#imagine being embarrassed being with a cosplayer at a place full of cosplayers

[0pawprint0]

Fickle Fandom

Warning: crass language (I have no filter)

I need to rant about something I’ve noticed. Unfortunately, I deal with a person like those I’m about to talk about in real life and it’s not fun. This essay/rant is extremely informal and just me getting my thoughts out there, so please excuse the text talk, slang, shortcuts, etc. I am also very tired when typing this, so please cut me some slack if I don’t say what I’m wanting to in the most eloquent way!

I’m sure a lot of people have noticed that fandom spaces have become incredibly toxic. What used to be a fun place for weirdos (/pos) to feel safe and accepted is now being torn to shreds by people who can’t stand others having fun. TikTok is a great example of how a safe place for fandom behavior quickly became a cesspit of negativity. This post mostly focuses on cosplay. TikTok was basically built on cosplay. That used to be the main thing you’d find on the app! As more and more people started using it, it started to have different kinds of content, and now cosplay tends to get shoved down in favor of something more appealing to a wider demographic. Unfortunately, this means a lot of mean-spirited people have too much to say about a community they are not even part of.

The hate for cosplayers is unreal. Cosplayers aren’t doing anything wrong. We are dressing up as characters for fun. It is not hurting you. If you see something you don’t want to see, it is not hard to swipe past it. Ignore it. Interacting with it will ensure more content like it will reach your fyp. But some people just want to be mean and love the chance to get to do so. People make fun of cosplayers now like it’s their job. They insult them and throw fits like toddlers the moment they see them. Most hate for cosplayers is rooted in ableism, by the way! Fun fact! The word "cringey" has been twisted by sad people to target neurodivergent individuals. Many cosplayers (not all, but many) are neurodivergent. Many cosplayers are lgbt+, too. And you bet homophobia and transphobia is rampant in fandom spaces, too!

The hate doesn’t stop at people who don’t have nerdy interests, either. Oh no. Even people from fandoms are rude towards cosplayers! People will complain about "cringey" cosplayers "ruining" fandoms. Spoiler alert: there are cosplayers in every fandom. Kindly, get over it. People enjoy their fandoms in different ways! Some people write fanfiction and draw fanart, some consume fanfiction and fanart, some only interact with the original media, and some cosplay. All are valid ways to enjoy it! Hating on others for how they interact with their fandom is ridiculous, to say the least. The people ruining fandoms are the ones who can’t stand seeing others have fun. I’m sorry your life is so boring you can’t stand seeing others being creative and having a good time. However, that doesn’t give you the excuse to be a dickhead. Policing how someone expresses their love of something is not cool. Anyone who does this is actually a pathetic little weenie.

Let me get into my personal experience! Remember how I mentioned I have someone like this irl? Let me tell you about the interaction that spurred this rant! I am preparing for a con at this very moment. This weekend! Some context here: I am a cosplayer. I have been doing it for years and it’s a hobby that I love and don’t plan on giving up on anytime soon. I am also someone who is very inspired by drag and I enjoy doing my makeup inspired by cartoons and drag queens. This person absolutely cannot stand it when I decide to even put on a little makeup for the heck of it. Oops, I’m also someone who does my makeup occasionally outside of cosplay! The incognito nerd saw me carrying some of my makeup to my bag and stopped me to go, "You’re not gonna dress like a CLOWN, are you?" This could be taken literally, but I’m pretty sure it was meant to be an insult. This person insults my makeup often, claiming I don’t do it right (there is no right way to do makeup, btw). They also generally insult the way I dress. I told them no, but why would it matter?

"Because it’s embarrassing! Don’t embarrass me!" Babe, YOU embarrass ME tbh! I literally told them straight up, "This place is going to be filled with cosplayers and people like me. I don’t know what to tell you." If you are someone who gets embarrassed of cosplayers, a con probably isn’t the place for you. What used to be a safe space for cosplayers is now overrun by people who don’t know how to have fun. I should not have to worry about being harassed and made fun of at a place where people like me are supposed to thrive. Please, loosen the stick in your asshole ever so slightly so you can see that cons are meant to be fun! If you’re easily overloaded by "cringey" stuff, please stay home. You sour the mood and suck the life of everyone around you. Okay, sponge mop?

I can’t even get into how some other cosplayers treat cosplayers. That is a whole other can of worms I simply cannot get into right now. We will be here all night. Cosplay is not a clout contest. It is not about who is most accurate to the character. Cosplay is supposed to be FUN! And it is for everyone! No one is too old to cosplay. No one is too fat to cosplay. No one is too skinny to cosplay. No one should feel restricted because of skin color. No one should feel restricted because of gender. No one should feel restricted because of money. No one should feel bad about cosplaying, ever. People can stylize characters. People can make closet cosplays. Cosplay is for everyone. If I see any more cosplayers bringing other cosplayers down, I’m gonna lose it.

My point is, fandom spaces aren’t as fun as they used to be. I miss when I could walk into a con with a barely recognizable Juuzou Suzuya cosplay and still get complimented for trying (real experience! Those cosplayers were so kind!). I miss when I didn’t feel like I’d be judged for entering a space I should feel safe in. I miss when I could drag up my cosplay as much as I want without someone telling me the makeup is too much. I miss when fandom spaces were fun. If you can’t handle fandom activity in a fandom space, you should reflect on why you don’t like it. Most likely, it’s jealousy others can enjoy themselves so freely. Let others have fun. Just because you’re miserable doesn’t mean everyone else has to be.

[fearissorrowful]

“You’re kidding…right?”

Well, being honest. Your first thought wasn’t ‘Hey! Let's house a bunch of killers!’ it was actually. ‘This sounds like a bad idea, screw it!’

Safe to say… you weren’t actually planning for it to happen, you kind of just assumed… otherwise.

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁. . .ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁. . .ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁. . .ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁. . .ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁. . .ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁. . .ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

Donni smiles at you. “What is the worst that can happen? You have a big house and I'm sure it's just cos-players looking for a place to crash.” he pats your back reassuringly. When you had offered a friend of yours a favor you weren't exactly planning on this. “Why am I doing this?” you mumbled to yourself, were you really about to devote yourself to this. One…two…- six people?

Your eyes stay glued to your phone as you think. “Y/N??? What are you thinking about?” Donni notices your silence and offers a hand, his eyes full of concern. Donni has liked you for a while now, in a friendly way. His friend Denies however had the biggest crush on you and was embarrassingly open about it, he was a huge geek who thought he was too hot for the cheerleaders, believing in the classic popular boy x nobody trope. 

Which was all kinds of offensive to you.

“I’m fine… I’m just not sure, what if these guys are creeps! There are tons of weirdos that do cosplay, you know? - ah- no offense.” you ramble to Donni, your cosplay loving friend. He shakes his head. “Non taken, I see your point but these guys are legit. I mean…” Donni cuts himself off pointing at his phone, a picture he pulled up. “Look, they’ve been to every big cosplay event in existence… well besides this one.” he bumbles, excitement in his eyes. “Why… would they come to this one…it doesn't start till…” you glance at your phone's calendar. “It's two months away.” you groan.

“-Which is perfect! They are earlier birds. Imagine how responsible they are.” Donni says, waving his hands dramatically. Sometimes you related him too much to the ninja turtle Donni…but could you blame yourself? Your friend is Geeked out in a smart non smart way.

“Uh-huh…” you zone out, biting your lip as you eye the picture. Something felt…unsettling about it, yet you couldn't place your finger on it, not that Donni would even let you despite your obviously clean hands. “Fine.” you sigh, as Donni exclaims.

“I’ll host them for a few months up until comic-con. However they all must pay their fair share, it isn't easy owning such a large home.” you explain carefully, ignoring Donni’s dancing, it was already embarrassing enough sitting here outside of the school especially when it's over. “Thank you, thank you Y/N! This is going to be so awesome having famous cosplayers in your home! You won't regret it….I'm going to meet famous cosplayers!” Donni loudly mumbled the last part as he violently shook you back and forth out of thrill.

“Donni! Stop, I'm going to puke!” you screech trying to wriggle out of his grasp. “Ahaa- Sorry Y/N I’m just excited.” He smiles sheepishly. “I can tell.” you groan in response, rubbing your arms as he glances to the side. “Fricking turtle.” you lean back onto your elbows as Donni makes a small humming noise, possibly questioning your choice of words. “Who?” he questions obliviously. “You.” you sneer back before getting up with a small irritated smile.

“I'm heading home, arrange whatever it is with them and let me know.” you begin to walk off, only turning back to see Donni wave at you frantically with a large dopey grin. You laugh to yourself as you hop inside your vehicle, usually you walk but this week you dubbed yourself lazy.

Thankfully today was friday but too bad for you it meant you would be walking next week, if you had the motivation. 

Plugging your keys into the ignition you listened as the pleasant sound of your baby roaring to life filled your ears like a symphony, patting your steering wheel as you peeled out of the parking lot and began to head home, until you didn't and took a turn into the market, no knowing when your guests would arrive you assumed it would be better to get food before hand and have them pay you back later. If they didn't like what you bought, tough luck.

Shrugging your shoulders, you let your car down gently listening to its engine quite as you hopped out from the vehicle, keys in hand. Taking your sweet time as you walked into the market, eyeing it's wonderful display from the outside, humming to yourself as you slipped on your headphones, mindlessly wandering the isles with a small cart, nothing too extreme in mind. Maybe you’d make dinner tonight instead of ordering something like yesterday?

It wasn't till you bumped into a wall of a figure did you realize you had zoned out, lost in thought. Looking up you notice how tall the man really is, not too taller than you but above average. 

“Uhm- hi? Sorry-” you shuffle back awkwardly to give the stranger some space. They rub their neck, “N..no it's okay, my bad'' they quickly say. Clearly this person didn't interact with others much, you could tell. You’ve never seen them either and they looked around your age… probably going to a different school, though you highly doubted it considering how convenient your school was compared to others, the  next closest being out of town.

The stranger eyed you briefly before the both of you were startled by someone else, leaning over the stranger's shoulder. Was it safe to assume they’re friends? “Ooohhh~! Who’s this cutie, frank?” the other stranger asked, ‘frank’ the guy he was leaning on as he began to loom over you.

Frank groans looking irritated. “None of your business Dandy, now shoo! We have things to look for.” Frank angrily grabs an item before stomping off, dragging Danny with him. You almost laugh, you would have if it wasn't for the sudden feeling of dread you felt, wash over you like an unpleasant order.

It wasn't till you turned back around to focus on what you had started did you get a phone notification. Looking down, you grab your phone, yanking it from the comfort of your pocket as you eye the notification curiously. It's from Donni, he had texted you and by the sounds of the multiple exclamation marks near the label of ‘IMPORTANT’ in all caps… it seemed pretty important.

Sighing you stand still, hopeful not to run into another person. Opening the message you are begging to read, your sweat dropping from your forehead as you silently curse under your breath. ‘IMPORTANT!!!!! Goodnews, they arrived just earlier today and are in town!’- Donni.

“Dang it, Donni.” you huff out, stuffing your phone into your jacket, now dragging your feet around the markets tilted floors. “Maybe… I should have ordered takeout…” you mumble as you facepalm. Why were they here already if they’re looking for a place to stay? Wouldn’t you plan that ahead of time?

Guess Donni was wrong, they are not as responsible as he thought so. With a small nervous flick of your wrist, you scan your surroundings, hopeful to make quick of your trip as anxiety gnaws at you.

You can't help but think….What if they are already there and I'm making them wait? You attempt to calm your breathing as you begin to rush around the store, your paycheck was definitely going to take a massive hit and you knew it. You’d bug Donni for extra cash later… or Denise.

With a small yelp you tripped forward, expecting to fall you slam your eyes shut and brace but instead are met with strong arms wrapping around your waist. As you're pulled up your eyes shoot open. “Falling for me already Doll face?” the voice rings out with a familiar tone. You feel your face flush with embarrassment. It was one of the guys you ran into earlier, you believed his name was… Danny?

“Uhm… no- I just tripped is all.” you squeak out as Danny playfully frowns. “I'm just messing with ya’ doll face. If you wanted to be in my arms that badly. You could have just asked.” he smirks again, seeming to not take the hint, you squirm slightly in his grasp becoming more uncomfortable with each second that passes, his gaze is on you… solely on you, as if the world had ceased to exist outside of his hold.

“Let her go, dumba*s” Frank smacks Danny, upside his head almost making him drop you. Danny’s smile twitches as he sets you down. “Me and doll face were just havin’ fun.'' His playful demeanor begins to fade. Danny and Frank glare each other down, not noticing as you slip away to cash out your gathered items.

“Phew… that was weird…” you groan to yourself, trying to stay low as you approach the check out desk, only to notice Frank and Danny were already there paying for their soda. You glance at them confused at how they had gotten there so fast… it was weird, since you had run into them the first time, it just seemed like you're going to keep running into them like some chile movie…

However you just shrugged it off as it is indeed a small market and you are not the main character to a romance film, denying to admit how attractive you found them was not step one to a blossoming romance… right?- slowly snapping out of your thoughts you approach the counter, the guys had been chit- chatting by the exit oddly enough, noticing you…which wasnt what you wanted.

The duo walk up to you earning the cashier's attention, the young woman cashier smiles at them even though she had just served them moments ago, it made you want to roll your eyes.

“Hi again sweetheart, it's funny how we keep running into each other, I’d say it's meant to be.” Danny smirks at you. He is attractive but the feeling of dread still didn't sit right with you, ever since meeting them. You shook your head, dodging his arm as it came to swing on your shoulder. His smile falters as Frank stands there awkwardly. “It's just a coincidence is all.” you say, mostly just self assuring yourself rather than the two men in front of you.

