#what i affectionately refer to as the introvert crew

[bennydwight]

TGAMM Season 2 Countdown: Four days left

A new art medium for the four days milestone. Have a post-season finale fic!

Summary: Following the destruction of the Chairman, Scratch is plagued by insomnia. Turns out, he’s not the only one. Apparently, he and Libby are more alike than first expected

Word count: 2300 (give or take)

If you prefer AO3 formatting, click here to read!

Obviously, being dead, there were some things Scratch simply didn’t need to do. Eat. Flatulate. Sleep. He did them simply because he really liked to do them, in fact they were often cited as his favourite things to do. So now, as he lay in his dollhouse with his hands clasped over his chest like a corpse, the annoyance broiling in his center didn’t come from the need to sleep, but rather the inability.

In control of himself in a way humans generally weren’t (thanks to a blessed lack of glands, those little fiends messed with everything), insomnia wasn’t a common struggle, able to will himself to sleep anytime, anywhere. Usually. Lately, it had been getting harder. After the McGees had been forced to leave, sleep became nearly impossible, the creaks and groans of his old house echoing emptily without living bodies to bounce off, turning his warm home into nothing more than a hollow structure. He took to roaming the dark halls during the night like a… well, like a ghost. He’d finally been able to relax a little after they moved back in, but the events with the Council, and the Chairman, and Molly in the Ghost World today? The edges of his form tightened with riled energy at the thought even now. Stupid pseudo-biology.

In the light of day, when the family was loud and annoying and active and alive and there, then he could rest. But in the stillness of night, the air too dead to be truly comfortable, Scratch dimmed his glow and abandoned the dollhouse to poke his head into the bedroom proper. Molly lay practically smothered under an obscene amount of fluffy blankets, all her stuffed animals in haphazard piles around the lump of her body. Their blank eyes stared eerily forward, her silent and expressionless protectors. She nearly squeezed the head off her unicorn in her sleep, clinging to the corporeal. Scratch knew creepy, his job depended—had depended on it, but if the toys brought Molly even a little comfort then he could stand the weird little button eyes.

The exhaustion of being separated from her body had put Molly to sleep almost immediately, and though it was a deep sleep Scratch couldn’t speak to the restfulness of her dreams. Especially with the way she was strangling that unicorn. He’d check back on her again later.

He drifted downwards, to the landing and then through to Darryl’s bedroom, where the youngest McGee splayed across his bed, limbs tangled in plant-printed sheets and whistling through his nose with every breath. Here. Alive.

(The sound had driven him nearly mad when they first moved in, every sign of occupants grating against his existence like sandpaper, but now he wouldn’t trade the noise for all the tacos in Brighton.)

Scratch took a second to check the bandages around Darryl’s fingers, bitten to bloody as they all waited for Molly’s successful return. And his own. He made a quick detour to the bathroom and dropped a tube of antibiotic cream on Darryl’s nightstand. If that didn’t remind him to change the bandages in the morning, Scratch would do it himself.

Across the hall saw him into mom and dad’s room, the two of them cuddled close in peaceful slumber, sleeping like the dead.

(Eew, no, he didn’t want to think about that.)

A little green bottle of melatonin sat innocently on Pete’s bedside table, and Scratch’s glow dimmed impossibly further. Maybe their sleep was sound now, but it didn’t look like it started that way. Had that been his fault?

And since when had he started caring so much?

Assisted or not, the McGees had settled, so Scratch headed out into the night, continuing his rounds. A way to burn an unfamiliar restless energy at the beginning, they’d since evolved into a fallback routine. Molly had her stuffed animals. Darryl, the older members of his family. Mom and dad, melatonin. Scratch had his rounds, a reminder (a comfort. Here. Alive). Brighton slept, blissfully unaware of the harrowing events of the day, but despite the subsurface titanic shift of the status quo, the town remained stubbornly stagnant. Ah, life. To be so ignorant again.

Scratch reached the bookshop and headed in through the left window, where Leah lay still except for the even rise and fall of her chest. He hadn’t been present for the dropoff (being detained and all), but he’d witnessed her load armful after armful of occult books back into the trunk of her old beater, pleasantly bemused at the sense of relief and celebration radiating from his family as she came to drive Libby back home. Without her help, Libby and Molly might never have been able to free him. Indirectly, Leah Stein-Torres may have saved his life. (Or death. Whatever.)

