#there is another cosplayer incoming

[anavi-vrg]

IT`S BEEN 3 DAYS BUT FINALLY!!!

JULIA COSPLAY IS HERE!!!

to be continued...

[badsongpetey]

Part 1 | Part 2

Part 3

The thing is Lance isn’t stupid, he knows how lucky he and Hunk were to get out of there with their lives. He knows this as he gets home that night and pulls the splinters out of his feet and collapses in bed. He knows this as he resumes his life. As he does his job as a tour guide for incoming students at his college. As he flirts with the cute junior in the library. As he babysits his niece and nephew. He knows he should take the win and forget about the whole stupid thing.

The thing is though, he doesn’t forget about it.

What he actually does could reasonably be described as the polar opposite of “forgetting about it.” He fixates on it with growing intensity as each day passes. “What was that thing?” “Is it some new kind of cryptid?” “Did it even exist?” “Did the water have some kind of hallucinogenic in it?”“Why did it eat the cosplayer and not them?” “Did it eat the cosplayer?” “If it ate the cosplayer and not him is it because there’s something fundamentally unappealing about him?” That last one bothered him more than he was comfortable admitting.

It’s barely a week before he reaches his breaking point and finds himself trekking back into those same woods armed with a pocket knife, a compass, and a fully charged phone. Lance was getting some answers damn it.

He would’ve told Hunk, but, let’s face it, Hunk would’ve done everything he could to talk Lance out of it, and Lance simply wasn’t in the mood to be talked out of it. Then Hunk would’ve insisted on coming, because he wasn’t the type of friend to let another friend do something stupid alone. And Lance knew this was stupid, because, again, he wasn’t stupid, but he also wasn’t going to put Hunk through that, through this.

He quiets his steps as he hears the waterfall. Moving with ninja-like stealth, he nears the pool and positions himself behind a tree lined with shrubs. It’s the hiding perfect spot, where he can keep watch on the pool and the surrounding woods. Now he just has to wait for the thing to show up, get his pictures, get his answers, slap it all on TikTok, and get famous.

Hours pass as the morning slides into afternoon. The birds chirp happily in the trees above him, the wind blows gently through the leaves, and the sparkling water lulls him into a meditative state as he waits. Occasionally a rustling in the ground cover around him rouses him from his trance, but when he looks around there’s nothing to be found.

It’s the crick in his back that finally requires him to stand up, he’s been crouched here for hours. Stupid cryptid, keeping him waiting. He turns to lean his back against the tree, and that’s when he sees it.

It’s sitting about 20 feet behind him, head cocked to the side, body coiled neatly behind it, watching him. Lance yelps in what he tells himself is a manly fashion, and immediately regrets every thought he’s had over the past week. It’s like he wanted to get eaten.

The creature doesn’t move. It doesn’t come closer, or move away. Doesn’t growl, doesn’t roar, it just looks at him and blinks occasionally. How long has it been sitting there? He suddenly feels more embarrassment than fear, here he’s been thinking he’s the hunter when he’s really been the prey all the time.

When the standoff clearly isn’t going to end on it’s own, Lance goes for the most reliable tool in his box — the charm offensive.

“Come here often?” He purrs.

The creature blinks at him.

Lance sighs, “Look, how about you don’t eat me, and I just go.” He gestures away from the pool in what he hopes is a non-threatening manner. “I go and I never come back. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

The thing snorts, and makes a wheezing noise.

“I promise, just let me go. I won’t hurt you.” Lance motions again.

It wheezes again.

Is it angry? Maybe it’s not wheezing, maybe it’s hissing. Crap, maybe he’s making it worse.

“I… “ he begins, “I… wait. Are you laughing at me??”

The creature does what can only be described as an eye roll.

Lance didn’t crouch on the ground for 4 hours to get sass from a cryptid. “Look here Nessie, this might not have been my best idea, but…” Then Lance’s head explodes. “Do you UNDERSTAND ME?!”

It snorts and, yup, yup, that’s the eye roll again. “You understand me! I’m Lance.” He points to himself. “Do you have name? Can you talk?” Ok, this isn’t a Disney movie, he knows that’s going out on a limb, but hey, he is currently having a conversation with a fantasy creature, so nothing’s off the table.

The creature furrows its brow… thinking? And Lance is about say something when the water, is it water? It kinda looks like the stuff in a lava lamp floating around the thing. It starts swirling around it, spinning faster and faster until the creature is completely obscured by a blue glow. And then, like a soap bubble popping, the water is gone. The creature is gone, and in its place is the cosplayer. The very alive, very uneaten, very cute, and very very naked cosplayer.

“I’m Keith.”

[phantom-0-writer]

nightwing the cosplayer

Barely 30 minutes into his shopping journey to find a present for his mom, Danny’s ghost sense went off. He only had enough time to grab the Fenton Thermos and wrist ray from his bag, before three vultures infested The Mall. Easily souping the first vulture, Danny zapped Vulture Number Two, but the distance between them made the impact of the ray feel more like a wrist slap than a gutting punch. Vulture Number Two apparently didn’t like that very much and took it upon himself to attack Danny. As if the vultures weren’t bad enough, Razor Claw came crashing through the ceiling right behind them. 

“Fenton!” Dash called because he was here too apparently, “Behind you!” When Danny turned around he was expecting Vulture Number Three, another rebel, maybe even Plasmius himself. 

Not Nightwing.

Like Nightwing from Gotham, Nightwing. Formerly Robin the First. Member of the Titans and Justice League Jr. Standing there, like, right in front of Danny. “What the fuck?” Danny heard himself say before turning to Dash, who was standing next to him now and felt validated by their shared confusion. 

“Are you a cosplayer?” Danny heard Dash whisper-ask Nightwing. 

Nightwing, who was just awkwardly and nervously(?) standing there, seemed taken aback by the accusation. “W-What?” He said gracefully, before regaining his composure. He sounded almost indignant “No, I’m the real Nightwing.” As if to prove himself, he pulled out a Bird-a-rang and displayed it to the two teens like it was some kind of rare YuGiO card. Talk about professionalism. 

“Looks fake,” Danny said in a mock whisper to Dash, knowing Nightwing could still hear them. 

“He’s totally a cosplayer,” Dash responds with a sage nod. Nightwing was about to respond, but the words were knocked out of him when Danny pushed both of them out of the way of an oncoming vulture attack. 

Seriously, why in the Ancients was Nightwing here? If one of the Justice Leaguers had to show, then at least someone useful like Zatanna or Dr. Fate, heck even Constantine. But no , he has to get the guy that outgrew his Robin suit. 

Razor Claw used his claw to slice at some of the merchandise in a nearby store, laughing in amusement at the shopper’s terror. Danny slipped his bag off, opening up the middle zipper. “There should be three spectator-deflectors and maybe a few rays.” He told Dash, “The Ghost Shield Rooms are probably full by now, so just use that. You two stay here.” 

“What? You’re not dealing with this on your own.” Nightwing protested, grabbing his arm before Danny could leave. 

Danny gave him an unimpressed look, “And what? Wait for the Justice League to show up?” Danny scoffed. 

Nightwing scowled in response, “Still-” 

“Dude.” Danny said pointedly, “We do this like every week. This guy’s a small fry, compared to, like, Plasmius.” Danny reassures him before forcing his arm off to blast an incoming Vulture attack, the positing just right to leave him ready for Thermos Time. “Two down. Easy.” Danny told Nightwing, just as Vulture Number Three swooped down at Danny, knocking the thermos out of his hand, causing  it to roll away from Danny’s line of sight. 

Him and his big mouth. 

Just then, Razor Claw launches an ectoblast at the three of them. Danny rolled out of the way, putting some distance between himself and the sitting ducks. Dash and Nightwing had already put on the specter deflectors, so the shield had popped up just in time to block the attack. “Dash, you’re on guard duty,” Danny said before heading to deal with Razor Claw and the Last Vulture and hopefully find the thermos. 

“I’m doing it because I want to and not because you told me to,” Dash yelled back at him from inside the store. Danny could hear more protest from Nightwing, but not even a Gotham hero could defeat a ghost on their first try (especially one without any powers). 

“Sure, dude.” Danny shot back, knowing Dash was probably flipping him off. 

“I'll have you in my claws soon, pest.” Razor Claw sneered, turning around on his hoverboard to shoot a blast. The shot from the wrist ray missed the ghost but landed a clean hit to the hoverboard, as the device tumbled down ineffective. Not that it really did much- the ghost just used his natural flying abilities to charge at Danny.

“Kwan!” Danny heard Paulina call out somewhere to his left. 

“Yeah?” The football player asked back. Danny looked over and noticed he had the thermos right next to him. 

“Look! The thermos!” Paulina pointed out to their intellectually declined friend. 

“Oh yeah, I have it” Kwan held it up to show her from where she was crouched down. Paulina facepalmed. 

“Give it to Danny, you dumbass!” Star practically screamed at her boyfriend. 

“Oh, Okay!” Kwan said before rearing to throw the thermos at Danny. Proving why he was a starter for the football team, the thermos landed squarely in Danny’s hands. Not wasting any more time, Danny scooped up Razor Claw and the incoming vulture. 

“Good teamwork guys!” Danny called out to them cheerfully knowing they wouldn’t return the energy.

“Shut up, Turd Face,” Dash said, pushing the spectator-deflector into his chest roughly for no other reason than to be Dash. He went off to join his friends in doing whatever he and his friends did.