Danny chuckles. He’s possibly one of the smoothest flirts you’ve ment so far, it's oddly charming but horrible at the same time. Especially when you do not know these strangers other than their first names. “Don't be in denial sweetie.” Danny coo’s, leaning forward, but before he could continue the cashier clears her throat gaining his attention.

Frank glances at you. “He’s an idiot.” he whispers as you nod, making him chuckle. During this whole time though you failed to realize the cashier had already scanned and bagged your things until it dawned upon you.

Frank gracefully pointed to the already bagged groceries, you thanked him as Danny was still occupied by the cashier. You quickly slipped away, making your way to your beloved vehicle.

Hopping into your vehicle alongside your groceries, you try to plan out dinner. Not sure how much your guests would eat, you decided to rather make extra and save the un-consumed portions for leftovers.

[giorno-plays-piano]

Impersonator

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, stalking, death of minor character.

Words: 1953.

Summary: Meeting a cosplayer in Berlin isn’t a big deal, really. You don’t actually know why you are drawn to this guy in his stunning horned helmet, standing on the train with a seidr in his hand.

P.S. I own the plot of this story to amazing @caffiend-queen​ and my determination to write it to lovely @kinathewolf​ <3 Although I changed the story a little (this post made us discuss the idea), I hope you will like it!

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Waking up when it was barely six, you kept yawning and rubbing your eyes while sitting on the train. You worked for one of the thousands of start-ups in Berlin, and your boss always liked to start pretty early. Well, despite waking up when it was still dark, you didn’t mind, really – the U-Bahn was much less busy now than thirty minutes later, and you didn’t have to stand the whole way to your station.

Today was a bit different, though. Not that there were too many people, but that one guy with his horned helmet looked so fantastic you simply couldn’t take your eyes off him. He had entered on the Bismarckstraße station, and since then you had been staring at him shamelessly. He was the spitting image of Loki, that god from Asgard, the one who had been released by Avengers not so long ago for his aid in protection of Earth from an invading alien force. Now Loki had his own fan club, and this guy was probably one of the squad. Seeing him in a full suit wasn’t surprising either – tomorrow was the first day of Comic Con, so he was probably going for a cosplay catwalk rehearsal before the event.

No one was really paying attention to him as he stood silently near the door with his seidr, but you just couldn’t help yourself. Come on, he was probably the most handsome guy you had seen in years, not even mentioning his gorgeous costume. Although you had never been Loki’s fan – for God’s sake, you still remembered that day in Stuttgart – this guy’s passion for cosplay was admirable.

When you reached Wittenbergplatz, a group of cheerful tourists entered the train, and the guy had to move further, taking a place close to yours. Of course, you still stared at him in awe, and he quickly noticed you. His piercing gaze finally made you realize it was unacceptable to gawk at someone like this, and you averted your eyes, feeling your cheeks growing hot. The cosplayer chuckled at your reaction.

“I’m so sorry!” You muttered, clenching the fabric of your jacket. “I just- ugh, I mean, your cosplay is stunning!” Now that you said it, you were just too humiliated to add anything. Why couldn’t you be like all other people who didn’t harass the poor guy with them staring? Of course, no one would be comfortable with some creepy girl watching over them.

But the guy didn’t look worried or embarrassed even the slightest bit. When you saw his face, you realized he was amused as he looked at you with a grin on his face. Now you even felt a little scared because there was something animalistic in his gaze.

“Thank you. I was spending day and night crafting this costume.” He was smiling, and you realized he was probably playing the role of Loki now.

Oh damn, of course. Being a cosplayer meant not only wearing a costume of your character but being this character, behaving like them, speaking like them, sometimes even moving like them. This guy was doing exactly this, and, to be honest, he was really good at acting since for a minute you believed he wasn’t just a mere human.

“I’m sure you will be the winner of the contest this year.” You smiled shyly at him, still embarrassed at your behaviour earlier, and the guy laughed at you a little. God, you felt so terribly awkward.

“Thank you. If my brother won’t show up, I’m sure I’ll have a chance.” For a second you thought there was something bittersweet in his eyes, but then it was gone, and the cosplay rose to his feet, shining in the electric light of the subway. “This is my stop. Have a good day, my lady.”

Of course, you barely nodded at him, felling like you’re gonna explode from the way he called you and how the guy bowed his head a bit at you as if you truly were some Asgardian goddess. Minutes later you would curse yourself for being so stupid to not even ask his cosplayer’s nickname – how on Earth were you going to find his profile on Facebook now? Since you were in the middle of a new marketing campaign, your boss would never let you leave tomorrow to visit Comic Con, and that was your only chance to ever see that amazing guy again.

Ugh, living with that useless brain of yours was quite a challenge.

You had already bid farewell to the cosplayer since you knew meeting him by chance again in a city as big as Berlin was impossible – especially if without his costume and wig and makeup the guy would be unrecognizable. The next evening you were sitting in the train just like all other evenings when you were coming late from work, a bag with a chicken sub in your hands along with an already cold cup of tea. You sighed, thinking of Comic Con and all the fun people were having there. Damn, next year you would definitely take a short vacation to finally visit the convention. Maybe you would have a chance to meet that mysterious guy again.

“It smells nice.”

You immediately raised your head, staring at the cold blue eyes of the guy you met yesterday’s morning. He was still wearing his horned helmet and shining golden armor, the Scepter in his hand. He sat close to you again, and you suddenly found the courage to smile at him widely. God, it was happening. He was really here, with you.

Was he coming back from Comic Con? You thought they finished way later, but maybe he was just tired to spend the whole day in this outfit – you could imagine how heavy it was – and left earlier. You couldn’t blame him, thinking of how many people probably wanted to take a photo of him during the day, too, and it was definitely tiresome as hell to pose in front of tons of people for hours.

“Would you like some?” You handed him your paper bag. “It’s a sub with chicken. I haven’t opened it yet.”

“Ah, it’s a very generous offer. It would be rude of me to decline it.” His smile sent chills down your spine, but you reminded yourself he was still playing his role. Anyway, what could he do? Follow you to your apartment in this outfit? Seriously? He would be stuck in the hallway with those horns of his.

You watched like the Loki-guy took a half of your sub and returned the other half to you, then taking a bite and chewing slowly. To your delight, he nodded, telling you he liked it without words, and you chuckled at him. Now he looked almost cute with his puffed cheeks as he kept biting more and more. Apparently, the sub wasn’t bad, and you dug in it enthusiastically, caring little for a few other passengers. No one was looking at you two, anyway.

Halfway through finishing his part, the guy stared questioningly at your paper cup of tea, and you smiled at him with confusion.

“You can have it, too, but it’s already cold, sorry.”

Now he was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Did he think it was funny? Was it because he thought real Loki would find it funny? You were too confused but decided not to ask. You looked silly enough yesterday when you were gaping at him with wide eyes. No more of this today! You couldn’t blow it if you wanted to ever see the guy again.

“It’s quite alright. Let me help you.” He carefully lowered his seidr so it touched your cup, and in the next moment you saw a soft blue glowing surrounding it. It was coming directly from the Scepter, and you literally opened your mouth while staring at it wide-eyed. Wait, did this guy put something inside the seidr? Like, a light bulb or something? God, it was beyond your imagination!

But before you started throwing questions at him, you suddenly saw a wisp of steam coming from your tea and felt how the cup grew hot in your hand. Oh shoot, it definitely wasn’t just some light bulb! His Scepter was a real machine!

You probably looked like a little kid, your eyes shining and jaw dropped at the sight of something that looked like a miracle to you, and Loki-guy chuckled softly. He was seemingly content with your reaction as you even sniffed your tea a little bit to feel it really was hot again. But when you brought the cup to him, thinking he wanted to drink, he gently refused it.

“Thank you, but you have already given me enough.” His smile was much softer, and your cheeks grew hot again at his kindness, though it was you who shared your food with him. Strangely, it was like this stranger had some effect on you, and you smiled back at him, lowering your head to have a sip of tea.

However, the next moment the guy furrowed his brows, looking somewhere behind you, and you saw him lifting his seidr again, pointing at something behind your back. You missed his concerned gaze, but not noticing the blinding light coming from the Scepter was absolutely impossible – for a second you almost lost your eyesight, squeezing your eyes shut and clenching the paper cup in your hand. What was that?! But before you got truly scared, the light had disappeared, and all you saw was that Loki-guy sitting close to you with a piece of chicken sub wrapped in a napkin in his hand. His Scepter looked the same as before, no blue glowing coming from it. Wait, you didn’t imagine this blinding light, did you? It was here just a second ago!

As you tried to turn back to see what was happening, the stranger suddenly stopped you, his warm hand on your shoulder as he leaned closer to you, smiling, “Your tea is going to be cold again.”

“Yes, b-but-“ You gawked at him and then stared at his seidr, unsure what to say. “I-I mean, have you seen that light? Did it come from this thing?”

You heard someone behind you letting out a sudden scream and smelled metal and plastic melting. It was disturbing enough as it was, but then you realized you smelled the burning flesh searing from someone’s bones.

The Scepter. The guy’s resemblance to the Asgardian God of mischief. Shit.

Before you tried turning again to see what was left of the seats behind you, Loki’s grip on your shoulder became painfully strong. You watched him leaning even closer to you in slow motion, the world around you slowing down as the man whispered to you in a dangerously low voice, “Don’t look back. You don’t want to see what is left of that creepy man who was staring at you all the time, do you, dear?”

Frozen on the spot, you barely nodded, your eyes not leaving Loki’s pale face as he smiled, letting go of your shoulder and touching your arm surprisingly gently instead. You heard the sounds of crying and whining, people around you scattering to the different part of the car to be as far as possible from a man in the horned helmet. But you just couldn’t move from your place, glued to your seat, an Asgardian God looming over you.

“I am grateful for you sharing your meal with me. I’d like to thank you properly,” he said softly, and you swallowed your tongue instead of letting out a loud scream. “Let’s leave on the next station. I know a few nice places in Mitte.”

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Tags: @finleyjayne​ @alexakeyloveloki​  @helenaeisenhower​ @villanellevi​ @hurricanerin​ ​@void-hoechlin @abyssaint​ @heeeyitskay​ @chris-evans-indian-fanfic​ @rosalynshields​ @brattycherubwrites​ @sllooney​ @angrythingstarlight​

[kusunogatari]

[ ObiRyū October | Day One | Shining Armor ] [ @abyssaldespair ] [ Uchiha Obito, Suigin Ryū ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ]

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It all comes down to this.

Checking and double checking his gear, Obito can’t help a worried sigh. For weeks he’s been considering giving a new hobby a try, and even before then he’d started saving for something to do. He stumbled across a possible activity completely by accident when making a detour home one day from work. In a park he’d never visited was a group of twenty or so people - adults, mind you - doing what looked to be some kind of...really involved make-believe.

A little research revealed it to be called LARPing. Live-action roleplaying. Like taking one of his favorite fantasy videogames or a tabletop campaign, and making it as close to real as one can really get: literally acting it out, in real time, with real people. Dressed up as their characters and everything!

He was hooked.

Hours of research later, he’d gotten started: crafting his outfit, weapons, supplies, and a character to play. A barbarian warrior...something he thought suited his build, and his appearance.

No real need to explain his scars, that way.

It took a while to build up the nerve, but he finally approached one day and asked about how to join. Most events were just day-long ones as opposed to full weekends, he’d learned. And an entry fee helped cover a few costs like extra props, costumes, and even food for the players over the course of the day. Fifty bucks and he could hop in.

He hadn’t done so right away, still fiddling with all the details of his character. He wanted it to be perfect…! But eventually there was nothing left to procrastinate, so...he packed up his gear and headed out.

And now here he is, standing with a few other newcomers. Thankfully his underclothes were normal enough to walk here in, and he starts strapping on armor he’d made. It’s nothing too fancy, but he managed to get some metallic paint to make it look like real steel. Overall, for his first go of it? He’d say he’s done well. There will always be time to improve as he goes, right?

It’s a high fantasy setting, as he’s learned. Elves, magic, that sort of stuff. Pretty typical, as far as he’s read. And while he’s set to be a moldable, playable character, so too are there those who play more static roles for the players to interact with...as well as those helping to craft the stories. Each only takes six to eight hours, as not to drag on past each day gathering. But some end up interconnected. Today, it seems, given all the new faces, they’re starting a new event.

The main coordinator and storyteller gathers the characters together to give a brief overview, as well as introduce the NPCs before they start. But once it begins, there’s no breaking character. Hours of being someone else for a day - no longer is he Obito, but Garver the Crushing, complete with a mace and shield he found tutorials for online.

With the plot set, everyone disperses, taking their places and readying for the game to begin. Obito, along with a few others, start by browsing the “town” to gather supplies for an upcoming battle set to take place. His character doesn’t know any magic...but he can certainly use things like throwable weapons, and potions to ensure he doesn’t get taken down too easily.

But the NPC selling potions is swarmed first, so he idles around for a bit, browsing a selection of weapons available for gold...or in this case, real-world quarters used in place of anything too fancy. In the end he picks up a dagger, not wanting to eat into his character’s savings too much.

He then finds the potion “shop” empty of other patrons, and shyly makes his way forward.

Right away he can tell, this one’s a pro. Not only does she have a good array of props, but her outfit looks entirely legit. Within an actual period-appropriate tent are few shelves, complete with a banner: White Dragon Remedies, it proclaims. Bottles filled with shimmering liquid are made of a squishy, clear material to prevent any breaks. She also has some “enchanted” clothing: more glittering fabric to indicate their magical properties.