Crossing into the adjacent bedroom, though, Scratch froze on reflex. Libby sat on her window seat, notebook on her lap and pencil moving in quick strokes across the paper even as her stare remained glued out the window.

Seems he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.

“Burnin’ the midnight oil?”

A thrill of satisfaction passed through him at Libby’s startled noise, and she whipped around so fast her hair smacked her in the face. Not exactly a scare, but maybe it would still count in his scare report—

Which, with the Chairman gone, probably wouldn’t exist anymore. (Weird to think about, but hey, he could use the vacation.)

Libby’s surprise faded, posture relaxing as she recognized her visitor. “Oh. Hey, Scratch.”

He scoffed at her tone, making himself comfortable on the opposite side of the window seat. Her throw pillows didn’t have the same comfy impression as Sharon’s, but they melded nicely to his butt regardless. “Pfft, a guy might start to feel unwanted.”

“You are in my bedroom past midnight,” Libby pointed out, annoyingly correct. Then, the previous tension hiked up her shoulders. “Did something happen? Is everything okay?”

Scratch raised his hands placatingly. “Easy, Libs, everything’s fine. With me, anyway,” he accentuated the word with a weighted stare.

Libby leaned back, resigned. “Just… couldn’t sleep.”

“I hear it’s goin’ around.”

“Still thinking about… what happened today?”

She missed his surprised glance, weirdly focused on the window, but her direct question threw him for a loop. How could he not be? The Ghost World had changed fundamentally. His best friend had given up half her life to save him and they’d both almost been lost to despair, and despite the fact that this should all be neatly filed away and repressed in his mind somewhere to never be thought of again, here he was losing sleep over it. “Uhhh… no?”

“Oh.” Wrong answer. Libby pulled her knees closer to her chest. “Me neither.”

Equally unconvincing. Should he… press? Molly would, but wasn’t that invasive? Did he really care enough to know? Was the fact that he asked himself that proof one way or the other?

As he scrambled desperately for something to say, panic rising, Libby’s pencil started up again, scratch scratch scratch, in those short, repetitive strokes. Scratch peered over to see a messy sketch of Molly, gray and lifeless, in the notebook’s margins.

The trip to the Ghost World had been a whirlwind of dread and uncertainty and so, so much fear that Scratch hadn’t even considered what it was like on the other side. Going through it firsthand had been stressful enough. What must it have felt like to just be… waiting?

Somehow, miraculously, the connection between his mind and his tongue solidified. “Hey. Thanks.” Spirits, he was bad at this. “For, uh, taking care of Molly while we were gone.”

Instead of reacting to the praise, Libby closed off, tucking her chin into the collar of her pyjamas. “It was scary, you know. Not knowing what was going on. Stuck with that… shell.”

“…Yeah.” Molly’s essence—ironically, her life—had been deep in death’s trenches. Though it looked like Molly and sounded like Molly, it hadn’t been Molly. Scratch had spent a grand total of twenty seconds with the cadaver and even that had been unnerving.

How long had they been gone in the living world? He hadn’t thought to ask. Apparently a common theme for him.

“Will it happen again? Will Molly leave to hang out there, or… save you again or anything?”

Scratch only heard the unspoken question because he’d turned it over in the dark, secret, nasty parts of his mind so often: will Molly leave me for something better?

(He was not a fan of this particular mirror. The universe liked to play jokes, apparently.)

He sighed. “Okay, look. In the Ghost World, we have—had—this thing, the Flow of Failed Phantoms.” How had no one explained this to her yet? “A ghost doesn’t meet his misery quota and he’d be banished forever, blah blah blah. That’s what Molly saved me from.”

Libby’s head shot up, fingers tightening around her notebook to the point where the paper crumpled, and Scratch winced sympathetically. “You were going to be banished?!”

“Dipped too low in my quota. Hard to be miserable with Molly around.” No matter how hard he tried.

“So this might happen again? This rescue mission?”

