#i was the only cosplayer who made it out to the shoot. and there were **four** of them.

[hirazuki]

Random teen (on the older side) at the park: That looks so cool, who are you cosplaying as?

Me (figuring that "Mairon" is most likely a lost cause): Sauron

Teen: Oh, okay. Where's that from?

Me: .......................... *soul has withered, left body, evaporated into the aether*

(Sis answered for me lmao)

Other than that one glitch in the matrix moment, the shoot was really enjoyable and I can't wait to get photos back ^^

Also, I'm not much of a modern AU person, but I think I'm digging the black turtleneck + leather pants look for Mairon XD (it's what's on under my robes and armor):

Happy, excited to see the photos when they're ready, absolutely exhausted, stuffed my face with a huge burger as I hadn't eaten in over ten hours, and now I'm ready to wind down with some fruit wine, maybe some lazy drawing, and then pass the fuck out XD

Hanging out (ha!) with Maedhros today!

(This is "Maedhros" ⬇️ XD We're shooting in public so figured that an almost completely naked, bloodied elf would probably not be welcome on property lmao; especially since we're going the forgiveness rather than permission route.)

And Eonwe, as my sister graciously agreed to throw on a robe, lend her limbs waist-down to the cause, and step on me. She doesn't cosplay but she's such a good sport ♡

[morganski-19]

The One with the Cold

Robin walks out of her bedroom to find Steve wrapped in a blanket on the couch. Face down in the pillows.

“Robs, I’m dying.”

“You just have a cold, calm down.”

“Then why am I dying.” He rolls over with a groan, pouting at Robin.

She crosses her arms. “I don’t know what you want from me. You’re the one who decided to work with germ ridden six-year-olds.”

He lets out a long sigh. “I know.”

“Like seriously, I’m surprised you don’t get sick more. You practically get sneezed on daily.”

“I have a strong immune system.”

Robin glares at him.

“Normally. I normally have a strong immune system.”

Robin takes her hand and places it on his forehead. He’s slightly warm. “On a scale of dying to dead, how sick are you?”

“Just regular dying.”

She goes to the bathroom to get the thermometer out of the first aid kit. Putting it in his mouth, she walks away to get a glass of water and some cold medicine. When the thermometer beeps, she looks at it and hands him the pills.

“Just a slight fever, it should be fine. Want some tea or something?”

“Tea would be nice,” Steve says as he retreats back under the blanket.

Robin finds the empty tea box in the cabinet, cursing Steve for leaving it in there. If he wasn’t sick, she’d let him hear it. It’s a bad habit of his. She lets him know that she’s running across the hall to see if they have any.

Nancy’s door is unlocked, like it normally is. She opens it to find Nancy walking around the apartment with cleaning wipes in her hand. Scrubbing at the remotes and surfaces.

“Yours too?” Robin groans.

Nancy turns to her with an annoyed face. “Well, now I know where he got it from. Steve being a giant baby over it too?”

“What do you think? Came over to see if you had any tea, we’re out.”

Nancy throws out the wipe in her hand, placing the container on the counter. “We should, but Eddie always puts the empty boxes back on the shelf.”

“Wow, they were really made for each other,” Robin jokes. “If only they would do something about it.”

Nancy hands Robin a tea bag. “Maybe lay off the teasing for now, Eddie’s claiming he’s dead.”

Robin huffs. “That’s worse than Steve. He’s just regular dying. Do you happen to have a can of soup I can borrow too. I know we don’t have any.”

“Probably.” Nancy roots around in a separate cabinet, pulling out a can of chicken noodle soup. “Here. I just hope I don’t get sick because of this. I can’t miss work this week.”

“I mean, you just sanitized the entire apartment. And probably barred him to his room. You’ll be fine.”

Nancy knocks three times on the table. “Just in case.”

Robin heads back to her apartment after thanking Nancy for the food. “Guess who else your grubby kids got sick. Eddie. But he’s either more dramatic than you are or generally worse. He’s claiming he’s dead. Nancy’s busy cleaning so she doesn’t get sick either.”

She’s cut off when a choked snore comes from the couch. Robin laughs to herself, taking the kettle off the stove before it starts boiling. He won’t be awake for a while anyway. She grabs a book from her room and sits on the armchair, waiting for him to wake up.

It’s a few hours before he does. And the only real reason he wakes up is because he can’t breathe out of his nose anymore. Robin gets him more of the cold meds as he sits up. Shivering as the blanket falls off his shoulders. She actually makes the tea this time.

“Thank you,” he whispers when she hands it to him. Wincing when he burns his tongue.

“I just made that, dingus, it’s going to be hot.”

He shoots her a half-baked glare. “Can’t you save the insults for when I don’t feel like shit.”

Robin smiles. “Nope.”

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or taken off) @slowandsteddie, @annieofhearts, @cacdyke, @ubpd, @captain--low, @thespaceantwhowrites, @goodolefashionedloverboi, @anne-bennett-cosplayer, @lunaticparisianlady, @apomaro-mellow, @dolphincliffs, @dragonmama76, @maggiebug417, @stevesbipanic, @fearieshadow, @eightpackdiaz, @au79burger @bookworm0690 , @practicallybegging, @potato-of-the-lord, @autumncrocusandladybug, @estrellami-1

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Lute: “Wait- your new name Vesper isn’t in DEFIANCE of your Morningstar hell family, but a MIRROR of it???”

Vesper Bill: (cocking the gun full of heavenly bullets that their uncle Pentious made for them)

Vesper Bill: “Always was.”

Vesper Bill: (shoots Lute’s halo off her head instead of killing her) (like mother like child)

XD this is so dumb i love

behold my version of the chaggie spear baby's full character profile!

NAME: (redacted)bil(redacted)s Morningstar -> Vesper Bill, one word, not ‘Vesper’ or ‘Bill, always ‘Vesper Bill’.

NATURE: Weapon-born demonic Exorcist angel. Mortal. Slow aging.

OCCUPATION: Overlord, supplier for Rosie’s Emporium and Carmilla Carmine’s weapons business, Exorcist slayer and rehabilitator, cowboy grim reaper cosplayer, garden weeder.     

TERRITORY: Hell’s first community garden.

THEIR “THING”: Soul savings accounts and debt forgiveness programs. Killing murderous Exorcists.   - Entrust your soul to them so you can’t be tempted / pressured into selling it to anyone else. They’ll give it back if you ask, but you do have to ask first, and they’re usually good at figuring out some other way of getting what you want.  - Checks in with other overlords to see which sinners owe stuff and pays the debt / kills / scares off the overlord if they can. Then gives an accidentally terrifying visit to the former indebted sinner so they can say their favorite line of: “I’m Vesper Bill, and yours is due…. Never. It’s been paid off. Congrats.” (hands over a flyer about their moms' Hazbin Hotel)   - Their less favorite line is when they only say the first part of the above, right before killing an Exorcist. All resulting bodies are sold to Rosie, the weapons to Carmilla, and the funds go towards the community garden.

RELATIONS: Their moms run a struggling hotel business, all the live-guests of which are their uncles/aunts/grandpa.

ENEMIES: Most of heaven and a good part of hell. Their full birth name. Flower pollen. Mint.

STRUGGLES: - “It’s not a phase, moms.” (about their goth cowboy theme) – (tips hat at a lady) (walks into car bc they weren’t watching where they were going) – (coughing and sneezing and voice often sounds rough and terrifying bc they have allergies but won’t stop weeding in the garden) - Having tiny stubby demon horns that won’t grow bigger (covers with hat) (hat was a gift and orinially came from Earth) – keeping their demon tail under control (hides it under their coat).

LOVES: - Their moms, the princess of hell and her former Exorcist angel girlfriend. - The hazbin hotel family crew. - Gardening. - Cowboy stuff. - Being annoying to heaven. - Women who could vaporize them physically or emotionally with a smile or a knife either way.

PROUDEST MOMENT: Successfully infiltrating heaven, tricking Lute with a pretend hatred of their moms, wrecking shit, getting a weapon’s upgrade from their uncle, and leading a handful of now former Exorcists back down to hell with them on the way out.

POWERS: - Angelic resilience. - Demonic strength. - Summoning or banishing anyone who’s soul they have in trust, from or to the place of their choice (within the Pride Ring) (mostly used as taxi service). - Skilled at cutting weeds and brush with a scythe. - Good dancer. - Responsible gun owner and operator. - Kids love them.    

Trivia: Got into their cowboy phase after a brief one-time visit to Earth where they played guardian angel for an actual cowgirl for a day. Thinks about her a lot. Ready to go be a nuisance to Heaven again if she ends up there and wants company- is also trying to grow her favorite flowers down here in Hell, just in case. (also puts on red cheek spots makeup everyday, bc they are Charlie's kid too and PROUD of it)

and that's it, that's my take on the chaggie spear baby idea thing, all grown up!

it's ridiculous. i had so much FUN with it

[canmom]

NieR Orchestra Concert 12024 [the end of data] (London, 15/2/2024)

NieR concert was incredible just as expected. Honestly, from the moment I got there - the cosplayers, the general atmosphere, it was just a good place to be surrounded by NieR nerds lmao. So many people happy to chat with the stranger next to them, kind of a con vibe.

But of course we were there for the music! And it was fuckin amazing. The emi evans/j'nique nicole duets😭These were special orchestral arrangements specifically for this concert, and the way the sound of the orchestra fills the space, how you can see a phrase physically ripple across the orchestra... I don't get to go to a lot of concerts but I really should try to go more often, because it's something else to hear orchestral music.

below: further comments on the concert, lots of cosplay photos.

The multimedia elements also worked really well - every piece was accompanied with backing videos using either demosceney abstract visuals or images from the games, along with text that told a short story over the course of the concert, with some segments voice acted by the English voices of 2B and 9S (Kira Buckland and Kyle McCarley, who have previously made their own performances of the original Japan-only concert readings). I won't spoil the story in this post since there are still concerts to come, but it was... not that substantial I'll admit, but sweet, and a nice framing device to create a flow through the songs and various moments from the games.

Hearing J'nique Nicole's voice live though, that was incredible. Emi Evans was there just as last time, and just as amazing as always - but this time we had both of them on stage together, and it was absolutely sublime. We all went wild. They performed duets in several songs, with the standouts naturally being A Beautiful Song, Ashes of Dreams, and of course Weight of the World. I think we all thought that was the end because we gave it a standing ovation but then Emi came back out to perform Kainé. After that we got into the groove of standing up and stood up again like three more times lol.

Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito showed up at the end and made a bunch of rapidfire jokes in Japanese that the translator couldn't keep up with, bless her. But we got to give them like the fourth standing ovation of the night, and made a lot of noise when Yoko Taro suggested it would persuade the president of Squeenix to fund a sequel. I'm sure they appreciated it lmao. I think it must be so weird for Yoko Taro to go from someone with a career of niche, unsuccessful games to being internationally renowned to the point that a massive auditorium full of people in multiple countries will go absolutely nuts just to hear him speak a language we mostly don't speak.

Good mix of people who were at a NieR concert for the first time and people who'd been to the last one. There was a guy near me who had apparently been to the Berlin concert just a few days before, and snagged a ticket for this one literally yesterday just to get it again with better acoustics. I respect it lol. Everyone I spoke to was remarkably friendly - last time I went to one of these things I felt really nervous about approaching anyone but it seems I've gotten better about that kind of thing in the last few years. Anyway, people had come from all over - I chatted with a pair of Americans from Boston all the way down the merch line.

Here are some pictures, mostly of cosplayers. I am still getting used to shooting with the DSLR my friend gave me, so not all of these came out perfectly steady and some of them the exposure wasn't right,, but there are some nice ones in here...

bokeeeeehhhhhhhhh... I spoke a bit to the owner of this 9S doll. Her mum was there too, and it turns out she's a haberdasher who makes cosplays for her daughters and has now done over 70. That's a legendary mum right there.

The 9S cosplayer here gave me his instagram. he's a pro photographer so I feel a little embarassed at the quality of the photos I took of him ^^'

I got some merch too, since I understand it's the main way events like this support themselves.

That Kainé thing isn't a print, it's a vinyl record with a few arrangements of Kainé. Though I was totally prepared to buy it as a print because it's a lovely drawing. I don't actually own a record player, but one day I'll surely listen to it ^^'

I was too fatigued to make a cosplay this time, but I'm sure there will be another concert and next time, for sure, I will go as Devola or Popola. Unless Yoko Taro comes up with another redhead character in the meantime lmao.

