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]

Pillowfort

Forgot to share my more detailed drawing of Ada Wong and Claude C. Kenni fending off zombies and aliens while getting end-of-day Asian bakery buns on sale. (This makes more sense if you read the post: https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/6164122)

#MastoArt #CreativeToots #ResidentEvil #StarOcean2 #fanart

maiji: Pew pew pew and buns

[Photo of sketchbook with ink, watercolour and pencil crayon drawing surrounded by a portable watercolour set, a waterbrush, a pencil crayon and a fountain pen. Ada Wong from Resident Evil is hefting Hookshot in one hand and daintily holding two individually packaged Asian bakery buns in the other. Claude C. Kenni from Star Ocean 2 is behind her pulling out his Phase Gun and hugging two more individually packaged Asian bakery buns. He also has a lot of shopping bags around his arm. Visible in the background is a storefront with the sign "End-of-day sale 10 buns for $16 no tax" and two monsters.]This picture makes zero sense without reading Ada+Claude go shopping. Dear REM brain, I would like an action-adventure dream where I get to be super cool and fly through the air in a massive multi-level shopping mall blasting zombies and aliens while scoring deals on Asian bakery buns. Please and thank you. Notes: Ada, cool as a cucumber, is holding a chocolate bun and a custard bun because those are the main ones orange wanted. (Chocolate is for her, custard for Leon.) Claude's like oh crap! All my hard-earned discount food!! He's holding two ham and cheese buns because they're my favourite and I always get two so that if somebody accidentally eats one of them I still have a backup. They're gonna get really squashed though since he's not holding them by the corner of the clear bag like Ada is. In the background is a Plaga-possessed human from Resident Evil (per orange's suggestion, this one possessed one of the street proselytizers frequenting the intersection of the mall we went by, complete with mic and megaphone) and those annoying kidnier (quidonya)-type monsters from Star Ocean 2 that eat me when I don't pay attention. Give me a few days and I will move on to some other nonsense I find amusing, haha. Although we plan to do another closet cosplay day, so this nonsense may just continue to grow. Also, guns are hard to draw, even ones as unrealistic as the Hookshot and the Phase Gun... but I'm making great progress filling up pages in this sketchbook!

Pillowfort

Another day, another randomly closet-cosplaying favourite videogame characters with the bestie while running around the city. We went to a stationery show and did some other stuff too! (This is actually from the end of last month, but I didn't get around to finishing the comics till now.)

https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/6212384

#MastoArt #CreativeToots #comics #SliceOfLife #ResidentEvil #StarOcean2 #Toronto

maiji: Ada + Claude BFFs AU (stationery show edition)

