#what if kit cosplayed steve????

[wikitpowers]

hear me out:

kit and ty cosplaying steve and bucky

[steddieas-shegoes]

Steve was doing this for Robin.

He had to keep telling himself this. He could get through the day, the weekend, life, if he just kept repeating this to himself.

But an hour into their day, his pants ripped.

Not in a place it can be hidden, not a small one.

Right along his ass.

And because Robin insisted he’d be fine, he didn’t bring a bag with a change of clothes.

He could buy some, sure, if he wanted to spend $60 on special convention sweatpants that would be entirely too hot, unflattering, and ruin the costume Robin insisted he wear to match hers.

He was hiding in the bathroom currently, furiously texting Robin to let her know he was just going to stay there until it was time to leave.

She’d be mad at him, but she’d be more mad at herself for not letting him bring a change of clothes.

His pants weren’t even tight. Luke Skywalker doesn’t exactly wear tight clothes. He had no reason behind the rip other than the universe just hating him as much as possible.

Robin told him she would find someone to help, whatever that means, but he didn’t think that was possible without just buying new pants.

He stood in the corner of the continuously crowded bathroom, trying not to draw attention, but knowing it was incredibly odd to just stand in the corner of a public bathroom.

Ten minutes passed and a guy walked in with a backpack and a sign that says “Free Cosplay Repair” and Steve knew what Robin had done.

The man was pretty, and not dressed up, but seemed like he wished he was. Maybe it was difficult to repair if he was wearing some elaborate costume.

Steve didn’t know how this worked.

“Are you Steve?”

Steve nodded.

His voice was calming, and Steve instantly trusted him to fix the problem.

“Heard you’ve got a bit of a problem with the costume. Big or small?”

“Uh. Pretty big, man.”

“Ah. Tear along the ass, then. Happens all the time.”

He set his backpack down and started rummaging through the front pocket. When he pulled out a sewing kit, Steve realized he was going to have to get this fixed in a public bathroom with this very attractive man staring at and touching his ass for who knows how long.

“Um.”

“It’ll be better if you can take them off. I’ll be able to sew it much faster.”

Steve couldn’t just stand around in his boxers. That was not part of the plan or the agreement with Robin. People were coming and going from the bathroom at a rapid rate.

“Is there somewhere private we can go?”

“Awww, Stevie, feeling shy?”

Steve’s face was beet red. He was feeling a little shy, and being called out on it by a hot guy kind of made him think about being called out on other things in other ways and his brain was not doing well.

“My name’s Eddie. I come with my friend Chrissy to a bunch of these every year. We have a tent set up on the show floor for privacy, but you’d have to walk to it. I could walk behind you if you want?”

“Oh. Okay. Um. Sure.”

It was better than standing half naked in this bathroom.

So they left, and Eddie stayed right behind him, covering him from possible exposure to the growing crowd.

He would lean forward and direct him to the tent every few seconds, leaving goosebumps behind from how close he got to his ear to be heard.

When they arrived, Chrissy was finishing up with supergluing something to a mask. Eddie touched her shoulder and whispered something to her. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him before turning back to the person she was helping.

Eddie nudged Steve into their tent.

“Alright, shouldn’t take too long. Take them off, Luke.”

Steve rolled his eyes but followed directions. The faster this was done, the faster he could get back to Robin, who was probably so deep into the crowd by now that he’d never find her anyways.

Maybe he should just stay here. Learn to sew. Become a part of their traveling repair team.

They seemed nice enough.

Eddie got started immediately, and Steve was grateful for the privacy the tent provided. He sat down on a stool they had set up in the corner and put his hands in his lap, covering as much of himself as he could. He was definitely not confident in this place.

He’d embraced that he liked some nerdy things. He was fine with it.

But he was way out of his element here.

“You come to these a lot?”

“No. Just supporting my friend.”

“Explains not being as prepared as the pros.”

“I did try to be. My friend said I’d be fine. Don’t know why I listened to her.”

Eddie snorted. “She a friend or a…friend?”

Steve laughed so loudly, Eddie jumped. “Sorry. She’s very much not straight and I am very much not interested.”

“Is she Leia?”

“Yeah.”

“Everyone will assume you’re together, you know?”

“Yeah, well. She said I had to and I owed her.”

“Must’ve done you a big favor.”

“You could say that.”

Eddie’s hands were moving quickly, and Steve couldn’t help watching in amazement.

“How long have you been doing this?”

“What? Sewing? Or conventions?”

“Both.”

Eddie smiled while he worked.

“Sewing since I was 11. I was in charge of fixing my and my uncle’s clothes since we couldn’t really afford new ones unless I outgrew them. Then in high school I did costumes for drama and cheerleaders. That’s how I met Chrissy. She was a secret nerd so she took me to a convention and I saw too many people crying over broken and torn cosplays so I started doing this.”

“For free?”

“Yeah. I already had most of the supplies on hand and I’m not using them all so why not?”

“That’s really…kind.��

He saw Eddie’s cheeks blush, but he didn’t comment.

Maybe he’d gain some upper hand here despite being half naked in a tent with a stranger.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“It kind of is, man. Just take the compliment. It’s really selfless.”

“Okay. Yeah. I guess. Thanks.”

They settled into a comfortable silence and Steve really took in the tent. There were things hanging up that he vaguely recognized as D&D monsters from Dustin’s room.

“Hey, the kid I babysit is into that.”

“What?”

“The dungeons game.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I think he even has that exact print in his room.”

“No shit? I made these. I have an Etsy shop.”

“You’re kidding. He’s gonna freak out that I met you.”

“Well, shit. Take one for him.”

“Oh, I couldn’t do that.”

“Yeah you could. I’m not letting you leave until you do.”

Steve felt his heart flutter.

Dustin was like his little brother and he loved him so much. Any time someone did something kind for him, it melted his heart.

He didn’t have time for feelings for a stranger.

Not at a convention where he was the outcast.

“I guess if you insist.”

“I do.”

Steve was a fucking mess. Emotionally, he was the type to get really attached really quickly. It’s why all of his relationships ended within weeks. He was ready to be completely committed and they never were. He fell hard and fast for anyone who showed him even a tiny bit of interest.

He had to get out of this tent.

“I’m not rushing you, but how much longer?”

“I’m almost done. Few more minutes. Doing okay?”

“Yeah. Just wanna find Robin.”

“Text her to meet you here. She knows where it is.”

“How would she know that?”

“I’ve met her a few times at other conventions and she always stops by to say hello.”

Robin knew this guy?

Suddenly, he realized what was going on.

She was setting him up.

“Take your time. She can wait.”

Eddie slowed his hands and looked up at Steve.

“Uh. Okay.”

“She’s a traitor who did this to me on purpose.”

“Ripped your pants?”

“Yes.”

Eddie stopped what he was doing completely.

“She ripped your pants on purpose? How would she have done that?”

“She pulled a seam out or something.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Because she’s trying to set us up.”

“Us?!”

“Yep. Sorry. I promise I don’t expect anything. She just does this sometimes. Thinks I’m lonely or whatever.”

Eddie searched his face for a minute, then looked back down at his work.

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Lonely.”

Well, yeah. Robin didn’t get the assumption from nowhere. But he didn’t really want to admit that to a stranger.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Apparently, he was going to anyways.

“Hm.”

“Hm?”

“Mhm.”

Steve huffed out a breath.

Eddie stood suddenly and came over to Steve, pushing his shoulder back and his legs apart so he could fit between them.

Eddie’s hand cupped his chin, pulling it up so he could look at him.

Steve gulped.

He was feeling more than vulnerable at this point and wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“Your friend must really love you to want to make sure you aren’t lonely.”

“Um. Yeah.”

“You know, I’m taking a lunch break in about an hour if you wanna hang around. I could use some company.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. One condition though.”

“What’s that?”

“You take the pants off again.”

Steve laughed and Eddie couldn’t help the smile he aimed down at him.

“You want me to eat in just my boxers?”

“Well, not just your boxers. That’ll be later at the hotel.”

God, this guy was good. Smoother than Steve’s ever been and he was known for his charming nature for years.

“You think I’ll come back to your hotel?”

“I know you will.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I only temporarily fixed these pants. The stuff you need is back at my room.”

“What if I don’t care about the pants?”

“All the more reason to leave them off when you come to my room.”

They smiled at each other.

Steve felt brave. He felt a little ridiculous. Most of all, he felt like he couldn’t pass up the opportunity literally staring him in the face.

He leaned up a bit more and waited for Eddie to lean down.

When their lips met, Steve knew he was completely fucked.

Robin had fucked him over and he’d never been so grateful.

[gakriele-lvs-blog]

Hunter's list of parental figures

Hunter accumulated a remarkable amount of possible parental figures across the series (in both canon and fanon)

-Lilith (at least in fanon): Even throught she acted cold and uncaring during her stay in the emperor's coven she was indeed still a good person behind that mask. So upon realizing the kind of life Hunter was going through (after questioning her belief, past actions, and faith) she would willing to do everything in her power to get him the hell out of Belos's grasp, including getting Eda or Raine involved to assure his safety.

-Raine (Also in fanon): As an active rebel in disguise, they would most likely found out about Hunter's identity behind the mask and the treatment he suffered. They would also do anything in their power to save Hunter, even if it means leaving their current position to do so. (They would definitely appear at Eda's door and say: "Behold! Our son!" he is very sad and is made out of wood and stolen meat!)

Eda: She literally adopted two random kids in the span of 3 to 6 months. Who is going to stop her from adopting the nephew of the Demon Realm equivalent of Jesus? Her human daughter literally assaults government facilities on a weekly basis and his son is a literal offspring of GOD! If you mess with her kids she is going to break your bones and steal your wallet! And In Hollow Mind if Hunter hasn't run away and stayed she would have gotten the adoption papers the next morning.

Darius: We all know this one. The poor man has probably been overwhelmed with guilt and regret after losing his mentor, and looking at Hunter so blindly loyal to Belos must have been quite a heartbreaking sight. But the moment Hunter showed his willingness to defy authority... After Hollow Mind, he probably has a room ready for him at his house, filled with pretty much everything he thinks he will need (from hundreds of books, Flyer Derby equipment, a sewing kit, and who knows what else he has prepared to spoil him rotten)

Camila: We all know she is the Endgame. She is the one who knows him the best out of everyone, she was there when he was left powerless, without a mission, duty, or fate... not even family. She was the reason he learned what is like to be part of a true family. She doesn't care for formalities, she personally teaches him how to use the sewing machine, provided him with the food and clothes he wanted, and even allowed him to use hers and Manny's books and cosplays. Without mentioning how Luz is practically her sister in every shape and form except legally.

Dell (mostly fanon): Hunter mentioned how he wishes to learn how to carve palismans. And who else is a master of the art? one that has probably been looking for someone to pass on the family's legacy. That old but wise man could deliver in a silver plate one of Hunter's dreams.

Steve: No joking, I remember reading a fic about just that, the man appears out of nowhere and gets Hunter the fuck out of here (no idea where it is or if it was a fever dream of mine but...)

[bvckys-doll]

Let me take care of you

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x female!reader

Word count: 2.7k

Summary: Bucky broke up with (Y/N) a month ago and she still doesn’t know why. When she decides to visit the HQ for the first time after their break up to get the rest of her stuff, the whole team is out on a mission. (Y/N) is not prepared to meet her ex soon after her arrival. Heavily injured.

Warnings: bloody wound. (Y/N) needs to stitch him up. Blood, duh. Angsty fic with a happy ending!

Author’s note: This one-shot sat in my Bucky folder for too long so now I finally got the chance to post it. Italics is the past. I hope you like it and might leave a comment in the reply section! PLEASE! Take care of yourself, stay safe and healthy! Cosplay the Winter Soldier and PUT ON A FCKING MASK!

You can find my main masterlist here!

It was a strange feeling to walk through the hallways of the headquarters without being able to call it her home. Bucky and (Y/N) had broken off their relationship a month ago and it was still hard to process everything. Normally she wouldn’t be so tense and would walk down the hallway without a bad feeling, but the bad feeling was omnipresent.

