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eccentric-nucleus · 1 year

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anyway so i posted another chapter of the TMNT fanfic i've been working on. fun fact by the time i get this full thing posted it will be by far the longest thing i've ever posted on ao3.

it's over here!

further thoughts under the cut.

this story is obviously kind of a deviation from my regular writing (by which i mean, extremely explicit monster pornography) but i've been wanting to write some stuff with actual plots and themes and the like recently, so i guess when nanowrimo rolled around i just dug in. i was thinking of what kind of junk i love to see in fics and just threw all of it together in one big self-indulgent heap and so now it's a wild genre mashup. gotta kill yr internal censor & no better way to do it than to write self-serious teenage mutant ninja turtles romance/drama fanfiction.

there's that kind of chestnut about romance stories where people complain about how 90% of the plot could be removed if the characters actually just talked to each other, right? whoops it's all miscommunications and people keeping secrets for no reason, and that's the dynamo that drives the plot b/c you need some kind of tension, but you don't want the characters to come off as seriously flawed. relatedly, there was that one tweet thread by abbadon recently where he kind of touches on that. gotta have the characters be, you know. nice, good people. or sometimes so evil and over the top that it becomes cartoonish. but actually i think something i really enjoy in romance fanfic is when one or both characters are just genuinely obnoxious people. i mean i don't think i'm hitting that super heavily as a story theme so far, but. more jerks, imo

porn on ao3 vs. plotted fics on ao3 tend to have wildly different hits/comments/kudos ratios, & this is actually my first time being on the other side of it. like porn tends to get lotttts of hits, from people searching by tags or w/e, but not a lot of in-depth comments. meanwhile you will see fics that are like, 200,000 words, 70 chapters, 300 comments, 1200 hits. and it's like oh okay, this has a niche audience. this is somebody actually engaging with the local fandom. i tend to avoid fandoms that are actually, you know, 'active', so i don't really get a lot of that for anything i post. i guess my naruto fanfic kind of got that? people still care about naruto, i guess.

apparently there's kind of an active TMNT fandom on tumblr and like i guess i could link my tumblr in the story notes but i basically never do that kind of fandom enagement. i don't really, you know. like interacting with people. but who else can i tell about all my au ideas????

but with this TMNT fanfic it's very funny to have posted 8 chapters across three months and still have under 2k views. like whatttt all the plotless porn fills get thousands and thousands of hits. the teen wolf story with maggot infestation tagged got more hits than this one, and this has been bumped seven times! but yeah that's what writing a story with a plot gets you vs. writing porn, so, it's not actually surprising it's just funny to see in action.

i mean all that being said, kind of the joke of the initial two chapters of the story is that it's presented exactly like it's just a oneshot porn fic so really maybe the lack of hits is something else entirely; who can say. the mistake of everything being quantified with hits and kudos and subscriptions is that it invites you to systematize data, when actually it's probably mostly just noise & externalities. maybe people just don't like weird turtle dick.

(also if you'll excuse some yelling at clouds, just as an aside, but there are so many chatfics in the fandom (b/c this is media for children and kids these days only talk via chats) and with like two exceptions they're all completely unformatted, just bold names and double-spaced paragraphs between every line, from copying the story in from a google doc or something. please learn how to make a work skin + the css to format yr story like it's an actual chat client. at least get rid of the double-spacing. my story contains like 20 lines of grindr text messages and i still put together a whole custom stylesheet for it. it's not hard!! it looks so much better! you can give characters custom colored text bubbles, which works well since all the characters are already color-coded!! anyway.)

(also lol i do actually have a leatherhead/mikey/raph/slash 4some wip i'm considering finishing, which is much more my standard style. i can't believe i've gotten into teenage mutant ninja turtles. i think i've read like 80% of the extant fanfic on ao3 in the past few months. i really do think the major issue stopping me from getting into it was just that i always found it a little obnoxious that the turtles were always copy-paste palette-swap designs. if it's in black and white and they don't have their weapons in shot good luck figuring out which turtle is there b/c their designs are identical. thank you rise for giving them wild designs even if your toy line was garbage so the show got canceled immediately.)

ANYWAY so the story is actually kind of under-tagged, and in the original post draft of the fic i had way more warnings, but after some consideration i cut a lot of them out. like, if you're reading this fic you are hopefully an adult and you can form your own opinions about the characters and what happens without me having to signpost. and also i read somebody's post that was like, actually i hate content warnings when they're just like "tw: sexual assault. sexual assault happens" and it's like wow that's so vague and open-ended it could mean almost anything, and that looming ambiguity is more stressful than just encountering w/e happens in the full context of the story. obviously this is subjective but there's not really an objective way to present any information.

i mean okay originally ch 1 was gonna have a note like "do your own risk assessment before hosting & having unprotected cloacal sex with a total stranger off grindr. actually don't do anything mikey does in this fic." which would get funnier and funnier as more of what mikey actually gets up to gets revealed

but also the main tension of the whole story is literally just character motivation? you get to see mikey & raph do a lot of things but justifications for why they do them is notably lacking. u gotta figure that out. so it feels kind of didactic to even tag it as like, 'organized crime', not even in 'that's a spoiler' territory although i guess it would be, but in the sense of like, this is a structured narrative that you are supposed to form concepts about. ...so i guess that's exactly spoiler territory, actually. listen i am new to this whole "writing stories with plots" thing.

also i mean it is very funny that i've gotten kind of worried about under-tagging this or it having too extreme content when the fandom is full up on like, serial killer yandere aus or w/e else. 'x is a creepy rapist and he kills his other brothers so he can keep y as a sex toy'. actually this story is extremely tame in comparison.

anyway some people get murdered in this latest chapter of the fic, is what i'm saying.

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hyp3rfixation-h3ll · 2 years

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So, in a post you said we were free to send asks regarding the relationship/interactions MW had with certain characters. I will deliver.

What's her relationship like with each of the Shamans, or just the Shamans in general

JUMPS AROUND AND DANCES AND PRANCES AND FROLICKS SO FANCILY THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS !!!!! MWA MWA /PLATONIC im so sorry it took me so long to get to answering this I HAD TO FREAK OUT BC I DONT NORMALLY GET ASKS YAAAAY YAYAYAYA!!!

OKAY OKAY UM. im gonna be going in order of each Shaman we meet so Waterbaby first ! Which is good bc i like her :)

without futher ado, lets go!!! ^_^

(note: i drew stuff for all of the shamans but tumblr is really mean so if any of the previews come out wrong, you know who fucked up.)

Waterbaby & MW

Waterbaby and MW get along super well, actually! Despite what little interactions they’ve had in canon, I like to think they go way way back to when MW first got to Centaurworld via The Rift and started learning magic :) I’d liken their dynamic parallel to Horse and Wammawink (in a more familial sense than anything else, though.) Waterbaby offers genuinely good advice at times, and also tells stories a lot. MW isn’t much to talk, and enjoys the stories she tells. (Also Waterbaby likes making her food when she visits the houseboat)

And she’s a good should to cry on too when things prove to be to much for MW to bear.

(TL;DR I FIRMLY BELIEVE IN MW / WATERBABY FOUND FAMILY DYNAMIC I REALLY DO IDC IF THEY INTERACTED ONCE OR TWICE THEY HAVE THE DYNAMIC OF AN EDGY TEEN AND HER MOTHER WHO IS TRYING HER BEST)

Fraternal Twin Tree Shamans & MW

Okay, these two and Judge Jacket are her two…least favourite Shamans. Judge Jacket is for a completely different reason but the twins she isn’t particularly biased towards (she’s generally a bit neutral towards them). If anything, they’re nice to hang around in silence. Nature has always been a calming thing for her, so while she isn’t fond of them, they’re pretty okay to be around in certain circumstances.

Judge Jacket & MW

Sometimes a Moletaur is your friend but being in THE HOLE brings you so much PAIN™️

MW probably appreciates Jacket’s need and appreciation for justice, but being inside of the Moletaur hole makes her want to start yelling because it’s both hot AND humid and it’s a B A D T E X T U R E ™️. if it was just HOT then it’s be fine because I headcanon she’s cold all the time. Heat is nice. Humidity, though!!! Absolutely awful. Horrible texture. She would rather be stuck in the In-Between for at least a month than be in the Moletaur Hole for an hour. Loves Judge Jacket, though! Hates the texture of. Everything. in the Moletaur Hole.

But if it were up to her and not the pressure of how damp everything feels, she would definitely talk to Judge Jacket more!!

Johnny Teatime & MW

THIS ONE IS JUST ME BEING SELF INDULGENT BECAUSE I WANT MW TO ENJOY THE CATTAURS. SHUT SHHHDGSHJMGD /POS

I wanna say that MW absolutely ADORES Johnathon. Treats him like the littlest guy and likes to spar with him because his magic is surprisingly strong for such a little man! She does wish he would come down more from the tower though to visit her in the cave, but she understands that he’s sleepy a lot. (She’s also sleepy all the time, so she completely gets it. They probably take sun naps together!)

She also does this because it’s funny and Johnathon likes to nibble on things :]

AND FINALLY MY FAVOURITE INTERACTION THAT I THOUGHT UP!!!!

Whaletaur & MW

When it comes to the Shamans, I don’t think that any of the Shamans cut as viscerally deep into her emotions as much as The Last Shaman.

…

She doesn’t like to talk about how she feels about the Whaletaur.

But if she could, there would be a lot of words to say.

——————

AAAAAAAAND THATS IT!!!!! THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME THIS QUESTION BARK BARK BARK GGRGRGEEHRGRGEHG I LOVE DOING THIS SO MUCH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! YAYAYAYAHAHAJG /POS

okay gotta add the dni banner now 😔 y’all know the rules <333

#captain’s art log 🎨#the captain’s rambles 💬#YOU’VE GOT MAIL! YOU’VE GOT MAIL! 📨#centaurworld tag! 🐎🌈#f/o tag: the mysterious woman 💜🔑#kin tag: Johnathon Teatime 💝☕️#centaurworld mysterious woman #centaurworld #centaurworld waterbaby #tree shamans #moletaurs #centaurworld johnny teatime #whaletaur shaman #i have so many ideas. my brain is so full #you open up my brain and it’s a miniature version of centaurworld #that and i got big plans for MW. i gotta make a fully done piece of her #cuz the closest thing ive got is. all of my shitpost drawings of her where she’s doing balls 2 the walls bullshit #and i gotta make an actual serious picture of her #but i dont wanna <3

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nostalgiaruinedme · 3 years

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Hey I love your fics and writing style and well since I've been meaning to start writing fics I wanted to ask you if you have some advice you'd give.

Ohhh advice? Sure, I can do that! I shall bestow all of my knowledge upon you now, but you gotta look below the cut. Shhhh, it's a secret~

Okay really I just knew this was going to be a really long post and didn't want to clog up everyone's dash lol. ONTO WRITING ADVICE

I kind of live by these rules in writing:

1. Know the rules before you break them 2. ANYTHING can be inspiration 3. Remember the doll 4. Use your resources 5. Don’t hold yourself back 6. Practice 7. Enjoy yourself!!

1. Know the rules before you break them

Pay attention in English class (or whichever class for the language you're writing in) and learn the grammar!! I don't always have perfect grammar in my fics and sometimes I consciously choose to ignore grammar rules to make it more impactful, but you HAVE to know the rules before you break them. Study those grammar lessons! Learn how to use the fun punctuation, like semi colons and em dashes and en dashes and all that good stuff. I know they're scary, but they're a lot of fun too.

ALSO PLEASE USE PARAGRAPH BREAKS IM BEGGING that's like, a HUGE problem I see with a lot of new writers. Paragraph breaks are not optional!! Change 'em when the main topic of the paragraph switches or when a new character is speaking. Overdoing it with paragraph breaks is better than underdoing it, I promise.