“That was pretty impressive,” Nightwing walked up to meet Danny, handing his bag and spectator-deflector back “With a little training, you could easily be on par with the Robins.”

Danny bent down to put his stuff back in his bag, “If this is your invitation for me to join Batman’s gaggle of furries, I’m gonna have to give you a hard pass.” Danny responded, looking up to see Nightwing look like he couldn’t decide if he should laugh or not. “Respectfully.” He added half-heartedly. 

Nightwing watched him in amusement. “I thought I was a fake?” Nightwing prompted as Danny stood up swinging on his backpack. 

“They don’t exactly sell High-Density Reinforced Kevlar in your average corner store,” Danny said, knocking on Nightwing’s insignia lightly. The unique sound of the light impact confirmed his point. 

Nightwing gave him an inquisitive look (Danny assumed). “Then why did you tell your friend-”

“Uh!” Danny stopped him abruptly, putting a finger in his face, “We’re not friends.” Danny started walking into a nearby store with Nightwing following him. “And to answer your question, Dash can keep a secret but not from Kwan. Kwan would try to keep it a secret but he'll probably let it slip to Star. Star tells Paulina everything. And Paulina definitely cannot keep a secret. So unless you wanted all of Amity in your business for however long you’re supposed to be here, I did you a favor.” Danny finished, looking through the rows of memorabilia the store offered. He picked up a snow globe with a little ghost inside. 

Nightwing was quiet for a while, still following behind Danny as they headed to check out. “Aren’t you gonna ask why I’m here?” 

“No,” Danny said, easily asking the check-out lady to gift wrap the globe for him. “It’s probably the Dr. Kilye case. It went pretty big. And if it’s not, then I’d rather stay not knowing.” 

“Cool cosplay, dude.” Said the check-out lady, handing Danny his gift bag. 

“Thanks,” Nightwing responded awkwardly, as Danny walked away.

excerpt from regular boy: daniel wayne (chap 3)

masterlist

[hunterbunter3000]

imagine 141 meeting sweethearts family and them being just as weird as her😂

LMAOOO G O D IT WOULD BE SO FUNNY

(Dude I'm gonna info dump so damn hard I'm sorry)

Her family is literally crack personified. They are HEAVILY, EXTREMELY AND HARSHLY based on The Amazing World of Gumball, because that was my favorite cartoon when i was growing up and i adored how crazy the family was 💀HUGE ASS FUCKING FAMILY INCOMING Her dad practically married himself in woman form (but shes more chill and introverted than him- they're both chaotic as hell), and then her siblings (eight older brothers; two are adopted, two older sisters, middle siblings who are triplets ( sister, brother and ftm brother) three younger brothers and an adopted younger sister (BASICALLY AN ALL BOY FAMILY AND SOME GIRLS SPRINKLED IN 💀)

There's the oldest brother, Who's name I have no idea yet I just call him T. He's 42 years old and is a fucking unit. He has a family with a wife and three kids. (No idea how he looks either)

The second oldest brother idk his name either is 41 years old and is also a fucking unit. He's single and is an engineer

The third oldest brother is 39 years old. Don't know what to name him lol Also another unit but has a bionic leg. He's a single father and has a daughter.

The fourth oldest brother is also 39 years old. He's tall as shit but more skinny. He has a girlfriend and a boyfriend and is a mad scientist. (Legally? Probably not. Insanely smart and makes weapons? PROBABLY YES)

The fifth oldest brother is 37 years old, his name is Grizz. He's built like his dad (big and burly with a gut) and has his personality. He's a firefighter

And then the sixth older brother, he's 36 years old (no idea what to name him) he's a CEO of a company. He has a wife and five kids

They're all absolute units like good lord

There are two adopted older brothers. One of them, who is also 36 years old, was a son to a family friend. His family died and they took him in. He's a chef. The other one, his name is Sammy, he's 35 years old and is now a musician.

The two older sisters, aka: The Domino twins, the animator and the police officer. Idk their names dammit-- but they're both 35 years old. The police officer has an eye patch and grayed early, while the animator has a scar over her other eye and black hair. (Hence why people call them Domino)

And then the triplets, all 28 years old. The sister is a hairstylist and a cosplayer, the brother is a game designer named Ezekiel, and the other brother who is trans (ftm) is a voice actor and a professional gamer. (GUESS WHAT- DONT KNOW THEIR NAMES LMAO)

And then a younger brother, who's 18 years old (last year in high school BABBYYYY) And then the younger twins who are 10 years old and then the adopted sister who is four.

(If yall are curious about them don't be afraid to ask!)

One of her aunts on the dad's side practically lives in prison because of the unlucky luck that runs in the family, the other one is the most normal one and she's a nurse, and her uncle on the mom's side that's literally a revolutionary war (to a war NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF) hero with HIS crazy ass family... NOT TO MENTION THE GRANDPARENTS AND GREAT GRANDPARENTS (ON BOTH FUCKIN SIDES) one was in the Italian mob and has connections that shouldn't be connections, and the other one owns a tiger, a lion and a raccoon that was the replacement for the bear when the tiger and the lion ate it. (I'll let yall decide who's who), and then one has a fortune but forgot where it's buried, and then the other one is a musician! (As I said, I'll let you decide who's who)

they invited her team(yes, Keegan as well), Los Vaqueros, and Krueger plus Graves to have like a welcome back cookout at their big country home

And the chaos IMMEDIATELY started when they got there.

The younger twins forgot that they set up a trap on the house, so when Sweetheart opened the door, she got hit in the face with a pan, fell on the ground, and then whip cream came flying out, hitting Soap in the face.

Sweet's mom: MY BABY ARE YOU OKAY???

Grizz: WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED

Police sister, to Soap: Are you okay??? Can you breathe???

Sammy, shaking Sweetheart: SWEETHEART??? SWEETHEART ARE YA GOOD??

Sweetheart, out of it: MOmMy I LoOk PreTTy?

Sammy: SHE'S DISGRUNTLED

Zeke: THAT'S THE WRONG WORD FOR THIS SITUATION YOU IDIOT

(Sammy's a bit stupid)

After that happened, Zeke led Soap to a bathroom, feeling around for any more traps. The younger twins went into a time out and Sweetheart has an ice pack for her head.

They all started talking, Sweet's mom REALLY like the boys (Especially Alejandro and Price) and Sweet's Dad really like Ghost and Roach. Grizz and VA brother like Gaz, and the adopted sister really likes Soap and Keegan. Police sister likes König's vibes and hairdresser and Sammy fuck with Krueger and Graves. All in all they like Sweetheart's co-workers and accepts them

Sweet's mom to all of them: Y'know she's single

Sweetheart: M A

And then Granny Jo Jo and Grandpa Hare, grandparents on the dad's side, came to visit and Soap and Ghost just gravitated to them.

Grandpa Hare: So yer from Manchester, eh?

Ghost: Yes sir

Grandpa Hare: I used tah live in Manchester

Ghost, a bit interested: Oh wow--

Grandpa Hare: I buried many businesses an' people there. That's why m'banned from a couple of cities.

Ghost:

Omg and then the younger twins meet Keegan:

Twin #1: Hello sir!

Twin #2: How are you?

Keegan, a bit nervous: ...I'm good, thank you. How about yourselves?

Twin #2: Good, sir? By the way--

Twin #1 and #2: What's your body count?

Keegan: Ex- excuse me?

Twin #1: How many people have you bodied?

Twin #2: Do you use knives? Or assault rifles?

Twin #1: And how did you do it?

(The animator sister covers their mouths and carries them)

Animator sister: Sorry about that, Keegan. They'll go in time out again

Their muffled "no's" go on and on while Keegan just stands there 🧍‍♂️like wtf why'd they ask me that LOL (and time out is just them being in their room HA)

OMG Alejandro went to open a drawer to find spoons, and instead he found MANY restraining orders and banned letters

Sweet's mom saw his surprised face and she quickly closed the drawer

Sweet's mom: Wrong drawer! And also those were a long time ago, half of them either forgave us or went out of business!

Sweet's mom, mumbles: Except the ones out of country... they still remember the fires...

Alejandro: still remember what

(Bro I could go on and on about them LMAO I want to flesh these characters out some more too, so if you have any input SEND AN ASK!! 💗💗)

[girlcrushart]

Well this is kinda a complicated post. I’ve actually had this poster a while, but have been going back and forth about posting it. On the one hand, it’s a picture of an extraordinarily hot and beautiful girl who looks absolutely magnificent in that bikini. On the other hand, it’s photographer and cosplayer and model Hannah Ray, looking absolutely magnificent in that bikini. Do I like looking at pictures of Hannah in a bikini? Yes. I mean, duh. Do I also like looking at pictures of Hannah in a cool sporty outfit, or badass boots, or as a character from some anime show I’ve never seen? Also very much yes. I guess I just worry that Hannah prefers the latter over the former and really does the bikini stuff because, well, frankly, it likely generates significant income for her. And that’s great. I’m all for that. I just hope she’s not feeling some pressure to do something she’d rather not do. I hope that bikini pics don’t lead to bikini-off pics, unless that’s what Hannah really wants to do. I just have a hunch she doesn’t really, but, as my friend @whoiwanttoday sometimes says, it’s hard to turn some things down when you have a mortgage to pay. Which makes sense. Mortgages suck. Would I like to see naked pictures of Hannah Ray? Not gonna lie… I’d look at those pics. But I’d prefer it if cosplay pics and fashion shots and maybe the occasional bikini pic would be enough to pay Hannah’s mortgage. I wish that. Which is saying a lot from a girl who has another whole blog dedicated to posting pictures of naked girls. I’m a bit of an enigma that way I guess. Today’s girlcrushart guardián is Hannah Ray.

