What is Wayward Baby?
I started writing my Jojo's Bizarre Adventure fanfiction in April of 2019 because I was extremely into Jojo, but was running out of content to consume. I was watching YouTube videos about the franchise and came across a video titled "The Joestar that Everyone Forgot About" by xForts
The video got me thinking about that invisible baby from Diamond is Unbreakable, and it also brought to my attention that her name's kanji can be read as "Jo Joestar," which makes her an official Jojo. For those who aren't aware, every protagonist in Jojo can be reasonably nicknamed Jojo due to the spelling or pronunciation of their name. It's just a tradition at this point, and Shizuka Joestar technically qualifies.
I started thinking about if Araki ever intended to make a part about her. Was he just leaving his options open? Did he give her a Jojo name just to be cute? Either way, it was clear that he wouldn't ever tell one now, so I got to brainstorming about what it might have looked like. Enter "Wayward Baby."
Art by @laveerie and graphic design by SimplySnaps.
Wayward Baby started as a quick 3,000 word intro I wrote in a single night and published without much thought, and certainly no plan. All I knew was that Shizuka seemed neat, and I wanted to write about a little girl Stand User. I had ideas like "Bubblegum Bitch" in my back pocket from discussions with my siblings Mallaidh Anne and Brie where the three of us talked extensively about Jojo AU's and potential Stand abilities. With Mallaidh Anne's blessing, I used his idea for Bubblegum Bitch and created Marina to go alongside it.
Art by @gotham-gargoyle
With Marina and Bubblegum Bitch in the picture, things were looking great! But I wanted more original characters on the team with hopes that someday I might get to remove all the cannon characters from the picture and tell an arc with only my babies. That meant I'd need more characters! Enter Pepsi and Shirlie.
Remember when I said I got Bubblegum Bitch from Mallaidh Anne, and how a lot of my early ideas came from talking to MA and Brie about Jojo AU's? Well, that came to a head when I realized their AU Jojo selves would fit right at home in the cast. This is sorta getting into how the sausage is made, but I don't wanna make anyone think Pepsi and Shirlie aren't their own actual characters. I basically took their appearances, Stands, and one or two one-dimensional characteristics and then extrapolated two characters from the ingredients that way.
Art by @casualswords
This resulted in Pa-Pa-Power and Mist being added to the story as well! This art predates Wayward Baby by about three years, and it's actually the first art that was included in the story. (Art in the earlier chapters was actually added retroactively. This includes the story cover and Marina/Bubblegum Bitch's designs.)
The last remaining member of the OC team was Ripley. She began as a throwaway character to get in an argument with Marina, but I actually liked their chemistry so much that I decided to have her stick around for an entire chapter. Then they had an even gayer dynamic, and I knew it was over.
Agent Ripley, Art by @gotham-gargoyle
With the crew of five original babies, the story was finally ready to kick off proper! Please consider reading it if you haven't, I put a lot of work into it! Wayward Baby is ~534k words, and the series is still ongoing at 613,367! I'm not stopping anytime soon!
Art by @gotham-gargoyle
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Flower Child Masterlist
Body Adventures (ao3) - ShyyyVictoria
luke/ashton, michael/calum
T, 1k
Summary: Luke wanted to go to Woodstock and get high. For adventurous purposes,
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (ao3) - orphan_account
michael/luke, calum/ashton
M, 1k
Summary: It's a warm sunny day and the boys of 5SOS are out and about enjoying the beautiful weather. Taking a pit stop while being on the road to their next show, they stumble upon a secluded meadow where there are flowers as far as the eye can see. Ashton and Calum have been together for three years and are enjoying some time away from prying eyes as Michael puts some thought into whether or not his crush on Luke is going to be reciprocated. Introspection and flower child happiness ensue.
KawaiiCalPal (ao3) - TheLarryDiaries
michael/calum, luke/ashton
M, 25k
Summary: Calum is an adorable YouTuber known as KawaiiCalPal. He's most known for his oversized sweaters and matching flower crowns. Also, he's in love with the world famous punk rock band, Swallow the Goldfish. But more accurately, the lead guitarist, Michael Clifford.
Luke, Ashton, and Michael are the three band members of Swallow the Goldfish. They all happen to be jelly beans, Calum's name for his subscribers. It's also quite obvious that Michael believes Calum is his 'soulmate'. It's also remarkable as Calum is very open with his homosexuality, and love for Michael.