Turning to face him, she reveals more of her outfit. While her actual dress is a rather plain dark grey, it’s her cloak that makes his jaw drop comically. White with silver embroidery work, it’s a piece of art in and of itself. It sweeps the grass, a wide hood draped over her head, still revealing her fake (but very convincing) elven ears.

Her eyes are a light grey, almost white to match her colorless locks. Even her brows and lashes are white! He wonders if it’s makeup and a wig, or if this is how she actually looks.

“Greetings, traveler,” she offers with a smile that makes his chest clench. “Are you in need of my brews…? Or perhaps something laced with magic to protect you?”

Still a bit shell shocked, Obito flounders for a moment like a fish out of water. Clearly she’s a long-standing player to be this prepared and decked out. “Uh, I...y-yeah. Um…”

As he stutters, she can’t help a glint of amusement in her eyes he’s pretty sure isn’t in-character - she’s actually having to hold back a laugh, he can tell. “I have a wide variety of wares,” she offers, clearly trying to help him regain his head. “Potions of healing, articles of protection, and even scrolls of contained spells for those unable to cast enchantments themselves. All highly valuable on the battlefield for a warrior such as yourself. Is there anything specific you’re looking for…?”

Trying to delve back into his character, Obito looks around. What would Garver like to take with him…? “I’ll take healing potions, at any rate. What do they cost?”

“I’ve one that can heal a minor wound, and one for a more...serious injury. The former is ten gold, and the latter twenty.”

Ooh, he...won’t be able to get too many. His ears turn red in embarrassment at his both in- and out-of-character poverty. Weighing his coin pouch, teeth nibble the scar along his lip in thought.

“I also have garments that help reduce damage taken. More costly, but also more effective over time. You’ll need fewer potions for as long as you have it, my lord.”

“Oh, I’m no lord,” Obito quickly refutes. Garver is a simple mercenary, after all.

“Any patron of mine receives my respect,” is her polite rebuke. Reaching for a verdant scarf, she holds it aloft for him to look at. “This will halve any damage you take. A robust enchantment indeed.”

Something about it catches his eye. “...and the cost?”

“Fifty gold is all. And, since you’re a new face in town, I’ll throw in a lesser potion of health for good measure, no extra charge.”

“But -?”

“Dark times lie ahead, traveler. We must all be cautious. And you’ll need to survive them to visit me again when you’ve more coin to spend, hm?” She winks an eye, and his chest flutters again. “Consider it an investment in your well-being. And perhaps mine, if you ever return.”

Blinking at her, Obito then looks down at the scarf. It does sound like a pretty good deal… “...I’ll take it.”

“Excellent!” Folding the scarf as he counts out his quarters, she fetches one of the blue sparkling potions. “I wish you luck, traveler. May fortunate winds blow at your back.”

“A-and you,” he stutters in reply. “...thank you.”

“Save your thanks for when that scarf saves your life, stranger.”

“...Garver.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I - my name, it...it’s Garver.”

Her expression brightens. “Ah! A pleasure, lord Garver. I am Wyria of the White Dragon. I hope our paths will cross again sometime.”

Not sure how to reply, Obito just gives a sheepish nod before retreating. Nearby, another male player seems to evaluate his gear.

“Well met,” he offers, nodding to Obito in greeting.

“Hello.”

“Been to stock up on potions, have you?”

“Er...yeah. Yes. I...can’t afford much.”

“A mercenary’s life is spent in constant search of coin, eh? You must spend it to make it.”

The corner of Obito’s mouth twitches. This interaction seems a lot...easier. “True enough. Though just once I’d like to get ahead.”

“All it takes is one lucky break! And just one unlucky one to have it all come to a screeching halt. We walk a blade’s edge, my friend.” Holding out a hand, he offers, “Irkvar.”

“Garver,” Obito replies, shaking it.

“So...what think you of the potion seller?”

“What do I...think?”

The other man grins. “A beauty, isn’t she? Not often you see elves this far north. They seem to prefer the warmer climates. But she keeps us all stocked and alive.”

Before he can stop it, Obito’s brow furrows. “...seems we’re lucky to have her, then.”

“Indeed.” Glancing around, the man then leans in and whispers, breaking character for a moment. “She’s a professional cosplayer. Goes to cons and makes big bucks with photos and shit. She’s huge on Instagram, too. All-natural hottie - no wig or anything, that’s just how she looks. Makes her super popular if the cosplay fits well. Wouldn’t mind getting to know her better but she tends to ghost once the events are done.”

At the rather...objectifying language, Obito scowls. “Can’t imagine why,” he mutters sarcastically.

But his tone seems lost on his companion, who then slides back into character. Yet even as the idle speech drags on, Obito can’t help but remain annoyed with the guy.

What an ass.

Once the prologue is completed and the characters found to be ready for the next phase, Obito manages to evade his new “friend” and immerse himself more into the story. The city has received word of an impending attack...and he has a choice to make. Stay and fight for the city, and receive less gold...or betray them and join the attacking force, which has more gold to spare.

Thinking of the goods he could acquire with some extra spending money, Obito nonetheless finds himself tugged toward the moral high ground. So after some debate, he decides to remain in the city. A few more darker-aligned characters actually swap, and he finds himself preparing to face them.

It’s them, or him.

Hours pass as skirmishes start and stop. Strategies are laid out, twists in the story guided by the NPCs. Obito, scarf around his neck, manages to keep his character alive, relying on his single potion as the battle seems to wane.

But then the boss appears...and he realizes he’s made a grave mistake. There’s no way he’s going to make it with no more potions! He could do the cowardly thing and run, but -?

“I cast Wall of Spectral Light!”

Jolting, he turns to see the potion seller. A hard glint is in her eyes, staring at the boss with a snarl.

Seems she’s decided to work to protect her home.

The narrator calls out the spell’s effects, proclaiming that her actions help protect a section of the defending army...including Obito. No damage is taken, but the barrier can only repel so much damage. From a belt at her waist, she begins tossing extra potions to the players.

“I’ve no gold,” Obito replies.

“We’ll settle any debts later, should we live through this,” she replies, looking to him gravely.

For a moment, Obito forgets this is all a game. He meets her desperate gaze with one of his own, and there’s a sort of...spark.

But they don’t have much time to chat.

The battle rages on, player characters calling out spells as Wyria and other NPCs lend scripted hands. And just as the sun starts setting, someone lands the final blow...and the boss collapses, dead.

A chorus of triumphant cries echo out over the park, and characters celebrate, embracing and beating chests. Obito sags in relief. In truth...he’s exhausted. More so than a day at work!

And as the cheering goes on, it’s joined by children who had stopped to watch, Obito sheepishly waving to them and earning more excitement. Seems they’re convinced this is all real: the joys of childish imagination.

Looking just as tired as the rest of them, the NPCs offer their congratulations to their heroes. And Wyria greets Obito, much to his surprise.

“So, seems that scarf served you well, Garver,” she offers with a wry grin. “I think you can properly thank me, now.”

“It did...as did your potions. I owe you more than just gold - I owe you my life.”

“You and a few others,” she replies cheekily. “But all debts will be settled in time. I’m sure  I have a job or two you can do for me sometime.”

Grinning tiredly, Obito watches her for a moment before everyone is gathered for a final celebration in the town. As it begins to wind down, the storyteller declares the event over, and everyone is allowed to break character at last.

Sighing in relief - yet wholly satisfied with his Saturday - Obito glances around. It’s then he realizes he didn’t see Wyria in the party, and indeed she’s instead been packing up.

Seems the man from before is right - she doesn’t waste any time. It wilts his expression, as he’s pretty sure he understands why. Keeping his helmet tucked under his arm, he sheepishly approaches. “...need any help?”

At his voice, she spins around, eyes wide, still dressed in her attire. But she softens as she recognizes him. “Ah, sorry...I thought you were, uh...nevermind.”

“I think I know who you mean,” Obito assures her. “So I thought I’d lend a hand, if...you want it.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

They finish dismantling her setup, which Obito compliments. “This must’ve taken a lot of time.”

“And money,” she assures him dryly. “But...I love it. It’s been worth every dollar and hour. I love acting and dressing up, so...it only makes sense. I was one of the people who helped set up the LARP group here.”

“Really?”

“Mhm! Right out of high school. It was really small and...cheap at first. But we’ve grown a lot over the years. We even put on shows for schools sometimes. Which helps earn more money to keep the group going.”

“That’s awesome!”

“Maybe you’ll join us for one?”

“Eh…” At that, he hesitates. “...maybe. I’m still, uh...new. And…” He gestures to his face, wilting. “...not sure I’d be good around kids.”

“They seemed to love it before. And they’ll just believe it’s part of your character. Are…?” It’s her turn to pause. “So...those are real?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too. The hair and stuff, I mean.” Her eyes roll. “Used to get me bullied, but I do pretty well thanks to it now.”

“Someone mentioned you cosplay professionally…?”

“Mhm. It’s not a full gig, I still work. But it helps. And it’s a lot of fun, when...people aren’t being jerks.”

Obito sours. “Yeah...I caught a whiff of that earlier. I’m sorry.”

“It comes with the territory. Just...wish that it didn’t.” After a pause, a box of stuff in her arms, she offers, “I...just realized I never introduced myself! My...real self, that is. I’m Ryū.”

“Obito.”

“Nice to meet you. And thanks for the help.”

Helping her load the last boxes into her car, Obito can’t help but ask, “So...do you always play an NPC?”

“I do. As much as a character is fun, I enjoy being part of the structure. And since I’m one of the founders, I feel more...set in stone that way. I play Wyria every time. So I’m almost like a playable character, just...set to a script. I’m the same person for every story, but I enjoy it a lot. I feel like a piece of the foundation that way.”

“I think I understand.”

Closing the car door, she gives him another look. “Thanks for helping me pack up. And…” She glances past him for a moment, and his head tilts. “...for helping ward anyone else off.”

Obito nearly turns to look, but brightens in understanding. “...oh! Yeah, sure. Any time.”

“So, will you be back next weekend?”

“Er...maybe.” He itches his neck guiltily. “The, uh...ticket price is a little steep for me.”

“Yeah, it can be. Very few people come every week. Mostly it’s every other, or once a month. It keeps the group fluid, though. A different pool every time.” Ryū gives a smile. “But it’ll be cool to see you again. You did really well for a first timer!”

Obito feels himself get warm at the compliment. “Y-yeah?”

She nods. “Did you do any theater in high school?”

“A little, yeah.”

“That helps. And it only gets easier the more you do it. I’m sure Garver will be a staple pretty soon. And Wyria will always be happy to sell him some potions...for the right price.”

Smiling bashfully, Obito then stiffens. “Oh -!” He reaches up and takes off the scarf. “Here, I -”

“No, that’s yours.”

“...but -?”

“You bought it in-game, so it belongs to Garver.” She waves a hand. “I get material and stuff pretty cheap, don’t worry about it. And players trade things back in for upgraded stuff, so it usually cycles back. Just don’t lose it, okay?”

“Oh...well, thanks.”

She just smiles in reply. “Well, I guess I’ll see you whenever you can make it back in! Take care, Obito.”

“Yeah, you too.” He steps aside, letting her pull away from the park’s lot in the dusk of evening.

He needs to get home, too...it’ll be dark by the time he gets back. Stripping off his gear and putting it back into his duffle bag, Obito smiles to himself. It was a really good day…! Better than he’d feared. And maybe he’s even making a new friend, both in and out of character. Sadly his low wages mean it might be a while before he can come back, but...well, it’ll be worth the wait.

Replaying it all in his mind, he starts back toward home, unable to help but linger on the scenes with Garver and Wyria. Partly he feels bad - he doesn’t want to be like Irkvar. But, well...her character is interesting! And Garver just...enjoyed her. That’s all.

...that’s all.

     Aw yisss, we’re back with another ObiRyū October, y’all! And the first piece is set in a modern verse with some LARPing, cuz...Obito is a canon professional LARPer, after all xD And the prompt just fit too well, I couldn’t not do it lol      I have a few buffer days built up JUST in case I fall behind (as I...always do), but I’ll still be writing to try and keep up. Otherwise, as per usual, I’ll be doing my best to post once a day through the whole month in celebration of my OTP!       So on that note...I better start working on more xD Thanks for reading!

[mandalorian-bitch]

Behind the scenes

The Mandalorian Modern AU.

Pairing: The Mandalorian x fem!reader

Summary: You are a photographer and a cosplay convention worker. Nothing really interesting happens at these events, but this one... this one brings different feelings when you met that man wearing a glowing helmet.

Warnings: none.

A/N: Well, it is my very first time writing some mandalorian stuff. I'm sorry if it's a little too long and boring, I promise it will get better with time. I actually saw a mandalorian cosplayer at a convention I've worked last year so somethings here may be real. Since English isn't my mother language you may found some grammar errors while reading and if you do, please, let me know so I can fix it :). Hope you enjoy this!

----------------------

You always liked cosplay, it was never a secret. In the beginning your parents thought it was just a hobby, then they told you it was madness and a total loss of time spending months organizing an event and then more hours strolling with a camera in your hand. But then they understood that it makes you happy, in your way of being happy.

It is almost a relief, both for you and for anyone who participates of these events, being who you really are. The vast majority awaits a whole year for the convention, it's like one of the few places where you can act according to your strange taste for space wars or romance about vampires. Or more recent, the k-pop fans. Once a year, you are not the weird nerd who sits alone at lunch break. Everyone there is in the same boat to suffer bullying from elementary school to college, even at work, but there we all are the same.