[7grandmel]

Rip of the week: 15/07/2024

D-VA DISCO

Season 4 Episode 1 No Album Release (Read More)

Ripped by Okiwont

It's not all too often that I get the opportunity to talk about truly hated SiIvaGunner jokes on here. After all, there's a reason those memes become hated to begin with, starring in rips that are arguably not very worth celebrating, going against the whole point of this blog. Still, we've had some moments here and there to discuss instances of fanbase outrage: A large chunk of Season 5 was defined by the reactions to Astronaut in the Ocean and Yankin', which was presented as a quite literal battle in Epic Rap Battles of History: Funny vs. Funnier and something I explored further in Snow halocean and Aquarium in the Ocean. There's of course more beyond these - Snow Halation's hate brigade in early Season 1, The Bean, Amuno, Chicken and Chips...but whenever I think of truly despised SiIvaGunner memes, none come to mind more prominently than the D.VA fart. Yes, it's time to finally go there, to find out just what led to D-VA DISCO being made.

If you weren't following SiIvaGunner in the days of Season 4 Episode 1, you may well be confused to what the fuck "D.VA Fart" is even referring to - hell, barring her prominence in more degenerate circles, you may well be confused as to why an Overwatch character of all things would have such a prominent role on the SiIvaGunner channel. Well, as fate would have it, it's in those degenerate circles that we'll need to begin to find the origins of this bizarre meme....hoo boy, okay. While Overwatch was still the hottest game on the planet, a video of a certain cosplayer throwing it back whilst dressed as D.VA began to circulate around the internet, sometime around 2016 or so. It was the sort of video that managed to completely leave its intended adults-only demographic and began being shared around with comedic intent, in large part because of the way it opens - the cosplayer's booming "Nerf THIS!" followed by a resounding clap of the cheeks. One thing led to another, and eventually one user had the brilliant idea of inserting a giant farting sound partway through the video, only elevating its spread in online circles for trolling. It was all a truly bizarre week or three on the internet - a phase that, somehow, Season 1 of SiIvaGunner managed to completely circumvent.

Yet as I've mentioned on posts like Sex - Steve Harvey, a stated goal for Season 4 Episode 1's run was to bring the channel back to that unpredictable, chaotic, borderline incoherent vibe that Season 1 often had, due to the near complete lack of quality control and lack of expectations placed upon the team. And while the season would later become far more prominently defined by the King for Another Day tournament and its buildup with rips like September, we still had a fair share of moments that truly felt like 2016 never left - none better to exemplify this than the bizarre, out of nowhere use of the aforementioned twerking video and its audio. As mentioned prior, SiIvaGunner has a storied history of being in conflict with its audience, one that was turned into a whole story arc with SiIvaGunner: Rebooted specifically about the importance of spreading love instead of hate - yet on the VERY FIRST D.VA fart rip, the dislikes were already reaching astronomical heights, a near 50/50 like-to-dislike ratio. This, obviously, just signaled to the team that their attempt to strike a nerve had worked - and so, the "NERF THIS!" reverberated around the channel for weeks therafter, a ghost haunting the channel with users ready in the comments to warn fellow fans to be wary of the incoming farts.

And, like, there's not really a grander narrative to this in the same way that Astronaut in the Ocean or The Bean had - the team just kept using the D.VA fart video, its audio, D.VA voice clips from Overwatch and various other stock fart sounds in increasingly more bizzare ways throughout August of 2019 just to fuck with us. Their stated goal to deliver something truly unpredictable for the season had been met - yet, perhaps the MOST unpredictable thing that could've happened therafter, was making a D.VA rip into an actual banger. Sure enough, after more than a dozen rips of the gamer girl shitting herself, we were treated to an absolute brain-melting curveball in D-VA DISCO - at once a tribute to the meme's rise in attention over the past month, and to one of the most celebrated and well-renowned YTPMVs of the past decade.

SEN-TRY DISCO by wazgul is one of several thousand pieces of absolutely beloved Team Fortress 2 fan content released during the game's heyday, all the way back in 2013. I'm not a Team Fortress 2 fan myself, granted, but its fanbase's reach across online culture is absolutely undeniable - and I suppose, to one ripper's mind in 2019, this reach was comparable to that of the D.VA Fart's reign in 2016, a parallel made clear through how Overwatch and Team Fortress 2 were so often pitted against one another as team-based multiplayer shooters. And so, with SiIvaGunner's new villain being used, we received D-VA DISCO: Using voice and SFX clips of D.VA from Overwatch itself to recreate SEN-TRY DISCO beat for beat.

It's of course lovely just in concept as a tribute to an olden time of shitposting, sort of sentimental in the same way that I described Maskettaman - Dr. Pavel's Fly​-​So​-​Good as being, but the real strength of the rip comes from just how much YTPMVs have grown in the six years between SEN-TRY DISCO and the rip in question. For being in part made with the intent of poking fun of SiIvaGunner's own audience, the attention to detail throughout D-VA DISCO is fantastic - the soft clicking sounds of D.VA's mech added to the percussion in particular really tie together the various voicelines to the hi-tempo instrumental in the background. Those voiceclips meanwhile, like the initial G-GO-GO-GO's that introduce the melody, feel layered together in such a satisfying way, with a seamless-ness that just didn't appear to be feasible to achieve back when SEN-TRY DISCO was made. The clips just continue to shine from there in implementation, and it all culminates in a rip that's an outright earworm. That, of course, is the case with most YO-KAI DISCO rips, YO-Kai Direction from just last month included - yet no matter what form a rip of the track takes, I'm always subconsciously singing "Go-Go-Go-Go-Go Right-Up-Down!!!" to myself, the gamer girl officially having infiltrated my cranium to a terminal degree.

The rip, of course, all still culminates into the D.VA we all know and hate on the channel - a solid twenty seconds of rendering the song's ending with the Nerf This-fart pitch-shifted to the melody. And so, D.VA Fart runs three for three in unpredictability - appearing out of nowhere to make some of the most hated rips on the entire SiIvaGunner channel, suddenly appearing in a rip as genuinely excellent as D-VA DISCO, only for said rip to rebound back into the intentionally-awful territory in which the meme began at the very last second. It's brilliant, like an insane combination of factors that we'll likely never see done again to the same degree for a SiIvaGunner meme - and it has cemented the rip as an all-time hidden-gem favorite for me in retrospect.

Missus Nerf-This sort of faded away after her reign in Season 4 Episode 1, yet she still makes surprise appearances from time to time - she was a key player in one of Season 5's audio dramas, and sometimes (like, funnily enough, on Big Sus Chocobo) the clip is just deployed at the end of rips as a very funny jumpscare. Never quite leaving as much of a legendary legacy as The Bean, nor attaining as much of a gradual following as The Nutshack or Astronaut in the Ocean...D.VA on SiIvaGunner, the little shithead that she is, seems content in staying as that one meme that everyone just loves to hate. I can't really recall just how, when or why we all became so content in just enjoying rips of a cosplayer ripping a fat one, but it's oddly sweet to see even jokes as loathed as this have some sort of relevancy, being used from time to time even today: Be that in surprising displays of raw quality, or as regular reminders to never try to predict the SiIvaGunner team's next move.

[12timetraveler]

Long post incoming. A couple pictures at the bottom but more photos to come I promise. Posting under the read more just so y'all don't have to deal with scrolling the whole thing.

Tombstone Redemption was a lot of fun and a lot of stress.

On the first day my friends and I decided to spend the day exploring and having fun and save the actor stuff for the second day. Mostly it was just exploring shops, finding all the red dead special items we wanted to buy, and just people watching. It was quite hot but we managed to keep cool for most of it and enjoy the town.

I ran into one Hosea cosplayer who was super sweet and seemed very excited to see Bessie. That was a big highlight I saw him a number of times throughout the weekend and he always made me smile. He seemed a little shy so I didn't get to talk to him too much which was a shame because he seemed so sweet. But I didn't want to push it and make him uncomfortable.

On day two I woke up early and got dressed and left the hotel around 9:30am to go line up for the autograph session. I expected it would take a couple hours but I did not realize just how long it would take.

11 hours.

I was in line. In the Arizona heat, for 11 fucking hours. Sometimes in shade, sometimes not.

The line stretched down the road and around the corner and around the lot of an abandoned motel. The autograph session didn't officially start until 11am. So already I was lining up an hour and a half early and I was so far back it was insane.

There were also people who hadn't gotten their autos the day before who had passes to get them first, and that held up the line quite a bit.

But I was determined. And honestly I still thought we'd be in line for maybe a couple hours. Oh how wrong I was.

Within about 5 hours we had only moved up maybe a third of the length of the line (honestly that is probably generous.) We started taking shifts out in the sun, the others going into one of the nearby restaurants to drink water and eat a little food.

Some time after noon I started feeling off. I was just not right. It's kind of hard to explain but I just was so tired, a little dizzy, a little nauseous. Just off. Nothing notably concerning but just not right. Assumed it was just heat and lack of sleep.

But I also began having panic attacks because I was starting to worry I'd never get to the front of the line. That I'd never get to meet Curzon (or any of the others but at this point if I only got to see Curzon I'd be happy.)