[my-mt-heart]

tldr here - it was very short qa, only 30 mins no questions. norman and melissa hung out and took selfies and signed stuff with as many people as possible before security wrapped it up. neither stopped when the came out the back to their cars.

what do you want to know? you don't have to post this / you can repost it under a cut for spoilers, idc.

pros: most scene time in the first ep is of carol, who's dry wit i missed but is totally back. i like the new character, avi. beautiful scenery, love that it's supposed to be maine. the crowd cheered for carol / melissa, there wasn't like favoritism towards norman / daryl in terms of reactions. fans of all ages / genders / etc.

cons: same character development. she meets someone, she puts on a facade. i was so frustrated carol didn't just tell the truth. i didn't watch the first season out of spite but daryl's scenes.....i really felt like i was watching, like, harry potter and the walking dead. it just felt wrong.

neutral (imo-not significant but feels a little stale / like they didn't try atp): focusing on carol's loss of sophia, call backs to The Barn scene, there's a cherokee rose that symbolizes "hope."

from the qa: norman really hyped up the finale but that could just be to get people to watch. teased "bickering like an old married couple." zabel teased the photos of mel and norm shooting in paris and norman was like, "there's pictures of it on the internet" they know. when they asked melissa what she said on the radio she did an adorable bit about "i want my socks back" or something. she also implied that she's been apart of crafting where the character goes and what's important. dalton ross is very cringe, he needs everyone to know he was the guy to be at the height of the comic-con days (but he wasn't that was hardwick lol). there was a well known rick cosplayer there and people were trying to sneak photos, i think they thought he was andy fr.

plot spoilers: tldr carol befriends a guy, avi, for his plane and convinces him to fly her to france by the end of the first episode to find her daughter sophia, who was in paris with her father ed when the world ended (avi calls her out on this and everyone laughs). she plays on the loss of his son, which melissa says is "awful." i'm not positive bc i didn't watch but i think avi's place is where daryl made the radio call from to cArol but i can't be sure i could be making that up.

it was cool but also gave me this deep bit of sadness? like maybe i'm too old for this and need to move on. it was a little disorganized - they kept removing reserved seating so people kept rushing for closer seats, which left me in the middle of the front section with empty seats in either side of me? it was weird.

Thanks for the writeup! I'm really happy Melissa was so well-received. She deserves that.

Carol falling back on old habits makes me nervous because of how quickly some viewers like to demonize her (female characters are always judged more harshly than men for their flaws). I know she's desperate to get to Daryl, I love that he's her emotional drive, and I trust Melissa's performance will be nuanced, but I'll judge the writing when I get to see the scene for myself.

What is Daryl's arc in 201?

I feel like there is actually a lot of healing left to do as far as Sophia goes, so I'm glad Melissa wanted to explore that. I hope the callbacks/flashbacks with Sophia as well as with Daryl really will help Carol grow as a character. I'm confident in Melissa's storytelling abilities. She's very intuitive. Zabel on the other hand tends to put gimmicks before substance and that doesn't mesh well. If people are saying they can feel Melissa's influence in the episode, that's a good sign. AMC should keep leaning into her vision for Carol/Caryl.

[sl-vega]

✧y/n and company✧

✧(y/n)✧-drama major. your mom signed you up for acting lessons when you were a kid, and it turned out you were really good at it. you've consistently landed leading roles throughout middle school and high school. quotes broadway a lot

✧fischl✧-english major, drama enthusiast and one of your roommates. the two of you met during orientation, and you really hit it off. she has a pet raven named oz, who she includes in many of her works. she's also a cosplayer and makes those super intricate and robust outfits. you've been forced to be her personal photographer for her mini photo-shoots

"just a few more takes-oh and make sure to get one with me and oz"

"fischl, you said "a few more takes" 2 hours ago"

✧nilou✧-dancing major and your other roommate. you met her when your mother brought you to a ballet recital when you were younger. since then you've been super close. when the two of you were in middle school, you made her teach you broadway choreography.

"y/n i really need to go home-"

"you aren't taking a step out of this house until you teach me candy store's choreo"

✧venti✧-music composition major, performs gigs at bars in exchange for free wine. he's the type of student who can write really good essays when he's completely blacked out. he can (allegedly) name any wine just by tasting it

"dandelion wine, 1968"

"it's actully osmathus-"

"that was my second guess"

✧lyney✧-drama major with a minor in psychology. does magician gigs every now and then uses his psychology skills to gaslight his audience. he and his sister lynette formed a magic duo when they were younger, and they've won loads of talent shows throughout elementary school and high school.

"y/n, are you 100% sure that this isn't your card?"

"oh my archons-yes lyney i'm sure-"

✧lynette✧-chemistry major and lyney's twin sister. she helps out with behind-the-scenes work for your university's productions. she's lyney's magic assistant and joins him on his magician gigs. she doesn't talk much but she's a great listener.

"nice weather we're having"

"...i suppose"

additional notes:

-teyvat university (ik so creative)

-everyone is in their sophmore (second) year (19-20 years old)

-venti lives in an apartment off campus alone

-lyney and lynette live in the dorms together, and they have a cat named rosseland

✧Going off Script✧

Synopsis:

Xingqiu's next major project requires him to write a romantic short story, the only problem is that he has zero romantic experience. meanwhile, you just found out that your boyfriend cheated on you, and you need to show him that you're 100% over him, the only problem is that there's no way you can get an actual boyfriend that quickly. clearly, the solution to both of your issues is to fake date each other. all you need to do is stick to the script

spoiler alert: you go off script and end up falling for him

masterlist

(OPEN) taglist: @freyao7

[tea-and-secrets]

(this is so long i’m sorry lmao)

i hate this one friend of a friend and none of the friends in our circle like him either

so there’s this one girl i’m friends with and we have our own circle of friends, but she’s also friends with this one guy we all went to high school with (actually we all went to high school together), so we hang out with each other sometimes due to that connection. but let me tell you this guy sucks. he sucked in high school and he still sucks now. we’ve tried to gently tell her multiple times that he sucks but she still defends him 😭. he’s one of those egotistical, pretentious film major bros and he once told me that he thinks people who take meds for mental disorders are lazy. anyway, that’s the context, so here are some stories:

so in this story, there’s the guy (Star), our mutual friend (Astor), two other friends in Astor and I’s circle (Mango and Pansy), and me (all of these are fake names btw). Astor, Mango, and Pansy are all professional cosplayers and Star wanted to take pictures of them at this con we all went to to put in his portfolio. on the first day, Astor, Mango, and Pansy were supposed to run a panel, but Astor was running late, so that made Star late as well. we were all stressed about this (i was helping them as well), so when Star got there he was in a bad mood. you do not want to be around Star when he’s in a bad mood. one time when we were playing monopoly, he was losing, so he stomped on the ground and yelled about how the game isn’t fair (yes, like a toddler). after they got there and it was just Mango, Pansy, and i together, they would bring up how Star was lowkey scaring them with how aggressive he was acting. after the panel, Star wanted to take pictures and i was holding his tripod. this tripod was in a flimsy cardboard box with no case and i was in charge of holding it. apparently i was holding it upside down (it was hard to tell which way was up bc this cardboard box was really fucked up), so it slipped out and hit the floor. i felt bad for dropping it, but it was right side up and only fell to the floor like 2 feet, so i wasn’t too worried about it. most of it was still in the box actually. but the room went silent for a moment and Mango and Pansy looked at me with horror. i could tell they were scared that Star was going to blow up at me. he did yell at me a little bit but i knew he was overreacting so i wasn’t too fazed by it. after that, Mango and Pansy came up to me and were like “i thought he was literally going to kill you for that.” i think they were only half-joking

this next (and last) story happened sort of recently and reminded me why i dislike him so much. as i said, Star is a film major and he wants to be a director, but he is NOT a good director. i know this bc i’ve worked with him on projects before, but he thinks he’s big shit. awhile back, Astor asked me if i wanted to do a 48 hour film challenge with her and Star and i said sure. our film was a shit show. Star was supposed to be running it, but kinda gave up halfway through and even said he wanted Astor and i to direct some scenes. Astor and i are NOT directors. he literally just sat on a bench like 30 feet away from where we were filming for the last bit of the shoot. also, he was 30 minutes late TO HIS OWN CALL TIME. he blamed the complete failure of our film on another guy he was friends with that he invited on to do camera work and some editing. and while i agree that he kinda took too much on at once and oversold his abilities, it was just as much Star’s fault bc of his lackluster skill and terrible planning (i also think Star made him do most of the work). but he convinced Astor that it was all that guy’s fault and now they blame him. Astor even said that she never wants to work with that guy again. i am also never working with Star again, so i guess we’re in the same boat

sorry if this didn’t make complete sense, i’m not the best at telling stories lmao. and don’t worry, i don’t see him too often and i tolerate him well enough, so this isn’t a big issue between us or anything

i’ll leave off with this: for the film challenge, we were finally done filming and the sun had gone down. we still had to do voiceover work and pictures for the poster, but Star said he really wanted to go out to eat (he wanted us to be done filming that day so they had the next day to edit).

i said “we should just get something delivered, we don’t have a lot of time left today”

he said “but i want ~rEaL~ food.”

i said “Star, we can either get real food, or have a good film”

we eventually went out to eat that night, so i guess i was right

(there is someone on tumblr who might see this and know who i am based on these stories, so if they’re seeing this, um. hi lmao)

.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Stay Peachy and stay the hell away from me - Adrien AUGreste 2024 Day 27

So, I had to go back and figure out where Stay Peachy came from and when I found out it came from Mr. Banana, I had a thought. When I was a kid, there are actual pictures of me shying away from those full body characters, like Micky Mouse style and such. Like, I got to go to the White House Easter Egg events as a kid and all the pictures with me and a character, I'm pressed up against whoever is holding me, trying to get away and it led into this. Obviously I'm fine now, but I know others have the fear continue as they get older. I've now made Adrien one of them, which is kinda hilarious as he's a cosplayer in this world.

“Wow. This is, kinda amazing.”

Adrien preened at that comment. The Italian Embassy was putting together a Carnevale in Paris event for Italians who couldn’t fly back home and to those who couldn’t afford to get the train over and rent costumes to have a place to wear said costumes. Streets near the embassy were closed off – perk of being friends with Chloe now, she could help spirit along paperwork faster by bugging her father – stalls were erected, events were planned, with performances, a costume contest for the kids and just a small taste of what Carnevale in Venice was like.

His mom and the other diplomates knocked the decorations out of the park and the ambassador even managed to hire a few actual performers for the private masquerade ball the embassy would be holding. That was when Adrien would bring out his show stopping costume – that took more labour than his Queen Serenity wings, especially since he made Luka’s as well – but for now, as he stood at one of the entrances with Felix, he made do with a gold filigree mask, currently sitting on top of his head. The English boy was visiting, his mother busy with a movie shoot in the streets of Paris, so he joined his look alike at the festival as Adrien’s guest. If Amalie had been surprised with how identical, Viola had to keep reminding herself she only gave birth to one blonde boy.

“It’s gonna be a lot of fun. Think of it like a street festival and admire the costumes! That’s the best part in my opinion. Remind me to show you the pictures I got of my mom when we dressed up during the off season.” Adrien said.

“Stay Peachy!” a sudden hyper voice cried, making both boys jump like cats. Standing behind them was someone in a smiling banana costume, wiggling and dancing to the hip hop music coming from a nearby boombox. They struck a pose, the eery still smile creeping Adrien out.

He hated those type of full body costumes. The amount of pictures his family had of him, in his parents’ arms, hiding away from a person with covered hands and oversized heads. Adrien barely made it through his tours of Disney parks as he got older.

“Oh, fuck right off.” Felix muttered, grabbing Adrien’s arm and dragging him into the busy streets. “Where is your boyfriend meeting us? Or is he still waiting to get in?”

Luka found them and Adrien immediately took them to get food. They had plans to meet up with the rest of the class to see Marinette’s entry for the costume contest, an outfit based on one of her mother’s favourite fantasy C-Dramas, so Adrien was going to introduce them to his favourite foods until then. Each street seemed to be dedicated for a different part of Italy and while Adrien talked about how his family mainly stayed in Rome, he was lucky to be able to see other parts and indulge in their version of the culture.

“I lived off this whenever mom was too tired to cook.” Adrien said, leading them to a Pizza al taglio stand. “We’d order way more than we needed and could have the rest for later.”

“It’s probably a good thing this isn’t normally in Paris.” Luka said, looking at all the sheet pans the stall managed to fit onto a fold out table. “How are we supposed to stay empty for everything else?”

“Well, I plan to introduce you to stomach, so keep empty.” Adrien promised.

Felix shrugged. “I prefer a full English breakfast, so I’m fine.”

Luka looked so lost, Adrien didn’t have the heart to mention, a full English normally had pigs’ blood. Most Parisians survived off of bread, Adrien didn’t want to overload him.

He distracted Luka with finding a stall making fresh carbonara to order and the three decided to split an order. He had Luka and Felix try first, wanting them to apricate the simple ingredients to one of his favourite dishes.

“That’s really good.” Luka commented.

“Better than most restaurants I’ve been too. Trick must be the old woman making it.” Felix said, looking at the older lady behind the stall who was the one putting the whole dish together while her kids, according to what Adrien was able to pick up, made the pasta at the table.

Adrien took the bowl from Felix, excited to eat when that damned voice popped up again.

“Stay Peachy!”

It was so sudden and loud, Adrien screamed, jumped and let go of the bowl. The rest of the carbonara was on the ground and Adrien swung around, glaring at the stupid person in the banana suit, posing behind him. They were close to, like they’d been sneaking up on Adrien.

“I’m going to kill you.” Adrien swore, Luka grabbing him before he could take a step.

“Hey, they should have gelato right?” Luka distracted. “You promised to get me a good one. Didn’t your mom say that the famous store who made the cone into a flower had been invited? Where would they be? They are considered good right?”

Adrien became distracted, but Felix gave the performer a steely glare that got Mr. Banana to back up slightly before he went to follow the couple.

They got distracted on their quest for gelato by cheese; parmigiano and mozzarella and bufala. Adrien insisted they try bruschetta.