2. ANYTHING can be inspiration

Have you ever played Story Cubes?

If you haven’t, it’s essentially this game where you roll the cubes, they each land on a different image, and you gotta tell a story that uses all of those pictures. Some are literally just a question mark or a speech bubble and that’s what you have to use. Me and my siblings used to play the game a lot. And you know what? Some of those stories are the most creative ones we’ve ever come up with. When I say anything can be inspiration for a story or a character, I mean ANYTHING!

I based my Donnie design off of the vintage globes and journals I have in my bedroom.

My little sister threw a pillow at me and it inspired a funny scene I wanted to write in another fic

I designed two OCs off of Mars and Pluto and an ENTIRE 40,000 word fanfiction based off of a space documentary I watched

My NaNoWriMo story last year was based off of the concept of shadows and how cool I thought it’d be if they could talk

Me and my friend made an entire dystopian original story commenting on our world today. It was first inspired by a crack self insert Death Note RP we had at 13 years old. Not kidding.

Literally anything can be inspiration. Challenge your mind!! The best ideas come out of completely ordinary and unexpected opportunities, in my experience. You don’t need one of those super detailed and crazy expensive prompt books (though they are fun) to write a great story. Use music, use a color, use the sky, use your favorite food, use anything! Just find inspiration!

3. Remember the Doll

Remember Mulan?

We never got to see the Huns destroy the village and we didn’t get to see them kill anyone there either. But by showing that doll there, the animators took an entire battle full of death and destruction and summed it all up in one, heartbreaking moment. You don’t need to spend ten pages writing about how horrifying the bad guy was and listing everything he did from start to finish, nor do you need to write an analysis on why she’s bad. All you need to do is show one or two very meaningful ways they impacted the world... and you can do that with something as simple as a doll lying on the ground in a burning village.

Because the doll is there; the little girl is not.

There’s a quote that sums this up really well, and I have it written on the dry erase board by my desk.

“You don't write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid's burnt socks lying in the road.” - Richard Price

And adding onto that, try to write more about what’s there, not what isn’t. Mulan didn’t say ANYTHING about the girl in that scene, but by showing what was there, it told us a story about what wasn’t. Focus on what is in the scene and it will tell your reader about what isn’t.

I do think writing a balance is good though, so I try and keep it around a 3/1 ratio of what is there vs what isn’t. Remember this is art though, not math; you can change the formula as you please just to make it feel right. It all depends on the scene and what you want.

4. Use Your Resources

You know how, in the artist community, there’s this sort of stigma around using references? And some artists have to make posts reminding others that there’s nothing wrong with using references and you even should use them?

It’s the same concept in writing!

There is NOTHING wrong with looking to other writers’ work or keep a thesaurus constantly open or bookmarking a reference page of other words to use than “said”. Nothing wrong with it at all! When I write, I always have two tabs open: my writing document and thesaurus.com. I have a folder on my computer bookmarks of ways to describe a smile and a body language dictionary. Before I write fanfic, I watch a “best moments of *character*” compilation video on Youtube to remind myself of how they speak. I watch fight scenes from The 100 or Avatar or Marvel while I write my own battles!

There are SO MANY resources out there for you to reference. Use them! And if you need some to start with, shoot me an ask. I have a ton.

5. Don’t Hold Yourself Back

One of the scariest parts of writing is the thought of “what will people think?” Creative writing is EXTREMELY personal, and you’re going to find a lot of you inside your work, including the thoughts you didn’t want anyone to know about.

People will discover how often you think about love. People will discover how dark your mind can get. People will discover the morals you hold that even you didn’t know about. They’ll discover that the person you swore you’ve moved on from is still on your mind. They’ll discover that the pain you swore you got over still hurts you.

“you can tell the deepest truths with the lies of fiction” - Isabel Allende

This thought scared me a lot, and still does. I’ve let go of and forgotten about so many story ideas because they were just a little too personal. I could write it and not publish it, but what if someone still sees? Writing, like all art, comes right from the heart and reveals a lot about a person. That paranoia of being known kept me from writing so much.

But I promise you, your most powerful stories are going to be the most personal ones.

I wrote Hated Resemblance based on my thoughts about myself, and I wrote Dagger From the Mirror based on thoughts about myself too. A lot of it is dark, most is painful, and all of it is scary to show the world. But I wrote it anyways and it’s created something pretty amazing.

Hell, even now I’m wondering if I should post that lil anecdote, but I think it’s the best way to make this part of my point stronger. See? Writing about things that affect you is the best way to make them impactful, even for something as simple as advice.

And even if you want to write about light and happy stories- you’re still going to have to get personal.

This all got pretty deep but my point is this: Don’t hold yourself back. Write what you feel you need to and it don’t worry about what anyone will think. Don’t hide that one sentence because you’re scared who will read it because you’re scared to be known so deeply. Add it in even when it’s scary.

That’s something I’m still learning how to do, and it’s a slow process that has taken years... but it’s worth it, I promise.

“Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.” - Natalie Goldberg

6. Practice

I started writing in 1st grade. I’ve written regularly since then, and this is my word count every month this year:

Most of that is fanfiction. Some are just random thoughts, some are really thought out posts or answers to your questions, and some are made up of original stories. That total words written number is since November.

You don’t have to write this much every month, I promise, I just don’t really have any other hobbies lol. My point is that practice is really really really important. Write a paragraph or even just a sentence every day. You’re gonna improve so quickly, I promise.

“Write every day. Writing is a muscle that gets stronger with use.” - Abbi Glines

But take breaks too!!! Don’t overwork yourself. Burn out is a real thing and you shouldn’t force yourself to write just because you’re scared you don’t write enough! Write at a pace that’s comfortable for you. There will always be writers out there who write more than you and even more writers who write less than you. That’s okay. Everyone has a pace they’re comfortable with, and you just gotta find yours. As long as you’re writing consistently, the numbers don’t matter too much. 50 words a day or 5000 are both good!

7. Enjoy Yourself!!

You’re here to have fun!

No matter what you’re writing (angst, romance, fix-it, AUs, hurt/comfort, fluff, ANYTHING), remember that fic writing is supposed to be fun!! You’re not getting paid to do this. On one hand, that sucks, but on the other hand it gives you the amazing opportunity to write literally whatever you want! Find projects you’re enthusiastic about, meet other writers, do collabs, make playlists for your story, create over powered OCs for the hell of it, ignore plot holes and write without regard to canon, or write the most realistic and in-depth canon-compliant book ever. Create the most self indulgent story you can think of!

Have fun. This is your story and you get to write the rules. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

Oh yeah, and one more thing. Be proud of yourself. You can get all of the comments and feedback in the world, but if you’re not proud of what you wrote, it’s gonna be hard to look back on it with joy. Be proud no matter how many reads it gets—you made it!

“I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.” - Steve Martin

#can you tell I like writing quotes #I have a whole pinterest board full of them #asks #writing advice #writblr #fanfiction #meg rambles

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stranger-who-writes-fiction · 3 years

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Back at it again with my self-indulgent comic posts. This time! It’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #3, perhaps the most tonally-distinct entry yet, with shades of The Twilight Zone.

Spoilers!

So, as mentioned, this issue is the most deliberate in terms of both its pacing and its tone, IMO.

What is that tone, you ask?

To quote Alex Danvers, from “Midvale”: Hello, darkness.

THE STORY:

Kara and Ruthye are still looking for Krem Clues in the alien town of Maypole.

(Which is actually just Small Town, USA, complete with vintage 50s aesthetics.)

But the locals are clearly hiding something! So Kara and Ruthye continue to investigate, and they eventually discover what it was that the residents of Maypole were so keen to keep hidden.

Genocide, basically.

As I said, this issue struck me as very Twilight Zone; a genre story involving the build-up to a dark twist, all set against the backdrop of an idyllic small town. (Think, like, “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” but instead of focusing on the Red Scare, it’s classism and racism.)

The wealthier blue aliens kicked all of the purple aliens out of town, and when space pirates showed up to pillage and plunder, the blue aliens made a deal with them: the lives of the purple aliens in exchange for their safety.

Which is where the episodic story connects to the larger mission; it was Krem who suggested the trade, and then joined up with the Brigands (space pirates) when he was freed by the blue aliens.

The issue ends with no tidy resolution to the terrible things Kara and Ruthye discovered, but they do have a lead on where to find Krem, now, as well as Barbond’s Brigands.

KARA-CTERIZATION:

Ironically, it’s here, in the darkest chapter yet, that we get the closest to what might be considered ‘classic’ Kara.

Which I think comes down to that aforementioned deliberate pace--this issue is a little slower, a little quieter. It gives the characters some room to breathe.

That’s not to say Crusty Kara is gone. Oh no. She is still very much Crusty. XD

But anyways. A list! Of Kara moments I loved!

I mentioned a few of these in a prior post when the preview pages came out: I like the moment where Kara blows down the guy’s house of cards, and I like that the action is echoed later in the issue when she grabs the mayor’s desk and tosses it aside. A nice visual representation of the escalation of Kara being, like. Done with these creeps. (Creeps is an understatement but you get the idea.)

Another one from the preview pages: Kara explains to Ruthye that her super hearing won’t necessarily help her detect a lie, especially if she’s dealing with an alien species she’s not familiar with.

It not only reveals her level of competence and understanding of her super powers, it also shows that, you know. She’s a thinker. She’s smart.

Amazing! Showing, rather than telling us, that Kara is smart! Without mentioning the science guild at all wow hey wow.

(Sorry, pointed criticism of the SG show fandom.)

Anyways.

I dig the PJs!

And Kara catching the bullet! Not only are the poses and character acting great, it’s also a neat bit of panel composition:

We start with Ruthye’s POV, and then move to the wide shot of the room. The panel where Kara actually catches the bullet is down and to the side of the wide shot panel--we move our eyes the way her body/arm would have to move to intercept the bullet. Physicality in static, 2D images!

Also, like. It’s a very tense moment, life-or-death, but. Ruthye’s wide-eyed surprise at the bullet in Kara’s hand? Kind of adorable.

I was pretty much prepared for the page of Kara shielding Ruthye from the gunfire to be the highlight--it was one of the first pages King shared and I was like, ‘yeah, YEAH.’ But, shockingly? The TRUE highlight of the issue?

Where do I BEGIN?!?!

EVERYTHING. About this moment. Is lovely.

From Kara holding Ruthye above the bench to explaining the concept of a piggyback ride, to telling her:

“I’m going to hold my hands here, and these hands can turn coal into diamonds, so they’re not going to let go. I’m going to keep you safe.”

HNNNNNNNNNNNG.

Ruthye’s narration--about how Kara had avoided flying as she was concerned it would freak Ruthye out--just adds a whole additional layer of YES, GOOD, YES, and her line on that splash page is great: “You see, all that time, she was worried about me.”

HNNNNNNNNNNNG. AGAIN.

To say nothing of the STELLAR ARTWORK.

And SPEAKING of that stellar artwork, Evely and Lopes continue to knock it out of the park. Each issue is distinct and beautifully crafted, a true joy to look at.

Before I jump into more of the art, a few final notes of character stuff in general.

Ruthye is the one most affected by the experience in Maypole, as she can’t comprehend how a society of people that look so nice and gentle and peaceful could have been party to such a horrible act.

One of the big criticisms of the book thus far is that Supergirl is not the main character, and I guess I can agree with that observation. Typically, in Western media, the main character is the one who goes through the most change in the story.

And, yeah. That’s Ruthye.

As I was reading the end, where Ruthye sits on the curb and Kara hugs her, I was imagining how the scene would’ve played, had King stuck with the original idea for the series: Kara as the one learning to be tough/experiencing all of this for the first time, and while I think that could certainly work...

I continue to appreciate that King literally flipped the script; that Kara, especially in this issue, is like, ‘I’ve seen this, I know this,’ as opposed to being the one going through a loss of innocence.

