past weekend i was at akon and i had the absolute best time!!

first of all, lemme just say that i haven’t flown anywhere since i was 6 years old and delta airlines can eat my whole fucking ass for making me run across an entire airport terminal with 2 minutes to board my connecting flight. moving on.

anyway!! i got to akon around noon on thursday, and my jackass dear friend gabe went ahead and printed my badge before i could change the name on it, which happened to be Yiff, so i made him wear it the whole weekend

all we really did on the first day was walk through the dealers room a little, i didn’t even buy anything, but kyrstin bought skirts and were matchies the next day....i was too tired cos i’d been up since wednesday night alskjdnfa

day 2 was when most of the fun happened!! i got to meet up with some of my twitter friends, and make friends with their friend. we were waiting outside of the arena to get in for the concert that day since like 3 o’clock LOL

(i’m the goofy looking one w green hair n heart glasses on top of my head)

they finally started letting people in ~5:30, and we ended up on the rail towards the right of the stage. the first artist to play was masayoshi oishi and he’s absolutely phenomenal!! he asked a few times if his english was okay and it made me sad cos he was really doing a great job orz he also engaged the crowd a lot which was cool!! i think a lot of people came away from it being his fan when mostly no one knew him before hand. i’m really sad his cds were sold out when i went to get one on the last day ;;;;

after masayoshi were eyeshine, and they were really good!! there was someone in the crowd dressed as the black power ranger and they stopped to play the power rangers theme song alksdjnfas it was pretty funny.

last that day was pentagon, and wow let me tell y’all, they’re so much smaller than i was expecting alksjdnfa i’m pretty sure taku is the tallest, and there’s no way he’s over 5′7″. atsuki is either the same height or not much shorter, but he has chicken legs so he looks a lot smaller HAHA.

yutori was right in front of my group, and holy shit does he have a lot of energy. i knew beforehand he was a little bit all over the place during lives, but i didn’t realize how impossible it would be to look away from him!! i was watching him most of the time, he never stays still. he’s also a little clumsy and it’s really endearing. he tripped over his own pants during the first song lol. he also kissed chizuru in the middle of a line!! chizuru was totally caught off guard haha there was white makeup all over his top lip for the rest of the show. i was so into the show i don’t even remember what songs they played except that they played crazy tribe first (they tried to get us all to do the kabuki dance but only a few of us did it alsdknfa) and stupid right after, but thankfully someone posted the set list!!

during the first MC they were all doing their best speaking english. yutori didn’t even say anything, he just yelled in the mic so we would yell back HAHA chizuru was like “say something properly or they’ll all just think you’re weird” and we were like “it’s too late for that, we already know he is.” atsuki was wearing american flag socks, and he all but climbed over his drumset to show us, it was incredibly cute. i think taku said the best part of texas so far was the barbeque LOL and minpha said he really loved america and dallas. then yutori yelled some more, and then they played the next song.

the next song was shounen waltz, and i guess they weren’t really expecting anyone in the crowd to know it because they were really surprised when our group started singing along immediately LOL we also did the furi, cos its really their only song with furi if u don’t count tetsu kizu which is just a towel song.

the rest of the show is kind of a blur between headbanging and jumping and screaming haha i will say though, yutori makes eye contact with as many people in the crowd as he can!! i think our group in the front was a little distracting because we were going Really Hard, but he did make funny faces at people, smile back at people, laugh when they made faces back at him, and he pointed at people and wouldn’t stop until they pointed back lol usually i think saying you made eye contact is wishful thinking, but with yutori there’s no mistaking he was really actually seeing you, and i think it was the same with the other members, but i really didn’t look away from yutori very long lol it seemed like he would notice every time i looked away and do something to get my attention again.

during the second MC they had a translator, and she used taku’s mic stand which was really cute ;; i don’t really remember a lot of what was said except chizuru saying that we were all really energetic and they didn’t know if they could keep up with us LOL there was also something he said that seemed to not translate well directly and the translator was visibly struggling, and taku noticed and rephrased whatever chizuru had said for her and it was really sweet ;;; he’s such a prince

after the main set we were all chanting different things to try and get them to come back out LOL some people were shouting “one last song” others were shouting “encore”

after a few minutes they came back out wearing the akon pentagon shirts and they played  どうでもええけど and i think it was during this song one of the photographers got in front of us while we were headbanging and shani and i hit her back LOL i also hit the people behind me a few times i’m sorry y’all i was having a good time. yutori jumped in the crowd twice, the second time during the last song i think and he disappeared for almost the entire song LOL i think chizuru came down to look for him, but he jumped on the rail right in front of my group and he wobbled a lot so we all braced him instead of letting him through because we were afraid of him falling haha yutori came back out just shortly after that though.

they played one last song, and then they thanked the fans again and atsuki threw out one drum stick (it seems like he lost the other one already? or maybe he threw it out but i wasn’t looking at him at the time alskdjnfa) and they threw their picks and stuff and chizuru threw out his water bottle. they all left the stage one by one except yutori LOL 

he stayed a little longer and was standing on the speaker in front of the stage right in front of me like he had for most of the show, and kind of on impulse i yelled his name and held out my sunglasses to him, and i didn’t think he would hear me, but he did OMG he looked right at me and then saw the glasses and said. “for me?” pointing at himself and i said “yeah! gift!!” and he reached to take them saying “thank you, thank you!!” and put them on right there oh my god. then he looked at me again and looked at his glasses and back and forth a few times before reaching again to give me his glasses!! shani was like “BITCH YOU MADE IT” and the guy behind me was like “that was really cool!” lol

i promise i don’t have a receding hairline its just that my roots are showing and they’re way lighter than the color i dyed my hair alskjnda

right after the concert they were doing autographs outside of the arena, and even though i was going to their autograph session tomorrow i had a poster that i also wanted to get signed for my friend who couldn’t come to akon so i went this time too. while we were standing in line, yuui was walking by, and i think maybe it was aurora that stopped him ? haha they asked for a picture with him because they used to follow him back when he was in cindykate (i did too). i don’t think he was expecting it, but he took a picture with us anyway.

there’s me. he also took a picture of us and asked if he could post it on goemon’s twitter, because it was a group of like 5 of us all with shirts and towels together and of course we said yeah haha

i wasn’t really nervous waiting in line until we got really close haha i didn’t really know what to say to them other than “thank you” lol when i got up there that’s all i really said, too. chizuru was really cute and so pretty even when you can see how much makeup he had on LOL he said “ありがとう” i think he was worried his english wasn’t very good and didn’t wanna embarrass himself. atuski said ありがとう and thank you, as did the rest of them, except minpha who just had a sign that said “i can’t speak but thank you” also thank god for minpha, i didn’t feel bad not saying anything haha i just waved and bowed and said thank you quietly. i think taku could tell i wanted to say more but didn’t know how because he was like “oh!! green hair!!” to try and make conversation but i was just like “yeah!!” cry emoji i’m sorry taku you did your best i appreciate it.

oh my god, when i got to yutori at first he didn’t do anything, he just stared me in the eye for a good thirty seconds and i think my soul left my body at that point HAHA finally he made a heart in front of each eye and said “hearto megane, yeah?” and i was like “yeah, yeah, that was me” aslkdjan he said “thank you very much!” while signing and i was like “thank YOU, thank you!!” and then kinda ran cos yutori was last and i was so happy he recognized me i was a little embarrassed haha. i didn’t have a favorite member in pentagon before this i swear but i have a really big soft spot for yutori now.

also aurora, shani, and juxica were in front of me and taku called us out for being the group on twitter who tagged them in all our group pics LMAO aurora came up and taku was like “oh! twitter, twitter!” and then when shani was next he realized we were all one after the other in line and he was like “SUPER GROUP!!” it was so cute haha. aurora also told atsuki it was shani’s birthday (it was like 6 minutes after midnight at that point) and he told her happy birthday and she was so happy about it.

day 3 gabe, kyrstin, and i were in cosplay. i didn’t get a pic of kyrstin but she was so cute, she was like. punk kiki. gabe didn’t actually have a cosplay so we made him wear cat ears and a choker LOL i only had my cosplay on for like. 45 minutes IT WAS SO HOT i had to take it off orz i also did not. style my wig. i like elmer glued it half an hour before we left the hotel LMAO

this was. the only pic i got in the full thing laskjnfa. anyway, gabe and kyrstin went to some sort of gamer panel, i think it was for fallout maybe? and i went to that fashion show bc juxica and minpha were gonna be in it! i got pictures of them too, juxica is so beautiful ;;;; i’m sad my pictures were kinda crap cos my camera didn’t adjust well for the stage lighting and i was a bit too far back......

and ofc atelier pierrot was the last brand to go up, and minpha was the last model to come on stage. we all knew when he was about to come on stage though because we suddenly saw chizuru and taku briskly walk to the front where all the photographers to take pictures and video LOL

shounen waltz started playing and ofc shani and aurora start singing really loud LMAO i love them. minpha seemed really nervous to come on stage, but he hid it well ;;;; he’s modeled for magazines and stuff before but it was his first time modeling in a fashion show...his poses were really good tho!! i didn’t get any good pictures of him either....