Scratch felt her panic and fear in mouth-watering waves, but the ability to resist taking advantage of that had grown astonishingly strong. Besides, there was no point in scaring anyone anymore. “Nah, see, Molly took care of that. She kinda, uh, destroyed the Flow. Forever. And killed the guy in charge. So, no more risk of that.” Unless the Ghost Council formed an even worse alternative, a thought that haunted Scratch’s every (annoying, plentiful) waking moment. That was a Future Scratch problem.

The fear lessened some, and his membrane stopped itching. “So… neither of you are in danger anymore?”

Her voice was so plaintive Scratch was suddenly, abruptly aware that he was talking to a child. It was hard to remember sometimes, kids were so much more mature these days (save Darryl), but Libby’s eyes glistened alarmingly in the filtered streetlights, stubbornly refusing to meet his own stare.

This was so far out of his comfort zone.

A hesitant beat passed before he floated over, hooking his fingers around the top of her notebook. “Hey, Libs, it’s alright. Molly and I are here for good. No more wraiths, no more Flows. You’re stuck with us.” He tried an encouraging smile. “I promise.” Normally that kind of commitment only manifested when he performed a curse, but for some reason this felt like the opposite. On impulse, he rested one of his hands over hers, the way he and Molly had connected as the Flow threatened to break them down to nothing but molecules of misery.

Finally, Libby’s hands softened, the paper’s rough crinkling nearly masking a quiet sniffle. “I’d just hate to be stuck here while you two were in trouble.”

All this mushy stuff was making his ectoplasm curl. Scratch reached around, adjusting sketch-Molly’s slack mouth into a smile, and her appearance shifted from corpselike to sleepily contented. “Well, now you know how to wraith, and you know Geoff,” (a little joining of worlds he could’ve gone without, thank you very much), “so you can come pull our butts out of the fire if this ever happens again. Which it won’t.”

Molly’s hugs were telegraphed, wide-armed and strong enough to discorporate him if she really tried. So Libby’s arms around him, sudden and tentative like she was afraid of breaking him, were a shock to his nonexistent heart.

“Thank you, Scratch. For taking care of her in there.”

His body knew how to respond to the McGees, but this was new. After a moment’s hesitation, Scratch wrapped her in his own hug, secure and strong (like Molly’s). Like a conversation, Libby’s grip tightened to match. “Thanks for keepin’ her safe out here. No more trips to the Ghost World if I can help it.”

Her warm chuckle vibrated against him. (Here. Alive.) “Aww, you’re kind of a softie, aren’t you?”

“Alright, alright, get off, your hair’s getting stuck in my ectoplasm.” Another difference from Molly’s hugs: more hair. As Libby pulled away, she couldn’t quite disguise a sleepy blink. “Now get to bed or your mom’s gonna kill me again.”

She giggled, the sound infinitely lighter and Scratch’s colour brightened in response. As she put away her notebook and climbed into bed he hovered uncertainly over the window seat, half ready to leave and half insistent that he stay until dismissed. Another old habit.

“Scratch?” He nearly didn’t hear his name, Libby’s voice muffled by sleep and blankets (not as many as Molly, but close). He drifted nearer, and suddenly realized he’d been subconsciously straightening the wrinkles in her comforter. He tucked his hands behind his back, willing down a blush (some habits didn’t die at all, even without glands). “Yeah?”

Libby’s smile betrayed the fact that she’d seen his fussing, something smug and secretive in the corners of her mouth. Too observant for her own good, this one. Scratch braced himself for ridicule, but she only said, “will you stay until I fall asleep?”

His glow softened, casting warm shadows into the corners of her room like a nightlight, and he didn’t bother trying to mask the way he adjusted the blankets now. “Yeah, kid. Don’t worry. I ain’t going anywhere.”

Spirits, he was a failure as a ghost. Maybe he was getting better at this ‘friendship’ thing, though, and he knew which one he preferred.

 END

[thesecondcircleofkel]

SFW Alphabet, Law: A-Z

Reposting all of these together for convenience and to save space. Alphabet requests are still open, but remember, I don't accept requests to do the entire alphabet for someone all at once. You have to stick to the guidelines of 1 character per ask, and 5 letters per ask, and once I finish the alphabet for a character with requests like that, I will repost it all together.

A: Affection (How affectionate are they with a s/o?)