*Marge Simpson voice* I just think it’s neat!

Because Kara’s been a teen in DC comics for so long--ever since she was reintroduced to the main DCU continuity, actually--so this is all brand new territory, here. Having an older Kara who’s SEEN SOME STUFF.

(Alsoooooo, since Bendis made the destruction of Krypton not just inaction and climate disaster, but rather, genocide, and the subtext of a Kryptonian diaspora text, the waitress’ derogatory comment regarding the the destruction of Kryton, as well as Kara picking up the bad vibes the entire time, suggests not just a broad commentary on discrimination in all its forms, but specifically allegorical anti-Semitism. The purple aliens being forced out of their homes and into substandard living conditions, then the blue aliens--their neighbors and once-fellow residents--essentially allowing the space pirates to kill them, making them literal scapegoats, Kara discovering the remains of the purple aliens, and Ruthye’s horror at the ‘banality of evil’...yes. A case could be made, I think.)

(Which would probably require a post unto itself and a lot more in-depth discussion, nuance, and cited sources.)

(Should mention that King has brought up that both he and Orlando--the other Supergirl writer he talked to--are Jewish, and for him personally, that shaped his views on Kara’s origin story.)

I guess my point is that this issue is perhaps not as out-of-left-field as some might think, and just because there isn’t as obvious an arc for Kara, doesn’t mean there isn’t some sharp character work at play.

(I could be WAY OFF, of course, and I’m not suggesting it’s a clear 1:1 comparison. I’d actually really love to hear King talk about this issue in particular.)

Anyways.

Here’s the final page, which I think works, because as I mentioned before, there is no easy answer/quick wrap-up to the story of Maypole:

THE ART:

I mean. How many times can I just shout ‘ART! AAAARRRRRRRRRRRTTTT!’ before it gets old?

I dunno, but I guess we’re gonna FIND OUT.

There are some panels in this issue that I just. Like ‘em! From a purely artistic standpoint! Because they’re so good!

Like, I just really love the way Kara is drawn in that top panel. Her troubled, confused expression, the colors of the fading light, the HAIR.

Evely draws the best hair. I know I’ve said this before. I don’t care. I will continue to say it, because it continues to be true.

The issue I find myself running up against when I make these posts is that I really don’t want to post whole pages, as that’s generally frowned upon (re: pirating etc.) but with something like this, you just can’t appreciate it in panel-by-panel snippets.

(Guided View on digital reading platforms is a BANE and a POX I say!)

Anyways.

LOVE the implied movement of the cape settling as Kara speeds in and stops.

And, obviously, Kara flicking the bullet away is just. A+.

And the EYES, man. LOPES’ COLORS ON THE EYES???!?! BEAUTIFUL.

Also, should note the lettering! The more rounded letters for the ‘WOOSH’ of Kara’s speed (and, earlier, the super breath) work nicely, and contrast with the angular, violent BLAMS of the gunshots.

And, I gotta say, the editor is doing a really great job of not cluttering up the artwork with all the caption boxes. Which is no small task.

(I assume the editor is placing them, as editors usually handle word balloon/caption box placement, but I suppose it could be Evely? Sometimes the artist handles it. Either way, whoever’s taking care of all the text, EXCELLENT WORK! BRAVO!)

Okay I think that’s everything.

Ah, nope, wait.

MISC.

Just a funny observation, more than anything else: Superman: Red and Blue dropped this week, and King had a story in there, “The Special” (which was very good, btw.) Both Lois and the waitress swear a lot so I’m beginning to think that this is just how King writes dialogue for any adult character who isn’t Clark. XD

This is absolutely a personal preference but when Kara was like, “And my name IS Supergirl,” I was like nooooo. I know King is trying to simplify all of the conflicting origin stories and lore but I LIKE KARA DANVERS, SIR. XD

It’s almost assuredly a cash-grab/an attempt for DC to get all the money it can out of a book they don’t have much confidence in, but I like the cardstock covers! Very classy, much Strange Adventures.

(OH my gosh, can you imagine that issue 1 cover with spot gloss???? Basically the only way you could possibly improve on it.)

Okay NOW I’m done. For real. XD NEXT TIME: Kara and Ruthye go after Krem and the Brigands!

#supergirl: woman of tomorrow #long post #dc comics #supergirl: woman of tomorrow spoilers #kara zor el #comic thoughts #comic opinions #just occurred to me I should be crediting the creative team in these things #I think thus far I've included every title page?#still #will try to be better about that going forward

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lovee-infected · 3 years

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I'm about to start my own (twst) writing blog and I'm going around writers that I follow for some advice q*q could you give me any wisdom on what I should do when starting a writing blog? thank you!! I love your works and you're one of the writers that inspire me

Aa thank you baby I'm so happy to hear that I inspire you!! First off, good luck with the new writing blog! I'm glad that more authors are joining the fandom and wish you all the best with your works! 💞💖💞 Other than trying to keep your blog organized by creating a proper masterlist, choosing a suitable aesthetic, having a set of rules and making sure to tag all of the warnings and necessary mentions (gender of reader, n/sfw or trigger warning), I tried to come up with some useful advises that might help!

1) Keep up the great confidence!

First and the most important thing about a writing blog, is to be confident and strong. Look, you shouldn't be afraid of posting your works and sharing with the redt of the fandom, even as they're not as perfect as you want them to be. The more you write, the more you learn! And you'd grow to be better and better as you continue to share your works! Not even the greatest authors had been any perfect on their first days!

2) If you're accepting requests, try to set a limit

Being overwhelmed with asks is never pleasant, if you just open your inbox to face 500 requests you'd be to be terrified and confused and even lose your passion to work on any of them because of the stress and not knowing where to begin from. Try to set a limit based on your personal limits, how many requests do you think you can have at the time without stressing out because of how much they are? 10? 20? 50? 100? 200? Doesn't matter! If you feel like you're fine with huge numbers like 200 and 150, it's totally fine! If not, remember that setting a character limit would not only reduce the possible chance of stressing out and overwhelming anxiety but it'll also help you manage your inbox better and easier! You can start taking requests again just as soon as your inbox in cleared!

3) Try to treat yourself every once in a while!

Working on requests can be tiring and sometimes, boring. It's great if you enjoy working on requests no matter what they are but remember to write for your own pleasure every once in a while too!

Even if you have like 100 requests laying in your inbox, feel free to write self indulgent fics or something that you'd like to write even if it's super odd an irrelevant to your normal writings! Remember that you deserve to read something you enjoy just as much as the others do, so don't forget to bless yourself with that beautiful writing of yours ;) Remember that it's your blog, you are free to do everything that makes you happy or anything that you simply enjoy doing ^^

4) Remember that no matter what, toxicity always exists and it's not your fault

Look toxicity is very common to be found social medias, especially platforms like tumblr in which anonymous function exists. Even celebrities and world-famous artists might get attacked over pretty silly stuff every once in a while so it's something usual to happen! I wish you never receive any potentially harmful or rude asks or messages but if you ever do, best would be to block or simply ignore them! People in this platform can be ridiculous sometimes lol, there are people who DM creators just to spam hate and block the creator whom they spammed after wards lol, so don't even bother t waste your time with such people!

If anyone comes to your inbox/DMs/comments to say something harsh or leave a sharp critique, best would be to ignore them. Even if you like to answer or respond to reply to them tey to be chill and not take them seriously. Remember, even if they didn't like your content they could've just scrolled down without bothering to read your work, so if they had the guts to come and spam you with nonsense just because they didn't like your work, it's their fault! They didn't have to read, and it doesn't even matter if they liked your work or not! It's their problem and all, so remember not to let these kind of people get to you at all!

5) Take it easy with writing

Don't push yourself too hard, remember that not everything you write is supposed to be *perfect. This is even more serious when it comes to requests, thousands of unexpected ideas might pop up in your inbox and it makes it quite confusing to choose what to write or do!

First off, don't be any shy or anxious about rejecting the requests which don't follow your rules or come when you aren't accepting requests. Those who violate your rules aren't worthy of your time and work!

Secondly, keep this is mind that you aren't expected to be able to write everything! Sometimes the requests are hard to write, the idea seems odd or hard to understand, or sometimes you just don't feel comfortable or don't want to write it all, which is okay!

You always have the right to take/drop whichever of your requests and you don't owe anyone anything for this, it's your own blog, your work, and your content. Don't ever force yourself to write something which you don't like to write!

6) Your health is always the top priority

Remember that no matter how popular you are, how many followers you have, how many requests are left in your inbox or how much people are wishing to get more of your content, you're free to stop writing and put this wrong at a temporarily (or even permanent) hiatus.

Sometimes you just don't feel like writing, then don't write. If you feel like you're being too busy with work/family/school and anything please don't force yourself to write! Remember that your real life matters always come first!

Also, you might even need a break from writing without necessarily being really busy or sad, sometimes you just need to take a break from everything, and it's totally fine to do! Take as much time as you need and stay healthy during your breaks. It'd be even better if you don't even think of any new ideas/Aus while you're taking a break from writing so you can fully set your mind off stuff! Doesn't even matter if followers/readers are going to appreciate this or not, it's not about them, it's about you. Remember that your good readers/follwers who understand that authors are normal humans and not writing machines would surely understand if you need to take a break too!

7)Keep yourself motivated!

There might be days when you can and have the time to write, but something's holding you back. You feel like procrastinating over and over at some point lose the motivation to write. First off, that's a really normal matter to see as many of us have to struggle with laziness sometimes lol, but there are some useful tips to keep yourself Motamedi and hyped while you're planning to write! A bit of challenge would not only make it a lot more fun, but is also a good way to keep yourself motivated and inspired!

First, try prompt lists! They've always got plenty of useful ideas and inspirational quotes to use and are absolutely amazing to give you new ideas for a writing!

Second, try to challenge yourself by simple stuff like setting yourself word limits, trying to see how much you can write in an hour, use some suggested words in your stories (ex: Banana, train, knife, turkey) as a small challenge! You can also try small events (like milestone or holiday events) to celebrate on your blog with stuff like: Prompt list requests, CYOAs, character interaction and other new stuff that gives you a better motivation tp write instead of just having to work on the same, usual writing requests over and over.

Also, I suggest putting an specific hour for writing/ checking on your blog in your daily schedule as this is also a way of avoiding procrastination, instead of writing 10 requests a day and not writing anything for two weeks, try to set an schedule like writing 1-2 writings everyday! Remember to put your real life activities in the schedule too so you won't have to go through any trouble to find a balance between your real life and running a writing blog!

8) Remember the crediting/copyrights

I'm just adding this here because I can see quite a few of writers using uncredited art for their stories and it's been much and less of an issue lately ^^;

First off, the arts/headers used in your writing. Make sure not to use any uncredited card or anyone else's edit without their permission, otherwise it's nothing different from stealing the work from the original artst!

If you're going to leave a link to the artist, make sure to check on them and check if they allow reposts with credit or not. If they don't, don't use their art. If they do, make sure to give them a proper credit with a link to them! (:

Editors too on the other hand spend a very long time making their edits and and aesthetics, so not copying their work is just as important as not stealing art from the artsits!

Pinterest is filled with uncredited art and if there's a pinterest art who is not linked to the original artist, putting the empty pinterest pin link would be useless and steal counted as stealing art.

9) Stick with your own writing style!

Writing style is like signature, everyone's got their very own and unique writing style. From the way you portray characters to what elements you use as the story develops, you're totally different from each and every of other authors in this fandom!

You may sometimes wonder if your writing style is any good at all while you look at other creators writings and feel the difference, and I gotta say: It doesn't even matter what others are doing! All that is important, is you.

Don't try to change your style to become close another writer's style, your own style is great as it already is! Even if you aren't yet that experienced with writing and feel like your writing could be better, remember that your writing skills will indeed improve as you continue to write and read newer and newer stuff, so don't worry about it!

