#source: none piece

[chiefladylightyay]

Nora: We have to protect the village! It says so in our hunter licenses. Ren: And you were doing so well too, Nora.

Jaune: Ah, don't worry, I already took care of that. * Cut to the entire village ablaze and screaming in agony. Cut back to Jaune.* Beat

Ren: You did? Jaune: *whispering* They can't get touched if they're on fire.

[incorrectgbafequotes]

[lesbian-deadpool]

Sam: Don’t be a smart mouth!

Y/N: Don’t worry, Sam, I don’t think any part of him is in danger of being smart.

Bucky: Fuck you too, Y/N.

[the-black-bulls]

[the devils having their first only-devils mission]

Plumedo: Alright team. Assemble.

Liebe: We’ve been here for like... 40 minutes.

Walgner: Well then, assemble better.

Liebe: Dunno how to do that.

Slotos: Dont be a wise devil, Liebe.

Gimodelo: I dont think he’s in danger of that.

Liebe: Hey, fuck you too Gimodelo!

[superiorsturgeon]

Nora: THAT’S IT!! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!

Nora: Everyone but me has maimed someone today!

Nora: *points* YOU!!

Mercury: *only just returned to the show, wondering wtf is going on* Huh? Me?

Nora: LET’S DO THIS!!! *charges, swinging Magnhild and eating lightning dust like tic-tacs*

Mercury: Uh-oh!

[asl-bros-incorrect-quotes]

Sabo: *admits to taking Ace's calculator the other day*

Ace: You took Ashley?!

Sabo: ...

Sabo: You... you named your calculator Ashley?

[skunkes]

if life is categorized by Before Loss and After Loss then I exist in the before but with a countdown to the after. and the countdown is always always present and debilitating. the loss will be debilitating too but i cant help myself. i will always suffer twice.

[corviiids]

genuinely so sorry to slide into your dm's like this, not sure that this is proper tumblr etiquette, etc., but i just got so excited when i read in your sayu-gets-the-death-note ask that you've been trying to talk yourself out of doing an entire statutory interpretation of the manga death note rules because i've been trying to talk myself out doing an entire metaphysical interpretation of the manga death note rules, so... if you, like me, simply cannot talk yourself out of a stupid idea once it sinks its claws in your brain and would at some point like to share notes about I THINK one of the sexiest and most broken parts of this series, i'd be delighted.

oh my god dont apologise im just excited a single person on earth besides me is interested in a pseudo-legal (very pseudo) perspective on the death note rules. high fives you. for the most part im just incredibly impressed that they manage to retain so much internal consistency especially since so many of them have the vibe of, like, random amendments which were included just for funsies. it's incredible they don't overtly contradict each other. ive been obsessed with them since i first saw them and have already spent way too much time reading over them but yeah i'd honestly love to dig into them more. HTR13 does organise them into something closer to Parts or Divisions which makes the structure a little more coherent. it drives me nuts that sometimes a numbered rule will have sub-provisions that have absolutely nothing to do with each other. drafting that gives me a stress migraine

[nehswritesstuffs]

banish every gaslight; let clarity shine - Part 8

Okay, I'm back! Hope everyone's ready to cry. :D

Part 1 [FFN/AO3] - Part 2 [FFN/AO3] - Part 3 [FFN/AO3] - Part 4 [FFN/AO3] - Part 5 [FFN/AO3] - Part 6 [FFN/AO3] - Part 7 [FFN/AO3]

As one sibling back home tries to make the best of things, the other two realize exactly what lengths Cora-san is willing to go for them. [3433 words; AU where there is a Third Corazón, whose existence makes Law’s life hell]

Baby 5 hid the Den Den Mushi in her hoodie as she made her way out of headquarters and over to the garbage dump. Although it was her job to stay behind that time, she wanted to make sure there was nothing that could watch or listen to her, just in case. It was really one of Law’s hoodies that she was wearing, her having started to wear them with him not around to protest. She found a good spot and took the snail out, giving it a piece of lettuce before making the call.

“Crackers.” The snail made the person on the other end look so tired. Why was he so tired?

“Cookies,” Baby 5 said. A moment’s pause and the snail peered at her.

“A… child…?”