his outfit was also displayed at the atelier pierrot booth in the dealers room after the show!! they also had cheki of him from the fashion show but they were sold out when i went to go buy some because they were selling during autographs orz

after the fashion show was the q&a!! we got over there pretty quickly and sat in the second row back on the left side. i don’t remember a lot of the questions asked orz one that i remember clearly was someone asking “what’s your favorite food you’ve had in america so far?” because atsuki said tequila and i laughed Really Hard alsdkfnalk y’all i have a loud ass laugh and legit every time i laughed yutori looked at me he probably thought i was possessed LMFAO at least i left an impression i guess.

there were two different questions that i know i’m blending the answers for together in my head, but they were pretty closely related, one being “what do you do after a live/tour?” and “what do you do to unwind/get your creativity going?” and i know taku answered “i like cooking so i go home and cook” for the first one, and then “watch anime” for the second one. yutori answered “i actually have flowers that i keep, so i go home and take care of them” and my chest actually throbbed like? he’s so high energy 110% all the time, i wasn’t expecting a cute answer like that. minpha and atsuki both said they like to party/drink HAHA i think chizuru also said something about drinking but its hard to remember. for the creativity one, yutori and minpha both said practice.

someone else asked chizuru how he takes care of his voice and it seems like chizuru understood even before the translator translated to the question cos he let out a big “aaahhh” kind of sigh like he was dreading this question LOL he said he didn’t really think about it much because if he thought about it too hard he would end up doing more damage than good, and then yutori added “i take care of it for him” to be cute haha

i remember is aurora asking something along the lines of “since minpha and meto from mejibray both have the concept of being doll-like beings and have their companions, pentagon-chan (the bunny) and ruana, have you ever considered doing a photoshoot together with them?” and i think maybe the translation got a bit mixed up because minpha only answered “they play together sometimes” orz but when they heard aurora say meto and ruana’s names the members went “aaaahhhhh” like they weren’t expecting it to come up as a question but mostly understood what they were saying lol

two other questions were “what american artists do you take inspiration from?” and “what japanese musicians do you take inspiration from?” and for the first one atsuki said “i’m not really sure where all the artists i listen to come from, but if you look through my ipod you’ll definitely find a lot” and to the later i think he said “no.” and everyone laughed and then the translator was like “pass?” and atsuki was like, “yeah. pass. pass.” i don’t remember what yutori answered or either question, and i think chizuru said something along the same lines for the former and for the latter he named a pianist that i can’t recall the name of. taku said he wasn’t really sure what country they were from, but he really likes my chemical romance and linkin part, and for japanese artists he name acid black cherry, and another artists but i don’t remember who orz we yelled when he said both names tho and i think it was chizuru who was like “wow you guys know a lot about japanese artists” or something LOL idk what minpha said for american artists, i think he just didn’t answer, and for japanese he wrote DIR EN GRAY and some people yelled that he spelled it wrong which was really rude imo alksdjfan taku turned back and looked and laughed a little. 

there was another time after that where he spelled crazy as crayzy and taku crossed out the extra y alskdjna let him live y’all he’s doing his best.

you can see our group in the q&a pic from goemon too LOL also

same pic

ANYWAY, next was autographs. when we got there they said they weren’t lining up for autographs yet so everyone got food but as soon as we all sat down w food they were like “OKAY Y’ALL CAN START LINING UP NOW” and we were like alsjdfna fuck. we ended up like halfway back in the line orz

we found out they had started selling the fashion show cheki of minpha while we were in line for autographs, so juxica and maya went to go get some while aurora, shani, and i stayed in line. haha i was getting nervous again the closer we got to pentagon orz i still didn’t know what to say. i was still laughing my loud ass laugh so minpha and yutori and sometimes taku kept looking at me whenever they didn’t have a person in front of them alsdkjnfa. at one point there was a person held up for a little bit in front of atsuki, i think they were talking to him, so when i laughed rly loud, i think i was maybe 10 or 15 people back in line, yutori looked at me and held eye contact alskjnda and then i saw him turn to the translator and ask a question and it seems like he was asking how to say “yesterday was fun” alsdkn like bruh you already went thru nearly half the line and NOW ur asking.

when i got up there i was still awkward orz atsuki seemed p tired, i heard a lot of ppl say he had gone to the rave after their concert and autographs the night before LOL that’s so like him. but i said hi and thank you, and he said the same. next was yutori and i was like “hi!!” and he said “hi!! yesterday was fun!!” and he stumbled over the words and bit and i did my best not to clutch my heart orz he’s too cute. i told him “yeah!! yesterday was fun!” while he was signing my cheki and i went to grab it, but he put his marker down and shook my hand first lol i couldn’t tell if his hand was cold or if it was mine.

minpha thankfully again was easy, i just had to wave and say thank you without feeling bad orz today taku didnt try and make conversation with me (i’m sorry i’m so awkward u did ur best) and omg chizuru wrote happy birthday on shani’s poster ;;;; after that we walked right past the again to go to the merch booth for the pictures after the autographs and i laughed so loud abt i don’t even remember what and i’m thinking in my head “bitch stop being so loud and ugly” asldkanf

i had 2 tickets for pictures because you had to buy so much money worth of merch to get pictures (we’re not....gonna talk about how much money i spent) so i got one cheki and one picture on my phone. i also!! ran into nova in the line for the pictures cos it was a lot shorter, i hadn’t seen him before then at akon. we used to be twitter mutuals a long time ago, i didn’t even know he would be there!! he came up and said hi to me haha.

i feel like i was a little rude while getting my pictures orz i said thank you afterwards but i rushed out of there cos i felt embarrassed haha i was wearing slippers and looked kind of silly in my pictures

that post con depression kind of hit me immediately after the pictures orz i had to go home the next day and couldn’t make it to the raffle cos i was already at the airport, but maya was an extra poster which was really cool!! and omg aurora said that if one of my tickets got pulled they would mail me whatever i won ;;;; i didn’t win but i really appreciated the thought. my con friends were the absolute best and i really really miss them right now haha meeting them and getting to hang out with them was probably honestly the best part of the con.

[hmniay]

Tokyo Trip Report (Part 4)

This is the last of the Japan report! Lots of photos this time. Thank you for sticking with me.

Feel free to blacklist the tag “japan 2016″ if you don’t want to see these posts! The images may look squished if you read this outside dashboard due to my blog theme. Everything is under the cut.

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Day 10: Tokyo Comic City

The main reason why we picked mid June to go to Japan, other than that Jen has summer school and to avoid the crowdy July-August break, was because I wanted to meet some JP mutuals tabling at the con >///<  (thank you Jen for agreeing to this)

I especially wanted to meet Rui-san, whose art I looked up to a lot (and buy her books while I’m at it), but she had work last minute and couldn’t come... Maybe next time ;__;

The event is 11pm~3pm. We planned to go at 12 to avoid the crowd, but we woke up late and got there at 1pm😂😂  It was located at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba, and this place is like an airport!! It’s huge and even has conveyor belts, and people were carrying luggages around (to store the merch they bought??)

(No photographing allowed inside)

1/3 of the tables already packed up and left... Apparently in Japanese events, people list out exactly what they’re going to buy and go straight for it the moment the doors open. We didn’t plan to buy anything, but it looked like going in late wasn’t a good idea. Something to keep in mind in the future.

I saw a Miyoshi/Maki mini print and thought “hmm I’ll come back after we check everything out” and then it was sold out ;;;;;;

Free postcards at the door promoting upcoming only-events.

From what I understand, onlys are smaller, fandom-specific events inside a general bigger event? There are games and stuff but we didn’t understand it XD I noticed that tables of the same fandoms were grouped together, sorted by ships. Convenient for the shoppers, but I wonder what happens to multi-fandom artists? And there’s the whole concept of “circles”... It’s certainly very different from what I heard about Western cons, which I’ve not been to.

Also!! Most artists give out free prints! ...At least that’s what I 98% sure they are, but I didn’t have the guts to take them, especially when I’m not buying anything💦💦  I should’ve done some research first.

We met up with Ran-san (again) and Nori-san, who gave me some oisuga poster and postcards. It was a prize for a game on twitter and the poster was supposed to be first-come-first-served, but she saved one for me ahhhh;;;;; As promised I sticked it to my face.

And the poster is now on my wall ////

I suddenly forgot all my Japanese so there was a very long awkward pause before I said I would like to buy a charm from her www (After we got home I was able to talk to her on twitter fluently again what the heck)

Ran-san then took us to meet Kurot. She kept laughing at Kurot for being “crazy” from the lack of sleep. Kurot called me “Kiyo-san” at first, then questioned herself why she’s speaking Japanese when we can speak English😂😂  Please have a good rest after this!!!

I tweeted a photo of my shirt for mutuals not tabling to find me so I can give them Canadian omiyage (maple sugar lmao) and Saki actually managed to find me!! She gave me a iwaoi bag she made (bottom left in the above photo) with lots of candies inside. Thank you ////

Then we met up with Uma and walked around the con. The con was ending and we were about to leave when I saw copic markers on sale on the side. 10 markers for 1000 yen!!!! I never tried it before so I only bought 10, but I now regret not getting more.