I'd calm down from the panic attack and then I'd start feeling off, then I'd get back into my head and start another panic attack, then I'd calm down and feel wrong again. It was a bit of a cycle.

After a time I finally asked my friend to wave down one of the paramedics that were passing out water because it occurred to me I have a history of high blood pressure and I was feeling some of the symptoms of my bp rising. My friend's dad walked me over to the paramedics who took me into the ambulance and checked me over.

My BP was the highest I've ever seen it. Something like 198/128. Not ideal.

The paramedics kept me in the air-conditioned ambulance to keep an eye on me and make sure I was okay. My BP went down pretty easily in the ambulance and I started feeling better. I just needed to get out of a sun, away from the lines, somewhere cool to just calm down and cool down. So I went back out to the line, though I was told very firmly to stay in the shade. So I wasn't really in line so much as I was standing in a shaded spot near the line just chilling with whoever was taking a shade break.

The line started making some progress, we finally moved into a shaded area, and I rejoined my friends in line. I was feeling optimistic that we'd get through the autos before the Q&A, which we had tickets for.

But then the line seemed to stop once again. And with the door leading into the saloon where the autograph session was being held in sight, they halted the line and told everyone they'd be back after the panel. Some of our line friends saved our spot in line, and we headed to the panel.

It was nice to sit down, though the hall the panel was held in had no AC so it was toasty. The actors were delightful, very humble and sweet and funny. Curzon hardly said a word, as per usual from him. But I did get to stand up and ask my question, which I directed at Curzon, and he gave a very sweet answer about how he loved filming the intimate moments he had with others in camp, like Dutch. (Video to come of this)

The panel ended and the actors filed out of the building first, walking down the isle and giving high fives to those they passed. Curzon was a little distracted, but my friend and I called out his name to ask for a high five. He stopped. Grabbed my hand in both of his, and kissed my hand, giving me a little smile as he continued out.

Well I of course melted into my seat, falling over on my friend and absolutely losing my shit. Ben seemed amused by this and gave me a little pat on the shoulder as he passed (which unfortunately was my only interaction with him at this con 😭)

I lost my mind. I can still feel Curzon's hands clutching mine, can see him so clearly leaning down and lifting my hand to his lips and giving me just a sweet little kiss on my hand, giving me a little squeeze before letting me go and continuing on. Just thinking about it now makes me want to absolutely sob.

After that the actors got on their trolly to get back to the saloon. So we hurried out to get back to the line.

And we waited probably another 30 minutes, maybe more, before we finally got in.

I started in Bens line but my friend needed to leave and we wanted to meet Curzon together so we jumped over to his line. He was so sweet to her, joking with her dad and giving her big smiles. He asked permission before wrapping his arm around her, which was very sweet, and we took some pictures and he gave her a hug, and then she had to leave.

Now it was just me standing there staring at the man who has been the center of my hyper fixation for two+ years at this point. I was a stammering, stumbling mess as I told him how much Hosea meant to me. How many friends I've made because of the character, how much I love the character. He asked what I liked most about Hosea and I told him it was Hoseas wit and cunning, as well as his kindness after everything he's gone through. (I was definitely too shy and flustered to say it was because I think Hosea is incredibly handsome). He asked me to go tell "the big guy" that, since he never listens (he was referring to Dutch).

I bashfully told him that if he couldn't tell, I was dressed as Bessie. He let out a little scoff and nodded like it was obvious, which made me smile (it was probably obvious from the picture I was carrying as a prop and the giant print I had him sign, but I kind of like to think maybe he'd heard rumors of the silly lady dressed as his wife. Or maybe he saw my Instagram posts idk.) He wasn't rude about it at all, just a little amused huff and a smile.

I had him sign a few things, and he took so much time and care to sign them all. Finally it was time for the picture.

I will post my pictures once I get home and can get them on my laptop. I'm not... Horribly thrilled with them. I was using my nice DSLR camera and maybe I should have just used my cellphone. The lighting in the saloon was terrible and my face is positively glowing with sweat. But hopefully a little editing will help. God I hope so.

He was very sweet, pulling me close for the picture. He liked to say "outlaws for life," to help people relax and smile more.

After the picture we talked a little bit more, I can't even completely remember entirely about what. I discussed a little server I have with some friends where we basically just moon over Hosea. He asked where I was from and I told him. Apparently he has some connections to Utah (I won't go to into it, but he's out this way quite often apparently. Man likes to travel.). Finally we started wrapping things up as folks started lining up behind me to see him. He asked me if he could give me a hug which I of course said yes to. He pulled me into a big, tight hug, and we probably spent like 15-20 seconds just squeezing each other tighter and tighter. He didn't loosen his grip until I did, and when we stepped back he said something like "I could feel all your energy in that hug."

We said our goodbyes and I moved on to get out of his way.

After that I floated around to a few of the other tables, but I could feel myself really fading now that I'd seen Curzon. I went and saw Rob Bogue (Red Harlow). He was an absolute sweetheart, and his handler (the person who you pay for autos and stuff) asked if I'd ever play a remaster/remake/re-anything of revolver. I told him absolutely and that I'd actually tried to get my hands on revolver before the con.

After him I went and saw Sam (Mary-Beth). She was a ray of sunshine. So sweet and chatty and just happy to see folks. Her handler gave me some water and they let me kind of hang out at the table for a bit (I was sweating more and more and after I admitted I had been in the ambulance for a bit they were super worried for me). She was in love with my dress and had me do a little twirl so she could see it better.

Then I went to see Kaili (Susan). I didn't get a picture with her but she had no line so we just chatted. I told her about the guinea pigs, particularly our sweet Susan. Then we gossiped about Curzon a little which was fun. They're buddies and she seemed so happy to see someone who loves Curzon/Hosea so much. Then she asked for a hug and I love hugs so I was all for it.

I was about to head out when I spotted Mick and I knew I had to go see him, plus he took card and I was out of cash. He was so funny oh my god you guys. I introduced myself and we chatted a little. He grabbed my fan and started fanning me and was like "MaryJane I'm your biggest fan!" Then he had me open my parasol so we could take a picture under it XD he made me laugh during the picture and it's honestly such a cute shot. He was just so sweet and funny I loved chatting with him.

At this point I knew I was just done. I hadn't gotten to meet so many of the people I was excited for. Not Ben or Peter or Alex, Jo, Gabriel (ugh my heart I wanted to meet him so bad), Steve not to mention Rob himself. Ugh I missed so many of them that I'm so sad about. But I knew I needed to just go back to the hotel and breathe, shower, relax. Plus, money. 😅

So even after the day going so long, basic spending all day in line in the desert sun, having to sit in the ambulance, having many panic attacks, and only eating one meal, ugh today was still heaven. Just for those last couple hours interacting with Curzon. He seriously was so sweet and genuine and made me feel so special. And that hug was one of the best things I've felt in a long time. God I needed that. He gives great hugs. 100/10 would recommend. And he smelled so nice and clean, no overwhelming cologne or anything, just crisp and clean. God I could have stayed in that hug forever but I didn't want to hold up the line.

All-in-all, today ended up being very good. Absolutely nothing went like I expected but it was still an absolutely incredible experience. I just wish I hadn't frozen up so much, and that I'd been able to find the words to express just how much Hosea means to me. Because I definitely didn't do it justice.

But at least I didn't cry in front of him like I thought I would. Now I'm just laying on my air mattress listening to sweet music and thinking over it all, making sure I get it all written down before any of it slips my mind. There are things I'd do again if I could but honestly I'm so happy with how the day went, and the convention went.

[emdotcom]

Need to archive some iconic posts. A hitlist (will update w/ links as we go):

Three weed smoking girlfriends

Chocolate fountain cockatoo

Bee centrifuge

Bitch, that's the tubby custard machine

Thomas Jefferson Miku binder

Dashcon post

Alexandria's Genesis

Human Pet Guy post that led to everyone calling him Human Pet Guy

All or Nothing

That one Abt the bear & the cop

Bone stealing witch scandal 1 (this is the one w/ the toe necklace I believe?)

Bone stealing witch scandal 2 (this is the one with the selfie of the stolen child scull from the low-income shallow grave graveyard)

Infinite chocolate

Homestuck cop

"Are you a fucking Reylo?" crepe post

Homestuck cosplayer bathtub incident

(if it is a post? I can't remember if it is) Sixp*nce therapy

The Sixp*nce repost of the hammerhead shark that is "Me after sniffing bleach" that casually drops the child slave detail

"It is a mystery" 👻

Down with cis bus

Children's hospital

Color of the sky

The Hannibal slash-fic writer call-out post, after they were caught racefaking & pretending to be a refugee from a war-torn country so they could continue to write Hannibal aids fanfic without being called a hypocrite for calling out ANOTHER Hannibal slash-fic author for writing cannibal mermaid fanfic

Feel free to recommend stuff of a similar vein!

Special thanks to our lovely contributors: @footsteps-on-the-dance-floor

[kitsunabi]

If this posts before the vid, just know that there’s Some Quantity of Videos incoming.

Though I didn’t buy any merch (the line would have been at least another hour), a Childe cosplayer was handing out stickers to everyone waiting in line so I got Ei and Mona! He was pretty cool!

[animenss]

Swampcon

As a first-time attendee of conferences like the Swampcon in Rietz, I was fascinated by the distinct economy that surrounded the event's fan culture. At the conference we could clearly see the Otaku’s means of “possesing” the object of their desires by creating their own spinoffs through the many artists and creators present repurposing ideas from popular culture and niche material to produce their own unique narratives. Not only did these artists produce such content, but they were also selling it for wealth. It was also interesting to see how the attendees of the convention were avid consumers of this type of re-created content. 