“Um… I don’t know who you are, but Cora-san told me to call you,” she explained. “He said he needs me to tell you whenever the Young Master leaves Spider Miles. He left.”

“Cora-san…?”

“Yeah.” Her hands trembled as she held the snail in one hand and the receiver in the other. “I’m not allowed to ask questions. I’m not allowed to lie to you. I’m not allowed to let the others know I call you.”

The man—Baby 5 knew it was a man on the other end, because he sounded like Lao G if he was nicer and more tired—regarded this carefully. “Do you know who I am? Any idea?”

“I told you: no—Cora-san just told me to do this while he helps my brother and sister.”

“Does he have a snail I can contact him on?”

“No, sir. This was his only one. He said he’ll call you when he can.”

“Sounds like Rosi, alright.” The man gave a weak chuckle. “You are very brave, child. He chose well when he gave you this job.” He seemed to sigh heavily and there was the sound of papers shuffling. “Due to the unofficial shift in protocol, I am not going to ask your name. I shall refer to you as Child, and you can refer to me as Grandfather. Just keep doing this, alright? I am proud of you, Child.”

“Thank you, Grandfather.”

Baby 5 gave the man on the other end of the line the course of the Numancia Flamingo to the best of her ability before the line cut. The snail fell asleep and she held it close to her chest, trying to keep it warm as she went back to Headquarters.

What sort of people was Cora-san talking to, and why did they need that information? She put the snail back in its habitat before she went back to cleaning, wanting to make sure everything was nice and neat and orderly for the others to get back. They needed to not suspect anything.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Months began to creep by and hospitals continued to burn, while information continued to be passed along. Baby 5 made it a habit of staying behind at the base when the rest of the Family was on missions, wrapped in her brother’s sweatshirts during the day and holding her sister’s stuffed animals at night. She felt the eyes of the other Family members as they would come home to a spotless headquarters and somehow knew their suspicions. Her being alone was not normal, so why was she alone so much now? Did they know she searched through their things for information? How long would it be before they discovered that Child was passing information to Grandfather, and that it was happening via Cora-san’s old transponder snail? What would it take for her cover to be blown and what would happen when it finally happened? Would they know it was all in the name of protecting her siblings?

There was only one way to find out, unfortunately.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

[CLASSIFIED]

Official Transcript of Military Den Den Communications – Operation: FALLEN DRAGON – File Number 01746.100059.1511.00234

Listen: I don’t have much time. There’s these five kids in Doffy’s group. Two of them are likely beyond help, but the middle three… no matter what, I need them to be saved. Whatever happens to me, you have to sa…

[INDECIPHERABLE]

She’s the one I gave the snail.

[INDECIPHERABLE]

…I know about [REDACTED] and what [REDACTED] did! Did you really think that was [REDACTED]

[INDECIPHERABLE]

Remember… it’s two girls and a boy. Raise them if I’m not there to do it. Please. I fear what Doffy will do to them if this all is blown to hell.

[INDECIPHERABLE]

They deserve so much more than this. We both know it.

[END COMMUNICATION]

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was very cold as Law and Lami sat huddled together on what seemed like a deserted island, waiting in the small alcove where Cora-san had told them to stay while he went somewhere. Law tried to wrap his cloak around his sister as well as himself and failed at getting more than half of her in the extra fabric.

“What do you think he’s doing?” she shivered. He tucked her head underneath his chin as coughs began to wrack her body.

“Hard saying,” he lied. He knew exactly what Cora-san was doing: trying to raid the pirate base that was on the other side of the island. Their adult had trusted him with the information in case anything went sour, because someone needed to get Lami out of there if the need arose. He had even left them with a knife, despite the fact he hoped they didn’t need to use it. “He better not be too long.”

“I want Bee-nee,” Lami sniffled. She rubbed her face in her brother’s shoulder and tried not to cry. “Why couldn’t Bee-nee come along?”

“It would be too much for Cora-san to travel with all three of us, remember?” Law said. He hugged his baby sister a bit tighter and hoped that Baby 5 had not been caught yet. “We’re gonna be okay—Cora-san will be the adult who helps.”

“You don’t believe that.”