After more than a year of their relationship, it was Bucky’s decision to end it. It had happened out of the blue, but he thought it was for the best, as the missions were getting harder and harder each time and Barnes knew that (Y/N) was worried sick.

He had often come home in the evening and found her still awake on the couch. She could not sleep if she knew that the rest of the team was on a risky mission that she could not or was not allowed to participate in.

Bucky loved (Y/N). He still knew that. Yet he had never said it out loud. Bucky knew after the first three months of their relationship that he loved her, but he was too much of a coward to tell (Y/N) the truth. What if she turned him down? What if she thought they were moving to fast? So, Bucky kept it that way and tried to show her his affection in different ways.

But in the end, the former Winter Soldier knew he could no longer keep it from her. So, James chose the simplest method: to let her go. Of course, he knew from the start that (Y/N) wouldn’t just leave. After a year of dating, she wouldn’t just leave if Bucky told her to. She would ask questions, probably cry, and beg him to try again. There was only one option: he would have to break her heart.

~

With a broad smile on her lips, (Y/N) opened the door to her room, while trying not to drop the plate of the fresh cookies she had baked and brought with her.

“Baby, you’re not gonna believe what Sam just said. ” (Y/N) chuckled and put the plate on the coffee table next to the couch when Bucky came out of the bathroom. Before she could speak up again, she paused, and her eyes widened. His eyes were swollen and red. He must have cried. A lot.

“James, what’s going on?” (Y/N) approached him and put her hands on his cheeks. Meanwhile Bucky was clenching his hands in fists to prevent himself from pulling (Y/N) close. The next words that passed his lips would not only break her heart, but also him.

“I want you to go.”

“W-what? I don’t understand. Shall I go down to the living room and leave you alone?” (Y/N) tried to make sense of his words. Another tear ran down Bucky’s cheek. Immediately she wiped it away and watched him anxiously. Slowly, he grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands from his face, whereupon (Y/N) looked at him completely disillusioned.

“I can’t be with you anymore. We are too different” James replied and stepped past her as (Y/N) froze at her place. She couldn’t quite believe what he had just said. Before she could say another word, he continued and pulled the final straw “I don’t love you…and I never loved you. This...was all just a pastime for me to feel a little better after everything that’s happened to me.”

Her back was still turned to him as Bucky saw how (Y/N) now clenched her hands into fists as well and a sob escaped her lips. How he would have loved to take her in his arms. Tell her it was all a lie to protect her. But he didn't. He stood firm and left it at that.

Without another word, (Y/N) turned on her heel and left their shared bedroom, pulling the door shut behind her with a loud bang.

~

Since the confrontation, they hadn't seen each other or exchanged another word. Natasha had packed a few things and left with (Y/N) only a few hours later after the incident. Natasha hadn't spoken a word to him since that day either.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) had been staying in a hotel for the past four weeks because she couldn’t find a new apartment so quickly. In New York it is never easy to find a good apartment and most of them are incredibly expensive. Despite (Y/N)’s constant reluctance, Tony insisted on paying for her accommodation at the hotel because she was one of his best employees.

Most of the time she worked from her hotel room, which Tony fortunately allowed her to do. Still, (Y/N) knew it couldn’t go on like this forever. Sooner or later, she’d see Bucky and the pain would come back.

According to the team’s entries in the system, everyone was on a mission near Rio de Janeiro. No one had told her why and for how long, but she knew they were not back yet. At least, that is what (Y/N) thought.

Since she still had some clothes and other stuff in their old, shared room, (Y/N) wanted to get them before the rest of the team started running around the headquarters again. So, with a moving box under her arm, she made her way to the room where she entered the usual code.

Beep!

Pushing the door open with her hip, (Y/N) groped for the light switch with her free hand. Briefly, (Y/N) squinted her eyes as the bright light illuminated the room. Why did Bucky always leave the curtains closed when he was away?

With a glance around the room, her question was answered.

The room has been left in a great mess. His shirts, shoes and sweatpants were scattered on the floor and his bed looked as if he had just got up. The cushions were either at the foot of the bed or in another corner of the room.

One of the signs for his nightmares. Things that (Y/N) wouldn’t have to deal with anymore.

Murmuring, she made room on his desk and set the box down. The first mission: the wardrobe. One of the doors was already open and one of Bucky’s knives laid on the floor. She opened the other door as well and pulled her clothes and blouses off the hangers before carefully packing them into the box.

Now it came to the sweaters.

To be honest, she sometimes didn’t even remember which ones belonged to her and which ones to Bucky, since she had usually put his shirts on instead of her own.

While (Y/N) was busy with her other t-shirts, Bucky’s red Henley shirt fell into her arms. Sighing, she held the thin, dark red material in her hands and looked at the thin seam. She probably had to mend the shirt five times already.

Suddenly the door of the room opened, and (Y/N) turned around in shock when she saw Bucky standing in the door frame. For a short moment none of them moved and they just stared at each other. (Y/N) was still holding his shirt in her hand before she quickly threw it behind her on the bed.

“What are you doing here?” they asked at the same time before Bucky raised an eyebrow and added a bit abruptly, “I live here. What’s your excuse?”

“I’m just going to get the rest of my stuff. I’ll be gone before you can count to three”, she snorted at his tone “Actually, I was hoping that- …you’re bleeding.”

(Y/N)’s gaze went to his hand, which seemed to squeeze a wound. Not successful, however, because the blood swelled through his fingers. Bucky briefly looked down at himself, pressing his hand further into his side, and gritting his teeth briefly “No shit, Sherlock.”

“Do you think now is the right time to make jokes, Barnes?” (Y/N) growled in a serious tone as Bucky pushed past her towards the bathroom. He got out of his jacket and closed his eyes while gritting his teeth. In the bright light of the ceiling lamp, (Y/N) could see the blood in his hair and the slight scratches on his face. Apparently, it had been a pretty rough mission.

“Why didn’t you go straight to Helen with an injury like that?” (Y/N) watched him throw his leather jacket into the bathtub and then leaned on the edge of the sink. Before James was about to lose consciousness, (Y/N) quickly came up to him and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, while his other hand was still pressing on the wound. He had already lost a lot of blood.

With the last strength James had left in his legs, he made it to his bed with (Y/N)’s help, where he laid down and squeezed his eyes in pain. (Y/N) quickly ran into the bathroom and dug the first aid kit out of the drawer before sitting on the edge of the bed next to Bucky, who was breathing slowly.

“You don’t need to help me” his voice was raspy as his eyelids slowly dropped.

“Hey, you’re staying with me” (Y/N) patted his cheek “Where are the others?”

(Y/N) took the scissors out of the box and used them to cut his shirt open so she could get a better view of his wound. His voice was still raspy as he replied, "There were too many. They surprised us and we weren't prepared for it. Some bastard caught me pushing Steve out of the way. What's he got that stupid shield for if it doesn't even help?"

"Is the bullet still in there?", (Y/N) asked him as she pressed a couple of compresses into his hand so he could use them to stop the bleeding, which was slowly but surely receding. Relieved, (Y/N) slumped her shoulders as he shook his head before replying, "Helen wasn't there and I didn't feel like looking for anyone else. I don't necessarily trust the others. Clint flew me in quickly and then flew right back. I told him the wound was already closing up."

“This lie could have killed you, you know that, right? If I hadn’t been here, you would have collapsed in the bathroom and probably died of blood loss.” (Y/N) answered as she tried to get the thread through the head of the needle, which was not as easy as she thought. Probably it was also because her hands were shaking, which Bucky noticed when he watched (Y/N) “I would have made it somehow.”

But the way (Y/N) looked down at him was enough for him to shut up. Knowing it was a straight lie. And he had to admit that he wouldn’t have cared if it had happened like that. (Y/N) was gone. He had lost her, and that was all his fault.

Attentively James watched her as she prepared everything and checked again and again if the wound was still bleeding heavily. After it had slowly but surely subsided, (Y/N) removed the compress from his stomach and glanced at the gaping wound. Sighing, she took the disinfectant and dripped some onto a cloth before looking at James, who understood immediately before he said “I'm used to the pain, you know that. Don't worry about it. "

“You don't need to play hero here, James. I know how much that it hurts.” (Y/N) muttered, holding the cloth tightly before pressing it to the wound. Briefly, Bucky's chest heaved, and he growled in pain, breaking (Y/N)'s heart in the process, before she finally managed to take the cloth down and throw it away.

Quickly she took some of the numbing gel and smeared it around the wound before looking to Bucky, “I'm stitching it up now as best as I can. I'll have Helen look at it as soon as she gets back.”

Without another word from Bucky, (Y/N) began stitching up his wound. She was still shaking a little, but slowly it was getting better. Finally, she bandaged the wound with a compress and took care of the small scratches on his cheek.

They hadn't been this close in a long time. (Y/N) didn't even notice how she held her breath as she ran the disinfectant over the wounds. Bucky gritted his teeth again for a moment, but his gaze didn't avert from her.

Calmly, she stuck a band-aid over the wound and gave it another quick brush with her thumb as it blurted out of Bucky, "I lied."

Bucky watched her reaction carefully as she removed her hand from his cheek and held his gaze. His gaze wandered to the ceiling, kneading his hands nervously. He added, "When I said you were just a pastime and I didn't love you, I lied. That's not true. "

"Then why do you say such a thing?", (Y/N) asked him in a calm voice that didn't show if she was amazed, sad, or angry. Bucky himself was afraid of any of these reactions.

Desperately, he tried to find the right words "I was worried about you. This life with me could break you. You haven’t slept for weeks because of me. Because you're always so worried about me and while doing so, you forget to take care of you. When I…come back from missions, you're still awake because you want to know that I got home safely. You…you're too good for me and I don't want to destroy you like I've already destroyed everything else around me. I got you-. "

"You've already destroyed me, James. ", (Y/N) interrupted, looking at him with glazed eyes. This was exactly what he tried to avoid. He never wanted to be the reason why she felt bad, but now his worst fear had come true.

"You successfully broke my heart when you told me I was nothing more than a silly pastime you're done with now. I thought that you…I thought that we will go on like this forever. Do you know how happy you've made me? You were the one I could imagine anything with. I never wanted kids. I never wanted to get married, only to get divorced three years later. I never wanted this. But then you came along and showed me that there is a man who could make this all a possibility. A family. A life together. . . "

Tears were streaming down his cheeks when he saw her sitting in front of him throwing all this at his head. He had been such a coward. If he had just talked to her and told her everything, it would never have come to this.

But he was scared. Scared of being rejected again like all the other women did it before. But his (Y/N) wasn’t like them, but he couldn’t bear the thought that she might be.

“I love you, doll. I really do.” Bucky sobbed and wiped the tears from her eyes as (Y/N) looked at him and her eyes were just as swollen as his own before he continued, “I love you more than anything and I-I was stupid because I once again thought only of myself and…and not of the consequences. I love you and I don’t want to lose you. You’re all I have left. ”

Sniffing, (Y/N) looked at the man she loved more than anything. How he lay there on the bed, showing his most vulnerable side. He always appeared so strong in front of everyone so they would not see the real Bucky. But this man was so exhausted by everything that had happened to him. He didn’t want to have those thoughts. These doubts. That fear. He just wanted to live a happy and fulfilled life with (Y/N).

Slowly, she moved closer to him on the mattress and brushed the hair out of his face, which was still a bit sticky because of the blood. Gently, she leaned down to him and embraces him as best she could without touching his wound.

At first, he remained calm, then he wrapped his arms around her center and pulled her into his arms until finally she lay next to him in the bed. The two were sobbing in each other’s arms with (Y/N) running her fingers through his hair. Again, and again.

“I love you, James Barnes. So so much.” (Y/N) muttered as she buried her face in his neck while she was still fondled the back of his head. “But I swear to God, if you do this again, I’ll send Natasha after you and you know what she is capable of.”

“Of course, I know that. I taught her well.” Bucky mumbled while he held her close “I’ll never let you go again. I promise.”