Each and every writing style has got its own beauty, not everyone may totally enjoy your style at first but and as you continue to write, you'd get to learn what makes people enjoy your writing even more or how you can attract new readers with your writings, your style will change for the better as you write!

Though it's totally fine if you feel like there are writers who inspire and motivate you, remember that you won't have to be them in order to improve! You don't need to be just like them to be great! Even if you do have some issues like being a non-native speaker which can make it quite hard for you to write, you'd automatically learn and have most of your errors fixed as the time passes. I made LOTS of mistakes in my first writings but I hardly ever make any mistakes now because I'm used to it! Though it was a bit late I finally recognized my mistakes and corrected them! And I'd continue to correct more of my mistakes as I continue to write!

10) It's very good to have different writer mutuals

This one is rather optional, just a small recommendation! Though there are many writers who might recommend this as a rather important factor for running a writing blog, I'd say that this isn't necessary as there are still well-known tumblr authors and even twst authors who gained attention to themselves on their own and not with the help and support of any mutuals or writer friends, so it isn't impossible to be successful even without having any mutuals!

The thing with having mutuals is that it makes everything easier. A totally new twst blog can gain around 100 followers on its first without even posting anything more than a writing and a list of rules only because of being supported and boosted by well-known blogs while a for normal blog without any support or boosting, it may take up to 2-3 weeks or even an entire month to gain that 100!

Also, getting to talk with different authors (especially those who are more experienced than you) is motivational and heartwarming, you can feel like you have a team to belong to. You can discuss different writing ideas/issues/blog chores with them and see what they may think. You can even have their support with new ideas if you feel stuck/unmotivated while writing a piece!

I didn't have any mutuals on my first days either and I admit that this made things a bit hard, but it didn't hold me back from continuing to write! Yet I admit that it's surely very useful to have a couple of writer friends around you whom you can share your ideas with! Mutuals support each other, reblog each other's works and give each other a better chance of having their works read by more users, which is quite amazing and helpful!

11) Go for it and don't give up!

Remember that no one, not even the greatest writing blogs have been perfect on their first days. They weren't well-known back then either! And they wouldn't have been any successful today without being hard-working and strong. Leaving up to the previous 10 rules is the hardest part of having a blog, and it's all about not giving up!

Do not try to judge your writing and talents based on the amount of notes your posts get or how many followers you have, because these aren't ever going to show your true worth and talents! But I assure you, if you continue to write even through your hard days, your unmotivated days and your sad days no matter how hard it's supposed to be, everything will change. The more you write, the higher the chance of having new people find and read your works would be! Keeping up the hard work and believing in yourself is the key to achieving anything you may wish for, even having a successful writing blog!

As you continue to write, you'll get more readers, more notes on your posts, more followers and more people who enjoy your content!

Hope that these are helpful, wish you all the greatest and good luck with your writing blog!!💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞

#answered #twst #twisted wonderland #twst x reader #twisted Wonderland x reader #writing #writing tips #writing blog tips

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1llusionmachine · 3 years

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I've been tagged by @elorianna to do the writing tag game! Thank you very much 💖💖 For those of you who don't know, I actually write Fanfic!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

I've written a mere 6 fics 😳 I still have to grow my collection! I also write for a couple of fandoms aside from Milex - Finn and Poe from Star Wars, and I have one Gorillaz 2Doc fanfic.

What’s your total Ao3 word count?

10,634 - not many at all! I mostly post oneshots. Maybe one day I'll post a work that's that amount alone. The only public document I've written that was that long was my dissertation😂

What’re your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. All We Are

2. Into Place

3. Why Not?

4. Of the Morning

5. The Element of Surprise

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I don't get many comments so I try to reply to them all as they mean a lot to me! Thank you commenters! 🥰

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh definitely 'All We Are' - it's my only Gorillaz fanfic so far and I think the nature of Gorillaz as a franchise demands that it has darker undertones, especially the themes of the history of how Murdoc has treated 2D in the past. Spoiler alert but I kind of like that Murdoc doesn't pursue his feelings and cuts it off - it feels very in character.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Literally all of my others tend to have happier conclusions - I just like to see my ships get together haha! I would say 'The Element of Surprise' has the happiest ending - I just wanted Al to have his death ramps ring back so it was purely self-indulgent😂

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

None yet! I did have an idea to pair Finn and Poe with Inside Llewyn Davis, although it's probably more of an AU than a crossover - perhaps Poe (in the starving artist role of Llewyn) meets Finn at one of the Gorfiend's dinner parties and it continues from there? Who knows bro🤷🏻‍♀️

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really, everyone's been very kind!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do write smut but I've only ever published one piece, 'Not Safe For Comms' - it took a lot of courage to post that one because even though writing's writing at the end of the day, smut does have a reputation per-se and, lets be honest, no one wants to read bad smut, so I had to make sure it was just right - it takes a lot to really build it up and make a reader feel excited about it and believe it. Maybe more is to come (har har) if I get any more ideas 👀

Tbh I just prefer to read it (who said that?)

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so?

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge!

What’s your all time favourite ship?

That is a huge question!

I LOVE Milex but I'm currently only really reading it and not writing it - no particular reason aside from a general lack of content and inspiration atm but this could change with Miles' new album and potential AM7? 👀

Can't lie, I'm really digging FinnPoe/Stormpilot the most atm. I have so many thoughts and feelings about them but I'm just upset that disney didn't go for it and put them together - it's literally tangible: their whirlwind meeting where they saved each others' lives and Poe gave Finn his NAME, the lip bite™ at the end of Force Awakens, the dynamic of the dashing flyboy pilot falling HARD for a rebel stormtrooper he just met, the way they bicker like a married couple, god I love it. It's also no secret that I'm currently on an Oscar Isaac hype and the fact that both he AND John Boyega were actively rooting for them to get together (even saying they played the roles romantic) just makes me love them even more. We were ROBBED!

I also ship the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler(my TRUE otp since 2006) Cassian and Jyn from Rogue One(why they gotta die like that) and The Eleventh Doctor and Clara (they're just cute alright!) as well as many more!

What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I also tend to also scrap things that just aren't working. I had a Milex one where the lads played a flirty game of pool set in 2005 but I was wrestling with it for so long that I just let it go. I also wrote around 10k of a fic where Alex was undercover and Miles was a crime boss😂 but I felt icky about it cause even though I made Alex an independent detective in a noir style it still felt a bit copaganda-esque and I didn't like that. The only WIP I currently have is a very basic FinnPoe one(inspired by Oscar dancing in Ex Machina cause I am what? Basic x) but I think I only like it for how I've written the ending so I need to find a way to get that to work 'cause I really like it!

What are your writing strengths?

I'm not the best out there - I mostly write for myself haha but I think I'm pretty good at description and scene setting, as well as some exposition.

What are your writing weaknesses?

A lot of things tbh, even though I did creative writing at A Level 🙃 I struggle with plot a lot(hence the oneshots), and sometimes dialogue stumps me. It's all a learning process!

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I've never had a reason to, but I'd have to get it translated accurately if I did. I think it's also important not to alienate a reader as sometimes I read stuff and it's a bit jarring if you're not sure on the meaning.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Milex is my first published fic, but I think I wrote for maybe Doctor Who back in the day? I've been reading fanfic for years, though.

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I have so few that I like them all! I do like my Gorillaz one which is surprising as that one took me the least time to write and I didn't even expect to write it at all - it's somehow my most popular fic(maybe the gorillaz fandom is just super active?) and I think the more angsty ending gave me a lot more to play with.

#oh wow look ive written an essay 💀💀#thank you so much this was so fun???? makes me wanna continue with that wip i talked about ahaha ive been realy neglecting writing recently #writing tag #fanfic #my fanfic

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creepy-carrion · 4 years

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Ticci Toby CIPA rambles

Ok so, I am definitely not a medical expert. But I do really enjoy researching these things, and getting to apply it to my hyperfixation makes it even better. I tried using reliable sources as much as possible. So here y’all go, more of this shit. Sorry if some of y’all aren’t into this kinda post, this is definitely self-indulgence.

Also, if you notice any incorrect information on this, lemme know. This is mainly just my findings so there could be misinformation.

This is a whole ass excuse for me to excitedly ramble about medical stuff

Gotta start off by saying, during this I learned CIPA is a distinct form of Congenital Insensitivity to Pain. However, I assumed Toby also has CIPA so that’s what this post will be based on.

CIPA is not just defined by an inability to feel pain, but also an inability to sweat, which is what the A stands for (anhidrosis). This is what leads to those dangerously high fevers (hyperpyrexia) and seizures brought on by overheating (febrile seizures). Though sometimes these fevers happen without explanation.

I have looked at multiple sources, but some of them conflict a bit when it comes to the ability to feel temperature. Like, they definitely can’t feel when they are burning themselves, for example. However, this might also be because CIPA is a distinct form of congenital insensitivity to pain. Like, the U.S. National Library of Medicine states on their CIP page that they can distinguish hot and cold, but their CIPA page says they can’t feel temperature at all. After looking around for a bit, I think they can somewhat feel temperature, but it is very impaired. A study on NCBI states that it’s characterized by no feeling of discomfort related to temperature and consistent errors in distinguishing between hot and cold moist substances.

Back to Toby. Boy chewed clean through his cheek, which yeah, accidental amputation/self-mutilation is a thing frequently seen in people with CIPA. Usually tongues, lips, fingers. We also know he chews at his fingers, but he has never bitten them off. Come to think of it, this might be why I hc him as a chewer.

I also think it might be important to highlight that Toby’s inability to feel pain is only beneficial in certain ways, and it definitely isn’t a superpower. Like yeah, he won’t feel a slap to the face or most other relatively harmless attempts from his victims to defend themselves. But he won’t exactly notice a knife lodged into his sides either. Not only that, but anything internal will go unnoticed as well. If his appendix bursts he won’t have any idea. Pain is meant as a warning system and he doesn’t have that. Considering how physical and dangerous his job is to begin with I imagine slender can heal him/keep him alive anyways. This is also something I think is the case because people with CIPA heal slowly from bone and skin injuries, which can lead to bone infections and a condition called charcot joints (WARNING BEFORE YOU LOOK THIS UP: pictures of this are gnarly).

His goggles are probably useful because of his CIPA as well, eye injuries are common.

Cannot feel tickles :(

A very large number of people with CIPA have an intellectual disability, which Toby does not have. However, about half show signs of hyperactivity and/or emotional instability, both of which Toby seems to possess, at least in his fandom characterizations. I am not actually sure where the hyperactivity aspect of his personality came from, but it kinda fits him in this way. As for emotional instability,, well,,,, yeah.

Mentioned this before, but Toby likely wouldn’t feel hunger pains, which can make eating feel like a chore and makes it easy to accidentally skip a meal. His sense of taste is unaffected, though.

For sources I used the U.S. National Library of Medicine, two NCBI studies, and some case studies. I tried-

#hesitantly clicks post #ticci toby #creepypasta #toby rogers #tobias erin rogers #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta headcanons #creepypasta imagines #creepypasta scenarios #creepy-carrion

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fishylife · 3 years

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Street Dance of China S4 Ep 3

(I’m having problems with Tumblr not saving my posts...)

- Oh no people are going to start getting eliminated! :o Well, I’m still really glad that we had two whole episodes of people just dancing and having fun and getting the opportunity to showcase who they are and how they dance.

- This question just occurred to me, but where do people look when they watch dance performances? As I watched the Go Go Brothers, I was thinking to myself, “Where do I look? If I look at one of them, I might miss what the other Brother is doing!” Just my musings lol.