“No… but it’s important that you do.” Lami began to sob, knowing that their time—her time specifically—was running out. “Hey, we’ll see Bee soon enough. Cora-san is gonna find that cure for us.”

“Why… why are you allowed to be sad about it, but I can’t?!” she cried. “I’m scared, Law-nii! I’m so scared!”

“I know you are, but you have to know it’s gonna be okay, no matter what,” he replied. He went back into his memory for words of comfort from before… from when they had both their parents and school and friends and… fuck… it had been a wonderful life, hadn’t it? There was something too calm about it, as though it was just the peace one felt before a storm came barreling through. Was finding their sister just the eye of the storm? Was that Cora-san? Damned if he knew. “Everything happens for a reason…”

“It’s not reasonable!” she snapped tearfully. “Don’t say things the sisters said! It doesn’t make me feel better!”

“It doesn’t make you feel better because you know they were right!” he fired back. She looked at him, her eyes puffed up from crying, and didn’t know how to respond. “They were right! I don’t know how, but they were! Do you think I like not knowing how?! Do you think I like not knowing the reason?! It’s fucked up, yeah, but what else do we have?! If none of this had happened, we would have never met Bee! Or Cora-san! We’d still be in Flevance, having never seen anything beyond her waters! Nothing changing!”

“…but we’d still have Mom and Dad! Our family! Our friends!”

“…and we could still be dead anyhow! People die every day from things not bullets or poison! Kids, even! If we hadn’t needed to escape, we would have never gotten here, and I’d rather be here knowing more than I did then instead of dying ignorant! I don’t know why, but we were meant to live this!”

That set off Lami again, fresh tears flowing from her. Law gathered her in his arms and pulled her into his lap, which better allowed him to pull his cloak around her as she sobbed into his shoulder. He grit his teeth as he tried to hold back his own tears, wanting to be the strong one… needing to be the strong one…

“Kids! Kids! Where’d you go?!” Both of them gasped and went to wipe the tears and snot from their faces—it was Cora-san! He stumbled into the snow in front of them, looking exhausted and rather worse for wear.

“What happened to you?!” Law gasped. Shit—it had taken fewer bullet wounds to kill both his parents.

“That doesn’t matter,” the man said. He took a heart-shaped fruit out of his coat pocket and held it out. “This is what we were looking for… this is what Doffy was looking for…”

“That’s a Devil Fruit…?” Lami wondered. “It doesn’t look like any fruit I’ve ever seen…”

“It’s a really special thing,” Cora-san explained. “It’s gonna help Law fix you both up, good as new.”

“…but Cora-san, I…!” Law began to protest, only for their caretaker to shove the fruit into his mouth, forcing him to eat it. “Oh, gross! Why the fuck did you do that?!”

“I sure as fuck couldn’t do anything with it, even if I hadn’t eaten my own Devil Fruit,” Cora-san smirked. Although Law was still freaking out over the nasty, meaty taste of what had just been force-fed to him, Lami saw the intense sadness in Cora-san’s eyes… he knew something sad and wasn’t telling them. “You’re the one who’s going to become a great doctor some day, Law. It’s supposed to be yours.”

Just then, the three of them could hear men shouting off in the distance, making them tense.

“Okay, you two find a place that’s not here,” Cora-san ordered gently. “I’ll find you soon as I can guarantee that we can make a clean getaway. Then you’ll be free.”

“Free…?” Lami wondered as they stood.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Free of this disease, free of Doffy, free of everything you never wanted. You can rescue Baby 5 and the three of you will be freer than anyone on this sea. Do you understand…?”

“I think so…?”

“Good. Now be good brats, for fucking once in your lives.” At that he scrambled off, the kids just barely able to catch him pulling out one of his guns before he turned a corner.

“Asshole,” Law hissed. “Didn’t even ask me if I wanted it…” He saw that Lami was staring at him as they ran and he swallowed hard. “What…?”

“Do you feel any different…?” she asked. He stopped to look at his hands, brow furrowed.

“No, but…” He trailed off, desperately attempting to put what he was feeling into words. “It’s like… the Devil Fruit is trying to tell me what I can do…?”

“Really…?”

“Yeah.” He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to figure out what was attempting to be said.