At the vendor booths, I had the chance to speak with one of the sellers who was showcasing his collection of quite well-crafted posters — where both the designs and even the material imprinted were of very high quality — based on popular anime series. I was surprised to learn that he was able to travel around the country selling his designs, and that he and his partner made money through the designing, drawing and selling of such recreations of existing content. It was interesting to see how he was able to make a living from such a niche fandom, and it made me realize that there are a significant number of opportunities to be found in targeting specific communities.

Swampcon was not just limited to anime enthusiasts, though. It also contained Furries, Star Wars fans, and "believers of the dark," among other niche groups. The vendors at the convention were similarly diverse, targeting specific fandoms and subcultures. I noticed markets ranging from goods of the occult to recreated anime. The prevalence of such a wide range of fandoms concentrated in such an environment makes me think if there is a possible link between these different niches. Maybe the specificity of these fandoms and their conceptual difference to “common” society makes them thrive in such small niche-focused events.

Another aspect of Swampcon that caught my attention was the emphasis on identity expression. The convention was a safe space for people to dress up and explore different aspects of their identity with lesser fears of judgment or ridicule. I saw numerous cosplayers, furries, and cross-dressers who didnt seemed too concerned in expressing themselves. These kinds of smaller fandoms seem to be more open minded. Perhaps its due to their differences from the “standard” of society, placing them in a position of being more accepting and welcoming of more uncommon means of identity expression.

To sum it up, attending Swampcon was a really cool experience that exposed me to the unique economy of fan culture. The convention showed me how niche markets can be a source of opportunity for artists and entrepreneurs, and how targeting specific subcultures can be an effective way to build a dedicated following and a consistent source of income. The diversity of identity expression at the convention was particularly striking, not only were there multiple different means of expression — particularly on the way one dressed — but their proportion relative to the number of people that attended the conference was incredibly high compared to my own personal expectation. Overall, I enjoyed my time at Swampcon and look forward to attending similar events in the future.

[queen-ofsunflowers]

Part of me wonders if I’ll be able to go to another anime convention next year for my birthday again. It was so much more fun than I thought it would be. I felt... like I belonged. After getting over my initial anxiety the first day, I was so damn relaxed and comfortable with the other fans and cosplayers there.

It was expensive though, which is why I’m glad I had some help paying for everything. Next year, I want to try to pay for it myself if I can. I just need to get a steady source of income.

But I’m really hoping I can go again next year. Being at that convention was the happiest that I had been in a long while.

[finsterhund]

Past few days have been going in a haze and idk how to feel about it.

Sore, tired, stressed. Not as active online as I would like to be. Getting ready for a convention I don’t know if I even want to go to because I miss Cazza. Can I afford to spend money at the con? No. Do I even have the drive to get art at the con? Also no. Why am I even going then? well I put effort into a cosplay of Kevin from Skinamarink and there’s gonna be star wars cosplayers there I guess.

There was a massive heatwave. A horrible spike in temperature. It’s frying my brain. I hate the heat so much it’s unreal. Miserable. How much of that is why I’m not having a good time? Probably a lot.

I am very very sore. Needed to do laundry days ago already. They don't close the laundry room so I wanted to do it tonight but I'm so tired and weak. Accidentally “just laid down for a bit” and now it is 4AM. Probably gonna do laundry now anyways now that it’s cooler.

Money gets tighter and tighter. It’s honestly depressing. Should be used to it by now but I still hate it. Roommate seems convinced his car is going to die any minute now and is stressing out about trying to find another one and wants me to pitch in. As if I have the disposable income. Personally I think his car is gonna be fine for at least until winter. I’m used to things being run into the ground. He’s been stressed and has been making me stressed too.

Feeling defeated because it’s a struggle trying to repair music boxes when you don’t have the right replacement parts. I now have two broken music boxes. Very sad. The newest broken one is a relatively easy fix with the right part though. The ridge that holds the mainspring in position snapped off of winding key axle. I keep hoping to find broken movements I can cannibalize for parts but that just doesn’t keep happening. I’ve been trying to modify the drum of a particularly difficult movement and I also need to find a replacement mainspring for another. The issue being I don’t want to scavenge from working movements if I don’t have to. When I have some disposable income I should just bite the bullet and buy one of those job lots full of various states of disrepair vintage movements. But yeah. Spent all yesterday trying to modify the one note drum that has a way too fucking long specialized metal rod through its center that prevents it from being put into the base of compatible space movements. Scraped up my fingers about as bad as you can without making them bleed. I love working on mechanisms but not having a success is always very frustrating.

But in theory my music box problems can be solved.

Yet another bean has sprouted. Also my first bean plant is now climbing. Also got my first sunflower sprout. So even though I HATE this temperature my plants in the window fucking love it apparently.

Hoping to find good sunlight emulating LED bulbs for my room. I found cheap grow lights (the weird colored ones) but they're not ideal for anything other than plants. Just gotta make sure they’re not carcinogenic you know?

My neighbor found plant rooting hormone. Can’t wait to illegally download plants. I find it so funny people talking about propagating cuttings online have the nerve to be all “make sure you’re not doing it with a patented plant...uwu” bitch I literally do not care. I will steal every plant. They’re fucking plants. You can’t stop me. (nevermind the fact that I don’t even think I want to propagate the stupid weird patented plants anyways.)

My neighbor is being very nice to me so of course my stupid PTSD brain is telling me it’s a trap. God why can’t you just be fucking normal. Maybe just maybe somebody from an older generation is genuinely a nice person and wants to help you and wants to be your friend? Is that such a fucking alien concept to you? idiot? My brain keeps holdings its breath waiting for the ulterior motives to drop. What’s the catch? Why am I being treated nicely? Maybe there isn’t one. Maybe this is a genuinely nice person and they’re not going to take advantage of you being an idiot child? Maybe learn to trust fucking moron. All this time I’m talking about wishing I could make more friends in-person but I’m too scared of people to feel safe in doing so.

Did not sleep today. Probably not for 24 hours+ so I'm having a nap and rest now that I have some level of downtime. *edit* lol okay so unlike above apparently I did start write this intending to have some level of nap. lmaoooo

I think I’m forgetting to take some of my meds which honestly would explain some things. Roommate doesn’t want me to turn on our AC yet because “it’s expensive” but I am fucking dying dude. Please.

I am so glad Scott has Nexguard. This baby brat will manage to find and eat some random thing he found on the ground before I have a chance to stop him. Fortunately I did prevent him when he found half a dead bird in the yard. Gah.

I guess that is a negative to my grandparents farm. Summers get hot there too. But like, there’s also enough sun that I could make a solar farm and entirely cool the small house with that? Wind farms are viable there too.

Anyways I’m putting off my laundry obligations. :(

[matchachas-blog]

SwampCon

This was my second time at SwampCon, but sadly I haven't gotten too much exposure to the convention activities for multiple reasons. This year, it was because I had a retreat for my sorority on Saturday, and then a morning activity on Sunday, so I went after my morning event on Sunday, but it was still too early for the convention to have really started. I thought that it was funny that the convention starts at 11AM because it is on-theme of the stereotype of the otaku who is up all-night and wakes up late, though I'm sure some otaku are always up bright and early. So I'll also be including in my blog post my experience from last year as well.

Something that was the same both last and this year is how outnumbered the casually dressed people were to the cosplayers. I recognized some and was impressed by their effort and love of their characters to confidently put their outfits on display. This year I saw Sailor Jupiter from Sailor Moon character and loved her cosplay and asked to take a picture with her. I hope I made her day as she made mine. I loved recognizing the characters I liked, knowing that these cosplayers liked them too.

Some events I really wanted to go to but couldn't were the Maid Café and the artist vendors. It is actually on my bucket list to go to a Maid Café but the line was already long at 11AM sharp and the AC seemed to be broken on the third floor so I wasn't going to wait. I also wanted to attend some panels but being there at 11AM, I also didn't want to wait hours for them to start. I also think that I missed out on the cosplay drag show as I've heard good things about it.

One thing I was able to partake in last year was to participate in SwampCon as a performer! I was part of the dance team of Japanese Club, and was able to perform in 2 dances to Japanese music. It is interesting to look back now and think of the impact I made as someone on the inside. I was so excited and fulfilled to have been able to give entertainment to people and felt like my hard work of practicing paid off.

In class, we talked about how otaku unlike other maniacs/enthusiasts cannot collect their object of desire, so they "acquire" by creating their own versions or interpretations of the fictional works, such as by cosplay and doujinshi. There were many examples of cosplayers and I'm sure there were some examples of doujinshi at the artist vendors as well. Another discussion topic was the topic of shadow culture, and buying from them artist vendors is a way of increasing that capital. Discussing with other anime and manga enthusiasts is also a way to spread that capital. A unique situation I think that the artist vendors also bring out is that while doujinshi and cosplay do not usually or is very hard to create an economic capital by, the artists selling their art creates an economic income.

Although some of the aspects of otaku culture like cosplaying and creating doujinshi are not my cup of tea to partake in, I do appreciate the safe safe that conventions have made for all kinds of anime/manga enjoyers to express and share their love for it in a creative way.