- I am super shallow but people tripping makes me laugh, so yes, Nelson accidentally tripping did make me chuckle. (+ Rochka’s reaction)

- Yibo and Yixing discussing the SDOC theme song. It made me laugh because the lyrics are kind of hype but Yibo and Yixing aren’t exactly the most facially expressive people lol.

- After every performance Henry’d be like “let’s collaborate!!!!!!” Han Geng finally stepped in being like aight Henry you gotta take it easy on the recruitment because we’ve literally only seen three performances. I’m still not really sure of the format of the show from now on, so I’m not sure if they form new teams afterwards.

- Yixing was so guilty about not giving Bouboo a vote.

- Rochka’s shock @ Boubou not getting four votes.

- He’s ashamed.

- I think if a dancer gets less than 4 votes, then other dancers are allowed to challenge them for a spot to advance, but whoever loses is eliminated out of the tournament, so you have to be super confident to challenge. And if a dancer only gets 1 or 2 votes, they are eliminated.

- Yibo asked Rochka why he wouldn’t challenge Bouboo and Rochka said he’d never go against his teacher/big brother v.v They exchanged hearts but then Rochka pretended to throw the heart away and crush it lol.

- While I was expecting a bit more from Bouboo, I don’t think his challenger JC Jun was better than him. JC Jun was kind of wobbly, and I think his dance didn’t match the music as well as Bouboo’s did.

- Yixing had his head down when he voted for Ibuki too, so I think he just gets nervous about voting.

- Henry wanted to say that Ibuki was like lightning but he said the word for a flashing light/disco light and Han Geng wanted to give him shit for it.

- Yixing said that he thought AC’s waacking almost felt like krump.Yixing said that if he was to collaborate with AC, AC should do the arm swing, and Yixing would do the waacking lol. I am all for seeing Yixing doing more dance styles! Not gonna lie, I think he’d look cute doing waacking.

- Ye Yin’s performance was really nice! The music was unique and the way he danced, with the tap dance and folk-like elements really suited it.

- Rochka said he wants to know Ye Yin more and said they also have the same smile.

- Xiao Jie said he’d never battle Ye Yin but he got peer pressured by the captains into freestyling to Ye Yin’s self-produced song lol.

- To show face, you know? The entire time he was like “but this doesn’t count, okay?!!!!” since he wasn’t actually challenging Ye Yin, and it was just for funsies.

- The judges were a bit troubled by Xiaoming’s performance because at the end, he was supposed to fall but his fall wasn’t coordinated with the sound effect in the music. Xiaoming was like yeah, it’s pretty difficult but I’m hoping that my challenger wouldn’t be able to get it too and Yixing was laughing his goose laugh. But Xiaoming was eliminated with zero votes in the end.

- Kelo and Uwa had a horror mental hospital-themed dance which was interesting. Kelo said it was based on a nightmare he had as a child.

- Yang Kai wasn’t impressed though. He said he’d performed something similar with Liangliang before. He felt that Kelo and Uwa were performing but not really dancing. I can see where he’s coming from. Kelo and Uwa got three votes.

- Xiaohai ended up challenging them. He used the wheelchair too but like...somehow his expression just makes us unable to not laugh.

- I think he did really well considering he’d only heard the music once. And he returned to the wheelchair at the end of the performance lmfao

- Apparently when Xiaohai was looking up at the beginning, he was asking Li Yulong (who I assume is the person in charge of the music) for music cues but Li Yulong just laughed at him lol.

- Yibo basically said that Kelo and Uwa’s performance felt a bit abrupt in the story telling side, and that there weren’t really highs and lows to their performance.

- Rochka was talking crap about Bouboo behind his back and Yibo tattled which resulted in Rochka getting whacked in the face.

- Zyko taught Yibo and Rochka how to do his fancy leg moves.

- Yixing talking krump with Auju. Auju was like you’re really good for someone who’s only been learning for a year, but then Yixing was like, I practise 6 hours a day and Auju was like ?!?!

- Zyko + Henry (with Henry’s infamous “getting down while playing violin” move)

- Poppin’C introduced himself, saying he was from Italy and Switzerland, and Yibo and Yixing were thinking of all the things from Italy they knew. Yibo was like “...Valentino Rossi...” and Yixing was like “....pizza.....” These two spacey twinks istg.

- Anyway, Poppin’C’s performance was nice. Not only were his moves clean and impressive, but he also expressed the lyrics through his dance.

- Rochka fanboying over Poppin’C’s dance :P At one point, the lyrics were about hearts, and Poppin’C did some moves where he made a heart and Rochka here is saying how cute it was.

- Poppin’C said he missed his daughter and everybody’s like ?? a baby??? :3 :3 :3

- Also, I saw Uwa in the audience, so I think that the eliminated contestants get to continue watching.

- Poppin’C said that before, he was more fierce, but now that he has a daughter, he’s a little smoother and sweeter :3 Also he was describing that the singer’s voice in the song made his skin feel like chicken and everybody was like ??? Luckily Yixing saved the day lol. In Chinese, goose bumps are called “chicken pimples” or something like that.

- Bozi was next. In his introduction, Bozi said he was from Guangzhou, and maybe that’s why it sounded like so many people in the audience were pronouncing 波子 in Cantonese.

- Eleven said something very interesting about B-boys. He said that in their profession of dance, they don’t fear b-boys who can do tricks, but they fear b-boys who can listen to music. I think it’s a reference to the fact that b-boys are often doing their own thing and disregard the music, which makes sense. Sometimes b-boys are closer to gymnasts because they are so focused on the spins and other really athletic moves they do. But because their moves are so difficult, they sometimes don’t move to the music which is supposed to be the point of dancing.

- Bozi passed with 4 votes. And he did a bit of krump at the beginning, which Yixing admitted he fell for haha. Bozi said that Eleven helped him choreograph that part, so it’s Eleven who knows Yixing well >3

- The director asked Bozi who he thought his biggest b-boy rival on the show was. Of course, we all thought he was going to say Lil Kev, but he ended up saying Xiaoji and Xiaoji was like ?? me?? Bozi’s reasoning was that he’s more troubled by dancers with a different style from him because he doesn’t know how to beat them. From the small clips they showed, I think Xiaoji has a more animated style, whereas Bozi is more serious and reserved.

- Acky-san cheering on MT Pop lol. (”Embarrassing dad at baseball game” mode activate)

- MT Pop has really impressed me in the competition so far though. The way he moves is so cool and creative. I think he purposely goes for a kind of...monster vibe? Like he often has this creepy smile on his face lol. He’s not only dancing, but he’s using popping techniques to change how he moves entirely, including simple things like walking or how he turns his head. I think MT Pop is my favourite contestant.

- He said the monster from Pan’s Labrynth inspired this dance. So I guess I was kind of right that he does draw inspiration from monsters and other creatures.

- Low key mad at Han Geng for not giving MT Pop his vote lol. Geng-ge said he wanted to give someone a chance to challenge. Of all people, why MT Pop?? I don’t want him to goooo.

- Henry wanted to try doing the voiceover for the challenger and Han Geng indulged his overdramatic ass.

- Baby Dolphin challenged. He had some cool moves at the beginning, but I think he fell apart a bit towards the end, based on the judges’ reactions (as we didn’t see the full performance). Plus, I think MT Pop’s approach to dancing is just too unique and interesting to eliminate at this point.

- Kabamba had an interesting performance that had African and Latin influences, with big and energetic movements. Tianci challenged but he went with a general hip hop approach which did not suit the music at all. (I looked up Kabamba. Her name is Latrice Kabamba, but she also goes by 林珊娜 on her social media, which is why she’s sometimes called Nana on the show).

- Acky-san was repeating everything that people were saying around him. Stuff like jiayou!! and other words of encouragement. Dianmen who was sitting next to him was just lol’ing.

- Ma Xiaolong was performing to a song called 棋 and this word usually refers to any kind of board game. Ma Xiaolong’s first moves looked like he was putting pieces on a board and you just know that kind of stuff draws Yixing’s attention right away.

- I think Kenken’s style of dance is the kind of dance that the general public would really enjoy. Whereas some kinds of dance don’t really appeal to people who aren’t into dance, I think Kenken’s kind of dance will attract both the dance-conscious people as well as those who aren’t. I definitely got that vibe from him in the dance that he choreographed, and also his individual performance.

- Not even gonna question this. Perfection. Rochka catboy here we go.

- Okay, I agree with Colin’s performance not making the cut. Based on his introduction, he was supposed to be a popping expert, but his dance didn’t showcase that. His dance was more of a contemporary dance piece, but while we’ve had performances similar to that, his choreography didn’t stand out in comparison. After his performance he had a bit of a cry. Yixing mentioned that it was hard to judge because of the emotional aspect. But admittedly, this emotional stuff is usually the reason why I don’t like competition shows. It was revealed that Colin had lost his grandfather. Now, I’m going to sound cold, but I don’t like it when sob stories are brought in, because it makes us feel bad when we don’t like a piece of art that comes from very pure intentions. Yixing’s reasoning for not giving a vote was that he felt that the emotions overshadowed the dance, which is a problem because this is a show about dance. Han Geng’s reasoning was that he felt that the skill level could have been better. Yibo was quite moved by the performance, and I think that’s why he gave his vote to Colin.

- We got a preview for this week’s hotpot show.

- Yixing and his emotional support giant cup

- Lots of laughing (including Yixing laughing) which is good for the soul

#thinking out loud #cvariety #street dance of china #screencaps

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cabin-13 · 4 years

Note

u said self indulgent nico hcs?? 👀👀

ajkdsjkkj when I say self-indulgent, it’s Self-Indulgent and i pretty much ignore richard’s canon / haven't reread the books from either series in a long time nor have i read toa but if ur really interested... (long post ahead, sorry!)

nb nico is top tier

goes by he/they pronouns

touristcore aesthetic that’s slowly encroaching into e-person territory

he’s The Blueprint

likes thorn from the hex girls (even the reboot ver.) but digs dusk’s look more

how is this related u may ask?

yeah, i answer

idc abt canon so he and drew are bitchy friends and drew rags on his appearance constantly while brushing his hair but throws in self-care tips btwn loving insults

nico: you know im not a boy right

drew: doesnt change the fact you look like a wet rat, sweetie <3

i will forever stand by reynico being (platonic) soulmates and im gonna b extra self-indulgent and say they were friends in previous lives too and that’s why they vibed w each other so well <3

speaking of previous lives, well.... heh..