Heed me, boy, and I shall make you powerful.

Eyes snapping open, Law looked at his sister with a nearly crazed expression. “Lami, hold still; I’m gonna try it on you first.”

“Why?”

“You’re the one with days left,” he replied. The siblings hugged tightly before Law had Lami lay down in the snow, hidden from the snowy path they’d been on. He held his hands palm-down over her and took a deep breath.

“ROOM!”

Suddenly, a blue sphere grew from Law’s hands and enveloped the both of them. Once that was up, he took Cora-san’s knife and held it to his sister’s arm. He pressed down and it made an incision… one that didn’t bleed.

It was working.

Law quickly worked, taking what he knew to be Amber Lead out of his sister’s body. There was so much of it, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. The only time he did was for thirty seconds, tearing off a bit of his cloak for her to bite on to help with the pain. Okay… anesthetic… he needed to remember that for next time…

Then, all of a sudden, the Room dropped and Law collapsed in the snow. He and Lami were breathing heavily as they looked at each other, both afraid for the other to speak. With a shaky hand, he held up a small rock, not much bigger than a decorative pond pebble. It was much more jagged and rough-looking, however, and a reddish brown where it did not gleam whiter than the snow.

“Five years,” he said shakily. “This should give you five more years.”

“Yeah…?” There were tears in their eyes—that would make her older than he was now.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck, there you kids are!” The siblings looked and saw Cora-san was clamoring over towards them, snow stuck to his hair and coat. “Doffy and his crew are nearly here—I can’t let them find you!”

“Cora-san, look!” Lami gasped. She took the pebble from her brother’s hand and held it up. “Law took this out of me!”

“Wait… you did…?” he marveled. He looked at Law, the boy nodding weakly in the snow as hot tears ran down his face.

“She’s gonna be at least fourteen,” he sniffled. “My sister is going to live!”

“Oh… that’s great!” Cora-san replied through tears of his own. He gathered the children up in his arms and they all shared a hug. “We’re going to get through this—just a little bit longer, and we’ll be free. I promise.”

“Cora-san…?” Lami squeaked. She was clammy with sweat and breathing heavily. “Can we go get Bee-nee? And then we can live somewhere nice?”

“I’m sure you will,” he replied, but she shook her head.

“No, you too, Cora-san!” she insisted. “You can be our dad! And we can live together! All four of us!” She gripped his shirt as her breath became staggered. “The four of us can be each other’s new family!”

“Lami…” Law touched his baby sister’s shoulder and she whimpered. “Is that what you want?”

“Yeah!” She looked at him, then at Cora-san, whose makeup was running from his own tears and sweat. “We can have a real parent again, and Law-nii can continue learning how to be a doctor, and Bee-nee and I can figure out what we want to do, and we’ll all do the best thing we can to make the people who tried to kill us suffer!”

“…and what’s that?” Cora-san asked, his voice wavering.

“We can live!”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Remember something kids: I love you!”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A heavy thud rammed against Law’s treasure chest as Cora-san was shot—one, two, three, four, five—making the blood in his veins run cold.

Cora-san! You can’t! Law barely heard the order to leave the Corazón for dead and take the treasure. He pressed his limbs to the wooden walls in panic when he felt the chest being lifted up—this was it! His entire world, dark and filled with fear, swayed with the movement of… yeah, Machvise’s steps as he was carried off and away from the scene of the crime.

It was just like three years ago, when he and his sister hid from their executioners in plain sight, except this time they were in separate hiding spots. Cora-san had been reluctant to do it, but they would not fit together in the biggest chest, and besides… he didn’t want Doflamingo’s crew to take what they thought was the most valuable haul, only to get something invaluable instead. Law kept his mind focused—the clearer he could make decisions, the quicker he could grab Lami, get back to Cora-san, and they could begin figuring out a way to rescue Baby 5.

“Is that everything? Good. Let’s make sure we have enough space first…”

Law listened closely for signs that the Doflamingo Pirates were all occupied before lifting the lid off his treasure chest and carefully slipping out. He couldn’t tell which one had Lami in it before he heard Trebol attempting to swallow the innards of his nasal cavity—he couldn’t get caught! Not yet! He ducked behind a nearby pile of rocks, there already being prints going over there he could step in to hide his tracks. Sure enough, there was a yellow divot against the cliff-face—apparently the ship’s latrine was just too far an ask…

Just then, Law heard the telltale whizzing sound of cannonballs hurtling towards them. They hit the cliff-face opposite him with two loud explosions; it was the Marines.