[waifutella]

on cosplay planning and research

So, for those of us who opt to hate ourselves make our own cosplays, starting a project can be hugely overwhelming. A lot of characters are amazingly and intricately designed and in being so are difficult to duplicate and can be very stress making, but, as with any large task, the best way to go about it is to break it down into multiple build/buying goals. For illustrating my point during this post, I’ll be walking you through my process and occasionally using bits and examples from the research I did while building my Infinity War version of Steve Rogers.

And yeah, I know. This is a long post. It’s going to be a decent chunk of work before you even start building your cosplay. BUT, the better you prep, the smoother the rest of the process will go. Plus I find that having a record of all this is surprisingly useful in future cosplays- they might have similar elements or pieces to them, so if you can just reference the work you’ve saved from before you won’t need to do it all over again. So put on a playlist, make yourself a nice cup of tea, get comfy and let’s start this process together~

Step 1- Reference Photos and Window Shopping

The first thing you need to decide (after you’ve chosen your character) is if you’re going to try to replicate the costume as closely as possible, or if you’re going to make it your own. You’ve got to keep in mind that the closer you want your costume to be to the original, the more difficult (and most likely expensive) it is going to be fore you. Having a screen accurate cosplay is hugely satisfying, don’t get me wrong- but if you’re the type of person who likes to cosplay a bunch of different characters, it might not be the best choice for you financially or in terms of time commitment.

So once you have in your head how you want to go about it, you’re going to want to collect as many reference images as you can. If you’re doing an original design/mashup/taking liberties, sketch it out! You don’t have to be a skilled artist, but draw out a few versions of what you’re going for. If you’re genderbending, find fan art and other cosplayers who have done the same and take inspiration from them. If you can watch the show/play the game/own the original source material, go through it and save as many stills/photos from the character at every angle you can possibly find. This’ll take a few watches through but  when I was researching for my Infinity War Steve Rogers cosplay, that meant I got to sit and look at Chris Evans all day (week) soooooooo it was worth it. Some companies release in depth art books or reference images (like Blizzard’s “cosplay kits”), so if you can access those, take advantage of them. If, like when I started this project, your source material hasn’t actually been released yet, be creative. Cap has similar suit designs throughout his trilogy, and his IW suit is a damaged version of one of his prior uniforms, so I pulled reference images from Civil War. I looked at all the promo posters and trailers, I even pulled from toys and other promotional products. You’ll notice (especially when it comes to toys) that the design might change slightly between that and the real deal, but you can never have too much information. At the very least, you want a full body shot, from a minimum of four angles- front, back, and from the sides. Print out the pics for when you’re actually making the cosplay, and save them all in one doc/folder so you can come back to them if you need to.

Step 2- Window Shopping

EVEN IF YOU STILL WANT TO MAKE YOUR COSPLAY after looking over the design in great detail, don’t skip this step. Trust me.

Now, companies that manufacture these cosplays have to have slight variations on their final products from the original design, but for the most part they’ll be decently accurate. If you look at the way they’ve constructed theirs, you  might get some ideas on how to go about building yours.

This next bit kind of morphs into step three so bear with me

Your next stop is Etsy. There are tons of talented seamstresses, foam smiths and prop makers on there, and I absolutely believe in supporting them. You might fall in love with someone’s work and decide to commission your cosplay from them instead, and that’s great! Support artists within the community and all that. But if you still would like to make your own, be sure to look up the individual props and pieces instead of searching for the cosplay as a whole. If you’re lucky, you’ll find someone who sells blueprints or tutorials to their work, and you can support them by purchasing those and it’ll be hugely h*cking useful when you’re making it!

Step 3- Tutorials

AWW YE, hit up google, youtube, and the rpf. (in that order usually works best for me, but to each their own.) you’d be surprised how often searching <character’s name> + cosplay + tutorial can help you out, the cosplay community is amazing and a great source of information. If your character hasn’t been turned into a tutorial yet, or you can’t find a tutorial for every aspect, don’t worry! There’s always SOMETHING out there for you. If your character has similar aspects to another character, search for a tutorial on that character instead. Or if you can’t think of a character that’s remotely close, try to think of something from real life that might prove to be similar in design (while researching my Twilight Princess Zelda cosplay, I ended up on a lot of wedding dress forums.). If you really loved a piece on etsy but that shop hasn’t listed patterns or tutorials, write in to them and ask if they’d be willing to sell you their pattern/draft notes. If they do have them for sale, buy it! Being able to skip out pattern drafting when you can is a huge blessing. You can also ask other cosplayers, but

MAKE SURE you’ve actually researched and tried to find it on your own before asking them how to do it. Nothing was more annoying to me than when I had a flood of questions asking how I made my MJ/spiderman shirt, when in depth tutorials and walkthroughs are easily the first 124788 results if you google that question. I would absolutely love to help if you need it, but at the same time I’m not your search engine. (I feel I need to apologise to my BestFriendMikky™ right now, because when it comes to these things I absolutely use her as my own personal encyclopedia. Especially with sewing stuff. I’m sure it’s h*cking annoying to her do’t be like me, kids)

They might not have it? The first year I cosplayed, i didn’t keep any of my notes/patterns/wip pics (which i highly regret now), or they might not go about making these things in a conventional way, so their pattern might not exist in their head so much as it does in their brain. So sometimes when people ask me how I did something, I can only talk them through it rather than give them actual pictures/patterns/examples.

MAKE SURE you’ve actually researched and tried to find it on your own before asking them how to do it. Nothing was more annoying to me than when I had a flood of questions asking how I made my MJ/spiderman shirt, when in depth tutorials and walkthroughs are easily the first 124788 results if you google that question. I would absolutely love to help if you need it, but at the same time I’m not your search engine. (although, I feel I need to apologise to my BestFriendMikky™ right now, because when it comes to these things I absolutely use her as my own person encyclopedia. Especially with sewing stuff.)

They might not have it? The first year I cosplayed, i didn’t keep any of my notes/patterns/wip pics (which i highly regret now), or they might not go about making these things in a conventional way, so their pattern might not exist in their head so much as it does in their brain. So sometimes when people ask me how I did something, I can only talk them through it rather than give them actual pictures/patterns/examples.

Once you’ve found about 200 sources, bookmark them all. Start reading them. Save them, even. Print some of the ones you’re partial to out. Decide if you want to follow one of them verbatim, or mix and match steps and methods to make your own plan. Even if you have a pretty good idea of how you want it to go, you might want to save your other findings just in case something doesn’t go according to plot during the building process.

Step 4- Break up your plan

I like to do this on graph paper. I have a notebook that I’m partial to using during these projects, and a system of binders that the writings transfer over to once the project is finished. If you aren’t partial to a particular method/prefer technology, the cosplanner app might be a good way for you to go. It has spaces for you to do everything I’m about to describe, but in a convenient, cloud using app, and is a lot more mobile than your phone. Tbh I tend to use both, but my physical copy is always much more in depth than whatever I list out on the app.

The first thing I do is list out every piece of the cosplay, from head to toe. This doesn’t mean “shirt + pants + prop”, it usually goes a little something like

(we’re using my IW steve research, again, for reasons)

Wig/hair

Shields (x2)

Shield Harness

Shirt

main shirt/base

Shoulder/overlay piece

Gloves

Belt

main/base (buy)

buckle (make)

utility pouches (make)

Pants

Boot Covers/Shinguards

Boots (buy)

So if I already know I’m going to buy a certain piece I make a note of it, if I already know that one piece is going to be broken up into multiple components, I separate them out... you get the idea.

Next, you break these down individually. If you’re going to buy some of the pieces (I pretty much always buy things like boots/shoes/wigs,) on the cosplanner app you can move them into the “to buy” section, and everything will be separated out in terms of what you need to buy and make. (This is kind of cool on the app, because it has a place to save how much you spent on the purchased pieces and how much time you put into the making of each specific piece)

For each piece, you kind of start this whole process over again. Choose a piece, and google where you can buy it. If you did a good job with your tutorial research, I’m sure you have some you found that are for specific pieces of your build (ayyyy all that step 3 work paid off!) Start searching for sewing patterns and figure out what type and how much of the fabric you’ll need. Write it all down in it’s own little subsection/within the app so that when you’re shopping you can easily reference the list.

Now when it comes to timing this out- just a quick observation- I find that I do better quality work when I don’t have a due date, but those projects tend to sit unfinished for longer than I’m willing to admit. And the projects that I assign due dates for definately get done faster/on time, but usually aren’t my best work. Just something to think about.

If you’re on a time budget, now’s the time to figure that out and set goals. Look at the due date and estimate how much time you’ll need for each aspect of the costume, how much free time you’ll have to work on it, and plan accordingly. I’d recommend leaving extra cushion of time, especially if you’re using tools or techniques you’re not familiar with, so that if it goes slower than you expect or if you need to remake a piece you’ll have the ability to do so. And be sure to figure out what you’d like to do first! If you’re waiting on funds for the bulk of your project, start the cheaper pieces first. If you get overwhelmed by the larger pieces, start the smaller ones first. I mean, the order is really up to you, but I personally like to take a log of the materials I already have and start whatever I can finish whatever smaller pieces I can with what I have on hand >.< I also like to leave my wig purchasing/cutting/styling for the very last thing, it doesn’t usually take more than a couple of hours for me and it’s a nice low-stress thing to have to do if your project has been pushed into con crunch.

Of course, I started practicing this method as a way to combat con crunch, but it always seems to end up right around there, doesn’t it?

[leatherartbylisa]

- I'm pulling today's #tbt post out of the archives! It's one of my favorites shots from the time when Steven Tyler (@iamstevent) dropped in on us to pose for a pic. I do so WISH that was the case‼️ - What is going on here is the person sitting on the #motorcycle behind Miss Kit wanted to keep his identity confidentail. But this shot of the models wearing my #sexyskinsleather was too good to keep a secret so, I did a not-so-great photoshop job at placing Steve there instead. (Sorry Steve. 😔) I'm in this shot too! Maybe you can find me! - I still custom make and sell some of these designs and they're on sale at the moment! Bottoms too! Many colors to choose from! 🌈 - On ETSY👉https://t.co/kZumwPPB7d - On Website 👉 https://lisacantalupo..com/discount/SUMFUN10 - Links are in my bio too. 👆 . . . . . . #harleydavidson #leathertop #leatherclothes #leatherclothing #leather #vest #excellence #leatherwork #biker #bikervest #goth #steampunk #steampunkstyle #fashion #etsy #etsyseller #etsybestsellers #instagreat #halters #renfaire #clothing #croptop #haltertop #costume #larping #ren #cosplay https://www.instagram.com/p/B1dE6h_AxMM/?igshid=v1qnvqgnlinj

[saffreelove]

Meet Cute - Chapter 4

Author: SaffreeLove 

Warnings: smut and swearing, come on y'all it's me, there will always be swearing. 

Words: 4000+

A/N: Why, yes, I totally gave my ofc/reader character a name in the fourth chapter. Also, for any fellow con goers, I know he would never be so unattended, but hey, fiction.

There is an epilogue after this that is already written (gasp!) I’ll put it up in a few days.

Meet Cute Masterlist

Around two in the the morning you woke up to go to the bathroom. While washing your hands, you looked up into the mirror and the panic hit you like a mack truck. What in the hell were you doing? You were still in Seb’s hotel room! Why?! What did you actually think would happen after this? Where could this even go? Nowhere, that's where, you idiot. Of course it's not going anywhere! He's Sebastian Stan, and you are his fan. The idea of looking into Seb's eyes while he let you down gently about this being just a one time thing, and what were you still doing here, and did you think this could go somewhere...you didn't want to watch him do that. He would never say it with those words either. He would be sweet and caring and thoughtful. It would be awful.

Last night had been so wonderful. Not only the amazing sex, because goddamn that man had skills, but the hanging out had been pretty great as well. He was funny and dorky and actually interested in what you had to say. The warm smile on your face faded out when you thought about the morning to come. The panic bubbled up again, making your heart race.

Deep down, you knew that this was your anxiety rearing it's horrible, bitchy head. But, just because you know where it's coming from doesn't mean you can control your feelings. Or the fact that your body was already preparing to run. Your hands had already begun to shake from the adrenaline.