(no but really, this hc is kinda embarassing but , if u want elaboration uhhhhhhhhhh)

i know nico only has like. a 5th grade education but i like to think he would be a good student ... if anything i think hades would at least homeschool him with the ghosts of (famous) teachers ??? he seems to be naturally curious and he’s kind of a smart ass (not in a mean way) in canon idk

polyglot nico! polyglot nico! polyglot nico!!!! he becomes the go-to translator at camp ( like he isn't already sjkjskjdk)

yes he would know asl. why? bc i said so and rick needs to include include some hoh/deaf characters within the greek/roman pantheon <3 (if there is, not counting hearthstone from mcga)

leo finds out abt nico knowing spanish bc he once snorted at a joke he said and now leo won’t stop telling him shit like “¿cuál es la fruta que más se ríe? .... la naranja, ja, ja, ja --”

ironically has the best hair at chb (rick once said the di angelos had silky hair in the titan’s curse i think + reyna said something abt his hair too in boo ?? i'll have to check...) once he cleans up and the aphrodite kids are seething

nico’s hair starting to gray at a young age is also an interesting concept ! i think tumblr user fuocogo drew something ft that and it stuck with me

really self indulgent but he’s roman at heart (maybe even Literally. i read somewhere that an italian fan said the di angelos fit the desc. of modern day romans better than venicians ?? if i find it, i’ll link it >>>)

i like to think his family are legacies of victoria seeing as he’s always one of the key pieces / an important informant for winning both wars ... plus his grandpa was a diplomat and uhhh idk where I was going w this ngl

speaking of family, I need to know if the di angelo bloodline no longer exists assuming maria was an only child and there was no mention of any other di angelos aside from her parents ..? i like the idea of nico finding out that he has more family tho !!

also I would love it if rick cleared up where and when he met maria pls and thank u <3

I MISS BABY NICO’S PERSONALITY SM ... which is why i propose that whenever one of his friend’s see his eyes sparkling and arms waving while he babbles abt whatever topic, they think it’s really cute !!!! like !! keep talking !!

he gets embarrassed when he sees his friends smiling at him but it kinda makes him a bit teary eyed bc it’s been so long since he was able to talk abt his interests without being shut down / forcing himself to keep quiet because he felt like he was being too childish/annoying

what im saying is that he should be able to act like a kid bc he is one !!!! he's 14 !!!!!

he either has the cutest laugh or the weirdest laugh and it strictly depends on who ur asking

i feel like he sneezes like a kitten...............he sneezes and everyone whips their head around to look at him and he’s never wanted to dig a hole and put himself in it more than now

i like the imagery of tinkling bells being associated with him so im gonna sayyy he would have a necklace with a little bell (something like this kinda ??) and yes, leo would’ve made it for him as a joke kinda but not really

valdangelo (either as a friendship or nah) is underrated

like ur telling me this kid has a metal dragon and builds the coolest things ever and nico doesn't even think it’s a little bit cool ?? nah. rr did them dirty.

the kids at camp love him and i won't take no for an answer

he brings out ye ol’ mythomagic figurines to explain/show them the monsters and gods of the greek pantheon

it’s a win-win situation bc he gets to babble abt his hyperfixation and the kids get to learn abt what they're gonna get into in a way that’s better than the camp orientation film (since nico’s literally the only one who’s seen it ((but i think the stolls wanted to check it out too ??)) )

they give him a “camp’s best counselor <3333” mug and he cries abt it to reyna and hazel

yes he’s wearing an unusual amount of friendship bracelets no he's not gonna take them off shut up

unfortunately im team short!nico bc i want 2 see him get engulfed by the hugs his sisters (yes this includes reyna) and friends give him !!!

he wears demonia platform sneakers / doc martens (and converse but that’s p much a given) thank you <3

piper/nico friendship ... I Need It

they borrow each other’s clothes constantly

leo and them clown on jason and jason is Suffering but he loves them all so it’s ok

piper could probably carry nico

nico stress bakes

yeah

he and clovis become good friends and hang out in the dream world and u know what, im gonna say they’re cuddle buddies too. clovis seems like he would give nice hugs !

im a sucker for nico having friends from different pantheons too !!! also becoming sort-of friends with gods/immortals of different pantheons !!

the underworld demigod discord gc is cursed; one moment they're all talking abt how they're pretty much fated to stay in the underworld while they're both living and after they die but the next moment someone says they want a hug and a chorus of “yeah...”’s follows.

nico was a momma’s boy most definitely

speaking of which, i like to think that while him and bianca looked like their dad and mom respectively, it would’ve switched when they got older ?? idk

autistic nico ..... rick make it canon and not btwn the lines......

idk how to explain this one bc it’s just Plain Weird but . i feel like . nico would like?? hang out under his bed ??? maybe i’ll draw a pic or something and edit this later sjjdjkddk

this is just me projecting but he hates looking at mirrors / seeing himself in photos bc the person he sees doesn't match the person he sees in his head ?? if that makes sense ??? like he doesn't look like the nico he used to be bc of how much his appearance changed ? idk

uhhh he sometimes hallucinates, esp when he was in tartarus and in the month after coming out of the jar

maybe i’ll elaborate on this later ..

i need more annabeth and nico friendship pls...... both of them like/liked percy and now he can't stop getting clowned

HOWEVER.... if I see one more “not his/my type” joke im going to delete my tumblr

speaking of which, i have a conspiracy theory abt Things, but i don't wanna get my ass sniped into next tuesday

introvert leo forcing himself to be the group comedian even though he’d much rather be with machines and extrovert nico who pushes ppl away so he doesn't get hurt but desiring the company of another type vibes. im not gonna elaborate.

his latest hyperfixation is pokemon and his favorite pokemon are gengar and skitty, but jirachi and mimikyuu are close seconds

has a crush on N Harmonia and a bunch of the male gym leaders no im not gonna elaborate

this isn't a hc but. rick u really gotta stop writing abt ppl automatically distrusting nico because of his appearance / godly parent (although some were kinda warranted based of their personal history even though nico still pulled through in the end) im getting tired of reading abt ppl wanting to like. hurt him or Actually hurting him for stuff he didn't have control of sjkjsjkdsjkdk (like wtf happened with frank when hazel got poisoned?? I thought frank actually liked nico ahjkjsjkf)

uhhhhh that’s p much it ?????? sorry for the long ass post .. maybe i’ll write abt him more if ppl really want me to...

#nico di angelo #pjo #please tell me to shut the fuck up #im mortified #null.txt

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megz1985 · 4 years

Text

Meeting the Band

I’m back with more self indulgent Dad!Calum fluff for you. I got a few messages asking me to make more Keegan and Calum content, so here we are. To those of you who were asking for more, I’m sorry it took me so long, motivation was low for awhile.

A few notes to make 1. This is only the second 5SOS piece I’ve written and posted 2. Positive feedback is always appreciated.

This one got way longer, and I’m not even sorry. This one takes place before Hoodie Thief. Here we go.

Warnings: None really, it’s more fluff.

Words: 5126

________________________________________________________________

“Cal go?” Keegan lisps, stumbling across the living room as he’s getting ready to leave for rehearsals. At nineteen months old, she’s not the steadiest on her feet and often needs a translator for the words she’s learning everyday. Except for 'Cal' and 'Mama' those words are clear as day.

Calum grins down at her before he stops gathering his things and crouches to her height catching her in his arms happily. Keegan snuggles into his chest and Calum holds her tightly. You grin over at them from where you’re sitting on the floor, you had been playing with Keegan when she noticed Calum packing up and she abandoned you for her other favourite person.

It's been almost six months since you met Calum at the park that day, and started dating. Keegan has your boyfriend wrapped firmly around her little finger and he has been spending most nights at your place, leaving early for band stuff to care for Duke at home. Calum loves your little girl just as much as you do and you can honestly say you never thought you could find someone that loved her like that.

“I’ve got to go rehearse Bubba, but once I’m done I’m gonna go home and walk Duke, before I come back for dinner with you and Mama” Calum promises, standing up with Keegan on his hip as he continues looking for his wallet.

You frown where you’re watching from the floor, “why don’t you just bring Duke here?” you ask. “I feel bad for the little guy always alone while you’re here with us, Keegan loves him.”

Calum eyes you curiously but Keegan cheering “DUKE!” cuts off any protest he might have had.

“I just. Is it too soon for things like that?” He asks carefully, making a face at Keegan before setting her back down on her feet when she wriggles in his arms a clear sign she wants down.

You shrug “it’s your call Cal, but you’re always here, Duke could be too” you hum as Keegan falls into your lap, pressing a noisy kiss to your cheek as she does.

Calum nods, finally uncovering his wallet on your couch. “I’ve gotta run. But I’ll see you both for dinner” he hums, crouching down to kiss your lips softly, before pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Keegan’s head.

“So she wants you to bring Duke to live at hers?” Ashton asks, while they’re on a lunch break from rehearsals for their upcoming tour.

Calum shrugs ducking to avoid Michael’s hand that’s reaching to mess up his hair, “I don’t know, I think she just doesn’t want Duke to be alone all the time, I mean I haven’t slept at my place in a month now, always at y/n’s with her and Keegan” he hums, poking aimlessly at his salad. “Plus, I’m gonna leave Duke with them when the tour starts, so it might be good, get him used to her house and Keegan always being around, she’s a little terror sometimes.”

Luke raises an eyebrow at Calum, “speaking of Keegan, when do we get to meet her?” he asks, poking Calum in the bicep.

“Before tour, I hope” Michael cuts in, fake pouting at his best friend. “Crystal asks me every night if I’ve met her yet, wants to know what she’s interested in so she can start spoiling her or some shit”

Calum chuckles, “I know, I just, she’s a baby and I didn’t want you idiots to scare her. But I was thinking maybe it’s time for you guys to meet Keegan too. Considering you didn’t terrify her mama when you met her” he teases.

“So you are moving Duke into y/n’s?” Ashton asks, drawing the focus back to the original topic.

Calum huffs, “not move him in, but I guess he can sleepover when I do, right?”

All three of his bandmates nod, sharing knowing looks, they’ve never seen Calum this gone for anyone before.

Calum gets back to yours a little later than he planned on, with Duke on his leash bouncing around his feet as he tries to carry a dog bed, a bag with all Duke’s necessities, and the dinner he promised he would bring. He can hear you singing to Keegan somewhere in the house, which he has come to learn means she’s either tired or on the brink of a tantrum.

“Go find our girls Duke” Calum grins dropping the leash in his hand and watching as the little ball of fluff takes off into your house, following the sounds of you and Keegan. Turning Calum makes his way to your kitchen, wanting to put everything in his hands down, he drops the dog bed on the floor as he goes, and sets the bags down on your counter, just as you slope into the room.

“There’s a dog in my living room” you tease, dropping the leash onto the counter and reaching out to pull Calum into a hug, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“You told me to bring him” Calum counters, and you giggle, nodding your head, as you peek into the bags smiling at the food he brought. “It’s still okay?”

You roll your eyes fondly at your boyfriend as you start to unpack the bag of Duke’s stuff, finding a home in your pantry for the treats and dog food, before you turn to your sink filling the water dish and setting it in a corner. Calum watches you closely, taking your actions as an affirmation, that yes it is still okay, that he brought Duke along with him.

“Mama?” Keegan calls coming into the room Duke trailing behind her, her eyes landing on Calum and with an excited noise she starts to clumsily run at him, “Cal!” she cheers happily as he catches her in a hug, swinging her up easily onto his hip. Keegan points over his shoulder “Duke” she says seriously.

“Yeah I brought Duke to play with you” Calum grins “and I brought dinner, are you hungry Bubs?”

Keegan nods, dropping her head onto Calum’s shoulder, and he turns to see you’ve already gotten Keegan’s dinner onto one of her plates and are setting it and a sippy cup in front of her high chair. Calum doesn’t hesitate to bring her over, setting her in the chair and doing up the seatbelt across her lap, before he slides the tray into place, and passes her plate and cup over to her, with a kiss to her head.

Calum waits until Keegan is fully distracted by her food and you have brought his and yours over as well to bring up what’s on his mind. “The guys and I were talking today, and I think it’s time they meet Kee. I mean if you’re okay with it that is” he mumbles almost nervously.

“Of course I’m okay with it Cal. They’re your best friends, your family. Plus I wanna see Mikey again” you tease, your eyes sparkling.

Calum huffs “he’s taken y/n” he mumbles, “but you’re sure, they ask me about her all the time”

You laugh, reaching out to squeeze his fingers gently, “tell them to come over this weekend, and bring the girls. We can barbecue, have a few drinks, and that way Kee’s on her own turf, she’ll feel more comfortable” you offer.

“Deal” Calum grins before Keegan calls his name and pulls his attention over to her, effectively ending your conversation.

Michael and Crystal are the first to arrive on Saturday, you let them in only to be pulled into a quick hug from Michael, him pressing a kiss to your cheek before Crystal hugs you as well. You smirk at the Tangled gift bag in Crystal’s hand, “came prepared I see” you tease.

Crystal shrugs, “I’m not above bribing my way into being the favourite” she giggles as Michael rolls his eyes.

“I brought you this” Mikey offers, passing you a bottle of your favourite wine, “and that gift is from both of us” he reminds his girlfriend who rolls her eyes in response.