I forgot to go back to say goodbye to Ran-san and Nori-san before leaving...

Uma, Jen and I decided to go to Ikebukuro for some afternoon snack. Yamate Line had an accident (someone fell off the platform??) so we had to take another line. Then it became clear how the accident probably happened. THIS WAS THE MOST CROWDED TRAIN WE EXPERIENCED ON THIS TRIP. I could barely take this photo. I was leaning on someone’s (sweaty) back with my feet half off the ground, and when the train arrived at a station, it becomes like a strong river where you literally get pushed around and have no control of where to go.

We finally found a place to sit down and eat.

We exchanged our sketchbooks and had a doodling session until we got politely kicked out an hour later XD

We window-shopped for a bit at Sunshine City before parting ways. Our host family offered us to make BBQ on the rooftop, but it was too late so we just got ourselves some konbini dinner.

Family Mart’s fried chicken is so good!! I finished it before we even got home.

Thank you so much for an amazing day!!! I hope we can meet again.

Day 11: Yokohama

Today is the last day of our trip and we decided to spend it in Yokohama.

Animate Yokohama was really close by so we dropped by quickly for last minute weeb shopping. Jen went to look for CCS and Digimon merch while I went to play the Joker Game Q&A (each week you can get prizes - a print I think - for answering a question related to the week’s episode).

Q: What was the pill left on the floor in Maki’s room? A: Aspirin.

But they ran out of the prize so I only got a stamp...

Heading to Hakkeijima Sea Paradise! This is where we will spend most of the day.

Kalbi onigiri. Yum. In Taiwan I prefer 7-11 much over Family Mart, but here Family Mart is my best friend.

The station is really cute.

We’re here!

It’s a giant amusement park on an artificial island. The right half is the “ground” rides, but we’re only interested in the “sea” side today. 

There’s not a lot of people.

Ahhhh they look like spiders and why are they so big!!! Jen: Are they edible

OMG so I happen to witness this guy eat... It pressed the fish in between the glass and itself, and wiggled until the fish got to its mouth... then swallowed it whole.

Our tickets also included fish-your-own-fish. 

I’m so sorry ;;;;

Jen is vegetarian so I got 2 for myself. It was really good and I wished I got more...

More animals on the other side of the park!

Hydrangeas near the entrance/exit.

We wanted to end the day with Yokohama’s famous night view at Landmark Tower, so we rushed back (it takes about an hour).

The Red Brick Warehouse!

We didn’t remember we wanted to go to the Cup Noodles Museum until we walked passed it lmao (it was closed already)

We finally got to Landmark Tower. Had a quick dinner at a Oyako don place.

We didn’t know we were making a big mistake. THEY STOP LETTING PEOPLE ONTO THE OBSERVATION DECK AT 8:30. We finished our dinner and got there at exactly 8:30. The directions weren’t really clear so we walked back and forth for a while, before realizing that the man we saw putting up a sign at a door was the deck staff closing the door. If I realized it a minute earlier I would’ve begged him to let us in ;____;

It would be frustrating to come all the way here and not be able to see the view, so we headed back to the port beside the warehouse and ended our Yokohama adventure there.

Someone on the train was reading Jump!!

We returned home to see this on the bed ahhhh... Inside the bag was 2 big boxes of shrimp cookies that homestay dad bought on his business trip. This host family was much less experienced (we are their first), but they were so sweet😭😭😭

Day 12: Departure

I leave Japan today and go to Taiwan next. Jen was staying for another day because she booked her tickets wrong hahahaha

Homestay mom helped us book the direct bus to Haneda Airport; we didn’t want to go through the pain of pulling luggages through the subway system again.

We got off at Terminal 1... BUT JOKE’S ON ME IT’S ACTUALLY SUPPOSED TO BE TERMINAL I FOR “INTERNATIONAL” WHO THE HELL THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA!! So we had to quickly take the airport shuttle to the correct terminal to check in.

The airport was decorated in Edo? style.

I decided to have Mos Burger for my last meal in Japan. I grew up eating their rice burger in Taiwan so I wanted to try the real one in Japan. They only had regular burgers here though!!

Our last doodle together.

It was hard to say goodbye to Jen. We’ve been together since elementary school and who knows when we will see each other in person again...😢 We dragged on until last minute and I almost missed my plane lmao

Bye bye Japan! Thank you for a wonderful time and I hope I can come again soon!!

Is Laputa in there

The flight was only about 3 hours so by the time I woke up from a nap we were already landing. But then...

WhaT

IS

HAPPENING

I WAS LEGIT TERRIFIED OMG I hate flying and I would think that if the plane needs to make FIVE GODDAMN CIRCLES above the airport, something might’ve happened down there. 

After what felt like forever, we finally started descending. Everything looked fine?  

Then it became obvious why we couldn’t land. It was like a typhoon down there and the plane was shaking so much while landing. There were no actual typhoon though. Just your regular crazy Taiwanese summer afternoon-storm.

Yep I’m definitely back in Taiwan

The moment I stepped out of the plane I could feel the intense hot humid air, like usual... The storm was crazy big and part of the subway was experiencing outage, so I had a rough time getting home. Good to be back though.

Souvenir for my grandma! She loves matcha stuff. These are matcha-white chocolate cookies, bought at Haneda airport.

My loot from Japan. I managed to control myself hahahaha

Corn flavoured stuff is the best!!!!!!!

And this concludes my Japan trip report!! It is almost 8 months since the trip I can’t believe I took so long to organize this😂😂  I might write a little bit here and there about the Taiwan trip later. Thank you for sticking around and I hope you enjoyed reading!!

[comicsbeat]

§ Nice Art: Francesco Francavilla gave us the Thing vs Thing team-up we’ve all dreamed of on Twitter.

§ Nice art supplemental! Takashi Miike has made a movie based on the manga JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and it looks insane!

This is the guy who was somehow able to make us laugh at a scene depicting a hitman slicing off his own tongue in Ichi the Killer, after all. The JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga by Hirohiko Araki debuted in 1987 and chronicles the adventures of the Joestar family across several generations as they use their unusual powers to tackle a variety of supernatural threats. With around 100 million copies in print, it’s the bestelling horror manga of all time and also one of the bestselling manga series overall. Judging from the trailer, Miike’s adaptation will feature highly stylized visuals and colors, so we should be in for an incredible cinematic experience when Toho and Warner Bros. co-distribute the film in Japan on 4 August 2017. It stars Jun Kunimura, Nana Komatsu, Mackenyu, and Takayuki Yamada.

Bestselling horror manga? Whoa. Here’s the teaser trailer:

And the character posters! So manga!

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  § Alison Bechdel has drawn a few new Dykes to Watch Out For comic strips, and it might be about a certain orange toned president.

§ Tom Spurgeon interviewed Ron Wimberly about Prince of Cats and the rest:

It’s such a shit show, the human brain. We think the way we remember things, that’s how it truly happened. Photoshop has been great because we’re now even more aware how fake everything is. [laughter] It’s just perception. Now that it doesn’t require someone that’s great at gouging, or working on something with a knife, now that a teenager can put Hillary Clinton’s face on Snoop Dogg’s body, we know everything’s fake. Karen Green asked me something. She had read the book. When I’m thinking of names, I always give myself a game or a problem to solve to come up with answers. So the tape at the beginning, at first they were listening to the Stooges or something. Then I was like, “No that contextually doesn’t make any sense.” What would they be listening to? How is this tape a microcosm of the entire world? What if Milton, a contemporary of Shakespeare: he had written this poem about Shakespeare when he died. So Rammellzee and Milton, I mashed them together, and that’s what in the tape in the tape deck. But I totally forget about that! I had come up with a name pulled from one of the prior authors of a Romeo & Juliet. Karen, being the genius she is, is like, “Oh, that’s such a great thing you put in there. I can’t believe you did that.” And I was like, “Oh, yeah. Thanks.” [laughter] I totally forgot I had done that!

§ Someone PLEASE MUZZLE FINN JONES. The Iron Fist star just keeps digging a deeper and deeper grave with every interview where he attempts to explain why Iron Fist reviews are so awful and people don’t like the whitewashing. First it was “it’s for the fans” then he blamed Trump. Here’s his take in Vulture below. A couple of things: Jones is British and they have a slightly different approach to racial issues than we do in the US. No excuse, but probably why he keeps blabbing. Second, he’s an actor. A young actor. And not everyone can be Cole Sprouse. So please, someone…teach him how to listen and acknowledge. It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

There’s so much outrage in the internet these days, right? Why don’t people just — look, the issue is that people are judging before they’ve even seen the show. And that’s problematic. C’mon. Don’t get angry and start a mob when you don’t even — you haven’t even seen the show! You don’t even know what we’re doing with it. It’s unjust. It’s unfair. Whatever issues they have may be true of the comic books; it was written in the ’70s. It was a very different time to where we’re at now. Very, very different. I get it. There needs to be more diversity in film and television, in all fucking aspects of life. There needs to be more diversity, period. Unfortunately, this show was picked, for whatever reason. I don’t fully understand, really, but what I say is, Watch the show. Watch the show, then make your opinions.