You had to get out.

You were as stealthy as possible, given the fact that all you could hear was your heart pounding in your ears. Grabbing your jeans and shirt, you threw them on, and managed to not fall on your ass. Shoving your socks into your shoes, you grabbed your bag and hoodie, and looked up one last time. Dammit. He was so beautiful just laying there. Before you left you took a few seconds to burn his image into your mind. You closed his door before the first tear fell.

Sebastian woke up and rolled over reaching for you only to come up empty. Checking the clock, he saw it was just not quite three am. He figured you were probably just in the bathroom, but as he lay there he realized that there were no sounds of movement coming from the bathroom or the rest of the hotel room, his stomach sank. He got up and slowly walked down the hallway toward the bathroom. It was empty. Nothing. No sound. No light. No you. He flopped back onto the bed, “fuuuck.”

You were gone. He, like a fucking idiot, hadn't gotten your last name or even your phone number. He could have sworn that you weren't the one-night stand type. He'd been banking on you at least staying for breakfast. But, nope. He was a fool and you were gone.

You fell into your bed, released the tenuous hold you had on yourself, and let the tears out, finally. Hadn't they really been brewing since the elevator yesterday? Questions flew through your mind while you were having your pity party. Was sneaking out the right choice? Did you actually do him a favor? Or were you just running due to your fears? Shit. Did you have any chance at fixing this? Could you do anything to make this not the final outcome?

The answer was, “no, you dumbass!” You couldn't fix it now, you certainly couldn't get back into Seb's room, and you obviously didn't have his cell number. Could you just imagine the phone call down to the front desk? “Hi, could you connect me to Sebastian Stan’s room? Yeah, I know you don't have anyone registered under that name and even if you did, you still wouldn't connect me.” Fuck. You were a fool for running.

After a fitful night's sleep (re: not sleeping), you'd come to a decision. You were still going to your scheduled photo op with Sebastian. But, you were going fully kitted out in your Winter Soldier cosplay. It was always your plan to wear it to the photo op, but you had gone back and forth about the Winter Soldier face mask. Deciding that the more anonymity you had the better, you got the mask, wig, and makeup out. Instead of the ‘guy-liner’ he wore in the movie, you would just go for a smokey eye.

Checking the time, you had a last look over yourself in the full length mirror. Not quite a Magenta-level smoky eye, but still fairly heavy. Your wig was much longer and a darker brown than your natural hair, with a slightly fish-tailed braid coming down over your right shoulder. The arm had traveled well, no scratches in the paint. Satisfied with the results, you clip on your con badge, pocketed your phone and wallet, and headed out.

The morning had already been full of pep talks directed at yourself every time you started to doubt the plan. So, not surprisingly, all that doubt popped right back up like a fucking jack-in-the-box as you stepped into the elevator. The same elevator you had been in when your life took a jolt to the East. You took a deep breath and slapped that doubt down, reminding yourself of the possibilities for today.

One: Seb recognizes you even with the mask on, gets your phone number, and you ride off into the sunset like a damn romance novel. You considered this the least likely to happen, so it got to be at the front of the queue.

Two: Seb recognizes you even with the mask on, but feels like he dodged a bullet with you sneaking out, and can just act like you are any other fan. You could sob about that one later.

Three: Seb doesn't recognize you because you have a mask covering the lower half of your face and not even Steve Rogers could recognize his best friend Bucky Barnes with that disguise! Honestly, this was the absolute most likely scenario to occur.

You left the hotel and began your trek to the photo op area. It was only about a 15 minute walk, but you gave yourself over an hour to get there, just in case. The extra time for your walk over there was because people constantly ask for photos of your cosplay and you hate having to say no to fellow fans. After the long hour of stopping and posing, solo shots, arms around fans, funny poses with various Captain Americas, fighting poses with IronMans, and one great one with a male Black Widow, you arrived at the photo venue.

For once, you were glad that the photo ops happened behind curtains. It meant that you wouldn't see Seb and he wouldn’t see you until you walked into the makeshift room for your picture. Somehow, that calmed you. Maybe it was that his not recognizing you could happen in a bit of privacy. Or did you just not want him to have time to work out who you were?

Just then, your inner bitch popped out from behind her curtain again. Why the fuck did she have a curtain? Whatever. “Listen, ho. Since we are actually the same person, let me give you the rundown about what’s going on here, since you seem hell bent on royally fucking us over. You, as we both know, are never going to tell anyone that you had a naked sleepover with Mr. “Hot as Shit” Stan. I also know that you didn’t even sneak a pic of him yesterday or this morning when you ran like a fucking coward. This is our one chance to have a tangible reminder of this weekend. You will pull yourself together. You will stay in this motherfucking line. You will take a cute as shit picture with Seb. You will give him a decent shot at recognizing you. And you will NOT purposefully sabotage any of these things. Because there is no way I’m going to live with the kind of regret and guilt that you seem to be inching us towards! Now, pull up your big girl panties and get the fuck in there.”

Taking a deep breath, you looked up and noticed that you were now only second in line. You could do this. Inner bitch was right, the regret would be debilitating. Stepping up, you handed over your voucher for the prepaid photos. One of the volunteers led you back to the photo set and pushed back the curtain.

Once it became clear to Sebastian that sleep was no longer an option for him, he decided he might as well get to the gym. His trainer, Don, had emailed him a set list for this weekend, full of typical ‘Don notes’ about not banging weights together and keeping his form correct. So, he could at least stay on track with his training. Once he'd checked that the hotel’s gym had pretty much everything he needed, he got to work. As he settled into his rhythm, he found his mind wandering to you, even though he was still focusing on his form and breathing.

Why had you left without waking him up? Or leaving a note? Or anything? Why did he not get your number last night? Why did he not even get your fucking last name? Or room number? Or take a picture with you? Or of you?

He only had the answer to one of his questions. He didn't get your number because he'd assumed you'd be there in the morning and that would be the best time to ask for it. It would have been awkward the night before to ask for it while you were still hanging out on his bed.

He finished up his workout out and headed back upstairs, hoping that maybe he’d see you in the hallway or elevator again. Opening his room door, Sebastian began to think that he might have to accept that he wasn’t going to see you again. He tried pushing the prospect out of his mind and focused on getting ready and called up room service for breakfast to be sent up.

Showered, fed, dressed, and groomed, Sebastian headed down to the lobby to meet the Con rep and begin his second, long con day.

He hoped that by some chance he would see you again.

Seb turned towards you with a smile as you stepped through the curtain. “Wow!”

Shit. Your eyes went wide. Oh my crap. He’s shocked that I dared come to this after last night. Great.

“That is an amazing Winter Soldier cosplay! How long did that take you? What’s the arm made of?” Ah. He doesn’t know it’s you. He’s just admiring the costume. Of course. Look, of course he doesn’t recognize you! You covered the entire lower half of your face! Might I refer you back to the ‘Steve failing to see that it’s Bucky’ outcome of the mask.

Seb was still looking at you, rather expectantly now. Oh yeah, talking. Go on, talk to him. “Uh, it took me about 6 months to put it all together. The arm is essentially just thin foam and paint over a cast. The mask is papercraft hardened with epoxy. And the clothes are thrift store finds that I modified.”

Having been caught up in explaining the details of your cosplay, you didn’t see the recognition dawn on Seb’s face. When your eyes locked back on his, you knew that he knew who you were, regardless of the fucking mask. The photographer cleared his throat and you both made your way over to the backdrop.

“So, what were you thinking for your pictures?” he asked a bit shyly.

“Oh, probably just a regular picture.”

“That's it? No squaring off of the Winter Soldiers? No silly faces?” he asked, “not even a dip?” that last one was said with an almost hopeful look in his eyes.

“That all sounds like a lot of fun, but no. Just you, you are enough.”

Seb's eyes turned a warm blue and his cheeks flushed ever so slightly. In the end, he did manage to get some fun pictures in there. The photographer agreed to the extra shots that Seb requested and said they'd be available for purchase under your account if you wanted the extras.

“Alright, that's it. We got it,” said the photographer.

You stepped away slightly and looked up into Seb’s eyes.

“Thank you, for the great pictures and just, for everything,” you say and then turn to leave because what the fuck else were you supposed to do?

“Julia!” he called out as you were almost back to the fabric wall. Startled, you turned quickly to see him jogging up to you. “Uh, are you busy? Right now? I mean, are you headed somewhere? Cause, if not, you could, you know, sort of, hang out for a bit? Just, uh, could you wait for me to be done here? I really wanted to talk to you.”

You heart had jumped with joy that he wanted you to stick around. Then it sunk, ‘talk to you?’ Isn't that the universal phrase for bad news? It had to be about last night. Was he worried that you would blab all over social media about what had happened last night?

“Sure, of course.” A con volunteer led you out a different fabric wall that you came in through. Down a hallway and through a door to what appeared to be a decently sized dressing room/green room of sorts. There was a little seating area with a few fairly comfy chairs, a loveseat, and a little side table with a mini fridge underneath.

“Feel free to help yourself to some water. Mr. Stan should be done in 20-30 minutes.”

“Ok, thanks,” you said as you sat down. The long, slow walk with all the fan interaction was catching up with you. Reaching back behind your ears, you released the mask straps to take it off. Gently, you set it down on the little table and reached underneath for a water. Knowing that if you didn't distract yourself soon you be having another fun little freak out, you slid your phone out and started up Little Alchemy. It would hopefully distract you just enough.

Your inner bitch was still yelling at you about the fact that you don’t know what he thinking, you aren’t in his head, he may not be concerned at all that you might share info online, so you just need to slow your roll. God, she was a bitch.

Sebastian was cautiously happy that you had agreed to wait backstage to talk to him in a more private setting. He was perhaps a bit more playful with the last few photo ops. His mind couldn’t help wondering whether or not you were still back stage though. Had you run again? He hoped not. He wanted to finally at least get your number, find out why you had left, and, ya know, learn your last name.

Finishing up the last picture with two fans, he gave them hugs and headed off in your direction.

Hearing the doorknob turn, you looked up. There he was walking toward you. Was he purposefully strutting? No, you didn’t think so. That was really just his walk. He just walked like sex on a stick whether he was regular Seb walking to get a coffee or murder-struting as The Winter Soldier.

Screwing up your courage, you smiled when he got closer. Seb took your smile as a good sign.

“Hey,” he said as he reached the loveseat.

“Hey, yourself,” you said. He sat down on the little couch next to you and turned to face you. Just pull the bandaid off and get the pain over with. “You wanted to talk?”

“Yeah. Umm. So...uh,” he hesitated slightly then sighed, “Why didn’t you stay? The rest of the night. Why’d you leave without waking me?” he looked at you imploringly with what looked like hurt in his eyes.

Oh. oh. That’s not what you expected him to say. At all. “I, I’m so sorry, Seb.” Taking a big breath in and letting it out, you looked down at your hands in your lap. Looking at him would not be conducive to getting through this. It was time to just take the leap and lay it all out and see where everything landed. “I uh, I woke up in the middle of the night and panicked, basically. I got this idea into my head that you wouldn’t really want me there when you woke up. That I was just a con fuck to you.” Now that you were speaking, it all just kept flowing out. “That my presence would make the morning awkward and I’d have to hear you explain gently about how you hadn’t really wanted me to stay, you were just saying that to be nice. I was trying to avoid the awkwardness and I didn't want to deal with the pain of having you reject me. And so, I ran.”

Seb brought a hand up to your cheek and slid it slightly under your chin, applying a hint of pressure to bring your head up. “Julia, look at me. I asked you to stay last night, because I wanted to be with you. I wanted to wake up with you and see your hair on my pillow. I wanted to have a lazy morning breakfast in bed and find out how you like your eggs. You are beautiful and amazing and funny, and I want to see you again. So, the question is, what do you want?”

“I just don't even understand why you would want me. I'm just me, with a boring job and only one stamp in my passport, and it's Canada! I had to make a fuss just to get the actual stamp. And you, you're Sebastian Stan for fuck's sake!” A few tears had leaked out from the sides of your eyes.

