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007 - Welcome to VoidCon!

The registration desk for VoidCon rests at the base of Mt. Silver, looking a bit conspicuous in contrast to the natural cave entrance. Lanyard badges have been laid out across the desk, one for each person that dwells within the Void... although, some will still be unclaimed by the time the convention ends. Above the mountain rumbles a thunderstorm, granting enough power to easily keep the convention space powered for a few days. Even if you’re not interested in the convention itself, you might as well take advantage of the stable power source while it lasts.
Next to the pile of lanyards is a stack of cards, each covered with blank squares and the words “Stamp Rally” written at the top. The instructions can be found on the back, along with a list of goals and activities - not all of them make sense, but as long as you think your interpretation is correct, it seems to count. Each completed goal will be rewarded with a matching stamp, which will simply appear on the card on its own. Get six or more stamps and you get “a prize.” It's not clear what the prize is, but it must be something good, right?
The goals for each stamp are as follows, and can be completed in any order:
- Sign your autograph on ten different surfaces.
- Wear someone else’s clothes.
- Hug lovable arcade mascot Potato-Cat.
- Find yourself in Kyo’s merchandise booth.
- Reenact the best scene in the book.
- Win a round in the holo-arcade with another player's abilities.
- Eat the BBQ.
- How much is a currency? Can I have it?
- Tweet a hash tag into the ley lines about your experience at VoidCon.
- Share and subscribe to the most liked art piece.
So I’m A Fanartist, So What?
In proper fandom-based convention fashion, a small herd of Brushboys have responded to the call for creativity and settled themselves into the convention space. Some have taken residence in their own stalls as they draw whatever (or whoever) comes to mind, but others will take a more guerilla approach to their art as they walk about in search of their newest source of inspiration - you!
Most art can be observed in the form of prints and postcards that are lying about for public viewing on occupied vendor stalls, but other Brushboys have taken some liberties with their mediums. A lucky individual may find an entire mural painted on a cave wall that’s dedicated to them, or perhaps telling the story of the relationship between them and another character.
Styles of the art vary depending on the individual who has painted their respective masterpiece, but most depictions are compliant to “canon” in terms of their content. That’s not to say that every piece is, however - canon divergence is key in fanworks. Pieces with two characters together may have never spoken a word to each other before, or perhaps the nature of their connection to each other has been grossly misinterpreted by the artist. Whatever the case, each work of art is certainly a conversation starter.
In Another World With My VR Headset
Numerous signs and posters found around the arcade direct attendees to the elaborate VR game set-up, the potato-cat mascot proclaiming in a large speech bubble that “Fun and Excitement Awaits!” followed by an odd little nonsense phrase in smaller writing that is probably meant to be motivational but either comes across as nonsense (“what did you do that did”) or simplistic (“wow!”). The posters are not particularly needed, however, as the set-up takes up a large area, and the bright lights and music likely draw more than enough attention to it.
The interactable and realistic hologram display shows a little piece of another world. It could be a room, or a city street, or a little piece of the outdoors, but every world is familiar to at least someone present. It changes by the hour, with every attendee’s world featured at least once. Each world is presented as a game, and while the game does not always appear relevant to the location it is usually at least playable, and frequently allows for two or more players to either cooperate or compete - it’s better with company! Games include rhythm games, stealth games, monster battles, fighting games, card games and more. The goal of each game will also change with the genre, so you’d best beat it quickly if you want to make any progress.
In this VR world, attendees will find that their existing powers work perfectly in-game, as though an intended feature, even if they don’t seem at all relevant to the game. Furthermore, powers can be unequipped or exchanged for someone else’s powers by accessing the menu, allowing for free experimentation and a chance to see what the neighbors are truly capable of. If you don’t have anyone to trade with, just hit the “randomize” option - you’ll be given a completely random powerset, or you’ll be randomly swapped with another nearby player. The possibilities are endless!
If you manage to reach the end of the game, you’ll be greeted with a large and flashy display of “Congratulations!” along with some virtual confetti, followed by a holographic display of everyone’s high scores… which are a bit confusing to read, since every new version of the game has a completely different scoring system and one player might go through several of these before hitting a proper “ending.” Is a smaller number or bigger number better? Why does a farming game even have a combo score? Maybe it’s best not to think about it.