[shivasdarknight]

@wickedsnack not to mention the entire concept of "i want a popular person to do it" has been proved to be Part of the Problem. when a smaller Black creator on YT got banned for nonsense reasons, several other big YT creators (including fucking markiplier) ACTIVELY TRIED to get banned doing similar things and didn't get even a slap on the wrist. it's all about $$ and big creators have already proven they can bring in the $$

Exactly!!! There are plenty of creators on tiktok that do curse a lot or even talk about race, but the main difference is that they're white and their platforms are huge and making a lot of money. They're also not politically left - if anything, they're likely to be liberal or conservative like fucking Libs of Tiktok.

Another example: the existence of the "⚠FAKE BODY" flag at the beginning of a description. This solely exists because women were getting their videos taken down for "inappropriate content" when they were wearing anything from bikinis or even just crop tops - worse so if it was someone who wasn't skinny or white. And naturally, not a single man was getting this harassment, even in borderline pornographic material. I follow a black cosplayer who has to put that in everything because she has a very elastic mouth/cheek area? And can and does weird shit with this, and if she doesn't include that "⚠FAKE BODY" tag the video gets taken down. I also can't count how many times black artists get their content shadowbanned just by appearing in the video. One jeweler I follow gets more engagement if she uses one of the annoying voice filters with nothing of herself in it, compared to say a video with her face and actual voice in it. Black dancers get shadowbanned for just existing or trying to promote their content - so where are these people getting the idea that "shadowbanning" is just a fallacy to handwave the fact they suck?

Because gee, it's like. People who make channels on Tiktok or YouTube their livelihood are people who pay attention to stats. They also experiment with videos, titles, content, descriptions etc to see what works and what doesnt. It's almost like you can get your account unshadow banned if a skinny white guy suddenly takes over the channel, and a few people have done that to prove a point. There's a damn good reason why ⚪, 🌴🧍, and ✋🏻 have all become synonymous with white (race). White people seem to be able to talk about white (race) with little issues, but black content creators can't even say the word which has resulted in these work arounds - the same applies to ⚫ and 🤚🏿 when referring to black (race) because that one gets you suppressed faster than the former (even so far as removing audio). Not to mention yahtzee instead of nazi, which I see the most from someone who breaks down anti-semitic dogwhistles and is in no way popular so he's at risk but obviously not a single one of the white supremacists/nazis in his comments is at risk for literal hate speech/harassment 🙃

All you have to do to get hit by Tiktok is to have a black person or even visibly disabled person appear in a video - so yes, they absolutely are smacking people with penalties for what words they use. It's entirely based on platform size, generated income for Tiktok, and it's been well documented. To say that shadowbanning isn't a thing on there - when we know for a Fact that platforms like Twitter do it, admit to it, and openly monitor language - is just frankly ridiculous and deeply ignorant. Just disgusting behavior all around that would rather characterize Tiktok solely by what gets popular while ignoring the many different and thriving activist communities on the platform that are struggling to stay afloat. Tiktok (and Twitter) are algorithm based, but that algorithm only works based on what you feed it - so what's that say about these fuckers if that's how they characterize their experience with the platform?

tell me you've never been around non-white leftists on tiktok w/o telling me you've never been around non-white leftists on tiktok.

it's SO fucking prevalent over there, it happens constantly, i accidentally typed out bisexual at one point and got a threat of suspension, another one for just saying ass or bitch, you Can get flagged for saying politically leftist things, and it's also not just tiktok. it's been years since youtubers experimented to see what would get them banned and demonetized based on titles, descriptions and content in the first 30 seconds. channels i watch are constantly uploading and reuploading with new titles and cards and it's all that same thing - can't talk about race, can't mention black people whatsoever, can't mention queerness.

This Is A Thing. you're just telling on yourself and what your fyp looks like. because it's very clear as to what gets shadowbanned and what doesn't. y'all seriously sound like conservatives.

[ultimate-rider]

Riding Promo

*The screen turns on, showing mostly static at the moment. You hear someone talking on the other end.*

???: “......On...........Com..........Da........Come.....on............bla......” *The screen glitches for a bit before it reveals a young man with purple hair, a goatee, and wearing a jacket with what seems to be the galaxy inside it.*

“Finally. Took me forever to get this damn thing to work. Oh well. Let’s get this over with.”

“Greetings, world! My name is Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! I’m an up incoming astronaut and I’m looking forward to head into space. But until that day arrives, I figured it would be a great time to start walking around and making some new friends. I just turned 18 in April, and I got my driver’s license yesterday! So if you guys need anything, just give me a promo and you got it!”

@motherkuma-and-monokubs @mikado-sannoji @ask-ruruka-ando @sinless-slaughter @the-real-kokichi-ouma @deity-of-calamity @hoshi-neko-hikari @hopeful-warriors @flower-boy-blues @digital-painting @digitalshoutheart @thepersonaking56 @ask-the-journalist @ataru-the-smol-cutie @the-shy-pony @oddblogfullofoddmuses @sirens-symphony @despairing-music @ask-shsl-mass-murderer @ask-oumeno @ask-childe-tartaglia @the-princess-of-despair @ueharakinji @ask-the-dice-quartet @ask-the-princess-of-hell @the-wonder-sisters @c-o-r-e @thehypnoticsnakedomain @tobys-multiverse-official @rocking-despair-girl @rockin-glamour-pizza @just-another-harem @atuas-artist @ask-shsl-scribe @ask-ultimate-cuddler @ask-the-ultimate-cosplayer @ask-the-tempest-king @tech-twins  @the-aikido-master @the-plainest-of-janes @ask-kuro-twins @nimbus-the-cat @mercy-of-the-ashes @ask-kisaragi-foundation @ask-v3scollector​ @ask-postgame-v3​ @ask-pregame-v3​

[andypantsx3]

unconventional | 4 | midoriya x reader

summary: HeroExpo is incredible, and that’s not even counting the really cute hero fanboy you just met. Well, you think he might be cute under that Deku cosplay. It’s hard to tell because it’s really, really good. Like, too good.

length: est ~15,000 words | 5 chapters

tags: romance, pro hero au, misunderstandings, conventions/fandom culture

warnings: aged up characters, eventual smut

notes: I meant to give this a real editing pass and then like, didn’t. I hope you still enjoy!

HeroExpo @heroexpo_official Hey hero fans, ready to meet your faves? Don't forget to line up early for meet and greets! Rooms are capped at 300, so get in while you can!

mrs shouto todoroki @lmmbb5889 replying to @heroexpo_official omg shouto's face when that girl tried to feel his bicep. i s2g i thought it was about to turn into a meet and yeet.

Iida Tenya’s Right Nipple (งʘʘ)ง @in_vineration 📣 ATTENTION 📣 Hot Deku cosplayer is actually Deku confirmed. I saw him buying at least fourteen sheets of All Might stickers in artist alley.

green bean protection squad @bunnnniboi replying to @in_vineration yeah that's definitely him OMW

xinju @greenhopp replying to @in_vineration y'all, actual dynamight is here too and he looks abt three seconds from nuking table A17

The next morning rushed by in a blur of menial tasks and idle daydreams.

You woke up early and caught the train in the silvery hour just before dawn, arriving at the convention center just as the sun’s rays began to limn the top of the building in gold. A couple plain-clothes officers and sleepy heroes were already lingering around the entrance to the convention center, and you felt distinctly like a secret agent when you flashed your staff pass at them to get inside.

You helped yourself to a coffee in the staffroom, and then set about your volunteering under the direction of the event organizers. You helped check audio equipment for some afternoon panels, scrubbed down some of yesterday’s attendee messes, and assisted a few under-caffeinated artists setting up their tables. As busy as your hands were, your mind was even busier, turning over the events of last night again and again, boring through them with all the singular focus of a laser beam.

You couldn’t believe Izuku was real. You couldn’t believe he’d spent the entire day with you, asked you to dinner, and then at the end of things, not only had he not run screaming from you, but he’d turned around and given you his phone number. You’d checked your phone every ten minutes on the train, certain it had to have been nothing more than a bizarrely realistic daydream on your part. But every time you did, there it was, nestled snugly at the center of your contacts list.

Izuku.

Your brain hummed pleasantly like a hive of satisfied bees.

Over the memory of his sunny smile and sturdy biceps, you unpacked boxes of promotional merch, buzzing back and forth between storage and the dealer’s room like an indecisive bee yourself, stopping only when the first of the con-goers began to trickle into the convention center. Another volunteer staffer came to find you and relieve you from your shift.

You dug out your phone and started texting Izuku as soon as you were freed. It took several minutes to craft an appropriately level-headed message, as you kept typing things out and immediately deleting them, feeling strangely girlish and shy.

Finally, you settled on a cool, hey! i just got off shift. i’d love to meet up if you’re still free?

Your phone buzzed immediately with an incoming call. Your heart shot into your throat at the sight of Izuku’s name flashing across the screen.

“Y/N,” he said when you picked up. That gentle tone sounded just as good over the phone. Your stomach swooped and you frantically scrabbled for the threads of human language lurking somewhere in your brain.

“Izuku, hi!” you said, inanely. Your face heated at how eager you sounded, but Izuku didn’t seem to mind.

“I, um, was thinking of going to Creati’s panel,” he said. His voice was warm in your ear. “I was hoping you might want to come…”

“Yes!” you squeaked, abandoning all pretense of sounding cool and collected. “Yes, that sounds great!”

And it did sound great. Creati was one of the most strategic and creative thinkers in the history of heroics, and her quirk was mega cool. (And if anything would have sounded great coming from Izuku, even dumpster diving, well, that was beside the point.)

