I highly recommend closet cosplaying your favourite character with your bestie while the two of you run errands and shop all over the city.
More comics and stories from our outing, plus highlights of some cool Toronto small businesses! https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/6160215
#MastoArt #CreativeToots #comics #SliceOfLife #ResidentEvil #StarOcean2 #Toronto
maiji: Ada and Claude go shopping!!! (Resident Evil x Star Ocean 2, sort of)
[Photo of sketchbook page with ink and watercolour doodle labelled "Ada+Claude go shopping!!!*" at the top and "* a.k.a. two nerd besties hanging out in closet cosplays" at the bottom. In the middle is a drawing of a chibi Ada Wong and Claude C. Kenni wearing casual outfits reminiscent of their official designs. They're laughing and holding hands while happily trotting along. Ada raises Leon's jacket in her free hand while Claude holds up a bagful of fountain pens.]Backstory: Last month I won a coupon for free gyoza that expires at the end of this month. I was determined to cash in. orange and I also wanted to check out this Kakimori Frost fountain pen we saw online at a beloved stationery shop we haven't been to in forever. We decided to use these things as an excuse (not that we really need an excuse) for a random shopping/hang out day all over the city.At the same time, we had the brilliant idea of dressing up (subtley) as our favourite characters while running around town, because we're adults and we have the power to make great decisions like this without anyone stopping us. She put together an Ada Wong-inspired outfit, and of course I went with you-know-who. I already had my Pangalactic Federation cardigan, and managed to find some cargo pants at a thrift store to complete the look.[Ink and watercolour drawing of normally-proportioned Claude and Ada wearing face masks and casual outfits reminiscent of their official designs, and holding lots of shopping bags. The drawing is labelled "Our purchases". Claude has sunglasses perched on his head and a yellow crossbody bag. His shopping bags are labelled: fountain pen, reusable paper towels, strawberry licorice chews, 10 buns!!!, gyoza (free). Ada is wearing a Leon S. Kennedy-style jacket slung over her shoulders. Her bag is labelled: lots of stationery, tea, another bag.]I would like to point out that: 1) I'm COVID-conscious and my family is high-risk, so we were masked the whole time aside from eating/drinking, but I needed to draw facial expressions on the chibis so they are not masked in the comics. 2) Fountain pens exist in Star Ocean 2: you need them to write books to level up your skills and do relationship stuff so they are super important. In reality I only bought one, not a whole bagful of fountain pens. 3) Claude may have ended up with a lot more bags, but it was mostly deals on food. Ada had the stylish big ticket items. The whole day was extra amusing because it added even more layers of in-jokes to our usual already-very-silly conversations. At the end of the day I drew select silliness as comic panels. Here are some of our adventures!Comics [READ-MORE][Eating Brunch comic: 1) Chibi Ada and Claude are happily eating and exclaiming "Everything's so great, we're so happy!!!" 2) Claude is lying on the table and moaning "I'm so full…" and Ada is saying: "You don't have to eat it all in 1 sitting, this isn't Rena's mom's".Clothing & Thrift Stores comic: Store 1) Ada has a jacket slung over her shoulders and is happily saying "I found Leon's jacket!" with a heart. Claude gives her a thumbs up saying "That's a full score!". Store 2) Claude is holding up a jacket and saying "This looks like Leon's jacket too (sort of)" and Ada is saying "lol cordoroy" [sic]. Store 3) Claude is rummaging through a bin with a sign that says $5 bin and exclaiming "Wow!!!" Ada, far less impressed, is looking at her phone with a very bored expression and saying "Wow. Wow. Wow."]I don't eat in at restaurants anymore, which makes me sad sometimes because I used to love going to restaurants; pre-pandemic I was one of those people who would take photos of all the dishes and then make little collages to post on instagram. But we passed a cute brunch place that had outdoor seating; the weather was perfect for the duration of our meal and no one else was sitting near us. I was so happy!! Everything was delicious, and I thoroughly potatoed myself out.Leon's jacket was a great score because the store was also in the midst of changing over for the season and had boxed up practically all the cold weather stuff, so just in time!! The corduroy jacket (I misspelled corduroy in the drawing as you can see) I spotted at one of the thrift stores actually looked a lot like Leon's jacket, except it was super obviously corduroy which was hilarious. I didn't get anything from the $5 bin, I'm just easily excited. orange's totally flat "wow"s cracked me up.I didn't draw this but we also tried on: (orange) a long leather coat that was dark maroon and looked very cool on her but unfortunately couldn't be zipped up; and (me) a London Fog trench coat with a Space Shuttle patch on the shoulder that was way too big for me.