“Jules, I'm just me, too. I'm the same dork I was 15 years ago and I'm shocked when that isn't what everybody else sees. And that dork really connected with this girl named Julia. So. What do you say? Jules?”

Sebastian’s other hand came up to cradle your face, gently wiping your tears away. Nearly whispering, he said, “Jules, please say yes,” as he leaned in closer.

“Yes.” You had barely breathed out the answer when his lips met yours. His arms snaked around and pulled you close. You were both a tangled mess of kissing, hugging, lips, tongues, and roaming hands.

With his arms still wrapped around you, he leaned back to recline sideways on the couch, essentially pulling you into his lap.

Once his mouth let go of yours, he leaned his forehead into yours. “So, I have a few important questions.”

“Mmmhmm?” was about all you could manage.

“Number one: What do you want for lunch? Number two: What is your last name? And Number three: Think I could get your phone number?”

“Haha! Ummm, food. Thomson. And ‘Why Mr. Stan, how very forward of you.’”

“Sassy.” He handed you his unlocked phone to enter your contact info, then reached behind him with one hand to the other table and produced a small menu book. “Here's all the choices we have for food.”

Once you finished with his phone, you traded it for the menu. “How ‘bout the chicken & avocado wrap?” you said and handed the menu back, snuggling into his chest.

“Sounds good to me. Water good? Or do you need some caffeine or sugar?” he asked as he typed the order into his phone.

“No, water’s good,” your words slightly muffled as you spoke them directly into his shirt.

He nodded, finished typing, and set his phone down. “Ok, looks like we have 30-45 minutes before the food and an hour and a half before I have another event.”

“Hmmmm, I remember what happened the last time we ordered food together,” you teased as you looked up at him through your lashes.

“Mmmm, me too,” he said as he pulled you up closer to him for a kiss.

As his tongue swept into your mouth, he reached down with both hands to take hold of your ass and pull you up onto his thigh. “I believe I promised you a ride?”

You whimper as he gives you a rough pull forward causing a delicious amount of friction from your black tac pants rubbing against his dark jeans. “Seb, what about the door?”

“I locked it when I came in.” he groaned as he started kissing your neck, careful to avoid pulling on your wig. “Ya know, I never thought I'd find myself making out with a female version of one of my characters. Gotta say, it's pretty kinky,” he said with an eyebrow wiggle.

“You dork.” You gasped, grabbing at his hair, as he rocked you forward again.

“You love it,” he growled as your head fell back with a gasp. He increased both the intensity of his kisses on your neck and the speed with which he controlled the ride. “Baby, tell me this top opens up somewhere,” he asked while trying to get to your skin.

“Here, here, it’s right here “ you quickly showed him the diagonal zipper hidden under the flap. Your hands began to pull the bottom of his shirt up, but he stops you.

“Jules, if you start touching my skin, we’ll have a major problem on our hands. We don’t have the time and more importantly, I don’t have a condom. I’m just gonna have to make this ride extra good for you.” He said all of this while still licking and nipping at your neck. His fingers had kept busy getting your jacket open. A second later, Seb pulled it open revealing your black lace bra with the red star on the bridge between the cups. A low growl made it’s way out of his chest as his mouth began kissing and sucking you through the lace cups.

“Oh shit, yes. Just like that,” you begged. You had taken over the pace of the ride when Seb started trying to get into your jacket. So now, you were in control and could get just the right angle. The right pressure. The right speed. And now that Seb was making you crazy with his lips and tongue devouring your breasts with the lace adding the perfect extra friction, you were set to go off like a bomb.

“Mmmmm, look at you, you dirty little girl, about to come all over my thigh, aren’t you?” he continued to whisper more dirty thoughts in your ear while his fingers caressed your nipples before pinching down on them, hard.

“Mmmhmmm oooh oh yes fuuuuuck,” you cried out as you came, drawing the words out while Seb continued squeezing to prolong your orgasm.

As you came down, Seb lingered at your neck placing lazy open-mouthed kisses and rubbing his hands gently along your upper thighs.

You turned your head to his neck and gave a long, slow sweep with your tongue, a few kitten bites thrown in for good measure. That had been a fucking fantastic ride and his dirty talk had got you thinking.

“I really wish we had time for me to return the favor, Seb.” *nibble* “I wanted to lick you up and down,” *kiss* “And kiss the head of your cock,” *hair tug* “And swallow you all the way down,” *suck* “Not stopping until you came hard down my throat shouting my name.”

“Fuuuuuck,” he shakily breathed out. “You're the devil.” You smirked at him, loving how you affected him. “Maybe I'll just hold you to that later, hmmm? How'd you like that?”

“Hmmm, only if you hold my hair when you come.” As Seb groaned, a knock came from the door.

“Shit,” he whispered out harshly. “Just a minute,” he called out. 

“I'll just be in the bathroom,” you said softly, climbing off him and scurrying over to the private washroom.

When you came back out, there was a spread of food and beverage on the little table and a sexy, smiling Winter Soldier seated on the loveseat. You sat down next to him and reached for your water bottle. 

“So, got any vacation time coming up?” he asked, smirking when you sprayed water out of your mouth.

Epilogue

@mycapt-ohcapt @smkunz613 @smoothdogsgirl

also tagging @whostheblondegirl and @emilyevanston for their awesomeness

[creatorsofwrittensins]

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TampabayComicCon.com August 3-5 2018

J1

    Mr.

AnderSiN

will be in Attendance. 

INDIE ADVOCATES  will be in attendance via Mr. AnderSiN

with his Titles Fetish Babies, Jaxx the Andersin and They Call us Monsters  and Repping

INDIE ADVOCATES

WritteN SiNs Comics .com Click here for the OTHER COMICS  

With a Friday Panel

Andrea Lorenzo Molinari Artist Alley 1328

  Caliber Comics

The Shepherd

John Crowther D1,

    Inked Page 4, of my upcoming title, Teen Beetle, appearing in the inaugural issue of Exciting Comics from Antarctic Press. I look forward to, once again, working with the fantastic creative team of Dell Barras (art), Vito Potenza (colors), and Jayson Kretzer (letters).

    Johnny C. 12

  Athena Finger F6

Flaunt Your Fandom 1326

J.R. Mounts C5

  Art of Pinto D24

www.JonPinto.com

Rob Reep Art C8

RobReep.com

GUEST CREATORS TABLE/BOOTH # Ale Garza G7 Anthony Dobranski 1333 Bob Layton G19 Brent Schoonover G25 Buzz G23 Carl Potts G11 Dave DeVries G8 Dylan Bonner G2 Fabian Nicieza G6 Jim Calafiore G3 Joel Adams G22 John Beatty G18 Kevin J Anderson 1333 Kyle Hotz G12 Mark Gardner 1333 Mike Zeck G15 Mike Zeck G16 Mike Zeck G17 Neal Adams 909 Neal Adams 911 Neal Adams 1008 Neal Adams 1010 Pat Broderick G5 Peter Gillis G10 Phil Ortiz G13 Renee Witterstaetter G14 Robin Eisenberg G1 T.Allen Diaz 1333 Tim Vigil G20 Tom Raney G4 Tom Richmond G9 Ursula Decay G26

ARTIST ALLEY TABLE # 123 Paprika! D19 3 Fairies Workshop B9 Alex Worden C15 Alligator Presents The Illustrations of Toby Tobin F15 ANN4RT A18 Anna Jano C12 Art by JP LLC B10 Art of Josh D B5 Art of Pinto D24 Artist Athena Finger F6 Artwork Anywhere E18 Bancho Squad C22 Bianca B11 Bianca B12 Bonnie Wong Art D3 Brett R . Pinson D13 Bronze Age Buttons C18 Chris Ehnot D6 Christie Cox D5 Chroma Coma C3 Corgli & Co F1 Curio Cat’s Studio (Natalie Simmons) (Rebecca Nipper Art) F19 Dana Corrigan B3 Danielle Gransaull A24 Danimation2001 F4 David A Byrne A10 Dennis Hansbury D2 Devil in the Details Miniature Painting F13 Discombobble Art B7 Dominic Glover D15 Donavonmadethat A4 Dragonmun Srudios D7 Dragonstone Beadworks D16 Eerie Florida E5 Electric Shoebox Studios C13 Elise Kova D20 Emkay Artwork & PuffQuest E10 EmsySquared A14 Enkidu Studio D21 Epicycle Studios llc D9 Gosch Arts B8 Gray Hollow C17 Guemozart D17 Gweakles E17 Haru Studios A19 Hoo? Its Claire B18 HSRoute Art A21 Huff Craft E21 Ink and Owl B16 Inkedgears B13 Inkwell Illustrations A17 J. Adam Farster B14 J.R. Mounts / Scairy Tales Noir C5 Jai Kamat Illustration E11 James Haick, Writer C14 Jarod Rosello E22 Jason SObol Art E15 Jayce The Bee A8 Jeff Edwards Art C19 Jeff Rider – Cloudwrangler Comics D18 John E. Crowther – Writer D1 John Faust Art A25 Johnny C F12 Juniorsfx D26 Just Josh Draws E13 Kate Carleton Illustration B6 Keke Illustrations A20 Kelly Ltham F2 Kevin Meinert C4 Kit Steele C9 Kiuipoot E14 Knifley F7 Lisa Villella B2 Loquacious Literature F17 Lorena Rokitski B1 Lyns F20 Marta Wit D4 Matthew Sutton F16 Mechanical Monsters B19 Mess Bucket Comics F22 Michael Adam Lengyel C16 Michael Locoduck Duron F21 Multipersonality Pony E16 Nifty Nel A5 Night Owl Designs E7 Nightmares By Designs E20 Off The Wall Paintings F10 Paint the Town Citrus C11 paprikaSTUDIOS A9 Patrick Thomas Parnell F11 Penelopeloveprints C6 Pertheseus A2 Peter Smith/Crimson Fable Studois F3 Pieces of Melee E8 Pinkstuff by Adriana B15 Pompadorkery A15 Purple Panda Studio A22 Rachel N Ward Art A23 Raggedy Art by Marianne Mosquera F14 Resistance Entertainment E6 Rob Reep Art C8 Robinina D11 Rosales Art Gallery A1 SAAIIRO A16 Sam Ness Illustrations F8 Serge Society Art E1 Sgt. Sasquatch A11 Shae-C Illustrations C7 Shelby Robertson E12 Shini Sou A7 Soda Pop Studios A12 Something Major Art C21 Spacebat designs E4 Squee Studio F9 Star In My Pocket A6 Star In My Pocket C10 Steve Lydic Art C20 Surrealgod D23 The Art of Charles Thurston E19 The Art of Justin Miller D10 The Art of Sir B21 The Art of Summer Rae D14 The Conglomerbit D22 The Lounge Designs Art of HUMP B22 The Shepherd, Caliber Comics D12 Timothy Zulewski E3 Tony Moy D25 Twisted wire A26 Velcro the Ninja Kat A3 VinnieDraws D8 Walter Ostlie E9 Watercolor Chaos! A13 William Hatfield B17 William Heinzen B4 William Schlichter-Author C2 WiN F5 Winged Warrior Art E2 WrittenSiNs.com C1 Yvette Strickland Johnston F18

Want your Comic-Con or other Appearances added to the Comic-Con Highway? Send us an email with the info and a link to the event and to your social media profile to  INDIEADVOCATES@GMAIL.COM

Subscribe to our Main site   INDIE ADVOCATES.com, Join our Facebook Group which allows Creators to post their art/projects and information so we can run it on  INDIE ADVOCATES.com  and Like our pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Plus Subscribe to our YouTube Group today

Visit Mr. AnderSiN’s personal site to see what Mr.AnderSiN is up to CLick here 

Tampa Bay Comic Con 2018 Cosplay & Recap

  TampabayComicCon.com August 3-5 2018 J1 Mr. AnderSiN will be in Attendance.  INDIE ADVOCATES  will be in attendance via Mr.

Tampa Bay Comic Con 2018 Cosplay & Recap   TampabayComicCon.com August 3-5 2018 J1 Mr. AnderSiN will be in Attendance.  INDIE ADVOCATES  will be in attendance via Mr.