Cosplayers carry a little bit of each character with them, and they seem to do the magic of movie superheroes as they enter a dark alley like civilians and get out of there in extravagant fantasies. Their look changes, so as their physiognomy, all insecurities, low self-esteem, anxiety and the many social issues that plague most of us simply stays outside the event. People stop them while walking around the event, asking for pictures in character poses, and most of the time it's you who takes the pictures. In addition, you help them to wear the clothes and everything, like a staff. It does not pay much, but it already helps until something better comes up. You graduated at Design school about two years ago and has been a difficult time for professionals in this area, now that anyone downloads Photoshop and some more templates ready for small companies and many of them prefer to pay less for it. Still, you have good friends and they always designate you for some freelance that pays enough to insure yourself for a month or two, until something new appears. Being a photographer helps too, since being at an event full of people wanting good photos already yields a few hundred in your Paypal account. Most cosplayers look quite eccentric, in fact, and barely speak. When they speak, they do not leave the character in a scary, but funny way at the same time. Leaving insecurities without becoming one asshole is very difficult in these cases, but some are nice people. Like a guy who always brings his girlfriend to the event and every year they wear a different cosplay couple. This year, he was Han Solo and she was Princess Leia.

“Hey, (y/n)! Can you take a picture of us?” the boy approached, smiling, holding his girlfriend's hand.

“Sure!” You adjusted the focus of the camera the moment an armoured guy passed behind them.

You have seen that model of armour, of course. There is no way to forget Boba Fett's armour. You didn't know much about the culture involved, but remembered that there was some race or creed and thought it was cool. You could imagine the work he must have done to assemble each piece of this armour. It was silver, with very good details, as if he really was using steel and had been fighting against a dragon or something like.

Anyway, it caught your attention.

The couple moved closer to look at the photo and a second of you looking at the camera, still a little fascinated by the figure, was enough to lose the sight of him when you looked behind them again. Curious. You showed the photo to them while still looking around, looking for the armoured man who walked so calmly a few seconds ago.

“Thank you!” The girl smiled, looking at the photo. When she noticed the figure glossy in the background, her eyes sparkled. “Woow! Is this a Boba Fett or what?!”

“I thought the same thing! But I don't think it's exactly Boba.” You smiled, putting a lock of hair behind your ear. “If you guys find him, say that I want to take some pictures, something for… the event.” They waved and kept walking.

When you thought you saw the helmet strolling through the crowd again, Greef Karga, your supervisor touches your shoulder and makes your attention turn to him.

“(Y/n), I need you to help with some troubles in the dressing room, silly thing but they need someone with experience in dealing with those dickheads” He sighed. Greef, a black guy over fifty years. He also wore a dark blue shirt with the logo of the event as you did and had a moustache. He was like a second father to you, and always supported the event and even got you some freelances.

“Alright.”

The problem in the dressing room was between two women, one using a blonde wing and the other, using a long, red wing. The ‘blonde’ one swore that the redhead had stolen her blue eyeliner and the redhead, in addition to denying it, swore even in her mother’s name that the blonde one had stolen her Lancôme foundation. Nothing that had never happened before, but it was certainly something that should not spread out through the corridors.

“This red bitch steals my eyeliner! This is absurd, is there no security in this place? Cameras?” said the blonde, her wig gave an extra head on her size. Her makeup half-finished and still wearing only the pants of what would be her cosplay.

“Not here, because you change clothes in here.” You started, in a calm voice. Saying ‘please, calm down’ isn’t the better thing to say to someone who’s clearly not at the mood to calm down. The best thing is to transmit this through your voice and the way you look. “Have you looked calmly in the bags? Maybe near the mirrors?”

“I already showed all my things to this bitch and she keeps accusing me!” The redhead spoke between her teeth, her blue eyes burning in anger. She was wearing a 20 centimeters high heels and a white dress that make her look like a Greek goddess.

You started looking around, but to no avail, while they keep yelling to each other. It was better to find at least one of the things before they started to fight with the wooden swords they brought, if so things were going to get really worse. The anime songs playing in the background didn't help much and more and more cosplayers approached to ask what was going on.

There was nothing more hateful than kneeling on that floor, full of fantasy remains, hair - some wigs, others were real hair - feathers and scattered glitter. But still you got on your knees and started looking as fast as you could, touching under the various suitcases left on the floor and asking for permission where you were crawling. Until you look under one of the dressing room mirrors, the ones with the lights around, and see a clear bottle. The damn foundation must have fallen and the redhead, so worried about something else, didn't notice. The bottom of the bottle had “Kayla” written with red nail polish.

“Who's Kayla?” You asked.

The redhead looked down and her face fell into an expression that seemed a mixture of shame and joy at finding the base.

“See it? I said I didn't stole anything!” The blonde said, sighing and looking to you “How cool, she got the damn foundation back. But where's my eyeliner?!”

“Is that an eyeliner?” a modulated voice echoed behind you.

Slowly, you stood up and looked back to face the armoured man. He was pointing to the blonde, but not actually to her. It was something at her. You were very impressed with the voice, the helmet must have some technology stuff that could make his voice sound this way and it's amazing. Not every cosplayer pay attention to this detail when wearing a character that wears a helmet. It looks like there’s no difference, but it actually does.

Here are you again wondering about the “silver Boba Fett” (that’s how you decided to call him in your mind until remember what character he’s wearing).

“Can I?” he asked and after receiving a nod from the blonde, he approached her carefully.

You, Kayla and two other cosplayers were watching the scene. Lightly, he removed something caught between her huge hairstyle, without ruining the whole thing.

“Here you got.” He gently said with a smooth chuckle in the end.

“T-thank you". It was almost a whisper. She received the eyeliner and looked down.

“You’re welcome.”

“Apparently it was with you all the time.” You said, shrugging your shoulders and making a ‘I told you to look calmly to things, girl’ face.

They were both embarrassed, but at least they had stopped accusing each other and cursing in every possible way.

“I think it's everything okay now, right?” You asked and they just waved, without looking at each other. “Well, good luck in the competition, girls!”

“Sorry for the uproar...” Kayla looked at your little badge, with an expression still a little embarrassed.“(Y/n), thanks for your time.”

You smiled in a corner as you looked for the armoured man. “and you-"

He was no longer there. You stared at the place where he should have been, and for a few seconds you looked around, but to no avail. It was funny to still look for him, even though he is just a stranger with a very good cosplay with whom you would like to exchange a couple of words, take some pictures, maybe have a coffee...

After leaving the room, a cosplayer dressed as Geralt of Rivia approached.

A guy of almost two meters, in full costume and holding the saddlebag with both swords, looked like a wall standing in front of him.

“Hi, uh... I wanted to register for the contest, can you help me with this, (y/n)? - His voice was deep, but it didn't seem to have anything to do with the character, as he sounded naturally strong and calm. After a while in this environment, you learn to differentiate.

“Ah, yes, I'll take you there!”

---

You stepped away from the crowded areas a bit and went close to the backstage, texting other co-workers to see if anyone needed any help somewhere. There always was, but no one answered in a while, so you got a sandwich in the cafeteria and leaned close to the staff room to eat where the crowd didn't seem to notice you. Behind a big event, a lot happens. A lot of things go wrong, but also every little thing that works, each small problem solved without causing curious eyes, was a big good thing to the convention. The work was simple, in general, and you didn't have much to worry about except the public's entertainment and mainly: Don't annoy cosplayers. They suck at observing and praising good things, but are quick to see any loose wire on the wall to complain about the risk of electric shock on social media. Of course not all of them were like this but still, there are always a dozen assholes to ruin your year-long job in a few minutes by typing 280 characters on Twitter.

But the armoured guy... He seemed to be oblivious to the two types mentioned. You didn't see him in the dressing room, when you had to go there, or at the event's photo studio. There was always a glimpse of the shiny helmet standing out from everyone, and you always gave a silly little smile when he waved that helmet to you. And it's very important to remember the helmet, because you haven't seen it without it all day. And you have been curious, curious to ask several silly questions.

Did he not eat all day? Worse, didn't he drink water?! You finished the sandwich with that feeling that you should see if he ate just to see if he would agree to go to the cafeteria with you later. But of course you got busy sometimes, so there’s no way to be a stalker.

“(Y/n)??? HEY!” Greef waved his arms in front of your face, as if he wanted to wake you up from something, but you weren't sleeping-

Oh.

“Oh, sorry, Greef. I got distracted” You hugged yourself awkwardly.

He shook his head in disapproval and opened the employees’ room door to show you something.

“Well, there are some boxes to carry to the warehouse, back there.” he pointed to the other side of the place. At least you wouldn't have to go through the crowd, you could go behind the stage and then through the sides.

An easy work, however, there is always something heavy to do. You agreed and saw the image of Greef Karga getting lost among the nerds he hated so much, precisely because he was one of them since the 1980s. You faced the three boxes, probably full of cables and other production's stuff and ran your hand through your hair to arrange it in a high bun, so it wouldn't disturb you.

You carried each box out of the room and stacked the three outside, closing the door. Okay, you can do it.

Can't you?

Carrying all three at once would save time and of course it was unreliable to take one at a time, leaving it alone and being stolen, who knows? You bend down to try to load them, but it was kind of obvious that it wouldn't work. You try again and even let out a few grunts, but it still doesn't work. The crowd in front of you remains like a cluster of ants that have something better to do and by the rules you should never accept help from anyone but your co-workers.

“Alright.” You sigh and take out your cell phone, texting your closest colleagues.

Nobody answered, nor even read. In half an hour you should be on stage as a good staff and help the cosplay competition.

"That sounds heavy," again, the modulated voice caught your attention.

The helmet's T-visor focused on your eyes, you could feel it.

“Yeah... I don't know if they do this to me because it's my first year at this convention, I had worked in many other but-" a sigh comes out of your lips and he analyses you carefully, with his hands at his sides. “You don't even have to hear that, I shouldn't complain about these things with a-“

You stop when you were going to say something wrong, at least for the situation.

“With a strange nerd wearing an armour and a toy gun around his waist?” His metallic voice sounded serious, but in such a serious way that it was funny.

You kind of laughed, looking around.

“It was just a joke, I guess” he added and then laughed too.

His laugh send a heat to your heart.

“I didn't want to-, I don't even know which character you are, you know... I'm sorry for that, but I really have to start carrying this.” You try to change the subject.

“Would you... would you like some help there, (y/n)?”

The way he says your name behind this half-robot, half-Iron Man effect, sent a shiver down your spine. I wasn't the first stranger to say your name, of course, you carry a damn name tag on your chest. And you would love to accept help, but you shouldn't accept it or someone could see it and then you would lose the next two days of the convention by being fired.

“I thank you, really, but if someone see-"

“No one will see, I can walk behind the stage.” he pointed to the dark part where only employees pass from time to time.

“I can't, really” You smiled in a corner and held the first box in your arms, when an idea came to your mind and you looked to him. “Actually, you can help me...”

He approached the boxes and you put a hand on the path, almost touching the breastplate of the armor. He looked at you, probably confused under the helmet.

“You stay here and watch the two boxes while I take this one. So you help me and no one notices.”

“Okay, I can do this.” His voice sounded amused and you could feel his grin behind the helmet.

“You stay, okay?” You straightened the box in your arms and started walking. “Keep your beautiful armor right where. Don't move"

He laughed and raised his arms as if surrendering. So you kept walking to the dark part of the stage, walking slowly. Halfway there, you thought that you being followed by someone, but it was just an employee passing by quickly without looking at you.

When you arrived at the warehouse door, you turned your back to push this and went in that way with the box still in your arms. Walking around the warehouse was a little difficult with the amount of boxes lying on the floor, especiallyin low light, so you took a look at the box label to find out on which shelf you should leave it. Leaving the box in place, you turned to go back and gave a surprise look when you saw the two other boxes at the door, with a handwritten note on top of these.

“It is a mandalorian armor :) - D.”

A silly little smile formed on your lips and you kept the note.

Of course the most sensible thing to do, having just a few minutes until the competition, was to organize the boxes. After doing this, the first thing that comes to mind is looking for the guy with the helmet in the place where you supposedly left.

But there was no sign of him.

---

After touring the rest of the event trying to find the mandalorian, you gave up. Maybe he got tired of walking around with the costume, or him got too hot to stand with this or he simply had something better to do.

You just sat next to the stage, in the last hope of seeing you going to the cosplay competition in the shiny armor he wore. Each person who walked to the stage caught your attention, but none looked like a mandalorian, and neither they wore a similar armor.

After all, why was it so important? Armor guys comes and goes, it's not the first crazy person who incorporates too much the character to mess with you feelings. It's just a helmet fetish or something like that. There was once a guy who was cosplaying Halo's Masterchief; also had the red Power Ranger, and a black one, and pink ranger too... One time or another you would find him, or find a Boba Fett, who knows? There is still two days of event to find out.

Still, it was funny to remember how he disappears in the crowd, like he didn't really wanted to be noticed. But why the hell he wouldn't want to be? Himself chose to wear armor and come to a cosplay event, and walk around with all that bounty hunter's way around the place pulling out the eyes and whispers from all the nerds girls - and some guys too. And even though perfect in what he set out to do, apparently he doesn't want to be seen. And well, he kind of helped you solve two problems on the same day.

“And to close with a golden key, we will receive with a round of applause the our Witcher, Geralt of Rivia!” the female voice that announced each cosplayer made the thoughts stop a little while you enjoyed the perfect cosplay that paraded on stage.

The colorful lights danced as the cosplayer walked and shook his swords, even put some sound effects behind to bring a little more magic at the moment. Everything in the place became magical, in fact, the very energy that cosplayers exuded behind the stage was full of adrenaline and a touch of anxiety. But still, it was a very good energy. They felt alive to be there, to show that they trained and decorated each step of the character and that they could show it in front of the almost four thousand strangers without fear.