“It’s tomatoes, oil and salt, you honestly can’t go wrong. It’s a more put together version of the tomato con pan we had at the beach.”

It was further distracted by arancini, a new favourite of Luka’s that Adrien’s nonna had made during her visit. They ended up bumping into Chloe and Sabrina and Zoe, a teen star who modelled for Chloe’s mom and while she had a contract in France for a while, Chloe took it upon herself to show her around. Zoe had the most out of all of them, moaning a little about needing to be at try ons for a show the next day but Adrien waved her off, Chloe supporting him.

“I don’t know about Italian designers, but I refuse to believe Italian models give up their favourite food just to be perfect in clothes. Besides, arancini doesn’t count, it’s made by the gods.”

“I don’t think that excuse works when I say that about pizza.” Zoe pointed out.

“Then you clearly are missing out on thin crust. Try the pizza stalls on the Rome street. It’s thin and the three of you can share and not feel guilty if you’re that worried. But first, gelato! Oh, cannoli!”

Like a kitten with a short attention span, Adrien rushed over to the closest stall in the Sicily street they found themselves in. The Italian convinced the teen star to split a cannolo with him before Chloe dragged her to a stall selling clothes. Adrien was being a messy child and licking some of the excess cream before it fell out of the pastry when…

“Stay Peachy!”

Like the worst jump scare, Adrien jumped back and his half-eaten cannolo was caught by Felix. The English boy tried not to gag at the damp pastry while Luka grabbed Adrien from under his arms to lift him up and stop him from attacking Mr. Banana.

“Your mom is running the event. I don’t think she wants to make sure you’re covered by diplomatic immunity if Sabrina’s dad arrests you for attacking someone.” Luka reminded.

“Even if they deserve it?” Felix asked, pinching the pastry and stuffing it into Adrien’s mouth, making him look like a demented squirrel gathering food. His cheeks where puffed from the cream and it lessened the affect of the glare he was given the demented banana.

“Ok, let’s go.” Luka ordered, heading towards a different street. it was getting close to meeting with the others but the rocker wanted to avoid an international incident.

It counted as international if an Italian and an English attacked a French performer? Luka didn’t want to find out.

Alya was not at all sympathetic when she heard. She was still holding Adrien’s issues with feathers and his cosplay shoot over his head.

“You can’t tell me some cosplayers don’t get dressed in outfits like that.”

“They do. I avoid them. those things give me the creeps. You also can not tell me that the smile isn’t really creepy!”

“I mean, Noel doesn’t normally get scared of things,” Nino said, mentioning his stubborn younger brother, “but he doesn’t like those guys either. I swear he screamed bloody murder when we saw a Bluey character.”

Adrien pointed to Nino like it was all the answer he needed.

“Oh, that does not count! My twin sisters think they’re the human version of some twin devil trickster.” Alya pointed out.

“Thank god they aren’t.” Adrien heard Luka mutter but he ignored his boyfriend to try and continue making his point while they made their way to the stage that the costume contest was going to be at.

Adrien was able to distract himself with admiring the outfits people wore, and even pulled his own mask down to fit in. It made him even more excited to get dressed in his outfit for the masquerade ball. He gossiped with the others on what they were going to wear, hearing what others promised their costumes to look like. They made it to the stage as the MC was getting it started. Even in the back, they were able to find an area that gave them a clear view. Everyone marvelled over the costumes as they came out, the groups' cheers getting loud when Marinette took the stage. Marinette was more the type to dress her models and direct them from behind the camera, but she was doing a pretty amazing at posing. Though that might have to do with Adrien’s training she asked for.

Marinette just got picked for the next round of non-traditional costumes when the MC called for a short break so the next round members could get set up and those who didn’t make it past could still get the chance for pictures by the crowd. As those people made it into the crowd, the MC called upon a well-loved performer to entertain them.

“Stay Peachy!” Mr. Banana cried as he jumped on stage.

Felix rolled his eyes while Adrien frowned.

“Will you relax? Kids love him.” Alya said.

“Kids don’t make any sense.” Adrien said. “I saw a stall with flowers, I’m gonna get Marinette a bouquet to congratulate her. Take pictures if I take too long.”

“I’ll go with you.” Felix offered.

“Please behave. And don’t get distracted by food you’re not planning on bringing back!” Luka called.

“Just for that, I’ll bring you the stomach!” Adrien called back, giggling at Luka’s face.

They got the flowers and became distracted when Adrien located a gelato stand. In his defence, it had been all they talked about since they entered the festival. He gave Felix the flowers to hold while he expertly handled 6 cones in total.

“Wouldn’t cups of been easier?” Felix asked.

“Everyone loves gelato in a cone.” Adrien said when –

“Stay Pe – Ahh!”

Mr. Banana was given a face full of flowers as Felix smacked them with the bouquet before he kicked him over. The ruined bouquet was thrown at the writhing banana as Felix grabbed Adrien and dragged him back towards the stage.

“What am I supposed to tell my mother when she asks about the blonde boy who assaulted a performer?” Adrien asked.

“Like I’d let you take credit for that.”

The others did hear about it later. Adrien was helping Nino figure out the socks in the traditional Vancian suit when Luka asked.

“Apparently the Mr Banana performer got assaulted. They’re pretty upset. Face full of flowers too. Odd how Marinette’s never showed up.”

Adrien shrugged. “Gosh. Maybe he should, stay peachy. Keep the moral up. He’s still got to dance for a pay check. As long as it’s far, far away.” The blonde muttered the last part.

The Ladybug holder sighed. To be fair, Luka knew what his boyfriend was like when he was mad. Sure, it was usually cursing and insults but he’d used physical violence as a threat. Luka couldn’t prove Adrien had used the bouquet, though the cups he came back with in hand did push the suspicion off of him, he wouldn’t put it past the Italian to attack Mr. Banana.

Tikki would later say she found Mr. Banana’s smile creepy and something of an off-putting memory, so at that point, Luka just let the whole thing go.

[muiltifandomnerd]

Adventures of Chika Hanabusa: The Restoration of Earth

Disclaimer: This book follows the events of Percy Jackson and Heros of Olympus fanfic. This fanfic will not include Trails of Apollo, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase.

Chapter 6: Hyun's Half-Brother Tries To Kill Us

Chika PoV

I felt my body disintegrating in the shadows, and I yelled in horror while Hyun was using the shadows. I know I'm not going to die, but it was still uncomfortable, to say the least. Reyna and Hyun don't seem phased at all, so I'm assuming they did this before. Why can't we use some magical portal like what usually happens in Harry Potter and some sci-fi movies? As I felt my body and clothes coming out of the shadows, I saw Reyna and Hyun reappearing from the shadows. Reyna shows a stoic, emotionless expression while Hyun is smiling like a maniac.

“Next time, warn me about shadow-traveling," I say in annoyance while Hyun just shrugs her shoulders.

"Doesn't matter anyway, shadow traveling is much faster than going on Reyna's pegasus." Hyun looks around as if she expects someone. We are staring at some large dark mansion that seems to be covered with symbols, whoever lived here must have been some supervillain or a wizard. There are eight steps to the mansion and the windows have many different colors like a rainbow. I guess the windows are covered with magical energy, the resident could be like Hyun, who is a child of Hecate. I also notice some gargoyles at the top of the ceiling of the mansion. Reyna looks very focused and determined while she takes the first steps to the mansion door.

"Hyun, why did you take us here?" Reyna asked in confusion. Hyun looked around nervously while Reyna glared at her. I’m starting to think that Hyun has no idea what she is doing.

“You see Preator, I know this guy who happens to be my Greek half-sibling. His name is Alabaster Torrington, and he is the best magician I know, he could help us find ways to defeat Eris and Enyo.” I hope Hyun is right about her half-sibling, but I doubt that they will be the friendliest person if they live in some dark, enchanted mansion.

The door opens right after Reyna takes her second step and it shows a boy who looks to be Reyna's age with markings covering his arms. He has the same green eyes as Hyun except he looks pretty angry when he glares at us. I noticed he wears a magical robe and that his hair is brown with a messy hairstyle. He looks like some DnD cosplayer or one of those crazy Harry Potter fans that you see at every Comic-Con. He suddenly chants in Latin, the language that has been all over Camp Jupiter, and suddenly he has green fireballs at his hands and starting to shoot at us but Hyun is quick enough to put a force field around us. Dang what is his problem, maybe he didn’t sleep very well or he could be a paranoid maniac.

"Chill bro, we come in peace," Hyun says in a laidback manner which only makes her half-brother angrier.

"No, you are reckless to bring more demigods in broad daylight." The guy, Alabaster, says in a loud aggressive voice. While he kept attacking us with fireballs, Reyna got out her sword while I got out my scythe. Alabaster was busy throwing fireballs but I managed to grow roots from the ground. Alabaster looks surprised but he chants in Latin and all of my roots become frozen I did make my roots impregnable because I know that I have magic with magic. He keeps doing different chants like striking the roots with thunder, trying to decay it, and even trying to vanish and do shadow-traveling. The roots kept on growing on him till they looked like the outer bark of the tree. Alabaster looks very annoyed that his body is stuck in some tree-like substance. Magical tree for the win, I’m so glad that I managed to practice my powers in secret after Hyun and I were doing training drills with Reyna. I managed to figure out how to give magical conditions to my plant powers at night, I wanted to surprise Reyna and Hyun. Hyun looks very shocked at how I made an impregnable tree prison for her half-sibling while Reyna looks on in pride.

"Chika, you naughty girl, you never showed us you could create a magical tree prison and that it worked." Hyun looked on at Alabaster while he kept on struggling.

“Well done Chika, you did splendid work on keeping this maniaco at bay. Now Alabaster, why have you attacked us?" Reyna questioned as she held her sword up to Alabaster's eye. Is Reyna going to kill him?

"Because you could be working for the Olympians and they send you here to kill me, look tell your friend to let me go. I will explain properly."

"I think you are better in this position; you can talk while we don't have to worry about you trying to kill us with magical fireballs." Reyna steadily held her sword close to his eye socket, I'm not sure if I can go through murdering a guy. Did Reyna kill someone before?

“Look Alabasty, both of my friends are willing to let you go as long that you swear on the Styx that you will not kill us," Hyun says in a bored tone. How can Hyun be so calm about this situation? That’s a bit unnerving.

"Fine, I swear on the River Styx that if you let me go, I will not kill you," Alabaster says in an earnest tone. Reyna brings her blade back to her chest while she nods at me to let him go. I undid the binding while the tree bark and roots disappeared around him. He touched his wrist to see if his arm was broken, he looked annoyed that his robe was now full of dirt stains, but he seemed fine for the most part.

“Look I’m sorry about my actions. I’m just paranoid about Olympians sending their kids and monsters to try to kill me.” Alabaster says apologetically.

"Why do the Olympians want you dead?" Reyna questioned in an authoritative voice as she glared at him.

"Does it matter? Anyway, Hyun why did you bring these girls here?" Alabaster questioned while standing up to look at us straight in the eyes. The poor guy must have suffered a lot from the gods, does he think that we will kill him?

"You still haven't answered my question, why do the Olympians want to kill you?" Reyna swings her sword at him but still holds him at gunpoint.

"Reyna just dropped it, we didn't come to fight Alabaster. We need his help with the whole Eris and Enyo business" Hyun puts her hand on Reyna's sword and Reyna puts her sword down. Reyna is still glaring at him with suspension.

“You have to fight Ares mutts; Olympians are cowards to make their kids do their dirty work for them.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah you can go on how the gods suck rant, but we need your help. Do it please for your baby sister.” Hyun blinks her eyes three times like she’s trying to charm him. Alabaster looks disgusted when he moves his head in revolt.

“Fine I will help, just don’t do that again. Come inside and I will take you to my library.” Alaster leads us to his mansion, and it looks nice. There are many paintings of witches getting burned at the stake and many demons as well. It has a checkered floor and the stairs are cotton with red coloring. He take us to a room filled with books of different colors, could be spell books for all I know. There is a fireplace with a red sofa and a red armchair. Hyun, Reyna, and I sit on the red sofa while Alabaster sits on the red armchair. The fireplace makes us feel so warm, I feel like sleeping.

"So you guys need help with these two troublesome deities? The only thing I can offer you is poison to weaken them and that you girls need to bind them. Fighting two deities is a bit of a daunting task. By Hyun, I got you a potion that will help your boyfriend deal with his condition." Alabasters handed out a closed flask with red liquid showing and Hyun quickly snatched it away from him and put it in her pouch. Ryna and I look at Hyun questioningly and it seems we share the same thought, Is Ben her boyfriend and is he sick?

"You guys will need a tracker device that can track down Eris and Enyo, Hyun does a location spell on this device, and they should track down any deity on Earth at the moment." Alasbaster hands Hyun a sonar detector device and Hyun holds it close to her chest.

"Can you girls promise to never mention at your camp, and don't even say I help you."

All three of us nods our head yes and Alabaster looks relieved.

"We not going to speak of you if you are in trouble with the gods. Thanks for the help" Reyna pats Alabaster on the shoulder.

"And Hyun, control your impulses or else you will be killed," Alabaster says in a low and threatening tone while looking at Hyun with an ice-cold glare. Hyun looks indifferent with lowered eyes and a frown on her face.