[writtensinsmrandersin]

  This slideshow requires JavaScript.

TampabayComicCon.com August 3-5 2018

J1

    Mr.

AnderSiN

will be in Attendance. 

INDIE ADVOCATES  will be in attendance via Mr. AnderSiN

with his Titles Fetish Babies, Jaxx the Andersin and They Call us Monsters  and Repping

INDIE ADVOCATES

WritteN SiNs Comics .com Click here for the OTHER COMICS  

With a Friday Panel

Andrea Lorenzo Molinari Artist Alley 1328

  Caliber Comics

The Shepherd

John Crowther D1,

    Inked Page 4, of my upcoming title, Teen Beetle, appearing in the inaugural issue of Exciting Comics from Antarctic Press. I look forward to, once again, working with the fantastic creative team of Dell Barras (art), Vito Potenza (colors), and Jayson Kretzer (letters).

    Johnny C. 12

  Athena Finger F6

Flaunt Your Fandom 1326

J.R. Mounts C5

  Art of Pinto D24

www.JonPinto.com

Rob Reep Art C8

RobReep.com

GUEST CREATORS TABLE/BOOTH # Ale Garza G7 Anthony Dobranski 1333 Bob Layton G19 Brent Schoonover G25 Buzz G23 Carl Potts G11 Dave DeVries G8 Dylan Bonner G2 Fabian Nicieza G6 Jim Calafiore G3 Joel Adams G22 John Beatty G18 Kevin J Anderson 1333 Kyle Hotz G12 Mark Gardner 1333 Mike Zeck G15 Mike Zeck G16 Mike Zeck G17 Neal Adams 909 Neal Adams 911 Neal Adams 1008 Neal Adams 1010 Pat Broderick G5 Peter Gillis G10 Phil Ortiz G13 Renee Witterstaetter G14 Robin Eisenberg G1 T.Allen Diaz 1333 Tim Vigil G20 Tom Raney G4 Tom Richmond G9 Ursula Decay G26

ARTIST ALLEY TABLE # 123 Paprika! D19 3 Fairies Workshop B9 Alex Worden C15 Alligator Presents The Illustrations of Toby Tobin F15 ANN4RT A18 Anna Jano C12 Art by JP LLC B10 Art of Josh D B5 Art of Pinto D24 Artist Athena Finger F6 Artwork Anywhere E18 Bancho Squad C22 Bianca B11 Bianca B12 Bonnie Wong Art D3 Brett R . Pinson D13 Bronze Age Buttons C18 Chris Ehnot D6 Christie Cox D5 Chroma Coma C3 Corgli & Co F1 Curio Cat’s Studio (Natalie Simmons) (Rebecca Nipper Art) F19 Dana Corrigan B3 Danielle Gransaull A24 Danimation2001 F4 David A Byrne A10 Dennis Hansbury D2 Devil in the Details Miniature Painting F13 Discombobble Art B7 Dominic Glover D15 Donavonmadethat A4 Dragonmun Srudios D7 Dragonstone Beadworks D16 Eerie Florida E5 Electric Shoebox Studios C13 Elise Kova D20 Emkay Artwork & PuffQuest E10 EmsySquared A14 Enkidu Studio D21 Epicycle Studios llc D9 Gosch Arts B8 Gray Hollow C17 Guemozart D17 Gweakles E17 Haru Studios A19 Hoo? Its Claire B18 HSRoute Art A21 Huff Craft E21 Ink and Owl B16 Inkedgears B13 Inkwell Illustrations A17 J. Adam Farster B14 J.R. Mounts / Scairy Tales Noir C5 Jai Kamat Illustration E11 James Haick, Writer C14 Jarod Rosello E22 Jason SObol Art E15 Jayce The Bee A8 Jeff Edwards Art C19 Jeff Rider – Cloudwrangler Comics D18 John E. Crowther – Writer D1 John Faust Art A25 Johnny C F12 Juniorsfx D26 Just Josh Draws E13 Kate Carleton Illustration B6 Keke Illustrations A20 Kelly Ltham F2 Kevin Meinert C4 Kit Steele C9 Kiuipoot E14 Knifley F7 Lisa Villella B2 Loquacious Literature F17 Lorena Rokitski B1 Lyns F20 Marta Wit D4 Matthew Sutton F16 Mechanical Monsters B19 Mess Bucket Comics F22 Michael Adam Lengyel C16 Michael Locoduck Duron F21 Multipersonality Pony E16 Nifty Nel A5 Night Owl Designs E7 Nightmares By Designs E20 Off The Wall Paintings F10 Paint the Town Citrus C11 paprikaSTUDIOS A9 Patrick Thomas Parnell F11 Penelopeloveprints C6 Pertheseus A2 Peter Smith/Crimson Fable Studois F3 Pieces of Melee E8 Pinkstuff by Adriana B15 Pompadorkery A15 Purple Panda Studio A22 Rachel N Ward Art A23 Raggedy Art by Marianne Mosquera F14 Resistance Entertainment E6 Rob Reep Art C8 Robinina D11 Rosales Art Gallery A1 SAAIIRO A16 Sam Ness Illustrations F8 Serge Society Art E1 Sgt. Sasquatch A11 Shae-C Illustrations C7 Shelby Robertson E12 Shini Sou A7 Soda Pop Studios A12 Something Major Art C21 Spacebat designs E4 Squee Studio F9 Star In My Pocket A6 Star In My Pocket C10 Steve Lydic Art C20 Surrealgod D23 The Art of Charles Thurston E19 The Art of Justin Miller D10 The Art of Sir B21 The Art of Summer Rae D14 The Conglomerbit D22 The Lounge Designs Art of HUMP B22 The Shepherd, Caliber Comics D12 Timothy Zulewski E3 Tony Moy D25 Twisted wire A26 Velcro the Ninja Kat A3 VinnieDraws D8 Walter Ostlie E9 Watercolor Chaos! A13 William Hatfield B17 William Heinzen B4 William Schlichter-Author C2 WiN F5 Winged Warrior Art E2 WrittenSiNs.com C1 Yvette Strickland Johnston F18

Want your Comic-Con or other Appearances added to the Comic-Con Highway? Send us an email with the info and a link to the event and to your social media profile to  INDIEADVOCATES@GMAIL.COM

Subscribe to our Main site   INDIE ADVOCATES.com, Join our Facebook Group which allows Creators to post their art/projects and information so we can run it on  INDIE ADVOCATES.com  and Like our pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Plus Subscribe to our YouTube Group today

Visit Mr. AnderSiN’s personal site to see what Mr.AnderSiN is up to CLick here 

Tampa Bay Comic Con 2018 Cosplay & Recap   TampabayComicCon.com August 3-5 2018 J1 Mr. AnderSiN will be in Attendance.  INDIE ADVOCATES  will be in attendance via Mr.

[templeofgeek]

Happy Cosplay Friday!

We are back this week talking with the Cosplay Parents, Steven and Millie! Steven and Millie are a retired and wonderfully charming couple who spend their free time cosplaying and Disney bounding. Their wonderful cosplay photos have gone viral several times and they are very much the darlings of the Southern California cosplay community. Always cheery, happy and willing to stop for photos, they are some of the nicest cosplayers I’ve had the pleasure to know. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know them on a personal level and to be able to catch up with them and find out what’s been going on since they became internet stars.

You are very well known from all the viral photos of the two of you at conventions, what has all this attention been like for you guys?

https://twitter.com/KatieBePhoto/status/904394171284197376

We take it in stride and it really doesn’t affect our day-to-day lives. We don’t cosplay for the “likes” or “fame” or selling calendars or prints; we just cosplay for fun. When Katie’s WW photo went viral we got so many requests for interviews that it did get overwhelming, but we just had to pick and choose who we wanted to feature us. Then we granted an interview with NBC Asian America and that started up more requests for interviews that we mostly turned down. We hate to disappoint people, but we were getting requests from foreign countries, video bloggers, etc. We found a lot of news/fandom sites that just reblogged or stole interviews that we had granted approval to. But the attention we receive at the conventions or at Disneyland is the BEST part. Meeting our fans/followers is always fun! We never imagined that people would actually fangirl/fanboy us! Some are so shy to ask us for a photo/selfie, that it’s endearing and a compliment! We love that very much!

You did a really unique take on a cosplay recently. You took inspiration from the movie “Up” and the movie “La La Land” and created cosplays around it. How did you come up with that mash up and that photo shoot inspiration? ( I can get the photos from Katie for this portion )

Source: Summit Entertainment

Source: Pixar

Source: Pixar

Source: Summit Entertainment

We had already planned to do Carl & Ellie for Dapper Day’s Fall Outing. We saw the movie poster for La La Land with Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) in their famous dance pose. Since Mia & Ellie wore a yellow dress, we thought we could do a UP/La La Land mashup during Dapper Day on Saturday. Of course Katie York (@KatieBePhoto), was the perfect choice for the photographer, and even though we couldn’t recreate the exact pose, Katie came up with her take and our dance pose at the nearly empty walkway by Ghirardelli in DCA. That photo became one of our favorites. At that time this photo also had the most likes and comments on our Instagram page too!

We recently got to spend time together at Gallifrey One. It was your first time attending, what did you think of this convention? Was there anything or any one in particular that you wanted to see at Gallifrey One? Any favorite moments from the weekend?

We would have liked to see more of the big name Doctors (Tennant, Smith and Capaldi) but realize they’re either too busy or too expensive to book. Wouldn’t mind also seeing some of our favorite companions such as Karen Gillan, Jenna Coleman, Catherine Tate and Alex Kingston as well. Too bad Pearl Mackie couldn’t make it this year. Favorite moments were seeing you (Monica), Katie and all the cosplayers.

Although not ‘Doctor Who’ related, it was especially nice when Millie presented Katie with her father’s vintage cameras. Millie’s father had once used the cameras, but Millie didn’t want to just donate it to a stranger, so Katie was the perfect recipient! We were all touched by that moment and we could tell that Katie appreciated the gift too.

Among the photoshoots and fun panels, one of the highlights of my trip to #Gally1 was getting to see the @cosplayparents! This particular photo is extra special as this was the exact moment Millie handed me 2 of her father's vintage cameras from the 50's. These cameras are absolutely beautiful and I am forever touched that Millie reached out and offered them to me. I'm looking so forward to breathing life into them. More photos of the actual cameras to come very soon. ❤ #katiebesphotographerlife #photographerlife 📸: @cosplayparents

A post shared by Katie (@katiebephoto) on Feb 22, 2018 at 12:00pm PST

Did you cosplay as your favorite Doctors?

Yes, when we started to binge watch the show in 2017, Millie liked David Tennant. Luckily we found a brown pinstripe blazer at a thrift store so it was perfect for her to gender-bend the 10th Doctor. Steven cosplayed Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor because while dressed as Carl Fredricksen from “Up” at a Lego Land Halloween Party a kid came running up to me and said “I love Doctor Who!” Steven said to himself “Who the heck is Doctor Who?! I’m Carl from UP!” It wasn’t until we got home and goggled “Doctor Who” and we saw a picture of Matt Smith that we realize the kid saw a brown tweed jacket and bow tie and got confused! LOL! So since Steven already had the tweed jacket it played perfectly for his cosplay as the 11th Doctor.

How do you decide which cosplays to bring out for a particular convention?

We only have 8 cosplay outfits and 6 Disney bounding outfits so we try to rotate our costumes so the fans don’t see the same thing 2/3 conventions in a row We need to start making new cosplay outfits but we’re running out of characters that we really like to portray, so we might start doing mashups or alternate versions of the same cosplays.

Our first meeting with #zootopia #nickwilde #judyhopps #dca #disneycaliforniaadventure #zootopiacosplay #disneybound #tbt #throwbackthursday #disneystyle at 2016 Food and Wine Festival

A post shared by Cosplay Parents (@cosplayparents) on May 25, 2017 at 5:48am PDT

Our second time cosplaying #disneyland 2015 #fbf # flashbackfriday #marypoppins #bertandmary #bertandmarypoppins #chimmneysweep we'll be in the parks tomorrow July 1st in our patriotic hawaiian shirts

A post shared by Cosplay Parents (@cosplayparents) on Jun 30, 2017 at 9:24am PDT

Missing #D23expo so much, 2019 can't come soon enough. #waybackwednesday #frozencosplay #princessanna #frozenkristoff #cosplaycouples #disneyanimation @disneyanimation #olafsfrozenadventure #disneyfrozen #d23expo2017 #d23expo . Thank to Alex H. for the photo.