[Photo of sketchbook with ink and watercolour drawing labelled "Ada+Claude BFFs AU". A small keychain of a plate with happy-faced fried eggs hanging off the book band and a yellow pen peek in from the edges. Ada Wong from Resident Evil and Claude C. Kenni from Star Ocean 2 are crouching/squatting together and greeting the viewer while wearing face masks and modern-day outfits reminiscent of their official designs with the words "We're cute (heart)" in between them. Ada is saying "Check out my boots, they were a great deal" and tucked behind her is Leon's jacket which she stole borrowed again. Claude is waviing and saying "Hi~ I'm excited for food!!" An arrow points to his waist and leg that reads "Cool leg bag from Taiwan".]Continued from here and here, orange and I closet cosplay Ada Wong and Claude C. Kenni while running around the city. Enjoy it while it still amuses the heck out of us (and I still have the energy to draw them into silly little comics)!End of last month (shows you how long it took me to finish drawing these things this time around) was the Toronto Stationery Show in Parkdale, which is another very cool neighbourhood in the city that we don't usually wander. More comics, stories and featured local sights below the cut. Note that while the stationery show is why we were hanging out, most of the stories have nothing to do with the show, haha. Comics [READ-MORE][Ada + Claude get ready to hang out again!! comic: Chibi Ada and Claude text messaging each other. 1) Ada texts: "I thrifted all these great tops for new outfits!!" followed by images of three red tops that look very similar."And borrowing Leon's jacket again lol"2) Claude texts back: "They look great! Doesn't your boyfriend need his jacket? Maybe I'll put together a new outfit too!"3) Claude is standing in his bedroom. He looks over at closest full of identifical Pangalactic Federation unifrms and says "...probably". He's wearing pyjamas that consist of a shirt + shorts with lemons.]The pyjamas Claude is wearing in the last panel are what I was actually wearing at the time. I was like aw man! I have to come up with a different Claude outfit! Not that I didn't want to, but more because I'm a lazy unfashionable person whose eyes glaze over when I'm in a mall because of the plethora of clothing stores I have no interest in. The joke here is that since his clothes are all uniforms, I could just wear the same thing every time we do this… but I wanted to put a bit of effort into it. And avoid buying new stuff wherever possible.In Blue Sphere, depending on the version (original Blue Sphere, mobile remake, or Anamnesis take), he also has these black suspenders and/or waist thingies/sheaths, so it was a nice excuse for me to wear this cool Yager leg belt I got in Taiwan forever ago. I used to use it sometimes when I'm doing artist alley at conventions (it's extremely handy when running back and forth behind tables and during setup/takedown), and since I don't have much opportunity for those anymore, it's been hanging behind my door untouched for years. Until now!! I also got a very kind compliment that it looked badass, so yay. [Scouting & prep ahead of the mission comic: Claude and Ada continuing to text/type chat messages to each other as they plan their outing. 1) Spamming each other with weather forecasts from different sites/apps. A small orange cat peeks out from the bottom of the panel next to Ada. 2) Important decisions being made. Ada texts "Okay but which bag??" (with a word crossed out and labelled "oops typo lol". Claude types back "What does the rest of your outfit look like?... I'm leaning to black cat tote".]The weather forecasts were all pretty much saying the day would likely be wet, so we were a little worried about how to balance what if it's hot/what if it's cold/what if it's rainy/what if… and also how many/what bags to bring. orange sent me photos for my feedback. I understand the RE fandom considers Ada a black cat so I think that was a good decision, also the bag was bigger and had thick straps.[The Morning Of comic: 1) Chibi Claude eating cereal, chatting on his laptop, and getting a headstart on a handout. He's sparkling in his outfit. "Ready to go as soon as I fiish my" 2) Sploosh as the bowl flips over in his face. 3) Claude is dripping. "...breakfast..." Ada texts back "Makes you look more combat-authentic".That Button comic: 1) Chibi Claude arrives at Ada's condo. He enters the unit buzzcode. 2) The intercom blasts out loud musical bips and boops while Claude yells "It's the (redacted} button! The (redacted) button!!!]The Morning Of: I was pleased with my outfit, and I took some time in the morning while having breakfast to work on a handout on, ironically, mindful eating meditation. Maybe not too surprisingly, I ended up spilling soy milk all over myself in the process. Curse those soy milk attacks. (I cleaned up with water and letting it dry.)That Button: orange never remembers what button on the keypad actually opens the front door for visitors, so every time I use the intercom I'm greeted by a lot of loud musical beeps as she mashes every button on her phone looking for the right one, which I find hilarious.[Illustration of Claude and Ada wearing casual outfits reminiscent of their official designs, carryingg lots of shopping bags with their hair and bags being blown about by the wind. Text on top reads "Uwaaaaa it was very windy". Inset caption reads: "The violent winds of the storm battered his face..." - Planet of the Winds, a book written by Claude.]Planet of the Winds: It actually turned out to be a beautiful day - just super windy, and thus cold if you're not in the sun. Our fashion decisions actually held up pretty well. Getting blown about reminded me of Claude's book (which, in the original PS1 is the book that raises Friendship levels with Claude). orange says this outing was his inspiration. The text in the above is the PS1 translation.Look at the lovely sky![Photo of trees, a building, cars parked along the street against a beautiful blue sky with swaths of clouds stretched across it. A pole with a no parking sign and a tree with many elaborate curling twigs/growths along the ends of all its branches stand out in foreground centre.]There was a very long lineup for the show, and when we took our place at the end, we discussed what factors might cause us to ditch the line and go do something else.orange: Well this is really today's main event anyways.Me: No, this [gesturing at our outfits] is the main event!!orange: That's right!!The line ended up being about 2 hours! But it was fun since we just chatted the whole time, and admired the outfits and accessories of our fellow show attendees (we definitely weren't the only ones with cute outfits and bags) and listened to stories. Also at one