  § Paste magazine has the picks for comics on sale tomorrow and it’s a good week!

§ Vanity Fair chatted with 96-year-old Al Jaffee who is still cartooning and still amazing.

§ Image is holding a Homecoming Dance at Rose City Comic Con again. Details below:

Back by popular demand, Image Comics is pleased to host a very special formal Fall Homecoming dance for the comics community during the Rose City Comic Con festivities. The dance will be held on Saturday, September 9th from 8:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. at The Evergreen. This event will be 21+ only. IDs will be checked at the door.

Tickets to the Image Comics Fall Homecoming Dance are on sale now.

Image Comics’ Fall Homecoming will be in the style and spirit of a traditional high school dance and all comics fans and industry members are encouraged to come mix, mingle, and dance the night away.

Image Comics Fall Homecoming ticket tiers: $20: Entry ticket $45: Add-on pack, including an Image t-shirt, variant cover comic, commemorative pint glass, and enamel pin $79: VIP pack—ticket to the party, add-on pack items, and access to special VIP area at the venue (limited quantity, only 100 VIP tickets available)

§ Britt Hayes reviewed Atomic Blonde, the new comic book movie and liked it:

In one of the most striking cinematic introductions in recent memory, we meet Theron’s Lorraine Broughton, covered in bruises and soaking in an ice bath. She sits on the edge of the tub and plunks ice cubes from her bath into a glass, filling it with Stoli and gulping it down without the slightest wince. If you’ve been waiting for a female 007, she’s here — and she might be even cooler than Bond with all his ridiculous gadgets.

§ But Valerie Complex of Nerd of Color saw a preview for Ghost in the Shell and it was Worse Than We Thought:

On February 28, I saw a 15-minute sneak peek of the Hollywood adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. From the announcement of the project, this has always been a bad idea. But the announcement of the cast and story has made things much worse. Most noticeably, Hollywood adaptations of Japanese anime have yet to be successful. Either their stories veer too far from the source material, the director isn’t a good fit or the casting makes no sense. You would think Hollywood would learn, yet here we are, on the precipice of another anime-adapted flop.

§ Good news for Valiant! The Russo Brothers (Civil War) have signed on to make a Quantum and Woody TV show .

The team behind “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “Captain America: Civil War” will develop “Quantum and Woody,” about the world’s worst super-duo, with Valiant Entertainment. Anthony and Joe Russo will be executive producers alongside Mike Larocca and Valiant’s Dinesh Shamdasani.

§ Another graphic novel is coming to the screen! Days of the Bagnold Summer was a hilarious and sad graphic novel about a 15 year old heavy metal music fan forced to spend the summer with him mum. Created by Joff Winterhart, it was shortlisted for the prestigious COsta Award in the UK, and now it’s going to be a movie, directed by Simon Bird, a well known Brit comic known for The Inbetweeners. Some good comic fodder there.

§ Vox runs down why people are so upset about Marvel, Magneto, and Nazis, explained:

For people who aren’t comic book readers or casual fans, the vocal fight over the origins of fictional characters can seem confusing, or even trivial, considering real life white supremacists have become fixtures in the current national political conversation, and bad fiction happens all the time. But the fight goes beyond the comic book history of Captain America and Magneto and deeper into the significance of art’s connection to morality. It’s an embodiment of how powerful fandom can be, and the ever-challenging question of who owns art: the artists creating it or the fans purchasing it.

I know Marvel got locked into this storyline long ago, thinking that the old good guy turns bad switcheroo was a comics book staple, but those days are over now.

§ Also over maybe, line wide events? This article at CBR suggests so.

We’ve come to expect that every year the seeds for an event will be planted to culminate in a crossover that summer. Now, it seems like the only thing that makes these stories different from one another are the principle cast members. It doesn’t help that Marvel touts each crossover as a universe-altering incident that will have repercussions for years to come. How can this be true if the following year’s incident will change the status quo that had been established just a year prior?

§ Finally, this photo from the set of Logan got punked on the internet and now Snopes had to explain that, no it isn’t a photo of a man who got mugged on his way to buy comics for his daughter. Fake news. It’s everywhere.

Kibbles ‘n’ Bits 3/15/17: Please muzzle Finn Jones § Nice Art: Francesco Francavilla gave us the Thing vs Thing team-up we've all dreamed of…

[yumenosakiacademy]

metr0con 2019 friday diary

Cosplayed/breakfast/snack: same as thursday diary

For future me only. preferred that you dont read this, thanks. 

Okay so we arrived at like, 10:23 or abt that time so i had some time before my first panel so i just kinda walked around. i dont think anything happened around that time, sorry. my memory of today is a lil bit hazy at parts. but while on the escalator, i looked over at registration n saw creeper print and a yellow crown n the person rly looked like king gavin n i openly Gasped but i couldnt get to them obviously but i was like gjhnsmjgh hh.

then, i went to the yoi panel! uhm.. not much to comment on for this panel, sorry. there was a viktor, yuri, and yurio! i remember there was a personality swap ask and for part of the panel, they all had switched jackets because of a dare.

next was the oh-shc panel! the honey was rly cute n gave a lot of hugs to a lot of the audience members n they were such sute hugs gjhnsm.. like the ones where u semi-leap at a person n hug em w slight movement it was so cute. kyoya said his entire budget book he brought was all for tamaki’s expenses and tamaki proposed to haruhi as a dare but earlier in the panel he was imagining outloud him n haruhi’s wedding gjhnsm

after that, i couldve went to the grav!ity falls panel or the bn-ha one, but since the bn-ha one was in the same room as the previous two, i just decided to stay in my seat for that one. the todoroki n kirishima came in late w starbucks which todoroki says was paid for by endeavor bc he had his dad’s credit card n he actually gave out 2 fake paper credit cards to ppl. aizawa got asked what the dumbest thing he’s gotten asked by one of his students n he said it was “whats your quirk, aizawa?” n todoroki said “it’s not ‘is mayonaise an instrument’? then there was other stuff n they played Sentences and i suggested the scenario “furry convention” after someone suggested todoroki and izuku. ALSO!!! i won the raffle for a bn-ha poster! it was drawn by the uraraka that was one of the panelists n it looks so good ;w; dunno where im gonna put it.. but as my first fanmade print (that’s not my hs wall scroll, which was officially licensed), ill cherish it.

after that i had time to walk! i saw a bunch of id0lish cosplayers! the id0lish7 ones in the dream journey outfits n the 2 trigger members i saw were in similar outfits? i forgot the name for them. anyway! i saw a gentaro n took their pic n they were like “i hav a dice n ramuda somewhere around here.. we’re fl!ng posse” so i wndered around the dealers room n eventually found the dice n ramuda together n took their pic too! thn i kept wanderin n i!! found the king gavin n i was like “are you cosplaying king gavin” n they were like “yea!” n i was!! so happy!!! n they turned to their friend n they were like “see you shouldve stayed in costume! [turns 2 me] they were mad k!ng ryan up until a lil while ago; they changed” but anyway i took their pic n they were talking abt how it feels kinda odd to come to terms w the fact theyre cosplaying minecraft n how they saw a minecraft person earlier n thought abt talking to them but it’s different bc it’s ach!evement hunter so they dont kno the full picture. i saw a corrin w arei button!! which was exciting. also met a nico who said they were gonna b arashi that day but didnt wanna contour but theyre gonna b her tomorrow!! DURING THIS TIME i also saw an adachi body pillow at an artist’s booth n im.. gjhnskm....... i wanted it...... i later found out it was $60 tho so. ;w; i met a sougo n tamaki n i asked if i could take their pic n they said yea, just give em a sec, n the sougo was like “r u cosplayin tsukasa??” n i said yep n they were like do u wanna b in our mv?” n i thought it was a whole event thing n i was like “oh. id hav to check my schedule i might b busy but” n they were talking abt how we (me, the luka next to them, n the kaito next to luka) would just do like steps to the side by following sougos lead n i was confused n repeated myself but the sougo was like “oh, no no it’s right now” n so i did that w them while the tamaki filmed n unfortunately i 4got to ask their instagrams so idk where the vid is but w/e. the sougo told me abt an id0lish meetup at 5 pm, too, out on the docks. 

the h!veswap panel was p funny! an eridan n feferi in the audience were also entertaining, esp during the improve games. i remember someone asked lanque “what r ur fashion tips?” n lanque was like “...Dont Bother” n joey was confused by troll stuff n i asked daraya what her fav punk band was n she was like “we only listen to the grubbles. have u heard em?” n i was like “i.. actually havent heard the full album yet so i guess not?” but as im typing this i think i actually have?/ oops. anyway a lot happened but it’s rly hate so im gonna.... move on. im typing this paragraph last bc i 4got to type it lmao.

a ruby and dia complimented my nails! then i saw a doppo!! they were apparently the reo i took a pic of yesterday. they said their jakurai was still getting ready. 

i tried to go to the grav!ty falls party but it was just one girl as mabel making the audience do games for prizes that were rly boring like decoding n stuff so i left after abt 15 minutes n went walking again. i had 2 hrs to walk now.