“Don’t worry Alabasty, all three of us will be cautious with Eris and Enyo," Hyun says in a sing-song tone with a similar ice-cold glare and a creepy smile pestering on Hyun's pretty face. I don’t think Alabaster meant the quest because Hyun is staring daggers at him, what is she hiding? Reyna stares questioningly at Hyun while she is making a creepy smile and barring all her teeth. All three of us exchanged our goodbyes with Alabaster and left his mansion. As we walk past his steps, Hyun chants in Latin to the sonar device, and dark red and dark, purple-colored dots appear on the device. I’m guessing those dots are Eris and Enyo. As Hyun was getting ready to shadow us, suddenly a beautiful woman with piercing green eyes and dark hair braided with gold threads appeared in front of us. She was wearing a similar creepy smile like Hun and suddenly all three of us were tied with magical black ropes. Reyna looked very shocked and alarmed; she didn't even fight off the rope.

"It's been a while hasn't it Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, I'm glad that you escaped those blasted pirates. How is your sister?" the woman asked Reyna while the ropes held us on tightly.

“Thank you, Alabaster, for bringing them here, now I hope you treat our guest well. My name is Circle, the famous sorcerer who once captured Odysseus himself. Reyna can tell you all about me.” The lady, Circle, stared at the three of us struggling against the ropes and Alabaster looked on from the entrance. Circle levitated the three of us back to the mansion and shut the doors. Just great, now we must deal with the most famous witch in Greek Mythology. Hopefully, we can break out the ropes and get away from Hyun's crazy half-siblings, I'm blaming Hyun for our predicament.

[more-than-a-princess]

Happy Munday! Just a few quick things, plus some cosplay photos from a recent convention (under the cut, in order not to clutter the dash with OOC content).

I am still accepting starters for this starter call! I'll close the call on Saturday, November 18. Until then, I will not have a cap on starters beyond writing one per mun/blog. This will likely be my last starter call from now until the beginning of 2024, so if you'd like me to write you a starter that isn't attached to a meme, this is your chance! I will still share memes when I have the time in my schedule to start new threads, but for those of you who don't like memes and prefer starter calls, this is the best way to interact with me through the holiday season.

I'll be a little quiet around here from today until Friday: I've got two long days in the office and then I'm celebrating my wedding anniversary on Thursday after work (with a considerable amount of food and champagne), so my writing and chatting time will be limited this week.

That said, I've finally had some time to look at my cell phone photos of my costumes from my last anime convention. I'm still waiting on photos from my private photoshoots, but in the meantime, I'll share a costume I haven't posted here yet. I predict some of you may recognize her (hi Bubblez!).

Did you know that I've either played or watched my husband play both AI: The Somnium Files games (because watching me try to play through the somniums is a stressful experience for everyone involved)? Now you do!

Actually, I've had my Boss costume for about a year now and I haven't been in a happy place with it until last month. Admittedly, my dress is a bit oversized after I lost weight and I need to take it in in a few places before wearing it again. That's the only thing that has stopped me from doing a private photoshoot with Boss.

In any case, she was my favorite out of the games and one of the very few (maybe only?) character I cosplay as who is older than me. How is this woman in her forties? I thought I had amazing skincare and genetics but Boss is on another level.

The jacket and gloves are both leather, with the dress made of a cotton/poly spandex and the boots being custom pieces that I ended up repainting to be a closer match to my jacket. The Ai-balls are from Lemon Penguin, who loves Uchikoshi games and produces a few Uchikoshi-related items to vend at conventions (and they conveniently end up at the cons I attend!).

But let me say: I love this wig so much. It was a custom piece after I was hating my own styling attempts, and comes with her 'hair donut' ponytail holder, her slicked back tendrils, and a stubbed ponytail that keeps the weight of the tail and wig lighter on my head. When I get a professional shoot of this done, I definitely want more shots of this incredible wig from the back.

And finally, the AiTSF cosplayers I've met at conventions have all been so friendly and kind! I had to miss the photoshoot this time around but I participated at one at a previous convention: we were a small group but we were mighty. Even if we either weren't recognized or called by some other character name (I get Misato Katsuragi in this one quite a lot. Ironic, as I also have a Misato costume).

[katsushika-division]

It was very late into the night and Touya Kisaragi’s birthday was nearly over but there was still one more present he had yet to receive. A knock on the door to the residence of Death Row Block and Akari was heard and Akihisa, being the one who was closest to the door, went up to check who it was through the peephole, after all, who in their right mind would go to the place where known and infamous serial killers and murderers lived. A minute later, he sighed and opened the door, revealing none other than Kaiji Sano of Kobe Division’s Lovesick, in his usual feminine get up and holding a number of pink and black colored bags. “Surprise!” The crossdresser sang and stepped inside. “Sorry for coming in late, I was booked photo shoot after photo shoot for this upcoming anime but never mind that…” His icy blue eyes scanned the room, looking for a familiar head of blue hair. “Where is our beloved birthday boy?”

“KAI-CHAN!!!” As if on cue, the white haired boy was immediately tackled into a hug by said birthday boy. Touya squealed and nuzzled his cheek against Kaiji’s, grinning widely. “Kai-chan! Kai-chan! You came! I was afraid you forgot!”

Kaiji laughed and did his best to hug Touya back while being mindful of the bags still in his hands. “Of course, darling. I could never forget about you!” Kaiji pressed a kiss on his cheek before signaling him to let go. “I also got you something, well, somethings to be more accurate. Wanna open them?”

Touya’s eyes shined at the thought of presents and nodded rapidly, taking Kaiji’s wrist and pulling him towards his room and shutting the door. Once the two of them were situated on Touya’s bed, Kaiji gave the bags to Touya which he happily took, opening one bag, it revealed…

A pair of new and shiny knives, not only that, they were beautifully crafted, one taking the appearance of a butterfly and the other had hearts carved into them. “I know you have a bunch already but you could always have more, they’re a matching set so you can gift one to your beloved.”

Another bag revealed a beautiful bouquet of pink roses. “Beautiful right? Well, those are actually from Max. He’s really taking up gardening recently, he wanted me to tell you happy birthday and that he’s sorry he couldn’t be there but he had somewhere to be, he didn’t say much about it only that it’s something important and that he’ll be gone for a few days.”

Another bag revealed a gorgeous looking gothic Lolita cake. “Looks yummy right? I had to call in a favor and man did they deliver, and judging by the drool coming from your mouth I’d say that favor is well worth it hehe!”

And finally, the last bag revealed a high quality and accurate Draculaura cosplay outfit. “Ta da~! An outfit just for you! It’s from this doll brand in America called ‘Monster High’ and it’s something I wanted to cosplay for a while but I just couldn’t find the right idea what to show until I thought back on wanting you to show on my livestream one day. The character that outfit belongs to is called Draculaura and the moment I saw her I immediately thought about you! I made the myself and trust me, with a bit of makeup no one will even recognize you! I have it all planned out don’t worry.”

With all the gifts now revealed, Kaiji wrapped his arms around Touya in a tight hug. “Happy birthday, lovely. I know we’ve only known each other for a year but you’ve become so special to me, like you couldn’t even imagine. I hope you know that.” Pulling back, he gave Touya a bright smile.

Happy Birthday Touya! 💖

Suggestive Themes Ahead.

"You're always so good to me, Kai-chan," Touya purred, bringing the white-haired cosplayer into a kiss. It didn't take long for the kiss to get heated, with Touya licking at Kaiji's lips, begging to be let in something that Kaiji was more than willing to oblige. The two of them were lucky that Katsushika didn't have any neighbors because there was no doubt that the police would be called due to the downright sinfully loud noises coming from them. 

It wasn't hard for the two of them in the middle for their heated passion to maneuver closer to the bed, with Touya pushing Kaiji to lay down on it. Giggling as he straddled Kaiji's lap, Touya ran multiple kisses down his throat, stopping only when he felt the thrum of a vein. It's with a coy smile that Touya runs his tongue across it, tasting the pulse that sat underneath his partner's pale skin. 

"Let me show you how much I appreciate it." 

Meanwhile Downstairs…

"Are they?...."

"Yes."

"While we're still here?" 

"Yes." 

"Fucking gross. They're gonna be like this all night long. Great. Akari? Where are you going?"  

"My hideout because I am not listening to that. You two wanna join?" 

"If you don't mind." 

"Holy shit please." 

[poupeesdecirque]

Travel Blog, Connichi 2023!

Part 1 - Thursday & Friday

As the Connichi moved from Kassel to Wiesbaden it was quite a trip for me, double the travel distance, a city I don't know and lots of stuff to happen.

I decided to write about my trip there for myself to cover some events, give some insights and share the memories. Includes phone snapshots, some sketches for situations I was in aaaand maybe some previews for photoshootings ;>

Thursday: arrival, food, traveling

Friday: First con day, cospay, food, mental health stuff

Thursday, 31. August 2023

As said I had to travel to Wiesbaden, I went by car. The road on its own was mainly highway but before I got to the highway I got stuck in traffic for almost 1 hour. After 5 hours of traveling alone on bad mental health I arrived in Wiesbaden before my friends did and waited for them

Apparently I looked rather pitiful and was approached by some weirdo who tried to give me candy and cigarettes and was super offended by me telling them off. I'm not used to people trying to prey on me but urgh, that was creepy af.

After my friends arrived I ordered my first Starbucks (it was an almond chai latte) as I didn't have anything to eat aside my breakfast that day.

We walked around in the city a bit and ended up in the indian restaurant I had researched before and I had some really delicious paneer with Naan bread and a Mango Cheesecake.

But ... Diamy and I decided to go for "medium" spicy and I underestimated it... I .... cried :'D

We later on found a super cute bakery and @adragonstale and I were totally in awe about the pastries they had.

I'm glad my friends arrived the same day, they really saved my mood.

Friday, 1. September 2023 - First Convention day

As the first day starts later on I decided to get out into the city as past!Allen and put on the Nea wig later on.

We walked a bit through the city, did some window shopping and I was able to share my wisdom about food and nutrition, I am such a nerd about it. Also sightseeing and just being casual about everything.

After that we decided to get changed and get into our convention attire.

The con itself... dunno. I was missing a whole bunch of publishers as there was only two bigger ones and 1-2 smaller ones, the other big ones weren't there, the Matsuri was lovelessly showed behind a construction fence, the artist alley was bigger, yes, but badly ventilated on friday that even I - who is freezing all the time - felt like I would be melting on the spot. Merch room was not even tempting for me I rushed through it, the other rooms were.. well... indoor photo shoot corners, workshops and all that. The invited guests all no names to me, therefore I skipped on the program. You didn't even have any anime series or movies airing at the con (which was a usual thing before) you had to leave the con and pay extra if you wanted to see old anime movies. Well. It wasn't my cup of tea aside the fact I think the building has no personality, I don't like those soulless new constructed modern styled bricks of congress halls. Yes you had the option to book photo spots in two older buildings BUT the slots were taken super fast and it was one location on Saturday, the other on the Sunday and .. well.. in Kassel you had a ton of old buildings you could visit. Wiesbaden has some nice spots too but things like the park being full of duck poop, drug addicts and garbage to begin with didn't help much.

During the con I .. somehow spiraled into the the now called "Anxiety Chihuahua" state. I met some D.gray-man cosplayers and was actually recognized as Nea BUT got told there would be a group meeting the day after and that it was for an existing group (not noticing it was ... my ... group ... ) and my head was all like "oh god now WHAT IF" and that made me sweaty, anxious and my mood in the end was horrible. To explain that: in my cosplay past I was part of some groups but in the end was ignored or replaced by people who were thinner or prettier than me, even when we had special outfits and the other cosplayer didn't have those outfits or even when I went to a certain event for that exact group ... it's past wounds. As my mental health was already a bit cracked it was easy for me to snap and get down.

I was super awkward and ran around like crazy, almost yelled at that one group that they were super cool and that i adore their costumes and just loudly said that I am just a fool and will be gone now. On the next day they told me they saw me earlier but I was too fast to approach. Uhm, yeah. Hyper anxiety clown here. Of course I didn't take much photos with any Cosplayers as I was too nervous which didn't help as I wanted some memories of course.

In the end it got that bad that as we went out for food that day I just stood there "I don't want any, I hate everything"; but I had 30k steps done and just a few snacks therefore... I needed something. Too little food and water makes the brain sad too and I think that added to my anxiety getting worse.

In the end we stopped at a small thai restaurant and my friends had to order for me as I totally refused everything. I knew it was my health being bad and I told them "just order a thing, I will pay. Just no bread". And @adragonstale got me tofu curry with rice (instead of bread) it was warm comforting food. Thank you again. I felt really better after that.

Even that much better that we did some photos of me as Nea!

And we discovered Wiesbaden has a wild population of parrots, they nearly flew into my face while we took pics.

I went back to my car after that and arrived in time for the Matsuri fireworks.

I was super beat that day after two quite exhausting days and hoped the main day would be better as the two prior. It was about time to debut Allen, and to face my fear with the group meeting and my past cosplay trauma.

Lil concluding car selfie aka what if Nea would steal Allen's glasses.

[sjsmith56]

Promises Kept

Summary: Bucky and Sam visit the set of a movie about their partnership, that is a week away from beginning shooting. When he sees the stunt double portraying the Winter Soldier he expresses a concern about the man being accurate enough to satisfy him. The actress portraying Natasha Romanoff comes up with a unique solution.