And when you looked at the audience, there he was, standing still and calm as he was all day. You wondered why he didn't sign up for the parade, and why he would still be there if so. The figure shone on the stage lights, with his hands on the bottom of his belly, and looked around like a security camera. It was funny, until he stopped and seemed to be staring directly to you, but not in a totally scary way.

Okay, a bit scary.

The audience went crazy with the cosplayers' performances on stage, you caught yourself with a open mouth now and then. Everyone clapped by the end of the parade and dispersed for a few moments, until the time the result would be announced. This take about 5 minutes at most, so you had to be quick and organize the awards together with Greef and one more intern, Rose. She was always so kind and very friendly to you, so that was easy to get everything prepared in a few minutes and you get up to the stage and gave the woman who presented the competition, so you could run to your comfortable spot behind the stage.

“Well guys,” she started saying in the microphone, looking for the paper on her hands. “It seems like we have our very first two finalists of our cosplay competition today!”

Everyone in the crowd clapped and yelled in excitement, but for the thousand time when you searched for the mandalorian he just disappeared. Well, in the end, he's not the ‘to be found’ type, but the ‘to find you'. So you had an idea.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Thanks for reading! :)

[b-icetea]

92. "Let's move in together"

@gleedegrassi-bigfan @rosestylers

Fair warning? I made myself cry with this … IT’S MORE RELATIONSHIP FLUFF Y’ALL!!!!

92. “Let’s move in together.”

Their voices still echo, but nonetheless, it is staggering, what a difference a year can make.

Matteo can see his younger self. Hair a mess, clothes too big, soul a tangle of black lines, like someone had written down something, only to savagely cross it out until just a big ball of chaos was left. Mind slow and complicated and racing all at once, like static. He can see that boy in his mind’s eye, brought here by this mysterious other boy that he wasn’t able to figure out then. Past Matteo didn’t know what the future held for him. Had been afraid of it, because what if it wouldn’t be good? What if he would fuck it up? Plans were for people who knew what they were doing and not for an eighteen-year-old stoner kid that sometimes forgot to shop and had trouble finding clothes without stains on them.

That boy lived his life day by day and that was how it had to be back then. And it had worked out, hadn’t it? Living life like this – minute for minute – meant not having to think too far ahead, meant concentrating only on the imminent and inevitable.

Graduate. Tell your friends who your really are. Fall in love and do it right because it will be the first and last time you do it.

That took all the effort he could muster back then. Looking back at it now and looking at the previously mysterious boy, now all see-through and all the more loved for it, Matteo knows it was the right thing to do.

A year later, though, after all the madness and the ghosting and the heartbreak, the getting back together and the learning each other, Matteo is finally at a place where looking at the future is not something scary, but something to look forward to.

He wants to make plans. Actually, he lowkey has been making them for a while and David even knows about most of them.

God, Matteo used to be such a closed off little bitch. Every idea he came up with was automatically branded as stupid by his own brain the minute it was conceived. David was one of the few people he had let see into the weirdness of his mind and who had sometimes made fun, but always in a good way and who, in the end, never looked down on him for any of it.

So, David had helped. And then, a therapist.

Matteo’s mind is less of a scary place these days. He still gets lost sometimes, but he has an easier time finding his way back from the mazes and monsters he finds there.

His head is filled with other things now. Maybe that is why he suggested coming back here. They haven’t been at the pool since that night were Matteo screamed at David, because gentle and patient apparently didn’t do it and aggressive and worried had to come out to get David away from this idea that flight was the only option for him.

He can still see him sitting there, at the bottom of the pool on that stupid mat, drawing something or other like the outcast vampire he pretended to be back then. It almost makes him scoff, the idea of what nearly happened. He’s glad they both managed to catch and keep each other, even though they were both dumb, stupid boys a year ago.

They’re still dumb, stupid boys, but at least they are a unit now.

The both of them have climbed down the ladder and into the pool and are looking around at the moment. Well, Matteo climbed. David jumped because he’s a dirty show-off and that will probably never change, judging from the smirk he shot Matteo after sticking the landing.

Nothing has changed, really. It’s still a dirty, old pool. But it’s also still the place where two of the most important things in Matteo’s life happened to him and that makes the place more magical than anything. When David first showed him here, Matteo liked the abandoned quality of the building and David and him still go explore every once in a while, these days. It’s their thing. But they do it less, because it reminds them of themselves anymore. David doesn’t feel like he needs to find these buildings so he has bunkers to hide in in case of a natural catastrophe. Matteo doesn’t see himself in them anymore. Now, what they do is, they explore together and fill these empty places full to the brim with memories of themselves.

“Remember last time we were here?”, Matteo asks, knowing full well that David does, but he needs a conversation starter. He wants to talk about what life was like, then.

How angry and then blissfully happy they were. How every word had so much impact Matteo would swear he felt them hitting or caressing his body physically.

The whole thing had been like being on a seesaw. Up and down. One second, they were screaming at each other and David wanted to run away and hide. The next second, they’d told each other I love you for the first time and had exchanged the softest kisses they could.

“Yeah. I didn’t sleep a minute that night.”

Matteo turns around to look at him, blinking incredulously. “You what now?”

“It was so uncomfortable”, David admits, almost whispering, breathy laughter underscoring his words. “The mat was too small and you were half on top of me and I couldn’t move. Something was digging in my back. I had my binder on.” He shrugs.

“What the hell, why didn’t you say anything?” Not that it had been the best night’s sleep of Matteo’s life, but he’d gotten a solid few hours. Though, that was probably because he could sleep almost anywhere and at any time.

David smiles at him. “I don’t know. I kept myself busy. I didn’t matter too much.”

“Not sleeping all night didn’t matter? No wonder you slept so long the day after.” He doesn’t address the binder thing, because they’ve argued about that enough and he knows, David doesn’t do stuff like that anymore. So, Matteo takes a few steps and stops once he’s next to David and can take his hand. He slots their fingers together. Squeezes. He loves David’s hands. “What could have kept you busy anyway. It was night.” It’s not like he could have drawn anything with Matteo’s sleepy deadweight pinning him down and no light to speak of.

David lowers his gaze and smiles a shy smile. “Thoughts and stuff.”

“Stuff?”

David licks his lips. “Yeah, I mean. I had a lot to think about.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, you know.”

“I obviously don’t, dude. What the fuck. Tell me.”

“Nö.”

“Tell me.”

“M-m.”

“Tell me. Tell me.”

“Nope.”

Matteo sees then, that words alone won’t do anything, so he decides to pull out the big guns. He curls the fingers of his right and towards his palm until only his pointer finger sticks out ominously.

David presses his lips together in an obvious effort to keep any laughter in. His eyes are wide and full of mischief.

“You sure that’s how you want to play it?”, Matteo asks, voice all calm and benevolent and shit.

His boyfriends just nods, slowly and seriously. Like he thought this through.

“Okay.” And then Matteo rushes towards him, but David has already taken off, shoes squeaking on the tiles.

“Stop running, you coward”, Matteo calls after him, but only gets a cackle in response.

David is sidestepping him at every turn, twisting around, evading him. Matteo must look like some sort of E.T. cosplayer that forgot his costume at home. Pointer finger still outstretched and running like a loon.

Their laughter fills the pool, echoes of the walls, makes it seem like their fun is bigger than themselves.

In the end, as always, David lets himself be caught around the middle. He bends over and Matteo spins him, once, twice, three times, back pressed to Matteo’s belly. After that, he never lets go, but just makes David turn in his arms so that they’re face to face. He puts kisses everywhere he can reach. Kisses his cheeks, his nose, his eyebrow. Once his teeth, because David is laughing and it makes him laugh even more.

Between kisses, Matteo chants “Tellmetellmetellmetellmetellmetellme.”

“Oh, my god. I’ll tell you, stop.”

Matteo lets up, but presses one last kiss on David’s lips. He makes a growling noise during it, as is customary.

“You’re so stupid”, David tells him and tugs on his jacket hard, making Matteo bend a knee a little because of the pressure. A thought, a future kind of thought, flashes in his mind, and he grins, but doesn’t voice it.

“Tell me.”

David rolls his eyes. “I … maybe. Couldn’t sleep then.” He sighs. “Because I couldn’t believe it? Like. Everything had gone to shit. My biggest nightmare had happened and I was there to witness the whole thing? I hadn’t gone to my PE exam. I thought I had to repeat the whole year. I thought everybody hated me.”

“Who’s stupid now?”, Matteo says but he makes it gentle and David just huffs out a self-deprecating breath.

“Yeah. And then I sent you this emo, artsy sort of voice message. I thought it was really clever and romantic and sufficiently tragic for the situation. Only, you refused to accept it and instead came looking for me. I never imagined that would happen. At all. And then you screamed at me to get out of my own head, didn’t let me run away, told me, I still had friends and then told me you loved me. Suddenly, it felt like I had everything. Or could get everything, anyway. So, you’ll excuse me for being a bit preoccupied by the fact that said boy was sleeping in my arms. It felt like holding the whole world.”

Matteo’s heart does a little flip, then. David is looking to the side and then back at him. Embarrassed, but only a little, because they’ve told each other so much stuff, during this year together.

Sometimes something will happen to Matteo or he will have a thought and think, nah, I’m not gonna tell David about it. I’m gonna keep it to myself. But then David will walk in the door and the words will be out faster than Matteo can try to rein them in. Because talking to David and telling him things doesn’t feel like giving something away or giving something up. He isn’t losing anything by sharing his thoughts with him. It feels more like two people twining together, two puzzle pieces that fit and meld until they’re one.

David also knows a lot about the embarrassing things, Matteo thinks about him. How much he loves him and about the life he imagines for them. The surer he got that David and him were it, the more he started to daydream. He knew that it was too early for many of the things he wanted.

Some days he stares at his ring finger and rubs over the skin, wondering what it might be like to wear something there and freaks himself out, not because of how he doesn’t want it but because of how certain he is that he will want it one day. Not now, not until a few years have passed. But he can see it. And David knows about that. Matteo also knows what David’s answer will be when the time comes.

But now.

Now it’s maybe the time to take a different step. Ask a different question. A question that can be a response to the things David told him just now.

“Let’s move in together?”

David blinks. And then he smiles, bright as the sun.

Matteo knows what his answer will be to that question, too.

[braincoins]

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“I don’t know...”

“Please?”

“Okay, but... in costume? You’re sure?”

“Trust me.”

Technically, Lance was here to cover it for the site. 

I love my job so much.

He was getting paid to attend the first Starlight Con, where the geeks of the city could pay honor and homage to their superhero. And he had a press pass to get him into basically any and every event he could want to attend! 

Cosplayers were everywhere, most as Starlight, but he caught a few Paladins wandering around. The dealer’s room was packed with superhero-related RPGs, CCGs, video games, and comics. 

Lance spent a good chunk of time in the artist’s alley, which was full to bursting with fanartists, fanfic writers, and a slew of fancomics. These were the hardcore fans (aside from the cosplayers), and he interviewed a few (and let them promo their stuff in return).

“Starlight does so much for this city, and she really captures the imagination!”

“I think it’s important for my daughters to see a strong black woman hero. She’s their idol - and mine, too.”

“I just think she’s super hot.” Because of course the fanboy contingent was out in spades. Lance drummed up some controversy asking their opinions on Paladin, and there was almost a literal fistfight between two fans when one said he thought Paladin and Starlight should hook up and the other said that Starlight didn’t need a man. Convention Center security was right on that, thankfully. Lance quietly decided not to publish the video he got of the fight; it’d just be embarrassing for them both, and “nerds fight over their opinions” wasn’t exactly newsworthy.

He was taking a lunch break when he saw two people stroll in wearing the best costumes he’d seen yet. They were Starlight and Paladin, of course, and they were almost immediately thronged by con-goers eager for pictures. 

The Starlight cosplayer seemed a little anxious, but her partner whispered something in her ear, then grinned and posed for the cameras. She copied him somewhat uncertainly and everyone snapped away and thanked them. Huh, first time cosplaying, maybe? Well, hers, for sure. He snapped a couple pics as they walked by and went back to eating his overpriced hot dog. Lunchtime was sacred. Hopefully he could catch up with them later.

There was a panel starting at 1 PM about the need for superheroes in this day and age. Lance got there early for some good crowd shots, recorded the whole thing, and got some interviews with the panelists afterwards. There was a police representative who gave the standard “vigilante” line, of course. One of the panelists said she was a cop but stressed that her opinions were her own and not representative of the city PD before saying that she loved Starlight and was glad she was out there, but that she didn’t want normal civilians trying to do what Starlight - and this new one, Paladin - were out there doing. “They’re... unique. Let them do the dangerous stuff. There are so many other ways of being a hero: adopting a pet from the shelter, or adopting a child from foster care! Donating time and money to a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Taking a moment out of your day to do something nice for someone else.” Lance got every word she said... but didn’t get her number sadly. Oh well; can’t blame a guy for trying.

Coming out of the panel, he ran into the super-good cosplayers again, but they were thronged by other cosplayers asking about how they made their outfits. “Starlight” was uncomfortable with all the attention and questions; “Paladin” seemed to be enjoying himself, saying it was a “trade secret” and he could tell them but then he’d have to kill them and making everyone laugh. Lance let them be for now.

He prowled around the dealer’s room some more. There were some modern day snake oil salesmen here, of course, claiming that their smoothies or drink powders or “super foods” would make you healthy and strong just like Starlight! Lance tucked his press ID into his shirt; they’d pounce on him if they saw a chance for free advertising. He did take free samples though; most of them tasted kind of chemical-y, but there was some sort of granola crunchie thing that was actually pretty good. Might not make me a superhero, but at least it doesn’t taste like cardboard dipped in paint thinner. 