A post shared by Cosplay Parents (@cosplayparents) on Aug 23, 2017 at 12:11pm PDT

Do you have any favorite stories from your different cosplay adventures?

Other than the UP/Doctor Who story I previously mentioned above, we guess it would be how we became known from a tweet from a fan at Wonder Con in 2016. We were dressed as Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter waiting for the Agents of Shield panel to start. But we had to sit through 4 other panels, and our knees and back were hurting, so we stood up to stretch and turned around to face the crowd. We were sitting near the front, not to show off, but we were looking for a friend who was trying to get into the Shield panel. A few rows behind us, this fan took a photo of us and tweeted it and it went viral on his phone! That one tweet started this whole “fame” part of our cosplays. As it turned out, Ron Aspiras, became our first fan, follower, and friend. Through Ron’s discovery of us, subsequent interviews with justJenn at Nerdist and Jon Hernandez at the Marvel Report followed, which started the ball rolling. We later met you at Wonder Con in 2017, and then you introduced us to Katie at Long Beach Comic Con in 2017. That’s when Katie’s Wonder Woman photo of us went viral. Months later we did the UP-LaLaLand photo shoot, and our interview with NBC Asian America, sent things through the roof!

Thank you to our men and women military members for their patriotic service in support of our country on #nationalarmedforcesday #armedforcesday #captainamerica #steverogers #peggycarter #agentcarter #supportourtroops #armedforcesday2017

A post shared by Cosplay Parents (@cosplayparents) on May 20, 2017 at 5:42am PDT

Do you have a cosplay bucket list of cosplay you want to eventually do?

We would like to do the Kingsman, an armor build around Thor’s characters, and Steven’s dream is to do Chirrut Imwe. We would also like to do more Han & Leia versions.

@D23Expo Our favorite photo from day 3. #starwarscosplay #hansolocosplay #generalorganacosplay #princessleiacosplay #d23expo2017 #d23expo #starwars #theforceawakens

A post shared by Cosplay Parents (@cosplayparents) on Jul 20, 2017 at 7:58am PDT

What kind of stuff are you interested in outside of cosplay?

Steven likes auto racing, car shows, building and collecting model kits. Millie likes to do arts and crafts, sew, and create things with whatever we have in the house. Together we like to go to Disneyland/Disney California Adventure, Broadway musicals, movies, dining out, and discovering new places and meeting new people.

What is your favorite thing about cosplaying?

At first, it was having people taking photos of us; now it’s mostly just meeting our fans and followers, and our fellow cosplayers and photographers. When we know our friends and fans are attending a Con, we try to meet everyone, it’s like a treasure hunt. We’re both socially shy but because of our internet popularity it’s given us more confidence to meet other famous cosplayers because now they seem to know who we are.

Here ate Temple Of Geek, we really want to thank Steven and Millie for taking the time to answer some of our questions and pose for photos with us. It has been really fun working with them.

If you guys want to find out more about Millie and Steven you can follow along with them on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/cosplayparents/

https://www.facebook.com/CosplayParents/

https://twitter.com/cosplayparents

  Catching Up With the Cosplay Parents Happy Cosplay Friday!

[yukithesnowman314]

Otaku no Video (lit. “The Geeks’ Video”) is Gainax’s 1991 two episode OVA (original video animation) celebrating otaku culture.  Set between 1982-1999, the anime follows main character Ken Kubo’s journey from an everyman college tennis player, to his transformation into a diehard otaku, aspiring entrepreneur, the CEO of his a multi-million dollar anime figurine/garage kit company, and finally, the president of a successful multi-billion dollar animation company.  Otaku no Video is celebrated throughout the otaku community; due to its overarching theme of otaku pride and positivity. However, there’s one theme of the OVA that isn’t discussed within the community: the hustle of Ken and his journey as an entrepreneur.

Join me as I discuss this underappreciate theme of  Otaku no Video and how it even relates to the real world of entrepreneurship.

From left-to-right: Misty May, Tanaka, Ken, and Fukuhara.

PART 1 THE HUSTLE

‘While we out here, say the Hustler’s Prayer If the game shakes me or breaks me I hope it makes me a better man, take a better stand’ -Biggie Smalls, Sky’s the Limit (1997 hip-hop single)

Towards the end of episode one, Ken (frustrated with his girlfriend dumping him, not being able to find a job, and dealing with the negative stereotypes of  otakus) convinces his friend Tanaka to drop out of college and quit job hunting in order to start up an anime figurine manufacture company: Grand Prix (GP) . The ambitious friends worked and hustle non-stop; creating figurines out of their apartment and promoting the GP brand.  Months later, they were able to buy a property – setting up shop at a storefront and hiring old college friends (to work for them).

Their business massively grew and they start to scale; buying up more property to open new shops. The public and media take notice of their brand; with Ken and Tanaka’s brand appearing on TV, newspapers, and magazines.  Grand Prix grew into a power player within their industry – dominating the competition.

Finally, after a year of relentless growth, Grand Prix transformed from a small business to behemoth of a corporation.

In the real world, a company coming up from a small business to a major corporation within a year is a mere fantasy.  However, the reality of business growth can be rooted in taking risks. Quitting a secured job and/or dropping out of college to one’s entrepreneur journey is risky.  Successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg know this well. They had to drop out of college in order to grow their business massively. Daymond John (founder of the urban clothing line FUBU and Shark Tank judge) quit his job at Red Lobster to focus on his brand (although he did wait until FUBU became a profitable business before quitting). The greatest of entrepreneurs had to surrender something in order to build their brand – just like what Ken and Tanaka did.

The otaku duo where met with overwhelming success in a span of a year.  Yet, like with many entrepreneurs, failure was waiting nearby.

  PART 2 FAILURE AND COMEBACK

‘Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is the part of the process of success.’ -Robert Kiyosaki

The impressive growth of the GP Company meant that Ken was able to expand the business overseas.  In order to increase capital, Ken (now a multi-millionaire), set his sights on China (in order to build a warehouse for mass production). Taking out a loan with a bank, Ken travels to China and buys land for the warehouse; overseeing the production of it. Back in Japan, the figurine industry starts to crash – putting Grand Prix at risk of going under. With the company in financial trouble and the morale of his employees fading, Ken at is in danger of losing his title as president of GP.

The downfall of the Ken begins.

Fuck bankers. 

After the success of the warehouse in China, Ken is called to an emergency meeting at Grand Prix.  The meeting is a front to fire him as president – with the entire company in favor of it – including his best friend Tanaka. Ken is forced to work as a regular employee at one of Grand Prix’s underperforming location and he begins to lose hope in himself. Later, during an event at a Grand Prix store, Ken encounters Tanaka (who too was fired from the company on false embezzlement charges) and confronts him (about Ken’s firing). Tanaka begs for his forgiveness: explaining to Ken that he was manipulated by the bankers to vote against him.

Ken forgives Tanaka as he realized they were both screwed over (by the same people). Putting his anger aside, Ken asks Tanaka if he wants to start over again.  Tanaka agrees and the two join forces once again to build a new brand – separate from Grand Prix.  Together, Ken and Tanaka start up a Japanese Adult Video (JAV) business with cosplay porn as their specialty.

…Nah I’m just fucking around they open up their own animation studio.

Tanaka and Ken begin work on creating their new company: “Giant X”. Tanaka suggests that they create homemade anime marketed towards otaku to sell through mail orders (as well as selling merchandise at events for extra income). Tanaka recruits Fukuhara: a former employee of Grand Prix as an animator.  Together, the three start production on an original anime: Misty May.  Misty May is a hit with the otaku market; putting Ken and Tanaka back in the national spotlight.  Giant X – like Grand Prix before – dominated its market and industry without resistance. Ken, with the success of his new company, buys back Grand Prix and becomes a juggernaut of a businessman. Later on, Ken opens the world’s first otaku driven amusement park: An amusement park for otakus by otakus.

Finally, at the end of the OVA, Ken is the richest man in Japan and one of the world’s wealthiest CEOs.

‘Last night took an L, but tonight I bounce back.’ ‘If you’re a real winner you know how to bounce back!’ -Big Sean, Bounce Back (2016 hip-hop single)

Ken was able to bounce back from failure – like many entrepreneurs have done.   In business and in hustling, you’ll have your fair share of failures, mishaps, disappointments, what have you.  It’s all a part of the entrepreneur’s journey.  In order to become a successful entrepreneur, you must bounce back from failure and never give up. Richard Brandon, the founder of Virgin, has seven well-known failures. But he still works as an entrepreneur to this day. Walt Disney, one of the world’s most influential animator and businessman, was fired from his first cartoonist job.  His boss told him that he’ll never find success because he lacked imagination and his ideas were terrible.  Today, the Disney Company is worth over 92 billion dollars.

Failure doesn’t always mean the end.

Otaku no Video is a wonderful OVA on otaku pride.  It has inspired many fans around the world to love their nerdiness.  Gainax shows the world that otaku can break the stereotype that nerds are hopeless losers that won’t amount to anything in life.  However, what should be celebrated about this OVA is Ken’s grind from a young college kid to a rookie entrepreneur, to a successful businessman who failed but bounces back against all odds.  Although Ken ’s wild story and the man himself is fictional, we can learn from and relate to him.

We dealt with failures, setbacks, doubters, and disappointment, only to come back from all of them and shine brightly.  Our vision may seem wild and outlandish to some, but to us, they can come true – but only if we work our ass off for it.

We should be like Ken Kubo; staying focused on our goals regardless of what failure may come and embrace the hope of an unseen world far away.

‘I won’t let anyone block me! I’ll go my own way!’ ‘My goal is the world!’ ‘I’ll be the greatest man’! -Lyrics from Fight! Otaking! (Otaku no Video’s OP theme)

FOLLOW ME ON THESE SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITES: My Facebook Page: Yuki The Snowman https://www.facebook.com/yukithesnowman/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/weebtrashyuki

Tumblr YukiTheSnowMan314 https://yukithesnowman314.tumblr.com/

YouTube Yuki TheSnowman14 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnW2H7VD6ahR4xXPba-DYLQ

Instagram YukiTheSnowman314 https://www.instagram.com/yukithesnowman314/

  ‘While we out here, say the Hustler’s Prayer If the game shakes me or break me I hope it makes me a better man, take a better stand’ Otaku no Video (lit. “The Geeks’ Video”) is Gainax’s 1991 two episode OVA (original video animation) celebrating otaku culture. 

[templeofgeek]

Katie York is a photographer from Los Angeles, California. I first met Katie in early 2015 through the Doctor Who Community. She was a Twelfth Doctor Cosplayer at the time. I ,myself, was also a Doctor Who cosplayer and also from the surrounding Los Angeles area. I began to follow her on Instagram and very quickly formed a friendship with her. Our shared interest stretched far beyond just Doctor Who and Cosplay.  We talked daily about our fandoms, our lives and our passions. One passion we shared and cared very deeply about was Cosplay Photography. For us cosplay photography was just as important as the cosplays themselves. Photography was our way of celebrating our fandom. Doing our best to bring out the hard work and effort that had gone into making these cosplays. Doing our best to do justice to the cosplays and the cosplayer. Most of what I have learned about cosplay photography I have learned from Katie. She has a very unique style and approach to shooting cosplays. To me, her photos seem softer and more sophisticated than a lot of the Cosplay Photography I have seen out there. She brings out the personalities of the people she photographs just as well as she does the loveliness of their cosplays. It is this unique style that makes her so sought after as a photographer. Her Wonder Woman Cosplay Project, which you will read about below, is touching  and brilliant. I am very honored to be sharing her work and her story with you. 