Length: 3.7 K

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, OFC (Hayden, Tory), OMC (Luke, Brad, Everett, Shane).

Warnings: Cursing, Bucky’s anxiety and PTSD, slight misunderstanding about gay OMC. Apologies to stunt men everywhere who might take exception to being replaced by a cosplayer.

Author note: The idea for this one shot came from the picture of Sebastian Stan on the right side of the banner.  It seemed like he was using just his eyes and a hint of a smile to say something meant only for the person who was taking the picture, or, for the purposes of this one shot, the actress who captured his heart.

🎥 🎬 🎞️

It had been more than a year since the Flag Smashers; the operation that brought Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson to the attention of the world, when the two men took on the task of stopping the misguided efforts of Karli Morgenthau and the other super soldiers of that group.  They were visiting the set of the movie being made about their partnership, beginning with their initial encounter while Bucky was still the Winter Soldier.  Both men had agreed to work as technical consultants for the movie, although Sam had to convince Bucky to be involved.  Their visit, arriving during a rehearsal involving actress Hayden Summer, portraying Natasha Romanoff, as she worked with the stunt coordinator, and her stunt double was supposed to be a look behind the scenes for the two real-life heroes; a look at how movie magic was made. 

As Bucky walked in with Sam Wilson, it was like his whole presence took over the facility.  His build, the shoulders, the thighs and the distinctive dark hair and ice blue eyes dominated the attention of everyone.  Hayden nudged her stunt double Tory in the side and muttered.

"Holy fuck, I need to be spritzed." 

Right away Bucky stared at her, and she blushed, realizing he actually heard her from the other side of the facility.  It wasn't just a look, either.  It was like he could see right into her soul.  She grabbed Tory by the arm.

"Please get me out of here," she said, as the men approached.  "I'll die if he talks to me."

Too late.

"Hayden Summer is portraying Natasha Romanoff," said the producer / director, Everett Morgan.  "Hayden, this is Bucky Barnes." 

"Would you like a towel or a spray bottle to cool down?" asked Bucky, a slight grin on his face.  "You're glowing."

"And this is Sam Wilson," said Everett, as Sam stepped forward to shake her hand.

"Don't mind, Buck," said Sam.  "I guess my double isn't here today?"

"The men are in this afternoon," interjected Tory, shaking Sam's hand.  "Tory West, stunt double."  She looked up at Bucky then shook her head.  "You're bigger in real life and Brad isn't as tall and well-built as you, although Luke is.  Everett, how's that going to look?  You know that the big fans know every detail about these two."  She looked at Sam.  "Your stunt double and actor are built just like you, but this one ... seeing him in real life I don't know if Brad can pull it off."

Bucky was still looking at Hayden, making her feel many things ranging from uncomfortable to aroused. 

"Don't they use special effects to make things look bigger than life?" he asked, finally looking at Tory, then Everett.  "Remember, at that time, I was probably at the peak of my physical capabilities, so I was even bigger."

"It'll be fine," said Everett, a little too hastily.  "Costuming will bulk up his clothing and Bucky's right.  Post-production will make it look good."

Sam, noticing the looks between Bucky and Hayden shook his head and grinned.  It had been a while since someone had that effect on Bucky.  This technical consulting thing could be interesting. 

After visiting other parts of the interior set, still under construction the entourage went to lunch where Everett did his best to assure Bucky that the actor portraying him, and his stunt double were more than capable of being truthful in showcasing the Winter Soldier.  He promised it.  When they returned to the rehearsal stage everything seemed to fall apart after Bucky stood next to the stunt double for the actor portraying him, physically confirming what Tory had said.   After watching the men rehearse that afternoon, Bucky had to agree with her.  The actor could pull it off, but the stunt double just didn't seem to look or move like him.  He watched impassively as they rehearsed the scenes then shook his head.

"I'm sorry but your stunt double isn't right to portray me," he said to Everett, then looked at Sam.  "He's not big enough, menacing enough, and his stance is all wrong."

"Diva," muttered Hayden.

Bucky looked sharply at her, making her blush.  "May I demonstrate?" he asked. 

Everett looked alarmed.  "No, no, I don't ...."

"I won't hurt anyone," said Bucky.  "I just want to show you the difference.  Brad, you're a good stunt double but I just don't think you're right to portray me.  No offence but the Winter Soldier was known for his look as much as his actions.  He knew he was the best because even though they tortured him and beat him into submission they also called him the Asset and told him no one was his equal.  That murder strut?  It wasn't just confidence in his abilities.  It was his body compensating for a forty-pound arm, that was more of a battering ram than anything.  He felt fear but he was programmed not to show it.  Showing fear was showing weakness and that would earn him more torture, especially in the chair."

Luke Hogan, the actor portraying Bucky listened carefully as he said all this, nodding his own head with the realization of the duality of the real person.  Hearing Bucky Barnes refer to the Winter Soldier as "him" was enlightening and he had a sudden insight into how Bucky compartmentalized his time as the assassin.  Even the actor portraying Steve Rogers was listening in, certain that this peek into the Winter Soldier would affect his own performance in their encounters.

"I'd like to see Bucky demonstrate it," said Luke.  "Just for my own sense of the character.  You can only get so much out of the video.  Everett?"

"Okay, but Bucky, you gotta remember this is play fighting," he said.  "Pull your punches and please don't hurt Tory."

"I've trained raw recruits," smirked Bucky.  "I know how to pull my punches."

Taking his jacket and Henley shirt off so that he was in his short-sleeved T-shirt Bucky let the stunt coordinator set up the scene and easily jumped up on top of the platform, doubling for the car he jumped on.  With the prop weapon in hand, he strutted down towards the ground, holding it like it was naturally part of his body.  A recording of Natasha's phone distracting him started up and Bucky approached the prop car where she was supposed to be hiding.  Pretending to take the grenade off of his belt and roll it under the car Bucky stepped back, his focus on the other side of the car, preparing for the kill shot.  The stunt coordinator yelled Boom to cue the explosion and Tory jumped on Bucky's shoulders, pulling her garrotte out.  The pair fought then Bucky stopped just before throwing her off and lowered her gently to the ground instead.

"Well done," he said, then he looked at the others.  "Did you see the difference from how you did it?"

"He's right," said Tory, looking at Brad, the other stunt double.  "Sorry, Brad."

"Well, shit," said the stunt man, then sighed.  "The height difference is noticeable and post-production won't cover it up without looking like CGI.  Not sure who you can get to take my place that can get the choreography down before filming starts next week."

"Can Bucky do it?" asked Hayden.  Everyone looked at her.  "I mean, he lived it, right?  It's true you remember everything about that time as your programming broke down.  You were pretty convincing just now."

Bucky picked up his Henley shirt and jacket, staring at her again, breathing noticeably.  "It's not as easy as that," he said tersely.  "My arm is different now."

"We can green sleeve it and CGI the other arm in," mused Everett.  "We'd have to get you into the union, if Brad doesn't object.  I can keep Brad in for other stunts to make up for losing this gig.  I'm not going to lie, if word gets out Bucky's involved as a stuntman it could boost ticket sales."

Sam watched Bucky carefully, knowing there was something deeper going on.  The arm excuse was just the easiest one to make.  Without a word Bucky walked out and Sam looked at the others.

"Let me talk to him," he said, turning to follow his friend.  "It's complicated."

Their driver put out his cigarette as he saw Bucky striding towards him.  From the look on his face all was not well and he wondered what happened on set.  Without a word Bucky threw his jacket into the vehicle, then pulled his Henley shirt back on while Sam approached.  They both got into the back seat, with Bucky scowling.

"I can't do it," he said, flat out.  "Remember how pissed off the Wakandans were when the video of me impersonating the Winter Soldier in Madripoor hit social media?  I'm not going to bring him out again."

"It's not the same, Buck, you know that," replied Sam.  "The camera angles will make it look real but it won't be him that's doing it.  It will be you, pretending to be what you used to be.  You're the one who pointed out the stunt man wasn't going to be convincing."

"Plus they want to market me as the stuntman."  Bucky shook his head.  "No, I'd rather they shut down production than compromise my integrity."

Sam let out an audible breath.  "You realize if they do that then everybody associated with the movie gets laid off?  Not just the actors, but all the stunt people, makeup people, costumers, lighting guys ... hundreds of people will be out of a job because you were unwilling to portray yourself as you used to be.  You can always use an assumed name for your credit or ask that you don't be credited.  Plus, they wouldn't show your face."  Bucky looked blankly at him.  "It's your body and your skills that they're using.  Luke's face would be used for the closeups.  He seemed very interested in your take on the Winter Soldier.  I get the feeling he would like his performance to be authentic."

Bucky shook his head and looked out the window, frowning.  Reluctantly, Sam told the driver to take them back to the hotel.  As soon as they arrived Bucky got out of the vehicle and went straight to his room, not even waiting for Sam.  Pulling his phone out Sam found a place to sit where he had some privacy and made a phone call to Shuri, telling her what happened.  He didn't see Hayden and Tory arrive, but they found him and waited for him to finish his phone call.

"Is he okay?" asked Hayden.  "What's going on with him?"

"Plenty," joked Sam, then he became serious and gestured for them to sit.  "I don't like talking about him behind his back.  I already reached out to a person who can talk to him, and I would like to leave it with her."

"Wife or girlfriend?" asked Hayden.

"No, scientist and friend," replied Sam.  "Just give him time.  He's a very private man and the movie being green lighted caused some anxiety.  I think seeing it today just made it even more of an issue for him.  He just has to work it out."

"I feel terrible for suggesting it," said Hayden.  "He has PTSD, doesn't he?"  Sam nodded.  "Shit.  I'm so sorry."

At that moment Bucky walked through the lobby, and Sam called to him.  He stopped, looked, shook his head and stalked through the automatic doors.  Hayden went after him, seeing him already some distance away.  Running after him, she grabbed his arm, and he spun around, his face furious.

"What?" he growled.  "Have you come to ask me to be a good team player?  You want me to step up to save your precious movie?  I ...."

He stopped speaking, his face twisted with anger and something else.  Hayden looked at him sympathetically.

"Do you want to get drunk?"

He huffed.  "Can't.  The serum makes my metabolism burn through alcohol."

"Then where were you going?" she asked gently.

"I don't know, just away."  He ran his hand through his hair then looked at her in a resigned manner.  "I'm sorry.  Seeing myself recreate what I was overwhelmed me.  Even if it was pretend, it was too real to me.  I did it for a mission last year and it did damage to people I care about.  I vowed not to do that again."

Looking down at the ground, Hayden idly kicked at the sidewalk with her foot, then looked back up at Bucky.  He really was handsome, even now with all the uncertainty and turmoil he was feeling.  There had to be some way to save the movie.

"What if we find the right guy to be your stunt double?" she said.  "There has to be someone who resembles how you were then.  If he gets an intensive course in Bucky Barnes from you... behind the scenes, with no publicity."

"I don't know," answered Bucky.  "They said themselves there's no other stunt guy that's available on short notice."

"Maybe we don't need a stunt guy, exactly," said Hayden.  "Everett was right about movie magic.  They can do all sorts of things in post-production but having you teach a guy how to look, move and act like you were when you were the Winter Soldier is most of it.  You just teach him, and you won't be the one being filmed.  He will be, because it's his job to portray you in ways that Luke can't."

Bucky stood with his arms crossed, watching her with a scowl on his face.  She stared at him just as intensely.  It was a standoff as neither of them looked anywhere else but at the other. 

"Wow," said Sam, who appeared near them.  "You both been standing here staring at each other for this whole time?"

"I can do this all day," replied Hayden, still staring at Bucky.  "Four brothers tried to tease the shit out of me growing up, but I never backed down."

Bucky smirked but didn't blink.  "I'll do the intensive training with the guy but under one condition," he said.  "You find the right guy and you go out with me."

"That's two conditions," she stated.

"Two conditions then," growled Bucky.  "Those are my terms."

"Promise?" She held out her pinky finger.  "Pinky promise?"

A ghost of a smile creased Bucky's face but he linked his pinky finger with hers and she whooped, then ran to get Tory.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Sam.  "You didn't seem too thrilled to show Brad.  What changed?"

"Her agreeing to go out with me," replied Bucky.  "I like her."

The following day, after Bucky received Shuri's blessing to pass on his expertise in the Winter Soldier to the stunt man and the actor portraying him, he and Sam returned to the rehearsal space at the studio.  Tory had phoned Sam to say they found a guy but wouldn't say anything more.  When they got to the room Tory and Hayden were waiting. 

"Where is he?" asked Bucky.  "There's no one here."

Hayden smiled.  "He's getting into costume, just to see if it fits and if he passes muster with you."

The sound of laughing caught their attention and she turned around to see Brad, Everett, Luke and another man enter.  Bucky looked at the new man, not believing what he was seeing; an almost perfect replica of himself when he was the Winter Soldier.

"Holy shit," laughed Sam.  "Where the hell did you find this guy?"

The men approached them, and Hayden placed her hand inside the arm of the man who was completely decked out as the Winter Soldier, complete with mask and eye goggles.  He started to laugh, then took the face mask and goggles off, a look of complete and utter delight on his face as he saw Bucky.