It really started when Calum had the opportunity to interview the band for a video.
Midnight Driving With the Windows Down (ao3) - orphan_account
luke/ashton
N/R, 1k
Summary: where luke sometimes doesn't mean everything he does and says and sometimes ashton believes him
no you don't need to be careful (ao3) - xieagle
luke/ashton, michael/calum
N/R, 3k
Summary: ashton irwin hasn't spoken in a large number of years. he works in the coffee shop his foster parents own, and is constantly dealing with the idea that no one will ever truly understand and accept him.
luke goes to university, studying art. he loves going to the local coffee shop to find a caffeine boost and to meet his friends, michael and calum, the two he is rather jealous of. he says it's a good boost for his muse, but never says why.
Sunshine (ao3) - orphan_account
luke/ashton, calum/ofc
T, 3k
Summary: Ashton and Luke finally reconnect after not seeing each other for four days.
Feelings and doubts ensue.
(punk!luke and flower child!ashton + photographer!luke and baker!ashton)
The Kind Of Feeling We Sing About (ao3) - ShortIsNotFun
luke/ashton
N/R, 2k
Summary: Their crush was obvious to everyone but them, as cliche as that sound. And every time Luke looked at the innocent boy with an amazing smile, he knew he would end up wrecking the boy but he was so god damn cute and tempting that he really couldn’t help himself. And ashton knew these things could never end well but damn he was willing to risk that for Luke. He’d do anything he could to hold that boy’s attention
or
Luke thinks Ashton is the prettiest boy he's every seen and the record shop doesnt get much business
Walking on Sunshine (ao3) - aalexandravictoriaa
luke/ashton, michael/calum
T, 30k
Summary: Ashton and Luke are soul mates but Luke doesn't believe it because he's an emotionally constipated bad boy and Ashton is literal walking sunshine.
Windows to the Soul (ao3) - ashtonism
luke/ashton, michael/ashton
N/R, 7k (WIP)
Summary: where Ashton is a shy little fuck and the bad boy who hides behind black glasses and smokes in the bathroom catches his attention and suddenly Ashton wants to know everything about him.
with you, we could be the only ones here (ao3) - orphan_account
luke/ashton
T, 3k
Summary: "I think you're from another world,
and I couldn't love another boy.
'Cause you, make me feel like I'm intoxicated."
You Are My Sunshine (ao3) - CliffordAffliction
calum/ashton
E, 6k
Summary: It's 1974 during the Vietnam war and Ashton is a soldier feeling like happiness is a thing of the past...until he meets an anti-war boy by the name of Calum while he is on leave and he feels himself falling in love for the very first time.
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Hungry For You Endo Yasuko Stalks The Night Vol 1 and 2 - Quick Review
A vampire named Yasuko falls for delicious human girl Shizue. This is mostly a comedy series but the jokes never really landed too well for me nor did the titillation do much for me from the light amounts of clearly intended to be horny art. I struggled to finish volume 1 of the story and thought overall it was paced really slowly.
In Volume 2 things really pick up the pace maybe too fast now but I ended up enjoying volume 2 a lot more then volume one which took me months of opening it and not vibing and putting it aside to finish I did manage to read most of volume 2 in a day.
The book spends too much time on a male cop who is a perv for no reason. It for sure is loaded with some problematic elements, done buy a bad woman but like also clearly designed to be sexy for the reader.
I think overall I feel a little disappointed by this series. I love lesbian vampire stories a lot so reading these I really really wanted to love it. Flowerchild is clearly a talented artist and there is a lot of stuff I do enjoy but it just kinda always just misses the mark for me.
Mainly I was let down that we don't get a more clear conformation of Shizue's feelings to Yasuko where we get very clearly her feelings for Shizue. The other girls in the story are all cute and fun and the main baddy Toshi is hot detached from the context.
I'd say if you want Vampire Yuri these are worth checking out, maybe you'll get something more out of it then I did but I wouldn't really recommend this as like a hunt for these manga book as opposed to a "if it falls into your lap it might be worth your time." This is a perfectly fine story and really it's biggest problem is just that I really love lesbian vampire stories so maybe my bar is a bit higher here and others won't mind dropped plot elements, rushed plot beats, lack of queer identity, etc. Overall It's average.
[If you enjoy this review consider sending me support on Patreon so I can make more gay art and read/review more gay art.]
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