The con organizers seemed to have segregated the wackos into one area. Most of them were obvious nutjobs, but there was one, run by what looked like a high school girl, that made a pretty compelling case for Starlight being an extra-terrestrial. “It explains her gadgets!” the girl declared. “Super advanced tech, like nothing anyone’s ever seen!” She leaned close to Lance to confide, “And I think her ears are actually pointed. I mean, what point in making them look like that otherwise? It’s not like pointed ears are a necessary part of a ‘starlight’ themed aesthetic, y’know?”

“You think Starlight’s a space elf?” he asked skeptically.

She frowned as she straightened up and folded her arms. “That’s reductive. I think she’s an alien who happens to have pointed ears. ‘Space elf’ is just silly.”

“Oh, sorry, of course. Thanks for the food for thought, though.” But, it was a good point: why did Starlight want her ears to look like they were pointed?

Most people weren’t interested in looking too deep into the gift horse’s mouth. They were just happy Starlight existed and was willing to help out. There was another panel at 3 of people who had been saved by Starlight. Lance had to run and it took a flash of his press pass to get in since they’d just closed the doors.

Heh, I wonder if Shiro’ll be here. Everyone at the paper knew that Shiro’d been saved by Starlight hundreds of times, probably. He was probably her #1 Most Rescued or something.

But, alas, no sign of his colleague. Some of the “panelists” were mundane - “Starlight helped me carry my groceries” - but there were some more exciting ones. One guy had been part of a small crowd evacuated from a Planned Parenthood when a wackjob had threatened to blow it up.

“I tripped and fell and I could feel my ankle give. Probably wasn’t broken, I thought - and I was right, as it turned out - but I didn’t think I was going to hobble out of there in time. But then Starlight showed up, picked me up, and ran out of the building.

“You all probably know the rest of the story: the bomb did blow, but it didn’t have enough force to do more than knock out some windows. Made a mess of the waiting room, though. And that was where I tripped. It might have killed me, or at least injured me a lot more.”

A woman saved from her abusive partner. A group of kids who’d not only been saved in the moment from a drive-by shooting but who had thereafter dedicated themselves to making their neighborhood safer, following Starlight’s example. A teenager who said he’d never met Starlight or seen her in person, but that following her crime-fighting career gave him a reason to keep going every day despite the bullying he endured for being trans. “She’s black, like me. When she’s not wearing the mask, I bet she has to put up with bullshit all the time. But she doesn’t let it beat her down. She keeps going out there and saving people. Knowing she’s out there lets me know the world’s not as bad a place as it seems sometimes.”

Lance interviewed every single one of them afterwards, even the little old lady with the groceries. No task too small for our hero, he thought with a satisfied smile.

He was about to leave for the day - the con went all weekend, and he wanted to file the report soon so maybe more people would come tomorrow - when he came across the couple with the awesome costumes again. Last chance! He called out, “Hey, Starlight! Paladin!” and jogged up to them.

They turned towards him; Paladin smiled widely but Starlight just groaned, “Oh my god.”

“Fantastic costumes! Can I get a picture? I work for the online version of The Daily World, and you’d be a great cover image for the story!”

“Anything for one of the citizens of our fair city,” Paladin said in a deep voice. I love it when they’re in character, Lance thought. 

“This is too much,” Starlight protested, doing a spot on impression of that weird, British-y accent of hers. “In the paper? Are you kidding me?”

“Really, you’re a knockout, both of you!” Lance assured her. “Best costumes I’ve seen!”

“It’s important to have only the very best equipment when you’re fighting crime,” Paladin agreed.

“You’re loving this,” she accused him.

“I absolutely am,” he replied with a wide grin. “Come on, Starlight. It’s for the paper.”

She sighed. “Oh, very well. I suppose it will look nice.”

“You gotta pose,” he told her, striking his own ‘Valiant Defender of the City’ pose in demonstration.

“Oh, this is ridiculous.” But she did her own pose anyway.

Lance snapped a few pics. “Perfect! Fantastic! I swear if I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were really them!”

Paladin started laughing, but then Starlight grabbed his arm. “Okay, that’s it, we’re leaving.”

“Aww! We’ve only been here a few hours!”

“That’s more than enough. Besides, if we’re too tired, we won’t be having any fun tonight.”

“Fun or fun?” he asked her.

“Either.”

“Okay, we’re leaving.” He waved at Lance. “Take care, citizen!”

“You too!” Lance said with a laugh as Starlight hauled him towards the exit. He checked his photos of them, which were all excellent, of course, chuckled, and headed out as well. He had a story to write.

{The Adventures of Starlight & Paladin}

[notyoursterotypicalnerd]

Marvel Love = 8/10 parts

Masterlist

I handwrote this at 7pm on a Wednesday night (6th June 2018) and finished parts of it at 10.30pm before heading to bed than waking up at 6am on Thursday (7th June 2018) and finished writing it at 9am. I’ll probably keep going but at the moment I’m stuck.

From a Reader’s point of view; I will add the reader is (female) Queenslander - Australian who’s in their 20’s and is also a cosplayer whose attending an unnamed cosplay convention.

I will also add that I have only seen the movies mentioned in this story. – The Covenant, The Bronze and I-Tonya, so please do forgive me if I got anything wrong. Also forgive me because as much as I do follow Sebastian Stan online, I don’t actually know much about him and writing an actor who I only somewhat know was quite a struggle.

Word count: 854

Marvel Love: (Part 1) , (Part 2) , (Part 3) , (Part 4) , (Part 5) , (Part 6) , (Part 7) , (Part 8) , (Part 9) and (Part 10) Summary: You were heading to a cosplay convention for the weekend and as per usual you were going to meet celebrities. This weekend you were going to meet Sebastian Stan, you caught his attention. He made the first move and things became bigger than you ever imagine. Final note: There is a lot of kissing and a few minor sex scenes (graphically-ish detailed. Sorta) plus swearing.

Today was the last full day you had together and after telling Sebastian that you were still a virgin, and this was your first everything. He changed slightly.

Instead of keeping your wrapped in his arms, he had asked if it was okay; Instead of kissing your goodnight, he had asked if it was okay. It had made you feel uncomfortable now that he was asking but at the same time at least he wasn’t pressuring you.

You woke to an empty bed, but you didn’t panic when you heard “Thank man, I owe you one” before the door closed.

You watched as he walked into the bedroom holding breakfast “I was hoping to surprise you.”

“well I’m surprised” you smiled at him as he sat down in the bed, carefully handing you a hot chocolate after remembering yesterday you had admitted that coffee and tea weren’t your thing.

He than handed you a small box of pancakes before the two of you began to eat. You put down your drink on the bedside table and picked up your phone. Checking Instagram; it had gone crazy with notifications these new followers and all these comments but what had really surprised you the most was Sebastian had posted the photo of the two of you from the cosplay convention tagging you in it.

“You posted it?” you asked him.

“yeah?” He managed to say with a mouthful of pancake.

“Why? I thought you wanted the photo just for you?”

He looked at you; had he done the wrong thing? “We can create others just for us”

True. You couldn’t be that mad especially since it wasn’t an overly romantic photo. It was just you in your cosplay and him standing next to you. You placed down the pancakes next to your drink, an idea ran through your mind. You licked your lips as he raised his eyebrow.

“What?” he laughed a little.

“I was thinking that if you wanted, we could try to carry on from yesterday” your eyes meet with his “from yesterday before I ruined it?”

“Are you sure?”

You nodded. Sebastian Stan was the man you wanted to lose your virginity too. He carefully put his food and drink on his bedside table.

“Are you really sure?” Seb wanted to make sure that this was your choice and not feel like he was pressuring you.

You nodded.

Passion began to fill Seb’s eyes as he stared into yours. His lips pressed against your as he laid you down; kissing Sebastian felt like heaven though it didn’t help that he had maple syrup on his lips. He lifted your shirt above your head.

He kissed down your lips; down your neck, kissing the tops of your breasts that weren’t covered by the lace of your bra. He began to kiss his way down your chest to your stomach.

You leaned back closing your eyes feeling embarrassed about your stretch marks. Seb didn’t care; it was all part of the human body. He stopped at your pants before making his way back up.

“At any point, I don’t care when, if you say stop. I will stop” Seb climbed off you as you nodded when you opened your eyes.

You watched as he pulled his wallet out of his packets; opening it and pulling out a condom packet.

“Are you really one of those guys” you laughed; you thought it was just thing blokes did in movies. You turned away as Seb began to adjust the rubber on himself. He pulled the covers on top of the two of you as he climbed back on top of you.

His right hand moved your face to look at him “Any time you say stop…”

“I know” you cut him off.

He balanced himself on one arm as he pushed down your pants and underwear; you helped by using her feet to kick of the clothing completely.

He leaned down; his lips touching yours. Your hands moved up his muscled arms and down his back reaching for his shirt and pulling it off. The two of you were naked except for the bra covering your breasts.

His lips didn’t shift from yours as his protected friend began to enter your body. At first, he was careful, being gentle as possible; beginning slow as he moved.

You pulled away from Seb’s lips letting a soft moan leave your lips. Your hands placed over his arms feeling the movements.

He began to pick up the pace; you began to call out his name; not Seb but Sebastian. He leaned down and kissed your neck as he began to move faster inside of you.

What felt like an eternity in heaven; Seb kissed your lips again before lying next to you. Your body still dealing with what had just happened; You had sex; You had just lost your virginity. YOU LOST YOUR VIRIGINTY TO SEBASTION STAN the voice in your mind screamed.

“Was that okay?” Seb asked as he wrapped his arms around you pulling you closer to him.

“Defiantly, thank you” your first time felt like an incredible experience.

[attract-mode-collective]

Review: Metal Gear In Concert

This past weekend, Metal Gear In Concert made its long awaited debut on US soil. And because the performance took place literally in my backyard, that being the Washington Heights portion of upper Manhattan, and also because I'm such a Metal Gear diehard… I was naturally there.

It was held at the United Palace, a non-profit cultural & performing arts center that's also a church (with the best god damn acoustics imaginable). Was my second time at the venue actually; the previous was for, funny enough, Kingdom Hearts Orchestra last summer. Anyhow, impressions of my Saturday night...

Let's start with the biggest positive first: the seventy musicians on stage did an absolutely wonderful job breathing life into various compositions hailing from the seven mainline Metal Gear Solid tiles (assuming you consider Ground Zeroes & Phantom Pain as separate entities). As for the arrangements themselves, I found some creative choices to be rather... curious... but the musicians performed the notes that they were given, and again, they were outstanding.

So onto the biggest negatives; there's two. First, the order in which the source material was presented. Whomever thought it would be best to present the games in chronological order. Meaning the first thing we hear is the opening to Snake Eater, and the last is the final piece from Guns of the Patriot. BTW, alongside the music is footage from the games, cinematics that have been edited to add context to the music.

Adhering to the narrative is something most diehard fans might prefer, but given how any casual members of the audience would have no idea what the hell is going on… which admittedly would have resolved if the aforementioned highlight reels were better produced… I believe an opportunity was lost as it pertains to highlighting the evolution of the series by not presenting the games in the order in which they were produced. Am mostly talking about how the music evolved here, but the same goes with the visuals.

Instead of using the occasion as a conversation starter among aficionados of orchestral music, to not just heighten awareness of Metal Gear but the medium of games as a whole, it was simply for the fans. Which is fair enough, though my second primary gripe is ultimately responsible for the first one and is purely via the lens of a fanboy: there was an overall lack of polish when compared to Kingdom Hearts Orchestra. Broad strokes-wise, it was the same deal; various songs were chosen from various games, accompanied by footage. In fact, both were produced by the same organization La Fée Sauvage, which specializes in producing licensed music concerts. They also do show based around Final Fantasy and… One Piece?

A key difference between the Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear showcases is how the former simply had more to work with; there are simply more KH games than MG games. As the saying goes, less is more, so considering the reduced amount of material to breathe life into, every creative decision ends up taking on greater importance (and lends itself to increased scrutiny). At the same time, the length of time between MG installments is greater than KH's. There's also greater technological leaps, as well as gameplay advances, let alone gameplay variety. Hence why each Kingdom Hearts entry... while certainly unique... is more or less identical.

Not true with Metal Gear, and not to sound like a delusional fanboy, but whereas every entry may appear similar, below the surface they are wholly unique to each other. As well unlike any other game, to such a degree that they've helped to redefine the medium. A large part of the appeal of KH is the characters, and while I’m a fan of MG’s colorful cast, what makes Metal Gear… well, METAL GEAR… is the gameplay, the breaking of the fourth wall, etc. So with all that in mind, perhaps focusing a more tangible aspect like the narrative, was the only real option among the parties involved? 

I believe the main reason for such a difference in approach and quality, despite both shows being produced by the same entity, is how other names were involved in the Kingdom Hearts affair. Specifically, Disney Concerts & Square Enix; me thinks that last name is the most important one, because Kingdom Hearts is such a valuable asset for SE. The previous concert took place right when production of KH3 was heading towards the finish line, so it was just another thing to keep the fanbase excited. Basically, Square Enix cared about their concert, because they had a serious investment in it, which was clearly on stage for all to see.

Meanwhile... and no need to state what every diehard fan of the franchise knows already, but... Konami cares very little about Metal Gear. It’s just another IP, just another source of revenue, not even one that’s coveted; Konami’s name being barely visible in any of the press releases I’ve received is yet another sign that they weren’t very invested, or interested, in the performance. And it goes without saying that the series creator was still involved, those sizzle reels would have been vastly superior. 