That’s right… Doflamingo had accused Cora-san of being a Marine, not only by the treasure chests, but after they stole a burner snail a few weeks ago as well. Law and Lami had even accused Cora-san of being a Marine. The only problem was: if Cora-san really was a Marine, then who was he having Baby 5 talk to over the transponder snail? Was she caught? Did she get in trouble? Had… had Doflamingo found out because Baby 5 told him…? It made him sick to think about…

“Leave the rest!” Doflamingo snapped. “We have to get out of here!”

At once, everyone scrambled to board the Numancia Flamingo and escape what was most likely Vice-Admiral Tsuru and her command. Law remained hidden behind the rocks while he waited for them to leave, seeing that they had truly left behind much of the load. Ha… Doflamingo was going to be pissed when they returned to Spider Miles…

Before long, the ships were off in the distance, the only evidence they were even around being the distant sounds of cannonfire. Law shuddered as he heard himself let out a sniffle—Cora-san was dead.

Shit! Shit, shit, shit! The teen began to tremble as he realized that things were going to become infinitely more difficult. Having to go rescue Baby 5 with just him and Lami wasn’t completely out of the question, but it was going to take a lot longer than it would have otherwise. He waited until he couldn’t hear the ships anymore before standing up and poking his head out from behind the rocks.

“Lami…?” He carefully picked his way over towards the heaps of discarded treasure and began to search through what remained. It looked like a lot of the chests were weighed down by rocks as just another way for one brother to get back at another. “Lami…? Where are you…?”

As Law continued looking through the chests, a sense of dread settled over him. Lami wasn’t answering, nor was she in any of the other chests. He got to the last one and asked whatever might be listening to let her be inside…

…and found rocks.

“Lami…?!” Law dropped to his knees and cried, knowing that the worst thing must have happened: she must have been taken aboard the Numancia. “LAMI! NO! YOU CAN’T—!” He stopped to vomit, hot and burning over his tongue and throat.

His sister was gone.

He was alone.

His sister was still dying and there was nothing he could do.

He was alone.

His sister was somewhere off in the far-reaching, icy sea, far beyond where he could feasibly go on his own.

He was alone.

His sister was going to suffer.

He was alone… truly alone.

All while she remained trapped.

Once all the contents of his stomach were melting the snow, Law scrambled onto his feet and began to stumble away. His legs were shaky and he felt like hell, but he kept going—the Marines were likely to come back and he didn’t want to be there if they did. He couldn’t go chasing after the Numancia and rescue Lami in the state he was in, barely able to stand upright or move of his own volition.

If this was freedom, then he didn’t want it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was difficult for Lami to hear outside of the treasure chest—she wasn’t sure what was going on or where she was, but she had the feeling that she should not move… not until her brother opened the lid and took them both away. The chest had moved a couple of times, which made her cautious, because she didn’t know what sort of place she was going to escape from. All she needed to do was wait until the right time and…

…except, the lid lifted on its own, only for a confused-looking Gladius to be staring down at her. Not Law. Gladius. Not Law. Someone else. Not Cora-san. He was dead.

It was not Law.

She was not free.

[chiefladylightyay]

Cinder: *introducing herself to Ruby* Hello, my name is Cinder and- Ruby: You're evil, aren't you? Cinder: ...

*Cut to Cinder's dorm*

Cinder: THEY ARE SO FUCKING ON TO US.

[snail-speed]

I’m so fucking tired of gringos, man

[unforth]

Gentle reminder that very little fandom labor is automated, because I think people forget that a lot.

That blog with a tagging system you love? A person curates those tags by hand.

That rec blog with a great organization scheme and pretty graphics? Someone designed and implemented that organization scheme and made those graphics.

That network that posts a cool variety of stuff? People track down all that variety and queue it by hand, and other people made all the individual pieces.