In public, he’s not affectionate at all, but in the privacy of his submarine, he’s very affectionate. He’s the type that will sneak up behind you and wrap his arms around you to give you a quick hug before he has to move on to something else. If he doesn’t have anything else to do, he will keep holding you like that, either watching what you’re doing if you’re busy or talking to you about your day. It’s oddly sweet for someone who claims to be such a coldblooded pirate, but that’s probably why he refrains from doing it in public.

B: Breath (What can their s/o do to take their breath away)

Look out for his crew. They are obviously very important to him, so seeing you look after them like he does will send his heart fluttering.

C: Cuddles (Do they cuddle? If they do, how and when do they cuddle?)

He typically loves to cuddle with you, so long as it’s in private, but he does need his space on occasion. Don’t take it as an insult; he’s just really introverted and sometimes he needs complete solitude to recharge. Beyond that, he’s particularly fond of cuddling with you right before he falls asleep, either with the two of you spooning with him laying behind you and holding you that way, or with him using you as a pillow while you lie on your back.

D: Dream (What do they dream of doing with their s/o?)

After accomplishing all of his pirate-related goals, he honestly wouldn’t mind settling down with you somewhere. Just a quiet little island in the middle of nowhere, where the inhabitants either don’t know who is or they don’t care, and he can just live peacefully as a doctor. It certainly seems like a distant dream at this point, but he does like to think of it every so often as motivation.

E: Effort (How much effort do they put into a relationship?)

You may not always be able to see the effort that he puts into your relationship, but it is there. He’s just more subtle with his affections than most people are, but he still loves you, and he’d do anything to make you happy. He’s also very concerned with your safety, no matter how strong you may be, so a lot of his effort goes into making sure that you’re protected from people that may target you because they have a grudge against him.

F: Fear (What do they do if their s/o is scared? How do they handle it?)

He definitely handles the situation better if there’s an immediate threat scaring you. That’s something that he can handle, either by cutting it down or by using his Devil Fruit to send it away. If it’s not something physical, well…he’s not quite sure what to say to comfort you. He’ll hold you for as long as you need, but he feels bad that he can’t give you some sort of verbal reassurance to go along with that.

G: Gifts (What type of gifts do they give their s/o? Do they want a gift in return?)

Gifts aren’t really a priority for him, but if he sees something that he knows you would like, he’ll get it for you. While gifts may not be that big of a deal for him, he understands that they are for some people, so he doesn’t mind getting them for you. And if you just so happen to find a rare coin to give him for his collection, well…you’ll have an oddly chipper and appreciative Law on your hands.

H: Hugs (Do they hug their s/o? How often?)

Law is all for physical affection, but he prefers long and drawn out cuddles over hugs. He will hug you if you want him to, though, but it’ll have to be done somewhere private where nobody else will see it happen. He does have a reputation as a ruthless pirate to uphold, and letting others see him be affectionate isn’t very conducive to that.

I: Intimacy (How romantic are they? Do they have problems with intimacy?)

The most romantic things about Law are his kisses. Each one of them is filled with passion no matter what the occasion they’re given in is, and sometimes he just likes to lean his forehead against yours afterwards and stare into your eyes. He can be intimate in his sleep, too, because even if he’s knocked out cold, he’ll still reach out for you to make sure that you’re close by (so cuddle with him. Spoon him, damn it. Let him know you’re there).

J: Jealous (Do they get jealous? How do they act when jealous?)

He is not above getting jealous every once in a while. He’s a little insecure since he’s lost so many important people already, and he dreads the thought of someone swooping in to steal you from him. If anyone tries to make a move on you, he is not against using his Devil Fruit to chop them into bits and scatter the pieces. Don’t purposefully try to make him jealous, either, because he will lose some of his trust in you and it will be extremely hard to get it back.

K: Kiss (Are they a good kisser? Do they like to kiss? How often do they try to kiss you?)