i went downstairs after walkina round the dealers room n there was!! a bloody banquet rei and koga!!! they were so pretty.. i was intimidated kinda but i managed to approach them n we talked abt rei’s rei itabag n koga’s goro itabag n rei said they once spent $150 dollars in rei merch in one sitting on yahoo auctions whoa. they were rly cool tho! we talked for a few minutes. later, i also saw another hypm!c group of MTR + ramuda n took their pics n the ramuda was like “ur sign omg. wait r u tsukasa??” n i said yep n we got excited abt ES n the jakurai told me theres an ES meetup tomorrow at 1 pm!! unfortunately, i hav a panel (2, actually, but i can only choose 1) that is at that time so idk if ill go... esp since it’ll prob only b a few ppl n im not the type of person to make friends anyway, yknow? ....anyway! the hifumi game me a lil clear heart tin w tiny fake yellow flowers n a piece of paper that said: “thank u, prince/princess! -hifumi [doodle of 2 champagne glasses]” n thats.. so cute. i gave them a lollipop in return. little while later, met another jakurai! i think we also talked abt ens-tars!! cant remember a lot of it tho gomen. then a lil while later, i saw the kakeru cosplayer i had heard abt on twitter! they were manning an art booth. i was like “are you cosplaying kakeru?” n they were like “yea!” n i took their pic n i was like “i didnt think id rly find k!npri cosplayers here aa” n the kakeru went “FINALLY i can use one of these!” n handed me a lil kakeru sticker they drew n i was like “his fumb bg pink jacket.. it makes him look like a Shrimp” n we both laughed n they showed me the k!npri stuff on their table n a joji on the other side of their display that looked like he was behind bars bc the display thingy and a jin hanging from one of the bars. they (the kakeru n the person they were with) were like “we kept seeing you walk by w ur sign n we were like ‘i hope they find leo!’” (both days, bc the other person asked if i was tsukasa yesterday) n i showed them my yug!oh card that’s an obscure reference to a tsukasa cg! n i talked to them a lil bit abt ens-tars but i cant remember a lot gahh!! and while i was standing there, a honoka came up and asked for my photo n i was like “ANOTHER ES FAN??” n i talked to them for a sec n forgot to put up my prop for the photo at first gjhnsm but that was cool!!  oh, the honoka also asked me if i liked anzu n i was like “she’s super cute in the anime”

after that i tried to go to the fru!ts basket panel but im only 6 eps in the remake anime n they had almost all the characters n i didnt understand a lot of the questions bc i hadnt seen much of the show so.. then after only a few minutes of q+a they started up trivis so i left n just walked around the dealers room. it was during this time that my crown fell off (SECOND DAY IN A ROW) n i searched the whole dealers room but couldnt find it?? ghh..

ANYWAY i found another ramuda w a jakurai n the ramuda liked my sign too n they were like “ur tsukasa!” n i went yep n they saw the buttons ns tuff on my bag n all my keychains n they were like ‘oh, sry” n i was like “no no, it’s okay, u can go thru all the keychains on my backpack i hav A Lot” n i pointed out chiaki as my best boy n mika as my 2nd fav n they said they cosplay hakaze. at some point, i played drops on my flip phone i think bc ramuda was saying smth pertaining to drops?? mayb not. but i played it n jakurai was like “oh god i hav to hear it hre too..” (in-character, i think) n i spotted another ramud in the distand n asked them to wtch my stuff while i took the ramudas pic so i went over n the person next to them had an arashi plush!e n we both squealed (i think. i did tho, Loudly.)

after this i just wandered n i danced on the dance floor! chacha slide, cupid shuffle, n time warp iirc! def time warp tho. also to some 80s song n some guy not in cosplay spun me around nt ried to swing dance we me but he was completely leading it n i didnt kno what to do!! after that i saw a tumblr/con friend while on my way to the yoi panel!!

then the yoi panel was actually p funny! a lot of questions abt yurio’s parents being viktor and yuri and yuri n viktor slowdanced to an edd sheeran song n otabek showed off their muscles (like, flexed their arms in their tank top) n yuri kept dramatically thwipping open their rainbow fan esp in responses to gay asks. at one point, someone asked abt yaois n a mom who was attending w their preteen or teen child was like “whats yaoi?” n the ppl behind her were like “i dont wanna b the one to do this..” n ppl told the mom n the mom to their teen/preteen kid was like “what are u watching? where? is it okay? is it on tv?” n the kid was responding to ehr questions but i couldnt hear them gjhnsm. yurio did a dance to a song n after that, we all danced to cupid shuffle n wobble n then i stopped but others did the time warp too. oh! also i answered a trivia question right (”who’s yuri’s best friend?” “pichit”) and got an utapr! keychain/strap! it’s reiji in a glitter thing. none of the other stuff there aside from some yoi straps was my fandoms so i saw utapr! n went for it.

then the bnh-a pj party! ...uh. the original panelists never showed up so random bn-ha cosplayers (and their non-cn.ha-cosplaying friends) tred to host the panel but everythign was hectic and loud n unfocused n a wreck but i noticed a ramuda n a hifumi i hadnt taken a pic of yet in the corner of the room (there were no chairs) so i eventually got annoyed/bored n went over to ask for a pic but ended up asking to sit w them (i walked over, put my sign down, n went “i said Fuck leo rights n higumi was like “that chara is familiar..” n i said leo from ES n they were like “oh i watched p 1 of that” n i was like “ep 2, this unday. stan ryuseitai”) n i ended up talking to them abt hypm!c n cosplay stuff n i talked a bit abt ens-tars and we all agreed that stella n papillion Slap on the new album. n ramuda said they were cosplaying as a prom!sed neverland haracter tomorrow n recommended it to me n i was like “oh im watching fru!ts basket rn tho” n the hifumi said they were too n the ramuda was like “do u kno the horse one in fru!ts basket? My Horse Boyfriend....” (the game. i think that was the name) so i showed them the hypm!c ask blog where they draw some of the charcaters as horses n the other characters as cowboys n the ramuda showed me the pics that r on their swear jar (photshopped pics of kinako w long legs in stockings+heels) n id0lish memes n it was all chill!! i played drops for them on my phone too. someone came over n went “if u can type w those nails, ur a god[dess]” n i said i could w Only my nails n they said i was like a god[dess] hehe. the higumi said they should make a tumblr n i heard them muttering “should i put 14 on here?” n ramuda went “well i mean, you Are 14-” n i went “ur 14?” n they nodded n i asked the ramuda how old They were n they said 14 n i was like “oh my god.. yallre babies..... gjhnsmk im 18.” n the ramuda crawled back a bit n they were like “18??” n the hifumi was like “u look so young tho whoa! rly?” n i was like “yea i look p young.. ive been compared to a freshman b4..... n yea i graduated like 2 months ago” n the hifumi was like “congratulations :o”

[tragicbooks]

34 hilarious, sad, perfect tweets that nail what small-town life is like for gay people.

1. As a gay person, growing up in a small town can have its downsides.

Being gay in a small town really sucks 😒😓

— Silver 🌈 (@mutineer__) March 13, 2017

2. It's tough.

I repeat: being gay in a small town sUCKS

— Silver 🌈 (@mutineer__) March 24, 2017

3. For starters, your gayness seems to be the one defining thing about you.

The fact that I'm the only person named Selvin in this town and still have to get "the gay one?" in sequence

— selvin (@fuckselvin) May 3, 2017

4. And it's even harder if there's something else that's "different" about you too.

I'm so in love with this picture. Also, reminder: disabled people are gay too. #Pride2017 http://pic.twitter.com/wJukSty3YX

— Elizabeth Jeannel🍍 (@Elizabethjbooks) June 10, 2017

Eternally relevant memo: LGBTQ people exist across all communities in every country on Earth (including small towns!).

5. You're constantly being asked "the question."

Church with my parents today. Small town, deep south. The term"Bachelor" will be used. "You ain't found a girl yet? #gay@LorenAOlsonMD

— James Ferguson (@gulfcoastferg) April 23, 2017

Not to mention its cousin: "You're still single?"

(*screams with rage into the abyss*)

6. Often you're either desperate to hide who you really are...

Wanting to print pictures at the UPS store but not wanting the small-town owners to know you're gay— Jenna Schwarz (@jschwarz143) May 12, 2017

7. ...or you flaunt it like it's nobody's business...

my gay ass needs merch to show my small ass town I mean business 😩

— pook (@Linzielelievre) June 12, 2017

8. ...until you remember that's not always safe, depending on where you are.

Image via tchaikovsgay/Tumblr.

"You know what’s great?" this Tumblr user captioned the photo above. "Putting some gay stickers on your car and promptly remembering Missouri hates gay people."

9. Spotting another gay couple out in the wild is always pretty exciting.

Cute gay couple in McDonald's. One white, one Asian. Little PDA. I ship it.

— Josh H. (@joshkhorton) June 3, 2017

10. There's not a whole lot do to in town already — but there's even less to do than if you were straight.

wheres my small town gay friend group thatll go chill out and drink on top of a water tower and throw bottles at god with me

— 🌱SWEET🌱 (@cousinjune) June 11, 2017

11. A lot of the time, it can feel like the world is against you.

Gay kid vs. small town in southern Missouri. #gay #lgbtq #missouri http://pic.twitter.com/Rrlnvj5S9Q

— Lane Hanger (@LanesTheName__) February 9, 2017

12. Being gay in a small town is almost like being famous. Almost.

Being gay in a small town is like having the plague and being a celebrity at the same time. People are afraid but wanna know all about it.