You agreed to meet him in Hall B, and hung up, feeling giddy. You were thankful he wasn't already in sight by the time you made it there, as you nearly wiped out again in your haste to get there.

You peered into the teeming crowds of cosplayers, wondering who among them was Izuku. You’d forgotten to ask who he’d be dressed as today, if not Deku again, and every flash of a shapely bicep was setting off your alarms. You carefully eyed several All Mights, presuming that to be Izuku’s likeliest next choice, but none of them seemed much like him, either in their build or their features.

Then again, you didn’t really know what Izuku looked like under the makeup he’d had on yesterday.

Eventually, a mess of inky green curls drew your eye to the far edge of the hall. Your gaze trailed down from there, over a set of broad shoulders, down to a trim waist, the play of muscles along his back somehow very familiar...

The Deku cosplayer leaned in, speaking in low tones to someone in a very convincing Dynamight cosplay. From where you stood, you might have actually mistaken him for the real Dynamight. Those grenade bracers were obnoxiously accurate, at any rate, even scuffed in some places as though they’d seen use. It was a nice touch.

It was hard to tell from a distance, and with his back turned, but it did seem an awful lot like Izuku, in yet another Deku cosplay, speaking to a friend. You approached cautiously.

As you neared, the Dynamight cosplayer made some kind of dismissive noise in Deku’s direction, and waved him off, turning to stalk down the hall with nary a glance back at his friend. He threw up a middle finger as a bright peal of laughter floated after him, light and fizzy and sweet and absolutely recognizable after yesterday.

“Izuku?” you asked.

The Deku cosplayer turned—and sure enough, it was Izuku. Though he was just as perfectly in-character as yesterday, that sunny smile was one you knew you would recognize anywhere.

You slowed your pace, highly aware of the way the sight of him went straight to your knees and made you liable to trip on any rogue strand of rug fiber. He rushed over, a light tinge of pink sweeping over his nose bridge.

“Y/N!” he said, stopping in front of you. The color over his nose spread across his cheeks, creeping under those freckles. “Um, I mean, hi!”

You couldn’t help but grin up at him. “I mean hi to you too.”

He scrubbed a hand through that green hair again, his smile turning wry. “I, um, looked for you this morning but I didn’t see an All Might wandering around…”

You laughed. “I may have been deliberately hard to find when they were looking for volunteers again.”

He laughed, too, and you found yourself grinning helplessly back at him.

You didn’t know how to explain it but it felt like your day had finally clicked into place now that you’d seen him—which was so utterly wild, considering you’d barely known him for more than a day at this point. But he just felt so familiar, somehow. So trustworthy, and safe, and so maddeningly good.

He grinned and politely offered you an arm, something shy in the gesture. It made you feel somewhat shy, too, but you seized the opportunity to latch onto one of those biceps with enthusiasm.

Which immediately turned out to be a mistake. His arm was so solid under your fingers that you felt like you might be getting the vapors, and then you were mostly clinging to him in order to stay upright, rather than for the purposes of enjoyment.

Izuku guided you into the exhibition room, finding a spot near the back for the two of you. It was a Herculean effort to release him, and you rather thought you deserved some kind of award when you finally managed it and sat down.

Creati soon made her appearance, and launched into the panel. It was a testament to how interesting her talk was that you were able to retain any of it at all, most of your mind still fixed on the feeling of Izuku’s arm under your hands. Creati talked through her career as a hero, candid about her failures and her learnings, and her rise as one of the chief strategists in the heroics community.

When she got to the Q&A portion, a hand in front of you drew her gaze your way. As she turned, her expression instantly slipped into something surprised. She seemed to freeze, her full mouth parting and a thin, dark eyebrow went up, almost as if in question. She must have been looking at the guy who'd raised his hand, but it felt like she was looking at something behind him, almost right at you...

Her gaze lingered for what felt like several moments too long, but then she seemed to recover herself. Her lips drew into a smile and she pointed to the guy in front of you who’d had the question. Next to you, Izuku muttered something, and fidgeted in a way that suggested he was embarrassed. The tips of his ears, red against those green waves, seemed to confirm it.

A small wave of suspicion rolled over you. You wondered if maybe he had a thing for Creati, and the intensity of her dark eyes in your direction had been a bit much for him. You couldn’t really blame him, smart and beautiful as she was—but a small, hot spark of something almost jealous flickered to life in your chest.

If only his tastes ran to scrubby little support engineers instead.

You tried to push that thought out of your mind as the panel ended and people began to filter out of the room. You succeeded only by dint of Izuku leaning in towards you, shoving all other thought right out of your brain.

He tapped his notebook, smiling warmly. “She’s amazing. And her new suit is a definite upgrade from the old one.” He gestured to several lines of atrocious handwriting, that presumably would be related to Creati’s costume once deciphered. “Especially the various zippers, so she can adjust as needed.”

You nodded. It was definitely an upgrade compared to all the exposed skin that used to be on open and quite precarious display. To each their own, but you'd always thought there was something rather stupid and dangerous about leaving your bare skin unguarded in a profession like heroics. The thought of improvements launched you right back into support mode.

“I was thinking, what if her quirk was adaptable in the same way Edgeshot’s is?” you asked.

Izuku's green eyes flicked up to yours, alight with the beginnings of curiosity. “Adaptable in the same way?” he asked.

“His costume is made with pieces of his own hair fibers, right? To allow it to change shape in the same way.” you said.

Realization lit Izuku’s gaze. “You mean, what if you made Yaoyorozu’s suit the same way?” he asked, his tone growing excited. His fingers twitched in his gloves, like he was already itching to write the idea down.

You nodded. “Exactly. Someone would have to run tests on her hair fibers to confirm, but assuming it works in a similar manner, her entire suit could be designed to let anything she creates pass through it. Then she wouldn’t even need to stop and fiddle with all those zippers.”

The combination of wonder and approval in Izuku’s gaze made you flush hot all the way down to your toes. “That’s amazing,” he said. “You really are amazing. I...You should meet her, she’d really want to work with you.”

It was like he’d stuffed you into an oven cranked to broil. You scrubbed at your scorching cheeks. “It’s someone else’s support tech, not mine,” you offered awkwardly, suddenly desperate to get his attention off of you. “Plus, I don’t know how I’d get an appointment with her. I’m just a student,” you reminded him.

Those emerald eyes moved over you again, slowly, Izuku’s brow wrinkling as if in thought.

The reminder that you were still in school probably made your idea seem a little less amazing, and a little more childish. His expression definitely read like he was considering something he hadn't before. You didn’t care to find out what that was, so you nudged him instead.

“Anyway,” you said, loudly. “Do you feel like exploring Artists’ Alley and the dealer’s room with me? I unpacked a bunch of the merch this morning and there’s an All Might silver age figurine that I don’t remember them announcing, plus a couple other things I saw that you might like.”

Izuku perked up immediately at the mention of All Might merch. His expression cleared and he leapt to his feet with a speed that even Deku himself would have envied.

“All Might figurine? I, um, yes!” he said, handing you to your feet as well. “I’d really like that!”

You laughed at his exuberance, and led the way to the dealer’s room, immediately beelining for the booth bearing the All Might merchandise. You could feel Izuku practically vibrating behind you with the need to speed ahead, so you kept your pace quick, darting through the crowds of cosplayers with efficiency.

Izuku immediately handed over a card the second he got to the booth, snapping up one of the figurines with the enthusiasm of only the most die-hard of fans. He pressed the back of a hand to his mouth, laughing with a little embarrassment when both you and the booth attendant chuckled at his fervor.

“He, um, means a lot to me,” he said, blushing under those freckles again. God, he was so cute.

You grinned. “Glad I could get you the inside scoop, then.”

Izuku smiled back at you, that boyish sliver of sunshine, and your heart instantly sent itself into fits inside your chest. He really was way too handsome to be permitted, even with allowances made for whatever changes his cosplay had wrought. The open sincerity of his every expression made things even worse, made you helpless to do anything but grin back at him.

After that, the two of you floated around the dealer's room, Izuku gawking at everything with the reverence of a true hero fan. He stopped at nearly every booth, and made sure to buy something at every single stall belonging to a UA alumnus, happily packing things away into a bag that was rapidly growing overstuffed.

You gawked openly too, lingering over a pair of fluffy slippers shaped like moon boots at the Uravity booth, a line of insanely nice headphones put out by Earphone Jack’s agency, and some hot-and-cold coffee thermoses that you were certain pro hero Shouto didn't even know he'd licensed. Eventually, you caught sight of a vibrant square of green, and steered Izuku in the direction of the Deku booth, sure he’d be interested in merch to match his costume.

But Izuku’s ears went that same, curious shade of red as you approached, and he made an aborted movement towards his hair, as if he’d meant to ruffle it nervously.

You wondered what that was about.

There was really no hiding that he was a massive Deku fan, not with how he’d dressed as him for two days in a row now. The accuracy of his costume and all of his accessories suggested he'd paid a truly intense level of interest to the hero. Did he really think that you didn't already know, that you would find it embarrassing or surprising?

You determinedly led the way over to the booth, pulling him over to a table full of neatly folded forest green hoodies, nearly the same shade as his hair. “You don’t need to be embarrassed,” you told him, eyeing him as his ears went even more scarlet.

“I think I do,” he muttered.

You rolled your eyes. “Literally you do not. People love Deku for a reason. And this merch is amazing, just look at it.” There was really no shame in the fanboy game, you wanted him to know.