That post with umpteen links to helpful resources, and information about them? Someone gathered those links, researched the sources, wrote up the information about them.

That graphic about fandom statistics? Someone compiled those statistics, analyzed them, organized them, figured out a useful way to convey the information to others, and made the post.

That event that you think looks neat? Someone wrote the rules, created the blogs and Discords, designed the graphics, did their best to promo the event so it'd succeed.

None of this was done automatically. None of it just appears whole out of the internet ether.

I think everyone realizes that fic writing and fanart creation are work, and at least some folks have got it through their heads that gif creation and graphics and moodboards take effort, and meta is usually respected for the effort that goes into it, at least as far as I've seen, but I feel like a lot of people don't really get how much labor goes into curation, too.

If people are creating resources, curating content, organizing the creations of others, gathering information, and doing other fandom activities that aren't necessarily the direct action of creation, they're doing a lot of fandom labor, and it's often largely unrecognized.

Celebrate fan work!

To folks doing this kind of labor: I see you, and I thank you. You are the backbones of our fandoms and I love you.

[circusgoth-dotcom]

also why is matthew lillard's tongue so long. put that thing back where it came from, sir, respectfully (light-hearted)

[sheliesshattered]

Next Cosplay Projects

Like I talked about in my last post, coming home from Dragon Con inspired quite a lot of talk between Jack and me about where I want to spend my costuming time and effort in the coming year. At this point we are tentatively planning to go to Dragon Con 2024, and contemplating also going to WonderCon 2024 since it's so much closer to home. We'll make decisions about each of them as they get closer (and we have done the one thing for Dragon Con planning that must be done this early: secured a hotel room) but in the meantime I really can't make my brain stop thinking about cosplay projects, lol.

Even while we were still at Dragon Con, it became clear to both me and Jack that we want to invest more of our con time into the House of the Dragon/Game of Thrones/ASOIAF fandom. The HotD meetup was the highlight of our weekend, and the panels we enjoyed most were focused on that fandom as well. I realized this just an hour or two too late to switch back to my Rhaenyra gown and make it to the Game of Thrones meetup on Saturday, but next year we may try to make it a priority to go to both the HotD and GoT meetups.

We also really enjoyed the Doctor Who Ball and costuming for that, but I think I'll stick with my MOTOE Clara outfit, since it represents my favorite character traveling with my favorite Doctor, in an iconic evening ensemble that's perfect for Dragon Con. Besides repairing any of the beading that needs it and possibly finding a nice-looking plastic champagne flute, that cosplay really doesn't need anything. I will probably make another beaded bracelet or two to give away as swag, but that's easily done next summer.

I absolutely love the blanket I knit for it, but it works much better for GallifreyOne, since we drive to that con and have a room in the host hotel -- I could bring it for Dragon Con, but it's 5lbs of fluffiness taking up room in the checked luggage that would probably be better used for other things. And as much as I love the blanket, I don't think it makes the cosplay any more recognizable than just the dress, lol. (But I might like to get nice beach photos of the dress and blanket at some point, hmm. Something to think about in the future.)

I completely forgot to mention them in the last post, but Jack and I did have fun in our screen-accurate Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Arthur Dent and Trillian for the Bunny Hutch party on Thursday night. The line for the party was ridiculous, the disability seating all taken up 2+ hours before the start time, and then later on we heard that the party itself wasn't even very fun. We had a blast just walking around the hotel lobbies in costume instead, so that's the plan for Thursdays at Dragon Con going forward. Arthur in particular is a luggage space hog with that huge bathrobe, so we probably won't bring those back for Dragon Con 2023.

That does leave an opening for Thursday night, at least for me or possibly a couples costume. Something vaguely themed towards Bunny Hutch seems fun even if we aren't going, since a good 50% of the people in the hotel lobbies are dressed similarly. It could be a good opportunity for something sexy but not difficult to wear or pack, maybe even something Harley Quinn themed -- I don't want to spend any of my Friday/Saturday/Sunday con time on Harley in the future, but Thursday night is just whatever. I'm toying with the idea of making a corset with the rest of the sequin fabric, to match the shorts, but it's waaay down my to-do list.