Him and Mihawk are tied for being the best kisser on the Grand Line. It may have taken a while for Law to actually get into a relationship, so he didn’t have much experience kissing beforehand, but he picked up on it quick. He can just peck you on the lips, and it will still be enough to take your breath away; he likes to linger with his pecks, ever so slowly pulling his lips off of your, before he gives you a gorgeous smirk and walks off, leaving you staring off into space and trying to remember your own name. His long, drawn out kisses are even better, but we can’t get into that too much before it delves off into steamy territory unfit for a SFW alphabet. Law’s got skills when it comes to kissing, those skills end up being very passionate.

L: Love (When do they say they love you? How often do they say it? Do they prefer to say it or show it?)

He doesn’t think that love is a strong enough word to describe what he has with you, so he won’t say it often, if at all. If it’s something that you absolutely need to hear, then he’ll say it, but he almost feels like he’s limiting the bounds of your relationship by using that word. Due to all of that, he prefers to express his feelings through actions, by taking care of you when you’re sick or injured, by holding you ever so tightly at night, with gentle caresses and touches when no one is looking, and so on.

M: Marriage (Do they want to get married? If so, what kind of ceremony?)

It’s not a necessity for him, but it’s also something that he wouldn’t mind in the future. He likes the idea of being able to call you his spouse, but overall, he’s happy just to be with you, whether that’s within the bond of marriage or not. If marriage does happen, then he’d definitely want a more private ceremony, mainly with his crew present plus a few other people. Beyond that, he’s perfectly fine with you taking care of the rest of the details.

N: Night Out (What type of dates do they like to go on? How often do they like to go on them?)

Dates with Law are usually pretty subtle. So long as the two of you can spend time together with no one else around you, like when you’re doing some work or reading together, he’d consider it a date. He’s also a fan of quiet walks at night, either on the beach or through a lightly wooded area. There’s a low chance of you two getting caught, plus the moonlight really does wonders to set the mood and ambiance.

O: Out of the Ordinary (What’s something they don’t normally do for/with their s/o?)

He’ll pretty much do anything for you, but if you want him to do something really cheesy, then save it for the sub, because he won’t do it in public. He’ll feel bad for turning you down, but he’s worked hard for his reputation and he won’t do anything to jeopardize it, and he expects you to respect that.

P: Playful (Are they playful in a relationship? If so, how do they play around/mess with their s/o?)

Law, playful? Those are two things that you normally wouldn’t associate with each other, but believe it or not, the good doctor does have his moments. They are rare and far between, but they do happen, even if you’re likely to miss them because of his…unique delivery. His sense of humor is just so dry and deadpan, so you really have to be paying attention to notice these more playful moments. He does the most random things to mess with you, too, so you’ve also got that working against you. He mainly makes a lot of inside jokes referring to past conversations that you’ve had with him, and he throws in the occasional terrible pun, as well, but again, his delivery of these leaves a lot to be desired.

Q: Questions (Do they ask their s/o their opinion on things? Do they share theirs?)

He does like to get your opinion regarding most things, especially if it’s something that you’re more familiar with than he is, but he’d prefer it if he didn’t have to ask for your opinion and that you gave it to him of your own accord. He’s not against asking you, but he’d rather you be comfortable enough with him to give him your opinion on something openly and freely. He also has no qualms with sharing his opinions with you.

R: Random (How spontaneous is their relationship? Do they do things on the spot or plan ahead?)

He’d prefer it if everything was planned out, but he doesn’t always have that luxury since he’s a pirate. If an opportunity arises for him to take you somewhere where the two of you can have some alone time, then he’ll take it, regardless if it was planned or not.

S: Sleep (How do they sleep with their s/o?)

As evidenced in the ‘Cuddles’ section, he likes to have a lot of contact with you as he sleeps (unless he’s having one of those days where he needs to recharge). He’ll either hold you as closely to himself as he can, or he’ll use you as a pillow. In the latter scenario, he prefers to lay his head on your chest so he can hear your heartbeat and fall asleep to its steady rhythm.

T: Trust (How much do they trust their s/o?)

Law has been through a lot, so it will take some time and a lot of patience and perseverance on your part for him to build a significant amount of trust in you. Once he does trust you, though, he’ll be open with you about pretty much anything, particularly regarding his past. You have to be mindful, though, because it will very easy for him to lose that trust in you; all it takes is one significant mistake, and then the process will start all over and it will be a long time before he has that much trust in you again.

U: Unique (What makes them unique as a s/o?)