— Felicia Tempel (@FeliciaTempel) April 24, 2017

13. Big family events can become needlessly complicated.

Awkward is being the gay boyfriend in law at a small town funeral.

— Matt (@matt_lee_t) April 2, 2017

14. But you'll work hard to find pride in yourself wherever you are.

I do the "sad lonely gay in a small town" thing well.

— Prude of Babylon (@sopranohsnap) May 11, 2017

15. If you're out of the closet, your dating options can be ... limited at best.

Living in a small town and being gay is so hard like i have the choice of 3 girls like guess i'll just date myself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

— ☁️CJ☁️ (@Aeriolo) April 8, 2017

16. And meeting other people on dating apps is exponentially more challenging.

Being gay in a small town http://pic.twitter.com/BwhZpFnTgx

— Cas💋🥝 (@hazlounilli) May 27, 2017

17. Like, really challenging.

Image via mywickedway/Twitter.

*yells into megaphone* "Is anybody out there?"

18. Because the dating struggle is real when you're a small-town gay in need of some serious gas money.

"30 miles is a wide radius for Tinder." Something inconceivable to my small town gay ass who has to go 50 miles to reach almost anyone.

— Kenneth Shepard@home (@shepardcdr) May 17, 2017

19. Your big "firsts" probably happened a bit later in life.

my biography would be called 'Sexual Repression: The Story of a Small Town Gay'

— isaac thayne 💥 (@isaacthayne99) May 17, 2017

20. Even finding like-minded friends can be hard.

Today i explained the woe of finding gay friends in a small town, my mom said "why do you need gay friends, Why not just regular friends?"

— lil doggies 🏳️‍🌈 (@owlbard) May 15, 2017

Thanks, mom.

21. You definitely know what it's like to crush on someone who doesn't return the feelings.

#MyFirstLoveWas was unspoken and unrequited. One of the downsides to growing up gay in a rural small town in the MidWest.

— Robert (@DaddyPimpin) May 13, 2017

22. And you look for signs that you'll be accepted wherever you go.

Literally any sign will do.

I was worried about seeming too gay for this small town Oklahoma combination gas station/diner, but then I saw the "sassy chipotle ranch." http://pic.twitter.com/4OBJqmZOav

— Emerson Collins (@ActuallyEmerson) April 26, 2017

23. Like, even this poster for a scary movie about clowns is a fierce artistic inspiration to a small town gay.

When you're from a small town http://pic.twitter.com/a5lMi4wReS

— Gay Geek & Fabulous (@officialgaygeek) June 12, 2017

24. Sometimes it feels like those scary movie monsters are the only ones that get you, actually.

the blair witch is a forest lesbian and the babadooks a small town gay

— thotticus (@FellStrategist) April 18, 2017

Which, yes, is very sad. Do better, Hollywood.

25. Your neighbors likely disagree with your political viewpoints.

Going off the reception of my hat yesterday, my small southern town does NOT want to make America gay again

— Annie 🏳️‍🌈 (@ashirleys) April 10, 2017

26. If more of us felt supported in small towns, there would be no bounds to the good we could do politically.

if every gay couple moved to a small town, bought a fixer-upper, and opened a coffee shop, we could elect a hot young president again soon

— Eric-by-the-sea (@ericschmerick) May 10, 2017

27. Maybe the most difficult thing about being gay in a small town is the feeling that no one truly understands you.

Out of all the gay tropes I could've been, why the fuck am I "the only gay kid in a small, damp Midwestern town"?

— miss steal yo girl (@loserlyons) May 25, 2017

28. But here's the thing: Sometimes your small town might surprise you in the best ways.

AT MY SCHOOL, A SMALL TOWN IN TEXAS, A GAY GUY AND A BI GIRL GOT VOTED AS PROM KING AND QUEEN. LIFE IS GOOD.

— abby (@endgamesanvers) April 3, 2017

29. Even in small-town Middle America, there are places that will love and accept you.

.@SpencerPrideInc, "the world's largest small town gay pride," is coming up Saturday!! 🌈 Ladies of Spencer Pride Drag Show at 4pm! 😁 http://pic.twitter.com/VtZOL5zc5f

— Bendovah Plenti (@justbendovah) May 29, 2017

30. Being able to connect with pop culture outside your town definitely helps a lot, though.

Being a weird artsy gay kid in Small Town, Midwest, is hard (even before you realize you're gay). But David Bowie made it a little easier.

— Jessica Colbert (@JessicaLColbert) January 11, 2016

31. And thank goodness for the rebellious teachers who give you the courage to be who you are.

Grateful! Born n 'Bama (small town) & knew who I was (gay). Gr8t teachers from k'garten-hi. Never a slam. Damn good teachers! ❤

— Tony Morris (@TonyMorris20) March 15, 2017

32. Not to mention those life-changing art and drama classes where you found safety and comfort.

As a gay teenager surviving in a small town arts&humanities were my salvation . The art lovers need to fight as hard as the gun lovers https://t.co/kUDejAkh31

— Benjamin Halton (@benjaminhalton) March 16, 2017

33. Because for all their flaws (and there are many), small towns don't always deserve their reputations.

How I came out, any negativity that I've dealt with and what it's like to live in a small town and be openly gay ☺️☺️ #loveislove

— gabs✨ (@kbonekatic) May 18, 2017

They can be pretty damn great.

34. Hopeful even.

Image via Tumblr user Mo-Mosa/Tumblr.

"You guys know what I just realized? Despite living in a Republican small town, I — a queer, Native-Afro-Latina — was voted Homecoming Queen in the fall and class president of my senior class. I was also one of the leads in my school's musical. Three years ago, I thought I'd never be accepted and that I'd never have friends. I was scared to speak up and scared of being seen. There is hope, y'all. Things get better." — Tumblr user Mo-Mosa

🏳️‍🌈 Positive change can't come soon enough 🏳️‍🌈

Fortunately, there are many organizations fighting the good fight with state and local chapters in your own backyard, should you want the support:

PFLAG is a nonprofit committed to strengthening the bonds between LGBTQ people, their families, and allies in their communities. Its work is crucial in smaller cities and towns across America.

The Trevor Project is an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention group helping kids who feel as though they have no one to turn to. They save lives in small towns.

GLSEN is a national organization aiming to make schools across the country as LGBTQ-friendly and inclusive as possible. Because our small-town schools (and all of our schools, really) need improving.

The Genders and Sexualities Alliance (formerly the Gay-Straight Alliance) brings LGBTQ students and their straight, cisgender peers together to build bridges and understanding.

[socialviralnews]

34 hilarious, sad, perfect tweets that nail what small-town life is like for gay people.

1. As a gay person, growing up in a small town can have its downsides.

Being gay in a small town really sucks 😒😓

— Silver 🌈 (@mutineer__) March 13, 2017

2. It's tough.

I repeat: being gay in a small town sUCKS

— Silver 🌈 (@mutineer__) March 24, 2017

3. For starters, your gayness seems to be the one defining thing about you.

The fact that I'm the only person named Selvin in this town and still have to get "the gay one?" in sequence

— selvin (@fuckselvin) May 3, 2017

4. And it's even harder if there's something else that's "different" about you too.

I'm so in love with this picture. Also, reminder: disabled people are gay too. #Pride2017 http://pic.twitter.com/wJukSty3YX

— Elizabeth Jeannel🍍 (@Elizabethjbooks) June 10, 2017

Eternally relevant memo: LGBTQ people exist across all communities in every country on Earth (including small towns!).

5. You're constantly being asked "the question."

Church with my parents today. Small town, deep south. The term"Bachelor" will be used. "You ain't found a girl yet? #gay@LorenAOlsonMD

— James Ferguson (@gulfcoastferg) April 23, 2017

Not to mention its cousin: "You're still single?"

(*screams with rage into the abyss*)

6. Often you're either desperate to hide who you really are...

Wanting to print pictures at the UPS store but not wanting the small-town owners to know you're gay— Jenna Schwarz (@jschwarz143) May 12, 2017

7. ...or you flaunt it like it's nobody's business...

my gay ass needs merch to show my small ass town I mean business 😩

— pook (@Linzielelievre) June 12, 2017

8. ...until you remember that's not always safe, depending on where you are.

Image via tchaikovsgay/Tumblr.

"You know what’s great?" this Tumblr user captioned the photo above. "Putting some gay stickers on your car and promptly remembering Missouri hates gay people."

9. Spotting another gay couple out in the wild is always pretty exciting.

Cute gay couple in McDonald's. One white, one Asian. Little PDA. I ship it.