point orange got tacos for us while I held our place in line, and then I took a turn to get a drink from a convenience store just across the street from the venue. The nice man behind the counter was like "what's going on, is that a big line for the stationery show" and he seemed super amused by the whole thing. The show itself was wonderful! Loved seeing what people make, talking to artists, seeing familiar faces. [Random things not in order comic: 1) At the patisserie. The chorus of "Zombie" by the Cranberries plays in the background. Ada and Claude are taking photos of a small cheesecake. Claude is saying "I'm making copies lol" and then looks up and says "Is that "Zombie"?.2) At the bookstore. Claude is staring a copy of "Warrior of the Light: a Manual" and exclaiming "What there's a manual??!?" Ada asks "Are you gonna get it lol" and Claude replies "No".3) Thrifty boots. Ada, several bags in her arms, is hopping around and pulling on boots at the cash register while a staff member looks over. Claude is standing in the background saying "Do you want me to hold your bag..."4) Passionately ranting about OTPs and fic ideas. Claude and Ada are sitting a table with AO3 trip cards strewn across it. They're each holding a card and shouting AAAAAA at each other while flailing their arms and burning with flaming energy]Patisserie: After we stopped by a lovely bakery and split a cheesecake. In SO2, you can make copies of almost any item (including weapons, armor and food) by taking a photo of them using a magical camera, so I joked about making copies of the cheesecake. Then while we were eating, I realized Zombie by the Cranberries was playing. Suitable for RE vibes.Bookstore: While waiting for orange to get a book and browsing the tables, I was stopped short by this title: "Warrior of the Light: a Manual". PS1 SO2 translation for Hero of Light was Warrior of Light, so you can imagine I worked really hard not to burst out laughing at the coincidence of our random closet cosplay day. The book itself appears to be self-help philosophy and a your-mileage-may-vary thing. Reviews online seem to fall into two buckets: "this was brilliant and changed my life!!", or "this is a nonsensically-written waste of time". One of my favourite reviews said something to the effect of "this book is important to me and I don't even like it. It's best used by cutting out the quotes that sound nice and using them out of context". orange said Claude should buy it and then give it to people and say "see?? I told you I'm not the warrior of light!!"Thrift: orange said she was hoping to find tall Ada-style boots and so we decided to hop into the many thrift stores in the area. Lo and behold! The very first one had boots that were practically exactly what she was looking for, in her size!! After buying them she decided to just wear them for the rest of the day. When she made the decision we were basically about to walk out, so she was putting them on while standing on one foot. I was like "we can go back to where the bench is". But Ada Wong would never let something as minor as lack of seating prevent her from changing footwear!!Ranting: We got fancy takeout and headed back to orange's! Then spent the rest of the evening babying orange's cat/discouraging orange's cat from eating our dinner and drawing cards from the AO3 fanfic tropes deck of cards and using them as prompts to yell about our OTPs (i.e., she basically ranted about Ada and Leon at me and I ranted back at her about Dias and Claude). We took turns soapboxing our opinions and ideas and detailing our stories and wips to each other. This is one of the beautiful things about our relationship: we're not actually in the same fandoms, but we both appreciate thoughtful characters and storytelling and find similar or adjacent things interesting. We get to support each other and also learn stuff without feeling the need to inject our own preferences/biases about what the other person is into.  A few highlights I remember:1) orange acting out a whole confrontation with a dramatic monologue she was working on, and then part way through the climax, with her hand jabbing the air at the other character she was rage-speeching at, she said, "—and that's all I got to." Hahahaha2) When we drew the card "Alternate universe: humans", we looked at each other blankly and then I said "… Dias isn't an alien?" and we both started laughing. (In hindsight, I kiiiiind of have this in Along Theta's Edge.)3) When we drew the card "major character death".orange: I love them too much. I don't want them to die. I want them to be together!!! Actually, if they can't be together, the other acceptable outcome is if they die together.Me: That's terrible lmao. IF THEY CAN'T BE TOGETHER THEN I ACCEPT THEM DYING TOGETHERorange: *cracking up*Me: I know what you mean though. I don't like [my OTP] dying either but together is narratively—actually, I do have this story where Dias and Claude both die, and not at the same time—orange: MAFIA AU!!!Me: NO NOT THAT ONE. Lmao it's another wip that I'm ~70-80% done, a continuation of the Queen's Twa Generals. I enthusiastically walked orange through the entire thing and she was like "Wow. That's really dramatic". Talking it out helped to consolidate some of the themes and gaps so I fee like I will have this one done soon, before the summer at least. Assuming I don't get distracted. Like I am right now.[/READ-MORE]The places we went [READ-MORE]Some of the lovely places we patronizedGus Tacos: Ada bought Claude some tacos here. Really hit the spot as we were standing in line!The Sweet Crumble: New to Parkdale! Beautiful little patisserie. Here's the New York cheesecake we split![Photo of a pretty little cheesecake with cream and topped with a chocolate triangle and other dark bits, surrounded by two compostable forks.]Common Sort - again! Another one of their locations was the score for Ada boots.Then we went to the area around Eglington Station.BMV: Good ol' BMV bookstore with locations throughout the city. Always great to browse.Fresh: I'd been meaning to get quinoa onion rings!! with miso gravy. They were really crispy and delightful. I also debated getting like three power shakes instead of a proper dinner because they all sound good but didn't do that. MORU Katsu: …because we ended up getting Zenbu Katsu. It was amazing. Look at this! [Photo of a table set with a blue glass bowl of salad next to a tray holding a large round plate full of onion rings, fries, and five different kinds of katsu, and surrounded by varios sauces/condiments and chopsticks.]This is half the meal!! orange and I split it and we still had leftovers. The onion rings were the ones from Fresh, and the salad cucumbers and cherry tomatoes were added by orange.Another fun outing. The end![/READ-MORE]