For someone who can be so nonchalant at times, he’s awfully good at making you feel special. He’s pretty subtle about it, but when he remembers every little thing that you mention to him and every special date regarding your relationship with him, and with how well he looks after your health and well-being, it’s hard not to feel special when you’re with him. There’s also the fact that he’s not exactly a people-person and that he doesn’t let very many people get close to him, so keeping that in mind and then realizing how much you’ve bonded with him and how important you are to him will also make you feel pretty special.

V: Vulnerable (How long until they can be vulnerable around their s/o? What are they like in this state?)

The situation described in his SFW ‘Wild Card’ section is when he’ll be the most vulnerable with you, but beyond that, he’s mainly vulnerable at night when the two of you are laying in bed together. There’s just something about the ambiance of a dark room and being so close to you that makes him prone to opening up to you. This, of course, will only happen after the two of you have been together for a while and he’s gotten to the point where he trusts you with his life.

W: Wild Card (Random Headcanon)

He’s willing to share his Bepo pillow with you You’re one of the few people that know all of the details about his past. Once he realizes how deep his feelings for you are, he’ll sit you down somewhere private and you two will have a very long conversation about what happened to him. Regardless of your background, he’d love it if you shared your past with him at that time, as well, just to sort of solidify the bond and trust between the two of you.

X: X-Ray (What would they do if their s/o got injured?)

Since he’s a doctor, he’ll take care of your immediate care and recovery by himself. He will be a bit overbearing, though. He will nitpick everything that you do while you recover, questioning if you’re well enough to be doing whatever it is that you’re attempting. It’s all with good intentions, though-he’s just worried about you. He doesn’t want to lose you, especially not to an injury that he should be able to take care of.

Y: Yuck (Do they have any pet peeves about their s/o? Are there any habits that might bother their s/o?)

He would be able to deal with it if you were just a little messy, but if you’re unhygienic in any way, then he’ll be having words with you. He won’t be harsh about it, but he needs cleanliness in his life. On the flip side, he himself can be a bit too organized. Organization within reason is fine, but Law can be a bit overbearing with it, to the point where he gets irritated if something gets moved and isn’t put back in place exactly like it was before.

Z: Zeal (Are they passionate as a s/o? Do they want or like passion?)

It may be subtle, and he may express his love a little differently than other people, but he’s still quite passionate about you. He never imagined that he could be so close to another human being, and love was definitely not one of his priorities when he met you, but you quickly changed his mind on that and made him a much happier person in the process. He’s grateful for that, and he’ll be as passionate as he needs to be to show you his appreciation for that.

[theonceoverthinker]

My Weekend At Once Con (Part 1)

...All I can say is wow. ...Just WOW. I'm sitting at my desk at work, just trying to figure out how the hell I'm supposed to go back to normal after this weekend. I'm equally parts at peace, freaking out, and so tired that I'm ready to crash and burn. And I'll tell you all why. ()()()()()()()()()()()()() About Me ()()()()()()()()()()()()() Before I start, I feel like to really understand my feelings about this con, you need to know a little bit about me first. That said, I'll make it fast because I know that's not what you're here for. 1. I'm the weirdest mix of introvert and extrovert that you can imagine. I want to talk to everyone, but at the same time, I'm so freaked out by it, but at the same time, I'll actually do it and jump in. 2. I'm what I call an omnishipper. If it's not incestual, I ship it at least a little. That said, I don't love all ships equally. I play favorites, and can even rank them per character. For example, I like Swan Queen, but I like Captain Swan and Dragon Queen a lot more. I like Violet Believer, but I like Henriella more. You get the drift. 3. I'm pretty positive about the show, and unless it's coming from a place of love, I hate saltiness, towards the writers, towards the characters, etc. I have likes, dislikes, and concerns of course, but there’s a line that I just don’t care to cross where it stops being fun, 4. I say I'm sorry way too much. 5. I recorded hours and hours of audio and video footage. It is all pretty flawed, but I promise, it's real. 6. Now, I'm going to reference questions, but I'm going to specifically focus on mine, since this is my con experience I'm reporting about. Look, I'm biased. It's human nature, and I'm literally writing this less than 24 hours after getting back.That said, if another question or comment really spoke to me, I'll do my best to include it here. Also, I'm doing my best to quote my questions from what I actually said, using the questions as I originally wrote them as well as my own memories, but I'm not trudging through my footage to get them. 7. Apart from Once, I've never really seen the special guests in other works. I saw Jen's play, The End of Longing back in May, but that was about it. This convention has convinced me to go forward and watch more of their works!