Photo by VXV Images

Your story, tell us about yourself. Hi all, I’m Katie! I’m a purple loving lady who moved with my mom and my dog from the east coast (New Hampshire) to the west coast (Southern California) to pursue a career in film post production. I love many things, most of them being my family, my fandoms (Disney, Wonder Woman, Sherlock and Star Trek to name a few.) and my pretend boyfriends (the most recent being Taika Waititi, Karl Urban and Chris Pine). When I’m not behind the lens of my Nikon I can be found running around my second home, Disneyland!

How long have you been interested in photography and storytelling? Photography has always flitted in and out of my life for quite sometime. I tinkered with disposable cameras all throughout my childhood years. I’d like to point out that most, if not all, of those photos were terrible wide shots of my disinterested dog and my startled Grandma. As I grew older I loved watching America’s Next Top Model for the sole reason of seeing how the photos from the shoots turned out. I was obsessed with the concept shoots and how interesting and fun and statuesque the models always looked. However, if I was to pinpoint when my love for the art solidified it was probably my senior year of high school into the first few months of college when I got to develop and process my own black and white film. At the time I had really NO idea what I was doing but I enjoyed doing it. Shortly after graduating college though, my camera fell by the wayside while I began building the foundation of my career in post production. Fast forward 5 years later, with my very first bonus check from my first real SERIOUS job in my hand, I bought my first DSLR camera and it’s been a passionate love ever since.

How long have you been interested in cosplay photography? I’ve been interested in cosplay photography for a little over 2 years? I never really thought it to be something I’d be interested in until I started regularly going to conventions around 3 years ago. Walking around the convention floor you can see all the love and dedication these people have for the craft and for the characters they wear. It’s infectious and since I’m nowhere near as handy as they are I felt compelled to contribute to this community somehow. So the photography just fell right into place. I like to consider cosplay photography as souped up portrait photography. The colors and textures and all the different faces make working with cosplayers so rewarding.

What got you started in cosplay/ cosplay photography? I was a Doctor Who cosplayer for a time and had some friends in our local community who were also into it. At the time I really didn’t even know cosplay shoots were a “thing”. We wanted to get photos outside of a convention setting so I reached out to a friend who knew a friend who had a camera. It’s been history ever since.

10th Doctor Cosplay

Donna Noble Cosplay

11th Doctor Cosplay

River Song Cosplay

Clara Oswald Cosplay

6th Doctor Cosplay

10th Doctor Cosplay

11th Doctor Cosplay

Is there any kind of equipment that you prefer to use when shooting cosplay? I’m not very fussy when it comes to equipment. As long as I have even, natural light and my workhorse lens (a.k.a my Sigma 50-100 mm f/1.8) I’m good to go! That said, what I keep in my kit is my Nikon D3300 body, Sigma 50-100 f/1.8, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 and Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6. Oh, and a TON of fairy lights. You never know when you need to get sparkly on a shoot.

You had a photo go viral recently. What is the story there and How do you feel about that? I did and it was such an incredibly wild experience! But to provide context, I met Steven and Millie a.k.a the Cosplay Parents at Long Beach Comic Con this past September. Running around various circles in the Southern California Comic Convention scene I had learned of Steven and Millie. I had seen many photos of their beautiful cosplays around the internet but I never had the chance to actually formally introduce myself. Until a week before Long Beach Comic Con when my friend looped me in on a tweet from them showcasing their latest cosplay confection. Diana Prince and Steve Trevor. Needless to say, I flipped and the subsequent tweets expressed my enthusiasm. We confirmed I’d love the opportunity to photograph them and that was that.

Fast forward to day one of the con and I had just stepped out of a panel with William Shatner only to look out over the balcony to find Steven and Millie taking selfies in the lobby. Cut to your girl running down three flights of stairs (lugging her gear bag behind her) to catch them. I am nothing, if not enthusiastic about snagging my subjects. Thus our first mini shoot was born and my friendship with them took off. Because the day AFTER that photo was taken, I posted it to my twitter and over the course of 24 hours it went VIRAL. 18k likes, 5k retweets and a retweet and comment by the Wonder Woman Director herself, Patty Jenkins. To top it all off, a week later Steven and Millie and our photo were featured on Mashable and The Chive! Needless to say, that Labor Day weekend became incredibly memorable for both the Cosplay Parents and I.

https://twitter.com/KatieBePhoto/status/904394171284197376

https://twitter.com/PattyJenks/status/904785780173717504

  It was so insane watching all of this go down. I wasn’t really expecting the volume of likes this photo would garner and Steven and Millie certainly weren’t expecting the reception they were given. It was such a positive experience not only to see my work so well received and the outpouring of love for what the CosplayParents do but also for the friendship I made with Steven and Millie since then. I know viral things don’t always have a positive outcome but I’m thankful this one was.

Do you have any photos that are your favorite or that you really proud of?  This is such a hard question as each shoot is very special and like a mother, I can’t pick a favorite out of all my babies, but I would have to say one photo I’m very proud of is a shot I took during my very first WWxKtBe shoot. This shot of Julia in front of these tall buildings encapsulates what I wanted this Wonder Woman project to look like. Powerful and strong and ready to take on the world!

From beginning to now: How do you feel about how far you’ve come in your photography? Oh without a doubt I am leaps and bounds better than I was when I first started. I’ve learned so much in regards to how I use certain kinds of equipment, to looking at light, to posing my subjects, to how I edit things. Everyday I learn something new and that keeps this hobby fresh and exciting for me. I just love it.

We’ve talked briefly on this subject before. While hopping around conventions, we noticed a lack of female photographers. Many times you and I have been the only female photographers present at a comic book convention.  How do you feel about the need for more female cosplay photographers? Like every aspect of the workforce there is without a doubt a gigantic need for more female cosplay photographers! I think we as women bring a different view to photography then men might have. As an art form and as a community we should want to see different perspectives from women. I’m very inspired by the male cosplay photographers I follow and would relish the inspiration from up and coming female cosplay photographers as well!

Tell us the story of your Wonder Woman project? I walked into a movie theater with my best friend Briana on June 7th eagerly anticipating my first viewing of Wonder Woman. I was certainly pumped for what I had seen in the trailers despite not fully knowing what to expect. Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins didn’t disappoint. Fast forward nearly 2 and half hours later to Briana and I walking out of that theater changed women. I’ve always prided myself on being an independent woman who had all the things that make a woman walk tall. But after walking out of Wonder Woman for the first time I found myself walking taller and energized. Thank God there weren’t any tanks nearby because there was a VERY good chance I would’ve tried to pick it up ala the No Man’s Land scene.

But something wonderful triggered in my brain that night while Briana and I stood in the empty parking lot taking selfies in my Wonder Woman tiara. I needed to create and I needed it to be focused on this iconic female character and how important she is to strong and impassioned women (like me and the women I surround myself with). I decided that I wanted to start working on an open ended series of photoshoots with all kinds of Wonder Women cosplayers, revolving around the idea that no matter size, age or color we are ALL Wonder Women. This line of thinking is also the same through line to most of the photo work I’ve done since I seriously picked up a camera two years ago. I wanted to highlight all of Diana’s qualities in the women I worked with, effectively boosting their confidence along with the confidence of the women (and men!) who happened to find my photos. This project would also showcase all her different looks, be it from the film, the comics, the animated series or concept work. You name it, I wanted to photograph it. Thus the WWxKtBe (Wonder Woman times Katie Be) project was born.

Since then I’ve done a handful of shoots for this project, which can be viewed here, and I’m looking to do more. So, if anyone reading this is interested don’t hesitate to reach out!

What is a cosplay photo shoot like for you? What do you try to get out of your photo shoots? I try to make my shoots as easy, comfortable and informal as possible. Usually it’s me and my subject on location during the early morning. The first few shots are always the most nerve wracking for me but once those have gone off, it’s off to the races. There’s something really special about the time in the middle of the shoot where both my subject and I are really gelling. That’s the sweet spot for me. It’s when the best photographs happen because the real personality of the cosplayer comes out. Long story short, it’s plain and simple magic.

Every shoot I do I try to capture the person’s essence. Sure, you can capture the same poses you see from promo photos released from the tv show/movie/video game but to me it’s boring. I want to see the light and determination in a Wonder Woman’s eye as she’s about to step onto No Man’s Land and I want to see the mischief in the set of Deadpool’s shoulders as he’s sneaking up to photobomb someone. THAT is what cosplay photography is all about for me. The emotion. You can have all the fancy gear in the world but if the face is expressionless the photo lacks.

What are your feelings about convention photography? What is your approach to it? I think convention photography is a skill in and of itself. There’s so much going on and there’s so many people milling around. You really have to understand your gear and how to properly use it because sometimes you only get less than a minute to get your shot. I personally found it difficult to get the space I need to take a shot with the equipment I use daily and that’s kind of frustrating. However, on the positive end of things, there are SO many fresh faces you can meet and network with. This past LA Comic Con I got the opportunity to photograph with a few people who follow me on Instagram as well as people I’ve never met before. Normally I’m more of a one-on-one, location shoot kind of girl but I’m hoping to get more and more comfortable shooting within the confines of a convention.

Doctor Strange Cosplay

Mera Cosplay

Merida & Ariel Cosplays

Brave Cosplay

Star Trek Cosplay

Wonder Woman Cosplay

Do you do other kinds of photography? I do! I’ve photographed weddings and families, headshots and landscapes. I love photographing everything and everyone!

What do you hope for the future of cosplay photography? I hope that the community continues to be inclusive no matter the skill set of the photographer and that more and more women start stepping behind the lens!

What new things can we hope to see from you in the coming year? More Wonder Woman shoots for sure. I also want to start stepping into fandoms I don’t normally photograph. I might not be familiar with the characters but that’s what makes it fun and challenging!

What advice do you have for new photographers out there? Keep photographing. Never STOP photographing. Take your friends out for mini shoots and practice, practice, practice. Look at what other photographers are doing and figure out what you like about their style and spin it to fit what you want your photographs to look like. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of other photographers and ask cosplayers to shoot with you. Watch as many youtube tutorials as possible. I’ve learned so much about editing from youtube it’s not even funny. Finally, just have fun, this is what art is all about, having fun!

Ariel & Merida Cosplay

Cosplay Fans

Steve Trevor Cosplay

TARDIS Cosplay

Star Trek Cosplays

LA LA Land & Up Cross Over Copslay

LA LA Land & Up Cross Over Copslay

Young Diana WW Cosplay

Young Diana WW Cosplay

Rapunzel Cosplay

Merida Cosplay

Bettlejuice Cosplay

Wonder Woman Cosplay

Doctor Who Cosplays

Clara Oswald Cosplay

  You can follow along with Katie’s adventures on her social media accounts: 

https://wwxktbeproject.tumblr.com

https://www.instagram.com/katiebe_photography/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/katiebephotography/

Cosplayers photographed above:

https://www.instagram.com/imaginedrealitiescosplay/

https://www.instagram.com/christina.is.crafty/

https://www.instagram.com/badmoosecosplay/

https://www.instagram.com/lotcosplay/

https://www.instagram.com/satinedice/

https://www.instagram.com/iamgeeklectic/

https://www.instagram.com/indymcfly/

https://www.instagram.com/thecurlydoctor/

https://www.instagram.com/juliajcosplay/

https://www.instagram.com/sylviaslays/

https://www.instagram.com/emma_bruton/

https://www.instagram.com/koruption_kosplay/

https://www.instagram.com/maryschwacher/

https://www.instagram.com/collectresscosplay/

https://www.instagram.com/thecollectedmutineer/

https://www.instagram.com/the_rose_explodes/

https://www.instagram.com/letdownyourgoldenhair/

https://www.instagram.com/young.fortinbras/

https://www.instagram.com/imperial_maddie/

https://www.instagram.com/cos_im_nikki/

https://www.instagram.com/miss_laneous/

https://www.instagram.com/dancingdragoncosplay/

https://www.instagram.com/spidermaiden/

    Q&A With Cosplay Photographer: Katie Be Photography Katie York is a photographer from Los Angeles, California. I first met Katie in early 2015 through the Doctor Who Community.