— Josh H. (@joshkhorton) June 3, 2017

10. There's not a whole lot do to in town already — but there's even less to do than if you were straight.

wheres my small town gay friend group thatll go chill out and drink on top of a water tower and throw bottles at god with me

— 🌱SWEET🌱 (@cousinjune) June 11, 2017

11. A lot of the time, it can feel like the world is against you.

Gay kid vs. small town in southern Missouri. #gay #lgbtq #missouri http://pic.twitter.com/Rrlnvj5S9Q

— Lane Hanger (@LanesTheName__) February 9, 2017

12. Being gay in a small town is almost like being famous. Almost.

Being gay in a small town is like having the plague and being a celebrity at the same time. People are afraid but wanna know all about it.

— Felicia Tempel (@FeliciaTempel) April 24, 2017

13. Big family events can become needlessly complicated.

Awkward is being the gay boyfriend in law at a small town funeral.

— Matt (@matt_lee_t) April 2, 2017

14. But you'll work hard to find pride in yourself wherever you are.

I do the "sad lonely gay in a small town" thing well.

— Prude of Babylon (@sopranohsnap) May 11, 2017

15. If you're out of the closet, your dating options can be ... limited at best.

Living in a small town and being gay is so hard like i have the choice of 3 girls like guess i'll just date myself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

— ☁️CJ☁️ (@Aeriolo) April 8, 2017

16. And meeting other people on dating apps is exponentially more challenging.

Being gay in a small town http://pic.twitter.com/BwhZpFnTgx

— Cas💋🥝 (@hazlounilli) May 27, 2017

17. Like, really challenging.

Image via mywickedway/Twitter.

*yells into megaphone* "Is anybody out there?"

18. Because the dating struggle is real when you're a small-town gay in need of some serious gas money.

"30 miles is a wide radius for Tinder." Something inconceivable to my small town gay ass who has to go 50 miles to reach almost anyone.

— Kenneth Shepard@home (@shepardcdr) May 17, 2017

19. Your big "firsts" probably happened a bit later in life.

my biography would be called 'Sexual Repression: The Story of a Small Town Gay'

— isaac thayne 💥 (@isaacthayne99) May 17, 2017

20. Even finding like-minded friends can be hard.

Today i explained the woe of finding gay friends in a small town, my mom said "why do you need gay friends, Why not just regular friends?"

— lil doggies 🏳️‍🌈 (@owlbard) May 15, 2017

Thanks, mom.

21. You definitely know what it's like to crush on someone who doesn't return the feelings.

#MyFirstLoveWas was unspoken and unrequited. One of the downsides to growing up gay in a rural small town in the MidWest.

— Robert (@DaddyPimpin) May 13, 2017

22. And you look for signs that you'll be accepted wherever you go.

Literally any sign will do.

I was worried about seeming too gay for this small town Oklahoma combination gas station/diner, but then I saw the "sassy chipotle ranch." http://pic.twitter.com/4OBJqmZOav

— Emerson Collins (@ActuallyEmerson) April 26, 2017

23. Like, even this poster for a scary movie about clowns is a fierce artistic inspiration to a small town gay.

When you're from a small town http://pic.twitter.com/a5lMi4wReS

— Gay Geek & Fabulous (@officialgaygeek) June 12, 2017

24. Sometimes it feels like those scary movie monsters are the only ones that get you, actually.

the blair witch is a forest lesbian and the babadooks a small town gay

— thotticus (@FellStrategist) April 18, 2017

Which, yes, is very sad. Do better, Hollywood.

25. Your neighbors likely disagree with your political viewpoints.

Going off the reception of my hat yesterday, my small southern town does NOT want to make America gay again

— Annie 🏳️‍🌈 (@ashirleys) April 10, 2017

26. If more of us felt supported in small towns, there would be no bounds to the good we could do politically.

if every gay couple moved to a small town, bought a fixer-upper, and opened a coffee shop, we could elect a hot young president again soon

— Eric-by-the-sea (@ericschmerick) May 10, 2017

27. Maybe the most difficult thing about being gay in a small town is the feeling that no one truly understands you.

Out of all the gay tropes I could've been, why the fuck am I "the only gay kid in a small, damp Midwestern town"?

— miss steal yo girl (@loserlyons) May 25, 2017

28. But here's the thing: Sometimes your small town might surprise you in the best ways.

AT MY SCHOOL, A SMALL TOWN IN TEXAS, A GAY GUY AND A BI GIRL GOT VOTED AS PROM KING AND QUEEN. LIFE IS GOOD.

— abby (@endgamesanvers) April 3, 2017

29. Even in small-town Middle America, there are places that will love and accept you.

.@SpencerPrideInc, "the world's largest small town gay pride," is coming up Saturday!! 🌈 Ladies of Spencer Pride Drag Show at 4pm! 😁 http://pic.twitter.com/VtZOL5zc5f

— Bendovah Plenti (@justbendovah) May 29, 2017

30. Being able to connect with pop culture outside your town definitely helps a lot, though.

Being a weird artsy gay kid in Small Town, Midwest, is hard (even before you realize you're gay). But David Bowie made it a little easier.

— Jessica Colbert (@JessicaLColbert) January 11, 2016

31. And thank goodness for the rebellious teachers who give you the courage to be who you are.

Grateful! Born n 'Bama (small town) & knew who I was (gay). Gr8t teachers from k'garten-hi. Never a slam. Damn good teachers! ❤

— Tony Morris (@TonyMorris20) March 15, 2017

32. Not to mention those life-changing art and drama classes where you found safety and comfort.

As a gay teenager surviving in a small town arts&humanities were my salvation . The art lovers need to fight as hard as the gun lovers https://t.co/kUDejAkh31

— Benjamin Halton (@benjaminhalton) March 16, 2017

33. Because for all their flaws (and there are many), small towns don't always deserve their reputations.

How I came out, any negativity that I've dealt with and what it's like to live in a small town and be openly gay ☺️☺️ #loveislove

— gabs✨ (@kbonekatic) May 18, 2017

They can be pretty damn great.

34. Hopeful even.

Image via Tumblr user Mo-Mosa/Tumblr.

"You guys know what I just realized? Despite living in a Republican small town, I — a queer, Native-Afro-Latina — was voted Homecoming Queen in the fall and class president of my senior class. I was also one of the leads in my school's musical. Three years ago, I thought I'd never be accepted and that I'd never have friends. I was scared to speak up and scared of being seen. There is hope, y'all. Things get better." — Tumblr user Mo-Mosa

🏳️‍🌈 Positive change can't come soon enough 🏳️‍🌈

Fortunately, there are many organizations fighting the good fight with state and local chapters in your own backyard, should you want the support:

PFLAG is a nonprofit committed to strengthening the bonds between LGBTQ people, their families, and allies in their communities. Its work is crucial in smaller cities and towns across America.

The Trevor Project is an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention group helping kids who feel as though they have no one to turn to. They save lives in small towns.

GLSEN is a national organization aiming to make schools across the country as LGBTQ-friendly and inclusive as possible. Because our small-town schools (and all of our schools, really) need improving.

The Genders and Sexualities Alliance (formerly the Gay-Straight Alliance) brings LGBTQ students and their straight, cisgender peers together to build bridges and understanding.

from Upworthy http://ift.tt/2tqUMAk via cheap web hosting

[comiconverse]

Wizard World: Wonder-Filled Weekend In Philly

Wizard World Philadelphia 2017 is in the books. My mission this year at the Pennsylvania Convention Center was to tap into all elements the event had to offer. From comic books to celebrities and cosplay to creators, there was a little bit of something for all fans. This was Wizard World Philly through my eyes…

Welcome To Wizard World

The first thing I noticed upon entering the building was an increase in safety measures. Off to the side was a cosplay weapons check prior to moving forward through metal detectors. I am quite accustomed to metal detectors at rock concerts, sporting events, and of course airports but, this is the very first time I had seen it a comic con. The security upgrade did not seem to add much more time to the ordinary line wait. Given events as of late, I am sure that fans will appreciate steps being taken to improve the safety for all involved. My hope is that all comic conventions can quickly implement a system of efficacy. Once inside though, let the fun begin! There was no better way to describe stepping onto the convention floor than when I overheard a little girl turn to her brother and exclaim “THIS is Comic Con!”

Celebrities

One thing most fans appreciate about Wizard World is their variety of celebrity guests and Philly was no different. Ralph Macchio (The Outsiders, Karate Kid), C. Thomas Howell (The Outsiders), John Cusak (Say Anything), Lou Ferrigno (Hulk), and Barry Bostwick (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) were a few of the guests providing a blast from the past. Just a few steps away from them was the ever charismatic fan favorite Michael Rooker along with buddy Sean Gunn representing current Marvel blockbuster movie, Guardians of the Galaxy. Fans were also happily lined up to get some face time with stars Jesse Eisenberg (Social Network, Batman v Superman), Billie Piper (Doctor Who), and Paul Wesley (Vampire Diaries).

For those more action oriented, martial arts expert Chuck Norris as well as some WWE® Superstars were on hand for meet and greet. One of the biggest draws this year though came from the world of musical entertainment with rock legend Gene Simmons. Mr. Simmons greeted fans warmly as he signed albums, posters, action figures and so much more. Not only did the Kiss front man make an appearance at the convention center, he also performed on stage at the Trocadero Theater. Many more guests were available over the weekend; it was nice to see them set up in such a way so that fans could catch a glimpse of all their favorites.