You lead the couple through the kitchen and towards the sliding door that leads onto your deck, and into the backyard where Calum and Keegan are. Calum grins coming over to greet his band mate and best friend, giving Crystal a friendly kiss on the cheek in greeting.

“Hey glad you could make it” Calum grins, stepping closer to wrap his arm around your waist, his eyes landing on the gift bag as well.

Keegan stumbles over to you, her shoes making her a little extra unsteady, Duke trailing behind her closely, like he has been all week since Calum brought him over. “Cal. Dat?” she questions, reaching for him, wanting to be picked up.

You grin as Calum swings her effortlessly onto his hip, “this is my friend Michael. He plays guitar with me” Calum explains slowly, “and this is Crystal, Mikey’s girlfriend”

Keegan’s eyes warily dart over the couple and you bite your lip, hoping this goes well, or Calum will be heartbroken. He’s been waiting to introduce the guys to Keegan because he’s still worried she won’t like them and you’ll leave him, which you would never do. It’s only been six months together and you are already head over heels in love with this man.

“Pr’tty” Keegan mumbles, patting her hair, and you sigh in relief. “M’key? Play me?” she asks, head tilting to the side.

Calum chuckles nodding, “yeah, Bubba Crystal does have pretty hair” he answers, “and I’m sure Mikey and Crystal would love to play, yeah”

With that Keegan wriggles down and reaches one hand up towards Crystal who grins down taking her small hand in her own, reaching the other hand out to Michael who grins widely as he takes her tiny hand in his, and the couple lets themselves be pulled across the yard to the small sandbox.

Almost exactly thirty minutes later Ashton arrives, “y/n it’s good to see you again” he greets, hugging you quickly when you answer the door. “Mike’s already here right?” he asks carefully.

“Yeah, Mike and Crys got here about half an hour ago, and Keegan’s been holding them hostage ever since” you answer hesitantly, wondering why it matters.

You lead Ashton to the back yard and Calum comes barrelling over to tackle the man in a hug once he’s there, “alright get off me” Ashton groans, pushing Calum off, as he laughs. “Where’s the squirt? I see you everyday Cal, I’m here for the girls” Ashton teases.

“Rude” Calum huffs, as you disappear going to scoop Keegan up from where she was attempting to fill Mikey’s hoodie pocket with sand, with Crystal’s help.

“Another one of Cal’s friends is here to meet you” you explain at your daughter’s annoyed whine, “you can go play with Mikey again later” you add.

Keegan pouts but settles into your arms, reaching for Calum as soon as you're close enough to him, she looks at Ashton once before she whines again and buries her face in Calum’s neck. “Hey Bub, you’re okay. This is Ashton, another one of my friends, and he plays the drums with me” Calum murmurs.

You bite your lip, glancing at Ashton to see the drummer watching Calum fondly, as he attempts to coax your daughter into looking at Ash again. “No” Keegan whimpers, her fingers gripping tightly to Calum’s shirt collar.

“No what?” Calum asks carefully. Pulling her tiny body away from his just enough to see her face.

“No Ash” Keegan mutters and Ashton looks like he could cry, this tiny adorable little girl doesn’t want anything to do with him.

“Why no Ash?” you ask quietly, from beside Calum, reaching over to rub her back.

“Big, sc’ry” Keegan mumbles into Calum’s neck.

“Ashton isn’t scary, I promise Bub. He’s super nice, just like Mikey” Calum tries, attempting to sway the toddler in his arms into looking at his best friend.

“No” Keegan whines again in response.

“What if I give you this?” Ashton asks carefully, holding up a small stuffed llama, that must have been in his pocket. “You can have this no matter what, but I was really hoping you and me could be friends. Cal has told me lots about you and your mama, and you seem like the coolest kid” he offers.

Keegan reaches out her hand, snatching up the toy and pulling it into her chest as she eyes Ashton warily, he’s keeping his distance, and letting her set the pace. She still looks unsure, but is no longer hiding from him, this is progress. Michael and Crystal have come over to see what the issue is, and both step up close to Ashton, hoping if Keegan sees that they’re friends with Ashton too she might come around faster.

“What do you say to Ashton for your present Kee?” you ask gently.

“Tanks Ash” Keegan hums, snuggling the llama close to her. You’re unsure why but she was suddenly obsessed with llamas. You and Calum had taken her to the zoo a few weeks ago and ever since she’s been completely in love with llamas. Calum must have told Ashton, who remembered for right now. And you feel warm at the fact that this man actually talks about your daughter to his friends.

“You’re welcome Keegan, can we be friends?” Ashton asks again.

You bite your lip as you wait, and you can see the almost sad look in Calum’s eyes at this not going to plan, before Keegan nods her head once and reaches one hand out towards Ashton.

“No sc’ry?” Keegan mumbles eyes on Ashton’s face.

Calum hums, “not scary at all baby, Ash is the nicest” he confirms.

Keegan reaches for Ashton again and nods “‘tay” she mumbles as he holds her hand for a second, and that is that.

When Luke and Sierra show up exactly thirty minutes after Ashton you are definitely suspicious and as soon as Calum goes to let them in you turn to Ashton, “alright spill, what did Calum tell you about today?” you ask.

Ashton chuckles, “I told Cal you would figure him out, but he told us to come thirty minutes apart and in order of who he thought would scare Keegan the least” he explains. “But we were apparently wrong on that order, I know she said we were okay but I can’t help but feel like she still doesn’t like me” Ashton mumbles.

“Ashton, please don’t take this personally. Keegan’s always been shy, and she’s not even two you are a literal giant to her, you all are. She’ll come around, you’re important to Cal, you’ll be important to Keegan too” you explain carefully. “I mean as long as Cal keeps us around” you mumble, the inherent doubt that you always have that Calum will get bored of playing house with you and leave you for someone better suited to his rockstar life, creeping in.

Ashton shakes his head “don’t start that. You need to know y/n, I’ve never seen Calum this serious about anyone for as long as I’ve known him. You and Keegan are everything he wants, please don’t doubt that” he hums. “Do you know the first thing he tells us everyday when we get to rehearsals?” Ashton asks, when you shake your head no, he continues, “he tells us about you and Keegan. What new words she learned, how the walking is coming, that he can’t wait for her to be big enough he can teach her an instrument”

You‘re in shock but have no time to dwell on it as Calum is back with Luke and Sierra, he pulls you into his side as he introduces you to Sierra, as she’d been working when you met everybody else. “It’s great to finally meet you Sierra” you grin, “please make yourselves at home”

You feel Calum pull away only to see him sneak up behind Keegan and pull her into his arms, with a pretend growl that makes Keegan squeal. “C’mon Bub, I need you to meet Luke and Sierra, then that’s everybody, okay?” Calum hums, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Keegan doesn’t say anything just eyes the couple standing by you seriously, “Mama?” she asks quietly and you smile reassuringly at her, today has been a lot for your girl. “Dat?” she asks.

Calum chuckles “this is Luke and Sierra. Luke plays guitar and sings with me, and Sierra is his girlfriend” he introduces.

“Hey Keegan, Cal’s told us lots about you, and I brought you this” Luke grins, biting his lip as he holds out a stuffed penguin towards her.

Calum’s eyes widen “is that?” he asks and Luke shrugs, nodding his head. You feel like there’s something you’re missing but don’t push the issue right now, you can ask Calum about it later.

Keegan doesn’t even hesitate, she reaches out from her perch in Calum’s arms to take the penguin, her eyes bright with excitement before she cuddles it close. “Tanks, Luke” she hums, her eyes never leaving the penguin. “Play me?” Keegan asks, shocking everybody when she reaches out for Luke.

Luke hesitates, but when Keegan whines and attempts to jump away from Calum’s hold he speaks up “Mate, just take her, before she falls on her head” Calum chuckles. That's all it takes for Luke to reach out and pull the toddler into his arms.

“So I guess you had the order wrong, Luke should have come over first” you tease as soon as Calum steps back over to you.

Calum groans “which one told you?” he asks “in my defense I just wanted this to go well. I still don’t think she’s a big fan of Ashton” he huffs.

Instead of answering you just press up on your toes to kiss him, “this is going fine, look” you murmur when you pull away.

Calum turns to look where you’re gesturing to see Keegan, still in Luke’s arms as he sits on the grass, Sierra is on one side of him and Ashton on the other, with Michael and Crystal across from him. But it’s the fact that Keegan has reached out one hand to hold onto Ashton’s thumb as they all roll a ball around between them. Keegan batting it over to Michael whenever it comes towards her and Luke.

After you’ve all eaten you can tell Keegan needs a nap, it’s well past the time she would usually go down and you know she’s going to start to get cranky. But she’s putting up a good fight, not wanting to leave all her “new friends” and she’s finally warmed up completely to Ashton, sharing her strawberries with him at lunch. What you don’t fully expect is her to start whining where she’s playing in the sandbox with Ashton and Michael, looking around for someone. You watch for a minute as she whines, batting away both Michael’s and Ashton’s hands when they offer to help her, her head turning back and forth until a smile crosses her chubby cheeks as Luke walks past the sandbox.

“Luke! Up” Keegan whimpers reaching for the tall blond and making grabby hands.

“You want up?” Luke asks, already reaching down to swing the toddler up and into his arms, her settling on his hip, one hand playing with his curls at the back of his head, while her own head drops to rest on his shoulder. “Is that better, Kee?”

“Up” Keegan responds happily and you can’t help but snap a quick photo of your girl so happy in Luke’s arms as he keeps walking towards where you have been sitting chatting with Sierra and Crystal.

“She’s so sweet, y/n” Sierra hums, gesturing to Keegan and Luke.

“Yeah, I can see why Cal’s so smitten with you both” Crystal adds.

You shrug, shaking your head “thanks, I kind of never thought I’d find a man that would love me and Keegan, you know? That my dating life was over after I had her, because no one would ever want to stick around after finding out I’m a Mom” you say. “But then Calum crashed into us in the park and still wanted to take me on a date, even though he knew about Kee from that first second.”

“He was so nervous” Luke chuckles, dropping carefully to sit in an empty chair beside Sierra, Keegan still in his arms, “he was so worried you would cancel on him once you realized who he was, because you wouldn’t want him around Keegan”

Calum comes back at that exact moment “stop telling lies Hemmings” he pouts, pulling you up out of your chair, only to sit in it himself and pull you into his lap. “Mate, is she asleep?”

Luke shrugs, looking down at Keegan where her face is pressed to his shoulder, her one hand still playing with his hair, “don’t think so. Not quite yet anyways” he hums.

You smile softly “Keegan, Bug? Do you wanna go have a little rest?”

Keegan sleepily looks at you shaking her head “no s’eep Mama, stay Luke” she whines tiredly.

“What if I told you Luke would still be here when you wake up?” Calum asks, shifting underneath you, to better see Keegan and Luke. “Ashton, Michael, Crystal and Sierra too” he adds.

“You should go sleep so we can play more, Kee” Luke coos quietly, “I promise I’ll still be here to play when you wake up, Little One”

Keegan nods then, “stay” she mumbles before turning her head to see you and Calum, “Cal, s’eep?” she asks.

Calum chuckles as he moves himself out from under you, carefully pulling Keegan from Luke’s arms into his own “I’m not gonna sleep, silly girl, but Duke would love to nap with you” he grins, kissing her head. Turning to look at you Calum finishes, “I’ll go put her down and be right back.

You nod biting your lip, this is usual practice, when Calum is around during the day for nap time, he always wants to put her down. You’ve always let him, sometimes listening in as he sings to her until she’s settled. And the past few days Duke has taken to napping beside her crib. “Have a good sleep, Bug. I love you” you hum, when Calum steps closer to you, pressing a kiss to Keegan’s hair. Her eyes are already drooping closed and you know she’ll be out before Calum even reaches her room.