[Bulk Goods comic: Chibi Ada and Claude at a bulk store. Ada is looking annoyed and pointing up and saying "Can you help me reach the tea…" and Claude has hefted the jar from the top shelf and replies "Your boyfriend left you a jacket and nothing else".More Food comic: 1) Claude is holding a coupon and shouting "Free gyoza!!" with Ada clapping in the background as confetti falls around them. Caption reads: The main reason we went out today. 2) Claude is staring at a display that reads "end-of-day sale: 10 buns for $16 no tax" and exclaiming "10 buns for $16!!" while an uninmpressed Ada says, "Oh my god." Caption reads: We passed the bakery three times before I finally gave in.]orange, while shorter than both actual Ada Wong and me, is not that short. She mostly didn't want to lift her arms because she was wearing her new Leon jacket around her shoulders, so I ended up reaching on top shelves for her at every store we went to. I only said my comment because after I handed her the jar she facetiously said "Thank you Claude" lmao. As mentioned earlier, the actual mission of the day was to use the free gyoza coupon. It was our second last stop. Mission accomplished!! orange was incredulous about my reaction to the 10 buns deal (it's standard for this bakery, I just don't usually happen to be near one at closing time), but she ended up helping me by picking three of them. It's a lot of buns. I ate one for dinner even though I was still very potatoed.[1) Chibi Claude is drawing comics at a table and looks up as chibi Ada says "If you want to feel better about yourself*, here's a cucumber." She hands him a cucumber. Caption reads: *Because we didn't eat proper vegetables. 2) Claude doodles away while nomming on the cucumber. The end.]I was sitting at orange's coffee table working on these comics when she suddenly strode over and said "If you want to feel better about yourself—" and I was like (??? where is this going) and then she handed me a cucumber. I was grateful; eating healthy is important!!It was a mini cucumber, though if she had handed me a full sized cucumber, that would've been amazing. She says Claude doodling comics = he's leveling up his skills, hahah.[/READ-MORE]The places we went [READ-MORE]We hopped in and out of a lot of lovely shops, mostly in Junction and Riverside/Leslieville (these neighbourhoods have a delightful mix of independent businesses, vintage/thrift and gift/artist consignment stores!), but also elsewhere. These were the specific places touched on in the above comics and notes. Basically anything that has something mentioned, or we got something from there.Take Note: A wonderful stationery shop that's been around for many years. Small but so elegant. The owner is very lovely. You'll adore this place if you enjoy tasteful stationery and creative supplies.Dirty Food Eatery: We had the house strawberry lemonade with Breakfast'wich and home fries. Their home fries are absolutely droolworthy, with so many tasty crispy layers.She Sells Sanctuary: A newcomer to the neighbourhood, featuring many different little businesses and creators. It has a very cozy feeling.A selection of clothing and thrift stores: Ran's Closet Good Juice Box Vintage Good Market Thrift Store Common Sort The Source Bulk Foods: I think this is the prettiest bulk goods store I've ever set foot in. Well-lit and clean, really friendly staff, really well-curated goods.Arts Market: Creative consignment and vintage goods. They have quite a few locations; every one is different and well worth a visit.And then we went downtown for the final food stops. Sansotei: home of my gyoza coupon. They specialize in tonkotsu ramen. They have multiple locations. Kin-Kin Bakery: End of day sale 10 buns for $16 no tax!! They have multiple locations as well. Their buns are very big. [/READ-MORE]




