Chapter 19 We Go Undercover at FanCon
FanCon99—also known as the Grand Convergence of Fictional Realms and Questionable Fan Interpretations—was packed.
Picture a sprawling citadel-sized convention hall made of recycled plotlines, memory shards, and glitter glue. Booths lined every corridor.
Characters walked freely among authors, fans, and cursed plushies with unsettlingly accurate lore.
And Ashrin and I?
Were in disguise.
"I'm not saying this wig makes me look like a sentient mop," Ashrin muttered, "but I could probably absorb a small puddle."
I looked at his disguise: orange hair, fake glasses, a shirt that said 'Just an Intern.'
"You look adorable."
"I look like I pay rent in plot holes."
My own outfit was worse. Someone (Liora) insisted I wear a poofy dress made of actual paper pages with plot notes scribbled on them.
One of them read: "insert tragic flashback here???"
"Okay," I said. "Let's find the booth responsible for the fanfic scrolls before someone writes me into a tragic mermaid arc."
Ashrin froze. "Wait. What if someone already did?"
"DON'T SAY THAT."
We split up to cover more ground.
Ashrin wandered into the "Glitched Heartthrobs" aisle.
Fifteen minutes later, I found him cornered by a group of cosplayers dressed as... him.
They were reading aloud from a zine titled:
The Glitch Prince's Forbidden Twin Romance Saga
One of them read dramatically: "'We cannot kiss,' his brother whispered, 'for we are technically the same man—but in different fonts.'"
Ashrin turned to me with wide eyes. "Please. Make it stop."
I waved the emergency anti-fanfic talisman. The paper screamed and disintegrated.
We ran.
Eventually, we found it.
A small booth in the farthest corner. It had a sign:
"Live-Write Shipping Battles! Your OTP, Our Reality!"
Behind the counter sat a kid with huge glasses, chaos-energy hair, and a thousand-scroll stare.
"Oh hey," they said. "You're Verenia, right? You're trending. Wanna see your top five ships?"
Before I could run, they snapped their fingers.
Five glowing story bubbles appeared:
Verenia x Ashrin – "Predictable. Classic.
But overused."
Verenia x Liora – "Enemies-to-chaotic-co-parenting energy.
Popular with duck fans."
Verenia x Gerald the Shopkeeper – "Honestly?
Unexpectedly wholesome."
Verenia x The Author – "Don't ask.
Please."
Verenia x Verenia (Time Travel AU) – "Weirdly philosophical. "
Ashrin leaned over my shoulder. "I'm not even number one anymore?!"
"I'm number five," I snapped. "With myself."
The fanfic kid grinned. "You don't get to pick your fandom. It picks you."
Then they flicked a final scroll onto the desk.
A draft titled:
Chapter One: The Rewrite Rebels Fall in Love... with the Wrong People.
Reality shuddered.
The world stuttered. Background NPCs glitched sideways. My sleeves turned into metaphors.
"NOPE," I yelled, grabbing the scroll and lighting it on fire with sheer willpower.
Ashrin caught me as I wobbled. "You okay?"
"I am so done being shipped against my will."
He smiled. "Then let's write our own canon."
We kissed right there, under a blinking fanfic booth sign and the judgmental eyes of seventeen cosplaying versions of Ashrin.
Reality sighed and settled.
For now.