The thing that's bubbled to the top of my to-do list is actually something for Jack. He mentioned out of the blue that what he would really like to wear at Dragon Con is some cool cape or cloak or poncho thing, something he could put the hood up on and just run around in looking cool.

To which I said, 'what, like Daemon's crime hoodies?'

And Jack's face lit up in the sort of way that will absolutely make me start planning my next sewing project, lol.

For those not immersed in the HotD fandom, Daemon Targaryen wears two different hooded riding cloaks at three different times in season 1, each to accompany something he'd rather not be seen doing. They have thus been dubbed his 'crime hoodies':

There are some subtle differences between the two, but after looking at them in detail, Jack has a decided preference for the second one (on the right above), with its split sleeves and multiple hem vents. I definitely want to do a mock up first, but I actually made a jacket years ago with a similar hood-to-deep-V-neckline. Everything would need to be re-drafted for Jack, obviously, but the most difficult part of the geometry should be very similar.

With the hood up, and how white-blonde Jack's hair has gotten at his temples, we think he might even be able to get away without wearing a Targaryen wig, which would make this an even more comfortable cosplay for the August Atlanta heat. We'll want to minimize the under layers as much as possible, but working with lightweight fabrics should help I think, as will cheating the layering.

And despite the fact that Jack really wants to do the second hoodie (the 'murder hoodie' as opposed to the 'sneaking around Kings Landing hoodie'), I really want to do Rhaenyra's sneaking around outfit to match. I want to wander around Dragon Con together looking exactly like this:

All of this discussion initially happened while Jack and I were still lying about feverish with Con Crud Covid, but the idea took root and has only grown more certain as the days have gone by. And even though there's something like 50 weeks still to go until next Dragon Con, I wanted to get started on it right away.

So, feverish and marathoning endless shows and movies, I did the only reasonable thing: I ordered yarn to start making Rhaenyra's Sneak Out Hat!

I love having a knitting project in the fall, especially something for cosplay that I will absolutely not have the patience for come spring, lol. Also I figure if I knit it now I can actually just wear it in my every day life once the weather starts to get colder.

I found a sport weight cotton-bamboo yarn on Amazon in an appropriate charcoal gray color -- I have enough of a wool allergy that knitting with it is uncomfortable, and I'm trying to use less acrylic/polyester in my wardrobe and costuming in general. And I figured a lightweight cotton-bamboo blend would be most comfortable for August in Atlanta, especially since I'll also be wearing a wig under it. I went for a really fine sport weight to replicate the nubby texture of Rhaenyra's hat:

There's a possibility that the screen-used hat is actually a woven material, but I think a classic seed stitch replicates it pretty well, especially at this gauge. I'm knitting it up on size 4/3.5mm circular needles and so far really liking the result:

One tiny detail I really wanted to replicate is the folded under brim on Rhaenyra's hat. To do that I started with about 8 rows of 1x1 ribbing before switching to the seed stitch. Once I had slightly more rows of seed stitch than ribbing, I did one supremely obnoxious row where I slipped one of the cast-on stitches onto my working needle and purled both that and the next stitch from the seed stitch together.

The result is a nicely turned under edge that looks just like the screen-used hat, with one row where the pattern is slightly different and the whole hat pinches in a bit, just like Rhaenyra's. The ribbing on the underside also gives it slightly more grip against my hair, and in the future will provide a surface to stick hair pins through without them showing on the outside, should I need them.

From here it's all just seed stitching around and around and around until I decide that it has the appropriately over-sized slouchy look. I don't think there are even decreases in the top of Rhaenyra's hat, it looks much more like folds to me, like it's brought in very quickly. But I'll play around with that when I get there, when the hat is five or six times as tall as it is now, lol.

I haven't really done any measurements for this, I've just been winging it by sight. I don't even know how many stitches there are total, just that it's an odd amount so the seed stitch rotates around correctly. It's pretty mindless {knit 1, purl 1} over and over again, so I can easily do it while I watch a movie with Jack -- or while listening in on a work meeting, now that we're back to being well enough to work. I got so used to having handsewing to do in those meetings, in between taking notes, that I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have some crafting project to whittle away at.

