Chapter 1: The Buzz of the Crowd
Junie strode up to the shiny convention center. She kept her head high, very aware of all the eyes that turned her way as she passed them. She tried to be discreet as she swept some of her long, snowy white hair off of her shoulder pads. This was her first time wearing a wig this long, and part of her was regretting it, but she was a fairy warrior for crying out loud. The long hair was a necessity in her opinion.
This had to be her best cosplay yet. As a fairy warrior, she felt both tough and beautiful. Her shoulder pads were covered in plastic spikes that she had meticulously painted so that they looked like they were made out of metal. Half her hair was braided and had tiny flowers tucked into the strands. The rest of the smooth strands were flowing loosely around her waist. She made a helmet and a lacey headpiece, unsure which would look better with the rest of the cosplay. In the end, she decided to wear the bulky helmet, loving the fact that she could hide her eyes by tilting her head slightly.
She stood a little straighter as she approached the badge pick-up area. The line wasn't too long yet, she'd probably get through in just a half hour or so. She stifled a yawn. She had been up all night finishing her cosplay. Something always tended to go wrong the day before a con. Either something needed to be repainted or a vital piece of the cosplay was forgotten about entirely. This time, Kiara, her orange tabby cat, had gotten ahold of one of her gloves and by the time Junie found her, it was in tatters. She had to sew a whole new one.
Before getting in line, Junie pulled out her glittery black phone. She held it out and smiled as a chatbox appeared in the corner of the screen, indicating that she was now live.
"Thanks for tuning into the stream, everyone," she said before waving. "I just arrived and am about to pick up my badge." Then she squealed with excitement. She froze then and eyed the obstacle in front of her, looking innocent in its table form.
She looked dead straight into the camera, grimacing dramatically for effect. "I forgot I gotta get this-" She held up the intricate staff behind her so that her virtual audience could appreciate it in all its glittery stature. "-checked into weapons check."
She felt ridiculous as she pointed her phone to the ground and walked up to the two middle-aged guys manning the weapons check table. She could see the amusement plain on their faces as she held out her gold-colored staff covered in vines. It was her least favorite part of any convention. It was usually a waste of time since the guys at the booth usually waved her off in a restrained condescending manner.
The guys didn't wave her off this time, although Junie almost felt like that would have been less embarrassing. A guy with curly dark brown hair and a thick beard took her staff and looked it over carefully before attaching a bright orange zip-tie onto the bottom of it. Junie let out a sigh, thanked the guy, and hurriedly took her leave.
As soon as she was out of earshot, she lifted her phone back to her face, shifting her helmet slightly so she could see, but her white bangs still concealed her eyes. "That wasn't as bad as I thought," she said with a smile. She tilted her camera down to show the orange strip. "It could have been worse. I'll just have to remember to hide the bottom of the staff behind my feet for pictures. No big deal! Now, let's go get my badge!"
Junie read a few of the comments that were flowing in, able to catch a few despite the crazy speed that which they were appearing. Most of them were wishing they could attend the convention. A few were annoyed by the zip tie, but most didn't seem to mind, complimenting her cute costume.
It took Junie a while to get past the awkwardness that came with starting to stream. When she first started, she honestly didn't know how long she'd be able to keep it up. She enjoyed the aspect of having the ability to interact with people in real time. What took a while to get used to was the self-consciousness she felt when recording in crowded, public places. Even after doing this for nearly a year, Junie was still aware of the strange looks she got from people. But, it was easier to ignore them now, especially when she had a costume on to hide her identity.
Junie stared at her badge. She hardly ever noticed when it was handed to her, already jumping ahead in her mind to the hours that were to come. She hoped that it was going to be a good day and that she got a lot of good content for her next video. She slipped the lanyard that was attached to the square plastic card over her neck, shifting it a bit so the lanyard wasn't so obvious. She would have to remember to remove it if someone tried to take her picture.
It was another half an hour before she got through the long line that led into the main hall. Junie was shocked that her anxiety hadn't skyrocketed yet. She was excited, that was for sure. At each convention, she spent hours and hours preparing her costume and alerting her thousands of followers on social media that she would be attending. There was always a lot of pressure during convention days.
As Junie stepped into the exhibition hall, it was pretty clear that this convention would be different.