"Wow!  It's really him, I mean you, I mean ... you're Bucky Fucking Barnes."  He offered his hand to Bucky, who took it as the man began to shake it.  "Hayden, you weren't kidding.  He's gorgeous in person."

She blushed.  "This is my twin brother, Shane.  He's had a big crush on the Winter Soldier since he first saw you doing that murder strut."

Bucky slowly pulled his hand away from Shane's.  "Is this a joke?"

"Oh, gosh, no!" Shane looked alarmed.  "No, please don't be offended.  Some guys, when they come out, they become drag queens.  I went the other way.  I'm a Winter Soldier cosplayer.  I portray you during that time when you exploded into prominence with your hair, and the mask, and that walk ....  All that repressed hyper-masculinity just waiting to kick some Steve Rogers ass and take out Black Widow and the Falcon in the process."  He looked beyond Bucky, seeing Sam and waving at him.  "Hey Falcon, sorry, Captain America."

"Hey."  Sam waved back with a shit-eating grin on his face, earning him a scowl from Bucky. 

"He's not a stunt man," said Bucky.  "He could get hurt."

"I'm not a stunt man but I play rugby, so I'm used to getting hit, I work out religiously, and I know your moves down pat," boasted Shane.  "I've won so many cosplay competitions that I'm not allowed to compete anymore.  Instead, I get hired to portray you at comic cons, role playing re-enactments, and just public appearances in general.  I make a good living because I know how to look and act like the Winter Soldier.  Plus, I grew up with three brothers and a sister that had no problem kicking my ass when I got too irritating.  I might be gay but I'm no pushover.  I can handle myself in a fight and the chance to portray you for this movie would make my life complete."

"He's got my vote," said Everett.

"He'll be getting a crash course in being a stunt double from me and we've arranged to get him into the union," said Brad.  "If you're willing to fine tune his and Luke's mannerisms, I think we've found our guy.  I'll still get a few stunts in the movie and get a fight choreography credit as well, which is fine by me."

They all looked at Bucky as he stood there.  Then he circled once around Shane before coming to a stop in front of him. He glanced at Hayden, who just gave him a smug little smile.

"You played me," he said.  "Did you hold back about your brother so I would ask you out?"

"Honestly? No."  She looked at everyone.  "I always thought Shane's hobby was cute but when you pointed out that the look and feel of Brad as the Winter Soldier wasn't authentic enough for you, it just got me thinking that an experienced Winter Soldier cosplayer might be a better way to go.  With his name in the credits, you'll get a ton of cosplay fans coming to see this movie."

"You got a date with him?" asked Shane, looking with surprise at his twin.  "Nice!  I'm so jealous."

"Okay, I'll work with Shane and Luke," said Bucky.  "As for our date, it's just with you.  Sorry, Shane."

With the agreement complete between them Shane went to change into something more suitable for rehearsing, although the costume designer wanted a better look at his costume that he made himself, seeing details in it that she was unaware of.  By the time the movie started filming two weeks later, after another week of rehearsal was wrangled with the studio, everyone was confident with what they were working on. 

Bucky and Hayden went on their date, and another, then several more, adding a whole other level of interest to the movie that fans became aware of.

🎞️ 🎞️🎞️

18 months later – Los Angeles movie premiere.

The limousine was still several blocks from the theatre.  Sam and his date held hands as he murmured into her ear.  Bucky looked at Hayden, his right hand intertwined with her left.  Somehow his thumb ended up playing with her engagement ring.

"Nervous?" She looked lovingly at him.  "If the red carpet gets too much, just follow Kelsey.  She'll get you into a green room where you can wait out the red carpet walk.  I kind of have to do it regardless."

He gave out a breath of air.  "A little," he admitted.  "I'm getting better at it, but this is kind of my movie as well and I'm feeling the pressure."  He noticed Sam's grimace at him.  "Our movie, although I bet he'll lap up all the attention for both of us.  Just keep hold of my hand and keep me centred."

"I can do that," she smiled.  "It will be fine, I promise."  She held up her pinky finger and he took it in his.  "Test audiences loved it, commented on how well the Winter Soldier was portrayed so your work with Shane and Luke made a big difference.  I'm going to sing your praises to anyone who will listen.  I love you."

"I love you, too, doll," he smiled, before kissing her lightly on the lips, not wanting to smudge her makeup.

The vehicle stopped in front of the theatre and the driver came out to open the door on the passenger side.  Sam and his date stepped out first, with him taking it all in stride, waving to everyone and calling out to the fans who were behind the barrier.  Then he looked back into the limousine at Bucky and gave him a reassuring smile.  Stepping out ahead of Hayden, Bucky waded into a huge cheer from the fans.  At first the barrage of flashes from the photographers bothered him then he heard his name from inside the vehicle and looked back at Hayden.  Right away, he felt better, and he returned her gaze with his own, that was almost a smile.  Offering her his hand, he helped her out, still sharing the look that was a silent message they kept only for each other.  As they walked on the red carpet, stopping every few feet for photos she kept her word, holding on to his hand with hers, knowing that action formed the very basis of their relationship.  In addition to the love and trust they shared it was also a nod to that day when she promised him to find the right stunt double and he promised not to turn his back on the movie that meant so much to so many people.  It was a promise made; a promise kept.

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[canadianhottmess]

The Fan Expo horror story I Never told y'all.

Okay. So Fan Expo took place August 24th - 27th 2023. But to understand a little we gotta zoot all the way back to Comicon 2023. March 17th-19th.

Other context. I, am 24. Ellie cosplayer/ Friend, is 19. Joel Cosplayer, is 35

So okay it's March 17th. My group bumped intp a cool ass Ellie (TLOU) cosplayer. They were asking about a Joel as they wanted to take photos. We didn't have one, later in the day they found one. (Yay! So we thought)

Flash forward to May of 2023. I meet the man that was their Joel. He asked if I would like to do a cosplay with him at FanExpo as I was planning to do Vex from Critical Role and he was planning Percy De Rolo. And I love collabing. I said sure. Since he seemed okay.

NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE TITULAR FAN EXPO WEEKEND!!!

I am staying with the Ellie. We became close friends.

Thurday. Ellie and I head to the con. Meeting up with the Joel. Prop check accidentally breaked his prop (easily fixed. And was) the whole day. He complained about it. Including calling the prop check lady a "dumb broad"

Friday. Not much to my knowledge, other than he sulked and had spurs on his cosplay that jinggled the whole day. And weirdly sorta insited that he and I would coaplay Janine/Egon togther without asking if I'd be okay with that (i wasn't. Janegon is something I'll only do with my partner)

Saturday. Here is where it starts to go down. Sat I wasn't around much as I was working. But from my friends story. They were doing a Teen Titans group. With Joel as Slade. Cool! But in the moring. Me and Ellie (who was Terra) we wanted to walk around a bit before I went to booth and the other Titan's got there. He still needed to get into cosplay that was in the other building. He got all huffy we didn't want to go with him so he could get changed. (Shoocker) IT TOOK HIM 2 HOURS TO GET INTO COSPLAY. 2 WHOLE HOURS! Then when they are set to do the shoot, he left without telling any of the other titans. Just dipped.

Sunday. Over the weekend I had gotten a bad feeling about this man. But we had a planned shoot that that. (Percy and Vex) but I was 1, feeling a little ill. Exhaustion probably. 2. The ick feeling this man gave me. So earlier in the day I tried to let him down easy. But he turned around saying. "Oh I'll take one for the team and risk getting sick". Anyways as the day goes on. I get more and more uncomfortable. Results in me throwing up. Having to pull out. How did this man respond to this?? "Oh okay, whatever."

After this convention. Ellie and I. Found some rancid posts this man had made. Homophobic, Misogynistic, and Belittling posts about genral and us specifically. So we cut contact. And To This Day. He is still posting passive aggressive posts about us.

[galactic-feelins]

Part 2: Ghosts Of Past And Ghosts Of What Could Have Been

Pov: Danny’s stuck dreaming in a memory he doesn’t recognize. What would normally be brushed off as fantasy, instead seems to answer too many questions to be fake.

It’s a late night after patrolling the town, I decided to hang out at the park to relax for a bit, and I’ve found some strange material that I’ve started fidgeting with. It had started turning up around in random places ever since the ghosts started running loose. It’s a little squishy, a little stretchy, but very durable. The strangest part is how even ghosts can’t pass through it. It’s not dangerous and it doesn’t hurt at all, it’s just way too solid. It’s like a bar of soap compared to raw Ectoranium. Sounds made up, but that’s life for ya.

As I was sitting on the grass, playing with this softball sized cube of mystery material, I had a strange feeling rush through me, but it wasn’t ghost sense so I ignored it. Just as I went to bite the material, I saw a spaceship in the sky. It sounds like a dream, and it sure didn’t look real compared to the vehicles mom and dad made for ghost hunting, but it looked the same texture as the material I was biting into at that moment. 

After a moment of staring in awe, I realized something and hid behind a nearby tree. Sure enough I heard a voice! Several voices actually! Ones I had never heard around here before! They said-… they were talking about-…

I couldn’t remember. It’s a blur. I don’t remember this! When did this happen? That night I fell asleep at the park! Or… I thought I did? The next morning I was in bed and it was… Monday? But that was Saturday night! 2 days later? 

Something’s wrong. 

Who were those people on the ship? One of them sounded young. Sounded… 14. How do I know that? Something must have happened. I need to retrace my steps somehow!

Back at the tree, I’m listening in on some conversation. They’re getting closer so I turn invisible and peak around to watch. The ship is gone but there’s a small ring of light I hadn’t noticed before. So far everything else is normal. There are 3 people walking away from where I thought I saw a ship, 2 of them in fur suits and the third is a 14 year old boy dressed like some cartoon character I don’t recognize. They must be cosplayers. That’s a normal enough explanation! Staying invisible, I attempt to follow them, listening in and hearing something about a “heart of the world,” or something like it. I start following closer and closer behind, believing I would lose them otherwise, but I feel a horrible chill that makes me gasp with that familiar vapor.

“Who’s there?” The boy whips around, startled by the sound behind him. I don’t know how to respond at first, but I don’t have to. Before I could say anything, one of those dark shadow ghosts pops up from where they weren’t looking anymore.

“Behind you!” I didn’t think before shouting. I forgo the invisibility as I instead rush between the kid and the duck guy, charging up a shot in my hand.

I hear a metallic sheen behind me now, and I could feel the kid whip back around to see the threat, but I’m focused on shooting the ghost and stopping it from lunging for the strangers. By now I’ve learned these ghosts are hardy and will recover even when they’re reduced to their cores, but I still didn’t have the best aim yet and only managed to hit its shoulder. Luckily it got knocked away with that hit!

Just when I was getting prepared for a brawl, the kid rushed forward with some kind of metal weapon and bonked it dead. “Woah…” I breathed out an exasperated reaction to… I believe it was a metal pole with a hilt, designed to look like a key. I must not have seen where he was carrying it, but it really is a strange choice for self defense.

“Thanks for the heads up,” the guy smiled, “but why were you following us?” His first question wasn’t even ‘why were you invisible’ or ‘who are you’ or anything like that. I don’t understand what’s with this guy! Before answering I check my hand to know how I look right now. Phantom. Great.

“W-well, I don’t know you!” I look away and put a hand to the back of my neck, flinching for a moment at the residual shock of a sensitive nerve. “Amity Park is my haunt, and I need to keep everyone here safe! I just, you know, uh… I-I didn’t know if you’re trustworthy, ok? I need to know who is or isn’t trouble so I can stop them before things get rough!”

“Your haunt?” The guy thinks for a moment before suddenly he beams. “Woah! So you’re like a guardian angel? That’s so cool! I’m Sora, by the way!” Suddenly he holds his hand out to me. This “Sora” character sure is friendly, huh? And a little too trusting.

“Phantom.” I take his hand and give the handshake a soft pat with the other hand. Looking at him a bit closer, and Sora looks like he would be in my class if he were from here. He was just 14. 

“So, are the heartless normal around here? You seemed to know what it was! How come?”

His curiosity is sickeningly sweet, but it’s infectious. “Heartless? You mean that weird ghost? The shadowy one? Well, I guess you could say they’re the new normal around here. They’re just a little weirder and more aggressive than the regular ghosts.”

The way he’s looking at me with those big shiny eyes, maybe I over estimated with 14! This guy is like a kid in a candy store, or one being read bedtime stories! “Ghosts? Is that how you turned invisible?”

“Yeah, I am a ghost. That’s why.”

“That’s so cool! But wait, what about the heartless?”

I don’t fucking know dude! I didn’t know there WAS a difference until now! I can’t be rude to the strangers. Luckily, the dog fur-suit guy spoke up, freeing me of these questions.

“Uh, Sora? I think we should focus and go find the keyhole!” He turned to face me, and it starts dawning on me his mouth was definitely moving with each syllable. That’s not a costume is it? “Uhyuk, it was great meeting you, Mr. phantom! You take care now!”

With that they turned to leave, talking amongst themselves all cheerful and happy go lucky. I have a gut feeling I can’t leave them alone, however, and I begin to follow them. I know my way around this town, but I don’t know what keyhole they could be talking about. As my mind wanders on what they could mean, I tune out their conversation. But something new catches my attention. They haven’t noticed me following them yet, but I sense something about them. 