Izuku looked like he wanted to curl up on himself like a prodded grub, but he came over to look over your shoulder. You caught a whiff of something clean and cottony, his fabric softener already a familiar, if dizzying scent to you. Up close, you could feel the warmth of him through his suit, and you directed an irritated oh for god's sake at your knees when they went a little wobbly.

You stood straight, and pointedly focused your attention on unfolding a hoodie modeled after Deku’s suit, gesturing to Izuku to observe.

And honestly the moment you did, you wanted one for yourself.

It was made of a plush material, warm and soft against your fingers. The designer clearly had an eye for detail. The hoodie replicated the exact pattern of his suit, from the black geometric patterns at the ribcage, to the white shoulder straps, buttoned neatly in place. The neck was even fashioned after the steel mouthguard that Deku often wore at his throat.

Not a thread was out of place as far as you could tell, and the agency had clearly not cut corners on the design nor the quality of the materials.

“Wow, wait, this is so good,” you said, almost forgetting Izuku entirely. You slipped your fingers inside, sighing at the warm fleecy lining.

Honestly it was just the sort of thing you’d wear in the arctic environment of the support lab, warm and comfortable—especially on days where you were sure to sleep in the support building, unable to drag yourself farther than the set of beanbags shoved into the corner.

A glance at the price tag, however, suggested it was slightly out of your student budget. After the lunch with Izuku, you needed to watch your funds a little more carefully, especially if you wanted them to take you all the way through lunchtime tomorrow.

You dug out your phone, snapping a picture, and then typed out the details in your notes app.

Izuku watched you curiously. “Are you...sending it to a friend?”

You shook your head, pocketing your phone. “No, saving for when I can save the money up. That thing looks cozy as hell, and any support engineer worth their salt would be very appreciative of the level of detail. I will definitely be coming back for it.”

Something strange flashed over Izuku’s face.

He shifted a thigh, ducking his head shyly as he said, “You, um, could have it if you wanted.”

You squinted at him, the words not really registering at first. That was the point. You did want to have it, so you were gonna save up for it.

“I...what?” you asked.

Izuku reached out, gesturing at the table of hoodies. Your eyes greedily followed the shift of a bicep, your mouth going kind of dry.

“I mean I could...give one to you, if you wanted…” Izuku looked uncertain, like he thought he might be overstepping.

A little thrill went through you.

Was he really...offering to get one for you? After only a little more than a day of acquaintance? Sure, that was more than enough time for you to already be absolutely and completely whipped for him, but in your defense there was a dearth of stupidly cute boys who were also smart enough to talk shop with you. You didn't really know what Izuku's own thoughts were, and far as you could tell, the feeling only ran one way.

But the implication here....that he liked you at least well enough to give something to you...

Was it really what you thought it might be...?

The thought thrilled you even more than the promise of the sweatshirt.

You fought down a furious wave of bashfulness, looking up to catch Izuku’s gaze. Those guileless green eyes stared back, over a blush so deep it might have been medically concerning, if you weren’t certain you were feeling the exact same level of shyness.

“I, um, actually would really like that,” you said, reaching up to flatten your hair self-consciously. “And I can pay you back, too!” you added quickly, lest he think you were taking advantage of him. “When I do save up the money. I have your phone number and everything…”

Izuku shook his head, smiling shyly. Even that tiny little grin was unreasonably pretty. “It’s really no trouble.”

God, you could have exploded from how cute he was.

You nodded, then busied yourself with picking up a hoodie and trying it on for something to keep your attention off of him. You felt certain the both of you might combust if you waffled around each other for much longer. Izuku excused himself to go speak to the booth attendant while you pulled the hoodie on, frantically fanning yourself in hopes of cooling your cheeks.

The hoodie was sinfully soft, and just as cozy as you had anticipated. You ran your fingers appreciatively over the sleeve lining, reveling in the soft slip of the fabric. Okay, so Izuku was maybe feeling something slightly more intimate that acquaintance, if his reaction was anything to go by. It was cool, totally cool...you could be cool...

Izuku was still a little blushy by the time he made it back. You suggested continuing into Artists’ Alley, to give you both something to look at other than each other until you could calm down.

The thought that Izuku had wanted to get you something, a something that matched his own cosplay was...very heartening. And the fact that he’d been so bashful about the whole thing, probably just as shy about it as you had been…

Well, that made your heart leap into little somersaults in your chest.

Artists’ Alley proved a fairly fruitful distraction. Everything was eye-catching, and Izuku immediately set about collecting every single All Might sticker pack in sight. He was effusive in his praise, and the artists seemed to soak up his smile like eager little sponges, exactly the way you might have. He stuffed everything away in his bag, looking like a little kid who’d made out really well on Christmas.

He also lingered longingly over a set of pins featuring Creati, Ingenium, and Froppy, plus a cute little Uravity phone charm. At one booth towards the end of the row, he was startled into a laugh, a happy, pleased little noise that instantly drew your attention. In his hands, a Dynamight sticker pack depicted cartoon versions of Katsuki Bakugou in various piques of tantrum—crossed arms, surly pouts, and crackling explosions dotted the sheet.

“It looks just like him,” Izuku laughed as he purchased the set—his expression just somewhat guilty, you thought.

But he was clearly pleased with it, and his smile was infectious. You smiled up at him, unable to help yourself—and Izuku’s eyes seemed to catch on your mouth. For a horrible second you thought he might have just been staring at something caught in your teeth. But then his eyes trailed slowly downwards, down the lines of your new hoodie, and his ears went that charming shade of scarlet again. He pressed a gloved hand to the back of his mouth, flushed as if he’d caught a fever.

Your heart fluttered.

Okay, not that you had that much experience, but...that had to be a good sign. Right? Guys didn’t just go all blushy around a girl for no reason. Guys didn't just give a girl something and then stare at her in it like they'd never seen another human before. That had to mean...something, right?

You ruminated on this thought as you and Izuku sat down to a super late lunch, as you talked your way through another couple of panels, and sketched out a few more designs in his blue notebook. Your conversation came easily, as it had before, but now it seemed tinged with a layer of intensity that hadn’t been there before. And you didn't think it was just your suspicions lending it that weight either. Izuku's keen green eyes were even more focused than normal, and he appeared fairly unable to detach from the sight of you in the hoodie for too long. He even missed a couple forkfuls of rice, and was all cutely embarrassed about cleaning them up. The more you caught him staring, the stronger your suspicions were, and the stronger your resolve grew.

You had to know what it meant.

By the end of the evening, you resolved to ask him out. Maybe you were misreading signs, but maybe not. If he declined, well, you could always carry on as you had been, talking shop and dissecting panels together. But if he accepted…

Well, you didn’t want to get too far ahead of yourself.

As the evening drew to a close and Izuku walked you to the train again, you rehearsed what you might say to him. But before you got the chance, a gloved hand took yours, and Izuku pulled you to a gentle stop just outside the train stop.

You looked up at him curiously, heartbeat quickening.

Izuku’s features were set in a look of determination, eyebrows drawn slightly together, the edge of his mouth pressed in a thoughtful line.

“I wanted to ask you, um, before you left,” he said, in his gentle tone. “I was thinking about what you said, about being a student, and not being able to meet with any pros. Your designs, and all the ideas you had for Yaoyorozu’s suit, and Iida’s, and mine...they were amazing, like really amazing.”

You flushed with the praise, your fingers shifting in his.

Izuku continued, “Would you, um, bring some of your designs tomorrow? And some of the smaller inventions you mentioned?”

You nodded, wondering where he was going with this. You were always happy to show off your work, especially to someone who could clearly appreciate its finer points. But you and Izuku had already been talking shop, basically the whole weekend…so what did he want with your work now?

Izuku smiled down at you, reassuring and kind. “I don’t know if you were planning on coming tomorrow, but if you wanted to—Yaoyorozu, Iida, Shouto and Ochako will be at my meet and greet tomorrow. I didn’t think people would want to meet just me, so I asked to make it more of a UA thing…”

You stared at him, suddenly unable to process what he was saying. The words made sense separately but they didn’t quite fit together, like he’d misspoken somewhere, used an incorrect particle…

Something prickled at the edge of your thoughts.

“I was thinking you could show them your designs there, if you wanted,” Izuku said. Then he added quickly, “If you’re working, I could also get you a different time with them, though! Maybe a meeting at my agency, if you’re, um, interested. I know I definitely would like to work with you on a new suit design…”

He trailed off, looking a little unsure of himself. Your lack of response seemed to unnerve him a little.

But you were having some difficulties processing exactly what it was he was saying. You felt like an old-timey computer, slowly loading only the most fragile of internet connections. Everything felt so weirdly disconnected. Izuku kept referencing “my meet and greet”, and “my agency,” as though a regular dude had any business having a slot at the convention. He kept saying things like “my suit,” and he spoke of the pros as if he was on familiar terms with them. As though he was familiar with them, as though he was a hero himself…

You froze.

Two and two suddenly added up into a very neat and very horrifying four.

Those emerald eyes roved over you in concern, and two gloved hands came up to take you by the shoulders, very, very gently.

“Are you, um, are you alright?” Izuku asked, ducking his head to peer at your face.

You watched from somewhere outside your body, as his hands moved over you, as if to reassure himself that you were alright.

As pro hero Deku’s hands moved over you, and pro hero Deku peered concernedly at your features.

Pro hero Deku...who you’d apparently been with the entire weekend.