Pillowfort

We came up with bios 😂

Closeups and full transcript of BFFs Ada Wong and Claude C. Kenni bios at https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/6222835

#SliceOfLife #fanfiction #ResidentEvil #StarOcean2

maiji: Ada + Claude BFFs AU bios

[image: Photo of a two-page sketchbook spread of Ada Wong + Claude C. Kenni bios from the BFFs AU. The sketchbook is surrounded by pencil crayons, a fountain pen and a pencil.]orange and I came up with bios for Ada and Claude from our BFFs AU. They don't really make sense because it's some weird/silly mashup of the actual Ada and Claude, our OTP imaginations, and ourselves, but what's the point of AUs if you can't be weird/silly.Full disclosure, one of the reasons I did this is because I'm trying to use up the ink cartridge in my fountain pen faster so that I can switch to another colour already!! But this was also fun to conceptualize and draw out. (Ink nerdery: you can see in the photos, the Graf von Faber-Castell Deep Sea Green in the Kakimori Frost (M nib) tends to lighten up pretty quickly; you can see how there are parts where it's really juicy and dark and then it starts beading up and fading. When I first started using it, I thought at first it was some issues with the sizing of the paper I was using in my 5 year journal, but then it happened here in this sketchbook too.)Ada Wong[Photo of Ada Wong bio page. Transcript below.] Stylish working woman in her late 20s who loves shopping with her BFF Claude. Obsessed with specific shades of red,but secretly carries blue items/accessories too. Enjoys stationery, hunting for housewares, and thrifting. A bit of a health food nut, but will let it slide to help Claude out (e.g., 10 buns for $16 no tax). Lives with her golden retriever boyfriend (Leon) who sleeps in on the weekends due to overwork. She brings him back food from her outings with Claude.[panel of Ada wearing Leon's jacket and looking over her shoulder at a zonked-out Leon with his face buried in a pillow.Ada: Hey handsome I'm taking your jacket againLeon: No problem zzz...] Claude C. Kenni[Photo of Claude C. Kenni bio page. Transcript below.] 19-year old university student who writes and doodles comics and loves hanging out with his BFF Ada.  Excited by food and food on sale. Brunch is the best!! Ada helps him eat healthier. Has a lot of green jackets for some reason, and a habit of bringing sunglasses and an umbrella just in case it's sunny or rainy. Can't cook, but happy to help clean. Recently learned to mend clothes. Darned his own socks! His boyfriend (Dias) lives really far away on another planet and sends him random presents in the mail.[panel of Claude happily holding a sparkling letter opener with the label "Gamgee's Gifts" and surrounded by hearts.Claude: Look, Ada! He sent me a letter opener!Ada: Aww.] We figure they have a fun big sister/little brother dynamic. Also when they go back to Ada's to hang out, sometimes Leon wakes up from his nap and comes by to get a drink of water or eat whatever they brought back or poke Ada. Then he silently lounges around watching them yammering at each other at the coffee table about whatever they're into. (This is based on orange's cat periodically interrupting us.)

Pillowfort

The Hero of Light is an Alien - silly little AU comic, you can read the whole thing here! https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/6430232

My hair is also feeling the humidity.

#StarOcean2 #fanart #fancomics #comics