That soft hum in my core next to my pulse, it’s still only the one core, yet I can feel more than us four here. Listening in a bit closer and getting a feel of the air, I find where that feeling is coming from. The dog and duck feel normal, if not for the fact they have a pulse that radiates energy like a core would, but Sora…

Before I could snap to my senses and stop myself, I’ve already placed a hand on Sora’s back. He shivers loud and comically, both from the cold and from being startled. “Sorry,” I say without even thinking or taking my hand away. Just as I thought, it feels as if Sora has several cores stored inside. They’re similar to the dog and duck’s cores, but cores all the same.

“What’s the big idea?” The duck quacks. “Are you TRYING to give people a heart attack?”

“There are 3…” I mutter to myself, but it seems they heard me. Sora turns to look at me sounding confused, and I meet and match his look. “You have 2 extra cores. One of them seems…” I try to find the words and shiver, retracting my hand and rubbing it slightly. “I hope that one’s ok. Are you ok?”

“Are YOU ok?” Sora responds by grabbing my hand and turning the question around on me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost! What’s wrong? What’s a core?”

I pause for a bit trying to collect myself, but then a moment where I see the irony in what Sora said I can’t help but laugh! Never mind all that core stuff! “I know! I’ve looked myself in the mirror this morning and everything!” I continue to laugh, setting a hand on Sora’s shoulder for support. “Come on, let’s just find that hole you’re looking for! Where would something like that be?”

Dodging the question didn’t alleviate their concerns at all it seems, but it sure alleviated mine! There were more of those ghosts, now known as Heartless, blocking our paths occasionally, but it turns out that yeah they could defend themselves! In fact, those heartless cores seemed to fly off never to regenerate into more heartless, strangely enough. I began to learn more about these heartless, and learn things I should’ve known this whole time. Meanwhile, it seems Sora can’t stop thinking about what I could mean about him having multiple cores. I’m sure he’ll get over it!

Time seems to blur now. Maybe whatever we talked about here wasn’t important enough to remember? The talk of a keyhole stirs up a vague memory, but it’s so hazy. Backtracking a bit, I remember having to fight a really big ghost and needing some backup. I couldn’t remember any details, but now it seems to clear up again.

That ghost was another heartless. It has the strange symbol on its chest and everything, and it’s absolutely massive! The heartless here seems very lion like, sporting a fluffy mane around a mask-like face, but the limbs are disembodied and closer to raccoon paws with their hand like shape. Despite the combination sounding like it’d be relatively small, this behemoth stands hunched over at about 2 stories tall.

The heartless spins its hands around its large torso before they jut forward, the mask shaking to make a clattering shifty sound. It’s taunting us! Even Sora seems worse for wear at this point, and I can’t blame him. This thing is huge! It’s barely affected by any hits we’ve dished out! We rush forward again, Sora and his friends try to attack the legs while I try to fly up to see if there’s a weak spot somewhere. Maybe the mask is covering something vital?

The heartless winds up slowly to slam down on the ground, but this time we see it coming! Sora gets out of the way in time, and if I do say so myself I weave through the gap in the hands gracefully and effortlessly! When the hands slam down I swear I hear the duck faint again. Must not have gotten out of the way in time! Oh well, he’ll be fine, he’s done this 5 times in the past hour alone. Now that Sora is to the side of the hands, it seems he has an idea. Even from up here I can see something click in his head as he jumps onto the hand. Not to attack it, mind you, but it seems he grabs on and ride it when the heartless brings its hand back up!

“Clever clever,” I tease. “Just try not to get smacked off like a fly!” Sora joins me on the beast’s shoulder, noticing some discoloration on the back of the beast’s head and neck. I fly a bit higher to see if I could rip its mask off, but the mask seems to float a short distance away from where the face would be. Going back to the neck, I help Sora with blasting the discolored spot.

After a few good hits, the heartless hunches over in pain, the sudden shift catching us off guard. Sora got it worst of all, nearly slipping off. Seeing him about to fall I rush to catch him. “I’ve got you!” And I was right! He likely would’ve fallen if I hadn’t been there! From this vantage, Sora notices the mask is hanging parallel with the ground. He could probably stand on it! Noticing his thought process we rush over and find the face of the beast! Not so tough looking under that mask!

Turns out, beating it up in the face and shooting some fire and ecto blasts did the trick! Before we knew it, the heartless keened and fell to the ground, dissipating into smoke. Where it had been, a huge heart floats away.

“Wow, that’s one MASSIVE core! Don’t you think?” I turn to Sora to make light conversation, but he suddenly looks shocked and concerned by my question. “Are you ok?” I try to ask, just in case I’m seeing things.

“Are you talking about the heart?” His response is another question?

“Well yeah, these guys seem to have a heart shaped core, but it’s a core nonetheless! Right?”

My answer seemed to shake him up more. He suddenly holds his chest, staring at the ground as if trying to understand something. It finally dawns on me. If he’s calling those cores hearts, and he’s looking for the “heart” of the world, is he looking for the planet’s core? Outwardly I scratch my head with a frustrated groan. The heart vs core confusion probably means he’s also realizing something about those cores in him too. This night has gotten so complicated.

Suddenly I have an epiphany. “Let’s go home,” I say simply, turning to take his hand and heading out back.

“Wh-huh? But we haven’t found anything we’re looking for yet!” Sora sounds confused and alarmed, but I can’t blame him anymore. If I didn’t know about having extra cores in me I’d be alarmed too!

I simply turn to Sora with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, we’re getting there! We’re off to Fenton Works, so be prepared for a mess!” Luckily that heartless was really close by! Just around the corner and down the block, actually! 

“Oh yeah! Just a heads up, I’m going to have to turn you intangible and invisible at times. You’ll see why soon enough, don’t worry!”

“You can do that?” It seems Sora didn’t know I could make someone else do what I do. 

“I guess it didn’t come up? Eheh, oops?”

Soon enough we get back home, and before Sora could try knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell, I grab hold of him and phase us through the wall. We’ve gotta hurry here, so I keep a tight grip on him as I guide him down to the basement lab, giving a sign to stay quiet. The duck and dog are too loud so they have to wait outside the house, but that’s ok!

Getting to the basement, Sora gasps as an unsteady feeling hits him. “I know,” I mutter to him, knowing full well how sickening the portal feels when you’re not used to being around it. The air is heavy and full of ectoplasm, and it’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s home. Even Sora seems concerned, knowing what I said about going home. 

I stop us in the middle of the room, holding a hand out towards the portal. “So here we are! The portal to The Ghost Zone! A straight shot connection between Earth and the land of the dead!” Sora seems sick just looking at it, so it go to step in front of him. Maybe I can recollect his focus. “So, does this seem very ‘heart of the world’ to you?”

After a moment Sora finally shakes away the those horrible feelings the portal was giving him. “Actually, it does sound like it! But then, how do we get to the heart?” Sora begins to pace, watching his surroundings carefully. At least he’s not tripping on anything, unlike a certain someone I know. After a moment he turns back to me with curiosity. “Can you turn the portal off?”

Sure enough, the portal is too stable, and at best we can close a door on it. That door doesn’t block everything though, but that’s the best we’ve got. I shake my head with a shrug, but then a new idea occurs. “What if the world’s core is not just in the portal, but through it?” Before I could give Sora the chance to understand what I’m talking about, I fish out a fishing line for a rope, and dig out a protective helmet for Sora. “It’s risky business, but you should be fine going in for only a few seconds if need be!”

Sora goes pale! “I’m not going in there!” I can’t blame him, really. I can’t help but laugh a little at his reaction. Setting the stuff for that idea aside, I walk closer to the portal. Everything seems the same as normal, so I dip my head in to look around. Again, everything seems normal here! That soft hum of the portal around me is soothing in a strange and twisted way. The rush of ectoplasm feels kinda nice now that I’ve gotten used to it. It’s like floating in the ocean, heavy and vicious, but calm and soothing.

Then I hear something I’d never heard before, or maybe I have only once before. A shimmering sound from behind me, and a metallic sheen. I can’t see anything in the portal itself that could be making that sound, so I back out, just in time to hear a locking sound as my hand leaves the portal. I look back to Sora, and I see that giant key again. I don’t know where he’s been keeping if, but now he had it pointed straight at the portal.

“What just happened?” I look back at the portal, and everything looks the same. Sure it seemed to shimmer a little extra for a moment there, but everything is the same as always.

“Well, you were right! The heart was in the portal!” He just grins at me triumphantly, as if that answers my questions. “So once it showed up, I closed it! Now the world’s safe!” AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN‽ 

With a job well done I escort Sora back outside and the three of them left. It seems the sun had already come up while we were downstairs, so I hurried back up to my room and transformed. Everyone’s going to be waking up soon, I can’t let them know I stayed up all night! So I rush into pajamas and get in bed to pretend I’ve been asleep… and then I woke up at 11am.

That next day is still blurry, but I had to apologize to Sam and Tucker for not coming home at the scheduled time. It really was my fault for ditching them, to be fair, but when we went to the park to make up for it, we found Sora again. The rest is still hazy, but I recall feeling very stressed trying to hide that I’d already met him the night before. I think he was there because he and his friends couldn’t easily leave in broad daylight, but I’m not sure anything super important happened there anyway. If I can’t remember it, it must not have mattered after all! 

But… what does that mean for the night before? As I think back on what that could mean, what those memories had and why I couldn’t remember before, I start to wake up again.

It Was The Night Of The Meteor Shower

Inspired loosely by a prompt, Danny’s friends and family did not survive the events of The Ultimate Enemy. Knowing what he could’ve been, he decides to find his own way through his grief. Although the ghosts of future are dealt with, he now uncovers ghosts of past, and it seems he misunderstood the ghosts in the present.

Pov: Danny going through quite possibly the worst week of his life whilst reliving the worst days of his life.

Link to prompt!

I’ve been thinking back on life lately. Like, was any of that a dream, or was it too real?

- - -

The lab in the basement was always a little unnerving to be in. Exposed wires on unfinished projects, cables running haphazardly across the ground, loose tools scattered everywhere, honestly it’s always been a mess at best. If this were a well known work place, our house would’ve definitely been condemned by now! Walking in now, I immediately regret my decisions up till now. Mom and dad’s latest project may be a bust, but they clearly haven’t cleaned up after they were done!

“Woah! Watch your step there!” Tucker jokes, but this isn’t the first time the floor has been covered in some mysterious substance, let alone a step on the stairs. At least Tucker and Sam seem to be enjoying themselves while I’m stuck with keeping them safe, but what are friends for? “Promise you won’t touch anything in here?” It may be obvious, but I have to ask!

Sam tisked at me sarcastically. “Psh, yeah, I was planning on drinking from mysterious flasks myself. Maybe chew on some cables or steal something radioactive.”

“Sam, I don’t think there would be anything radioactive in here! Danny lives just upstairs from here, wouldn’t he get poisoned if there was?”

“Cable,” I pointed out, just as Tucker was about to trip right over an extension cord, pulling him back for good measure. “Look, I know! Technology, cryptozoology, general weird cyber-goth stuff; I get it! But this stuff is dangerous! You’ve gotta trust me here!”

Sure, they understood of course, but it’s not like they were as serious about it. I’ve lived with this, I know how dangerous the equipment here can be, and I know you need to approach everything here with extreme caution. Maybe that’s why they figured they are safe here with me. Maybe they think I can protect them. I honestly have no idea where they got the idea I could protect anyone.

I could see Tucker shaking, trying so very hard not to pick up the gizmos and gadgets littering the lab to look at closer, but it’s for his safety he doesn’t touch them. I keep an eye on him the most, since Sam is only taking pictures with the camera she brought. I think she brought it so we could work on some project for school, but honestly making memories is more fun. Well, more fun when it’s not in your parents’ ghost hunting lab, anyway. I was watching Tucker lean to look at another side of some kind of circuit board when I heard from Sam again.

“Hey wait! Danny, you have a suit?”

“Ah- maybe? Huh?” Startled, I shot to attention to find Sam picking up a black and white jumpsuit. “Wh- hey!” 

I rush over to snatch it from her hand. It’s safe, clean in fact, and mostly unworn. The jumpsuit itself may not be dangerous, but it’s definitely a blow to an already fragile ego. I hold it out to try and fold it back up properly, but then I hear a click-snap. The camera shutter makes me flinch and I can’t help but glare at Sam.

“Oops?” Sam grins mischievously, brightly, and knowingly. “Hey! Maybe you can try it on!” I really didn’t want to, and she could see it. Sam followed up her request. “Please? I just wanna see it! I’m sure it looks good on you!”

I sigh, knowing defeat and knowing it’s a fairly innocent request. I can wear a jumpsuit fine, and I know it’s tailored to fit me. Heck, maybe it’ll be easier to prevent disasters if I’m protected too! So I step away to put it on over my clothes, listening in on their conversation about the portal itself. Ugh, the portal.

“So they really made a portal?”

“Supposedly, yeah! His parents really seem to believe it could work!”

“But why? We don’t even know if ghosts are real!”

I zip up the front and walk back over to rejoin the conversation, only to find Tucker leaning in closer. He seems to be listening to the hum of machinery. To be honest, it is a nice sound, pretty calming at times, but it can get annoying and usually indicates something live and active. I pull him away by the shoulder as I chime in.

“Well, I think they tried this in college too. Whatever results they found must’ve proven it in their heads that this could work.”