It usually took a while for her to be recognized. This time, she was approached immediately by a group of teenage girls. They were squealing and begging for a picture with her in high-pitched voices. It took Junie a moment to realize that they were fans of hers, and not just admirers of her cosplay.
"We were just watching your stream," one girl with purple streaks in her long hair was saying, as they lined up against a wall to take the picture. "We didn't think we'd actually get to run into you!"
Junie smiled as she was surrounded by the group. "Thank you for tuning into the stream," she told them kindly. She tried not to blink sporadically when a bright flash went off as the picture was taken. How did these girls afford such a huge, expensive camera? It was the same model that Junie herself wanted for her videos, and it was well over what she could afford.
Her face hurt from smiling so much by the time the group of girls finally left her. It took a while to get through all of them. Each girl wanted a personal picture with her and they each wanted a private, heartfelt conversation with her as well. It was moments like those that made her appreciate her current career path. Her family might not have understood, but she had plenty of admirers that did. That was all she needed.
Junie let out a long sigh as she headed deeper into the exhibit hall, finally taking in the sights and the sounds. Well, she took in the dozens of heads that blocked her view. The convention center was large, probably one of the largest ones in the country, but it also seemed like the whole state of California was packed inside of it. Junie wrinkled her nose against the potent body odor smell that wafted through the air-conditioned space. She tilted her helmet back so that she could take in the colorful scene. Vendor tables stretched across the whole space, each table filled with toys and knick-knacks of all kinds. She pulled out her phone, lifting it up to shoulder height.
"Finally made it inside," she said in an upbeat voice. She cleared her throat, trying to rid it of the fake high soprano sound she tended to take up while in front of a camera. "As you can see, it is very crowded, but um yeah. For now, the plan is just to wander around, look at some cool merch, maybe take some photos with people." Her smile widened. "Don't be shy if you see me. Make sure to say hello."
She spent the next hour or so walking through the dense throngs of people, tucking her phone against her side every so often so that she wouldn't hit anyone in the face with the small device. She knew it could pack a punch, having dropped it on her face while lying in bed more times than she cared to admit. Now, she held it tightly, feeling as if it were a lifeline to her virtual family. She peeked at the chat often, feeling as if she was the only streamer that did. She got especially tickled when she saw usernames that she recognized. A few of her viewers had been with her during her dark days when she first started trying to become an influencer. Even Callie, her best friend, or cousin as Callie liked to remind her over and over again, didn't seem to understand the path that Junie had chosen for herself.
"Yes, CatGhorl98! I'm going to be here all day. I thought about going to some panels, but there weren't any that I was really interested in."
She was so focused on the chat that she didn't notice the giant boulder creature cosplayer coming straight toward her. By the time she realized it, she was on the floor, staring up at the high tiled ceiling. What was even worse was that she had taken down a couple of other people during her spill. She grunted in annoyance, her helmet completely hindering her vision. She was grateful for the mask since it hid her brightening face as people gasped and called out to her.
One large guy in a gray t-shirt grabbed her by the arm to help her up, but she waved her hands around, successfully causing him to let her go. She stood up and smiled reassuringly to the small crowd that had formed around her, many others continued on, looking irritated by the roadblock.
She apologized to the small group of kind people who were concerned about her before embarrassingly slipping out of the hall and into the long foyer. It was still crowded in that area, but much less so than the exhibit hall filled with booths and merchandise. She quickly said goodbye to everyone watching on the stream and stuck her phone in a pocket hidden against her hip. She leaned up against a pillar, shutting her eyes to allow herself to calm down.
She felt her throat tighten and tried to swallow it down. She hated how she often overthought small incidents like the one that just occurred. A bunch of harsh thoughts passed through her mind, many of them telling her that she must have looked like such an idiot falling over in her nice costume. She hoped none of her online viewers had seen her, they were probably unfollowing her on all social media platforms at that very moment.
"Hello there!"
One voice stood out against the buzz of the crowd and it was much too close to not be meant for her. Her eyes flew open and she turned her head toward the voice.
A man in an elaborate cosplay stood there. He was wearing a black wig with locks that fell partially in front of his light brown eyes. His torso was covered in silver-colored armor similar to hers, but his legs were covered in dark brown fur. His thin lips were tilted upward in a friendly grin.
Junie blushed as she looked him over and realized he was extremely cute.