Seto Kaiba | Open
I. Stamping out the Competition
how to annoy kaiba: the movie
A game is a game is a game and, if there is one, then Yugi is going to play it. Even if it's just a scavenger hunt. And he's going to drag Kaiba into it as well because he happened to be close by; and because doing a scavenger hunt with at least one other person at the beginning was a good way to clear up some tasks quicker; and, most importantly, because Yugi considers Kaiba a friend even if the reverse consideration didn't exist.
Yugi isn't racing with these signatures - in fact, he had expressed earlier 'Wait, are we sure we should be doing this? Why would they want our signatures?' - but Kaiba gets his ten first. Surely that's a win for him, right?
Except a few moments later Yugi is approached by a brushboy with a very cool-looking piece of fanart with the words King of Games tastefully titled at the top. You know, the title that was never Kaiba's. That's his last autograph. Yugi for his part signs with a sheepish smile and responds to Kaiba after the brushboy leaves:] You got that one done so quickly! If you're going in order the next one is... wearing someone else's clothes.
It's a classic. One of my all time favorites!
Sure, Kaiba might have feigned some reluctance to comply but he desperately needed something to break up the daily routine. At least Yugi was someone he could genuinely tolerate, especially without his usual entourage of friends, not that he voiced as such. A few of the tasks would be best tackled by multiple participants, there was no getting around the simple facts.
That apprehension had been met with a scoff and a sufficient amount of eye-rolling. Why wouldn't they want our signatures? and Out of all the people here we're the closest thing the void has to legitimate celebrities. All said, while he penned his name to a couple of objects, without sparing a glance to see if Yugi was doing the same.
The artwork didn't escape Kaiba's keen detection, and at first he said nothing. His expression spoke for him as it darkened significantly and he glared daggers through the offending brushboy] Someone's living in a fantasy world. When did you ever possess a card like that? [Bet you thought you could ignore what just happened here.. but alas] Don't get used to being associated with that title. You won't be keeping it. [Kaiba was in no hurry to change outfits with Yugi- they'd look ridiculous, and ill-fitted]
We can skip that one.. and come back to it. [
Although fanart does provide for this imagery]no subject
[and then, a little flatly:] Kaiba, I'm not taking out my deck in the middle of the convention.
[so, the answer to Kaiba's question of 'when' is: 'presently'. But, no Gandora for you right now. Kaiba can stew in that knowledge for the foreseeable future.]
Hm, we could skip it...[Just as quick as he was being chastising, Yugi settles back into his usual gentle-natured self and appears not at all concerned about Kaiba's assertion that he would lose Atem's title any time soon. Whether that is a good tactic or just sets off Kaiba remains to be seen. Whatever the result, it's probably the same for Yugi essentially ignoring Kaiba's bid to skip the stamp.] Do you think they meant that we need to switch what we're wearing with someone else, or would wearing someone's merch work?
no subject
[This statement got him to silence himself for a few moments as he considered just what was being implied] You could, but you won't.
[
Just let him see the dragon Yugi and no one will get hurt. Stew he would][Thankfully it didn't warrant anymore poor behavior for the meanwhile, having used up his reserves on that brushboy. By not arguing with Kaiba on the subject, or insisting that he would maintain his position it was as if Yugi already knew that he would have the title taken from him. Like some silent acceptance of fact. So no, it wasn't infuriating but Yugi had better at least make it a challenge when they did duel] It might not be all that complicated, like you suggested. [Giving it some thought] Technically, any clothes that aren't the ones we're currently wearing are someone else's. It doesn't say we can't use the clothing available in the booths. [Yugi might be on to something]
no subject
[Yugi pretends to contemplate that. Hm. HMMM... Unsurprisingly, Kaiba is left to stew. Maybe he could realize his actions have consequences this way.] You're right. I could, but I won't. You'll just have to wait.
[On the contrary, Yugi simply isn't worried about Kaiba. Not that Kaiba isn't a fantastic duelist (of course he is), and not that Yugi has some inflated sense of ego of his own prowess (of course he doesn't), but he can't let the title be lost so easily. Not when it's one of the last connections he has to Atem. So, it won't be lost. Simple as that.] Right! That's what I was thinking. If they're not going to specify how we do something, then it's up to our own interpretation, right? Or else the game would be really unfair. [Because, really, everything is a game to Yugi until it's not.] On that note, it also doesn't say how long we have to wear someone else's clothes.
II. How to Waste a Million Hours of Your Life - The Holo-Arcade
B
Consider: The speed and precision of a computer in comparison to a human brain. The errorless perfection in its calculations, its memories. A mind that lives in the fractions between fractions of seconds, where everything is known and quantified down to the hundreth decimal.