Sam starts snickering, but I can tell by the look she’s giving me that it’s not something I said. In fact, I know exactly what it is. Without saying anything, she walks over and rips off a huge decal of dad’s face from my chest. Honestly, good riddance. I’m sure dad wouldn’t mind a little defacing, as a treat.

“Oh! Idea!” Tucker snaps and points to me as he continues. “We should get a picture of you in the portal like that!”

“Oh yeah!” Sam chimes in. “Yeah in the hollow space there! With you in the suit, standing in front of all of this machinery here, it would look so cool and, maybe even professional!”

Well, it is an interesting idea, and it would look pretty cool. I agree! The jumpsuit has a hood and goggles to protect your scalp and eyes respectively, but we’re not doing anything except posing for a picture. It would look better without the hood anyway, so I leave it down. With that, Sam and Tucker get in position further away while I step inside.

I’ve never been so close, let alone inside of one of my parents’ inventions. Walking in feels surreal. The lights, dots, and lines running across the walls and ceiling are vast and interwoven, and yet so organized and strategically oriented. It’s like one massive circuit board with so many mechanical bits exposed. Clearly this part of the portal wasn’t meant to be seen. As I’m looking around, I feel something hit my foot as I try to take another step, sending a jolt up my spine in a panic. I feel myself lose balance and instinctively I stumble to catch myself. My hand lands on something, usually it would be fine to hold the wall, but in this case I feel something give under my palm. The hum of the portal grows louder, something whirs to life around me, and taking my hand off the wall reveals a button that reads “on” just below it. Realization hits, and I look to Sam and Tucker, but it’s too late. The last thing I see is their panic reflecting mine, before a sharp pain in the back of my neck introduces itself.

- - -

I woke up on the floor. Reality spun for a bit, and I wasn’t sure where I was. I could feel I was laying on some kind of concrete, and I almost thought I was in the lab again. It would’ve been an easy mistake, but I remember now.

I’m in a warehouse, in some city I’ve never known, and I am alone. Sitting up, I rub my hand through my hair, taking a moment to remember where I am and why. I am here because I, Daniel Fenton, am running for my life. Some strange ghosts have been popping up more and more frequently lately, and they’ve been chasing me far more aggressively than any ghost I’ve ever met. Not even Skulker is as bad as these guys! 

In the beginning, there weren’t that many, so they were easy to handle. It was always so strange that they made sounds but never spoke, and they seem to follow pure instinct and emotions. These ghosts don’t banter, have no obvious obsessions, and sometimes I see weird tattoos on them. In fact, there seems to be multiples of them, like blob ghosts. I could fight them off for a while, and I could stop them from attacking random people. A lot of ghost hunters got their infamy and fame for getting rid of these guys too, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Now, however, it feels like swarms of them are tracking me down at all times. 

Just as I was thinking I could never get a rest from them, I feel a chill and see an icy trail of smoke leave my mouth. It seems it’s time to get moving again. I stand and slap myself in the face for a quick burst of energy before transforming. Almost as if on queue, the shadows cast on the ground rise into solid shapes, puffs of black smoke appear and strange knight looking guys drop in the smoke’s place, and all of their beady yellow eyes stare back at me with what I’ve come to understand is killing intent.

Knowing where they are now, I bolt in the opposite direction, flying straight through walls and ceilings, getting as far from my assailants as possible. These guys are persistent, but it seems most of them don’t know how to fly. Problem is, some do. Once I’m outside, I catch sight of some more of the strange ghosts, these ones winged and colorful. “Are the wings really necessary?” No response, as always. It seems there’s only about, say, 7 total? At least 3 different shapes at a glance. Since they’re in the air, it’s probably safe to say a few ecto-blasts should take care of them no harm done!

A bit of blasting, a bit of punching, a few scratches here and there, and the numbers start dwindling! Sometimes after hitting them enough, they’ll poof and turn into weird heart shaped cores, so I stuff them in the thermos! I can’t exactly dispose of them anywhere, not anymore especially, so this thing is getting a bit crowded. The good news is I don’t try to stuff every ghost I see in there. In fact, the number of flying guys has increased dramatically over time already, so I figured I gotta leave again. 

Of course they followed me. I tried to stop somewhere for a moment when I thought I got enough distance, but there they are! In the distance! Flying towards me! From this vantage point, it’s easy to see just how many of them there are total. I see the ones from inside the building scrambling out, and I can see many more from the shadows and side streets all skittering out as a crowd. “Oh boy,” here we go again.

- - -

Back then, I woke up to a weird feeling that has since become normal. Everything was light and tingly, and yet so, so weak. I could hear shouting, though too muffled to understand right away. When I finally tried to open my eyes, there was a red flashing, giving way to a green glowing light occasionally. When I came to, I saw Tucker and Sam’s faces, panicked and every crying, yelling and begging for me to say something or give a sign that I was ok. I didn’t feel ok, but I tried at least sitting up at the time.

White hair, white gloves, black suit. There might have been a decal, something tells me there wasn’t, but the decal looks cool enough it might as well have always been there. With help I stood up, and we found our way to a mirror so I could see the damage for myself. I was glowing, but not in a figurative way, but more in the way a hot iron will glow white with heat, or maybe how some toxic goo would glow like a vat of glow-sticks. There were my eyes, staring back like green neon signs on a horribly scratched up sign. As I began to panic, I watched my face twist in the mirror into something else, which only made me panic more. The more I panicked the less human I looked, and the less human I looked the more I panicked, but Tucker helped ground me again. Sam comforted me and had me take deep breaths. Before I knew it, I was myself again, black hair and all. Life had never been the same since that day. The way everyone else in Amity Park know it, that was the night of the meteor shower.

- - -

I finally found another moment’s rest. Ironically, it was the presence of another ghost that calmed my nerves. Unfortunately it was Skulker that decided to stop by.

“Well, you sure are far from home, aren’t you?”

“Can you really say I have a home anymore? You know what happened.”

Of course Skulker knew. He smiled knowingly before thankfully changing the subject. “Those shadow ghosts really have it out for you huh? They should really know their place!”

“Heh, yeah, I wonder what I did to piss so many off them off like this!”

“Oh, what didn’t you do!”

Admittedly, he got a laugh out of me. Feeling a bit more at ease, I sit down on a dumpster nearby. Skulker can make himself comfy on his own. I can’t help finding it strange that Skulker is the only other ghost I know that’s approached me so far. I have been running for a few weeks now, so I have gotten pretty far from the ghost portal, but even then there are other ghosts out there! And yet, it almost feels like everyone’s avoiding me. Skulker is the only one that I’ve been able to confide in lately.

“So what do you think their deal is?” I don’t wanna change the subject yet. I have had plenty of time with these guys and I wish I knew what they’re doing.

“You think I would know? You think I would send them after you like that?”

“What? Nah! You hunt alone don’t you?”

“Exactly that, welp! I don’t need any hounds chasing you and herding you to me! I can and will catch you on my own terms!”

“Oh goodie. Always wanted to be mounted on a wall.” The sarcasm might’ve been lost on Skulker, but it helps me stay calm.

“Maybe some day, but today is not that day! I need you in top performance before I can hunt you down proper! For now, I will help you in your time of need. Hunter’s honor.”

“Hunter’s honor…” I respond a little quieter, honestly not sure if that’s a thing. Something about it feels less like a promise, and more like camaraderie. I suppose I could have been considered a hunter, but, “I can’t be a hunter. I’m not hunting anything.”

“Oh, aren’t you? I believe I remember you were hunting for a solution to your uh… situation…”

My situation is not the same! I can’t say that, I couldn’t even bring myself to answer. My situation… it’s hard to explain, it was a stupid spur of the moment decision. Meeting clockwork, seeing Amity Park’s future, knowing what I could become, it’s all a mess I wish I could forget. I stare at a nearby wall, holding my chest, and feeling not only my pulse but a soft drumming of something foreign and new.

I failed to save them. I failed to save my friends from disaster. I don’t know what gave them the impression I could save them, especially if I was the one that put them in danger. After that explosion, there were no survivors of that accident. I saw some kind of light leaving their bodies, I could hear a soft hum from each of the lights. The hum was familiar, but much quieter than the one I’m familiar with. I was scared, and I didn’t want to lose what little what left of my friends and family. So I grabbed on. I rushed to scoop up those little lights before they flew away or shattered with how young and fragile they were. I held them close in grief, and then, they were gone. I could still feel them now, but they weren’t in my arms anymore. What’s left of everyone is right here, with what’s left of me.

“I can’t find a solution if I’m dead.” I realize my poor choice in wording immediately. “Gone. Turned to dust. Reduced to atoms. Nothing could save them then.”

“Well, you wouldn’t have to worry about your grief anymore if, you know, you weren’t conscious anymore? I could put your cores in a jar and put it up on my mantle!”

“Oh what are you, a heartless?”

A beat. A… Heartless?

“Oh, so the welp doesn’t know grammar either, it seems!”

I don’t respond, and he seems to catch on. Why did I say that? Why is it getting to me? What is a heartless and why does it feel familiar? I try to stand again, but my legs start feeling a bit wobbly, and my head gets fuzzy. A heartless. What is a heartless? Why do I know this? My energy is spent, and as the world goes dark I hear a vague shout, and I hit the ground.

[shytastemakerthing]

hi!! may i request a matchup for ensemble stars and twisted wonderland? ^_^

i’m a pretty chill and lowkey individual. i’m usually very tolerant of other people and hardly anything angers me as i’m very patient and tolerant of other people even if they bother me. i have an unhealthy habit of ignoring and burying my negative emotions before they surface, and i also struggle to identify my true personality as it is locked behind the many masks i’ve put up due to my constant people pleasing. i secretly wish to be able to freely express myself and my opinions since i often hold myself back and am agreeable with other people even if i internally disagree. i have also been known to be a very smart and talented person who easily picks things up however i do not apply myself due to my lack of passion and low self esteem, so i usually frustrate people for wasting my potential. my hobbies are cosplaying, which i’m not too open about, and i also enjoy anything related to science and STEM and researching topics or theories i find interesting. i usually express my interest in someone by engaging in playful banter and i enjoy being teased even if i am very quick to fluster. i do not like people who are judgmental and rigid or emotionally volatile as i feel very pressured around them and am less likely to be comfortable acting like myself. i believe that’s all i have to say, thank you so much! :]

A/N: Thank you very much for your request! This honestly took off more than I thought that it would! This one will be the TWST matchup and then the Ensemble stars will be on a separate post. It may take some time to get to that one as I want to go through the other requests in my inbox first so they aren't waiting so long😊.

Honorable mentions for your TWST matchup include, Idia, Leona, and Trey!

I match you with......

Cater Diamond

• Okay, you guys vibe on an all new wavelength that you leave everyone else around your baffled and stunned, it's insane. Especially when it comes to the personality that you bith share. Keeping everything inside, hot letting people see and know the real you, and keeping things bottled in. Honestly, you two hit it right off the bat.

• It honestly didn't take Cater very long to figure out that you were like him in your own way, and with that, he felt understood when he was with you, almost as if he didn't have to keep on the mask of a carefree and happy student who could care less about anything when we, as an audience (as we have seen in some of his story), that it's quite the opposite.

• Not that it didn't mean to guys had smooth sailing the entire time. It took work and effort to build this relationship up, letting walls come down, in private, and getting to know and trust one another. But, once you both have gotten to that point within the relationship, it's rather a beautiful sight to anyone who sees the two of you #couplesgoals.

• Speaking of relationship, it was a rather funny story, you hith quite literally asked each other at the same time. The whole wanting to talk to each other in private, then talking over one another and urging the other to continue before it just came out. It made for good laughs and two very happy people.

• You're a cosplayer, no matter how much you are open about it, and you have a raging social media crazed boyfriend who can and will hype you up over every little thing. He would love to be able to see you dressed up and do a photo shoot of you to post something onto his Magicam. But, he will totally keep all of these pics private in a folder for only the of you to see if that is what you prefer. He will NEVER post any photo of you on his account unless if he has your exact, in words, permission to do so (consent is sexy, everyone!)

• If he DOES get permission to post any pictures of you or the both of you just doing whatever, because I totally see him as having a whole bunch of couples photos and goals moments littering his feed, you guys are a sensation. Pretty much everyone loves the both of you and the happiness that you bring one another! You guys have become the new media sensation of pure couples goals.

• Cater can be a pretty playful guy, especially where you are involved. He only wants to see tour happiness, real and true happiness, so he will never do or say anything at your expense. If there is any form of playful teasing, he is careful about it and backs off the moment that he sees it may be starting to get to you. And this involves protecting you from the teasing of others, no matter what anyone else says. The moment he sees you closing off and walls going up, he is there to remove you from thr situation as soon as possible.

• Even with a crazy day, he enjoys the calm and quiet moment that he gets to spend with you at the end of the day. He would take you to his dorm, both of you in your most comfortable clothes and he has the spice Ramen and anything else you'd like to eat ready. He loves being able to hold onto you, brush through your hair, he even uses his unique magic to create his clones to help. He's never been this happy before in his life.

• Overall, you're the reason he smiles now. No longer having to plaster one on and go about his day hiding. Because he doesn't have to hide when it comes to you. And every moment he gets to see you and ti spend time with you is a reminder that he really can be happy, and he will do anything to help ensure that same happiness for you.