Okay, no more waiting! Here we go!!!

()()()()()()()()()()()()() Thursday ()()()()()()()()()()()()() I drove to the con on Thursday. I took a half day at work to finish packing and wait for my carpool buddy. We'd met on a Facebook page called "Once Upon a Time NJ Con," a Wall Street of sorts for the convention run by two lovely ladies. If you're looking to go next year, I can't stress enough just how good this page was. We arrived that evening for preregistration, and after my own adventures in the hotel down the road, I was all ready to get going. My roommate for the evening and I were on line, and already, there was so much excitement to be had. I met a beautiful young woman with crimson hair and a beautiful Swan Queen necklace who had Steven Universe buttons (A rare crossover of fandoms), and after we talked, I affectionately called her "Buttons" for the entire weekend. I entered the vendors room and took it all in. I immediately scoped out everything that I wanted, promising myself that I wouldn't spend too much money. ...You'll see how that ended up later. Thinking quickly, I immediately bought a Captain Swan shirt. There was a mug that looked like Henry's book that I promised myself I would buy on Sundays, but that was it. Don't get me wrong: I WANTED other stuff. The artwork table looked so nice, but I was sure I'd be selling my life savings for it (Something I was proven wrong about on the car ride home). Also, there was a big model of Emma's bug also available for purchase, but for like $50. It's funny because I was actually about to give my model of the bug (which was about 1/10 of the size of the one available here) to a Tumblr friend who I had grown really close to over the course of six months. Really, there wasn't much to say after that. Once my roommate and I had our fill of the Vendor's Room, we headed back to our room, chilled out, and then went to sleep, eager for the con to truly begin. ()()()()()()()()()()()()() Friday ()()()()()()()()()()()()() I've always been an early bird. That wasn't going to be an exception here. My first event wasn't until noon, but I was up at seven, and out the door by eight-thirty. My roommate, or at this point, ex-roommate, and I parted ways, but promised to meet up during the con. Thankfully, this is one of those stories where that actually happens. She and I at times were each others greatest forces of support and friendship in what was already a really friendly convention. We get there, and bond with a couple of people. Eventually, I ran into my carpool buddy and her friend. We killed time talking, reading books, and examining cosplays. Michael Coleman (Happy) and Chris Gauthier (Smee) passed by the lobby a few times, and I actually said hi to them, one time each. I was totally freaked out, but still, it was fantastic! Eventually, the theatre did open up, I parted ways from my friends, and went to my seat. I gotta say, knowing no one (for the moment, at least), it felt really lonely to be waiting for seatmates. Thankfully, a young teenager who had a GA ticket came by and provided a fun amount of conversation! Creation's house band Samurai Fish, accompanying Michael Coleman and eventually Gil McKinney (Eric) opened up the show. I never expected to like classic rock versions of my favorite Disney songs, but they were a lot of fun. XD Gil McKinney's panel, which I thought would originally set the stage for the rest of them, ended up, while doing it to some extent, being its own separate beast entirely, but in the best way possible. I compare it more to a stand up comedy routine than a proper panel. Gil walked around the room, commenting on guests, guessing kid's ages, losing a $20 bet that he would remember a guest's name, and even Face Timing with one of the guest's friends. I was blown away by how charming he is. There was a bit of a Q&A, but it only took up about the last five minutes of his panel. Fortunately for us con-goers, Gil would show up to a LOT more events and do a full-on Q&A the next day with Lee, Chris, and Michael. After Gil came Chris Gauthier. Let me tell you, I was hyped. I had been preparing questions for NJ con for six months now, but from the second I saw his name on the guest list, I knew what I wanted to ask. Chris' panel was more of a traditional panel with one big twist: Instead of going up to the mic, Michael, dressed as the Evil Queen (Heels included!), was going around with the mic to bring it to guests for their questions. This added a fun level of quirkiness to Chris' panel that I and the other guests really appreciated. Ready for my question? Well, at first, I wasn't. Believe it or not, I was terrified at first. But, I told myself that I wanted this and that I could do it. Michael eventually took a seat in the row in front of me, extended