The ... world ... s l o w s.
You can see the way a water droplet bounces back up briefly when it hits a surface, the way flesh ripples with abrupt contact. Like a slow motion camera, all the little blink of an eye movements that fill the world are now visible. Mind and body are strangely disconnected: as part of the physical world movement and response times remain slow, it is only the mind that experiences this acceleration.
But that is not the only change. Pain, tiredness, hunger, and all the little sensations associated with them vanish abruptly. Strength increases, as does durability, to the extent that falling hundreds of feet would do little damage.
There is, however, a drawback: Geth thrive on companionship, on connection. The absence of it feels like the absence of oxygen, like the dread silence of a forest stalked by a deadly predator. Geth need other geth, but there are no other Geth. Hope you were feeling like hanging out and making some friends Kaiba, because it's gonna be unpleasant to be alone.)
(Meanwhile, Legion is now suffering from extreme lag.)
B...ullet Hell
Parsee.
She didn't look like she was especially happy right now. She was seething with various green energies, flowing outwards in little fluttering lights. Unlike he current powers, in the game she looked very much like her normal self. She grunted and looked over at him.]
You'll forgive me if I don't feel like going easy on you. Dodge the bullets, shoot me with your spell cards, use the bombs sparingly if it gets too tight. I need to get it out of my system.
III. The Fanworks
VI. The Fanfics
i'm not sorry about this in the slightest
She's hardly paying attention to how ridiculous she looks with a plushie under one arm, one tucked safely within the confines of delightful hoodie's pocket, looking almost alive as it peeks out from the shadows. Instead, she's peeking over Seto's shoulder before she circles around to his left, head tipping slightly. ]
What's that?
[ Unfortunately, she's plucking one out of his hands, Obliteration of Weakness, and flipping through the pages. She catches Phantom Thieves and that catches her attention, and she takes to actually.... reading this. Sorta. Her cheeks turn a bright pink after a few moments, and she flips to the end... ah, tragedy strikes. She lets out a dramatic gasp, and then snaps the work closed, quickly giving it back to him. ]
I don't like the way that one ends, we have to rewrite it!
[ ...What. ]
SHAME SHAME KNOWS YOUR NAME
Drawing up to a stop so he could look to her, he opened his mouth to speak but ended up saying something entirely different than what he had intended, his gaze sweeping over her]
Did one of the booths explode on you?
[Wondering briefly how she had managed to get ahold of quite so much merchandise in such a limited duration of time since he'd last seen her]
Oh these are- you don't want to read that! [Reaching out to try and snatch it back, he had to abandon the initial effort in order to stabilize the remaining fics he was trying to balance.]
Ann really.. just put it where it belongs. [Not needing to have read it to know it's terrible. This fic was actually one of the better written ones but that really wouldn't have mattered to him. Nothing he says prevents her from reading it over enough to get the jist, and her emphatic reaction has him curious.]
You're assuming an awful lot, if you think I have any idea what you're talking about. [Knowing he was going to regret this.. he looked to the title page then back to her] What was the plot?
NO REGERTS
Nope! I just put my shopping skills to good use! Except this is better, 'cause it's all free and my credit card hasn't been entirely maxed out for the eighth or nineth time!
[ Does she pump her free hand into the air with absolute excitement over that fact? She absolutely does~! ]
Ah-ah, pretty sure I need some good reading material~ [ Too late, she's already read it, and she's horrified. She blinks back up at him, wide eyed, and she quickly shakes her head. ]
I mean, yeah, it does belong in the trash, but this one had a really crappy ending! I think, I sorta skipped to the end but it was really bad! Therefore, before we burn it, it has to be fixed.
[ Of course he hadn't bothered to read it-- ] It had to do with the Phantom Thieves infiltrating a palace, specifically yours, and I'm pretty sure I fell for you or something, and then we were going to finally defeat your shadow self and you were like 'NO!!' and you killed yourself. Somehow. I've never seen a shadow actually do that... well. Shido. But he doesn't count.
The Forgotten Fleet
At first, she snickered at it, then as she read more her face turned to one of sheer wonder. Mostly thinking how could someone ever put this to paper and think it was ok? She then had to ask anyone...]
Have you read this trash?
no subject
As he started to lower the copies he was holding into the trash, he made a horrible realization when she got his attention. Spotting the title on the one she was holding he knew he had the very same one in this stack. There are extras]
I didn't want to risk lowering my iq. [In other words, no]