Something else that needs to be pointed out: the turn out for the show was rather disappointing. It definitely was not a sellout. Not sure why… this past Saturday night’s performance was originally schedule for last October, so perhaps the change had an effect? I don’t think so… Perhaps the ever-increasing shittiness of this city’s mass transit had an impact? Again, maybe a little. Perhaps it was the cost of entry? A more likely factor… full disclosure: I attended for free, as a member of the press.

Ultimately, I fear the poor turn out simply speaks of the current state of the Metal Gear fanbase, which has deteriorated in recent years, something that Konami themselves is responsible for.

And… because this report is turning out longer than expected, I’m just going to go down my additional points, in semi-bullet pointed fashion:

- Alas, one couldn’t tell it was a high ticketed affair by looking at the majority of its attendees. Generally speaking, one usually will dress up… or dress nicely…. for an event of this type. But not for Metal Gear in Concert. Lots of t-shirts & jeans.

As for what they wore, I saw far less Metal Gear related attire than at the Kingdom Hearts shindig, which again was a sign of how lively the fanbase is. Translation: I recall lots of KH related merch, fairly recent stuff, whereas hardly anyone was wearing anything of note among the MG camp… saw two instances of shirts from that Uniqlo line about ten years ago, that was it.

- Speaking of merch, what they had for sale at Metal Gear In Concert was downright embarrassing. Attendees were clearly expecting to blow money, and had only two different shirts to choose from, both of which were subpar Redbubble-caliber.  At the very least, I was expecting a commemorative design to mark the performance near the George Washington Bridge, but nope.

And speaking of the GW, when the opener from Metal Gear Solid 2 was highlighted, it predictably got one of the loudest reactions from the crowd (no joke, that bridge is legit a few blocks away from the United Palace).

- There were a few cosplayers in attendance, and sitting directly behind me was a dude dressed as Naked Snake, with his 5 year old son, dressed the same. Which was cute until it was clear that the kid had zero familiarity with dad's fave game; the kid was clearly bored and uncomfortable.

Once again, nerd parenting is often some of the worst parenting I've encountered, a topic of discussion that I have many strong opinions about, but now is perhaps not the time or place.

- The definitive highlight of the evening for me was witnessing Donna Burke perform Sins of the Father live, which again due to the order of the source material, was a super early into the proceedings crowd pleaser. Snake Eater was the first of two songs performed as the encore.

Hate to say it, but her take on Cynthia Harrell's signature song... while certainly respectable... further validates my previously alternate approach to the concert, meaning Snake Eater could have been an excellent means of warming up the crowd, and both Phantom Pain selections (the other being Heavens Divide) still closing the show.

... So yeah, that was Metal Gear In Concert. If you're a fan of the games and live music, it's definitely recommended. Even if it doesn't hit all the right marks and is ultimately a somewhat sad reflection of the enthusiasm for Big Boss, Solid Snake, and the rest of the game... or lack thereof.

Or maybe the turn out will be better for the next performance, taking place in Los Angeles ion April 6th at Wilshire Ebell Theatre? And if you go... while you don't have to... for God's sake wear a button up shirt at the very least, geeze.

[zachwritesstuff]

Awesome Trevor: The Long and Winding Road

I’m very used to writing things about other people, products and properties. So this one is going to be a slightly weird one for me. It’s a story of hopeful imagination, and disappointment; Of long hours working to make things perfect, and never finding it; And going through version, formats, people, places and ideas just to keep an idea afloat. But, most importantly, it’s the story of Awesome Trevor, an idea that is eight years in the making, yet so far has not given any worthwhile fruit, no matter how hard we tried. In writing this out, I’m hoping to both show the trials and tribulation of taking an idea from concept to fruition, and how impossible it might seem sometimes. Idealism and inspiration can be a hell of a stimulant, while stalling and depression can be a hell of a… depressant. So maybe someone can get something interesting out of it, or at least find the whole saga entertaining, I don’t know. I should probably quit stalling and actually get to the point… It all started...

Part 1: The Movie

The year is 2010. Just barely out of high school, I was now in Community College, and not working, which was a dumb idea for many reasons. I had worked on independent, or more accurately, amateur, film projects a dozen times, both for class and simply because I wanted to. None of them were good. Despite the fact that I was an adult, I still was not a competent film maker (And some might say that I still am not). But I was young, and still had the delusions of being a big shot director someday. All I needed, I reasoned, was a big project to really pick things up and get a bit of a spotlight. I could continue making simple YouTube videos, but if I actually wanted to get anywhere, I needed to make something bigger.

So I had to make a feature film.

I talked to my regular cohort, Evan Greenhoe. I had known him for a few years at this point, having met when I was still in high school, and we had the same thirst for creating. While he was more of the on camera type, acting and performing music (he still is, but he was then too), I always felt more comfortable behind the scenes, writing and directing. We had talked over projects before, as we always loved making ideas and fleshing them out, and when I told him my desire to make a feature film, he almost instantly handed me the idea of Awesome Trevor.

He had come up with the idea with his girlfriend, Sarah, and had held onto the idea for a little while, never fully formed, but when we started talking about making bigger things, he figured it would be a fit. He had never really formed the idea too terribly deeply, beyond making it a video game inspired piece of a regular joe becoming a hero and saving the princess. We talked out the idea over several days, and eventually we had a strong base to work off of.

Now before I go any further, there is one important note I must add. Around this time, Scott Pilgrim vs The World had just come out. This is important because, in the beginning, Awesome Trevor was a rip off of that. In later years, we would change the story around to make it it’s own thing, but to start with, it was a story of a kind of loser dude going on a quest to save his ex girlfriend from a bunch of people from her past, one of which is even a weird ninja girl. It was a copy.

Now that we had our base, the next step was to write out this masterpiece of original fiction. This was no problem, as I had already written out a few feature length scripts before (all of them going unused, of course). While writing, though, I decided to change up the flow a bit: Instead of one movie, I would make it a six part series, and after all parts were released, I would edit them together as a movie! My genius knew no bounds…

So I got to writing this newly formatted script. I filled it with video game references, witty dialogue, and set it in local areas, so that it would be simpler to film. I introduced the amnesiac main character, Trevor; His tired roommate, Mark; The mysteriously vanished girlfriend, Mary; and the 4 mysterious bosses, Kevin Kurochi, Peyote Jones, Stephanie Connor and Samuel Tanner. The story was of Trevor, who woke up after a heavy night of drinking, to find his memories of a former girlfriend gone, and going on an adventure to get them back with the help of his quip filled roommate.

My wit, it burns....

    The scripts, well… They weren’t great. They weren’t bad for an untrained 20 year old, but I would like to think I’ve come a long way from when I wrote them. But the most important thing was, we had our scripts. Now started the pre-production.

We pretty much had our cast right off, as they were mostly friends of ours. I was going to play Samuel, who was a bouncer at a club with super strength; Evan was to play Mark, the plucky costar; Kevin (a samurai), Peyote (a drugged out metal guitarist) and Stephanie (a cloaked ninja) were going to be played by our friends Ken, Adolf and Amber respectively; And Mary, who appeared as herself in only one scene, was planned to be played by a woman named Amanda Alch. who I was going to school with at the time and was already an established actress (Bad Kids Go To Hell and Claws). It’s likely she doesn’t even remember agreeing to appear in it, which is probably for the best.

Our starring role went to a good friend of mine from high school named Kyle Mason. Then, he was a kid in his late teens with an interest in cosplay and video production. Nowadays, he is a professional cosplayer and video producer, so he’s not doing too shabby. It didn’t take much convincing to have him play the lead role, and we were off to the races!

A Readthrough of the script, which of course didn’t go through any editing

I had even asked a dude I had met in college named James to be our Director of Photography, as he had had more experience working on original projects and camera work. Our hearts were working faster than our minds, and we skipped over dozens of important steps (setting proper schedules, storyboarding, finding proper funding, etc) in our pursuit, instead focusing on marketing, finding places to film, and practicing our parts. We even had popular content producers Video Games Awesome plug our project on their show, despite the fact that there was not any actual substance behind anything we were doing.

Timestamp is at 9:24. A preview of what never comes...

The best way to sum this up is that is was an embarrassment to filmmaking. Had we actually started production as planned, everyone involved would probably hate each other, and the entire thing would be scrapped after about two episodes. I was saved by James cancelling his involvement, probably rightly sensing that this all was half assed, causing the production to fall behind and ultimately being cancelled due to people no longer being available.

And so the first part of this story ends with but a wisp of smoke that was our hope for a movie. Though we possibly dodged a bullet, I was still frustrated and disappointed by all of it, so I put the idea on hiatus and started working on other things. It would lay there for 3 years before it appeared again…

Part 2: The First Cartoon

2013. I was out of community college, and at the University of Texas. I didn’t fit in very well, and being farther away from home and friends made me a bit of a sad, lonely hermit. I knew several people at school, and though I would consider many of them friends now, back then, they were just classmates.

To occupy my time, I was doing side work for Frederator Studios, makers of such fine cartoons as Adventure Time, Fairly Odd Parents, and Chalkzone. I had become friendly with Fred Seibert, the founder of Frederator, after interviewing him a couple years prior, and he had let me make some videos for their YouTube Channel. While I was doing work there, they started up their Cartoon Hangover project, where people could pitch their own cartoons with relative ease, and if Frederator liked it, they would produce a full cartoon short.

This seemed like an amazing opportunity for both myself and Evan, who had experience with animation. I talked to him about it, and he was on board before I even finished explaining the whole thing to him. Like we always do, we started discussing ideas, and after long deliberations, we narrowed it down to three: Captain Amazo, the idiotic superhero; Metal Mania, which was about a metal bad traveling through space to be the biggest band in the galaxy; And, of course, Awesome Trevor, back from the dead.

Well, back from the dead is a slight misnomer. We had discussed the idea once more in between, thinking of bringing it back as a comic. We got far in our discussions, but never made any physical items to go with it, and soon it went back into its slumber.

Editing note: After reviewing the article, Evan has told me that he actually made a comic cover that he never showed me. The cover, unfortunately, has been lost to time.

Both of us were still feeling the sting from the failed mini-series/movie, and as we were now a little bit older, we decided to be a bit wiser as well. Not wise enough to not choose Awesome Trevor, mind you, but also hedging our bets by pitching two shows, the other being Captain Amazo. (Note: we did plan to pitch Metal Mania as well, but we never got around to finishing it).

So this process was pretty much a rinse and repeat. I went home and made a script, and from there, we began working on a pitch. This new script, while not a ton better than the originals, was still an improvement, and since we weren’t having to go through pre-production and big planning meetings, we were able to take stuff in stride. We kept the same general story, but decided to make stuff bigger and flashier, as we weren’t limited by the shackles of real life. We also changed around some of the character designs, as we wanted to have new actors play the characters.

I’m sure I thought of the shirt designs. I’m a comedy genius.

We kept the base designs of Mark and Trevor, but Samuel the Bouncer was changed to match the person we really wanted to play him, Seanbaby. Once Satisfied, we storyboarded everything out  and sent them in to Frederator, eagerly awaiting the approval so we can start again on our dream project.

I wrote in the dialogue myself, despite my awful handwriting.

As these are the first you are ever seeing of the characters or story, it’s needless to say that we were denied. The problem with it was that, whoops, we had sent a full storyboard, when in fact they wanted a beat board (like a storyboard, but using thumbnails instead of large images). He also noted that the end of this pitch was left as a “To Be Continued”, and that they were looking for standalone ideas instead of pitches for full series.

Part 3: The Second Cartoon

While again disappointed, this wasn’t a denial based on content, instead just the way it was presented. So we went back to the literal drawing board and reworked the idea into a standalone. It was at this point, in the first time since the idea was formed, that we decided to change the story up. While we kept the saving the girl idea (as to us, it felt like a very video-game thing), we made him more of a player-character like character, almost like an avatar battling in a game.

Looking back through the beat boards we made, they were lame. While I had grown as a writer, I focused way too much on trying to make something someone else would like, and wrote in a very cliched way. Instead of trying to introduce or establish characters, I made Mark and Trevor generic, and didn’t even give defined forms to the people they were fighting. The jokes were bad, the characters were one note, and for some reason I felt the need to physically write out the dialogue on the sheet, despite the fact that I have terrible handwriting.

Seriously, why did I feel the need to write in the dialogue?!

Evan tried his best to work with what he was given, but I feel that I dropped the ball on this one. And of course it showed when I sent it in and got a response from Eric Homan, who runs all the creative development at Frederator.

“Thanks, Zach, for the work and continued interest.

Unfortunately, "Awesome Trevor" is very far away from what we're looking for in our Cartoon Hangover shorts, in everything from character to story to tone.

I may have recommended this before, but I really suggest you take a look at our shorts as we begin to release them in a few weeks. I think they'll give a better indication of the types of cartoons for which we're looking.

Thanks, again.

-- Eric”

In everything from character to story to tone. That said what needed to be said. Even though I was sour at the time, with five years of hindsight, I realized that Eric was, as he often is, completely right about it, in more way than I could have thought. It was a slapdash job on an idea that was already starting to become kind of stale. We tried to change it up, but in trying to rush this idea to get it made (I checked, there was literally one month between the denial of the first pitch and sending in the second pitch), I did a poor job and let both of us down.

I of course blamed people like Eric, who was just telling me the truth, and situations like my school life, which was causing me anxiety and depression, but deep down I knew that I had done poorly. I had taken this idea, that wasn’t even mine originally, and basically ruined it to the point where we felt like we couldn’t do anything more with it. So at this point, I want to make two apologies. One to Eric, who was simply trying to help and harboured resentment towards for years, and one to Evan, who I kind put a lot of pressure on while we were working on these, and probably wasn’t the best person to work with. Um… My bad.