It’s been almost two hours since Keegan went down for her nap, and you have just spent the afternoon getting to know the other guys and their girlfriends better. This is only the second time you’ve met them (first for Sierra), and you don’t think you’ve ever laughed so much. Michael is in the middle of a story about young Calum when you hear the telltale signs of Keegan getting up coming through the monitor that Calum brought outside with him.

“Mama! Up!” Keegan shouts, before you hear the distinct sound of her jumping on her mattress.

“Sorry, I’ll be right back” you hum, getting up to go inside and get your girl.

You peek into the room to see Keegan jumping in her crib before she falls down to her knees and reaches through the bars of her crib, trying to pet Duke. He’s too low to the ground for her to reach, “Duke” she huffs, reaching for him still. You smile softly as Duke jumps up so his paws are resting against the crib and Keegan can pet his head easily.

“Good boy, Duke” you call out after snapping a quick picture of the two, “are you ready to go play again, Bug?”

Keegan nods, reaching happily for you “Mama!” she cheers, cuddling into your neck once you scoop her into your arms.

After a quick diaper change, you carry Keegan back downstairs and out into the backyard. “Bubba, did you have a good sleep?” Calum asks, as soon as you step out onto the deck. Keegan's head snaps up and she reaches out for Calum with a whine of his name. Laughing Calum comes over to you and plucks Keegan from your arms, cuddling her close.

You bite your lip as you watch them, Keegan resting her head in the crook of Calum’s neck, while he presses a kiss to her messy hair. He looks so at ease holding her, and has since day one. You don’t know how you got so lucky to find Calum, but the way he loves your daughter leaves you a little breathless sometimes.

“He’s a natural with her,” Ashton says suddenly, making you jump, and him laugh out an apology.

You shake your head, “he really is though, Keegan took to him right away, and he’s never hesitated with her” you sigh.

Ashton smiles, “I’m glad he found you, y/n”

“Thanks, Ashton. I am too. He’s everything Keegan and I could ever want” you grin.

You’re pulled out of your conversation with Ashton by Calum coming over with his arms empty, at your confused look he laughs, Kee’s with Luke and Michael. She wanted to show them her Barbies” Calum explains.

You nod and curl yourself into Calum’s side, as Ashton pouts “I wanna see Barbies” he whines.

Laughing you gesture towards the house, “back through the kitchen and past the entranceway. All the toys are in the living room” you explain. Ashton takes off like a shot into your house making you laugh again and Calum rolls his eyes at his best friend. “I think today is going okay, don’t you?” you ask once Ashton is fully out of sight, pulling Calum back over to sit with Crystal and Sierra.

Nodding, Calum pulls you into his lap again, “I don’t know why I was so worried, they’re all children anyways” he hums, kissing the back of your neck.

Crystal giggles at that nodding her head, “can’t argue with that” she grins, “but seriously I’m glad we could finally do this, because now I know exactly how to spoil our favourite toddler”

“Exactly, we should take you both shopping one day” Sierra adds excitedly, looking at you pleadingly.

Calum chuckles, but chooses to stay out of it, “I’m always down for a good shopping trip, just please don’t buy Keegan too much stuff, Cal spoils her enough as it is, I don’t want her growing up to be spoiled” you answer, leaning back into Calum’s chest his arms wrapping securely around your waist.

“There’s no danger of that y/n. Kee’s a good kid. She’s so polite already you’re doing an amazing job with her” Calum hums, both Crystal and Sierra nodding their agreement.

You smile happily as you finish saying goodbye to Ashton, Michael and Luke. Keegan is sleepily waving to them all from her perch in Calum’s arms, she has the penguin from Luke tucked between her and Calum, and the llama from Ashton in her one hand. The gift from Crystal and Michael (a whole load of colouring and craft supplies) is spread across the table, where she had been using it with the whole group.

“We’ll call you for that shopping trip” Crystal grins, pulling you into a quick hug, you just nod your agreement as she reaches for Mike’s hand.

“And I promise we won’t spoil Keegan too much” Sierra winks, hugging you before stepping closer to Luke.

“Sounds great you two, I look forward to it” you answer waving again.

“See you Monday at rehearsals boys” Calum quietly calls out as Keegan’s head drops to his shoulder, she’s not quite asleep but she’s getting close.

As soon as you swing the door closed behind them all Calum turns to you, “despite the Ashton hiccup at the beginning that went well” he mumbles, one hand rubbing rhythmically up and down Keegan’s back.

“She seems to really like them all Cal, you had nothing to worry about” you agree. “But I think it’s time to get someone ready for bed”

Keegan shakes her head no at you, but never lifts it from Calum’s shoulder “no tired Mama” she mumbles against him.

You chuckle, “I meant Calum, Bug. Look how tired he is” you tease, gesturing to Calum who takes your cue and lets out an exaggerated yawn.

Keegan looks up at him and smiles tiredly “Cal go bed” she nods, against him, cuddling in closer to his chest. “I stay up Mama”

Calum chuckles shaking his head “no way, I need Mama to cuddle or I can’t sleep”

Keegan pouts, yawning, “I has dis” she mumbles poking at the penguin from Luke, and holding up the llama.

“Exactly you have friends to cuddle, so I need Mama to come to bed with me, which means Bubba you have to go to bed too” Calum murmurs, already walking through the house towards the stairs. You follow behind them after locking the door, “you had a busy day Kee, we all need a good sleep” he adds.

Thankfully Keegan doesn’t really fight you as you and Calum get her ready for bed, she demands he sing to her, and he quickly and happily agrees, singing quietly as you get her and her new stuffies settled into her crib. Duke comes in circling on the carpet beside the crib before he settles down with a deep sigh and almost instantly falls asleep. Keegan is asleep a minute later and Calum finishes his song before you both creep out of her room.

You both fall into your bed, once you’ve changed and brushed your teeth, Calum pulls you into his chest. “I’m relieved she likes the guys” he mumbles. “I figured they’d do something stupid and you’d break it off”

You turn in his arms to look at Calum, “never going to happen Cal. But I’m glad she likes them all too” you say leaning in to kiss him. “But I have to ask about that penguin from Luke”

Calum chuckles, “Luke’s had that penguin forever, he used to be weirdly obsessed with penguins, and fans have always given them to him. He’s gotten rid of a lot of them but he kept that one he brought today. Luke giving it to Keegan is a big deal, he must have really wanted it to go well with her” he explains.

“That’s really cute” you smirk and Calum nods yawning again, for real this time.

“Oh, Ash says next weekend we’re supposed to go to his,for a barbecue and pool party” Calum mumbles.

“Sounds good Cal” you murmur, before you both fall asleep in each other’s arms, happy with how the day had gone.

#calum hood #calum #dad!calum #dad!sos #fanfiction #5 seconds of summer #5sos #fic #calum hood fanfic #calum hood fanfiction #calum hood fic #fluff #my writing #i did a thing

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c-c-cherry · 4 years

Text

Things I think about when writing

Momther Cherry is currently fic-writing! I’m here as your designated parental figure to share with you some shit that I remind myself whenever I’m stuck!

I know some of y’all need to hear this. Yes, even you in the back. I know you’re forgetting at least ONE of these things right now.

-Your time will come. I know it seems hard when people post stuff and you’re scrolling through their comment section and see all this praise and love and then you realize that—shit— you haven’t posted in a week and your other stuff isn’t currently being loved as much in this very moment. We all do it. I do it all the time without thinking. Sometimes it can spark something that makes us want to do better, but sometimes it just makes us feel bitter and then we feel guilty for feeling bitter about it. Try to love what other people create without comparing it to your own. Trust me when I say that if you learn to love big, you’ll receive it back when the time comes.

-Not everything will work out as you want it. Sometimes posts flop. Sometimes there aren’t as many likes on it as there should be or as you want there to be. That’s fine. :) Let it go. You might feel discouraged because of how much work you put into it, but sometimes it just happens. Don’t let that stop you from doing what you love.

-Comments and kudos are not your only worth. Please don’t rate your self-worth based on others’ approval. You are your skills and passions are worth so much more than that. Trust me when I say that all of that stuff feels great. It feels amazing when people gratify your work, but don’t do it specifically for that. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if you rely on approval and praise as your only fuel for creativity, you’ll fall hard once you hear an ounce of doubt or negativity.

-Think about what you want. I find myself staring at a blank doc for days because I keep overthinking everything I write. Would they like it? Does that sound too self-indulgent? Will anyone read it? Would this get me more attention over this? Channeling other suggestions and criticism into your work is a great thing to do, but in the end, the writing will always flow better if you actually want to write it. I’ve had to completely drop entire prompts before because of this issue, but I feel like its worth it in the end if I’m actually enjoying the writing process rather than catering specifically to other people’s wants! :)

-Don’t treat it like something academic. Are you defending your thesis statement? No, you’re writing a hurt/comfort fan fiction (or whatever the hell you’re writing currently). Before I post something, there’s always the fear in the back of my mind that someone is going to comment some long, judgemental paragraph on “what could be approved” in my writing. I can’t exactly say that this hasn’t happened before (because it probably definitely has lol) but sometimes I’ve just gotta step back and tell myself that this isn’t meant to be harshly judged, its meant to be read. Most people who read it will have nice things to say about it because that’s the purpose of reading and writing fics!

-There’s no race and no competition. Unless of course you’re participating in a challenge with a time limit, you don’t have to rush your stuff in worry that people will be angry if you don’t post or update. They’ll be happier in the end if you post something that you worked harder on or wrote when you were in the mood or mindset to do so. You don’t have to post just because everyone’s posting! There’s no comparing works and there’s no rush to please people!

-Taking a break is good. It’s inhuman to not get burnt out once in awhile. Take advantage of it and try doing something else until you want to write again. I always work on headcanons or watch ✨Gordon Ramsay✨ whenever I don’t wanna write. Try not to feel miserable about not constantly making content! Everyone needs a break.

-Negativity?? Never heard of her. I’m actually very lucky not to get a lot of negative comments on my stuff. Most of it are people who are angry/disappointed on how I ended The Storm or want me to write a sequel where certain characters get what they deserve. If you do get something inherently mean or rude, try not to let it get to you. Most of the time, its for no reason at all and the commenter is insecure. Maybe they’re just bitter??👀 Mmmm??👀👀👀 *cough cough see my very first jot*

God,,,y’all,,,this last one is the most important and literally goes for everything you’ll ever do:

-TAKE GODDAMN CARE OF YOURSELF!!!!!! Because of quarantine, I used to just—forget to eat all day because I was so sucked up in the writing void. I’d go to sleep at 6am, wake up at 2 or 3pm and wouldn’t eat anything until around 8 or 9pm because of schoolwork, write until it was 6am again and repeat. Yes, I updated a lot. Was it worth it?? Uhhhhhhh,,,,no??? I didn't do ANYTHING but write. People were happy for updates, sure, but if they knew that my dumbass was fucking myself over like that?? I get asks all the time being like “DRINK WATER SLEEP EAT PLEASE” and I’m always like “how the hell do they always know??”

Take care of yourselves first or else I’m gonna break into your home and make you drink water and eat chicken nuggets or like,,,vegan nuggets (even you vegans can’t escape my grasp)

Writing should be a positive or freeing experience! Whether its venting or creativity or any kind of expression, its very easy to get sucked up into a certain mindset that can negatively affect your process or inspiration. FEAR NOT, CHILDREN! If you try to consider the things I’ve told you while staring at that empty doc, just know that I’ll probably be doing the exact same thing right after I post this.

Happy fic-reading/writing!! <3

#jjba #fandoms #writing #writing advice #Cherry's advice that no one asked for #self care #fanfic #fanfiction #writing help #advice #ao3 #tumblr #positivity #you can tell im procrastinating #because I just wrote this fuckin thing instead of writing my fic lol

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