the mic to me, and I started to speak. "The last time Smee and Killian interacted in the present timeline, it was before Smee got his memory back and remembered that Killian sold the Jolly Roger and left his crew to go save Emma. What do you think that Smee and the rest of the crew think of their former captain now? Are they happy for his redemption or are they bitter at him for their abandonment?" Chris' response (To quote the man himself, "A little of both," and was followed by a more thorough explanation of why he thought so) was detailed, charismatic, and spoke of how much thought he puts into his character. By the end of it, I really wanted to see Smee on screen again! After Chris' panel ended, we next went into a Trivia Game. I actually participated in the last set of 30 contestants and made it to the top 15! Not half bad, especially because the question was from "Tallahassee" and Season 2 has always been my weakest season. I actually talked to two of the three winners after the contest, and both were scrambling to use their $200 winnings! XD The panels resumed at three sharp with Michael! Sadly, he was not wearing a costume, but what he lacked in that regard, he more than made up for with a bright and cheeky personality. I actually asked him, while something I never explicitly wrote out, about how he came up with the idea for the "Happy Little" series that he has been putting on for the past few conventions. He explained his reasoning in three parts, but I'll just tell you my favorite: He likes wearing dresses! The final panel of the day was the one and only Raphael Sbarge (Archie). What I like about Raphael is how he answers his questions. I'll demonstrate what I mean by discussing my own. So, my question was "In the Once Upon a Time fandom, shipping to many is as natural as breathing. However, Archie was never brought into a romantic relationship over the course of the series, or at least hasn’t been up to this point. Do you have and ideas of a character who you would have liked for him to chirp off into the sunset with?" Rapahel's response? "Who do you think he should end up with?" Now, it is definitely flustering to be asked a question in response to your own question, but give the man credit, that is brilliant when it come to responses. It does a couple of things. First, it's kind of like having a conversation with him. Raphael gets to react to what you think. Second, it buys him more time to respond, which, for a celebrity being put on the spot, is pretty clever. Now, that was the end of the panels, but not the end of the day, not by far. First came autographs. I'm going to hold all of my thoughts on autographs until the end of this series of posts, but for now, I'll say this: They were LONG. Second came...Dani. So, I've been chatting with a friend on Tumblr for close to half a year now. I always admired her posts, and we actually bonded over convention preparations. And she was coming to Jersey Con for Friday night and all of Saturday! I swear, I was just as excited to meet her as any of the celebrities appearing here. After the autographs, I messaged her to meet me in the lobby, and she responded immediately that she was on her way. And for the first time ever, we met. Readers, it felt like a scene in a movie. As soon as I saw her, I knew her, she knew me, we rushed to each other,...and we hugged. Fiction itself is seldom as beautiful.  We went up to her room, talked about a million and one things, shared stories and pictures, and then... Part three!!! You may have forgotten in all the excitement, but there was a brand new episode of Once Upon a Time!!!! It is incredible watching a show you love with someone who is as big of a fan as you. The episode in and of itself was pretty great! So, the episode ended, and with a million and one thoughts and theories, Dani and I headed down to the final portion of the day: Karaoke! Karaoke was hosted by Michael, Chris, Karen David (Jasmine), Beverly Elliot (Granny), and Gil McKinney. In it, our talented stars sang and danced alongside the lucky people chosen to sing pop, Disney, and rock songs! I had entered for Shut Up and Dance With Me, but sadly I was not selected. That said, the person chosen was quite talented. Some numbers that stuck out to me were "These Boots Were Made for Walking," "Sweet Caroline," "I Want It That Way" (Which my friend performed in), the aforementioned "Shut Up and Dance with Me," and "How Far I'll Go." The energy of the crowd was really something to see. Us Oncers definitely know how to rock a house! I bid Dani adieu and left during the final number because at that point, I was dead tired, and of course, I knew that I'd have to be at my best for everything that was to happen tomorrow... Nice cliffhanger, right? Stay tuned for Part 2!