Part 4: The Past and Future

That last one was probably the last major wave we had in trying to produce Awesome Trevor. It pops up in conversations of ideas a lot, but nothing ever comes to fruition. The closest that ever came after the second cartoon debacle was another video game video series related idea I had. The idea was of an NPC in an open world game who breaks programming and tries to fight back against the player character, who repeatedly kills people for no reason. After discussing that idea for a while, we thought of attaching the Awesome Trevor name to it, as they were both vaguely video game related, and even started jotting down some story ideas. But, like many plans, this one faded away, and was soon in the vault, like the thousand other things we come up with…

And, well, that’s kind of the end. There might have been an expectation of some kind of twist or surprise announcement, but that’s not always how things go. At this point, Awesome Trevor is just an old idea, one that had stewed in our minds for years now. It comes up in conversations every few months, maybe trying out a cartoon pitch again, or doing it as a podcast series, but so far, nothing is set in stone. Hell, it’s possible that after this, a new vigor of interests might pop up inside of us, and the world is finally introduced to this plan that is now 8+ years in the making. You never really can tell.

The main reason I wanted to write this was to just put this all out there, and finally view something of it. Maybe I wanted people to finally see this thing that has been on my mind for a portion of my life. Maybe it’s a cautionary tale of not stepping back and taking the necessary steps to make something come to life properly. Or maybe it’s simply my plea of vanity, begging someone to tell me what I made was good. At this point, I can’t really tell. I just hope someone enjoyed it enough to get to the end.

And man, did it get kind of depressing at the end. Well, for those who made it here, here is your secret easter egg ending. Presented in full is the original draft to the Awesome Trevor Theme Song, produced by the extremely talented Evan Greenhoe. Thank you for reading!

[slowburnittotheground]

Love Letters - Chapter 1

Festivals are one of the reasons Jude hates people. The crowds, the noise and the expectations of social interactions are too much for him; give him a wide, open field with no one in sight and he’s happy.

Renaissance festivals are hell on Earth. Not only are there crowds of people with whining children and rude customers, but they are dressed up in ridiculous, cringe-worthy costumes, talking like idiots and making believe. There’s something about the total lack of inhibitions that completely rubs him the wrong way-- he, who would die before letting someone see him dressing up or pretending.

So why has he agreed to working in one for the entire summer?

The problem started when he was born. No, alright, it might have been two years ago when he showed up at Nesbitt’s Ranch & Stable penniless, hopeless and desperate for work. Being in that position is dangerous: you are forced to rely on the kindness of others, which means you are in their pocket forever more. Not that Tara Nesbitt would have forced him to do any favours for her, but she had to know that he owed her so much that he would never say ‘no’ to any request. Even if it involved tending to the horses at the local Rennfaire.

Thank God the stables are out of the thick of things. They are tacked onto the side of a jousting ring on the north end of the faire grounds, and don’t even show up on ye-olde map in the centre of the ‘village’. Visiting the horses isn’t recommended and Jude is afforded some measure of privacy when he is working.

He gathers that this isn’t the largest faire, but he can’t imagine something like this being any more popular than this. He is still astounded that hundreds of people file in every weekend, and even on weekdays the place is almost full. Not everyone dresses up-- most families they are here to watch the events: the archery and the music and the juggling.

But whenever Jude is forced to walk through the faire, seeking the bathroom conveniently situated on the other side of the square, he eyes those who come in costume, wondering how on Earth a fairy is considered Renaissance, or what a pirate was doing this far from the coast.

“Jude!” He wants to run away at the sound of the name because who the hell would recognize him at one of these things but then he sees Matias and reminds himself that part of the reason he agreed to this fiasco was because one of his only friends had convinced him. Just barely.

“Ugh,” Jude offers in greeting. Matias is in costume, and Jude doesn’t even want to look at him. He does, anyway, and has to admit that his outfit is actually pretty convincing. Matias works here as a knight and they have probably given him one of the higher quality costumes: a long black tabard with silver embroidery along the seams and a crest of five silver lions on his chest. He wore it belted over real half-plate armor, with a long sword on his hip. With his tall, muscular frame, Matias might have been convincing, if it weren’t for the cellphone in his hand.

“Won’t you get in trouble for that?” Jude asks, nodding to the phone. Matias blinks in surprise and stows the phone in a leather pouch on his belt.

“It’s hard to remember to stay in character sometimes,” he says with a half grin. “Luckily most of this job is riding or I’d definitely get fired.”

“What, no heroic stage performances?” Jude says, stowing his hands in his own pockets and giving what he knows is a smarmy smile to his friend. “No princesses to save?”

Matias looks uncomfortable as he shifts weight from one leg to the other. “There’s a princess, but she hardly needs saving. More likely I’m going to have to save the other staff from her...”

Jude’s eyes wander to the pavilion on the other side of the square where the official faire ‘princess’ is available for pictures in her off time. He hasn’t met her yet, but one look has already told him that she is not any sort of damsel in distress.

“Yeah, good luck with that.”

“I take it you are still determined not to meet any of the other staff?” Matias asks, and Jude is annoyed that he has to go through this conversation for the hundredth time. Does Matias really think his opinion has changed after only two days of work?

“No offense, Matias, but these people are ridiculous. You might ride and joust, which I guess redeems you to an extent, but some of the staff literally just walk around in character. They just pretend all day. They LARP for a living!” Jude eyes a particularly animate pirate making grand gestures to a watching group of tourists, and cringes so hard he feels it in the marrow of his bones.

“Judge not, young stable master,” Matias replies in a deliberate accent, and Jude wants to smack the stupid grin off of his face.

“I hate you and everyone here,” Jude says, suppressing a laugh. “I gotta go. See you before the joust.”

At least the horses are straightforward. They don’t talk back, but the traitors seem to enjoy the festival. Several of the mares are getting over excited at the sound of the waiting crowd. He has to chide them into standing still while he checks their shoes and puts on their elaborate outfits. “You’re a geek for a good LARP, aren’t you Red?” he asks the ginger who he has a soft spot for. “Can’t wait to dress up for the crowd. Goddamn nerd.” The mare utters a low whiny that makes him laugh. It’s a lot easier to interact with the animals than any of those people outside, and he’s grateful that only the ‘knights’ tend to come back here.

Other than Matias, there are 5 other regular staff who ride the horses. This includes the other knights, a falconer, and two circus performers. They each have a horse they prefer and Jude finds it easy to stable-talk to them-- at least he’s confident about the subject matter. They don’t pay him much mind, sticking to the business of horses and avoiding small talk. Thank God.

The other staff at the faire are not as forgiving. There are a pile of them that range from the ages of 18 to 25, university students for the most part, spending their summer semester working. They are typical fun-loving young people and are social to a fault. Jude has actually physically hidden behind a stall door just to avoid having the make friends with them.

Sometimes, however, he is taken by surprise. Because fucking hell if it isn’t the ‘pirate’ he saw before, wearing a self-assured smirk to make up for his embarrassing lack of beard. He’s probably going for that young, suave, prince-of-thieves sort of stereotype, complete with a loose tunic and tight leather pants. He’s obviously one of the main cast members because his blue coat is about as high-quality as Matias’s tunic, with shiny gold buttons and complex rope embroidery.

Jude watches him approach the stable where he is almost literally tethered to a horse and realizes it is too late to pretend he didn’t see him coming. What the hell is a pirate doing near the stables, anyway? Why the hell was a pirate at a rennfaire in the middle of a prairie province, hundreds of kilometres from the ocean? How the hell did they manage to shove a pirate into a storyline involving a medieval princess?

“Hey kid,” the pirate says casually and Jude feels himself bristling with dislike instantly. He’s practically swaggering. “Do you know who Matias is? Tall, dark and handsome? Likes to sit astride horses and carries a big stick?”

Is this guy for real?

“Yeah,” Jude mutters and he isn’t reserved with the skeptical look he gives the pirate. He can’t be much older than Jude is, if at all. He’s taller, but only by a margin. Jude writes him off as a university student-- probably in a drama program, no less.

“Would you kindly assist me in finding him?”

“I’m good.” Jude turns back to the horse, the big black one who Matias usually rides, both here and back at Nesbitt’s. He is brushing out the sleek cloak, despite it already shining like silk. Anything to finishing conversing with an over enthusiastic D&D character.

The pirate makes an impatient noise. “Come on, dude,” he says, dropping character. “He said he’d meet here. Are you expecting him soon, or…?”

“No idea.” Jude is well aware of how unhelpful he is being, but he wasn’t hired to do customer service. Or to talk to anyone, really.

“Wow, I guess it’s true what they say about the janitorial staff.”

“Excuse me?” Jude can’t help it-- he’s always been one to rise to the bait. Even if this guy wasn’t trying to get him going, he unwittingly set a trap that Jude is going to fucking destroy. “This coming from a glorified cosplayer?”

“Cosplayer?” the pirate snaps back, because apparently his fuse isn’t much longer than Jude’s. “I’ll have you know I’m an actor!”

“Because that’s definitely different,” Jude says with a glare. “Sounds like a really hard job.”

“It takes training,” the pirate insists and Jude can see little pink patches forming on his tanned cheekbones. “It’s not a job any idiot could do.”

“No, just one idiot.”

The pirate’s mouth opens to respond but Jude is delighted when no words come out. It’s not often he manages to one-up someone in a verbal sparring match. He lets a smirk form over his face and it’s probably a good thing that Matias shows up at that moment because he is so tempted to tear this guy to shreds.

“Hey Marcos,” says Matias with a friendliness that meant he was not reading the tension in the air.

‘Marcos’ has to be the worst name Jude has ever heard.

“I see you’ve met Jude.”

The pirate narrows his eyes at Jude, a look of dislike clear on his face. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Charmed, I’m sure,” Jude says with an exaggerated bow and the look the pirate gives him said ‘murder’.

It’s definitely worth the look of confusion on Matias’s face.

---------------

“And then,” Marcos continues, because he isn’t even close to being done. “He goes on to talk to Matias as if they are best friends or something. Matias’s just being nice because he’s got a soft spot for losers.”

“And he’s friends with us because…” John supplies, which isn’t helpful, and Marcos glares at him to make sure he knows it. He’s slowly rotating a leg of mutton over a small flame, basting it every so often with a thin brown sauce. He’s always been able to multitask while cooking, even delivering devastating one-liners that have Marcos foaming at the mouth.

“The difference is Matias actually likes us,” he reasons, gesturing for emphasis. He’s leaning on the food cart that John is manning, taking advantage of the shade from the awning. It’s the tail end of Spring and the afternoons are already getting too warm for full costume. What the hell is he going to do in July?

“And there’s no way he can like this horse guy-- what was his name?”

“Jude,” Marcos says, rolling the name on his tongue with distaste. “What the hell kind of name is that?”

“He sounds pretty normal to me,” John says with an irritating amount of calm and reason. Marcos loves the guy, he really does, but being as close as brothers means that they are also completely honest with each other. John isn’t going to agree with Marcos out of friendship. He’s going to disagree with him out of love.

“Well, wait until you meet him,” Marcos says while crossing arms stubbornly over his chest. “Better yet, just avoid the stables and save yourself the trouble. He called us cosplayers, John!”

John looks down at himself, at his finely embroidered yellow tunic under a thick leather kidney belt, his loose, burlap pants, and tall brown boots. “We’re sort of cosplaying, dude.”

“As what, though, John?” Marcos says triumphantly. “Made up characters don’t count. I am Captain Fitzwilliam Cobalt of the galleon León, trolling the open seas for American gold and I have way too much backstory written to be reduced to a cosplay, man.”

“Listen, Marcos,” John says, actually putting down his baster for a minute and paying full attention to his friend. “I’m super stoked that you have gotten into this character so much and honestly I love your enthusiasm, but you can’t let one guy throw you off. If you are proud of your job then this sort of thing should roll off your shoulder. Not everyone is going to think of this job as glamorous, but we love it, right?”

As if on cue, a small cluster of girls approach the cart-- ‘real customers’, as John likes to call them. Marcos eyeballs them as roughly his age or slightly younger and quickly falls into character.

“My apologies, ladies,” he says with not quite an accent, but definitely a lilt to his voice that suggests a historic nobility. He adds a little bow that sends one of the girls into fits of giggles. “I was conversing with master Palamo. My friend, do treat these charming ladies to the best you have to offer.” He pushes himself away from the cart.

“How can I help you?” John adds with a smile that is almost as charming as Marcos’s act. The first of the girls looks bashful as she fishes in her shoulder bag for a wallet.

“I, uh, I’m looking for some corn?” She gestures awkwardly to the line of barbequed corn propped up on wooden sticks.

“Might I suggest a dusting of the princesses favourite seasoning?” John says with considerably less flirting than Marcos, but somehow coming off as 500 times more charming. “Honestly, it’s actually my favourite. Best on popcorn, but someone decided that popcorn wasn’t renaissance enough, I guess. Fun fact: popcorn was probably eaten by Aztecs thousands of years before the Europeans, so there’s that.”

“The History of Food, with John Palamo,” Marcos provides, leaning on the posts supporting the awning.

“I’d buy popcorn,” one of the girls pipes up before looking a little abashed that she had the nerve. A little smile cracks on her dark face, revealing pearly teeth.

“For a smile like that, I would gladly sail the oceans to the new world in search of popcorn,” Marcos adds, leaning close as if speaking in confidence. The girl blinks and presses her lips together with a little embarrassed grin.

The girls settle on barbecued corn on the cob, exchanging money and smiles before falling into excited giggles as they wandered away from the cart.

“Admit it, dude,” John says, going back to basting his mutton. “You love this job.”

“Bitch, do I ever.”

TO BE CONTINUED