Artists and Creators

I was pleasantly surprised by the high-caliber of creative talent available at Wizard World Philly. Painters, writers, sketch artists and more all serving up amazing renditions of our favorite characters as well as drawing us into realms all their own. I am blessed to know and meet so many amazing individuals that bring imagination to life. There is nothing sweeter than observing that talent in action and I implore all fans to take the time and visit these hard-working individuals. The best way to memorialize your con experience? Pick up some artwork and have it autographed by your favorite celebrity!

Events, Entertainment, Exhibits

There was much to be seen on the Wizard World convention floor. Strike a pose next to an exact replica of the infamous Impala ‘Baby’ from the CW hit show Supernatural, have a seat on the Iron Throne, grab a selfie with an Avenger, get green-screened into the Stephen King Dark Tower universe, or visit a makeup artist to transform yourself into a zombie. Got kids? Take a trip to the Kid’s Zone to burn off some pint-sized energy. Got game? Have a seat in the Gamers Lounge and get ready to battle!

Panels. I was hoping to get to more. Being that most are on another level with an inability to get back in without going through security again made the process a bit challenging when faced with time constraints. That being said, there were definitely plenty from which to choose! Celebrity Q&As, speed dating and cosplay were just a few of the featured topics. I had the pleasure to sit in on one called Words Into Pictures: How To Write Comics with Wonder Woman’s Amy Chu, Spider-man Noir’s Fabrice Sapolsky, The Red Hook’s Dean Haspiel & Darkhawk’s Danny Fingeroth. I feel it is important to learn about the process behind creating comics; it helps in developing a solid appreciation and understanding for the work that goes into the characters and worlds we cherish. Whatever your curiosity though, grab a seat and listen in!

In my effort to keep up with latest in actually sharing all things geek chic, I have been taking note of comic con podcasts. Sure enough, I met a great group of guys from Fireside Podcasting. It was cool to grab an inside peek during one of their pods featuring two incredibly skilled artists on site, CJ Draden and JaCo Tartaruga. It is absolutely fascinating to hear what lies inside the mind of any creator; what drives them, what inspires them or even what hinders their talent. I encourage fans to check out Fireside pods so that they too can find a place “where comics and class collide!”

Cosplay and Collectibles

Ok, ok…no big surprise here. The talk of the convention was DC’s mega blockbuster release of Wonder Woman. One look around the convention floor and you saw the love being shown for her with some incredibly crafted cosplay. While Wonder Woman was indeed a prominent feature throughout the weekend, there were many fandoms represented in outstanding fashion. As with most comic conventions, the cosplayers continually provide an atmosphere of fun and imagination. Logan, Yondu, Iron Man, Gandalf, Harley Quinn, Deadpool… You just never know who you will run into. Have your camera ready!

Of course no comic convention would not be complete without collectibles. Discerning collectors were seen throughout the floor in search of that special treasure needed to enhance their ever expanding collections. Comic books, figurines, retro toys, t-shirts and jewelry were available to all those looking to give them a new home. My advice? Bring your wallet and a very large bag!

Organization

The fans I spoke with seemed quite happy with their experience at Wizard World Philly. The volunteers and staff were polite and friendly. The one area of improvement recommended by everyone I spoke with was to have better signage. Perhaps aisle numbers from the ceiling or even volunteers stationed throughout the floor to give direction would be helpful. The biggest challenge in attending this event was locating panels, artists, and vendors. There were no maps handed to me upon entry and when one was finally located the print was very tiny and hard to read. With so much to see and do, a fan wants to find it all! The upside? You were able to take in things you may have normally missed while on your search.

See You Next Year

I would like to thank Wizard World Philadelphia for inviting me to take part in their exciting weekend. I look forward to many more adventures with them in the future! Be sure to visit the Wizard World website to find a show near you. Follow them on social media for all the latest news and updates Facebook: @wizardworld Twitter: @WizardWorld Instagram: @wizardworld

Keeping You Comic Con-nected!

              The post Wizard World: Wonder-Filled Weekend In Philly appeared first on ComiConverse.

[canaryatlaw]

SO. today was pretty damn awesome. I woke up at like, 8:52, 8 minutes before my alarm was going to go off, and got up to start getting ready for our fun con day. We soon discovered that Jess had not in fact brought a black wig for my Nora Darhk cosplay like she said she was going to (she’s not gonna read this so I’m just gonna shade her a bit here) so we decided to make a quick trip to party city before going to the con. We finished getting ready and ate some of the breakfast the airbnb people made for us (so cute) and Jess wouldn’t crack the stupid hard boiled egg open so I had to crack it for her (I just dropped it like 4 inches onto the table) and then crack my own lol and I was amused. So we ubered to the party city and quickly picked up a shitty black wig that was appropriately named “witch wig” (because Nora’s basically a witch) and it was the closest look to the crappy wig they had in the episode. I like, wasn’t even mad because the episode wig was so crappy anyway it was probably more authentic than anything else, lol. so we got the wig and then took another uber (so many fucking ubers) to the con site. Brandon and Courtney hadn’t arrived yet so we waited in Brandon’s line and said hi to him, took selfies and got autographs, then jumped over to Courtney’s. This was her first like, actual con experience and omg, you guys, she’s so adorable and nice and just amazing. She wanted pictures of Jess and I in cosplay on her phone so she could have them which is just like WHAT so that was pretty damn awesome. After that we went outside to meet up with two friends who were driving up from Miami to meet up with us. So we waited for them to find their way over to where we were (it’s kind of a big complex with a lot of parking and shit) and we gave them our wristbands from yesterday since we have the VIP ones from the movie last night, so they didn’t have to pay for entry, lol. Their VIP system for like, lines and shit, instead of having a separate line like HVFF does, they like, stagger the VIP people in between the regular people which is like, SUPER AWKWARD lol but I guess it works. There were people there from the local CW affiliate with a bunch of swag they were giving away, posters and t shirts and all this cool stuff, so we definitely got some of that. We looked around a bit and saw Brandon and Courtney were otherwise occupied, so the friends bought a photo op for later on, and we went outside to get some lunch. I ended up getting a cheese panini of some sort that was like one of the only things on the menu that wasn’t fried, and a watermelon shaved ice. We went back inside around 1:30 to wait for the Courtney and Brandon panel at 2 for legends. I live tweeted pretty much the entire thing in one big thread if you’re interested in reading that (@RachelEiley on twitter) but yeah it was super cute and they are like the MOST adorable together, like honestly they were so fucking precious and sweet and it was just brilliant. When asked how they sort of got to their roles on the CW Courtney said she had actually auditioned for Laurel back in the day, then they had her read for the part of Vandal Savage’s daughter in season 1, then called her in for Nora because they had liked her as one bad guy’s daughter so they thought they’d try another and it worked lol. She also told a very cute story about how Supernatural shoots right next door to Legends and when she was on Supernatural they’d like, crawl under this hole in the fence and like, get double lunch with each other and cute stuff like that haha it was really just a super fucking cute panel. So when it was over we pretty much headed over to their tables to wait for them. I went to go get some cash out of the ATM to buy a photo op only for it to only let me take out $20, despite confirming I had much more than that in my account, so I called my dad and asked him to call the credit card people to tell them I was in Florida and to let me get money, which he did lol and I was graciously lended money by my friends to buy the photo op, just a single one with Courtney. So we ended up waiting for that and I actually got two shots because the camera guy didn’t like how the first one turned out so now I have two pictures which is awesome with me?? Lol. We had to wait a while for the photos to get printed and everything, so we went back over to the tables and talked to Courtney for a bit which was super cool. We got the photos and then spent a while actually looking through the vendors and the artists alley which had some cool stuff. After that we headed out and had some debate over where to go for dinner, but winded up deciding on the cheesecake factory. it looked super crowded, as it always is, but we only ended up having to wait like 20 minutes so it wasn’t bad. we got to sit outside which was nice because it was a good temperate out. Dinner was nice, I got the pasta there I really like, then I got a shot glass full of ice cream with a candle in it to celebrate my birthday and they had everyone sing haha it was all very good. We were all stuffed so we got cheesecake to go. Once we left it became apparent that two of our passengers desperately needed to go to the bathroom and had failed to do so before we left, so we ended up stopping at a hobby lobby of all places to use the bathroom lol and I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually been inside one of them before, so that was cool, and of course I made them do a quick version of the “hobby lobby photo challenge” that’s been floating around and is all too hilarious. From there we drove back to our airbnb and said goodbye to our friends. Then we basically just sat and chilled out for the rest of the night because we were tired, Jess wrote some fic and I edited some fic for her, and it was all good, then we started getting ready for bed and it’s late again so I should be getting to sleep by now. I have to wake up at 5:15 am to check into our flight for Monday morning which takes off at 5:15 am (which is gonna SUCK) but then go back to sleep thankfully. We’re doing Sara and Ava tomorrow as sort of a dry run before C2E2 in two weeks, so that will be exciting. And yeah, that’s all I got for now. Today was pretty sweet. Hopefully tomorrow will be as well. Goodnight lovelies. Hope you’re enjoying your weekend.