That said, especially with these teeny tiny needles, there's only so much knitting I can do at a time before my hands start to hurt. Thankfully I've got plenty of time to get this finished, so I'm not trying to make huge amounts of progress every day. But it grows a little with each meeting or movie we watch, and it's fun to see.

Besides making progress on this, I still need to put away all my costumes from Dragon Con this year. Everything else has been unpacked and put away, but this year I traveled with each of my costumes+accessories sorted into a 2.5 gallon ziplock bag each (which worked wonderfully and made packing up to leave go very quickly) and since I unpacked the luggage all those costume bags have just been sitting there waiting to be put away. The MOTOE dress has made it back into its special box, but the rest needs to be inspected and then packed away in boxes that live on the top shelf of my closet, and I just haven't felt up to pulling those down yet.

I need to get everything stored away, and then pack up as much of the left over supplies strewn about my sewing area as I possibly can. My mom is coming to stay with us for a couple of days at the end of October, so the next five and a half weeks the emphasis is really going to be on cleaning up and making room for her to join us.

She flies home on November 1st, and after that I'll start seriously looking into fabric and pattern drafting for what I think I'll call the Sneaking Out cosplay. When I'm packing away sewing supplies in the next few weeks, I'll take a look through my stash for anything I think might be useful for this project (maybe finally a use for all that unbleached linen!), but other than that I'm going to force myself to focus on cleaning and organizing, with a little bit of knitting as a treat.

As of today it's 345 days until Dragon Con, and 192 days until WonderCon. Genuinely oodles and oodles of time, but I really liked having so many months to work on Rhaenyra's Red Dress this year, and really enjoyed not feeling rushed at the end of August and being able to get to all the tiny nice-to-have bits of my to-do list. Especially with the potential of having HotD s2 air in the last few months before Dragon Con 2024 (and thus inspire a new project next summer), getting the Sneaking Out cosplay done months in advance would probably be for the best.

[asl-bros-incorrect-quotes]

*at a dance*

Person: Wow, Sabo, I didn't expect you to come.

Sabo: Yeah, I didn't expect me either.

Another Person: Why'd you come, Sabo?

Sabo: I don't know.

[sixteenseveredhands]

The Buff-Tip Moth: the resting posture, shape, and color/pattern of the buff-tip moth allows it to mimic a broken birch twig; the moth's buff-colored head and the patches on its hindwings even resemble freshly-snapped wood

It also definitely tends to look like there's a weird little smiley face in the setae surrounding the moth's head, which is arguably even more striking but for some reason none of the sources I dug up on this species seem to mention that weirdness.

This type of camouflage is generally referred to as a "protective resemblance" -- a form of mimesis in which an animal can avoid being preyed upon by mimicking an inedible/unremarkable aspect of its environment. Many different moths are able to disguise themselves in similar ways, and it is especially common within the family known as Lasiocampidae. Some of the other species that engage in protective resemblance include Gastropacha quercifolia, Gastropacha pardale, Gastropacha populifoli, Euthrix potatori, Euthrix laeta, and Calyptra minuticornis (along with the other members of genus Calyptra). Most of these moths disguise themselves as leaves/foliage.

The buff-tip moth is particularly adept at disguising itself, however, and the fact that it so strongly resembles such a specific object (i.e. not just a dead leaf or a vague piece of foliage -- but a broken twig from a silver birch tree, in particular) makes this disguise seem even more impressive/unique.

This species (Phalera bucephala) can be found throughout the British Isles, mainland Europe, and Asia, with its range extending into Eastern Siberia.

Sources & More Info:

Wildlife Insights: Buff-Tip Moth Identification Guide

ButterflyConservation.org: Buff-Tip Moth

The Wildlife Trusts: Buff-Tip Moth

Wildlife Insight: the Buff-Tip Moth

Moth Identification: P. busephala

Encyclopedia of Life: Global Map of Known Occurrences for P. busephala

Insecta: Phalera bucephala

Lepidoptera and their Ecology: P. busephaloides and P. busephala

Journal of Ecology & Evolution: Strong Foraging Preferences for Ribes alpinum in the Polyphagous Caterpillars of Buff-Tip Moth Phalera bucephala

Dickinson County Conservation Board: Protective Resemblance & other Forms of Mimesis/Mimicry